NBA Quiz: Since 1990, name the 8 top draft picks who also
became Rookie of the Year. Answer below.
College Basketball
My friend Pete stopped by Saturday near halftime of the West
Virginia – Louisville game, with West Virginia up 38-18, and
casually mentioned he had Louisville and Illinois in a big money
pool where he was doing very well. “So much for my chances,”
he said. Of course the rest is history. Quite simply the greatest
two games, back-to-back, in NCAA tournament history. The
Washington Post’s Michael Wilbon wrote afterwards:
“You go into the NCAA tournament praying to see just one game
like this, a back-and-forth battle between teams stocked with
players as smart as they are talented, a game where somebody
gets a big lead and the other guy comes back from an impossible
deficit with little time remaining. You dream of seeing one of
those all-time classics where the winners are too dazed to make
sense of how they persevered and the losers fall to the floor in an
agony they never knew could be so painful….
“While Illinois vs. Arizona lacks a signature play, like Duke’s
Grant Hill throwing deep to Christian Laettner to beat Kentucky,
it didn’t lack anything else, certainly not effort, intensity,
passion, and absolutely not drama. It’s way up on the short list
of Greatest Comebacks Ever, way up on the short list of Greatest
Games Ever. And to think how good it had to be to top
Louisville – West Virginia in the prelim! Go ahead, find a better
day of basketball.”
Well, Sunday proved to be pretty darn good as well. Wilbon
then wrote on Monday in the Post, “My God, this weekend of
basketball was so delicious,” and “How dumb are the people who
run Division I-A football not to decide their championship on the
field of play the way college basketball does.”
Remember about six weeks ago when I bemoaned how dull the
college basketball season was? At the time Johnny Mac
corrected me, saying he thought this year’s tournament was more
wide open than ever and certainly that has been borne out.
Unfortunately, I missed some of the past week’s late games, but
like the rest of you I was glued to the action Saturday.
As for Pete, if Illinois wins it all he’s now in line to win mega-
bucks and I’ve been assured I’ll get some premium lager out of
it.
Stuff
–No doubt, some of the officiating in the NCAA tourney has
been suspect, starting with the call on Villanova’s Allan Ray.
And as for the final few minutes in regulation of the Illinois
game, Johnny Mac observed it wasn’t poorly refereed, it wasn’t
refereed at all. “The thought seemed to be ‘no autopsy, no
foul.’”
–Congratulations to Anika Sorenstam for winning her record-
tying 5th LPGA tournament in a row (tying Nancy Lopez’s
mark), as well as the season’s first major in the Nabisco
Championship.
–What a disaster the Players Championship has been as bad
weather continues to plague the tour.
**But…updating…congrats to 48-year-old Fred Funk! Great
stuff.
–Steroids
Mike Lupica, New York Daily News, echoing the sentiments of
many these days…and it’s about Roger.
“To now, Roger Clemens hasn’t existed in (the world of
diminished production with age). Now, Clemens doesn’t have to
hide, because no one has ever openly accused him of using
steroids, even if Canseco hinted about steroids in his book. But
Clemens better understand that he’s a suspect now, because he’s
gotten stronger as he’s gotten older the way Barry Bonds has, his
pitching accomplishments as dramatic in their own way as
Bonds’ prodigious home run numbers. And now we hear from
him that he might not be the same this season because Vioxx, his
pain medicine of choice, his bounce-back pill, has been taken off
the market.
“That’s his story and if it sounds like a cover story to you that’s
because it sounds like one to me, and I’m someone who has
praised the late innings of Clemens’ career to the sky. Only now
he talks about Vioxx, like it’s some sort of pre-emptive strike if
he gets older all of a sudden.”
Incidentally, one of Canseco’s other targets, Pudge Rodriguez,
appeared in training camp this year some 22 pounds lighter.
Hmmmm.
As for Barry Bonds, according to Christian Red of the Daily
News, the BALCO grand jury is reviewing approximately 150
taped phone messages that Barry left mistress Kimberly Bell on
Bell’s answering machine during their nine-year relationship.
Aphrodite Jones is working on Bell’s book, to be released in the
fall at this date, and Jones observes:
“A lot of the messages (at first) were very sweet. But then it gets
very weird where he’s constantly, ‘Where are you at? Where’s
your (expletive deleted) ass at?’ A lot of cursing. There were
threatening messages there,” says Jones. Yup, ‘roid rage.
155 Baseball Hall of Fame voters (among about 500) were polled
last week on the issue of Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds.
Only 65 of the 155 said they would vote for McGwire when he
becomes eligible in two years or were leaning that way. 52 said
no and 38 were undecided. Bonds received 105 votes for
election, 25 against and 25 undecided.
Since you need 75 percent for enshrinement, you can see that
McGwire received only 55% of those who had made up their
mind (65 / 117), while Bonds garnered 80%.
Finally, Sports Illustrated’s Gary Smith interviewed a number of
folks, from sportswriters to congressmen to fans, to gauge the
level of discontent on the steroids front. Following are the
thoughts of Terence Moore, columnist for the Atlanta Journal-
Constitution and Hall of Fame voter.
“Rule 5 on his Hall of Fame ballot instructions states: ‘Voting
shall be based upon the player’s record, playing ability, integrity,
sportsmanship, character…’ and so the names of Mark McGwire,
Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds will never appear on Terence’s
ballot.
“This is worse than the Black Sox scandal,” Terence says.
“That was several players fixing one World Series. This is a
much larger group of players fixing records that may last for
decades. This story has become baseball’s Watergate. It started
as a minor break-in and just kept growing, week after week.
“McGwire’s obviously guilty. There’s been a huge feeling in the
black community that everyone was going after Bonds while
McGwire was getting a pass, but people can’t say that now.”
–Did you see paleontologists may have recovered DNA from a
Tyrannosaurus rex in Montana? Assuming we have a bunch of
test tube T-Rex’s down the road, who then would control the
mineral and natural gas rights in the region?
–NCAA President Myles Brand earned $835,000 last year. Only
five private-school presidents make more.
–Boy, talk about a dirtball. How about New Orleans Saints
coach Jim Haslett, who last week out of nowhere accused the
Pittsburgh Steelers of 1970s fame of using steroids (before they
were ruled illegal in the NFL). Haslett said he tried them himself
while with Buffalo from 1979 to 1985. But what an a-hole for
dragging Pittsburgh into it. He was forced to apologize the next
day but the damage has been done. Hopefully he’s fired.
Steelers owner Dan Rooney, who ran the team during the 70s,
rejected Haslett’s claims, noting the Steelers were known for
smaller, quicker linemen who ran trap plays that required they be
agile, not bulky. Rooney told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
“(Then coach) Chuck Noll was totally against it. He looked into
it, examined it, talked to people….Chuck Noll told the players,
‘Hey, this stuff doesn’t do you any good. If you just do the
work, lift, things like that, you’ll be all right.’”
But Haslett did say something interesting that perhaps goes to the
heart of the matter when it comes to baseball players.
“You can lift like Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday,
Friday – you never got tired,” he said. “Your muscles recovered
from it. When you lift, your muscle tears down and the blood
comes in and repairs it. It takes about 28 to 40 hours for the
blood to repair the muscle. When you take steroids and it rips
the muscle, the blood immediately flows in there and it repairs
itself right away. That’s why you never feel tired, you never feel
sore.”
–The key players on Villanova’s 1985 NCAA title team that
went 22 of 28 from the field in their stunning 66-64 victory over
Georgetown:
Forward Dwayne McClain, Center Ed Pinckney, point guard
Gary McLain, forward Harold Pressley, guard Dwight Wilbur,
center Chuck Everson, forward Mark Plansky and guard Harold
Jensen.
‘Nova advanced to the Elite Eight with wins over Dayton (51-
49), No. 1 seed Michigan (59-55) and Maryland (46-43). Then
in the regional final they defeated North Carolina 56-44 after
trailing 22-17 at half and with Coach Rollie Massimino
addressing the team during the break:
“I don’t need this! You know what I’d like right now? A big
bowl of spags, with clam sauce.” He was laughing madly as he
said it, spreading his hands as if to illustrate a massive vat of
pasta. The players started smiling and then Rollie simply said,
“Hey, guys. Just go out and play.”
The Wildcats then defeated Memphis in the Final Four, 52-45,
while Georgetown and Patrick Ewing were defeating St. John’s
75-59, thereby setting up the climax. Villanova led that one 29-
28 at half when Rollie told his players.
“They are not giving that intimidation s— to us. Who the f— do
they think they are? Do they think we’re going to lie down for
them? That is not happening. They’re trying to chump us, and
it’s b——-!”
How could they lose after that?
Unfortunately, two years later Sports Illustrated ran one of its
most famous stories concerning Gary McLain, who claimed he
was on drugs while playing against Memphis State (but not in the
finals) and that Massimino knew about his drug use and did
nothing because he didn’t want others exposed. Things went
downhill from there for Rollie as he let fame get to his head…but
for that one brief shining moment……..
[Tim Layden / Sports Illustrated]
**HBO is featuring this game on Monday, March 28, “Perfect
Upset.” If you miss it I’m sure it will be repeated.
–Boy, here’s a shark tale for you. Mark Currie, 32, a British
tourist, was off the coast of South Africa as part of a shark
watching excursion with others. Tourists lower themselves into
a shark cage at one key hot spot and get to take pictures of the
beasts, most of which are in the 8- to 12-foot category. This one
was 20 feet…a mammoth great white. As reported by Adam
Fresco of The Times of London:
“The terrifying incident began when two women in the cage
spotted the shark and clambered back into the safety of the boat.
“But Currie…decided that as he had paid his money he would
have a go, believing the cage, kept afloat by four buoys…must
be safe. The shark began to circle before heading straight for
him. Mr. Currie…thought this was normal until the fish rammed
the cage and bit through the metal bars.
“Desperately trying to hang on as he was shaken like ‘an ant in a
jar,’ Mr. Currie grabbed one of the bars, putting his arm within
inches of the shark’s teeth. When one of the buoys burst the
cage began to sink at an angle and the shark tried to get into the
3-foot cage from above. In a desperate attempt to save his life
Mr. Currie was forced to surface for air, risking being caught by
the shark, before swimming to the bottom of the cage and safety.
“All the while the shark was biting through the metal and getting
closer.
“Mr. Currie said that he thought he was either going to drown or
be eaten. Realizing he had to escape he climbed on the top of the
cage and, as the shark started what would have been his final,
fatal attack, the captain hauled him into the boat while hitting the
shark over the head with a metal bar.”
Supposedly, it’s all on video and I imagine Mr. Currie will
receive quite a sum for it.
But did you know great whites tear chunks off their prey and
swallow it whole and that after killing a seal do not need to eat
for two months? It’s true. Which also means one thing…it
seems to me like it would behoove the ocean swimmer or
fisherman to befriend a seal or two and take them along for the
ride, just in case. Just make sure the seal isn’t stronger than you
or it will push you in front.
–A few obituaries to report on.
Paul Henning died at the age of 93. He was the creator of “The
Beverly Hillbillies” and wrote the theme song as well. Henning
created the smash hit based on his encounters with residents of
the Ozarks during camping trips as a youth. At its peak the show
was viewed by 60 million! Think about that. The country only
had about 170 million total population in those days.
Speaking of the theme song, “The Ballad of Jed Clampett,” it
was sung by Jerry Scoggins with Nashville stars Lester Flatt
and Earl Scruggs on guitar and banjo.
Don Durant passed away at 72. In the 1950s he starred as
gunslinger-turned-sheriff “Johnny Ringo.” Though the show
only ran one season it generated about 100 toys, including board
games and gun sets. A “Johnny Ringo Western Frontier Play
Set,” featuring miniature figures, horses and wagons, sold on
eBay in 2001 for $9,000.
And Barney Martin died at 82. Martin was a former New York
City detective who went into show business, appearing on
Broadway as well as the big and little screens. For most of you
he’s best known for his roles in “The Tony Randall Show” as
well as “Seinfeld,” where he appeared as Jerry’s father. [The
third actor to do so.]
–You can’t make this stuff up. Joe Ryan of the Star-Ledger here
in New Jersey reports.
“Thomas Ilg had walked about two blocks away from a Clark
(NJ) courtroom Tuesday after appearing on burglary charges
when he paused at a house and broke in again, police said.
“But Ilg, fresh out of lockup after being charged with plundering
a church alms box, dropped an incriminating bit of evidence: a
Union County Jail envelope, inscribed with his name.
“ ‘It was one of the easier burglaries we have ever solved,’ said
Capt. Denis Connell of the Clark Police Department.
–The Washington Nationals have been auditioning for a public
address announcer. The pay? $150 per game.
–Two weeks ago, senior golfer Hale Irwin finished a tournament
over par for only the 14th time in 233 Champions Tour events.
–Golfer Aaron Baddeley is known as “Dresses” on tour, as in
Dresses Badd-eley.
–Hey “Deadwood” fans. I’m sure you share my thought that I
hope Al Swearengen is finally on the road to recovery. These
last two weeks have been painful to watch, to say the least.
Top 3 songs for the week of 3/30/74: #1 “Sunshine On My
Shoulders” (John Denver….remember, always fuel up) #2
“Hooked On A Feeling” (Blue Swede) #3 “Seasons In The Sun”
(Terry Jacks)
NBA Quiz Answer: 8 top draft picks who also became Rookie of
the Year –
1990 – Derrick Coleman, NJ
1991 – Larry Johnson, Charlotte
1992 – Shaquille O’Neal, Orlando
1993 – Chris Webber, Orlando
1996 – Allen Iverson, Philadelphia
1997 – Tim Duncan, San Antonio
1999 – Elton Brand, Chicago
2003 – LeBron James, Cleveland
Next Bar Chat, Thursday…Byron Nelson
