[Posted a little earlier than normal…late Sunday PM]
**Tug McGraw…RIP…more Thursday**
NBA Quiz: 1) Name the 1973-74 All-NBA 1st and 2nd teams. 2)
Name the 1982-83 squads. Of course this is tough, so I’m going
to give those of you who need a little help the initials. If you
want to try it out without them, then just move along. Answers
below.
’73-’74: 1st – JH, RB, KA-J, WF, GG. 2nd – EH, SH, BM, DB,
NVL.
’82-’83: 1st – LB, JE, MM, MJ, SM. 2nd – AE, BW, KA-J, GG,
IT.
Pete Rose
The nightmare continues and this week it’s going to be Pete
Rose, 24 / 7, as he releases his new book “My Prison Without
Bars.” ABC’s “Primetime” has an interview with him on
Thursday (1/8) in conjunction with the book hitting the stores the
same day; a tome that has been cloaked in secrecy, though it’s
now clear Rose will admit publicly for the first time that he bet
on baseball games while managing the Cincinnati Reds,
including placing bets on his own team. Of course Rose was
barred in August 1989 for gambling on sporting events and while
all the evidence pointed to his betting on baseball, he has
continually denied it, including in a 1989 autobiography titled
“Pete Rose: My Story.”
Supposedly, back in November 2002, Rose admitted he bet on
baseball in a private meeting with Baseball Commissioner Bud
Selig, but Selig was hardly satisfied with his lack of contrition.
And in an op-ed piece for the New York Times, former
commissioner Fay Vincent writes, “I guess I am supposed to feel
vindicated since he spent the last 14 years calling (investigator)
John Dowd and me names….Next we’re likely to have the
spectacle of Mr. Rose being embraced by Bud Selig…and, like
the Prodigal Son, ushered to the front row of baseball’s most
honored citizens.” Vincent continues.
“Pardon me while I rise to urge some caution. Ever since St.
Augustine set the bar pretty high, there has been a certain style to
confessional tomes. Now we have a mea culpa by Mr. Rose and
no saint is he.”
Vincent adds, as do others, that there is a very good reason why
Rose is suddenly coming forward in this fashion. Aside from the
fact he thinks he’ll be offered a king’s ransom to manage again,
under the rules of the Hall of Fame, should he be reinstated his
last year of eligibility is in 2006 (voted on December ’05).
Otherwise, he’d have to wait for approval from the Veterans
Committee.
Vincent, instead, wants Rose to be reinstated only if there is first
a two-year period of transition. “During this time, I would
require Mr. Rose to travel the baseball highway to spell out to
youngsters and fans why gambling is a threat to the game and
why his decisions as manager were corrupted by betting on one
game and not another. The sincerity of his redemption can be
tested and he will have done some public service to earn his way
back.”
The two-year delay would also give him one more shot at the
baseball writers in 2005. Finally, Vincent suggests that Selig
pardon all those on the ineligible list, including Shoeless Joe
Jackson, which would be a popular choice.
As for yours truly, I have raised this issue many times in the past
and my position has been consistent. Rose should be told he’ll
be admitted to the Hall, when he dies.
But since I admit that’s a rather radical opinion, here’s another
from the New York Post’s Mike Vaccaro.
“The thing that has aggrieved so many people about Rose’s
behavior these past 14 years wasn’t so much his sins of
commission, but omission….If he answers for that now, good for
him. It’s the way he’s gone about trying to hoodwink us that’s
far more troubling.”
Rose spent 30 years in the sport and as Vaccaro notes, “he knew
the most sacred credo in baseball.”
“In the mob, there used to be a saying: You deal, you die.
“In baseball, it went like this: You gamble, you’re gone.”
Vaccaro believes Rose’s lasting punishment should be a concise
summary of his misdeeds on his plaque in Cooperstown for all to
see. In the end, though, we’re all waiting to see if Rose is
sincere. Is he really sorry? I doubt it…this guy is scum.
Stuff
–So I’m banging this out on Sunday evening and I just realized
the BCS Championship game is on. I bet I’m not the only sports
fan who forgot, after 27 other bowl games and the four wild card
playoff games the past two days. Plus USC is the national
champion anyway. But as I said before, as bogus as the whole
deal is, I just can’t get too upset about it.
I’ll tell you who should be upset, however, and that’s the fans
who are staying up to watch this anti-climactic contest. It’s a
school night, for crying out loud. This game should have been
held on Friday night, plain and simple. And what are they going
to do next year when New Year’s Day is a Saturday and the NFL
is all over the place again? [I really don’t care….just thought
someone might.]
**Final AP Top 10
1. USC
2. LSU
3. Oklahoma
4. Ohio State
5. Miami (FL)
6. Michigan
7. Georgia
8. Iowa
9. Washington State
10. Miami (OH)……….great story
16. Boise State!!!
–Sorry to beat a dead horse, but weeks after the fact I still don’t
understand the fuss over New York Giants coach Jim Fassel’s
exit. What the heck am I missing? His team lost its last 8
freakin’ games in a row! They didn’t even compete in most of
them. Geezuz, I can virtually guarantee there are some teams in
this league that never lost 8 games in a row in their history. But
why do I care when I’m not even a Giants fan? Because I picked
these losers to go to the Super Bowl, that’s why.
–Thanks, I feel better now.
–Last chat I forgot to hand out a special honor…David Robinson
becomes the first recipient of a “Bar Chat Lifetime Achievement
Award” for being such a good guy throughout his career in the
NBA, as well as for his super efforts on behalf of the San
Antonio community. So from here on, each year a “Bar Chat
Good Guy Award” will be named after The Admiral. I also hope
to work on his campaign when he runs for president in 2012.
–What’s the deal with Jim Fassel?…………………….sorry, it’s
really tough to move on.
–How about 44-year-old Gary Anderson? Was that 46-yarder he
made to beat the Ravens Saturday cool or what? Then again, is
Raven lineman Orlando Brown one of the dumber people on the
planet? [To my readers in the Baltimore area, my sympathies.
And so much for Jamal Lewis’s super regular season.]
–If you had Denver and 30…you lost!
–I was reviewing the archives the other day and it hardly seems
possible that it’s been 4 years since I named figure skater Peggy
Fleming as the “Babe of the Century.”
–And now….Bar Chat’s exclusive “Health Beat.”
What beers did your editor drink on New Year’s Eve? Well,
thanks to good buddy Rod’s gift, I tasted brews from around the
world…starting off with Kingfisher (Saratoga Springs),
Whitbread Pale Ale (London), Wurzburger Hofbrau (Wurzburg,
Germany), Czech Rebel (Brod, Czech Republic), and Sapporo
(Japan).
Actually, on the 4th one I started to get a headache, from mixing
brands, you understand.
[I’m trying to figure out what this has to do with “Health Beat.”
I better move on.]
According to Runner’s World, the best magazine in existence, by
the way, and a study in Medicine and Science – Sports and
Exercise, physically active men and women reduce their risk of
developing colon cancer by 30-40% compared to inactive folk
playing “Beers Around the World.” Physical activity also
reduces the chances of breast cancer by 20-30%.
And did you know that the number of antioxidants (phenols and
flavonoids) in hot cocoa outpaces equivalent servings of wine,
green tea, and black tea?
Cocoa: 611 mg. phenols, 564 mg. flavonoids
Red Wine: 340 mg. phenols, 163 mg. of flavoniods
Green Tea: 165 mg. of phenols…
Black Tea: 124 mg. of phenols…
So get your mother to make you some hot cocoa. I’m calling
mine right now.
–Wohhh, you see that situation in Kamchatka where a wildlife
worker was mauled by a bear he was photographing?
Remember, you can only ask a bear to tilt his head once.
–So I see in Green Bay, at Fort Howard Memorial Park, you can
get a niche for your cremated remains, complete with a hand-
carved bronze front showing Lambeau Field. Now how cool is
that? Personally, I used to think about having my ashes scattered
over Shea Stadium, being a super Mets fans and all, but Shea is a
dump and will soon be replaced, ergo, I need a different pile of
dirt. [Actually, I seem to be accelerating things a bit more than I
really want. I need another World Series triumph from the Mets,
for starters. Also a Wake Forest NCAA Basketball title in the
next two seasons would be helpful.]
–Speaking of Green Bay, the Pack is writing a great story thus
far. Hope it continues.
–Is it just me or was there far less showboating in the playoff
games this weekend than there was in the regular season?
Maybe it has something to do with the fact that the biggest
offenders, men like Joe Horn and Chad Johnson, weren’t
playing. In other words, they’re losers. [Good thing Al Harris
didn’t get caught on that overtime pick, however. That was a
close call.]
–Remember the tale back in November of the two guys who ran
7 marathons in 7 days, on 6 continents? It started out as the “7 X
7 X 7 Challenge” but explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes and his
companion, Dr. Mike Stroud, had to cancel the segment on
Antarctica due to poor weather and they substituted instead a
marathon on the Falkland Islands.
I read a more detailed report in Runner’s World than I had
originally seen and it bears repeating that these two ran 183.4
miles and logged 45,000 miles of air travel in a single week. Of
course even more remarkable was the fact that Fiennes,
considered the greatest explorer in history by some (and a distant
cousin of actor Ralph Fiennes) is not just 59 years of age but he
had a massive heart attack and double-bypass just this past June.
In fact he was back running one week after the surgery.
Anyway, I got a kick out of the fact that each of the two
consumed the following in the 7 days.
90 energy gels
70 carbohydrate bars
75 liters of carbohydrate drink
12 liters of protein drink
And each survived:
81 hours of flying
31 hours, 43 minutes of running
12 airline flights
21 airline meals
The seven stops were:
1. South America – Patagonia
2. South America – Falkland Islands
3. Australia – Sydney
4. Asia – Singapore
5. Europe – London
6. Africa – Cairo
7. North America – New York City
Running together, they did the first marathon in Patagonia in
3:46, but the toughest was Singapore. Fiennes tells Runner’s
World, “It was terribly hot and humid. Mike had diarrhea, was
passing blood in his urine, needed medical attention en route, but
somehow managed to keep going. I was sick, dizzy, and felt a
tightness in my chest. I was wondering if I should quit right
there.” It took them over six hours that particular race. The final
marathon, New York, was run in 5 hours and 25 minutes.
Simply put, this is one of the great achievements of human
endurance, ever.
–Jim Fassel actually said this at his final press conference…
“I’ve had a wonderful run here.” You lost your last 8 games in a
row!!!!!
–In resigning, Washington’s Steve Spurrier forfeited $15 million
by walking away from the final 3 years of a 5-year, $25 million
contract. A most noble gesture……..cough cough………
But have you checked out some of the salaries in the college
game? The New York Times had a good piece the other day on
the topic.
Kansas State’s Bill Snyder…$1.5 million plus incentives.
Florida State’s Bobby Bowden…$2 million +
USC’s Pete Carroll…$1.5 million +
Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops…$2.2 million +
LSU’s Nick Saban…$1.6 million, and he’s about to get a lot
more.
But here’s a good one. Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer was just
granted an extension that will pay him close to $1.8 million a
year, yet he then went out and lost to unranked Clemson in the
Peach Bowl.
Of course there is a real controversy developing with the salaries
of some of these guys, especially when you consider that most
make at least 5 Xs more than the university presidents under
which they are supposed to serve (as opposed to the boosters),
and I imagine more than 10 Xs the vast majority of tenured
professors. On the other hand, football brings in the dough. I
just seem to remember not too long ago when we were talking
$400,000 or thereabouts.
And this just in…Arkansas head coach Houston Nutt spurned
Nebraska’s offer of $2 million. Of course the Huskers did all
this to themselves, starting with the firing of a coach that had just
gone 9-3.
–I only saw the highlights, but congratulations to the Lady Blue
Devils of Duke for ending Connecticut’s near record 69-game
home winning streak (they fell one short of tying the mark) on a
last second 3-pointer. The Lady Huskies brought this all on
themselves, having turned the ball over on 6 of their last 7
possessions.
–Speaking of Lady Blue Devils, Britney Spears tied the knot on
New Year’s after getting ploughed, err, obliterated at the Ghost
Bar in the Palms Hotel in Las Vegas. Also in attendance at the
bash were Kobe Bryant and the Hilton sisters. Kind of wish I
was there myself, frankly, people watching being my favorite
sport.
Now it’s said that Britney will shortly annul the marriage to a
childhood friend, Jason Allen Alexander, which means the rest of
us will get another shot.
–Yikes…just saw that Britney stayed in a $10,000-a-night suite
at the Palms. According to the Daily Mirror, she checked in
under the name “Alotta Warmheart.” Better than “Pussy
Galore,” I guess.
–Blockbuster Video had a survey where some 6,500 selected
their favorite epic. “Gone With The Wind” was #1, followed by
“Titanic” and “Cleopatra.” I don’t know what these folks were
thinking of in choosing the last one. But what I didn’t know is
that “Gone With The Wind” producer David O. Selznick had to
pay a $5,000 fine to the Hollywood moral code guardians in
order to retain Rhett’s line, “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a
damn.”
–Vodka sales are up 31% since 1997. [L.A. Times]
–Boy, you have to be careful what you write these days… and
some of these gossip columns don’t always deal in the truth, like
the one that has yours truly going out with Mariah Carey. Just
isn’t happening.
The New York Post’s Page Six, for example, said about a week
ago that former New York Mets manager Bobby Valentine was
separated from his wife of 26 years. Well, this was news to the
Valentines, and the next day the Post said, “Oops! We were
badly mistaken …In fact, he is still happily married to Mary.”
–It’s a little confusing, but it still looks like the New Jersey Nets
are going to be giving a chance to an individual that sportswriter
Peter Vecsey labels an “emotionally and morally disturbed”
figure, Eddie Griffin. In case you don’t know anything about
Eddie, Vecsey clues you in.
“This just isn’t another case of some stupid, unlicensed fool
getting pulled over because his uninsured car’s inside fog light
wasn’t working properly. This is a habitual bully accused of
beating up a girl friend, punching her in the face when she
supposedly wouldn’t leave his home and squeezing off a round
in her direction.
“But forget Griffin’s sickening shot selection and horrific history
of clocking decidedly smaller high school and college
teammates; they’re immaterial, in the Nets shamelessly logged
book. Come on, we’re told, the kid’s 21, can block shots and
score with the best of the worst, that’s what matters to us.”
Amen, brother.
But wait, there’s more…the Knicks might be signing Leon
Smith. In case you don’t remember this a-hole, he was drafted
out of high school a number of years ago and promptly busted up
an ex-girlfriend’s car and threatened her mother. He’s a total nut
case.
This is today’s NBA, sports fans. It’s also why we prefer the
college game, thank you, not that it doesn’t have its own sad
stories.
–Well, I give Jim Fassel credit. As far as I know, he never
busted anyone up.
–I really don’t know what to say about “Crocodile hunter” Steve
Irwin. I mean that was kind of stupid dangling his one-month
old baby in front of a 13-foot man eating dinosaur, after all. But
what about Irwin’s wife, Terri? She said, “It was a wonderful
sensory experience for him (the baby). He dug it.”
And so, yes, we have our first “Bar Chat Dirtballs of the Year”
and we’re just a few days into it. It’s been duly filed away for
the year end awards, in the folder marked “December.”
–Finally, we have two canine stories. First, once again the
rescue dogs came through, this time by sniffing out the 97-year-
old woman who survived more than 8 full days after the
earthquake that struck Bam, Iran. You know, we really should
have a national day of recognition for man’s best friend.
But then there is the very sad story of “Metro.” For those of you
outside the New York area, this 35-pound spaniel-retriever was
spotted on a Metro-North commuter train, Christmas Eve,
traveling from Greenwich, CT to Harlem, where a passenger
picked him up. It was then discovered that Metro had an
implanted computer chip and they traced the dog back to the
Fulton family in Millington, Maryland.
Brownie, as he was first named, was adopted by the Fultons in
1997, but they had to give him away five years later because they
took in an elderly relative who had three dachshund puppies.
The new family couldn”t handle Brownie either, though, so they
then gave him to a trucker. But just three weeks ago, Brownie
ran away.
Art Fulton, the original owner, was thrilled when the dog was
tracked down and he was all set to take Brownie back, but then
Art died on Friday, unexpectedly, from a blood infection after
spending the night in the hospital. Nonetheless, a Greenwich
animal control officer has offered to drive Brownie down to
Maryland where the surviving Fultons say they will care for him.
An amazing story…and hopefully one with a still happy ending.
[New York Daily News]
Top 3 songs for the week of 1/8/66: #1 “We Can Work It Out”
(The Beatles) #2 “The Sounds Of Silence” (Simon & Garfunkel)
#3 “She’s Just My Style” (Gary Lewis & The Playboys)
NBA Quiz Answers: 1) 1973-74 All-NBA teams: 1st – John
Havlicek (Boston), Rick Barry (Golden State), Kareem Abdul-
Jabbar (Milwaukee), Walt Frazier (New York), Gail Goodrich
(Los Angeles). 2nd – Elvin Hayes (Capitol / Baltimore), Spencer
Haywood (Seattle), Bob McAdoo (Buffalo), Dave Bing
(Detroit), Norm Van Lier (Chicago). 2) 1982-83: 1st – Larry
Bird (Boston), Julius Erving (Philadelphia), Moses Malone
(Philadelphia), Magic Johnson (Los Angeles), Sidney Moncrief
(Milwaukee). 2nd – Alex English (Denver), Buck Williams (New
Jersey), Kareem (Los Angeles), George Gervin (San Antonio),
Isiah Thomas (Detroit).
Next Bar Chat, Thursday.
