NHL Quiz: Name the Stanley Cup champions since 2000. [One
team did it twice.] Answer below.
GEORGE MASON!!!!!!!
Goodness gracious. Yes, the Patriots’ win over UConn was the
greatest in NCAA tournament history. And while the
Washington Post’s Michael Wilbon does correctly point out that
Chaminade’s 1982 regular-season win over Ralph Sampson’s
Virginia team is still the biggest pure upset in the sport,
obviously because of what was at stake on Sunday, George
Mason’s monumental victory will be remembered the rest of our
lives. And as Jim Nantz and Billy Packer commented, this has
been the greatest NCAA tourney in history as well.
I would add that it has also helped reshape the game of college
basketball. You can be sure more top recruits will now think
twice about passing up a chance to be the ‘face’ of a mid-major
as opposed to just another star on a Duke or North Carolina.
And you have to believe that the odds of anyone picking this
Final Four are as large as most Power Ball drawings.
But can I just add one comment on UConn specifically? Is there
a bigger stiff than Josh Boone? [Sorry, Jeff B.]
—
Just A Real Good Guy
Buck Owens died in his sleep on Saturday. He was 76. Back in
July 2002, I did the following tribute to him……
Now seriously, you hear the name Buck Owens and what’s the
first thing to come to mind (aside from corny)? Probably, ‘good
guy.’ Yup, Buck Owens is one good guy. And his life, like so
many in country music, is an inspiration.
In 1929, Alvis Edgar “Buck” Owens was born in the little town
of Sherman, Texas. The son of sharecropper parents, Buck
always said that despite the poverty, there was lots of love and
music. “As long as I can remember, we always had a piano
around the house and mama would sit and play the old hymns
and we’d sing with her.”
But it was tough growing up in the Southwest in the 30s and the
family was severely affected by the prolonged drought that led to
the Dust Bowl era. So it was decided the family would have to
pick up and move to California, but the car broke down en route
and they ended up in Mesa, Arizona, instead.
At age 13, Buck dropped out of high school to work the fields
and haul produce. “I was big enough and willing enough to do a
man’s work and I got a man’s pay,” he would later relate. He
also started to play guitar in some local bands and at age 17 he
married a singer, Bonnie. One year later they had their first
child, which, of course, brought on new responsibilities, so he
began hauling produce between Arizona and California to
support the family.
Through this experience he fell in love with the San Joaquin
Valley and decided to move the family to Bakersfield when he
was 20. There he played in more bands, as well as traveling to
Los Angeles to get some session guitar work with the likes of
Tennessee Ernie Ford and the great Sonny James.
Initially, Buck was satisfied just to be a guitar player in a band,
but one night the regular singer was unable to perform one of
their club gigs so Owens filled in and was well-received.
Yet it wasn’t until 1957, now age 28, that Buck got his own
recording contract, though he still struggled.
[Meanwhile, wife Bonnie had ambitions of her own and left
Buck, eventually marrying Merle Haggard in 1965, whom she
then toured with for years even after they divorced in
1978……these folks can be strange.]
Buck ended up in Seattle for about 1 ½ years where he worked as
a DJ, before returning to Bakersfield after he cracked the Top
Ten with a song he had recorded prior to this stint, “Under Your
Spell Again.” Soon, he had a #2 and #3 with “Excuse Me (I
Think I’ve Got A Headache)” and “Above And Beyond.”
By 1961 Owens was beginning to roll, with 4 Top Tens. 1962
was a little lean, but then between ‘63 and ‘69, Buck scored 19,
count ‘em, 19 #1 tunes on the Billboard Country charts (21
overall in his career), including the song “Act Naturally” that
was later covered by the Beatles.
Buck’s backup band was the Buckaroos, led by the great fiddler
Don Rich, and the boys appeared all over the U.S. and Canada,
including a gig on the Ed Sullivan Show. By the end of the
1960s, Owens was also building quite an investment empire, as
he bought up radio stations in California and Arizona as well as
a large cattle ranch.
Then, to top things off, in the summer of 1969, CBS was looking
to put together a summer replacement program when they came
up with “Hee Haw.” This country equivalent to “Laugh-In” was
a raging success, topping the summer ratings. Owens co-hosted
with Roy Clark and CBS ordered more shows for the following
winter.
But even though the ratings remained strong, CBS thought it was
too corny and dropped it. Doh! The program was then picked
up for syndication and by 1980 was telecast on over 200 stations.
Owens stayed as co-host until 1986, at which point Roy Clark
continued solo into the 1990s.
As for his music, Buck still had a slew of Top Tens in the 70s,
but by the 80s he was focusing on his estimated $100 million
fortune. Then one day in 1987, Dwight Yoakam walked into
Buck’s Bakersfield office, unannounced, and asked Buck to
appear with him that evening at a County Fair. Buck agreed and
shortly thereafter the two performed “The Streets of Bakersfield”
at a Country Music Association award show. The result was a #1
smash hit.
Fans young and old rediscovered Owens’s music, much to this
humble man’s surprise, but in 1993 he found out he had throat
cancer. Part of his tongue was removed, though he came back
and still performs from time to time today. We wish this great
American well.
[Source: “Country Music: The Encyclopedia,” Irwin Stambler
and Grelun Landon]
Postscript:
I thought it was important to keep the last line above. Buck
Owens was indeed a great American. Randy Lewis of the Los
Angeles Times had this account of Buck’s last hours.
“Just hours before he died, Owens was on stage Friday night
with the Buckaroos singing at his $5 million Bakersfield
nightclub and restaurant, Buck Owens’ Crystal Palace,
something he’d done routinely since opening it almost 10 years
ago.
“ ‘He had come to the club early and had a chicken-fried steak
dinner and bragged that it’s his favorite meal,’ (spokesman and
Buckaroos’ band member Jim) Shaw said. After dinner, Owens
told band members he didn’t feel up to performing and decided
to drive home. On his way to his car, fans on their way in told
him that they had come from Bend, Ore., and that they were
really looking forward to hearing him sing. Owens turned
around and did the show.
“ ‘He mentioned that onstage: “If somebody’s come all that way,
I’m gonna do the show and give it my best shot. I might groan
and squeak, but I’ll see what I can do,”’ Shaw said. ‘He died in
his sleep – they figure it was about 4:30 a.m. – probably of heart
failure. So he had his favorite meal, played a show and died in
his sleep. We thought, that’s not too bad.’”
And what I failed to properly convey in my first piece on Owens
from 2002 was that “Hee Haw” really hurt his image among the
record-buying public and his sales were nowhere near what he
had achieved in the pre-Hee Haw days. As he himself put it,
“Weekly TV, that’s death for recording artists. It’s too much
exposure. There’s no longer any mystery.” But Buck also
admitted he made a heck of a lot more money taping some shows
than he did selling records.
Owens once described his aspirations:
“I’d like to be remembered as a guy that came along and did his
music, did his best and showed up on time, clean and ready to do
the job, wrote a few songs and had a hell of a time.” [Greg
Risling / AP]
You think of Buck Owens and you just want to smile. He left his
mark and he’ll be missed.
—
Bonds, The Game and Steroids, Part CXXIII
Barry Bonds’ attorneys sought to block the authors of the book
“Game of Shadows” from profiting from book sales because the
authors “illegally obtained grand jury transcripts.”
“The true victim is not Barry Bonds, but the sanctity and
integrity of the grand jury process,” said attorney Alison Berry
Wilkinson.
Another Bonds attorney, Michael Rains, added, “The reason we
filed the lawsuit in the simplest terms possible is to prevent the
authors from promoting themselves and profiting from illegal
conduct.”
But California Superior Court Judge James L. Warren, the
grandson of the late chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, Earl
Warren, refused the request to issue a temporary restraining
order against reporters Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada.
Warren, in so many words, told Bonds’ attorneys to drop any
thought of pursuing the issue.
Mike Lupica / New York Daily News:
“(Alison Berry Wilkinson) wants the credibility and integrity of
the grand jury restored? We want the credibility and integrity of
the baseball record books restored, and somehow protected from
the likes of Barry Bonds, a Bonds we now read all about in a new
book. According to the authors…Bonds is not just the third most
prolific home run hitter in baseball history, he is as prolific a
steroid junkie as the game has ever known….
“Everybody told him to sue if he is some sort of victim of this
book, if Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams have libeled
him. But he does not sue for libel, because he knows he cannot
win a libel suit, now or ever. So he sues – and these words come
from the lawyers and the judge – for the “disgorgement of any
profits related to or derived from the publication and distribution
of the book….
“Bonds says he wants the royalties from the book frozen. We
want his home run totals frozen.
“Jump ball.
“He wants a restraining order? People who care about the game,
who don’t look like yahoos who still go into the tank for this guy
[ed. note…Lupica is referring to butt-boys like the New York
Times’ Ira Berkow, who wrote a fawning piece this week.], like
sportswriters who think defending him will somehow draw
attention to their own thick-headed views, want a restraining
order against Bonds, more of an enemy to the record books than
Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, combined. He is more than
arrogant with all this. More than a drug cheat. He is a fraud who
makes you wonder what he is taking now, what new juice to
elude the drug testers. He has been called the Jordan of baseball.
Do you actually think Jordan would have gone looking for an
edge from a needle?….
“(Bonds) thinks he can get over on this by hitting home runs and
maybe even by taking his case to the public on a ridiculous
reality series for ESPN. He still wants us to believe that
everything he has done at the plate these past several years, a
power surge that bears no relationship to what he did over the
first part of his career, is because of great hands and great eyes.
All of a sudden, out of nowhere, he hit 73 home runs. He puts on
all this muscle and tells us it is all about his training program.
Only now this book, a credible book by two tremendous
reporters, makes a lie out of all that….
“His defenders, who start to sound like callers to the radio, say
he was just doing what the other bottle-rocket sluggers were
doing. These defenders say he broke no baseball laws by taking
all the junk he took, from weasels like Victor Conte and this
trainer of his, Greg Anderson. Of course he broke laws. He
broke the laws of Henry Aaron and his godfather, Willie Mays.
He broke the laws of Babe Ruth, when Ruth was head and
shoulders above the field the way Bonds was with 73 home runs.
“Occasionally, there is also the idiot defense that Ruth was a big
drinker and womanizer and Mantle was a big drinker and
womanizer, as if that is somehow relevant to a guy going to the
needle to get himself a competitive advantage.
“You hear this: If all these other players were doing it, why is
everybody picking on Bonds? Then you hear: It must be because
he is about to pass Ruth, who is white. It must be because he is
an arrogant black star. It is as ridiculous as the suit Bonds tried
to bring against Fainaru-Wada and Williams…
“Maybe all these other hitters and pitchers were on the junk, too.
Maybe it will come out when baseball begins a full investigation
of the steroid era. Maybe baseball will get the goods on a lot of
other guys….
“Everybody believes the writers. Nobody believes Bonds. He
has done nothing to deserve the trust, or earn the sympathy, of
reasonable people. Maybe he still has Giants fans with him.
Nobody else. He is not a victim, he is not merely a product of
his times, he is not the object of hypocrisy or racism. Pete Rose
was one kind of bum. Bonds is another. The judge in San
Francisco did what Bud Selig wishes he could do:
“Told Bonds to get lost.”
Sadly, I disagree with Lupica on one key matter. Bonds has far
more supporters than Lupica believes. Maybe “supporter” isn’t
the right word, but I’m dismayed by the seeming “indifference”
to this whole controversy. That what sickens yours truly.
Continuing…
T.J. Quinn / New York Daily News:
“One year ago, baseball players and executives sat before the
U.S. House Committee on Government Reform to deal with the
fallout from another book timed for spring training, Jose
Canseco’s ‘Juiced.’….
“So what (has) happened over the past 12 months?”
On Mark McGwire:
“What he said: ‘I will use whatever influence and popularity that
I have to discourage young athletes from taking any drug that is
not recommended by a doctor.’….
“After he promised to crusade against steroids, McGwire
vanished – and not just in the celebrity sense. He lives in a gated
community and plays at private golf courses. No events, no
interviews, no sightings at the 7-11. The only public comment of
any kind from McGwire in all that time was to mark the death of
his old baseball coach at the University of Southern California,
the legendary Rod Dedeaux, a statement issued through a
spokesman. He didn’t go to the funeral.
“Polls of baseball writers eligible to vote for the Hall of Fame
showed he will have a tough time next year.”
On Sammy Sosa:
“What he said: In a statement read by his lawyer, ‘I have never
taken illegal performance-enhancing drugs. I have never injected
myself or had anyone inject me with anything. I’ve not broken
the laws of the United States or the laws of the Dominican
Republic.’…
“What happened: Sosa’s career shriveled along with his body,
and what was once a force of athletic nature faded into oblivion,
like a hurricane dissipating over the ocean….
“You didn’t need a law degree to figure out that even if he didn’t
inject himself or have someone else do it, he could have used
oral or topical steroids in the Dominican Republic, where
steroids are legal. Sosa never said, ‘I never took steroids.’ The
denial his lawyer read seemed more like an admission. He didn’t
compete for the Dominican team in the World Baseball Classic,
but then there was no real demand.”
On Rafael Palmeiro:
“What he said: ‘I have never used steroids. Period. I do not
know how to say it any more clearly than that.’
“What happened: Open mouth, insert Hall of Fame career. After
he returned to the Orioles’ spring training camp, Palmeiro
offered these comments: ‘If it turns out to be a positive thing that
(Canseco) wrote this stupid book, and he turns himself around
and if he can be a positive role model, I’ll forgive him.’ And,
‘They (Congress) brought me in basically to give me the chance
to clear my name and to speak my heart…I’m very happy that I
went.’
“And then he tested positive for stanozolol, a hardcore steroid.
He said he was the victim of a B-12 injection given to him by
(teammate) Miguel Tejada.
“Incredible as it seems, a man with 3,020 hits and 569 home runs
might not make it into the Hall of Fame. Some writers have
argued that steroids had nothing to do with his ability to hit the
ball, but the argument is laughable to those in the know. Steroids
can quicken and strengthen muscles, improve confidence and
improve recovery time from injuries and workouts (think about
what that means for a user when most players are wearing down
in August).
“What more does a hitter need? A fly-ball out becomes a home
run. A five-hop groundball now rockets past diving infielders.
And a player with a beautiful swing is remembered as a liar and a
cheat.”
Dan Graziano / Star-Ledger:
“Jason Giambi is upset about a reference to his father in the book
‘Game of Shadows.’ Calls it ‘pathetic.’ Rips the authors for
‘just trying to sell a book.’ Yeah, well, here’s a thought: Let’s
start that conversation just as soon as the authors of this book
make as much money from its sales as Giambi has made by
cheating at baseball.
“Let’s hold off on painting (authors Williams and Fainaru-Wada)
as money-hungry opportunists until the amount they make on
this book climbs to $120 million, or the value of the seven-year
contract Giambi signed with the Yankees before the 2002
season….
“Of course, that will never happen, because you don’t make $120
million by writing a book, even a book as thorough and
informative as ‘Game of Shadows.’ In our silly society, you
make $120 million by excelling in sports, even if you have to
cheat and lie and pump your body full of illegal, performance-
enhancing drugs to do it. That’s how Giambi made his fortune.
And for this reason, he deserves what he gets.”
Commissioner Bud Selig is close to announcing an investigation
into at least the Bonds matter, if not one with a broader mandate.
Opening Day is a week away. By April 15, Bonds may have
passed Ruth.
And another postscript to the steroids topic; Houston’s Jeff
Bagwell has probably played his last ball as his recovery from
his shoulder injury is going nowhere. Bagwell appeared in a few
games this spring and hit .219, but he is unable to make a hard
throw from first base so he’s starting the season on the disabled
list. You’ll recall the Astros collect $15.6 million of his $17
million contract through a provision in an insurance contract they
took out on him if he is unable to play the full year.
You look at Bagwell’s career, and the size of his upper body
when he was at his peak, compared to today, and most objective
observers have but one thought as his body has broken down…
He was juiced.
Stuff
–Congratulations to Stephen Ames for his perfect round at The
Players Championship. But I thought Johnny Miller had a great
comment on Sunday. Whatever happened to guys coming out of
nowhere to charge to victory in the final round? One tourney
after another it’s been choke city for those sniffing the
leaderboard. And as Johnny Mac added, when the heck is Sergio
Garcia going to step up?!
–Boy, did you see what happened to a prominent professor at the
University of Washington Medical School? The poor guy was
on a trip to Botswana last week to do some AIDS research in this
hellhole when he decided to do some touring. He was in a lead
boat, going down a river, when a crocodile leaped out and pulled
him over. He was never seen again. Tour guides had evidently
been concerned about hippos, not crocs, and the attack was a
shock. [South China Morning Post]
But how many of these cases never get reported? I say about 6.2
million.
–And did you see the Aldabra tortoise that died at a zoo in India
the other day at the age of, get this, 255? It was bought as a
present for Robert Clive of the British East India Co. in 1875 and
it was well-documented at the time that the tortoise was already
about 125.
So if it was born in 1751, that’s the same year James Madison
was born. Why Ben Franklin published his famous “Experiments
and Observations in Electricity” that same year as well.
And think of all this fellow observed since then; like Mookie
Wilson’s grounder going through Bill Buckner’s legs in 1986.
–Just a horrific accident Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway
in a practice session for an IndyCar race. Rookie Paul Dana died
after slamming into another car at 200 mph. Incredibly, the other
fellow, Ed Carpenter, survived. David Letterman was co-owner
of the Dana car.
–I see where Shawn Kemp says he wants to make a comeback in
the NBA after being away from the game for three years. Kemp,
36, supposedly lost a ton of weight. Of course the real reason
why Kemp now wants to return is the fact he has fathered
another 423 children by 422 women. According to our sources
here at Bar Chat, Kemp may be responsible for the child support
on 376 of them.
Back on 4/11/01 in this space, the Kemp tally was 9 kids with six
different women.
–From Walter Scott’s Personality Parade (and Parade
Magazine):
Q: What are the Bush twins up to now? Do they ever do
anything other than partying?
Hey, that’s a cheap shot. Party on, girls.
–Six years after her last public concert, Barbra Streisand may go
back on tour!
[Bar Chat…fair and balanced.]
Top 3 songs for the week of 3/24/73: #1 “love Train” (O’Jays)
#2 “Killing Me Softly With His Song” (Roberta Flack) #3 “Also
sprach Zarathustra (2001)” (Deodato…absolutely dreadful…
perhaps one of the five worst songs (their version of it) in
history)…and…#9 “Break Up To Make Up” (The Stylistics) #10
“Ain’t No Woman (Like The One I’ve Got)” (Four Tops)
NHL Quiz: Remembering there wasn’t a 2004-05 season, the
Stanley Cup champions since 2000 are:
2000 – New Jersey
2001 – Colorado
2002 – Detroit
2003 – New Jersey
2004 – Tampa Bay
Next Bar Chat, Thursday.
