Buffalo Bills Quiz: 1) Who is the career leader in field goals? 2)
Which two players both had 87 TDs, career, to lead the team?
Cincinnati Bengals Quiz: 1) Who is the career leader in TDs
with 70? 2) Who is the career leader in receptions? 3) Who has
the most interceptions, career?
Cleveland Browns Quiz: 1) Who is the career leader in passing
yards? 2) Who has the most sacks, career?
Answers below.
5:30-7:00 PM…Sunday
Boy, if you’re a sports fan you couldn’t beat the drama of
Sunday afternoon. The Tiger – John Daly match-up in the
playoff at this week’s PGA / World Golf event, and then the
excitement of extra innings, all 18 of them, between Houston and
Atlanta. Of course the two-footer that Daly missed was classic
in its own right…while Tiger’s sincere look of pain for Long
John spoke volumes about him, too. Great athletes don’t want to
win that way.
And as much grief as I’ve given Roger Clemens over the years,
that was one gutty performance by him out of the bullpen as part
of the longest baseball game in post-season history.
The Bar Chat “Lock of the Week”
I need to dispatch with this at the start. Yes, I’m now 0-2 this
season as Wyoming not only didn’t beat TCU by more than six
points, it freakin’ lost, at home, 28-14. Hey, how was I to know
Cowboy quarterback Corey Bramlet would not only throw three
interceptions, he’d also have a fumble returned for a score?! I
mean it’s not as if TCU was any great shakes themselves. Their
QB was dreadful, too, going 8-for-23 with two INTs.
Now I’m aware that my career winning percentage in all sports
bets I’ve ever suggested on Bar Chat is about .195. And I’m
aware that countless families have been forced into bankruptcy
after going with my picks.
But there’s only one thing to do….wait for the next one! I’ll
come up with a game that is guaranteed to make your year and
put a smile on all your children come Christmas as they receive
gifts beyond their wildest dreams.
Meanwhile, in other college football news, count me among the
tens of thousands who had buried Penn State coach Joe Paterno
long ago. It was over for Papa Joe. He should be retired, reading
Edward Gibbon’s “The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.”
But noooooooo….Penn State is off to a 6-0 start following its
upset of #6 Ohio State, 17-10. It’s a great story. Time to hop on
this bandwagon before it’s too late. [Don’t worry, I’m still
hanging in with USC because of their cheerleaders.]
As for my other team, Wake Forest, well they covered the spread
in losing to Florida State by 17. And at the end of the day, boys
and girls, isn’t that what it’s really all about?
Lastly, the remaining undefeateds…any of which could win the
national title….and their AP poll ranking
#1 USC…5-0
#2 Texas…5-0
#3 Virginia Tech…6-0
#4 Florida State…5-0
#5 Georgia…5-0
#6 Alabama…5-0
#8 Penn State…6-0
#12 UCLA…5-0
#13 Texas Tech…5-0
USC plays Notre Dame this coming weekend….but while the
Trojans’ offense is unreal, the defense can give up some yards.
Down the road, though, Dec. 3rd…upstart UCLA vs. USC. That
could be fun. And for those of us with long memories, you can’t
help but recall Edy Williams when you think of this contest.
[Ahem….just wanted to get a chuckle out of Mark R. This
happens to be one of television’s all-time moments. About 30
years ago, the camera was scanning the crowd at this contest,
focused on a woman with a fur coat…in southern California
weather…and she opened it up to reveal, err, a rather impressive,
you know….I also have to credit old neighbor Steve G. for first
reminding me just who I was seeing.]
President James Buchanan, Part III
We pick up our tale with the story of Dred Scott and the historic
Supreme Court ruling of March 6, 1857, just two days after
Buchanan was inaugurated.
In 1834, Dred Scott, a slave of John Emerson, was taken from
the slave state of Missouri to the free state of Illinois and then
Wisconsin territory, where slavery had been prohibited by the
Missouri Compromise. After Emerson’s death, Scott sued for his
freedom in 1846 because he had lived in a free state. Eventually,
the case wound its way to the Supreme Court. Enter Chief
Justice Taney.
Roger Brooke Taney was Chief Justice from 1837-1864, having
succeeded the great John Marshall. Taney was described in an
1838 magazine article as “full six feet high; spare, but yet so
dignified in deportment that you are at once impressed with an
instinctive reverence and awe.”
From Bernard Schwartz’s “A History of the Supreme Court”:
“As (Taney) led the Supreme Court into its chamber on January
9, 1837, he looked the picture of a model judge….Taney, of
course, started with the handicap of having to fill the place of the
greatest judge in our history.
“The void created by Chief Justice Marshall’s death can scarcely
be overestimated. Wrote Joseph Story (an Associate Justice), ‘I
miss the Chief Justice at every turn…the room which he was
accustomed to occupy…wears an aspect of desolation.’ The
dejection of Marshall’s admirers was compounded by
apprehension with regard to his potential successor. ‘It is much
to be feared,’ gloomily wrote John Quincy Adams, ‘that a
successor will be appointed of a very different character….
“Marshall’s adherents had hoped against hope that Joseph Story
would become the new Chief Justice. ‘The Supreme Court,’
Harvard President Josiah Quincy toasted, ‘may it be raised one
Story higher.’ President Andrew Jackson, however, could
scarcely appoint one so opposed to his views. Instead, Story
became a vigorous dissenter in the Taney Court.”
Chief Justice Marshall had feared for the future and the advent of
Jacksonian democracy, with its “enormous pretentions of the
Executive,” appeared a portent of things to come. Jackson, it
turns out, was able to place more men on the Supreme Court, six,
than anyone except FDR and Washington. Jackson, of course,
then packed it with Southerners.
Schwartz actually believes Taney wasn’t as bad as history has
portrayed him, but he will forever be linked to Dred Scott v.
Sandford, 1857.
As Michael Beschloss notes in his history of the presidents, the
ruling in Dred Scott was “one of the greatest legal blunders in
U.S. history.”
“The Court ruled that Scott was a slave – not a citizen – and thus
could not sue for anything. Further, since the Missouri
Compromise had forbidden slavery north of the Mason-Dixon
Line, it had deprived Southern slave owners of the right to take
their property wherever they wished. In short, the long-honored
Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional and void.
“The implications were immense. Congress, the Court said,
could not legislate slavery in a territory, and this implied (as a
corollary) that slavery could not be excluded from any territory
created by Congress. Thus, all territories were open to slavery
and could exclude slavery only when they became states.”
[“American Heritage: Illustrated History of the Presidents,”
Michael Beschloss]
President Buchanan of course knew the ruling was coming so he
slipped a clause into his inaugural address, “declaring that the
Supreme Court was about to determine ‘at what point of time’
the people of a territory could decide for or against slavery,
pledging his support to their decision, and begging ‘all good
citizens’ to do likewise.”
From “The Growth of the American Republic,” Morison,
Commager, Leuchtenburg:
“Poor, foolish Buchanan! He had hoped for a peaceful term of
office, but the Dred Scott case unleashed the worst passions of
pro- and anti-slavery when his administration was less than a
week old. The nine justices filed nine separate opinions. Taney,
speaking for the Court, declared against Scott’s claim for
freedom on three grounds: (1) as a Negro he could not be a
citizen of the United States, and therefore had no right to sue in a
Federal court; (2) as a resident of Missouri the laws of Illinois
had no longer any effect on his status; (3) as a resident of the
territory north of lat. 36 degrees 30’ he had not been emancipated
because Congress had no right to deprive citizens of their
property without ‘due process of law.’ The Missouri
Compromise, it followed, was unconstitutional and void (as
Calhoun and other Southerners had long claimed), and slavery
followed the flag.
“On all these points the Chief Justice’s opinion was either
vulnerable or mistaken. As Justice Curtis asserted in his
vigorous dissenting opinion, Negroes had always been
considered citizens in most of the Northern states, and thus had
the right to sue in the Federal courts. Under the generally
accepted rule of interstate comity, Missouri had in seven earlier
cases recognized the claim to freedom of a slave who had resided
in free territory. And Congressional authority over slavery in the
territories had been acknowledged by every branch of the
government for 70 years. As for ‘due process of law,’ that term
in the Constitution referred to the method of enforcing the law,
not to its substance.”
Only once before, in Marbury v. Madison (1803), had the
Supreme Court declared an Act of Congress unconstitutional.
But by this ruling, “the Court had sanctioned Calhoun’s doctrine
that slavery was national, freedom sectional, a doctrine which
departed violently from the principle of international law that
slavery existed only in local law. Oregon and Nebraska, as well
as Kansas, were opened to the slaveholder….slavery was
theoretically legal in every territory of the United States.”
As Beschloss writes, “The South was jubilant, and the North was
disgusted.”
President Buchanan’s presidency was two days old. We
continue next chat.
Stuff
–Interesting story concerning the New York Knicks and recently
acquired 22-year-old center Eddy Curry.
Last spring, the Chicago Bulls diagnosed Curry as having HCM,
hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a potentially fatal thickening of
the heart that claimed basketball players Reggie Lewis and Hank
Gathers.
But Curry since then has refused to take a DNA test that would
help confirm whether or not he truly has it. So the Knicks took
him off the Bulls’ hands, gave him a physical and cleared the
talented kid to play. No DNA sampling, however.
Lisa Salberg is the founder and president of the Hypertrophic
Cardiomyopathy Association and she has been in contact over
the past year with Chicago officials and Curry’s attorney.
“I was really surprised and disappointed to see the Knicks
completely ignore the value of DNA testing,” she said. Salberg
has HCM herself and has lost four family members to the
condition. She applauds the move the Bulls made, to insist on
the test before it allowed Curry back on the court because, after
all, not everyone wants to have a player die in front of 20,000
paying customers.
Knicks president Isiah Thomas said he’s confident nothing is
wrong with Curry. To be continued.
–Ken S.’s bike adventure…continued
Day 4: Wednesday, June 8, 2005. Crossville, TN to Hillsville,
VA. US127 to TN68 to US411 to US129 to US74 to US19 to
the Blue Ridge Parkway to US52, 439 miles. Left Crossville,
TN at 7:15 a.m. CDT. Cloudy, very humid, 70 degrees. US127
to TN68 is poorly marked. I rode 12 miles south before deciding
I was on the wrong road. Rode back and lost 20 minutes.
Arrived at Madisonville, TN at 9:00 a.m. EDT. 70 degrees,
foggy, very humid. At 10:00 a.m., started down the “Tail of the
Dragon.” This is a stretch of road which has 318 curves in 11
miles. US129 is a beautiful, scenic road just before you go into
North Carolina. Well worth driving by car or motorcycle. At
11:00 a.m., started up the Blue Ridge Parkway. Great road, but it
rained off and on the rest of the day, at times hard. Very foggy
on the higher sections, at times could only see 2 or 3 car lengths
ahead and behind. The speed limit on most of the Parkway is 40
mph. A long detour off the Parkway as parts of it are still closed
from the hurricane that came through last year, washing out some
of the road and causing landslides. Arrived at Hillsville, VA at
8:00 p.m. Been a rough, wet day, not much fun. Nearly 12
hours riding in the rain. Have covered 1,976 miles in 4 days.
Day 5: Thursday, June 9. Hillsville, VA to Fredrick, MD.
US221 to I-77 to I-81 to I-66 to US340, 300 miles. Left
Hillsville, VA at 8:45 a.m. Late start as very tired after
yesterday’s conditions. Forecast is for rain all along the Parkway
and east of the mountains. Have decided to go west about 20
miles and pick up the interstate. Hoping this will keep me out of
most of the rain and be easier riding. Cloudy, very humid, 75
degrees as I leave. I got caught in only one brief, intense rain
storm. Heavy traffic on I-81, hard to adjust to after riding for 4
days on 2-lane back roads with practically no traffic. Arrive at
Fredrick motel at 3:00 p.m. 90 degrees, very humid. Called my
grandson, Kris, in College Park, MD. My son Kyle’s bike
arrived on a truck from California with oil all over it per my
granddaughter, Adrienne. Kris rode his bike down from College
Park and met me, Adrienne and Jacob, Adrienne’s son, my great-
grandson, for supper. We then went to Adrienne’s duplex to
look at Kyle’s bike. There wasn’t much oil on it and shouldn’t
cause any permanent damage. Kris will drive to Baltimore
airport in the morning to pick up Kyle, who is flying in from
California to arrive at 7:00 a.m.
Day 6: Friday, June 10. Fredrick, MD to Jessup, MD and back.
I-70 to MD32 to US1 to Guilford Road and return, 90 miles.
Left Fredrick at 7:00 a.m. and rode to Bob’s BMW in Jessup,
MD. Cloudy, very humid, 75 degrees. It rained overnight so
everything is wet. Arrive at Bob’s at 8:00, they don’t open up
until 9:00. Bob himself shows up at about 8:30, lets me in, starts
the coffee and rolls my bike in the shop. They changed the oil
and filter on it and put on a new set of tires. My tires have
probably got a couple of thousand miles left in them, but where
we are going there won’t be another opportunity to get
replacements. I left Bob’s at 11:45 to return to Fredrick. When I
reached the motel, it was 12:45. Kris had picked Kyle up in
Baltimore and at 2:30 we got together to discuss the journey
ahead. We decided Kyle would lead as he has electronic cruise
control on his bike and can set the pace. Kyle will ride on the
left side of the traffic lane, Kris will ride a couple of car lengths
behind on the right side, I will bring up the rear and ride on the
left side. This staggers us out, lets us stay close together, but
then each can see the road ahead and have room to maneuver
around if he needs to. This also puts Kris in the middle, away
from traffic, the “rocking chair” position (we figure that with
Kris at 24 years old, if someone is going to tangle with traffic,
Kyle and I want it to be one of us and not Kris). We maintained
this formation the entire trip.
–Amateur golfer Morgan Pressel, 17, said Michelle Wie, who
turns 16 today, will never join the LPGA Tour. “OK, maybe not
never, but not as long as she wants to do her ‘woo-woo’ thing
against the men.” Nancy Lopez said, “I’m kind of old-fashioned.
I think women should play with women, and men should play
with men. If she wants to win – if her goal on the PGA Tour is
to win – I don’t think it will ever happen.”
As for yours truly, I promise to be fairer to Michelle than I have
been in the past.
–Johnny Mac’s Cy Young and MVP award selections:
Cy Young
N.L. – There were a ton of candidates…Roger Clemens, Andy
Pettitte, Dontrelle Willis, Pedro Martinez, Chris Carpenter and
Roy Oswalt…plus relievers Chad Cordero, Trevor Hoffman,
Brad Lidge and the complete surprise of the year, Todd Jones.
And the winner? Dontrelle Willis over Chris Carpenter…plus
Willis is a great hitter. Heck, he batted as high as 7th in the order
one game.
A.L. – Strange year here. ERA leader Kevin Millwood was 9-
11. Johan Santana had a good year, but suffers in comparison to
last year’s effort and only won 16. The White Sox had a bunch
of anonymous 16-8, 18-10, 14-8, 15-7 type guys….so we are left
with the Angels’ Bartolo Colon, who would be the 4th starter on
Houston behind Clemens, Pettitte, and Oswalt. But then there
was Mariano Rivera, who may have had his finest season…43
saves and a 1.38 ERA, plus hitters batted just .177 against him.
Stupendous. But it will probably go to Colon, though Rivera
deserves a “Lifetime Achievement” Cy Young.
MVP
N.L. – It’s a race between Albert Pujols and Andruw Jones.
Albert the Great just keeps churning out season after season of
top quality production. His consistency continues to amaze. His
career high in at bats? 592. Career low? 590. This year, 591, of
course. He improved in small ways in ’05, walking a career high
97 times and even stealing 16 bases in 18 attempts. And in the
clutch, try .367 with a man on third, two out. He was the best
player on the best team.
Jones, though, led the league in the two important “pay-off”
stats, RBIs and homers. That has historically been good enough
for the award, even if the winner was not clearly the MVP.
[Andre Dawson, Juan Gonzalez, George Bell, etc.] Jones also is
a Gold Glove centerfielder and was the main cog on Atlanta,
who won the division despite injuries to some veteran players.
The drawbacks are his average, just .263, and in comparison to
the clutch Pujols, Jones hit only .207 with runners in scoring
position; .194 with a man on third, two out.
My vote goes to Pujols, but I make Jones a slight betting
favorite. Derrek Lee deserves a ton of credit for his super season
and will come in third.
By the way, Colorado’s Todd Helton once again was a monster
at home; .353, 13 HR, 52 RBI…and just another schmuck on the
road; .287, 7 HR, 27 RBI.
A.L. – A-Rod or Big Papi, David Ortiz? The big issue was the
fact Ortiz is a DH and while I’m certainly no fan of the rule, it is,
in fact, the rule and to just summarily dismiss anyone in that role
from consideration is silly. Assume for a moment the DH didn’t
exist. I think the Red Sox would have found the at bats for Ortiz.
So, if Ortiz had spent the year as a mediocre defensive first
baseman, he would have been a better choice for MVP? Hardly
makes sense. I’ve been following baseball for over 40 years…
seen a ton of great players and great clutch performances;
Clemente in the 1971 Series, George Brett killing the Yankees in
every ALCS, etc. Although Ortiz is far from an all-time great,
his performance the last two years in the clutch is as good as
anyone, ever. He just seems to salivate for the big moment,
hitting walk-off homer after walk-off homer. This season he hit
.352 with RISP, .368 with RISP, two out, and .400 with the bases
full. [Teammate Manny Ramirez was also none too shabby in
the clutch; .358, RISP, and .405 with a man on third, two out.]
As for A-Rod, he had another great year in a career of stellar
performances. He hit for power, average, hit much better in the
clutch than last year, played a more than credible third base and
even swiped 21 bases. He certainly deserves the award more this
year than when he won it in 2003.
That being said, I will go for Ortiz. He is the leader of his team,
a club that won 95 games with crappy pitching. MVP voters in
the past have put stock in leadership, giving the award to the
likes of Kirk Gibson and Terry Pendleton. Ortiz should be no
exception.
–Follow-up on that titanic struggle between the 13-foot Burmese
python and the 6-foot alligator in Florida’s Everglades last week.
Joe Wasilewski, a wildlife biologist and crocodile tracker, said a
10- or 20-foot python could pose a risk to an unwary human, but,
he added, “I don’t think this is an imminent threat. This is not a
‘Be afraid, be very afraid’ situation.” Waddya mean it’s not?! I
haven’t slept a wink since the story first broke. I mean now that
I know the pythons are proliferating, I’m checking under the bed,
behind dressers, in closets….everything.
–Did you see that story about the great white shark that logged
more than 12,000 miles swimming from Africa to Australia and
back? The tale of “Nicole,” who was tagged in 2003, is in the
journal Science. But, here’s the key. According to Enric Cortes
of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Shark
Population Assessment Group [what a dumb business card he
must have], this is the first direct evidence of a connection
between African and Australian white sharks.
Ah ha! Looks like an alliance is forming, perhaps to combat the
sudden reemergence of the giant squid.
By the way, researchers chose the name Nicole after Aussie
Nicole Kidman. Angelina would have been more appropriate.
Ms. Jolie is the real shark, after all.
–So I’m reading the Anchorage Daily News and see this piece
on my favorite bird, the raven. Turns out they are big time
commuters.
“Groups of ravens fly in to the city (Anchorage) each morning
and disperse to favored feeding spots. Some days, you may see
them in fast-food parking lots, eating the burgers and fries people
drop or throw out. Once they’re full, the birds may just hang out
and play in town for a few hours. Then they’ll head back to roost
for the evening in the mountains surrounding Anchorage….
“Why do these big, black birds make the daily commute?
Probably for some of the same reasons humans buy houses on
the hillside. Even though ravens must come to town to make a
living, it can be warmer on the hillside during winter temperature
inversions…
“Ravens are great communicators, with at least 30 calls,
including the croak we’re most familiar with.
“They also have a high-pitched ‘yell’ they’ll use if they need
help getting food. For instance, if a nesting pair is trying to keep
a dead moose to themselves and a single raven finds out about it,
he’ll repeatedly ‘yell’ to call other ravens….
“(One researcher) said there are stories from Inuit hunters of
ravens using a similar call to alert hunters to live animals. If the
hunter can kill the big animal, the birds know they will get some
scraps.”
–Esquire has selected a new “sexiest woman alive” …Jessica
Biel. Last year’s winner was the above mentioned shark,
Angelina. Can’t say I know anything about Ms. Biel….so it’s
time to go scanning the Web…………………..
Yup…..she’s fairly sexy.
–Update: The Sugar Bowl is going to be held in the Georgia
Dome.
–Jeff B. went to see Paul McCartney in Madison Square Garden
the other night and reported “Sir Paul sounded and looked great,
except toward the end after the pyrotechnics in ‘Live and Let
Die.’ The stage got so hot his makeup seemed to melt off his
face. But they buffed him up so he was tip-top for the encores!”
–Jeff B. and I are also pleased to see that the plot appears to be
back on track in “For Better or For Worse.” We expect the
policeman to take out Liz’s latest boyfriend, the helicopter pilot.
Could be bloody.
–Hey, just saw Jay Haas finally won a tournament, his first since
1994, in taking this weekend’s Champions Tour event.
–And this just in from Johnny Mac…East Stroudsburg’s Jimmy
Terwilliger has now thrown a TD pass in all 29 games he has
played, an NCAA record.
–Mick Jagger’s girlfriend’s name is L’Wren Scott. L’Wren?
Gimme a break.
Top 3 songs for the week of 10/10/1970: #1 “Cracklin’ Rose”
(Neil Diamond) #2 “I’ll Be There” (The Jackson 5) #3
“Candida” (Dawn)…and…#4 “Ain’t No Mountain High
Enough” (Diana Ross) #6 “Julie, Do Ya Love Me” (Bobby
Sherman…for LT) #7 “Lookin’ Out My Back Door” (Creedence
Clearwater Revival) #8 “Green-Eyed Lady” (Sugarloaf)
Buffalo Bills Quiz Answers: 1) Field goals, career: Steve
Christie with 234. 2) TDs, career: Andre Reed and Thurman
Thomas, both with 87.
Cincinnati Bengals Quiz Answers: 1) TDs, career: Pete Johnson
with 70. 2) Receptions, career: Carl Pickens, 530. 3) Ken Riley
is the career leader in interceptions with 65.
Cleveland Browns Quiz Answers: 1) Passing yards, career:
Brian Sipe with 23,713. 2) Sacks, career: Clay Matthews…76.5.
Next Bar Chat, Thursday….we’re going to wrap up our story of
James Buchanan…plus our “Lock of the Week!”
