NFL Quiz / Running Backs: 1) Name the four who’ve led the
NFL in rushing at least three consecutive seasons. [One did it
twice…five years, then later, three.] 2) Who holds the record
with 45 rushing attempts in a single game, including OT? [J.M.]3)
What three rookies gained over 1,600 yards in their first
season? 4) Who holds the record for highest average gain per
carry, minimum 750 attempts? [Hint: Be careful with this
one…and not a pre-1950s player.] 5) Who is the only back to
score 6 touchdowns in a game? Answers below.
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
When the candidates for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame were announced last September, I was fired up to see the
Dave Clark Five on the list. Finally, I thought, one of the two
biggest omissions, the other being Petula Clark, was about to be
rectified.
Then the other day I saw that leader Dave Clark turned 63 and I
had to ask, gee, whatever happened to the balloting? Well,
somehow I missed it a few weeks ago, but on Nov. 28 the
inductees were announced.
Black Sabbath, Blondie, Miles Davis, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and the
Sex Pistols
No Dave Clark Five!!!!!
And what the hell is Miles Davis doing on the rock and roll list.
C’mon, guys. Get real.
And Blondie?! You’ve got to be kidding me. Boy this ticks me
off.
So there’s only one thing to do at this point…rerun my story of
the DC Five, just to let the boys know this is one fan that
recognizes what a travesty it is that they won’t be on stage this
coming March 13 in New York.
Little Steven, a k a Steve Van Zandt, once said that the DC Five
produced the “most powerful records” of their era. It’s easy to
forget just how good the group was. They had 7 Top 20 hits in
1964, second to the Beatles’ 15 that year. [The 4 Seasons had 6,
Beach Boys 4 and the Stones were just getting started.] 4 of their
singles in ‘64 were Top Ten (“Glad All Over,” “Bits And
Pieces,” “Can”t You See That She”s Mine,” and “Because”).
The group’s founder, Dave Clark, was born in Tottenham,
London, 12/15/42. Clark was a star rugby player who found time
for a little drumming and, later, movie stunt work, when he
decided to advertise for a band. The result was The Dave Clark
Five and Stan Saxon, the vocalist.
As with all bands in their early stages, changes were made and
saxophonist Denis Payton and vocalist Mike Smith were added
(Smith replacing Saxon). Smith and Clark would go on to write
the bulk of the DC Five’s tunes.
Initially the group raised funds ostensibly to be used for their
rugby team’s traveling expenses. But by 1963, the band was
becoming a force on the London club circuit, playing mostly at
the Tottenham Royal Ballroom. At one point the owners of the
Ballroom weren’t too fired up about having the boys as regulars
so 300 girls marched to Tottenham Town Hall with 4,500
signatures, petitioning to return the group to their rightful stage.
Late in ‘63, “Do You Love Me” charted in the U.K. and then
things moved fast and furiously, as they did for all the big
groups back then.
In January ‘64 they released “Glad All Over,” which topped the
U.K. charts, replacing the Beatles “I Want To Hold Your Hand.”
The British tabloids had a field day. “London Topples
Liverpool”…and the single sold 870,000 copies in the U.K.
alone. “Glad All Over” was released in the U.S. and hit the Top
40 in March, while the group unleashed a big tour in the U.K.
with the Hollies and the Kinks; one of many such awesome deals
that we all wish we could have been part of (probably cost all of
a pound then, too).
Back in London, the song “Bits And Pieces” was banned by
many ballroom managers because they feared damage to the
dance floors with the song’s “stomping” break. The group was
smokin’ hot, and it’s easy to forget that they were the loudest act
from the British Invasion until the arrival of the Who.
By May 30, 1964, the Dave Clark Five was playing Carnegie
Hall and making their first of what would be 12 appearances on
the “Ed Sullivan Show” the following night. Then they
embarked on a wildly successful, if dangerous, U.S. tour.
Guitarist Rick Huxley suffered extensive facial injuries when he
was mobbed by fans in Washington, D.C. and in August ’65, on
another tour, Smith broke some ribs when fans pulled him off the
stage in Chicago.
By the end of 1967, though, the group was out of chart hits in the
U.S., with some success in the U.K. They retired from touring in
1969 and formally split up in 1970, though Clark and Smith
continued to collaborate for a spell on various projects.
Any retelling of the Dave Clark Five story also needs to discuss
the brilliance of founder Dave Clark himself. To this day Clark
remains the envy of his fellow musicians of that era. Why? He
was smart enough to control the rights to all of the group’s
recordings, going back to 1962. No one else seemed to have the
foresight to do that. But Clark did and it wasn’t a great
surprise that he waited until 1993 to come out with a
definitive CD-compilation, as he made sure all of the various
contracts were just right. [This set is an absolute must for any
‘60s fan. Ask for it for Christmas.]
Clark always said his music aimed to entertain. “Records are for
enjoyment; there’s no message in our music; it’s just for fun.”
Finally, Dave Clark is also known as a class act in music circles
and it should come as no surprise that he was at Freddie
Mercury’s bedside when the great frontman for Queen died of
AIDS on 11/24/91. Mercury and Clark had worked on some
tunes together for Clark’s London musical, “Time.”
Just Stuff
–Sunday’s Star-Ledger has a story on the biggest bear killed in
New Jersey’s recent hunt. Try 746 pounds! [632 pounds field
dressed, or gutted.] And it was 8-feet-long! Goodness gracious.
–But while I approved of a black bear hunt in my native state,
it’s sad to note the status of polar bears these days. Sunday’s
Times of London lays it on the line. The rapidly diminishing
Arctic ice pack is killing the polar bears at a record clip.
Literally they’re drowning because of the often vast distances
between ice floes, which they use as platforms to hunt from.
Researchers have noted that some bears have had to swim 60
miles across open sea to find food. Yes, they’re strong
swimmers, but they can’t normally navigate these distances.
Four bear carcasses were recently “found floating in one month
in a single patch of sea off the north coast of Alaska, where
average summer temperatures have increased by 2-3C degrees
since the 1950s.”
There are an estimated 22,000 polar bears in 20 sites across the
Arctic circle, but in Hudson Bay, Canada, the most southerly
one, a soon to be released survey by the U.S. Geological Survey
and Canadian Wildlife Service will show the population has
fallen 22% since 1987.
Other evidence off the northeast coast of Russia has “shown the
region’s first evidence of cannibalism among bears competing
for food supplies.”
Last summer the ice pack receded about 200 miles further north
than the average of two decades ago, forcing the bears to take
longer voyages between floes. 15 miles is deemed normal,
which is still staggering to think about. [Source: Will Iredale /
Times of London]
–So you know those guys that go by the name of Mannheim
Steamroller? Did you know they have sold 27 million albums,
more than Frank Sinatra and the Beach Boys…or Eminem? I
also had no idea that the group’s founder, 58-year-old drummer
Chip Davis, bases the operation out of Omaha, Nebraska.
According to a story by Jody Rosen of the New York Times,
Mannheim Steamroller surpassed Elvis as the top-selling
Christmas artist of all time years ago. But here’s something else
that blew me away.
“In the early 1970s, Davis landed in Omaha, where he took a gig
writing commercial jingles for the Bozell & Jacobs advertising
agency. In one of his first jobs, Davis was asked by the firm’s
creative director, Bill Fries, to write a country-flavored tune for a
Sioux City bakery. The TV and radio spots revolved around the
exploits of a fictional trucker named C.W. McCall and his
waitress girlfriend, Mavis, with lyrics written and talk-sung by
Fries in a twangy basso profundo style. The commercials were a
sensation, and Davis and Fries decided to record a single, which
quickly became a regional hit.
“Word spread to Nashville, and soon the ad executive and the
jingle writer found themselves signed to MGM Records under
the moniker C.W. McCall. By 1975, C.W. McCall was churning
out country novelty hits that set Fries’s drawling monologues to
Davis’s big, goofy arrangements – synthesizers, string fanfares,
chirpy background chorales. That December, they hit pay dirt
with the trucker anthem ‘Convoy,’ which topped the Billboard
pop charts, spurred the late-70s C.B. craze and inspired the Sam
Peckinpah-Kris Kristofferson movie of the same name.”
–Anna Benson is the wife of Mets pitcher Kris Benson. Anna is
also a former stripper and is, to say the least, outrageous in a
variety of ways. So last week husband Kris played Kris Kringle
for the Mets’ Christmas party for city schoolchildren, while
Anna showed up in a “fire-engine red, low-cut Mrs. Claus outfit,
looking like the North Pole by way of Bada Bing.”
From the New York Daily News, there’s another side of Anna,
though, that most of us tire of, “the mischievous Anna, the one
who is inadvertently sabotaging her husband in his own
clubhouse.”
“We’re not talking about Anna, the model. That Anna is just fine
with us, even if she ruffles prudish Met ownership. She can pose
topless, bottomless, reindeer-less, whatever-less. Anna’s degree
of nakedness should in no way affect Benson’s spot in the
rotation.”
But then there’s the other Anna.
“She grumped that Omar Minaya planned to create ‘an all-Latin
team.’ She said that the Bensons were giving a million dollars
(from his $22.5 million-plus contract) to New York because of
9/11. She said if Kris were traded, the Bensons should get their
money back.”
Oh brother.
–Four Minnesota Vikings, including quarterback Daunte
Culpepper, have been charged with lewd and disorderly conduct
for participating in the now infamous boat party that took place
in October. The alleged behavior is so despicable I’m not
printing it here. Heavy suspensions, minimum, are warranted.
–Former Nebraska quarterback and assistant coach Turner Gill
has been tabbed to take over the nation’s worst Division I
football program, the Univ. at Buffalo. We wish him the best.
–We hereby put former Met, now Kansas City Royal, Doug
Mientkiewicz on notice that he’s a candidate for Bar Chat “A-
hole of the Year.” Mientkiewicz is the guy who took the
baseball from the final out of the 2004 World Series when he
was the first baseman for the Red Sox. After a bitter tussle, he
lent it to the team for 2005 and now the case is going to
arbitration since Boston doesn’t want to return it. Why
Mientkiewicz still feels he’s entitled to the ball is beyond the
comprehension of every baseball fan in America. Also, why
K.C. now wants him is mystifying. The guy was poison on
the Mets.
–Until I read a blurb in Sports Illustrated, I really didn’t focus on
the fact that in selecting the Rolling Stones for the Super Bowl
halftime show, Motown was getting dissed big time. You see,
the game is being played in Detroit, so how could organizers not
choose a Motown act? The NFL quickly scrambled and put
Stevie Wonder on the pregame show. Hope he finds it alright.
–I caught just a little of a story on the singer Donovan on this
week’s “Sunday Morning” program on CBS. The gist of it was
that at age 59, Donovan has been touring again as he seeks his
due in the annals of Rock and Roll, especially when compared
with the likes of contemporary Bob Dylan.
You know, I looked up his hits and the guy has a point.
Top tens (4):
8/66 – Sunshine Superman…Billboard chart peak…#1
11/66 – Mellow Yellow…#2
6/68 – Hurdy Gurdy Man…#5
4/69 – Atlantis…#7
Bob Dylan, top tens (4):
8/65 – Like A Rolling Stone…#2
10/65 – Positively 4th Street…#7
4/66 – Rainy Day Women #12 & 35…#2
8/69 – Lay Lady Lay…#7
Amazing how their peak years paralleled. And of course
Donovan isn’t in the Hall of Fame. I have to admit in past
articles on those being excluded I have forgotten him myself.
–It’s been awhile since we’ve had an update from my golfer
friend Todd Brown, the 47-year-old who has now embarked on a
quest to make the Champions Tour when he turns 50. This past
week Todd went to ranking school for the Hooters Tour and did
well enough to qualify for at least 15 of the 22 events on this
circuit in 2006…a great step for both him and us. [I’m part of a
group sponsoring him.] 30 years ago, Todd and I were sitting on
a flight together from Newark to Greensboro, heading to our
respective interviews at Wake Forest. Lo and behold, the school
took us…and the rest is, err, history.
–Wow, that was kind of a shocking loss for Indianapolis on
Sunday. Unbelievable how the 1972 Dolphins dodged another
bullet.
–The Olympics are just 8 weeks away…so here are the current
Men’s Overall World Cup ski standings after 13 events.
1. Bode Miller, U.S.
2. Aksel Lund Svindal, Norway
3. Michael Walchhofer, Austria
4. Daron Rahlves, U.S.
5. Kjetil Andre Aamodt, Norway
6. Hermann Maier, Austria
7. Erikd Guay, Canada
8. Fritz Strobl, Austria
9. Benjamin Raich, Austria
10. Hans Grugger, Austria
Now the purpose of the above exercise is many-fold. For
starters, as you attend New Year’s parties you’ll be able to talk
with confidence about some of the premier names in the sport.
“Oh yeah,” you can say haughtily, “that Kjetil Andre Aamodt
kicks ass.”
Or…“I’m not so sure the Hermannator has enough left to medal,
know what I’m sayin’?”
Or…“Hey, I hear you on Bode’s chances, but just what kind of
name is Erik Guay?”
As for the women, I see this weekend Americans took the top
two spots in the downhill at Val d’Isere, France.
1. Lindsey Kildow
2. Caroline Lalive
“Oh yeah, Kildow is an amazing talent.”
Trust me, you’ll thank your editor for this refresher course later.
–The Yankees have auctioned off the Hammond organ played by
stadium institution Eddie Layton for $25,000. Which makes me
wistful for the Mets’ Jane Jarvis. Jane used a Thomas organ,
sports fans.
–Speaking of the Mets, a recent poll for ESPN.com asked:
Do you think the Mets can ever surpass the Yankees as New
York’s “favorite” team.
69% said No
Which team will win more games next season?
56% said Yankees
44% Mets
See what I’m up against as a Mets fan in this region?
Ah, but then the question was asked, “Which team is in better
shape for the next five years?”
66% said Mets
34% Yankees
Now we’re talking. [And thanks for the clip, Phil W.]
–Every now and then something in an NBA box score jumps out
at you and for last Wednesday’s games, there were two items in
particular that will go down as among the top ten individual
performances all season.
First, Detroit’s Chauncey Billups was 10 of 15 from the field in
scoring 28 points…but he also had 19 assists! in the team’s
victory over Sacramento
Second, former Demon Deacon Josh Howard, the steal of the
first round in the 2003 draft as he was selected 29th by Dallas,
had 18 rebounds. Understand Howard is just 6’6”, max, (though
listed at 6’7”, which is a joke).
–Also Wednesday night, after I posted the last Bar Chat,
Princeton played mighty 1-7 Monmouth in a men’s basketball
game. For the archives, it’s important to note that Princeton
scored a Division I record low 21 points, since the introduction
of the 3-point line in 1986. Princeton shot just 9 of 41 from the
field, including 2 of 20 from beyond the 3-point arc. But on
Saturday they doubled their tally, scoring 42 against Wake
Forest. Thank god my Deacs won, tallying 61, or I would have
committed Hari-Kari……actually, I may have waited until after
Christmas to see what Santa brought me.
–Here’s another pitiful shooting performance…from Sunday’s
action. Northwestern defeated Seton Hall, 44-42. Northwestern
shot 16 of 52 from the field, Seton Hall, 12-51. Yes, a combined
28 of 103. An announced crowd of 5,500 watched this fiasco at
the Meadowlands…all of whom wish they were stuck in holiday
traffic instead.
–In New York these days, it’s all about Tiki Barber. Barber
rushed for a Giants franchise best 220 yards in Saturday’s defeat
of Kansas City and he’s having one of the best years any pro
athlete has ever had in this city…which is saying something.
Top 3 songs for the week of 12/18/76: #1 “Tonight’s The Night”
(Rod Stewart) #2 “The Rubberband Man” (Spinners) #3 “You
Don’t Have To Be A Star” (Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis…
Marilyn McCoo was easily one of the five most beautiful women
of the 20th century…behind Peggy Fleming, of course)
NFL Quiz Answers: 1) Consecutive seasons leading league in
rushing: 5, Jim Brown, 1957-61; 3, Jim Brown, 1963-65; Earl
Campbell, 1978-80; Emmitt Smith, 1991-93; and Steve Van
Buren, 1947-49. If you got Van Buren you know your football.
Treat yourself to a premium beer. 2) Jamie Morris once rushed
45 times in a single game, including OT, while with Washington,
Dec. 1988. 3) Rookies with 1,600 yards: Eric Dickerson, L.A.
Rams, 1,808 (1983); George Rogers, New Orleans, 1,674 (1981);
Ottis Anderson, St. Louis, 1,605 (1979). 4) Randall Cunningham
has the highest career average per carry, 6.36. Cunningham
carried the ball 775 times for 4,928 yards. [1985-2001, not
including ‘96.] 5) Ernie Nevers rushed for six touchdowns way
back on Nov. 28, 1929, for the Chicago Cardinals.
Next Bar Chat, Thursday.
