NBA Quiz: This season, Jason Kidd became just the 4th in
league history to accumulate 10,000 points, 7,000 assists, and
5,000 rebounds in his career. Name the other three. Answer
below. [Hint: One is very difficult…which is why I threw this at
you.]
Victory over Europe
Lead Headline in The New York Times, Tuesday, May 8, 1945:
THE WAR IN EUROPE IS ENDED!
SURRENDER IS UNCONDITIONAL;
V-E WILL BE PROCLAIMED TODAY;
OUR TROOPS ON OKINAWA GAIN
Following are some snippets from the May 8, 1945 edition of the
New York Daily News. [I have a copy.]
AP – “Germany surrendered unconditionally to the Allies today,
completing the victory in the European phase of World War II –
the most devastating in history….
“The whereabouts of such war criminals as Himmler and
Goering and even that of Hitler himself, although he has been
reported dead, were unknown or if they were known they had not
been officially announced….
“The crowning triumph came just five years, eight months and
six days after Hitler invaded weak but proud Poland and struck
the spark which set the world afire.”
From reporter Neal Patterson – “New York City’s millions
celebrated the advent of Victory in Europe all yesterday and last
night with a joy tempered only by the realization that it would
not be announced officially until today…
“Half a million crowded around Times Square yesterday and
stopped all traffic for almost six hours until 4:35 P.M. while 500
police with little effort kept order.
“Mayor LaGuardia went on the air over WNYC at 3:15 P.M.
His tremulous voice reached Times Square over the station’s
public address system and it acted as a partial curb.
“ ‘I want all the people of the City of New York who have
thoughtlessly left their jobs to go home or to return to their jobs,’
the Mayor said, ‘and I want to beg of them again that, having
taken time off, not to do it again. Just remain on your jobs as a
tribute to the men who have won the war in Europe and as a
token of support to the men who are fighting and dying at this
very moment in the Pacific.”
—
V-E Beer Keg Pours 4 Into Clink
“The beer was free at Oak and Catherine Sts. At 4:30 P.M.
yesterday. Mounted on a chair on the sidewalk, a five-gallon keg
poured forth bubbling brew. Four bartenders served. And there
was singing, and shouting, and foaming glasses lifted to V-E
Day….
“Along came Patrolman Richard P. Cook….”
Well, one thing led to another and the four were arrested for
drinking outside. The judge said, “A great day to celebrate, but
not that way. Three dollars or three days.” The four paid.
—
Reporter Fred Pasley – “Russia’s Molotov, in a press conference
with some 900 correspondents this evening that marked his
farewell appearance at the United Nations conference, expertly
sidestepped vital questions regarding the Polish issue or the fate
of the 16 missing representatives of the London Polish
Government.” Molotov:
“The Allies have successfully settled the Yugoslav question and I
have no doubt the Polish question will be settled successfully.
The principal thing is that the question should be settled
according to the wishes of the Poles. The conference is
concluded.”
And with that Molotov gave a quick bow and left. The Poles
were screwed.
—
Save Paper For Tomorrow
“Stop, please stop, throwing paper out of windows just because
the Germans have surrendered, Sanitation Commissioner
William F. Carey pleaded yesterday. More than 1,000 tons were
ruined – made completely unsalvageable by celebrants, he added.
Put it in bundles, get it out tonight if the weather’s right, and the
sanitation trucks will pick it up tomorrow. That war in the Pacific
won’t be over for awhile.”
[New York – Fun City? I think not.]
—
Yanks Scale Cliffs on Ropes to Beat Back Okinawa Japs
“American troops, scaling steep cliffs with rope ladders and
rooting out entrenched Japs with flame-throwing tanks, pushed
ahead all along the tough southern Okinawa line yesterday.”
—
Baseball Celebrates With ‘Holiday’ Tilts
“In accord with the recent remark, ‘If the people want to
celebrate V-E Day, why not at a ballpark?’ sports today will
carry its regular schedule.”
—
What did things cost back then? The Daily News was 2 cents.
[NY Times was 3 cents]
Rayon crepe gown at Lane Bryant…$4.98
Oxford shoes…$2.95
Dance lessons at Miss Alma’s…$1… “with or without
appointment.”
Lunches from 65 cents at Jack Dempsey’s Broadway Restaurant.
Dinner…$1.25
Café Zanzibar was advertising Lionel Hampton as headliner.
Dinner, show & dancing for $2.
“Spray Your Beds…with Preventhem – Cleans out Bedbugs in 2
or 3 sprayings a year….Kills Roaches at once.” [yuck]
Wrestling – “Beauty and the Beast…Dave Levin (Jewish Idol)*
vs. Swedish Angel.” [Cheapest ticket 80 cents. *This is exactly
how the ad was written. Different times, that’s for sure.]
The Phillies were off to a 3-13 start in 1945…they would finish
46-108. Heck, for their part the Philadelphia Athletics were 52-
98 in ’45. You think the Philly fans were restless that season?
#1 Billboard Hits / 1945
Rum And Coca-Cola…Andrews Sisters
Till The End Of Time…Perry Como
Sentimental Journey…Les Brown (Doris Day)
On The Atchison, Topeka And Santa Fe…Johnny Mercer
My Dreams Are Getting Better All The Time…Les Brown
(Doris Day)
There! I’ve Said It Again…Vaughn Monroe
I Can’t Begin To Tell You…Bing Crosby with Carmen
Cavallaro
Chickery Chick…Sammy Kaye (Nancy Norman / Billy
Williams)
It’s Been A Long, Long Time…Harry James (Kitty Kallen)
I’m Beginning To See The Light…Harry James (Kitty Kallen)
Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive…Johnny Mercer
It’s Been A Long Long Time…Bing Crosby with Les Paul
White Christmas…Bing Crosby
Candy…Johnny Mercer & Jo Stafford
Dream…The Pied Pipers
Churchill
And an acknowledgement of V-E Day wouldn’t be complete
without something on Winston Churchill. The following is taken
from an article written by Christopher Matthews from the
January 3 / January 10, 2000 issue of The Weekly Standard.
“No leader was so clear-eyed about the century’s villains. An
instinctive anti-Communist, he understood nevertheless that
Hitler posed the more present danger. ‘We have but one aim,
and one single irrevocable purpose,’ he said after Hitler’s
invasion of Russia in 1941. ‘We are resolved to destroy Hitler
and every vestige of the Nazi regime. From this nothing will
turn us, nothing. We will never parlay, we will never negotiate
with Hitler or any of his gang. Any man or state who fights
against Nazidom will have our aid. Any man or state who
marches with Hitler is our foe.’
“He said the same in private. ‘If Hitler invaded hell,’ he told his
secretary John Colville, ‘I would make at least a favorable
reference to the Devil in the House of Commons.’ In fighting
Nazism, Churchill fought alongside the Soviets in a military
sense, but very much against them in ideological purpose. The
goal of World War II, he said, was ‘to revive the status of man.’
He wanted to raise up the individual beyond the reach of the
Hitlers and Stalins of this world.
“Churchill accomplished that end, and not just in his leadership
against Nazism and communism. Simply by being the
courageous, independent, self-reliant man he was, he was a
tribute to the species. His life is a guide to what a free man can
be.”
Stuff
–World War II tidbit, as supplied by Stu W. In May and June of
1940, Hitler invaded the Netherlands, Belgium and France. On
May 10, when FDR met with Army Chief of Staff General
George Marshall, the army that Marshall headed stood 18th in the
world. Germany had an army of about 6.8 million, the United
States around 500,000.
–According to various sources, Barry Bonds is being
investigated by both Major League Baseball and the feds for tax
fraud involving undeclared income from memorabilia sales.
[This was previously rumored but it’s now coming to the
forefront.] One official of MLB told the New York Daily News
that the San Francisco Giants’ front office “is starting to freak
out” over all of Barry’s problems. Personally, I’m as giddy as a
schoolboy on Christmas morning.
–Last chat I mentioned that the horse Donerail, in winning the
Kentucky Derby in 1913, remained the biggest long shot in
history to take the event. So on Saturday we witnessed the
second longest, 50-1 Giacomo. And not for nothing, but NBC’s
overhead camera shots were terrific.
–Annika Sorenstam fell short in her bid to win a record 6th
straight LPGA victory as she finished ten shots off the pace this
weekend. But I have to admit I hadn’t taken notice of her career
win total lately…59…and she’s still just 34. The all-time mark
is held by Kathy Whitworth at 88, but everyone knows this was
in an era when, quite frankly, few could play the game at a high
level. Compare it to today and the quality of golf on the LPGA
Tour and when Sorenstam wins her 89th it will be a remarkable
feat.
–Nice collapse by Sergio Garcia at the Wachovia Championship
on Sunday. [Good course…good field…fun viewing.] Instead,
Vijay Singh won his 27th career title, 12th in last two years and
15th since turning 40. Sam Snead has the record in this last one
with 17. Vijay is 42.
–A few weeks ago I commented on how IMG was making its
golfers available for corporate outings at $50,000 to $200,000 a
pop. Golf Digest’s Dan Jenkins is now offering his services as a
writer for $100,000 to $300,000. Some of his thoughts.
“I will try to learn the names of some of the players.”
“If a player wins a Southern Farm Bureau Classic, I will not
embarrass him by mentioning it in polite company.”
“For an extra $50,000 I will ask Tiger Woods’ caddie, Steve
Williams, to stand on your foot and stick his finger in your
chest.”
“For an extra $100,000 I will ask Tiger Woods’ caddie, Steve
Williams, to throw you into a bunker and eat your camera.”
“For an extra $150,000 I will ask Tiger Woods’ caddie, Steve
Williams, to slap you around in public.”
–Doesn’t it seem like pitching has been dominating early this
season in baseball? It is…with runs a game at 9.16 vs. 9.66 in
2004. But I was surprised there have been only three more
shutouts at this point in the season (thru late last week) than ’04,
though there have been 17 more complete games.
–So much for former major league pitcher Tom House’s steroids
accusations. [Bar Chat 5/5]
“House said he misspoke when he estimated a half-dozen
pitchers on every team experimented with steroids or human
growth hormone in the 1960s and 1970s. House said he meant to
say those players used amphetamines.” [Star-Ledger]
Here’s what I wrote last week:
“Now any fan knows the players were taking amphetamines but
House’s claim is disappointing.”
Ergo, Tom House is a jerk…and now a candidate for “Bar Chat
Jerk of the Year.”
–Pedro Martinez has made seven starts for the New York Mets
(going 4-1) and in those seven outings, teammate Carlos Beltran
has gone 15 for 31 with 6 HR and 17 RBI. In the team’s other 25
games, Beltran has but 6 RBI and is hitting .255 thru Sunday.
[25 for 99]
–Florida’s Dontrelle Willis and the Chicago White Sox’ Jon
Garland are both off to 6-0 starts this season. And who would
have thunk the ChiSox would be 24-7 thru Sunday?
–Johnny Mac was musing about some old-time baseball. Like
former slugger Ted Kluszewski. Klu hit 279 home runs in his
career, including a stretch where he clubbed 40, 49 and 47 in
consecutive seasons yet struck out only 109 times, total, in those
three years . Remarkable. Actually, Klu never whiffed more
than 40 times in any one campaign.
Johnny also muses about the old days of just two years ago. The
raging debate then was about the best shortstop in the game.
Was it Jeter, Nomar or A-Rod? Well, it’s been settled…it’s
Miguel Tejada. As Johnny adds, “That’s sports for you. Two
years ago nobody heard of Johan Santana, and for that matter the
Miami Heat’s Dwayne Wade was famous only in the Wade
family and parts of Wisconsin.” [Next chat a look at the 1953
Brooklyn Dodgers lineup.]
–Alan Schwarz has a piece on minor league baseball in the May
9 issue of Newsweek. Gross revenues are up 91 percent in the
past 10 years, while franchise values are now as high as $20
million. Sales of licensed merchandise has grown from just $2.5
million in 1991 to $38.7 million last year, thanks in large part to
clever nicknames and logos; like the Portland Seadogs and the
Jupiter Hammerheads.
–Marquette University is changing its nickname to the “Gold,”
not the Golden Eagles. Of course they used to be the Warriors,
but you know what happened to that one in this PC era of ours.
Which is another reason to praise the likes of the Atlanta Braves
and Cleveland Indians for sticking with their names.
–Singer Jimmy Ruffin turned 66 on Saturday. So it’s an excuse
to clarify which Ruffin brother sang which top ten Billboard hits.
Jimmy: #7 “What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted” (9/66)
David: #9 “My Whole Word Ended (The Moment You Left
Me)” 2/69; #9 “Walk Away From Love” (11/75)
[David is 64]
–Singer Johnny Maestro also turned 66 on Saturday. Boy, that
makes some of us feel old. Maestro sang lead on the Brooklyn
Bridge’s #3 1969 hit “Worst That Could Happen”.
Top 3 songs for the week of 5/9/64: “Hello, Dolly!” (Louis
Armstrong) #2 “Do You Want To Know A Secret” (The
Beatles) #3 “My Guy” (Mary Wells)
NBA Quiz Answer: Jason Kidd now has 11,617 points, 7,283
assists and 5,073 rebounds. [Averaging 14.8 points, 9.3 assists,
and 6.5 rebounds.] Others in the 10 / 7 / 5 club are:
Magic Johnson – 17,707 pts., 10,141 ast, 6,559 reb
Oscar Robertson – 26, 710 pts., 9,887 ast, 7,804 reb
Lenny Wilkens – 17,772 pts., 7,211 ast, 5,030 reb
Heineken is buying Russia’s Patra; makers of Patra, Strelets and
Zhigulevskoye beers. I apologize; I can’t comment on this
acquisition because I haven’t had any of these brews.
Next Bar Chat, Thursday.
