Golf Quiz: Name the top ten in the World Golf Rankings.
Answer below.
The Patriots…George Mason Patriots, that is…
While I imagine some of you are already sick of hearing about
George Mason, following are the thoughts of sportswriter legend
Thomas Boswell of the Washington Post.
“George Mason’s trip to the Final Four in the last two weeks is
the greatest underdog feat in the history of Washington sports….
“There have been greater achievements. As wonderful as
reaching the Final Four may be, it’s not the same as winning the
Super Bowl, the World Series, the NBA title or the NCAA
basketball championship, all of which have been done by local
teams. Of course, if George Mason wins two more games, all
that will have to be reevaluated, too.
“However, for shock impact, for underdog glory and for the
inspirational value of watching perfect team play, George Mason
has already knocked the socks off anything that has happened
around here in the last 50 years.”
Yes, getting lost in all the hoopla is just how well George Mason
is playing the game itself. Thomas Boswell:
“Everything George Mason appears to be, it isn’t. You assume
you can out-rebound the Patriots, but they hold a 158-148 edge
over four of the biggest teams in the country. You’d think, like
scrawny underdogs, they’d settle for three-pointers. But they
pound the ball into both posts, then look outside once they’ve
established the inside. They move through their half-court
offense far more quickly and decisively than anyone they’ve
played. Against huge but passive Connecticut, George Mason
scored 86 points and ripped through its offensive options as
easily as if it were playing Hofstra. Sorry – Hofstra beat George
Mason twice, by a total of 20 points, in two of its last four pre-
NCAA games.
“This season, George Mason [which lost 7 games total] also lost
to Wake Forest, Creighton (by 20), Old Dominion, Mississippi
State and UNC Wilmington. Somebody in Indianapolis better
grab those game tapes and start taking this team seriously. It’s
the George Mason paradox: There are obviously ways to beat
them, just not obvious ways.”
But I read the last paragraph and it brings up another point. Why
are we really so surprised at George Mason’s success? They lost
just those seven games. Two to Hofstra, which went to the NIT,
Wake Forest (NIT), Creighton (NIT), Old Dominion (NIT semi-
finalist), UNC Wilmington (NCAAs) and Mississippi State, at
15-15 the only one not to get into the post-season but the
Patriots’ loss was at MSU and by 63-61.
While it’s true George Mason’s only big wins were in splitting
with conference mates Old Dominion and UNC Wilmington,
again, this was a solid team and had far better prospects than the
initial 500-1 Vegas odds on it to go all the way.
[Heck, in future years it makes sense to play about six of the
schools where you can get, say, 200-1. George Mason’s success
is going to become more of the rule than the exception I suspect
for the reason I gave last time. The mid-majors will start getting
a higher-caliber recruit. What I’m thinking is especially in the
major urban areas (the makeup of George Mason’s squad is
centered around D.C.), with schools such as Manhattan and Iona
(New York City area) increasingly being capable of pulling off
some big upsets because some big recruits will stay home.]
But now we move on to the odds of picking this year’s bracket.
Only four entries out of three million in ESPN.com’s tournament
challenge had the correct Final Four of George Mason, UCLA,
LSU and Florida. Last season, 4,172 picked all four but the
lineup included two #1s, a #4 and #5 and all traditional powers.
[North Carolina, Illinois, Michigan State and Louisville]
At CBS.sportsline.com, none of the two million brackets
submitted this year had all four teams right.
Back to the ESPN bracket pool, one of the four successful
entrants, a fellow by the name of Russell Pleasant, is garnering
quite a bit of publicity because he really meant to select George
Washington to get to the Final Four but inadvertently picked
George Mason.
[Michael Schmidt / New York Times]
Faron Young
Who? Any fan of country music knows who.
Awhile back I was thumbing through “Heartaches by the
Number: Country Music’s 500 Greatest Singles” by David
Cantwell and Bill Friskics-Warren when I came across #112,
“Live Fast, Love Hard, Die Young.” This tune was a #1 country
hit for Faron Young back in 1955 and the accompanying article
said in part:
“The arrival of Elvis posed a serious threat to Nashville’s old
guard. Partly because of his wild music, but that wouldn’t have
bothered country music’s powerbrokers if he hadn’t been such
deadly business competition. During Elvis’s first year of radio
success – roughly from the middle of 1955, when he debuted on
the country charts with ‘Baby Let’s Play House,’ until the two-
sided hit ‘Don’t Be Cruel’ and ‘Hound Dog’ solidified his
national celebrity the following summer – several established
chart careers were stopped in their tracks. In some cases this was
only temporary, but sometimes it was for good. It was during
this period, for instance, that Red Foley saw his career as a hit
maker suddenly come crashing down like a bowling ball rolling
off a table. To varying degrees, the same fate befell Eddy
Arnold, Red Sovine, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Lefty Frizzell, and
Porter Wagoner.”
Others such as Jim Reeves and Web Pierce weathered the rock &
roll storm by changing their style a bit.
“(But) if any pre-Presley country star was ideally suited to cross
into the new rock & roll world unscathed, it was Faron Young.
He was movie-star handsome….He was young, just three years
older than Elvis himself, and he’d already established himself as
something of a hillbilly rebel. ‘Live fast, love hard, die young,
and leave a beautiful memory’ sounds like it should be carved on
some rockabilly’s tombstone.”
So who was Faron Young?
Born in Shreveport, La., on Feb. 25, 1932, Young picked up a
guitar at an early age and by the time he was in high school had
his own band. Faron quickly developed a reputation as an
exciting performer and his high school football coach introduced
him to another rising star in the music world, Web Pierce, who
got him on the popular “Louisiana Hayride” program.
Faron moved to Nashville but then he was drafted into the
service in Oct. 1952. Military life for him wasn’t too bad,
though, as he ended up entertaining the troops around the globe.
By the end of 1956, Young had 11 country top tens, including his
first of what would be five #1s, “Live Fast, Love Hard, Die
Young.”
I wanna live fast, love hard, die young
And leave a beautiful memory…
Don’t want slow walkin’ or sad singin’
Let ‘em have a jubilee
I wanna leave a lot of happy women
A thinking pretty thoughts of me.
I wanna live fast, love hard, die young
And leave a beautiful memory.
I got a hot-rod car and a cowboy suit
And I really do get around
I got a little black book and the gals look cute
And I know the name of every spot in town.
I wanna find ‘em, fool ‘em, leave ‘em
And let ‘em do the same to me
I wanna live fast, love hard, die young
And leave a beautiful memory.
Also in the early years, Faron Young was the first to score with
Don Gibson’s “Sweet Dreams” (#2) in 1956. And the other four
#1s were “Alone With You” (1958), “Country Girl” (1959),
“Hello Walls” (1961) and “It’s Four In The Morning” (1971).
From “Hello Walls,” written by Willie Nelson and which crossed
over and hit #12 on the pop charts:
Hello, walls – (hello) (hello)
How’d things go for you today
Don’t you miss her
Since she up and walked away
And I’ll bet you dread to spend
Another lonely night with me
Lonely walls
I’ll keep you company.
Young developed a reputation in Nashville as quite an investor
and early on he was buying up Music Row real estate and then he
published the influential trade paper ‘Music City News.’ And as
alluded to above, Faron appeared in both movies, such as
“Daniel Boone” and “Hidden Guns,” and television. He was also
a big auto racing fan and driver and owned the Nashville track,
Sulphur Dell.
But by the mid-1970s his career was in rapid decline and he
basically dropped off the face of the earth, even as two decades
later country acts such as BR5-49 put his music back in the
forefront.
Faron Young had a chip on his shoulder and he always felt like
the industry turned its back on him. He wasn’t selected for the
Country Hall of Fame until 2000…too late for him to personally
receive the honor.
You see, sports fans, Faron Young was a troubled man and much
of his life he struggled with drug and alcohol abuse.
On December 9, 1996, he was found by a friend with a self-
inflicted gunshot wound and he died the next day in Nashville.
You didn’t think this story had a happy ending, after all, did you?
Stuff
–One of the better stories for baseball’s first week is the ongoing
hitting streak of the Phillies’ Jimmy Rollins. Rollins, you’ll
recall, finished last year with a 36-game streak, or 20 shy of Joe
DiMaggio’s record mark. Not that Rollins himself thinks his run
is comparable. Recently in Sports Illustrated he had the
following comment on Dom DiMaggio’s remark that if Rollins
breaks the record, it won’t displace his brother’s streak.
“I agree. If (the streak) is broken, it will be an all-time record – a
57-game stretch. It won’t count as a single-season record. But
first I have to get to 37. You know what I’m saying?”
–According to Murray Chass of the New York Times, Baseball
Commissioner Bud Selig read the book “Game of Shadows” over
the weekend.
“There’s no indication…if Selig became ill when he finished
reading it.
“The whole mess is enough to make a mere fan sick, let alone
Selig….Selig has to deal with (Barry) Bonds and all of the
steroid reports and suspicions, and while he would not stand up
and publicly cheer if Bonds were to disappear down a manhole
tomorrow, he would breathe a large sigh of relief.
“Selig is on the verge of announcing a steroid investigation,
perhaps in the next 24 to 48 hours, though not just of Bonds,
because singling out one player would be problematic
considering the issue has become a morass for Major League
Baseball. The investigation will probably be more widespread,
though what it will entail is not clear.”
But what Chass writes is that Selig is trying to convince good
friend and former Senator George Mitchell to spearhead the case.
We don’t want George Mitchell! C’mon. Good guy and all for
some congressional task force, but not for this investigation. As
Chass notes, Mitchell would be good for members of Congress
pushing to clean up the sport, but he’s not the hard-hitting kind
of investigator that, say, John Dowd was in the Pete Rose case.
Chass suggests that former FBI director Louis Freeh is another
possibility. You know, that might work; Freeh desperately
needing something to burnish his legacy after his ignominious
finish at the FBI.
And there’s more from the New York Daily News’ Mike Lupica
on Mr. Potato Head.
“Barry Bonds is Bud Selig’s Pete Rose. Selig has to go after
Bonds, officially make him a suspect in the eyes of his sport,
before another season begins….
“Here is Bonds on May 21, 2001, talking in the San Francisco
Chronicle about his increased power, on his way to 73 home
runs:
“ ‘There are some things I don’t understand right now. The balls
I used to line off the wall are lining out (of the park). I can’t tell
you why. Call God. Ask him.’
“It turns out we don’t have to call God. All we have to do is read
the book.”
–From a good friend and Duke University alumnus on the
situation involving the men’s lacrosse team there and allegations
of rape and assault at a team party.
“Duke is going to take a giant hit for this fiasco. Forget the
season (Duke was a national title contender), this may take down
the entire lacrosse program. I can see it getting the death
penalty.
“The school’s reputation has taken a broadside that will
reverberate for years (and the president of the university) needs
to focus 100 percent of his attention on getting the response
right. That’s difficult.
“The implications for Coach K are that he and the Crazies will
need to get very humble. No more bullying, no more superiority
and arrogance. This is far-reaching and very bad. People want
to take us down and here is their chance.”
Here’s my own take. These kids are incredible idiots (and
dirtballs if the charges prove to be true), but I like Duke and I’ve
always enjoyed the school spirit on display, except when it
crossed the line as it has been increasingly over the years. Heck,
I went to ACC rival Wake Forest and while I was there (1976-
80) our school spirit sucked! So, no, I don’t want to see Duke
taken down…but this incident certainly threatens to.
–If you’ve seen all the rain in the Hawaiian Islands, understand
that some major areas have had well over 40 inches in just the
past six weeks; the heaviest rains in decades. There are also
some consequences you may not have thought of.
From Suzanne Roig and Loren Moreno Jr / The Honolulu
Advertiser…and USA Today:
“On Oahu, the rains have led to numerous spills from an
outdated and ill-prepared sewage system, contaminating many of
the island’s world-famous beaches.
“A surfer visiting from Canada was bitten on her leg Thursday.
Dead animals and waste in the sewage and flood runoff may
have brought sharks closer to shore, said John Naughton, a local
biologist.”
I’m thinking Godzilla.
–Here’s an item from the March issue of Smithsonian titled
“Calling All Wasps”. [Warning: It’s kind of gross.]
“Corn has a perhaps unexpected capacity: retaliation. When a
caterpillar chomps on a cornstalk, the plant releases a chemical
SOS that summons tiny parasitic wasps no longer than an
eyelash. The wasps land on the caterpillar and lay eggs. Within
two days, the eggs hatch, and larval wasps crawl into the
caterpillar – and eat it. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute
in Jena, Germany, have now identified the gene in corn that
concocts the plant’s distress signal. After the researchers
transplanted the gene into another plant, it sent for a squadron of
wasps. The work underscores the elaborate means that plants
have evolved to defend themselves, and might be used to help
protect crops without pesticides.”
Actually, just release these wasps over known terrorist hideouts,
like in Waziristan.
I’d also say that caterpillars should be embarrassed they are
being outmaneuvered by a freakin’ cornstalk.
–More on coyotes, also courtesy of Smithsonian.
“Ken Ferebee was one of the first to notice. He’s a National
Park Service biologist assigned to Rock Creek Park, a 1,755-acre
swath of woods, ball fields and picnic areas in the heart of
Washington, D.C. Since 2004, he’d observed that deer killed by
cars were mysteriously being dragged away, and he’d heard
strange yips and yowls. Then, a year ago, he saw a coyote dart
across a road just after dawn.”
Whether it’s the thousands in and around Chicago, the one
caught in New York’s Central Park the other day, or even at
Boston’s Logan Airport, coyotes are no longer just drug runners.
It’s clear they need to be incorporated into any immigration
reform legislation.
But as Smithsonian’s Christine Dell’Amore points out:
“People unwittingly helped coyotes flourish when they
exterminated most of the wolves in the United States. Coyotes
became top dog, filling the wolf’s ecological niche.”
In Chicago, packs of coyotes are as prevalent as the Crips and
Bloods, while most of the 160 reported coyote attacks on people
in the United States in the past 30 years have been in Los
Angeles County, another area where gangs proliferate.
But now, researchers are looking into the “coyote’s propensity
for breeding with wolves.” Yikes!
“The ‘coywolf’ hybrid is larger than a purebred coyote.”
[It can also range farther without the need for a rest….it being a
hybrid.]
And get this, one coyote in Maine, a hybrid, tipped the scales at
68 pounds! In the Great Plains they are more like 15.
–AP Men’s Basketball
First team
Adam Morrison (Gonzaga), J.J. Redick (Duke), Randy Foye
(Villanova), Shelden Williams (Duke), Brandon Roy
(Washington)
Second team
Dee Brown (Illinois), Rodney Carney (Memphis), Rudy Gay
(UConn), P.J. Tucker (Texas), Leon Powe (California)
Third team
Craig Smith (Boston College), Glen Davis (LSU), Tyler
Hansbrough (North Carolina), Nick Fazekas (Nevada), Allan
Ray (Villanova)
–I forgot to mention this last time but did you see that “60
Minutes” puff piece on Tiger Woods? Is there a bigger tool-shed
on the planet these days than Ed Bradley? Hey, don’t get me
wrong. I’ve been praising Tiger for his good works in this spot
as much as anyone, but how could Bradley not once ask Tiger
about his childish, abhorrent, obnoxious, foul-mouthed
behavior on the course, or the way he treats most reporters?
It’s because Bradley just wants to be one of the boys. Hangin’
with the greats. Yup, that’s Ed’s game.
[I’ll have lots of stuff on the Masters coming up, by the way.]
–South Carolina is in the finals of the NIT championship and
Coach Dave Odom has quite a streak going. While to most of
you this is pretty meaningless stuff (yes, it’s filler), Odom now
has a 20-3 career NIT mark; having won in 2000 while at Wake
Forest, losing the championship game in 2002, and then winning
in 2005 with the Gamecocks.
–My new addiction…Nature Valley Vanilla Yogurt granola
bars. Accept no imitation…buy Nature Valley today.
[I’m desperate for an endorsement gig. I’m also willing to shill
for Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold Tablets, in case any of you have a
connection there………………and any beer, of course.]
–I know something you don’t know…about “The Sopranos.”
My brother’s friend’s Long Island shore house was used for
location shots in Episode #6 and we have thus deduced that
Vito is alive at least to this particular point.
–No one involved in Sunday’s fatal IRL crash that claimed
the life of racer Paul Dana wants to say what’s really on their
mind, at least out loud, but Dana totally screwed up. He had
been warned about the accident ahead of him and for whatever
reason simply ignored it. Thankfully, he didn’t take the driver of
the other car, Ed Carpenter, with him.
[Bill O’Reilly had one of the stupidest segments of all time on
his show Monday night. For some reason he felt compelled to
devote time on his ‘hard news’ program to Dana’s crash and his
inane comments on racing in general were almost comical.]
–Congratulations to Scarlett Johansson for being selected the
“Sexiest Woman in the World” by the readers of FHM magazine.
Said Ms. Scarlett of the honor, “One of the best things for a
woman to hear is that she is sexy.” [Remember that, guys.
Write it on your hand for the next time you’re in the doghouse.]
Also in the top ten are Angelina Jolie, Jessica Alba, Jessica
Simpson, Kiera Knightley, Halle Berry, Jenny McCarthy, Maria
Sharapova, Carmen Electra and Teri Hatcher.
Hey, what about Sophia Loren? Or Elke Sommer? Or Jill St.
John?
–Eugene Landy died. One of the great dirtballs to ever throw
themselves into the middle of the music business, Landy was
Brian Wilson’s shrink who literally took over his life in the
1970s.
Now granted, you could say that Landy may have also saved
Wilson; Brian having been on the verge of overdosing many a
time before Landy became involved, but Landy turned Wilson
into a zombie even more so than he was before.
As songwriter Gary Usher, who collaborated on projects with
Wilson, once described, Brian became a virtual captive,
“manipulated by a man who frightened and intimidated him.”
[Elaine Woo / Los Angeles Times]
In 1989, Landy had to give up his license to practice psychology
in the state of California after admitting to unlawfully prescribing
drugs.
Top 3 songs for the week of 3/30/74: #1 “Sunshine On My
Shoulders” (John Denver) #2 “Hooked On A Feeling” (Blue
Swede) #3 “Seasons In The Sun” (Terry Jacks…ughh)…and…
#4 “Bennie And The Jets” (Elton John…hit #1 two weeks later,
but only for a single week…kind of surprising to yours truly…
not enough to spill my beer over, mind you…but it’s bar chat)
Golf Quiz Answer: World Golf Rankings –
1. Tiger Woods…17.71
2. Vijay Singh…8.74
3. Retief Goosen…8.03
4. Phil Mickelson…7.08
5. Ernie Els…6.95
6. Sergio Garcia…6.47
7. Jim Furyk…5.68
8. David Toms…5.46…talk about underrated
9. Adam Scott…4.91
10. Luke Donald…4.83…if you got this one, pour yourself an
ice-cold frosty
11. Chris DiMarco…4.77
12. Henrik Stenson…4.40……surprised???? [2nd and 3rd at WGC
events in ’05 helped big time]
13. David Howell…4.21…perhaps another surprise
27. Stephen Ames…up for #64 just a week earlier due to his
triumph at The Players Championship.
Next Bar Chat, Tuesday………..PLAY BALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And your EXCLUSIVE pick to win the Series….I’ll give you
one guess this year.
