NBA Quiz: [I saw this info in the Sunday New York Times and
couldn’t pass it up for a quiz.] Name the 7 point guards in NBA
history who have averaged more than 7 assists and 18 points a
game in their careers. Minimum 400 games. [Hint: 2 of the 7
are active.] Answer below.
Clive Rush
As we watch the New England Patriots drive for a Super Bowl, I
thought it was a good time for a story on the franchise’s earlier
history. When the New York Jets won Super Bowl III in 1969,
Clive Rush was the team’s offensive coordinator. Some former
players of that era, such as Matt Snell, said Rush was a great
coach, but there are many others who also said the guy was a
weirdo.
And so it came to pass that immediately after the Super Bowl,
the then Boston Patriots (they became ‘New England’ in 1971,
incidentally) fired their head coach Mike Holovak and quickly
narrowed their search to two candidates; Clive Rush and
Baltimore assistant Chuck Noll.
The Patriots knew that Noll was being courted by the Pittsburgh
Steelers, and they thought very highly of him, but since the Jets
won the contest with Baltimore, how could the Pats not pick
Rush?
So while Pittsburgh would go on to tab Chuck Noll as their
coach, on January 30, 1969, Clive Rush was introduced to the
media in Boston. The great reporter Will McDonough, who died
last year, recalled this was the beginning of “the most bizarre
episode in the history of pro football.” For starters, Rush was
almost electrocuted at the press conference when he got all
tangled up in the wires.
At the first training camp, McDonough was told by some of the
folks, “Hey, (Rush) is a really strange guy.” The trainer came up
to Will and said “He’s a nut!” The next day McDonough had his
first one-on-one with Clive. As told in the new book “Going
Long,” a history of the American Football League by Jeff Miller:
McDonough knocked on Rush’s door in the dorm. “Come in.”
“I opened the door. Well, you’d have thought you were at the
South Pole. Nobody else had air-conditioning in the dorm. He
had two big air-conditioning units in there. There was almost
Goddamn icicles hanging off. He was sitting behind a table. Got
nothing on. Got a towel around his neck. ‘Hey, Coach. How ya
doing?’ ‘Tell you what,’ he said, ‘I can’t seem to shake this
cold.’ He had a jug on the table. He said, ‘Hey, wanna taste?’ It
was like that every day for a year and a half.”
Rush made a big trade with Miami early on, acquiring quarterback
Kim Hammond, linebacker John Bramlett and Miami’s 5th round
pick in 1970 for 5-time All-Star Nick Buoniconti. Not a good
start, though to be fair the holdover coaches in Boston said
Buoniconti was too outspoken. Of course he ended up in the
Hall of Fame.
The first season the Pats started off with a team record 7-game
losing streak. They then beat Houston and later played
Cincinnati. McDonough:
“Clive used to say, ‘Paul Brown’s the greatest coach that ever
lived. I admire Paul Brown. Paul Brown was All-Ohio….’ All
week, he was talking about Paul Brown, matching up with Paul
Brown. This is what he was telling the players all week long…
Two hours before a game, Clive liked to go out and walk around,
wave. He loved it. His team would be in the locker room and he
was sitting on the bench, all by himself. Gino Cappelletti was
coming around with the special teams. Clive said, ‘Gino, c’mon
over here. I want to talk to you a minute.’ Gino ran over:
‘What’s up, Coach?’ He said, ‘Here’s what we’re going to do
today. I don’t want to tell the other guys. It’s a big surprise.
The first time we get in close, we’re going to kick a field goal on
third down.’ Gino said, ‘Wait a minute, Coach. Why are we
going to do that?’ He said, ‘Because we’re going to destroy Paul
Brown’s mind….I’m going to take him out of his game plan.
That’s my game plan, to take him out of his game plan.’ Thank
God they never got to do it.”
[Ed. Then again, that’s kind of shades of Mike Martz!]
That same Cincy game, Clive was using a receiver, Charley
Frazier, to shuttle in the plays to QB Mike Taliaferro.
McDonough:
“So they’re standing there, first series, and Clive said to Charley,
‘OK, Charley, go in there.’ ‘Well, what’s the play?’ ‘There’s no
play.’ ‘What do you mean, there’s no play?’ ‘Charley, do what I
tell you! Just run in the huddle, stand there, run back out.’
(Taliaferro then said), ‘Where ya going, Charley?’ ‘See you
later. I’m going back to the bench.’ He did this three or four
times. Finally, Charley said, ‘Coach, why am I doing this?’ And
Clive told him, ‘That’s what Paul Brown’s saying. ‘Why are
they doing this?’” Damned if the Pats didn’t win the game.
Oh, there’s one other good one, but I’ll save that for next time.
Will McDonough said Clive Rush was mentally ill. In fact at the
end of the first year the Pats sent Rush to Massachusetts General
for a physical…except he stayed 30 days.
The Pats went 4-10 that ’69 season and then Rush went 1-6 in
’70 before he was let go. Rush died in 1980 at the age of 49.
Stuff
–From Golf Digest, these are real courses in America that
obviously need a name change.
Sarah Shank G. Cse. (Indianapolis)
“We’re sure she was great, but…”
Ed “Porky” Oliver G.C. (Wilmington, DE)
“After 103 years, you’d think someone could find a better
name.”
Tiffany Greens G.C. (Kansas City, MO)
“And we wonder why some people think golf is a prissy sport.”
Diamond Players Club (Clermont, FL)
“Is there Jell-O wrestling in the clubhouse?”
–Also from Golf Digest, following is a list of the “off-course”
income for some leading players; off-course being defined as
endorsements, appearance fees, corporate outings, course design
work, speaking engagements, etc.
Tiger Woods – $77 million
Arnold Palmer – $22mm…still going strong
Phil Mickelson – $17mm
Greg Norman – $16mm
Ernie Els – $10mm
Jack Nicklaus – $9mm
Sergio Garcia – $8mm
David Duval – $6.45mm…shaky, to say the least
Davis Love III – $6mm
Vijay Singh – $5mm
Jim Furyk – $4.5mm
Some lesser lights…
Steve Flesch – $750,000
Robert Allenby – $650,000
Tiger’s $77 million breaks down as follows:
Nike – $25mm
Accenture – $8mm
Upper Deck – $7mm
Warner Books – $7mm
American Express – $6mm
General Motors – $6mm
Disney – $5mm
EA Sports – $5mm
Appearance Fees – $3mm
TLC Laser Centers – $3mm
TAG Heuer – $2mm
Finally, it’s estimated that winning a ‘major’ for the first time
brings in an extra $1.25 million.
–Television ratings for this week’s Sony Hawaiian Open could
be strong if out of nowhere 14-year-old Michelle Wie makes the
cut. While the PGA Tour doesn’t keep exact records like some
other sports do (a major frustration of mine…try and find an all-
time list of tournament winners, including those with just one
title, for example), it is believed Wie is the youngest competitor
ever in a Tour event, let alone the youngest woman. Wie got in
on a sponsor’s exemption, which bugs a few of the regulars, I
imagine, but she has played the course often and can obviously
bang it out there with the big boys.
The real question that we asked all last year is (as Wie played on
every venue imaginable, including the Canadian PGA Tour), is
she being rushed? Tiger, for example, raises the good point that
father Earl made him win on the junior circuits before he pressed
his luck with the big boys; so Tiger won his 3 consecutive U.S.
Junior titles and 3 straight U.S. Amateurs before moving on.
Vijay Singh concurs that young kids should be spending their
time trying to compete at the highest level possible for their age
group. Of course both Wie and her rather interesting father
disagree. Cliché alert………..but only time will tell. [I promise
not to use this for another decade.]
–Former tennis great John McEnroe admitted he took steroids
for 6 years and was “unaware I was being given a form of the
legal kind they used to give horses until they decided it was too
strong even for horses.” [Daily Telegraph / South China Morning
Post] It was former wife Tatum O’Neal who claimed last year
that McEnroe was taking steroids, adding “I made him stop
because he was becoming violent.”
–According to a USA Today / CNN / Gallup survey, last March,
70% supported reinstatement into baseball for Pete Rose. Today
it’s just 29%. And only 54% now say Rose should be eligible for
admission to the Hall of Fame, down from 68% in July 2003.
Evidently, his book sales are also slumping big time.
From the New York Times’ veteran writer George Vecsey:
“Never – and I do not use this word lightly – have I seen an
athlete (or maybe any public figure) downgrade his public
reputation as startlingly fast as Rose did in the last week. He has
gone from the image of a lying but vaguely charming rogue with
a gambling addiction to a downright unpleasant human being,
unmasked in public.
“Writing that book and going on television were the worst
possible things Rose could have done. There is an old saying
that everybody is responsible for his or her face by the age of 40.
The country has seen Pete Rose at 62, unrepentant, unaware,
unhappy, unsatisfied, unpleasant.”
–Opinion is pretty well split in the New York area, thus far,
regarding the case of Roger Clemens vs. The Yankees. Here I
spent the past season saying that for the first time I actually
respected the man (being a Mets fan and all), but his going to
Houston after jerking everyone around during his “farewell”
season has irked more than a few folk.
But…I fall into the camp that says George Steinbrenner deserves
the blame. All King George had to do was make an honest offer
for Andy Pettitte right after the World Series. It’s unbelievable
to any good baseball fan why he wouldn’t want to lock up a lefty
that could easily finish his career with 250+ victories and has
many years left. So Pettitte signs with Houston, where he’s
from, and best friend Clemens began to have second thoughts,
Clemens also being a Houston resident. So much for retirement,
especially when Roger gets this clause in his contract that allows
him to leave home games to see his kids play. As the season
progresses, we’ll see how well this goes down with some of
Clemens’ teammates. If they’re winning, no problemo…if not,
big problem.
Meanwhile, New Yorkers can’t wait to see Roger play the Mets
at Shea. As Johnny Mac immediately wired me upon the news,
“Heh, heh…Roger now has to come to bat.”
–I noted the sudden death at age 32 of former NBA player Yinka
Dare last time but didn’t have a chance to expound on it.
Sometimes life is cruel, and looking back Yinka couldn’t handle
the abuse he received.
Dare was discovered in Nigeria by a Washington lawyer, who
stumbled upon this mammoth specimen that would quickly grow
to 7-feet, 265 lbs. Dare hadn’t been playing basketball in school
there, but he was brought to America, attended Milford Academy
in Connecticut for a year and then matriculated at George
Washington University, where he quickly became a sensation
because of his Hakim Olajuwon-type talent.
But unfortunately he left GW after just two seasons, much to the
dismay of head coach Mike Jarvis (the same fellow who was
recently fired by St. John’s). Enter the New Jersey Nets, a pitiful
team at the time that decided to make Yinka the 14th selection
overall in the draft. What quickly became clear was that Dare
was simply not ready for the NBA. The team stunk and Yinka
stunk. So there was only one thing to do, call him “Stinka.”
In 4 seasons with New Jersey, Dare averaged 2.1 points per game
and 2.6 rebounds. He once went over 750 minutes without an
assist, if I recall, and he had a whopping 4 assists for his entire
career. In other words, he had zero concept of the game of
basketball.
And as ex-teammates and coaches say today, there is also little
doubt the nickname destroyed him.
Supposedly, Dare was a good guy who just lacked motivation,
especially since he had initially signed a 6-year, $8.6 million
contract, and after being out of the game for a while, he harbored
dreams of making a comeback. It was after a workout the other
day that he had a heart attack and died.
–As I write this, the Don Chaney death watch is on. If you’re a
Knicks fan, you can only hope it’s true. [Though the local
sportscasters are panning the presumed pick to replace Chaney,
Mike Fratello.]
*Update…Chaney gone…Lenny Wilkens in…no one really cares.
–I know I’ve mentioned this before but with each new article,
the latest being from BBC News, it really is sad how the
Orangutans of Borneo and Sumatra face imminent extinction.
The population has fallen about 50% in just the past 15 years to
probably under 25,000. It’s time to save ‘em, sports fans.
Somehow we need to get the elephants over there, along with the
deadly hippos. I’m working on the Canadian Government to see
if they’ll lend their polar and grizzly bears to the cause.
–Little St. Joseph’s of Philadelphia is suddenly up to #6 in the
AP men’s basketball poll. Cool story.
–Actually, St. Joe’s will be even higher in next week’s poll
following #4 (AP) Wake Forest’s ugly loss to Texas on Tuesday.
Geezuz, Demon Deacon fans, it was like watching Kansas City
try to hold off Peyton Manning and Co. the other day. ‘Can’t
anyone play defense?!’ my Wake friends and I were screaming.
–Speaking of KC, head coach Dick Vermeil suffered another
meltdown the other day with the announcement that defensive
coordinator Greg Robinson had resigned, Robinson being the
architect of the Chiefs’ matador defense so successfully
employed in the loss to the Colts. Johnny Mac mused, “What in
the world is Vermeil going to do when something truly tragic
happens in his life? I’ve had it with this crying B.S. Your
coordinator quit, for chrissake, you didn’t lose your family in
a fire or something…get a grip.”
–Just to show my British / Scottish readers that I follow things
over there, I see where in Scotland’s Premier Football League,
Glasgow’s Celtic is 18-0-1 thus far, having scored 62 goals while
allowing only 7. That’s domination.
–Former Duke basketball star and NBA underachiever Christian
Laettner was suspended for 5 games by the league for failing his
3rd drug test. I can’t decide whether to throw Laettner into the
“dirtball of the year” candidate pile or the “idiot of the year” one.
–Back to the animal kingdom, if you are a “raccoon dog” in
China and you have a chance to escape over the border, even to
North Korea, do it. Chinese officials have decided that raccoon
dogs could be carriers of SARS, joining the weasley civets.
But just how nasty do you think a raccoon dog is? Can’t say I’ve
ever met one while picking up the morning paper, but Lord
knows I probably wouldn’t want to. This sounds like Hound of
the Baskervilles type stuff, know what I’m sayin’?
One other item / reminder. If you’re trying to escape the
authorities because you’ve been put on the SARS-carrier list,
always obtain the help of a border collie, just as we do here in the
home office of StocksandNews when the editor writes something
that pisses off a particular country in some of his other columns.
–Dan L. brought to my attention that the last known combat-
wounded U.S. veteran of World War I, Alfred Pugh, died at 108.
And this hero even inhaled mustard gas in the Argonne Forest.
–Top Albums
Week of January 16, 1965
1. Beatles ’65 – The Beatles
2. Where Did Our Love Go – The Supremes
3. Mary Poppins – Soundtrack
4. Beach Boys Concert – The Beach Boys
5. A Hard Day’s Night – The Beatles / Soundtrack
6. Roustabout – Elvis Presley / Soundtrack
7. The Beatles’ Story – The Beatles
8. My Fair Lady – Soundtrack
9. 12 X 5 – The Rolling Stones
10. People – Barbra Streisand
Week of January 13, 1968
1. Magical Mystery Tour – The Beatles / Soundtrack
2. Their Satanic Majesties Request – The Rolling Stones
3. Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. – The Monkees
4. Diana Ross and the Supremes Greatest Hits
5. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band – The Beatles
6. Doctor Zhivago – Soundtrack
7. The Sound of Music – Soundtrack
8. Herb Alpert’s Ninth – Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass
9. Farewell To The First Golden Era – The Mamas & The Papas
10. Love, Andy – Andy Williams
Week of January 15, 1972
1. Music – Carole King
2. American Pie – Don McLean
3. Chicago At Carnegie Hall – Chicago
4. The Concert For Bangla Desh – George Harrison
5. Led Zeppelin IV – Led Zeppelin
6. Teaser And The Firecat – Cat Stevens
7. Tapestry – Carole King
8. All In The Family – TV Cast
9. There’s A Riot Goin’ On – Sly & The Family Stone
10. Black Moses – Isaac Hayes
Week of January 17, 1976
1. Gratitude – Earth, Wind & Fire
2. Chicago IX / Chicago’s Greatest Hits
3. History / America’s Greatest Hits
4. The Hissing Of Summer Lawns – Joni Mitchell
5. Helen Reddy’s Greatest Hits
6. Still Crazy After All These Years – Paul Simon
7. Windsong – John Denver
8. Family Reunion – The O’Jays
9. KC And The Sunshine Band
10. Breakaway – Art Garfunkel
[Source: Top Billboard Album Charts: 1963-1998]
Top 3 songs for the week of 1/14/78: #1 “Baby Come Back”
(Player) #2 “How Deep Is Your Love” (Bee Gees) #3 “Here
You Come Again” (Dolly Parton…underrated tune…we love
Dolly!)
NBA Quiz Answer: 7 point guards that have averaged more than
7 assists and 18 points a game.
Magic Johnson….11.2 asst. 19.5 ppg
Oscar Robertson….9.5…….25.7
Isiah Thomas……..9.3…….19.2
Stephon Marbury…8.2…….20.4
Bob Cousy………..7.5…….18.4
Nate Archibald……7.4…….18.8
Gary Payton………7.4……..18.1
Next Bar Chat, Tuesday.
