ABA Quiz, part II: Name the seven different players to lead the
league in scoring over the nine years the ABA was in existence.
One did it three times. Answer below.
Nothing But Stuff
–A piece in the current issue of The Atlantic Monthly discusses
the mental health of America’s presidents. According to the
authors of a study out of Duke University, almost half of our 37
U.S. presidents from George Washington to Richard Nixon
(where their research stops), suffered from a mental illness.
“While acknowledging the ‘limitations’ of (their methods), they
report that eighteen presidents exhibited tendencies suggestive of
mental illness, with depression (in 24 percent of cases) being the
most common, followed by anxiety (8 percent), bipolar disorder
(8 percent), and alcoholism (also 8 percent). In ten cases, the
disorder manifested itself during the president’s term in office,
and in most of these instances, the authors argue, it ‘probably
impaired job performance.’ Franklin Pierce, for instance, lost his
son in a railway accident immediately before his inauguration,
and seems to have sunk into a depression so deep that associates
commented that ‘he was not the person who had victoriously
campaigned for office.’ And the political ‘drift’ associated with
William Howard Taft’s term may be attributed to ‘the fact that he
coped with the stress of the Presidency by overeating to the point
of massive obesity and obstructive sleep apnea.’”
Diagnoses
John Adams…Bipolar disorder
Thomas Jefferson…Social phobia
James Madison…Depression
John Quincy Adams…Depression
Franklin Pierce…Alcohol dependence, depression
Abraham Lincoln…Depression with psychotic features
Ulysses S. Grant…Alcohol dependence, social phobia, specific
phobia (blood…interesting, eh?)
Rutherford B. Hayes…Depression
James Garfield…Depression
Theodore Roosevelt…Bipolar disorder
William H. Taft…Breathing-related sleep disorder
Woodrow Wilson…Anxiety, depression, personality change due
to stroke
Warren Harding…Somatoform disorder
Calvin Coolidge…Social phobia, depression, hypochondriasis
Herbert Hoover…Depression
Dwight Eisenhower…Depression
Lyndon Johnson…Bipolar disorder
Richard Nixon…Alcohol abuse
–Larry Brown:
The New York Knicks had the highest payroll in NBA history,
$125 million, and went 23-59 this season. Earlier they had
signed coach Larry Brown to a five-year, $50 million contract,
but now owner Jim Dolan and president Isiah Thomas are
discussing buying out Brown’s contract for $25 million.
From the Washington Post’s Michael Wilbon:
“At best, it’s impolite to revel in other people’s misfortune, and
at worst it’s positively tacky. But the New York Knicks vs.
Larry Brown is irresistibly juicy. It’s not often you get this kind
of dysfunction wrapped in New York melodrama….
“The Knicks vs. Larry Brown has brushed the NBA playoffs
aside, trampled right over LeBron James; Dallas trying to knock
off the champion Spurs; Rasheed Wallace looking like a fool
with his stupid guarantee; and the sublimely entertaining
basketball being played by the Suns and Clippers. The Knicks
vs. Larry Brown has taken over the front and back pages of the
New York tabloids, sharing billing with the storm over Britney
Spears’s inability to properly strap her baby into a car seat….
“Don’t get me wrong. Brown can wear out a welcome faster
than any coach in sports. People put up with him because he’s
better at making a bad team good than any coach ever. He
makes you better, then he can’t say no to the next suitor with a
bad team than any coach ever. He makes you better, then he
can’t say no to the next suitor with a bad team who wants to get
better. He’s the guy who’s looking for a new lot even before
he’s finished building this house….
“Having said that, getting rid of Brown after one year is the
stupidest thing the Knicks could do. The Knicks weren’t going
to make the playoffs this season, no matter who coached. And
that’s Thomas’s doing, overwhelmingly, because he made one
disastrous personnel decision after another. It’s mind-boggling
that somebody as smart as Thomas could bring Steve Francis in
to join Stephon Marbury. Red Auerbach would have run
screaming from a locker room with those two.
“Thomas has brought in selfish players, overpaid almost
everybody, then traded this year’s and next year’s first-round
draft picks for a kid (Eddy Curry) the Chicago Bulls wouldn’t let
play at the end of last season because their doctors felt he had a
potentially fatal heart condition.
“If the Knicks are as bad next season as this mess leads us to
suspect, they could post the worst record in the league, then hand
over the top pick to the Bulls (again). The ’07 draft figures to
have a transformational player, along the lines of Shaq and Tim
Duncan, a 7-foot basketball monster named Greg Oden.”
Speaking of Curry, Mike Lupica of the New York Daily News
observed he “often seems to be playing basketball underwater.”
As for James Dolan, cable TV giant, he’s been boss for five
years and neither the Knicks nor Rangers have won a playoff
game during this stretch.
–A 300-year-old Stradivarius sold at auction for $3.5 million, a
new record for a musical instrument. So this got me going back
through my archives to a Bar Chat I did after visiting the
Smithsonian (1/31/01). I didn’t see whether this particular violin
was one of the 11 known to exist with inlaid designs of ivory and
mother-of-pearl, as I wrote back then, but let’s assume it was.
The Smithsonian has four of the 11, ergo, along the lines of a
chat I wrote recently, as well as a New York Times piece on
today’s auction frenzy for works of art (of which a Stradivarius
fits neatly into the category), does the Smithsonian sell one of its
four to raise funds? If you’re on the board of directors and you
know you may be able to get $3mm for it, wouldn’t you consider
this? My own verdict? Sell one, keep the other three.
–Sympathies to the families of the three victims of alligator
attacks in Florida over the past week. But coupled with the
ambush by chimpanzees in Sierra Leone, you really have to
wonder if there’s something more going on here. Like maybe
Hugo Chavez has been courting the animal kingdom, know what
I’m sayin’?
But here’s a nice description of the death of one of the victims.
“A 23-year-old woman staying at a secluded cabin near a spring
that feeds into Lake George was attacked Sunday.
“ ‘The people she was staying with came around and found her
inside the gator’s mouth,’ said Marion County Fire-Rescue
Captain Joe Amigliore. ‘They jumped into the water and
somehow pulled her out of the gator’s mouth.’” [AP]
Alas, it was too late.
[Note to my friends. Don’t bother trying to pull me out if you
find me in this kind of predicament. I’ll understand.]
USA Today’s Emily Bazar (no relation to Harper’s) wrote “there
are 1 million to 2 million alligators in Florida.”
Now if you take an average adult of, say, 7-feet, that’s 7- to 14-
million feet of alligator out there ready to chomp on an
unsuspecting snorkler, diver, wader, jogger, fisherman, or hobo;
the latter being the type that would just kind of wander around
and fall asleep on a patch of dirt, next to a swamp.
Anyway, Ms. Bazar adds, “Warm weather and mating-season
behavior also combine to make the reptiles more active than
usual.”
It’s always about mating-season; isn’t it, sports fans?
–Just got my preview of the upcoming Sunday Times Magazine
and I see there’s a story titled “Going It Alone in the Game Parks
of Southern Africa.”
I have one comment without having read the piece. As we’ve
learned through exhaustive studies here at Bar Chat, the hippo is
highly overrated. You’ll recall hippos run away from hyenas,
after all. Shameful.
–Buford Pusser Follow-Up
I just got off the phone with Renee at the museum down in
Adamsville to check on a story that Jeff B. passed along to me; a
tale involving Jimmy Buffett.
Supposedly…as Jeff put it…on the day Jimmy recorded “God’s
Own Drunk,” he and drummer Sammy Creason went to a bar and
wound up drinking a lot of tequila. After leaving the bar they
could not find the car they came in, so Jimmy got up on the hood
of a Cadillac to get a better view of the parking lot (stomping
with his golf shoes on). The owner of the car, Buford Pusser,
happened to be watching the whole thing. Jimmy and Creason
saw him coming after them and they ran toward their car, got in
it, but could not get away in time.
Well, let’s just say it got a little ugly, according to Jeff B., and
my man Buford taught them a lesson. When Buffett and Creason
returned to the bar, it’s then they found out they were victims of
our famous lawman.
But this story can not as yet be confirmed, though Renee and I
are working on it. There is a chance Buford’s daughter will
know.
By the way, when Buford Pusser got out of the military, his big
dream was to be a champion wrestler and he was once on
professional cards that included Johnny Valentine and Ivan
Koloff.
Yes, the “Ivan Koloff, from Behind the Iron Curtain”!
–Barry Bonds
Dan Graziano / Star-Ledger:
“Because of Bonds, the Giants’ clubhouse is a stale, miserable
place. The players are all sick of the extra attention, positive or
negative, that follows Bonds around. They’re sick of answering
questions for and about him on days (most days) when he
decides he doesn’t want to talk to the media. It’s an organization
held hostage.
“Bonds insists on his own rules – his own locker, buffered on
either side by empty ones. A huge leather recliner and big-
screen TV. A Giants public relations representative is forced to
stand in front of the locker when Bonds is there, to prevent
anyone from trying to talk to him. The only ones allowed behind
the shield are members of Bonds’ extensive personal entourage,
the select few media members who have been sycophantic
enough to win his favor or the TV crew from his ESPN ‘reality’
series ‘Bonds on Bonds.’
“He also plays whenever he wants to – not when manager Felipe
Alou wants him to play, and not only when it makes sense….
“He wants to go to the American League and be a DH? Wish
him good luck. He’s going to have a hard time finding
somebody willing to take him.”
Jack Curry / New York Times
“The simple question was not easy enough for Barry Bonds.
When asked before Monday night’s game between the San
Francisco Giants and the Houston Astros if he was starting, he
responded gruffly.
‘Go ask the manager,’ Bonds said. ‘He’s right over there. He
makes the lineup.’
“Does he? Manager Felipe Alou writes the names in the lineup,
but Bonds decides when he plays. There was no lineup on the
clubhouse bulletin board when Harvey Shields, one of Bonds’s
personal assistants, spoke with Alou about three hours before the
first pitch. A few minutes later, the lineup was posted.
“Not only was Bonds starting, but he was also restored to the
fourth spot in the batting order as he resumed his pursuit of
equaling Babe Ruth’s 714 homers. Alou shifted Bonds to third
in the order on Saturday and said the change was for the long
term. Apparently Bonds switched himself back after two
games.”
Bob Nightengale / USA Today:
“Barry Bonds doesn’t pretend to have the answers for his home-
run drought, but he now believes there may be supernatural
forces preventing him from passing Babe Ruth.
“ ‘This thing, it’s like chasing two ghosts,’ Bonds said before the
San Francisco Giants’ 10-1 rout Monday against the Houston
Astros. ‘Sometimes it can be a little bit overwhelming. I can’t
imagine what Roger Maris went through. Babe Ruth just hovers
over people a lot.’”
Thomas Boswell / Washington Post:
“When sluggers get old, they often get old fast, sometimes
almost overnight. Years ago, the late columnist Shirley Povich
watched Ken Singleton strike out one night in Baltimore. ‘Too
bad,’ Povich said. ‘What do you mean?’ I said. ‘He’s finished,’
Povich said. ‘He can’t hit the fastball anymore. I saw it happen
to Gehrig and Foxx, too.’
“When the pitchers find a quadrant of the plate where you can’t
handle the fastball anymore, then the countdown begins, because
that’s all you’ll ever see again, mixed with just enough other
pitches to expose your weakness even more.
“Right now, Bonds can’t hit the fastball low and away. His bad
knee won’t let him dig down and hit it with authority….
“Throughout his career, Bonds has played with a chip on his
shoulder and a mask on his emotions. He has wanted to appear
invincible and untouchable. Outs were a mistake, home runs an
inevitability. Now, his façade has cracked wide open. When
Bonds hits a routine fly ball, he often smacks the barrel of his bat
in anger before he even begins the obligatory jog out of the
batter’s box. When Pierre robbed him of what would’ve been
homer No. 714, Bonds waved his arm disparagingly,
dismissively at Piere as if his excellent play in a close game were
disgusting, an affront. How dare you?….
“In the wake of BALCO…Bonds is now fair game for anyone.
The New Yorker magazine recently ran a cartoon on its cover
with normal-size baseball players at each position – except in left
field, where one gigantic man stands wearing No. 25. If that
isn’t evidence of an irreparably ruined athletic reputation, then
it’s close….
“Yesterday, the Houston Chronicle welcomed him to town with a
story about a 17-year-old Texas baseball player who, three years
ago, killed himself in an incident that his parents believe was
connected to his use of steroids….
“(But) if Bonds cheated, he didn’t cheat alone; he just cheated
best. If he broke the rules (and, technically, MLB has banned
steroids since 1991), then he did it in a period when baseball had
an implicit ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy toward any and all
performance-enhancing substances….
“As Bonds rounds the bases for No. 715, don’t feel guilty if a
clap of the hands escapes you, an appreciation of the difficulty of
what he did, even if he shouldn’t have been able to do it quite so
well. As he touches the plate in what may be his last truly
historic baseball moment, try to appreciate the one harsh
certainty about the remainder of Bonds’s life. Whatever he did,
the penalty he will pay – in a multitude of forms – will surely fit
the crime. And probably much more.”
–But tied to the above, as the New York Times’ Selena Roberts
pointed out on Wednesday, there is another figure from the
BALCO scandal who has gotten a bit of a free ride in some
respects… sprinter Marion Jones, who made a comeback this
past Saturday in a 100-meter race in Mexico.
“Bonds is mocked with signs and toy syringes in every city
outside his cocoon in San Francisco. Jones is shown tepid
applause by crowds not enamored of her but respectful of her
status as the sport’s pop icon.
“This is not to say Bonds shouldn’t be razzed and Jones should
be harassed. Again, each person can apply his or her own
standard – as long as it is equitable treatment for equal suspects.
“Otherwise, it reeks of bias, of holding stars accountable because
of Q ratings and sexism….
“If Bonds’s power isn’t to be trusted – and it is not – neither
should Jason Giambi’s or Gary Sheffield’s, cameo suspect in the
BALCO case, each better at P.R. than Bonds, each given
immunity from fan hostility….
“Jones has the look of a lost sol. She stood by her ‘Shrek’-
shaped husband, C.J. Hunter, as he cried over being ousted as a
doper from the 2000 Sydney Games. She held his hand and
propped him up publicly as if to say, ‘He ain’t heavy, he’s my
husband.’
“Then Hunter turned on her two years ago by divulging pillow
talk of steroid use and images of her injections in interviews with
federal prosecutors, according to The San Francisco Chronicle.
“She then stood by her boyfriend, Tim Montgomery, in 2004
when he was accused of doping. In a C.J. Hunter redux, Jones
split up with him after the scandal, but her judgment of men was
in question again two weeks ago after Montgomery was accused
of participating in a $5 million money-laundering scheme.
“As one Olympic official privately said yesterday, Jones is often
portrayed as an innocent bystander who happens to be at every
crime scene.
“Compassion for Jones is a fine emotion, and contempt for
Bonds is an acceptable response – as long as both are applied
equally based on the issues and not the image.”
–Arnold Palmer withdrew from the PGA Senior Championship
because he felt he wouldn’t be competitive. You know this must
kill him but I admire the decision.
Of course Arnie is really just getting his game back into shape
for next year’s Masters, where he will make a triumphant return
after winning the Bob Hope Desert Classic in January. No,
really.
–Michelle Wie is coming to my hometown of Summit, N.J., in
an attempt to qualify for the men’s U.S. Open. She won a local
qualifier in Hawaii, believed to be the first woman to do so, and
the next step is a 36-hole sectional at Canoe Brook Country
Club. I’ll try and get out for a spell that day. You know…up
close and personal as we say in the trade.
–The other day I missed something from the Champions Tour
event that Bobby Wadkins won. Raymond Floyd, almost 64,
finished second by shooting 63 in the final round. His best round
ever in a 43-year career is 62. Now how cool is that?
–Can’t say I remember “The Howdy Doody Show,” being all of
two when it went off the air in Sept. 1960, but we note the
passing of Lew Anderson, Clarabell the Clown, at the age of 84.
Howdy Doody was the first network weekday children’s show,
starting in 1947, and by the time it finished its run there were
2,243 episodes. As Doug Martin of the New York Times notes,
it was Clarabell, who had never spoken a word, that uttered the
show’s last ones.
“The camera moved in for a close-up of Mr. Anderson, who had
a visible tear in his eye. A drum roll grew louder and then died.
With quivering lips, Clarabell whispered, ‘Goodbye, kids.’”
Actually, the first Clarabell wasn’t Anderson, but Bob Keeshan,
who later became Captain Kangaroo. Anderson played the part
from 1954 to 1960.
–Correction: In my last chat, I mentioned a serious item
concerning the death of a Philly policeman. He was ‘on duty,’
not ‘off duty’ as I first wrote. I apologize for this error. No word
on whether the killer(s) has been caught yet.
–Jim Lemon, an outfielder for the Washington Senators, died.
He was 78.
Lemon clubbed 164 home runs (which would have been 350 if
he took steroids) during his 10-year career. But I forgot he had
back-to-back 100 RBI seasons in 1959 and ’60…33 HR 100 RBI
and 38-100.
–So last weekend there was this titanic, five-hour struggle at the
Rome Masters between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, won by
Nadal (#2 in the world) in five sets; 6-7 (0), 7-6 (5), 6-4, 2-6, 7-6
(5). Nadal now holds a 5-1 mark against #1 Federer and if the
two hook up in the French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open,
it would be a real shot in the arm for tennis. Nadal also equaled
Guillermo Vilas’s record 53-match winning streak on clay by
winning in Rome.
–Time to re-examine some of my early baseball predictions.
When the Phillies and Pirates started off 1-5 and 1-6,
respectively, I said the Phillies would end up 11-151 and the
Bucs 9-152. The following week (4/18) I upped the win totals
and said Philadelphia would win 15 and Pittsburgh 13 games all
season.
Well, after their hot streak the Phillies are now 22-16 (thru Tues.)
and Pittsburgh is 12-27. I still think Pittsburgh will win just 13,
but the Phillies may now win 32…unless Ryan Howard stays
healthy and hits 105 home runs, at which point I’d have to say
Philadelphia will go 144-18.
After the first week I said Barry Bonds would hit .135 and be put
away for good on May 15. This may not be too far off, after all.
I also said the Mets’ David Wright would hit .498 with 243 RBI.
This will be slightly off.
–For the second straight year, Eva Longoria topped Maxim’s
annual “Hot 100” list; followed by Jessica Alba, Lindsay Lohan,
Angelina Jolie, Stacy Keibler (“Dancing with the Stars”),
Scarlett Johansson, Cameron Diaz, Kate Bosworth, Keira
Knightley and Christina Milian.
Lohan is overrated. Milian should be #1 instead of #10;
Longoria #2.
But where’s Sophia Loren?! Or Ann-Margret?! Or Peggy
Fleming, for crying out loud!
–LT and I went to see “Jersey Boys” the other night; the
Broadway musical based on the story of Frankie Valli and the
Four Seasons. I gave it two thumbs up….LT liked “Hairspray”
better.
Top 3 songs for the week of 5/18/74: #1 “The Streak” (Ray
Stevens) #2 “Dancing Machine” (The Jackson 5) #3 “The
Entertainer” (Marvin Hamlisch)…and…#4 “The Loco-Motion”
(Grand Funk) #5 “The Show Must Go On” (Three Dog Night)
#6 “Bennie And The Jets” (Elton John) #7 “Band On The Run”
(Paul McCartney & Wings) #8 “Midnight At The Oasis” (Maria
Muldaur…sorry, but I like this one despite the lyrics) #9 “(I’ve
Been) Searchin’ So Long” (Chicago) #10 “You Make Me Feel
Brand New” (The Stylistics)
Correction: Last time I said Sylvia’s “Pillow Talk” was #4 the
week of 5/19/73. I couldn’t read my own chicken scratch. It was
actually #9. The tune then peaked at #3 for two weeks; 6/2, 6/9.
And now…give it up for the great Sylvia!!!
Hey, baby, let me stay
I don’t care what your friends are ‘bout to say, ah-ah
What your friends all say is fine
But it can’t compete with this pillow talk of mine
You can’t find love on a one way street
It takes two to tangle, takes two to even compete, oh, yeah
So boy, just put that stop sign down
And let’s get together before the day runs us down
I’m pleading to you now
Hey, baby, let me try
To be the one’s who’s gonna light your fire, ah-ah
………………….oops, the Net censors have just entered our
headquarters here and I was told that if I’m going to keep my
International Web Site Association license I need to stop this
right now.
But remember, folks….always look for the IWSA label. Your
symbol for quality in Web content.
ABA Quiz Answer: The nine to lead the league in scoring –
1968 – Connie Hawkins, 26.8
1969 – Rick Barry, 34.0
1970 – Spencer Haywood, 30.0
1971 – Dan Issel, 29.9
1972 – Charlie Scott, 34.6
1973 – Julius Erving, 31.9
1974 – Julius Erving, 27.4
1975 – George McGinnis, 29.8
1976 – Julius Erving, 29.3
Next Bar Chat, Tuesday….I’ll try and find a story or two on the
above-mentioned Connie Hawkins…and other stuff if you keep
it where it is.
GO BARBARO!!!!!!!!!!!
Copyright 2006. StocksandNews.com LLC.
IWSA approved.
