Draft Quiz: [From a recent piece in USA Today] Eleven
schools have had a football player and a basketball player among
the top five draft picks in the same year. Some of these are way
too hard, even for rabid sports fans, but I’ve selected a few that
are easier. Name the athletes.
1990 – Illinois…NFL: J.G., NBA: K.G.
1986 – Auburn…NFL: B.J., NBA: C.P
1981 – North Carolina…NFL: L.T., NBA: A.W.
1978 – Kentucky…NFL: A.S., NBA: R.R.
1965 – North Carolina…NFL: K.W. (running back), NBA: B.C.
The Great Water Scam
On Thursday, the New York Times had an article on a new study
just published in The New England Journal of Medicine
concerning the conventional wisdom of drinking lots of water
while exercising vigorously. Marathon runners, for example, can
dangerously dilute the blood with an overdose of liquids, risking
coma and even death. And it can happen under far less arduous
conditions, including long bike rides. A South African expert
who has been warning of the danger for two decades said he has
yet to find a case where an athlete died from dehydration in a
competitive race, but that more than a handful have had serious
issues from drinking too much.
“In the 2002 Boston Marathon, for example, a 28-year-old
woman found herself exhausted after running for five hours and
gulping sports drinks along the way. Wrongly assuming that she
was dehydrated, she chugged down 16 more ounces of a sports
drink. She promptly collapsed and was later declared brain-dead.
The concentration of salt in her blood was found to be lethally
low.” [New York Times editorial]
The study shows, as in the above example, that it’s not the elite
runners who have the worst problems but rather those
marathoners who take four hours or more and give themselves
plenty of time to drink excess fluids.
From Gina Kolata’s NYT report:
“Doctors and sports drink companies ‘made dehydration a
medical illness that was to be feared,’ said Dr. Tim Noakes, a
hyponatremia expert at the University of Cape Town.
“ ‘Everyone becomes dehydrated when they race,’ Dr. Noakes
said. ‘But I have not found one death in an athlete from
dehydration in a competitive race in the whole history of
running. Not one. Not even a case of illness.’”
Dr. Paul Thompson, a cardiologist at Hartford Hospital in
Connecticut and a marathon runner, advises runners to drink
while they are moving.
“ ‘If you stop and drink a couple of cups, you are overdoing it,’
he said. Dr. Marvin Adner said athletes also should be careful
after a race. ‘Don’t start chugging down water.’ Instead, he
advised runners to wait until they began to urinate, a sign the
body is no longer retaining water.”
So with this new study, I thought I’d reprise a piece I did for Bar
Chat a little over a year ago on a related topic.
Nigel Hawkes had a story in the London Times concerning
bottled water. Hawkes ridiculed Coca-Cola’s recent decision to
bottle the tapwater from a London suburb, Sidcup, as the
company claims it’s improving the product by removing the
chlorine. As Hawkes notes, though, this would mean that once
the bottle is open you’d have to drink it within a day or so to
eliminate the risk of bacterial spoilage. But then he goes on.
“Few products rely more on pseudo-science than bottled water.
Some of the claims are so laughable that they are surely not
meant to be taken seriously…
“For years, otherwise sensible people have been persuaded that
their sense of thirst is not enough to tell them when to drink. A
myth sustained by the water bottlers insists that we all drink too
little water, and would be healthier and better people if we drank
more.
“The idea has a persuasive hold, to judge by the number of
young people seen wandering around clutching plastic bottles.
They have become as vital an accessory as a mobile phone,
fueled by the mantra ‘eight by eight’ – the assertion that we all
need to drink eight glasses of water a day, each containing eight
ounces. According to the authorized version, nothing else will
do. Tea, coffee, or alcoholic drinks don’t count towards the
target because they have a diuretic effect.
“Where on earth did this come from? For the whole of human
history men and women took a drink when they were thirsty, and
desisted when they weren’t. The sense of thirst is an exquisitely
sensitive way of telling you when you need to drink. Where is
the evidence that drinking more than we want could have any
benefits at all?”
Hawkes then notes the work of Heinz Valtin of Dartmouth
Medical School who concluded in The American Journal of
Physiology that this myth had no basis in fact.
“Nor it is true, he says, that caffeinated drinks don’t count. They
do, and so do weak alcoholic drinks such as beer, in moderation.
For healthy adults living in a temperate climate leading sedentary
lives – just the kind of people never seen without a plastic bottle
– the injunction to drink more water is nonsense.”
Another study in The Journal of the American College of
Nutrition from last April “showed that people who drank only
fruit juice, soft drinks and coffee were no more or less hydrated
than a second group who added plain water to their diet.”
Hawkes concludes, “So who’s kidding whom? Water may
indeed be the stuff of life, but there’s no need to stuff ourselves
with it. And paying over the odds for bottled water tasting
faintly of plasticizer is madness. Turn on the tap. It takes just a
fraction of a second, and costs nothing.”
So there you have it. I just saved some of you enough money to
enable you to upgrade to premium beer.
Stuff:
–Related to the above sports quiz, the University of Utah could
actually achieve something never done before; having its player
chosen first overall in both the NFL and NBA drafts….
Quarterback Alex Smith and center Andrew Bogut. Regardless,
even if they are not #1 picks, they are definitely top five.
–Jeff B. and I were talking about college basketball and players
who don’t stay long enough. But J.B., a huge UConn fan, is
obviously proud of his two stars from the 2003-2004 title squad
who left early, having nothing else to prove; Emeka Okafor and
Ben Gordon. These guys did it right…Okafor being odds-on
favorite for NBA rookie of the year and Gordon merely being the
best 6th man in the game.
–Last week Wake Forest star Chris Paul announced he was
leaving early after just his sophomore year. Boy, good thing I
wasn’t commenting on him when this happened. But now, after
having some time to think about it, I’m still upset.
Perhaps my friend Phil W. put it best. Wake better not hang
Paul’s jersey from the rafters, ever. To me the guy is a fraud.
He played chippy all season, ending in that cheap shot against
North Carolina State’s Julius Hodge, but the real bottom line is
he didn’t accomplish anything. He’s a loser. The team, and the
coach, choked this season, just as we have in the past.
Paul just doesn’t get it. No one cares about the NBA anymore.
The real legends are made in college and Paul had a chance to
come back one last season and make things right. Finally take
the team (which otherwise returns some good players) to the
coveted Final Four. And then no one would have begrudged him
leaving after his junior year. But this way? It’s a betrayal.
Mayor of Winston-Salem? I think not.
–Early in the NBA season I said Dirk Nowitzki would be MVP.
Well, that’s another prediction that won’t come to pass, but he
should be first team All-NBA…so you can’t kill me on this one.
–Interesting piece in the Los Angeles Times by Geoff Boucher
and Randy Lewis concerning Michael Jackson and the
publishing rights to the Beatles catalog that he owns. 20 years
ago Jackson bought it for $47.5 million and today some say it
could be valued at as much as $500 million. Nice investment,
gloved one. Today, Jackson is scrambling to come up with
ways to pay off his estimated $270 million in loans with Bank of
America.
Every time “Revolution” or “She Loves You” is played half the
money goes to McCartney and the Lennon estate, the other half
goes to Jackson’s joint venture, Sony / ATV Music Publishing.
So Jackson could at least spin off a portion of his interest.
But did you know this catalog generates an estimated $80 million
in annual revenue? Aside from 251 Beatles songs, including all
of their favorites, it also includes Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the
Wind” as well as songs from Garth Brooks, Neil Diamond and
others.
[See, I didn’t even comment on the trial…because I simply don’t
care.]
–Golf Bits:
I seldom watch the Golf Channel but the other night I caught a
debate on 15-year-old Michelle Wie and her decision to take a
sponsor’s exemption to play in the PGA Tour’s John Deere
Classic. I forget who was making the comment but he was bang
on. Michelle’s family, and Michelle herself, have to decide just
what they’re trying to accomplish. Tiger Woods is the prime
example of honing his game at the amateur level…winning three
U.S. Amateur titles before turning pro. But Michelle keeps
screwing around with the occasional men’s event and other
LPGA tournaments and in many cases just doesn’t have a shot at
winning. Sure, she came close to making a cut at the PGA’s
Sony Open two years ago, but so what? It’s not helping her,
long-term. Start dominating the amateur circuit first.
Speaking of Tiger, from time to time when I’ve listed the major
titles won by Tiger and Jack Nicklaus, I’ve included their U.S.
Amateur titles…3 for Tiger and 2 for Jack. But it turns out that
Tiger himself only counts professional majors so from here on
that’s what I’ll stick with. Jack has 18 and Tiger now has 9.
I have to go back and address some topics from the Masters that I
wasn’t aware of until I received some of my golf magazines the
end of last week.
For example, Billy Casper and his 105. Back in 2002, Masters
chairman Hootie Johnson sought to “retire” past champions older
than 65, but he changed his mind and asked that they be
competitive and complete 36 holes. This was directed in
particular at Doug Ford, who from 1998-2001 showed up, played
one round, and then withdrew. Ford, of course, was thus taking
up a slot that could have gone to a more deserving player.
So Casper, now 73, decided that he would play one more Masters
after not competing since 2001 when he shot 87-80. It was all
about his family, including his grandchildren seeing him one last
time, he assured us. Instead he came up with an embarrassing
performance, including a 14 on the par-3 16th.
But here’s what really ticks me, and a lot of Augusta officials,
off. He didn’t sign his scorecard! You know what that means?
His score thus isn’t official so it doesn’t go down as the worst in
Masters history. [Instead that dubious honor remains with
Charles Kunkle Jr., who shot a 95 in 1956. Doug Ford had a pair
of 94s in 1997 and 2000.]
GolfWorld columnist Bob Verdi, a veteran scribe, had the
following comment on Casper’s act.
“Casper deserved to start this Masters, his 45th, but this Masters
deserved a better finish from Casper. If he wasn’t about to put
the ball in his pocket, he shouldn’t have put the card there, either.
This was no way to go, signing off but not signing out.”
Damn straight. In fact, Billy Casper is now a big-time candidate
for “Bar Chat Dirtball of the Year.”
By the way, I’ve written of how the folks at Baltusrol are excited
about the height of the rough for this summer’s PGA in an
attempt to prevent Tiger from dominating. Tiger, you’ll recall,
was 49th of 50 in driving accuracy at the Masters, but because
Augusta sought to ensure his victory it refused to grow any
rough. So, Tiger ended up #2 in greens in regulation. That isn’t
going to be the case in the next three majors….well, with St.
Andrews it depends on the weather and whether the fairways are
burned out. But now I’m really rambling.
There are some good television critics, the Star-Ledger in New
Jersey has two super ones, for example, but I’m talking about
critiquing a comedy or drama. As for those who built careers
critiquing sports announcers, I just never got it.
Like the success (I guess you could call it that) of USA Today’s
Rudy Martzke. Hey, don’t get me wrong. All of us sports fans
have problems with some announcers…like wanting Dick Vitale
to shut up most of the time, or the problems a lot of us have had
with Bret Musberger over the years (though I’m more tolerant of
him these days than I used to be).
But to actually make money writing about what these guys say
on a telecast? That’s a joke. So I see that Martzke wrote his last
column the other day. I used to read his stuff just to stimulate
my heart…you know, if I was feeling too relaxed. Do you know
he was writing for the paper for 23 years? Goodness gracious.
And good riddance.
If you were watching golfer Darren Clarke choke this weekend at
the MCI Heritage, you were still probably like me in counting
him among your favorites, particularly because he is from
Northern Ireland and clearly loves a good time.
So I was disappointed to read the following in GolfWeek, as
written by Alistair Tait.
“It doesn’t seem like 11 years since I sat in the Royal Portrush
clubhouse and shared a pot of tea and a long conversation with
Darren Clarke, a member of this fantastic course on the tip of the
Emerald Isle. Now one of Europe’s biggest and, sadly, less
approachable stars, Clarke in those days was affable, friendly and
talkative. In other words, he was typically Irish.
“Nowadays Clarke plays behind closed doors at Queenwood in
the posh surroundings of Surrey, England. He is disdainful of
journalists and fairly consumed with self-importance. Maybe he
needs to spend more time back in Ireland because here, on the
northern tip of the land known as Erin, friendly natives are as
plentiful as wonderful golf.”
Peter Lonard won his first PGA title at Harbour Town this
weekend despite shooting 4-over his final round. Darren Clarke
was +9 his last 13 holes in finishing tied for second. That’s a
terrific course. Too bad it’s held the week following the Masters
because so many top players choose to take the week off.
Alan Shipnuck is a super golf writer for Sports Illustrated who
penned a great book “Bud, Sweat, & Tees,” about tour player
Rich Beem. I loved Shipnuck’s description of Chris DiMarco at
the Masters as a “pitbull in spikes.”
–Note to Mark R., with whom I have a huge money bet on
baseball attendance this season. [HUGE…I’m tellin’ ya.] The
Mets drew 55,000+ plus on Saturday…the largest Saturday
crowd of any kind in the team’s history. Heh heh.
–I didn’t know this. From the pages of SI:
Mitch Albom, “the best-selling author and award-winning
Detroit Free Press columnist wrote a story, in advance,
describing former Michigan State stars Mateen Cleaves and
Jason Richardson sitting in the stands and cheering for the
Spartans during their Final Four game with North Carolina. The
problem: Those guys never appeared – but the column did.
Albom, as things turned out, wasn’t even in St. Louis.” “Dirtball
of the Year” candidate? He’s verging on it.
–The Detroit Pistons’ Ben Wallace recently became the 5th
player in NBA history to have 100 blocks and 100 steals in five
straight seasons, joining Hakeem Olajuwon, Julius Erving, David
Robinson and…….Sam Lacey. Sam Lacey?!
Geezuz, I never would have put him in this company. But fact is
the NBA didn’t start officially counting steals and blocks until
the 1973-74 season (league officials were idiots…look at how
baseball has counted everything since practically the 1870s) and
Lacey had 7 straight such seasons between 1973-80 while with
Kansas City and Cincinnati. The former New Mexico State
center ended up averaging 10.3 points per game and 9.7
rebounds for his career, 1970-83. So, heck, he was a serviceable
player who these days would be a coveted free agent
commanding something like $10 million a year. I hope Sam is
doing well. The money angle would depress me to the end of
time.
–Here’s another “Dirtball of the Year” candidate, a perennial
one, Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Terrell Owens. Sure, he
was a warrior in the Super Bowl, coming off his injury and all,
but now he wants to renegotiate the 7-year, $49 million contract
he signed just last March.
“This is not about me being greedy or selfish,” Owens told the
Philadelphia Inquirer. “I was called selfish for trying to come
back and play in the Super Bowl. I just want people to think
about what they’re hearing from all these reports about me being
greedy. Just take a moment and look at my stature in the game.”
Well, we did take a moment, Terrell, and you’re still a dirtball.
[Mark R. called in to add that the Philly media outlets were
raising food donations for the desperately poor receiver this past
weekend.]
–Johnny Mac had this tidbit on Barry Bonds and his home run
per at bat ratio, the subject of a recent Bar Chat quiz.
“Over the last five years, Barry has an at-bat-to-homer ratio of
8.22. Over the last four it’s 7.85.
“If you apply the 7.85 ratio to his career, he would have 1,160
home runs. If you apply it to Hank Aaron’s career, Aaron would
have hit 1,575.
“So, Barry has hit homers since turning 35 at a ratio double that
of Aaron’s for Hank’s entire career.
“OK, but I still believe you, Barry.”
–New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner on the team’s
4-8 start (and $200 million payroll).
“Enough is enough. I am bitterly disappointed, as I’m sure all
Yankee fans are, by the lack of performance by our team. It is
unbelievable to me that the highest-paid team in baseball would
start the season in such a deep funk. They are not playing like
true Yankees. They have the talent to win and they are not
winning. I expect Joe Torre, his complete coaching staff and the
team to turn this around.”
Yoh, George. They are old…and except for Jeter and steroid
maven Sheffield, worthless. A-Rod will be crying for his mother
shortly.
–You gotta love Ichiro…and get used to seeing him in these
pages because I want him to hit .400 this year. On Saturday the
Seattle Mariners had just three hits…and Ichiro had all three.
Through Sunday he was hitting .447…21 for 47 and the great
start we were looking for. And us Mets fans get a kick out of the
great start former Met Edgardo Alfonzo is having for the Giants,
.488, 20 for 41.
–My Mets started off 0-5 but after winning their first game Pete
wrote to say they would go 155-5 with two rainouts. Alas, they
are now 6-6 and I stick by my 85-77 preseason prediction.
–Atlanta’s John Smoltz is now 0-3. I said he’d go 2-29.
Looking good here, except his ERA is down to 5.62 vs. my
predicted 24.58. [The Phillies’ Jon Lieber is 3-0, though I don’t
expect him to go 31-2. More like 7-7. Arm injury coming up.]
–Boston’s Manny Ramirez clouted his 18th career grand slam on
Saturday. Lou Gehrig is the all-time leader at 23.
–Damn, I love Al Swearingen on “Deadwood.” He better get an
Emmy for this season.
–Sign of the Apocalypse and materialism run wild, or, in other
words, your John Paul the Great moment.
Atlanta Braves outfielder Brian Jordan gave his third base coach
a $40,000 motorcycle for the coach’s giving Jordan his number
33 jersey.
–Awful story in the New York Daily News concerning “Big
Pussy,” Sal Bonpensiero from “The Sopranos,” a k a actor
Vincent Pastore. He has been involved in a real-life, terribly
abusive relationship with an actress / acting coach. This is one
screwed up, dangerous dude.
–But on a lighter note, the Daily News asked local comedians to
come up with their favorite joke. I saw the title and thought,
‘Perfect filler for Bar Chat!’ but the jokes were awful. However,
I did like this one from Eddie Brill, comedy veteran and talent
coordinator at “Letterman.” An old standard with a twist.
“A horse walks into a bar and the bartender says, ‘Why the long
face?’ It remains the most perfect joke ever written. You can
substitute Celine Dion for the horse, if you like.”
Oh, c’mon….that’s funny, isn’t it?
–I love the Ketel One ads.
Dear Ketel One Drinker
On those awful days when you’re feeling your age, just
remember, we’re 314.
Top 3 songs for the week of 4/16/66: #1 “(You’re My) Soul And
Inspiration” (The Righteous Brothers) #2 “Daydream” (The
Lovin’ Spoonful) #3 “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)
(Cher)…in fact the entire top ten is great for this week.
#4 “Secret Agent Man” (Johnny Rivers…he’s incredibly
underrated)
#5 “Time Won’t Let Me” (The outsiders)
#6 “19th Nervous Breakdown” (The Rolling Stone0
#7 “The Ballad Of The Green Berets” (SSgt. Barry Sadler)
#8 “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” (B.J. Thomas)
#9 “Good Lovin’” (The Young Rascals)
#10 “Kicks” (Paul Revere & The Raiders)
And this week “Monday, Monday” was the biggest mover going
from #79 to #34. [Source: “Joel Whitburn presents Bilboard Top
10 Charts”]
**John Fred Gourrier died at the age of 63. Yes, the star of John
Fred and His Playboy Band of “Judy In Disguise” fame, a one-
hit, #1 wonder from 1967.
Draft Quiz Answers:
1990 – Illinois…NFL: Jeff George (#1)…NBA: Kendall Gill
(#5)
1986 – Auburn…NFL: Bo Jackson (#1)…NBA: Chuck Person
(#4)
1981 – North Carolina…NFL: Lawrence Taylor (#2)…NBA: Al
Wood (#4)
1978 – Kentucky…NFL: Art Still (#2)…NBA: Rick Robey (#3)
1965 – North Carolina…NFL: Ken Willard (#2)…NBA: Billy
Cunningham (#4)
What’s a real hard one? 1959 – Mississippi State…NFL: Bill
Stacy (#3)…NBA: Bailey Howell (#2)
Next Bar Chat, Thursday.
And on a serious note, to my friends in the Oklahoma City area
you are in my thoughts and prayers on the 10-year anniversary of
the Oklahoma City bombing…April 19, 1995. Some of you know
I made a pilgrimage to OKC twice in the past few years to visit
the site and museum there, the latter one of the best in the
world. It breaks your heart.
On Sunday I was watching CBS national news and they had a
story concerning the baby Bailey; the little, lifeless girl that was
cradled in the fireman’s arms in that famous Newsweek cover. It
turns out we share the same birthday so for the rest of my life I’ll
think of her. She would have been eleven, April 18.
Thankfully, Oklahoma City itself is roaring back, better than
ever. These are some of the nicest people on the planet and we
wish them the best.
