Golf Quiz: Name the top ten in the world rankings as we close
out 2003. Answer below.
College Football Polls
So we’re headed for a split decision on picking a national
champion this year if USC beats Michigan in the Rose Bowl.
[The Oklahoma – LSU winner being the other, if you haven’t
been following this stuff.] Not like it hasn’t happened before
…and it always gives us something to talk about.
[Using the AP and UPI polls – the latter replaced by USA Today
/ CNN…then ESPN later on.]
1970
Nebraska / #1 AP…11-0-1 (#3 UPI)
Texas / #1 UPI…10-1 (#3 AP…Ohio State #2 UPI, Notre Dame
#2 AP)
1973
Notre Dame / #1 AP…11-0 (#4 UPI…beat ‘Bama in Sugar Bowl
24-23)
Alabama / #1 UPI…11-1 (#4 AP…crazy year…Ohio State and
Oklahoma #2 and #3 in both polls)
1974
USC / #1 UPI…10-1-1 (#2 AP)
Oklahoma / #1 AP…11-0 (#2 UPI)
1978
USC / #1 UPI…12-1 (#2 AP)
Alabama / #1 AP…11-1 (#2 UPI)
1990
Colorado / #1 AP…11-1-1 (#2 UPI)
Georgia Tech / #1 UPI…11-0-1 (#2 AP)
1991
Washington / #1 UPI…12-0 (#2 AP)
Miami / #1 AP…12-0 (#2 UPI)
1997
Michigan / #1 AP…12-0 (#2 USA Today)
Nebraska / #1 USA Today…13-0 (#2 AP)
*The BCS started in 1998.
Heisman Trophy Winners
[The 2003 selection is Saturday and will undoubtedly be
Oklahoma’s Jason White.]
2002 – Carson Palmer / USC / QB
2001 – Eric Crouch / Nebraska / QB
2000 – Chris Weinke / Florida State / QB
1999 – Ron Dayne / Wisconsin / RB
1998 – Ricky Williams / Texas / RB
1997 – Charles Woodson / Michigan / DB
1996 – Danny Wuerffel / Florida / QB
1995 – Eddie George / Ohio State / RB
1994 – Rashaan Salaam / Colorado / RB
1993 – Charlie Ward / Florida State / QB
1992 – Gino Torretta / Miami / QB
1991 – Desmond Howard / Michigan / WR
1990 – Ty Detmer / Brigham Young / QB
1989 – Andre Ware / Houston / QB
1988 – Barry Sanders / Oklahoma State / RB
1987 – Tim Brown / Notre Dame / WR
1986 – Vinny Testaverde / Miami / QB
1985 – Bo Jackson / Auburn / RB
1984 – Doug Flutie / Boston College / QB
1983 – Mike Rozier / Nebraska / RB
1982 – Herschel Walker / Georgia / RB
1981 – Marcus Allen / USC / RB
1980 – George Rogers / South Carolina / RB
1979 – Charles White / USC / RB
1978 – Billy Sims / Oklahoma / RB
1977 – Earl Campbell / Texas / RB
1976 – Tony Dorsett / Pitt / RB
1975 – Archie Griffin / Ohio State / RB
1974 – Archie Griffin / Ohio State / RB
1973 – John Cappelletti / Penn State / RB
1972 – Johnny Rodgers / Nebraska / WR
1971 – Pat Sullivan / Auburn / QB
1970 – Jim Plunkett / Stanford / QB
Looking at the voting in 1972, Oklahoma’s great running back
Greg Pruitt was second, a year after narrowly missing out to Pat
Sullivan in ‘71. How Sullivan won it, I’ll never know. Pruitt,
Johnny Musso, Lydell Mitchell, and Ed Marinaro were all top
candidates that year. Johnny Musso…now there was a fun
player to watch.
Rolling Stone’s Greatest Albums of All Time
1. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Beatles
2. Pet Sounds, The Beach Boys
3. Revolver, The Beatles
4. Highway 61 Revisited, Bob Dylan
5. Rubber Soul, The Beatles
6. What’s Going On, Marvin Gaye
7. Exile on Main Street, The Rolling Stones
8. London Calling, The Clash
9. Blonde on Blonde, Bob Dylan
10. The Beatles (“The White Album”), The Beatles
11. The Sun Sessions, Elvis Presley
12. Kind of Blue, Miles Davis
13. Velvet Underground and Nico, The Velvet Underground
14. Abbey Road, The Beatles
15. Are You Experienced?, The Jimi Hendrix Experience
16. Blood on the Tracks, Bob Dylan
17. Nevermind, Nirvana
18. Born to Run, Bruce Springsteen
19. Astral Weeks, Van Morrison
20. Thriller, Michael Jackson
21. The Great Twenty-Eight, Chuck Berry
22. Plastic Ono Band, John Lennon
23. Innervisions, Stevie Wonder
24. Live at the Apollo (1963), James Brown
25. Rumours, Fleetwood Mac
26. The Joshua Tree, U2
27. King of the Delta Blues Singers, Vol. 1, Robert Johnson
28. Who’s Next, The Who
29. Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin
30. Blue, Joni Mitchell
Other well-known albums and their rankings: Tapestry, Carole
King (#36); Hotel California, The Eagles (#37); The Dark Side
of the Moon, Pink Floyd (#43); At Fillmore East, The Allman
Brothers Band (#49); The Stranger, Bill Joel (#67).
But I loved Harry K.’s comment on #58, Trout Mask Replica,
Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band.
“That LP was the vinyl equivalent of Joyce’s ‘Ulysses’ –
undergrads would display it prominently to show how cool they
were, but no one ever actually could listen to the whole thing,
much as they used to carry ‘Ulysses’ around to show that they
were intellectuals, but very few ever managed to finish that
either.”
And for you Sinatra fans, “In the Wee Small Hours” came in at
#100. Raise your hands, guys. How many of you have listened
to this late on a Saturday night?
The National Zoo
I finally got around to reading the Washington Post expose by
James Grimaldi and Karlyn Barker from a few days ago. [It’s
worth looking up.]
Basically, zoo officials in Washington have altered all manner of
records in the deaths of countless animals, including an
orangutan, lion, giraffe, 2 zebras and an elephant. Investigators
often found that files had either been destroyed or were non-
existent in the first place. It really pisses you off. We have lots
of fun with animals in this space, but the bottom line is we want
most species to kick man’s butt. [Imagine if your editor was
actually ever attacked by a bear? How would my heirs carry on
amidst the ridicule?]
The staff and veterinarians were responsible for allowing two
rare zebras to starve to death, while 2 red pandas died from
eating rat poison and a bobcat met its demise because no one
realized the latter had overgrown toenails that infected its feet.
Additionally, there was the case of a Micronesian King Fisher,
one of only 60 in the world, that seemed weak so it was force-fed
a whole mouse. The mouse then lodged in its throat…end of
King Fisher.
But the worst story was that of Nancy the African elephant. For
two years they missed the fact that Nancy had TB, even though
Nancy had displayed the symptoms for it and federal rules
require an annual test on elephants for the bacterial disease,
something that the zoo then failed to administer. Nancy died
when antibiotics would have done the trick.
Hey, we all know that animal care is tough and in some cases not
an exact science, but the entire staff at the National Zoo should
be fired. Or at least let’s hope the animals revolt and take the
matter into their own paws.
Q School
I imagine not too many of you had the opportunity on Monday to
catch the end of Q School, as golfers fought for the precious
2004 PGA Tour card. It was as dramatic as any sporting event
you’ll see all year.
Imagine going to the last hole, the 108th (6 rounds over 6 days),
needing to make a single putt to avoid playing the junior /
Nationwide Tour in ’04. For Wook-Soon Kang it was an
experience he won’t soon forget, unfortunately, as he missed an
18-incher to fall short by a stroke. But there were successes,
with Deane Pappas sinking a long birdie to hit the magic number,
minus 7. And there was former tour player Jay Delsing, with
good friend Corey Pavin on his bag, holing a 3-footer to earn his
card. Delsing said he was never more nervous in his life.
And Roland Thatcher, who sank an 18-footer to get his tour
privileges, and the case of Omar Uresti, who less dramatically
needed to shoot 69 and fired a spectacular 64 in the final round.
Or how about 43-year-old Danny Briggs, a father of 5 who said
he was “down to my last dime.” Briggs also finished at minus
7…he has his card.
But the biggest story was that of David Bradshaw. Bradshaw
ended up getting his card by 8 strokes, joining 33 others, though
this wasn’t the full story. No, it was the fact that Bradshaw’s
best friend had died after a long illness in the midst of the
tournament and on the last day, as he was being buried,
Bradshaw walked the course with him, as David put it. I mean to
tell you, I’ve never seen a tearjerker of an interview like
Bradshaw’s after he finished up and the realization of what he
had accomplished set in. “I could feel him with me,” he cried.
No doubt he did.
Among those who didn’t get their card were former tour players
Brian Henninger, Dennis Paulson, Donnie Hammond, Thomas
Levet, and amazingly, Per-Ulrik Johansson; the latter two not
even earning a card to play on the Nationwide Tour.
Next year your editor will have to catch at least some of this
action in person. It should also be on prime time television.
Stuff
–Tim Duncan…Sports Illustrated’s “Sportsman of the Year.” I
told you in this very space on September 9 that this would occur.
What I didn’t know is that David Robinson would be selected as
co-winner, so it’s “Sportsmen”.
–Now here’s something you just won’t find anywhere else;
another example of the Bar Chat Advantage.
Providence upset #14 Illinois in college basketball on Tuesday.
But Providence had recently lost to Rhode Island.
You’ll recall I mentioned about two weeks ago that Rhode Island
had lost to Lubbock Christian in what I termed one of the great
upsets in college basketball history.
But Lubbock Christian has lost to West Texas A&M this season.
And West Texas A&M lost to Colorado School of Mines.
And Colorado School of Mines lost to Seattle Pacific.
And Seattle Pacific lost to Southwest Baptist (Missouri).
So Southwest Baptist is better than Providence, let alone Illinois.
And you can look it up. Keep this in the back of your mind
because as the year goes on, it can only get better.
–Mickey Mantle’s 1956 Silver Bat for winning his batting title
sold at auction for $270,000. A few days earlier, Willie May’s
1954 Silver Bat went for around $120,000. Mantle’s first
contract, 1949, which paid him $140 a month plus a $1,150
bonus, fetched $100,000. But here’s one I almost wish I had
made an offer on myself, a bat signed by Mantle and 10 others in
the 500 homer club, just $8,000.
[Everything was authenticated by the Mantle family, which was
selling a lot of Mickey’s stuff to help pay for his grandchildren’s
education, along with a starter home. This is one instance where
you can’t blame them for unloading it. Mickey’s wife and his
boys still saved a lot as keepsakes.]
–Congratulations to the New York Mets for signing Japan’s Kaz
Matsui, though Johnny Mac is scared to death that with the Mets
now having to move budding superstar Jose Reyes to second, the
chances for injury go way up. Relax, Johnny. We…are…on…
our…way… to…the…WORLD SERIES!!!
–The Yankees raised their ticket prices to as high as $70 for a
single game-day box seat. Unbelievable. Guess I shouldn’t
complain about my cable bill.
–Farmers have taken to flooding their fields in an attempt to
attract ducks, particularly in the Deltas of Arkansas and
Mississippi. For example, the Brantleys in Arkansas have a
6,000-acre farm of which they flood 500. Then hopefully the
ducks come, allowing the Brantleys and others of their ilk to
charge between $25 and $50 an acre for hunting season. It
normally takes 3 days to flood a field 6-18 inches deep. [High
Plains Journal]
*Kids, don’t try this at home unless your parents give you
permission first.
–Follow-up on the 8 South Koreans down in Antarctica whom it
was feared had perished when I first wrote the last bar chat. 7 of
the 8 survived. Megaladon was not involved as proposed by
yours truly.
–Norm Sloan died. He coached the North Carolina State
Wolfpack to the 1974 NCAA basketball title. Thanks to the
suspect recruiting of David Thompson, N.C. State went 27-0 in
1973 but was ineligible for the NCAA tournament because it was
on probation. Then the next year the Wolfpack, with Thompson,
7’4” Tom Burleson and 5’7” Monte Towe won it all, defeating
Marquette. Sloan left State in 1980 for Florida where he got into
all kinds of trouble over the distribution of cash and prizes.
–Coming to a restaurant near you in December….cheeseburger
fries! Yup, ground beef and cheese in a French fry shape with a
crispy coating. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
–Steve Rushin had a piece in Sports Illustrated the other day on
old-time toys, like Rock ‘em Sock ‘em Robots. But did you
know that Table Hockey was invented by Donald Munro of
Toronto back in 1932? Munro made it for his kids and almost all
of the early models came with the Toronto Maple Leafs and
Montreal Canadiens. Without a doubt my favorite toy. Then
again, I probably played Strat-O-Matic baseball and football
about six hours a day.
–So I’ve started tracking the Weather Channel forecasts and on
Tuesday, December 2 it predicted that the following Friday,
December 5 it would be partly cloudy with a high of 45 degrees
for my town in New Jersey. Saturday, December 6 was to be
rainy and 46. Try 8” of snow on Friday, another 6” on Saturday.
Good job, boys.
–One of the best football bowl games is on December 23, except
I forgot what the damn name is, so let’s call it the Ace Hardware
Desenex Foot Powder Coors Light Valvoline Sears Chex-Mix
Time Warner Borg Warner Bowl. Anyway, it pits Boise State
vs. TCU, both with just one loss. The only other Division I-A
teams with one loss are USC, Oklahoma, LSU, and Miami
(Ohio). Another good game is Navy / Texas Tech (Navy’s great
running game vs. Tech’s air game and B.J. Symons), 12/30, in
the Whatever You’re Trying To Sell Me I Don’t Want It Bowl.
–Johnny Mac brought to my attention the fact that the
Humanitarian Bowl (organizers chose this over the “Amnesty
International Bowl” name) on January 3rd is in Boise, but Boise
State is playing TCU in Fort Worth. Instead, the Humanitarian
Bowl has Tulsa vs. Georgia Tech. Oh yeah, I’m living in
Georgia and I want to go to Boise over New Year’s.
–St. John’s basketball…Catch the Fever! Coach Mike Jarvis
just booted Willie Shaw off the team for the entire season; Shaw
being the player caught with dope in the same car that former
star Marcus Hatten was driving.
–I just did a piece on Joe Namath and then on Wednesday the
New York Times had the story that Joe Willie is finally finishing
up his class work at Alabama after leaving the school 15 credits
shy in 1965 to sign with the Jets. Now he is down to his last two
courses. Good for you, Mr. Namath.
–The editor’s all-time favorite athletes…Tom Seaver, Joe
Namath, Earl Monroe, Hawthorne Wingo, Ed Kranepool, Ali,
Eddie Giacomin, Walt Frazier, Dick Barnett, Cleon Jones, Ron
Santo, Willie Wilson, Vic Hadfield, Leroy McDonald (Wake
Forest b-ball skywalker), Randolph Childress, Tim Duncan and,
of course, ARNIE!!!!!
–But speaking of Ali, I was watching his 1980 bout with Larry
Holmes Tuesday night on ESPN Classic. Damn, that was sad
watching GOAT (“Greatest of all time”) get creamed. Without a
doubt, many of his problems today are a result of that single
fight. And Howard Cosell’s call of the action was absolutely
brilliant.
–Regarding the above list, my brother would be upset if I didn’t
mention some of his own favorites; Dan Gurney, Ron Hunt and
Jets great George Sauer.
–NCAA Men’s Soccer Final Four: Maryland, Indiana, St.
John’s, Santa Clara…games Friday / Sunday.
–Congratulations to North Carolina for winning its 854th NCAA
Women’s Soccer Championship, as the girls whipped up on the
Lady Huskies of Connecticut, 6-0, in a match that never really
developed into the catfight we hoped it would be.
–The New York Knicks are beginning to suck as much as I had
hoped they would.
–This is inside college basketball stuff, but do you think
Missouri’s Quinn Snyder is sleeping well these days? Snyder,
Mizzou’s head coach, is involved in a budding scandal involving
former player Ricky Clemons who claims he was paid illegally
by some of Snyder’s assistants, with evidently Snyder’s own
approval. Snyder is a disciple of Coach K. at Duke. As Drudge
would say……….…………………………….DEVELOPING!
–I saw the following in U.S. News and World Report concerning
ice wine.
“Ice wine comes from white grapes that have frozen on the vine,
intensifying their sugar and acidity. They’re gently pressed to
release a sweet nectar, which is fermented for a couple of
months.”
Of course many of you already knew this (I didn’t…I drink beer,
after all), but did you know that Canada is the biggest ice wine
producer in the world? Vintners in the Great White North don’t
pick the grapes until the temperature hits 18 F. (-8 Celsius).
Ice wines are best drunk with fruit and cheese……..and a USC
cheerleader……………………………sorry, I’ll suspend myself.
Next year.
–Tiger Woods won his 5th consecutive Player of the Year award.
Even though he didn’t capture a major, he had the most wins (5)
and also had the lowest scoring average. Woods deserved it,
even over Vijay Singh who won 4 titles and was the money
winner.
Top 3 songs for the week of 12/11/71: #1 “Family Affair” (Sly
& The Family Stone) #2 “Theme From Shaft” (Isaac Hayes) #3
“Have You Seen Her” (Chi-Lites)
*I forgot to comment last time on “60 Minutes” and its piece on
R&B star Solomon Burke. Jeff B. turned me onto him recently
and Jeff noted Burke’s 21 (!) children. “That’s almost as many
as most NBA players.”
Golf Quiz Answer: World Rankings – 1. Tiger Woods (15.64)
2. Vijay Singh (10.11) 3. Ernie Els (8.62) 4. Davis Love III
(7.92) 5. Jim Furyk (7.16) 6. Mike Weir (6.67) 7. Retief
Goosen (6.13) 8. Padraig Harrington (5.53) 9. David Toms
(5.34) 10. Kenny Perry (5.27)…thru last weekend. Harrington
moved up two by winning a tournament in Hong Kong.
Next Bar Chat, Tuesday.
