Olympics Quiz: [OK…some of these are admittedly a little
hard.] 1) Where were the Olympics held in 1988? 1920? 2)
Who won the men’s soccer gold in 2000? 3) Who won the
men’s 100-meter dash in 1964? [An American] 4) Who won the
1968 men’s 200-meters in 1968? [An American] 5) Who won
the men’s 400- and 800-meters in 1976, a spectacular feat? 6)
What two U.S. female swimmers have won 5 medals in a single
Olympiad? [One was in 1976, the other more recent, and it’s not
Jenny Thompson.] 7) For the period 1896-2000, name the top
five countries all-time in medals. Answers below.
Olympic Moments
–I just touched on this ever so briefly last month, but in 1924,
Paavo Nurmi, the Flying Finn, won the 1500 meters and exactly
one hour later finished first in the 5000. But that same year in
Paris, he won the 10,000-meter cross country race in 100-degree
heat that forced 24 of 39 contestants to collapse after, or during,
the event. The next day, with some runners still in the hospital,
Nurmi won the 3000-meter cross-country race.
In 1928 at Amsterdam, Nurmi, having captured 8 golds in the
two previous Olympics, entered the 10,000. He had been held
out of this event (cross country was a different race) in ’24
because Finnish officials wanted another Finn to win. Ville
Ritola ended up doing so.
But now, Nurmi sought his revenge as both were entered in ’28.
Nurmi edged Ritola out for the gold, 30:18.8 to 30:19.4. Then,
still fuming from four years earlier, Nurmi refused to shake
Ritola’s hand on the victory platform. [Had “Bar Chat” been
around then, Nurmi would have been an “A-hole of the Year”
candidate.]
–But then there’s the great distance runner Emil Zatopek of what
was then Czechoslovakia. In a story by Marc Bloom of Runner’s
World, Bloom writes “Zatopek’s slashing arm action, hunched
shoulders, and tortured facial expressions, together with his
experimental use of mid-race surges, gave him an almost
mythical presence. He was called both ‘The Locomotive’ and
‘The Engine,’ and legendary sports columnist Red Smith once
wrote that he ran ‘like a man with a noose around his neck.’
When Zatopek was asked about this new thing called interval
training (1952), he said, ‘I already know how to run slow. I want
to learn how to run fast.’ When queried on his thrashing,
grimacing running style, Zatopek said, ‘I am not talented enough
to run and smile at the same time.’”
At the ’52 Games in Helsinki, he pulled away to win the 10,000
in an Olympic record time of 29:17. A few days later in the
5000, Zatopek sat fourth with just 200 meters left. Bloom writes:
“However, none of the men ahead of him had trained by running
with a woman on his back, as Zatopek had with his wife, Dana.
And Dana was not a petite woman, but rather a 148-pound Czech
javelin-thrower who would win a gold medal that same day in
Helsinki. Suddenly, Zatopek exploded into a sprint, swept into
the lead around the final curve, and won the 5000 before a wildly
cheering crowd of 70,000 in 14:06.6, another Olympic record.”
Three days later, he entered the marathon, an event he had never
tried nor trained for. Actually, Zatopek had run 20 miles in army
boots during his military service. Now this is great stuff.
Before the race, Zatopek introduced himself to the favorite,
Britain’s Jim Peters, who six weeks earlier had set the world
record at 2:20:43. Peters wanted to drop Zatopek early and he
led the field into a 2:11 marathon pace for the first 5K. Emil
trailed by 19 seconds and was worried about his shoes. Can you
believe it? Zatopek was breaking in new shoes for the marathon,
though he did coat the insides with cooking grease.
By the 20K mark, Zatopek was even with Peters and a Swede,
Gustaf Jansson. Zatopek was unsure of the pace so he asked
Peters, “Jim, the pace – is it too fast?” Peters famously replied,
“Emil, the pace – it is too slow.”
Peters attempted a surge, but it took a toll on him and he faded.
By mile 14, Zatopek was running away with it. In the final
miles, he chatted away with bicyclists running alongside him and
he entered the Helsinki stadium to chants of “Za-to-pek! Za-to-
pek!” Geez, I get goose bumps just typing this. How cool would
that have been to be in that throng? Zatopek won in 2:23, a full
two-and-a-half minutes ahead of the runner-up.
Carl Eller
A member of the great “Purple People Eaters” defensive line of
the 1970s, along with Jim Marshall, Alan Page and Gary Larsen,
Carl Eller was inducted into Pro Football’s Hall of Fame this past
Sunday. Without a doubt, he was one of the coolest players I
ever saw play the game.
But on Sunday, as John Elway’s enshrinement captured the
headlines (with Barry Sanders picking up a few himself), Eller
used his speech to send out a message to young African-
Americans. He talked of education and the negative imagery the
media portrays when it comes to professional sports.
“I am here today to say, I haven’t given up on you. You need to
know because I know you have the talent, the intelligence and
now you have the opportunity to make it right on this great
occasion. I’m calling on you now to do the right thing. Don’t let
all the hard work your forefathers have done to make this a great
country go to waste.
“Young men of African descent, hear me now. It breaks my
heart and it breaks all of our hearts. This is not the future your
forefathers have built for you. This is not the future we fought
for in the 50s, 60s and 70s. What breaks our hearts is to see you
involved in gangs, selling drugs and killing each other….We put
our lives on the line so you can enjoy the freedoms that we enjoy
today.
“So now I stand here and say to you that, if the future of America
is to be strong, you must be strong. You must hear the cries of
our forefathers and pick up the fight…Know that you’re loved
and respected and we have high hopes for you. Maybe higher
than what you imagine.”
Ocean Bits
–According to research, bluefin tuna travel incredible distances.
One Pacific bluefin, tagged and monitored over four years, swam
from the waters off Baja California to Japan and back again,
around 18,000 nautical miles.
Meanwhile, giant squids are reported to have a 5-foot-long, err,
you know, and also exhibit homosexual tendencies, this
according to a scientist at Auckland University. [U.S. News &
World Report]
–And there is a new book that has received some good reviews,
“The Secret Life of Lobsters” by Trevor Corson. In an interview
with U.S. News, Corson reveals that lobsters “hate” each other.
“They are always kicking each other…fighting over food. They
literally get into pissing contests. Their bladders are in their
heads, so they squirt each other in the face with urine.”
Oh gross.
And check this out. Researchers outfitted a lobster trap with a
video camera and monitored it for 24 hours.
“The lobsters went into the trap, and more than half nibbled at
the bait. But then…94 percent of them walked right out. In one
12-hour period, lobsters made over 3,000 approaches to the trap,
but of those, only 45 entered, and only five were trapped. Three
of them were under size. So out of more than 3,000 approaches,
they had only two salable lobsters!”
No wonder these fishermen are dirt poor. Personally, I’d try
another line of work, or find a better lobster trap.
As to the question ‘do lobsters hurt when you boil them?’ No,
they don’t have any pain receptors and “their nervous systems
are equivalent to (that of) a housefly or mosquito.”
Lastly, “Should you eat the green stuff?”
Author Corson observes, “The lobster’s tomalley is a combined
liver and pancreas. Lobster is very healthful food; it’s not
affected by waterborne toxins because the tomalley acts as a
filter. That’s great for the lobster, but it means you should
probably pass on the tomalley.”
And as we learned above, pass on the head.
[For a cool web site, brought to my attention by U.S. News,
check out ‘oceanexplorer.noaa.gov’.]
Stuff
–Name the top five home run hitting switch-hitters all time.
Answer below.
–Koko the gorilla, age 33 and a California resident, is famous for
mastering sign language to the tune of 1,000 different words. So
Koko started pointing to its mouth the other day and signed that
it was in some pain. A team of medical experts was brought in
and Koko received her first full physical in 20 years, during
which it was determined she needed a tooth extracted.
During the exam process the doctors gathered around, before
they put her under, and Koko “asked one woman wearing red to
come closer. The woman handed her a business card, which
Koko promptly ate.” [Dallas Morning News]
You know, in some cultures that would be a sign of disrespect.
–Fay Wray, King Kong’s main squeeze and a real screamer,
earned $10,000 for her 10 weeks of work in the filming of the
movie that made both famous; great pay during the Depression.
“King Kong” grossed $90,000 its first four days, back when
tickets were 15 cents. So, by my back of the beer coaster
calculation, at a ticket price of $9 that’s $5.4 million in today’s
terms. Not bad…and without any kind of major advertising, let
alone the population was far smaller in those days and you had
the aforementioned economic crisis.
By the way, Kong was really only 18 inches tall, but he had a 6-
foot arm…thanks to the special effects of Willis H. O’Brien.
[Los Angeles Times]
–In southwest China the other day, a zookeeper was stomped to
death by an elephant. According to Agence France-Presse,
Zhongbo lifted the poor sap up with its tusk, then tossed “him to
the ground…stamping him hard with one of its front feet.”
“The zookeeper was rushed to hospital where his liver was found
to be ripped into four pieces, the Xinhua news agency said.”
This last bit was probably more than we needed to know, don’t
you agree?
–How come whenever we talk about losers, it’s always the Red
Sox and Cubs, but never the White Sox? I mean after all, it’s not
like the ChiSox have won anything in the last 20 years. Try
1917 for their last Series title, vs. the Cubs (1908) and the Red
Sox (1918).
–I was chastised by Johnny Mac for my recent comments on
Greg Maddux. True, all the stories have him as being the 4th
youngest to reach 300 wins, but J. Mac says I’m forgetting Cy
Young and Kid Nichols, who won their 300th at 34 and 30 years
of age, respectively. I stand corrected. [It’s largely a ‘modern
era’ vs. ‘pre-1900’ issue.] And once again we should note that
Nichols completed 531 of his 561 career starts, or about 425
more than Maddux.
–Dave P., full-service broker and friend, mused on Wednesday,
‘Hey, editor, I see the Cardinals are 37-17 on the road (thru
Tuesday’s games). What are the best road records in baseball
history?’ Well, Dave, the 2001 Seattle Mariners were 59-22 on
the road and the 1906 Cubs were 60-15.
–Earlier in the year, I forecast the winners of golf’s four majors,
and missed out on the first three. So it turns out I have Fred
Couples winning the PGA at Whistling Straits. He’s not even
entered. Never mind…..
–Geezuz, Rod Thorn, president of the New Jersey Nets, is about
to sign a 3-year, $15 million deal. Where have I been? I didn’t
know these guys made that kind of money.
Top 3 songs for the week of 8/14/76: #1 “Don’t Go Breaking
My Heart” (Elton John & Kiki Dee) #2 “You Should Be
Dancing” (Bee Gees) #3 “Let ‘Em In” (Wings…not these days)
Olympics Quiz Answers: 1) 1988 – Seoul. 1920 – Antwerp. 2)
Cameroon won the men’s soccer gold in 2000. 3) Bob Hayes
won the 100-meters in 1964. 4) Tommie Smith won the 200-
meters in 1968 at Mexico City. 5) Cuba’s Alberto Juantorena
won both the 400 and 800-meters in 1976. 6) Shirley Babashoff
(1-4-0), 1976, and Dara Torres (2-0-3), 2000, are the two U.S.
women to win five medals in a single Games. 7) Top 5 countries
in medals, 1896-2000. #1. USA…2,116 #2 USSR (1952-88)
…1,010 #3 Great Britain… 638 #4 France…598 #5 Italy…479.
*Switch-hitters, home runs: Mickey Mantle, 536; Eddie Murray,
504; Chili Davis, 350; Reggie Smith, 314; Ruben Sierra, 298.
Next Bar Chat, Tuesday.
