[Note: Next Bar Chat…Wednesday, Oct. 19]
Dallas Cowboys Quiz: 1) Most passing yards and TD passes in a
single season? [Same one.] 2) Most interceptions, career?
Denver Broncos Quiz: 1) Rushing, career? 2) Passing yards,
season?
Detroit Lions Quiz: 1) Receptions, career? 2) Passing yards,
career?
Answers below.
The Bar Chat “Locks of the Week”
Locks?! Plural? You betcha….it’s comeback time for the kid.
Take Wake Forest and 14 against Boston College
Take Penn State and 3 ½ against Michigan. [I can’t believe this
line, but it is what it is.]
Take TCU, giving 23 to Army.
So there you have it. I’m 0-2 entering the weekend and by
Saturday night, it’s a lock I’ll be 3-2 and back in your good
graces. It’s the Bar Chat Guarantee!!!!!
President James Buchanan, Part IV
OK. Let’s see if we can wrap up our tale of America’s worst
president. We left off last time just two days into the Buchanan
administration, March 1857, with the Supreme Court’s dreadful
decision in Dred Scott. From Jean H. Baker’s “James
Buchanan,” here’s a look at his governing style.
“After his inauguration the new president concentrated on
patronage appointments. A reluctant delegator of executive tasks
forever absorbed in details, he spent hours, often at night, attired
in dressing gown and slippers, unlit cigar in mouth, deciding on
his choices, reviewing those as inconsequential as minor third-
and fourth-class positions in the post office and even overriding
cabinet members on some of their departmental choices.
Overinvolved in specifics, he read and personally signed papers
that other presidents left for clerks. He had learned the
importance of minutiae in the nation’s foreign service, but as
chief executive, he was soon complaining that he did not even
have time to say his prayers, though he was not a religious
man….
“In a practice that continued for two years, President Buchanan
met with his cabinet every afternoon, except Sundays, for several
hours. Some observers considered the cabinet a directory with
Buchanan their puppet, and indeed Secretary of the Treasury
Cobb once joked that Buchanan had disagreed ‘with the
administration.’ But the better evidence, from Attorney General
Jeremiah Black and others, indicates that Buchanan dominated,
at least until late 1860, a group that spent its afternoons listening
to him and who behind his back referred to him somewhat
fearfully as ‘the Squire.’ Sometimes the president bullied and
chastised the inefficient and the corrupt among them, especially
John Floyd, his secretary of war, and Cobb at Treasury. Often he
invited his cabinet to dinner, for he considered them part of his
family. Probably no cabinet in American history spent as much
time with the president as did Buchanan’s….
“The president had two principal recreations. Each year he took
a two-week vacation at Bedford Springs, where he soaked in the
thermal waters and drank twenty glasses of water a day,
declaring afterward that he felt rested. And while in Washington
he went for unattended afternoon ‘constitutionals.’ One day
Edmund Ruffin, Virginia’s premier secessionist, encountered the
president on one of these walks along Pennsylvania Avenue and
described the scene: ‘As we first passed, he had one eye shut, as
is his frequent habit and with the other he stared at me as if he
thought he knew me.’”
From the book “Presidential Leadership,” edited by James
Taranto and Leonard Leo, with Christopher Buckley:
“Open the Buchanan file to any random page and you’ll find
such accolades as: ‘never regarded as a brilliant speaker,’
‘neither a brilliant nor visionary thinker,’ and even ‘expelled
from college.’ The one woman about whom he was serious was
the daughter of Pennsylvania’s leading ironmaster, who, by the
way, didn’t like Buchanan and tried to break up the courtship.
After he fumbled the romance, she committed suicide. Later on,
there were rumors that his persistent bachelorhood was owing to
an abiding Uranian affection for Alabama senator – and, briefly,
vice president under Franklin Pierce – William Rufus King.
“On the plus side, Buchanan was known for a sense of humor,
though alas this ‘seldom showed itself in his public statements’
(Pennsylvania Historical Museum Commission). Well, let’s not
pile on. The record shows that he was ‘distinguished looking.’
And he was.” [In a strange sort of way, your editor would add.]
But getting more to the substance of his White House years,
there were three overriding issues. Aside from the crisis caused
by the Dred Scott decision, there was the financial panic of 1857.
Jean H. Baker:
“It began in the late spring of 1857 when the New York branch
of a respected Ohio corporation suspended payment after trying
to call in unrecoverable loans. By summer and fall, like falling
dominoes, fourteen hundred state banks and five thousand
businesses, including railroads and factories, were bankrupt.
Land values plummeted; jobs disappeared in one of those
periodic corrections of economic excess that afflict the American
economy. In cities in the North desperate men and women took
to the streets searching for employment and begging for bread,
while the South remained relatively recession-proof, protected by
its more stable agricultural system. Southerners attributed the
panic to the speculations and borrowings of greedy northern
capitalists. Buchanan agreed….” [He did little to stem the
Panic.]
1857 also saw a second crisis. Jean H. Baker:
“For several years the Mormons in the territory of Utah, led by
the indomitable Governor Brigham Young, had challenged the
authority of the federal officers in what Young considered his
domain. Young, who convinced forty thousand members of the
Church of the Latter Day Saints that he was God’s prophet on
earth, intended to interpret God’s covenant with the Saints
without any interference from officials sent by Washington.
Under his leadership a religious revival had begun, and as the
community prospered and became more intensely religious, its
independence grew. There was little tolerance for the secular
authorities sent from Washington or for their laws.”
Young and his cohorts constantly harassed all federal agents and
outsiders were discouraged from traversing their territory, much
less settling in the Salt Lake City area.
“In September 1857 a group of emigrants from Arkansas – en
route to California – discovered the danger when Young and his
militia were responsible for the worst civilian atrocity in U.S.
history. One hundred and twenty-five pioneers were murdered in
Mountain Meadows, Utah, in an act that until recently was
blamed on the Paiute Indians, but in which the Mormon militia
participated and which Brigham Young covered up.”
[Ed. note: The current issue of Newsweek has a cover story on
Mormon founder Joseph Smith, but nothing on this episode
involving Young.]
Buchanan, himself, was also outraged by Young’s personal
behavior, including his proud advertisement for polygamy, and
the crisis was actually what the doctor ordered as it deflected
attention from the exploding problem in the territory of Kansas.
Buchanan sent 2,500 troops to Utah to confront Young, but after
being forced to winter there, in the spring a friend of Buchanan’s,
Thomas Kane, negotiated a satisfactory agreement and Brigham
Young agreed not to challenge the secular authority of the United
States. So in this matter, Buchanan could rightfully claim
victory.
But then there was Kansas. The pro-South, pro-slave Democrat
opted to use his presidential power to protect the South. As we
learned earlier in our story, Kansas soon had two governments,
one with a proslavery legislature and judiciary, the other a free
state government. Christopher Buckley:
“Buchanan saw the major issue of his day – slavery – both ways,
as (a) evil, but (b) a state issue…[Buchanan sought to take a
lawyerly view and the] only problem with it was that it was (a)
wrong and (b) ultimately dividing. While Buchanan dithered and
finessed and tried to have it both ways, a senatorial candidate
named Lincoln was out on the hustings famously declaring that a
house divided against itself could not stand….
“As early as 1826, thirty years before becoming president,
(Buchanan) was parsing away: ‘I believe [slavery] to be a great
political and great moral evil. I thank God, my lot has been cast
in a State where it does not exist. But, while I entertain these
opinions, I know it is an evil at present without a remedy…one
of those moral evils, from which it is impossible for us to escape,
without the introduction of evils infinitely greater. There are
portions of this Union, in which, if you emancipate our slaves,
they will become masters. There can be no middle course.’
“The Buchanan treasury of quotations, such as it is, is marked by
an on-the-one-hand, on-the-other-hand evenhandedness that
leaves him with sores from straddling the fence:
‘It is better to bear the ills we have than to fly to others we know
not of.’
‘What is right and what is practicable are two different things.’
‘Liberty must be allowed to work out its natural results, and
these will, ere long, astonish the world.’
‘All that is necessary to [abolish slavery], and all for which the
slave States have ever contended, is to be let alone and permitted
to managed their domestic institutions in their own way.’
Well, you should know from your history that the situation in the
United States worsened rapidly from 1857 on. Michael
Beschloss:
“Buchanan wrung his hands but took no decisive action. He
scolded Northerners for their abolition movement and pleaded
with the South to be patient. In truth, Buchanan became more of
a spectator than a leader in a time of grave crisis. The bold,
forceful examples of Jackson and Polk were lost on this timorous
president. While Buchanan prayed that the storm would not
break until after Lincoln’s inauguration, Southerners in his
cabinet transferred critical military supplies to bases in the South
where seizures of federal posts seemed likely….
“He denied himself powers that other presidents had grasped
unhesitatingly in similar emergencies – notably Washington in
the Whiskey Rebellion and Jackson in the Nullification Crisis.
“While the chances of saving the Union slipped away, Buchanan
stared out the White House windows, paralyzed by a lack of
character. In the interim, the Southern rebels made vast strides.”
South Carolina seceded on Dec. 20, 1860, and a provisional
Confederate government had been organized by February 9,
1861. In the January – February period, Mississippi, Florida,
Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas seceded; to be followed
after Lincoln’s inauguration by the secession of Virginia,
Arkansas, North Carolina and Tennessee. July 21, 1861, saw the
First Battle of Bull Run.
Back on September 19, 1859, Buchanan wrote a letter to Mrs.
James Polk.
“I am now in my sixty-ninth year and am heartily tired of my
position as president. I shall leave it in the beginning of March
1861, should a kind Providence prolong my days, until that
period, with much greater satisfaction than when entering on the
duties of the office.” [“Facts About the Presidents,” Joseph
Nathan Kane]
Oh brother.
Following are some other summations of the Buchanan
presidency. From “The Growth of the American Republic,”
Morison, Commager, Leuchtenburg:
“Buchanan had the same power to defend the federal property
and collect federal taxes within states that obstructed federal law
as President Jackson possessed in 1832, but the President did
nothing. ‘Vacillating and obstinate by turns, yet lacking firmness
when the occasion demanded firmness, he floundered about in a
sea of perplexity, throwing away chance after chance.’ In his
annual message of 8 December (1860), Buchanan had an
opportunity to sound the Jacksonian trumpet note to recall loyal
citizens to their duty. Instead, he querulously chided the
abolitionists as responsible for the fact that ‘many a matron
throughout the South retires at night in dread of what may befall
herself and her children before the morning.’ And he did a
notable shilly-shally on secession, which Seward not unfairly
paraphrased thus: ‘It is the duty of the President to execute the
laws, unless somebody opposes him; and that no state has a right
to go out of the Union, unless it wants to.’”
Jean H. Baker:
“To be sure, to do nothing was to do much, because Buchanan
was granting the future Confederate States of America precious
time to organize and prepare for war. By no means inevitable,
the American Civil War remained contingent on various
episodes, to which this intended peacemaker contributed as much
as anyone. With Buchanan’s mistakes, a confrontation that
might have dwindled away into a minor action against one state
became more certain. In this crisis three presidential failings –
Buchanan’s arrogance that he could achieve peace by being a
partisan of the South, his ideological commitment to southern
values, and his vision of the future with slavery gradually dying
out – all came together to buttress a terrible presidential
miscalculation.
“So too did another fatal flaw – his dependence as a lonely
bachelor on his mostly southern cabinet for social
companionship. Even after South Carolina seceded, Buchanan
continued to lend his ear to cabinet officers who were actively
conspiring against the United States.”
Michael Beschloss:
“In Buchanan’s defense, it can be said that he reaped a political
whirlwind that had been decades in the making. Perhaps the
Civil War that soon enveloped the republic was an “irrepressible
conflict”; still, Buchanan must bear the judgment of history.
When a crisis threatened the very fabric of the Union, Buchanan
let everybody down. The nation was to pay a terrible, bloody
price to save the Union; and the political party that gave him so
much would fall into near oblivion for more than a half-century.”
From the book “The Presidents,” edited by Henry F. Graff:
“Alone among American former presidents, Buchanan was
denied a pleasant and honorable retirement. His well-known
southern sympathies gave credence to ridiculous Republican
charges that he had somehow been responsible for the fall of Fort
Sumter and for the war itself. Stores exhibited banknotes
picturing a red-eyed Buchanan with a rope around his neck and
the word ‘Judas’ written on his forehead….
“At first, the attacks made him violently ill, but he soon
recovered and defended himself vigorously. [Finishing his
memoirs in 1866] the book refuted the charges of malfeasance,
demonstrated the hypocrisy of his accusers, and restored his
peace of mind. It also blamed the Civil War primarily on
northern radicalism and clearly revealed the greatest weakness of
his presidency – his thorough emotional identification with the
South and his inability to understand and deal with northern
public opinion on the issues that had separated the sections. He
died on June 1, 1868, with no regrets and still certain that history
would vindicate his memory.”
Lastly, Christopher Buckley, on Buchanan’s memoirs and one of
his last pronouncements.
“Whatever the result may be,” Buchanan said, “I shall carry to
my grave the consciousness that I at least meant well for my
country.”
“ ‘At least he meant well’ isn’t quite up there with, say, Edwin
Stanton’s pronouncement at the deathbed of Lincoln: ‘Now he
belongs to the ages.’
“Yet let’s cut the poor guy some posthumous slack and grant him
the benefit of the doubt that he did, at least, mean well. Perhaps
historians, the next time they convene to decide who was the
absolute worst president ever, will also factor in his good
intentions and move him up two notches so that his ghost can
experience the giddy feeling of looking down – if only
temporarily – on Warren Harding and Franklin Pierce.”
I hope you enjoyed our little history lesson. Back to more
normal fare for a spell…except we may take a look at Lord
Nelson next time.
Stuff
–A-Rod sucks
Alex Rodriguez, paid $25 million a year, hit 48 home runs and
drove in 130 this season. The kind of numbers we’ve come to
expect from one of the greatest players of all time.
But he’s still a loser, witness his pathetic 2-for-15, no RBI effort
in the 5-game series with Los Angeles. He’s also now 4 for 32
over his last nine playoff games going back to the four that
Boston took in 2004.
Here are the thoughts of the Star-Ledger’s Dan Graziano, in
discussing an issue that irks a lot of us.
“Two years as a Yankee now for Alex Rodriguez, and you know
what? No matter how statistically brilliant he was this regular
season, and no matter how worthy he is of the MVP Award,
there’s still something missing.
“It’s hard to put your finger on it, because there’s so much about
Rodriguez that is great. His talent is undeniable. His home runs
are breathtaking. His skill as a hitter is unrivaled. He’s such an
outstanding athlete that he’s even turned himself into a decent
major league third baseman after a lifetime as a shortstop – no
small feat in only two years.
“But there’s still something about this guy that doesn’t seem
quite right. He still seems always to say the wrong thing. His
post-game comments often sound as if orchestrated by his
manipulative, self-serving agent, and they often miss the mark,
even on the rare occasions when they make sense.
“He claims to be a devoted family man, speaking lovingly of his
10-month-old daughter when the occasion arises. And yet, a
New York tabloid newspaper caught him out late in the final
week of the season at an underground poker club.
“You ever hear about Jeter hanging out in an underground poker
club late at night? Ever, in 10 years, hear anything about that?
Of course not.
“But with this guy, there’s always something. There’s always
something that keeps you from loving him, from swinging that
other foot up off the ground and onto the A-Rod bandwagon.”
And after another failure in postseason, don’t expect Yankee fans
to love him in ’06.
Finally, I liked a comment by the New York Post’s Joel
Sherman.
“The Yanks have morphed into a pricey version of the Braves.”
–Kanye West sucks
I couldn’t believe this music review in the Los Angeles Times by
Robert Hilburn.
“In a year in which so much money and attention have been
spent on classic rock bands from the 1960s and ‘70s, it felt
awfully good during the opening show of Kanye West’s U.S.
tour here (Coral Gables, FL) Tuesday night to be listening to
great music from this century.
“One thing, of course, that makes West’s hip-hop music so
rewarding is that the rapper freely draws on ‘60s and ‘70s values
– especially those from R&B. He updates in his key songs such
valuable traits as the social consciousness of Curtis Mayfield, the
brotherhood of James Brown and the sensual excitement of
Motown….
“This is not only the hip-hop tour of the year – it is one of the
most inspiring ever.”
Oh, give me a freakin’ break. The other night, LT and I watched
Mr. West on “Saturday Night Live,” (actually, we watched a tape
of it) and I said “he’s ripping off Curtis Mayfield, only it’s
unlistenable” and, ticked off, ran for my double-CD of
Mayfield’s greatest hits, including his years with the
Impressions. Boy, you want to listen to some good music, get
this. As for Kanye, he is absolutely dreadful. And I don’t even
need to get into his politics.
–Ken’s Excellent Motorcycle Adventure…continued
[Due to the length of today’s chat, we cover just one day of Ken
S.’s trip…but a key one.]
Day 7: Saturday, June 11, 2005…Frederick, MD to Carlstadt,
NJ. I-70 to I-695 to US1 to PA3 to PA611 to US1 to I-78 to
Liberty Park Road to I-78 to Pulaski Skyway to US1 to NJ3 to
NJ120 to Patterson Plank Road, 308 miles. Partly cloudy, humid
morning, 75 degrees. We left Frederick at 7:00 a.m. Adrienne
came down to motel to see us off [reminder: it’s now Ken, Kris
and Kyle] and take some pictures. We agreed that the last thing
we wanted to do today was wind up riding in New Jersey, one of
the most urban areas in the world, after dark. We rode to
Baltimore on the interstate and then took US1 north through
Pennsylvania to Philadelphia. Rode to colonial Philadelphia to
see the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, Old City Hall, Congress
Hall, Betsy Ross House and Ben and Deborah Franklin’s graves.
Left Philadelphia at 4:30 p.m. We continued up US1 to I-78 in
New Jersey. There was lots of construction and stop and go
traffic. We lost nearly an hour getting to Liberty Park. Liberty
Park has great views of lower Manhattan. We spent 30 minutes
taking pictures. It was 7:30 p.m. when we left the Park. We
should have headed north on I-78, but instead we headed south
by mistake. These are all toll roads and we got off at the next
exit south, made an illegal “U” turn and got back on I-78 north
bound. We missed the turn-off for Pulaski Skyway in 7 lanes of
heavy traffic and wound up headed into Manhattan at the
entrance to the Holland Tunnel. We pulled into a filling station,
just before going into the tunnel to regroup and find out how to
get out of there. It was getting dark and traffic was terrible. We
made another illegal “U” turn, rode across 7 or 8 lanes of traffic,
and got headed back west. We made more wrong turns, were
seriously lost in New Jersey, in the dark, in very heavy traffic,
having trouble finding the motel. Finally, after several close
calls with traffic, we arrived at the motel at 10:30 p.m.,
exhausted. The ride from Liberty Park to the motel, which
should have been one hour, took us four hours. We had done
exactly what we had said we didn’t want to do, ride New Jersey
highways in the dark. Overall it was a very tiring, scary day.
We met in my room at 12:30 a.m., after supper, to figure out
what we did wrong and how we are going to handle riding in
Manhattan the next day. This was not a very good start to 20
more days of riding.
[Next time…Manhattan to Boston]
–“Tiger mauls rubber tapper to death in Indonesia” [Agence
France-Presse in Jakarta]
Yes, it happened on Monday, the 29th such killing in the past four
years, according to a nature protection official.
“We have sent a team to the area to calm the local population and
also to trap the beast alive.”
As we’ve discussed before, though, due to its shrinking habitat
the population of Sumatran tigers is down to 300 to 400. Very
sad. Here’s hoping these spectacular beasts go down chomping.
–Thanks to Trader George for passing along this tale concerning
the snakeheads of the Potomac River. According to a piece in
the Washington Post, in the first half of the year, about 15
snakeheads were caught in the Potomac and its tributaries; a
further sign the voracious, potentially man-killing fish is
breeding and spreading like wildfire.
But on Sunday, thanks to swollen waters after an abundance of
rain, fishermen at Dogue Creek, a Potomac tributary, suddenly
realized that what they were seeing weren’t bass…but
SNAKEHEADS!!!! Hundreds of ‘em. Hell, the guys caught at
least 80! Goodness gracious.
Remember, sports fans, these beasts can walk on land for short
stretches and it’s only a matter of time before they’re knocking
on your door. Be afraid…be very, very afraid.
–After attending last year’s Q School for the PGA Tour, I’ve
been taking particular interest in two players on the Nationwide
circuit this season…Bill Haas and Jerry Smith. If you’re new to
the site, I walked all six rounds with Haas, while Smith was
teamed with Bill a few of those days. Haas is a great kid who
will one day star at the next level, while Smith is your classic
journeyman who has played all over the world, looking to break
through to the Big Show. At 41, Jerry is running out of time.
So this is pretty amazing. With three events left on the
Nationwide schedule, and with the top 20 on the final money list
gaining their PGA Tour cards for 2006, Haas is #19 and Smith is
#20. The way the money works on Nationwide, each needs a top
five over the coming weeks to probably ensure they hang onto
their slots. Talk about pressure. Pull for them.
–It’s a very sad time for Wallace and Gromit. The claymation
superstars saw the warehouse containing some of their best sets
and buddies go up in flames the other day. Terry the nervous
octopus is feared dead……………though expect a new legend to
emerge shortly in the Scottish lochs. The fire came the same day
Wallace & Gromit’s “The Curse of the Were-Rabbit” topped the
US box office.
As for a reaction from the stars, look for it to take a few years
since they have to be twisted and placed in hundreds of positions
before anyone could begin to understand what they are truly
feeling. One thing is for sure. At least they can be thankful they
haven’t met the fate of Mr. Bill.
–The comedian Louis Nye died at 92. Nye was best known for
his work as part of the cast of “The Steve Allen Show” back in
the 1950s. Talk about a comedy ensemble. Start with Allen, one
of the top five entertainers of all time – you can’t beat his
combination of legitimate musical and comedic ability – and then
add Nye, Don Knotts, Tom Poston and Bill Dana.
Nye also appeared more recently on “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”
–The other day I mentioned the remaining nine Division I
football teams that are still undefeated, all of whom have
legitimate national title aspirations.
USC, Texas, Virginia Tech, Florida State, Georgia, Alabama,
Penn State, UCLA, and Texas Tech.
What I didn’t realize until perusing a piece by Pete Thamel in the
New York Times is that there are very few tough games left on
their respective schedules.
–Texas Tech plays Texas…Oct. 22
–UCLA plays USC…Dec. 3
–Penn State doesn’t have one…unless you count Michigan, this
Saturday
–Alabama plays LSU…Nov. 12
–Georgia has Florida…Oct. 29
–Florida State has Florida…Nov. 26
–Virginia Tech plays Miami…Nov. 5
–Texas has Texas Tech, plus Texas A&M, Nov. 25
–USC has the UCLA game, but also this week’s encounter with
Notre Dame.
Ergo, it’s possible the SEC and ACC conference title games
could feature four undefeateds, unless Florida mucks things up
all around.
So we could be looking at four or five undefeated teams as they
line up for the BCS!
USC or UCLA
Texas (sorry, Texas Tech)
Virginia Tech or Florida State
Georgia or Alabama
Penn State
Man, you talk about controversy at that point. The survivors
would all be ranked in the top five.
So then you’d have a national title game of USC – Texas, a lock
barring a UCLA upset, with perhaps #3 Virginia Tech against #4
Georgia and #5 Penn State against what would probably be #6
Alabama (after losing the SEC title game to Georgia in a
squeaker).
Oh yeah….lots of bar chat come New Year’s weekend, that’s for
sure.
–Once again, New Jersey high school basketball star Derrick
Caracter, the 6’9” power forward headed to Louisville for the
2006-07 season, is in the news. He has dropped out of basketball
powerhouse St. Patrick’s for the second time in three years, only
this time to transfer to Notre Dame Prep in Fitchburg, Mass.
According to the Star-Ledger’s Mike Kinney, it appears Caracter
“requires closer personal attention in order to academically
qualify for NCAA Division I basketball.”
I’ve been telling you for years now this is one of the true jerks
around….and it’s not unfair to say this of a high school kid. It’s
also why we’ll follow his career with interest because he is
definitely NBA bound at some point.
–I heard the story of Democratic party chairman Howard Dean
and his appearance on “Hardball,” but I needed to see it in print
to believe it. So from The Weekly Standard, here is a transcript
of Dean’s comment on Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers.
Chris Matthews: Do you believe that the president can claim
executive privilege?
Howard Dean: Well, certainly the president can claim executive
privilege. But, in this case, I think with a lifetime appointment to
the Supreme Court, you can’t play, you know, hide the salami, or
whatever it’s called. You have got to go out there and say
something about this woman. She’s going to get a 20- or 30-year
appointment to influence America. We deserve to know
something about her.
Unbelievable.
–In watching “Desperate Housewives” last Sunday, it’s still not
clear whether the guy in the basement is Barry Bonds or not.
–We note the passing of Angelo Argea, Jack Nicklaus’s long-
time caddy.
Top 3 songs for the week of 10/10/64: #1 “Oh, Pretty Woman”
(Roy Orbison) #2 “Do Wah Diddy Diddy” (Manfred Mann) #3
“Dancing In The Street” (Martha & The Vandellas)…and…#5
“Remember (Walkin’ In The Sand)” (The Shangri-Las…nice
sweaters) #7 “It Hurts To Be In Love” (Gene Pitney…this guy is
way underrated) #9 “Last Kiss” (J. Frank Wilson & The
Cavaliers…one of those teenage angst songs)
Dallas Cowboys Quiz Answers: 1) Most passing yards and TD
passes, single season: Danny White, 1983. 3,980 and 29. 2)
Most interceptions, career: Mel Renfro, 52.
Denver Broncos Quiz Answers: 1) Rushing, career: Terrell
Davis…7,607 yards. 2) Passing yards, season: Jake Plummer,
2004…4,089.
Detroit Lions Quiz Answers: 1) Receptions, career: Herman
Moore, 670. 2) Passing yards, career: Bobby Layne…15,710.
[This one amazes me every year. I mean for crying out loud,
Layne played from 1950-58 so it gives you a good idea just how
awful this franchise has been. And without knowing for sure,
there can’t be another team that has its career rusher, Barry
Sanders, with almost as many yards as its career passer. Sanders
ran for 15,269.]
Next Bar Chat….Wednesday, Oct. 19. Yes, a little departure
from the normal schedule. Going to be up on Prince Edward
Island, Canada, this coming weekend and won’t be in a position
to whip up a column. But I’ll be quaffing some great Canadian
brews and may have to report on same upon my return.
