NBA Quiz: Oh, what the hell…none of us like the league, and I
watch it as background noise until May, but we still have to do a
quiz now and then. So, who are the top ten in scoring, career?
Answer below.
Beer Quiz: Came up with this one as a result of reading a piece
in Barron’s. Name the ten most popular brands in the U.S. [For
example; Schmidt’s, Rheingold, Dixie, Weidemann’s (assume
they still make this)…] Answer below.
Nothing But Stuff
–College Football Review
One year ago, Oklahoma annihilated Texas A&M 77-0. At
halftime the score was 49-0 and for the game OU had 639 yards
total offense to the Aggies’ mere 54.
But this year Texas A&M played their hearts out only to lose 42-
35. And for those of us watching the last play, a Hail Mary into
the end zone, it was oh so close to being completed. Bush 41
was also in attendance, furthering his reputation in my book.
And Oklahoma wasn’t the only top school to eke it out . USC
and California played the state of Oregon and barely escaped.
USC defeating Oregon State (4-5) 28-20 and Cal besting Oregon
(5-4) 28-27.
Meanwhile, #5 (entering play this weekend) and still undefeated
Wisconsin whipped Minnesota, possibly improving its BCS
ranking, while #7 Texas staged the greatest comeback in school
history. Down 35-7 at half to Oklahoma State (which you’ll
recall almost upset Oklahoma just last week), the Longhorns
scored 49 unanswered points to win 56-35; a super, super win
and it could propel Texas into the #6 BCS slot over Utah, a 63-
31 victor over Colorado State. Remember, Utah must finish in
the top six in the BCS rankings to get a position in one of the
four major bowl games.
Elsewhere, Nebraska is now 5-4 after losing to Iowa State and
Penn State is 2-7, 0-6 in the Big Ten, following its defeat at
home to Northwestern, 14-7. They say the stadium at State
College was 8,000 short of capacity and the boos were raining
down on the Nittany Lions and Joe Paterno. This is really
getting sad…just a horrible way for Paterno to go out. [There is
absolutely no way he is back next season.]
Finally, Pitt lost to Syracuse, 38-31. Now if Pitt were to beat
West Virginia in a few weeks, imagine what this means. It’s bad
enough that West Virginia could get an automatic bid to a BCS
game, but should they then lose to Pitt it would mean someone
from the conference goes with two losses.
But wait…….there’s more. Mark R. would be supremely PO’d
if I didn’t mention Notre Dame’s upset of Tennessee. [It wasn’t
an upset, really. Tennessee blows.] And Johnny Mac’s East
Stroudsburg University is back on track and headed towards the
Division II playoffs…or so J. Mac has promised.
ESPN / USA Today poll
[This piece is posted before the BCS poll is released. That had
Utah #6 and Wisconsin #5 last week….and at the end of the day
this is the one that matters.]
1. USC
2. Oklahoma
3. Auburn
4. Wisconsin
5. Georgia…plays Auburn this Saturday
6. California
7. Texas
8. Utah
9. Michigan
10. West Virginia
–NFL Review
Congratulations to the Pittsburgh Steelers for an amazing stretch,
defeating two undefeated teams (New England and Philadelphia)
in back-to-back weeks. And talk about domination, the Steelers
outgained Philly by 420-113! Jerome Bettis found his ol’ self,
going for 149 yards on 33 carries. And man, am I hungry for a
Roethlisburger…sausage, beef, scrambled eggs and cheese. I
might have to fly to Pittsburgh and head for Peppi’s where this
hoagie is served. And it’s only $7!
Terrible, terrible loss for us Jets fans. [Not much better for the
Giants.] The schedule gets much tougher the rest of the way and
the playoffs are no longer a sure thing.
Carolina is now 1-7. They went to the Super Bowl last year, you
know.
What a Monday Night Football matchup…Peyton Manning (22
TD…2,161 yards) vs. Daunte Culpepper (20TD…2,180 yards).
Of course I’m usually asleep by halftime.
Eddie George watch…after 8 games…111 carries for 372 yards,
a 3.35 average. [If you’re new to the site, just understand I have
to give this guy grief. This is the most overrated rusher of all
time. As I like to tell people, if you’re six-feet tall, you get two
yards for falling forward.]
And in watching the Bills game and running back Willis
McGahee, I couldn’t help but think of Gale Sayers. Actually, I
think of Sayers at least a few times each football season, but in
viewing McGahee you’re watching a medical miracle, the kind
that is now commonplace. McGahee suffered a severe knee
injury in his last game at Miami and the Bills smartly took a
chance on him in the draft. Now he’s close to 100%, witness his
performance the past few weeks.
But think of Sayers. Drafted out of Kansas in the 1st round,
1965, many said the Chicago Bears were taking a chance, that
Sayers was too fragile. But in his first preseason contest all he
did was run 77 yards with a punt, 93 with a kickoff and throw a
25-yard touchdown pass out of the halfback slot. Unfortunately,
Sayers did get hurt…but what memories he left us.
1965……867 yards rushing (5.2 avg.)…29 receptions (17.5 avg.)
1966…1,231 (5.4)
1967……880 (4.7)
1968……856 (6.2)…suffers first severe injury…comes back
1969…1,032 (4.4)
1970-71…another knee injury…only 90 yards rushing his last
two seasons.
4,956 rushing for his career and a 5.0 average. 56 total TDs,
including 8 on kickoff and punt returns between ’65 and ‘67. He
was finished in ’69 at age 26. But today he probably would have
returned in almost top form because of the state of sports
medicine. Of course it was the same for all athletes back then.
And Sayers will forever be linked to Brian Piccolo. Pic only had
927 yards rushing in his career with the Bears, including 317 in
’68 and 450 in ’68. But by 1969 he had been diagnosed with
cancer and he died on June 16, 1970.
–Congratulations to Britain’s Paula Radcliffe for winning the
New York City Marathon. For those of you who followed the
Olympics, and Paula’s disappointments, this is a great story.
–Talk about a nightmare if you are a general manager or owner.
Houston Astros outfielder Lance Berkman tore an ACL playing
in a church flag football game. That’s why I never play flag
football myself these days…in recognition of the fact you want
me at the top of my game when I do these columns.
–No wonder many of us hate the NBA. Here I just wrote what
an ass Alonzo Mourning was for demanding a trade from the
Nets after the Nets stupidly gave him a shot knowing he had
serious health problems. But with Mourning wanting out of New
Jersey because he doesn’t think the team is competitive, now
he’s proposing the following…that the Nets buyout the
remaining $17.8 million on his contract for $14 million. You’re
reading that right.
‘I don’t want to play for you guys anymore so I’ll tell you what.
Just give me $14 million and we’ll let bygones be bygones.’
You can’t make this stuff up, folks.
Then again, as Johnny Mac points out, you have the case of
Minnesota’s Latrell Sprewell, another overpaid a-hole who just
doesn’t get it (AOAWJDGI). Spree is set to earn $14 million in
this the last year of his existing contract so he is requesting that
the T’Wolves grant him an extension. Well Minnesota offered
the dirtball $9 million a year for three seasons. Latrell countered
“I’ve got a family to feed.”
The Star-Ledger’s Dave D’Alessandro weighed in.
“That didn’t go over well in the Twin Cities, so when someone
reminded him that his remark might be insensitive to someone
out of work, Spree replied, ‘That could be me.’”
But what really irked Commissioner David Stern was Spree’s
comment “Why would I want to help (my team) win a title?”
“I would like to stop it,” (meaning the talk from the millionaire
jerks) said Stern. “I think it’s corrosive. There are a few players
who spotlight themselves as being so individualistic that they are
threatening not to play as hard as they can. They have walked
right up to the edge and, if they step over it, I’ll do what I have
to….
“Players do nothing for the league if they are viewed (as)
unhappy with their nine-figure contracts…It’s one thing to say
they’re not happy; it’s another to have the audacity to suggest to
their fans they are going to tank it. Not in this league.”
Meanwhile, in New York City, mecca of all things related to
hoops, the New York Knicks held their opening night
extravaganza, losing to the Celtics 107-73. Geezuz, they
couldn’t have sucked worse. Imagine paying $50, or more, to
watch that fiasco!
–The whole saga of Wally Backman is pitiful. As I told you
when he was named manager of the Diamondbacks, everyone in
the New York area, at least, knew of his personal problems
(though I must say I didn’t know of his recent bankruptcy filing),
but Arizona, incredibly, hired him without knowing…and
Backman had been managing in their own organization! Arizona
learned of Backman’s past transgressions via the New York
Times, for crying out loud.
So four days after hiring him, Wally was fired. One of Arizona’s
managing partners claims Backman was asked if there was
anything the club needed to know and Backman said there wasn’t.
Wally is far from innocent and it turns out he violated probation
from a drunk-driving incident in the state of Washington that
could land him in the slammer.
This is not only a mess, it’s a real tragedy. Wally Backman’s
days in baseball are over (at least for a very long time), the guy is
in financial ruins, he has other issues, and you have to worry
where he’s now headed.
[Incidentally, while Backman agreed to a 2-year contract, he
never signed it so the club insists he is not entitled to any
compensation. Lawsuit time, but where Wally will come up with
the funds to pay an attorney is another story.]
–On a lighter baseball note, congratulations to Willie Randolph,
new manager of the Mets and the first black skipper of a New
York baseball team. Now if we can just get rid of some dead
wood on the team…we may actually win 63 games next season.
–Hey, did you hear what Boston’s David Ortiz did in a game in
Japan Saturday? Playing for a squad of Major League All-Stars
vs. their Japanese counterparts, Ortiz clubbed a 514-foot home
run…probably the longest anyone has ever seen over there.
–There was a big auction of baseball memorabilia at the
Hillerich & Bradsby Company (makers of Louisville Slugger
bats) on Saturday. A Shoeless Joe Jackson model, dating back to
1910 or 1911 and signed, sold for $137,500. A bat used by Ty
Cobb went for $132,000. Other items sold were a Cleveland
Indians jersey worn by Satchell Paige for $110,000, a letter
handwritten by Babe Ruth with ‘six’ of his signatures at the
bottom ($41,800), and a baseball signed by Ruth and Lou Gehrig
($31,900). [AP]
–Sports Illustrated had a good piece on the San Antonio Spurs’
Manu Ginobili. With his new 6-year, $52 million contract,
Ginobili thus becomes his native Argentina’s highest-paid
athlete.
But Ginobili’s family is now a target of kidnappers and
extortion artists. Many top athletes in Latin America have this
problem these days. For example, Detroit Tigers pitcher Ugie
Urbina’s mother was kidnapped in Venezuela last September and
she’s still missing as of this writing. Ginobili’s father was on a
kidnapping list but police luckily found out about it before the
gang could act.
As for the country, here are Argentina’s top five sports legends.
Formula One: Juan Fangio
Soccer: Diego Maradona
Boxing: Carlos Monzon
Tennis: Guillermo Vilas
Golf: Roberto de Vicenzo
–Speaking of golf, Tiger Woods saw his record fall to 30-3 when
leading entering the fourth round of a PGA event. Woods was
bested by Retief Goosen in the Tour Championship.
Unfortunately, my man Carlos Franco went 72-68-78-68. Not
exactly a model of consistency.
By the way, this year on the PGA Tour foreigners won 23 events
(including this weekend’s) while Americans won only 13.
–From Runner’s World… “What the elite eat”
Elva Dryer, 2004 U.S. Olympian in the 10,000 meters.
“I eat clams for iron – something I probably should have been
doing a long time ago, having struggled with iron deficiency. I
steam them and put them in a red marinara sauce. Another really
good source of iron is oysters. I buy tins of smoked oysters and
put them in the spaghetti sauce, too, or just eat them on
crackers.”
Food tips….another “Bar Chat Exclusive.”
–And here’s a tip from Runner’s World on fighting colds this
winter, courtesy of Joanna Sayago.
“If you develop a scratchy throat or runny nose, eating breakfast
can rebuild your defenses. Researchers from the Netherlands
found that people who ate a hearty early-morning meal increased
blood levels of gamma interferon, a natural antiviral agent, by
450 percent. Those in the study who ate nothing had a 17
percent decline. But forget about the Pop Tarts [DRAT!]….have
oatmeal topped with walnuts or almonds (both nuts provide zinc,
which reduces the symptoms and duration of a cold) or an omelet
(eggs provide selenium) with onions (antiviral properties),
spinach, red bell pepper and cayenne pepper.”
That’s way too much trouble. I’ll stick with my glazed donuts
and coffee, thank you.
–Back to Tiger, he’s pissed and for once I’m on his side. When
he purchased his yacht, “Privacy,” for $20 million he made the
manufacturer sign a confidentiality agreement whereby the
company wasn’t supposed to disclose that Tiger bought one from
them, let alone reveal the yacht’s name.
But the Vancouver operator has been using Tiger’s name, as well
as that of the yacht, in all kinds of promotional material…which
is why you and I knew of it during Tiger’s honeymoon. I hope
Woods wins this one for the simple reason that I’m tired of
everyone being an a-hole. [Have you figured out this chat’s
‘secret word’?]
–And not to drag this column into the gutter, but the city of New
York has its hands full due to a series of ads that appeared on
city bus platforms and subways.
It turns out that the creator of the bits, hip-hop clothing line
Akademiks, is nothing but a bunch of dirtballs. For starters, the
first ad featured a “curvy, panty-clad woman on her knees,
holding an open book.” [New York Daily News] The ad copy
said “Read Books, Get Brain.” Well, the company knew exactly
what it was doing as “Get Brain” is slang in urban communities
for oral sex. [Can’t say I knew this, personally.]
Then officials, tipped off by a subway conductor, discovered
another not so subliminal message on another billboard…the
initials H.N.I.C. stamped below the company logo. This is code
for “Head N—– in Charge.”
The creative director of the campaign, Emmet Harrell, said he
was upset the ads were yanked because they were really designed
to promote literacy. And my name is Curt Schilling.
–Lydia Moore is a Long Island health care worker who about a
week ago won $5 million as the first winner of a new lottery in
New York. At the prize ceremony Moore and her husband
accepted the annuity payout, $250,000 a year, but refused to
speak to reporters.
Well, there was probably a reason for this since it turns out Lydia
was about to be arrested on second-degree larceny charges for
stealing $113,000 from an 87-year-old patient of hers. Lydia had
changed the man’s bank accounts and added her name to them
before writing checks to herself in the amount of $61,000 and
$52,000.
But here’s the interesting thing. If convicted, Moore faces 15
years in jail but she would continue to collect the lottery
winnings. [New York Post]
–A tragic week in the French Pyrenees. Cannelle (Cinnamon),
the last female bear in the mountains, was shot to death by a
group of wild-boar hunters who said the bear charged them.
This is big stuff in these parts. Centuries ago, there were
thousands of these indigenous bears in the Pyrenees but they
have been hunted to extinction. French conservation officials
have done what they could to save the species, including
importing some from Slovenia and Croatia to help restore the
population, but the loss of 15-year-old Cannelle is an “ecological
disaster.” Even Jacques Chirac commented on the killing. [No
French jokes, people…we’re talking animals, not politics.]
Meanwhile, Cannelle had a 10-month-old cub and as of this
writing it has not been found.
This hereby fulfills the French wildlife requirement under the
auspices of the International Web Site Association. Always look
for the IWSA label when surfing the Net.
–All kinds of talk these days about both the Arctic and Antarctic
in terms of global warming and fish supplies. But I found
something in the London Times rather astounding. In discussing
the fact that the supply of krill in the Southern Ocean is down
80% since the 1970s (dangerous because the tiny shrimp-like
creatures are the major food source for everything from whales
to penguins), I learned that krill, which grow to 2 ½ inches, can
live up to six years! Six freakin’ years! Now wow your friends
with that one. [I wouldn’t bring it up in a performance review,
though.]
–Back to bears, in the 10/21 edition of Bar Chat I told you about
the problem Japan is having with its bruin population. In one
rural area, one person has been killed and 90 injured in attacks.
So Sunday’s New York Times picked up on the story in a piece
titled “Bigger and Bolder Population Of Bears Incites Fear in
Japan.” The Times quotes an official as saying “These bears are
of the new type, they are not scared of people.” Some are now
going so far as to claim many of the bruins may have crossed a
narrow strait between Japan and Russia.
So I’m thinking; were this to be the case, these Russian bears,
living in such a remote area, may not know of the breakup of the
Soviet Union, thus the aggressive nature. Or maybe Putin sent
them to stir things up as part of his plan to create a new Soviet
Empire. Regardless, it is of great concern to the Japanese
people.
–Staying on the topic of animals, I was reading my High Plains
Journal yesterday and saw that 6.4% of calf losses are caused by
predators. And get this, coyotes are responsible for 65% of
these. In fact, in 2000 a total of 95,000 calves were lost to
coyotes. 95,000! Goodness gracious. Said one official, “Once
coyotes have eaten a particular animal, they’ll be willing to kill
for it again.” Don’t coyotes know I love veal!
Here’s something pretty gross, though. You know how you can
tell whether a calf has been killed by a coyote or some wild
dogs? The dogs tend to mangle the carcass. Coyotes go after the
heart and liver first.
We have lots of coyotes in New Jersey now; just another reason
to be very careful when picking up the morning paper in the
driveway. Be afraid, be very afraid.
–And then I have this problem with woodpeckers at my home.
Here I told you last week that I thought it was my neighbor’s
issue. But nooooooo…the contractor saw me come home from
work one day and he goes, “Editor, did you see what’s happening
in the back of your place?” “No, don’t tell me!” I screamed.
Yes, it was true. Woodpeckers have been having a field day.
Anyway, the police chief is a good friend of mine and the other
day we’re at a restaurant when I asked, “Doug, do you mind if I
borrow your gun for a few days?” When he learned what this
request was for, it was denied. We then quickly changed the
subject to “Desperate Housewives.”
–Back to the NBA, Sports Illustrated’s “They Said It” is rather
apropriate.
Jason Richardson, Warriors guard, on why the team should
extend his contract. “I’ve represented this franchise in dunk
contest, the Rookie Challenge, the stuff at All-Star weekend. I
think it’s time for them to be loyal back to me.”
Jason Richardson? You may have just won the coveted “Bar
Chat Idiot of the Year” award! What do you have to say?
“I’m going to Knotts Berry Farm!”
Top 3 songs for the week of 11/9/68: #1 “Hey Jude” (The
Beatles) #2 “Those Were The Days” (Mary Hopkin) #3 “Love
Child” (Diana Ross & The Supremes)
NBA Quiz Answer: Top ten scores, career…entering 2004-05
1. Kareem Abdul Jabbar…38,387…24.6 ppg
2. Karl Malone……………36,928…25.0
3. Michael Jordan………..32,292…30.1
4. Wilt Chamberlain……..31,419…30.1
5. Moses Malone…………27,409…20.6
6. Elvin Hayes……………27,313…21.0
7. Hakeem Olajuwon…….26,946…21.8
8. Oscar Robertson………26,710…25.7
9. Dominique Wilkins…….26,668…24.8
10. John Havlicek………..26,395…20.8
11. Alex English………….25,613…21.5
12. Jerry West……………25,192…27.0
20. Shaq………………….21,914…27.1
Beer Quiz: Ten most popular brands in the U.S.
Bud Light……….18.9% market share
Budweiser………15.1
Coors Light………8.0
Miller Lite………..7.8
Natural Light……..4.2 [That’s a shocker…never had one]
Busch…………….3.5
Corona Extra…….3.5
Busch Light………2.9
Miller High Life….2.7
Heineken…………2.3
Next Bar Chat, Thursday…a Veterans Day tale or two.
IWSA…your assurance of web site quality.
