***Congratulations to Oregon State for winning the College
World Series***
NBA Draft Quiz: [Some easy, some not so.] 1) Who was 2004’s
overall first pick? 2) 2002’s? [LeBron James was 2003, to help
you out.] 3) Tim Duncan was #1 what year? 4) Who am I? I
was #1 overall in 1986, the year Len Bias died. 5) Who am I? I
was selected #1 overall in 1981, initials M.A. Answers below.
***This just in…Bruno the bear, shot dead…Gold soars***
Len Bias
It’s been 20 years since Len Bias died. Can you believe it? For
those of you who aren’t familiar with him, he was simply the
best college basketball player I’ve ever seen in my life, not
remembering Pistol Pete Maravich’s days at LSU. I guess I’d
have to put Bill Walton up there as well, along with Duncan,
Grant Hill and Leroy McDonald. [That last one is for my Wake
readers.]
Anyway, the Washington Post did a series of pieces last week so
allow me to pull some passages out.
Michael Wilbon:
“They don’t know the story of Len Bias anymore, basketball
players 30 years old and younger. Len Bias, to them, is a video
clip, maybe a throwback jersey or a locker room story from one
of the old guys, maybe an assistant coach who played against
Bias back in the day. He’s a concept, something from the 80s,
more a slogan than someone who once pursued the dream they
are realizing now, here in the NBA Finals….
“(But) old guys such as Mavericks guard Darrell Armstrong, 38
this week, and Miami’s 36-year-old Alonzo Mourning remember
exactly what they were doing when they heard Bias had died the
morning of June 19, 1986.”
As Wilbon put it, that day there were millions of phone calls,
including my own to a friend or two, that went something like
“You have to sit down…Len Bias just died.”
Bias had just been selected by the Boston Celtics as the number
two overall pick in the draft and many of us, not just Celtics fans,
knew nothing could stop Bias from a Hall of Fame career and
true greatness.
Michael Wilbon:
“Ever since, we’ve been forced to wonder: Would the Celtics
have remained a force with Bias in uniform? Wouldn’t he have
added years to the basketball lives of Bird and Kevin McHale
and ultimately succeeded them as the next franchise player and
face of the Boston Celtics? How many of the four titles won by
the Pistons and Lakers in the late 1980s would they have won
had Bias lived? How many of the Bulls’ six titles would they
have won if Bias had lived? Would Jordan have had the rival and
true equal many of us suspect Bias would have been? Can you
miss if Bird and Magic swear to your potential greatness at 22?
How many people did his cocaine overdose discourage and how
long did his death impact would-be users?”
Oh yeah…the cocaine overdose.
Amy Goldstein and Susan Kinzie / Washington Post:
“The frantic 911 call from a University of Maryland dormitory
came in at 6:32 a.m. June 19, 1986. A 22-year-old campus hero
– the finest basketball player in the Terrapins’ history, just two
days earlier the second player chosen in the NBA draft – was
sprawled on the floor between two narrow beds, unconscious,
without a pulse.
“ ‘It’s Len Bias…He’s not breathing right,’ one of his closest
friends, a Maryland dropout named Brian Tribble, told the
dispatcher in a shaky voice. ‘You’ve got to bring him back to
life.’
“Bias was rushed to a hospital less than two miles away….
Inside, doctors used five medicines and a pacemaker to try to
restart his heart. Outside, his teammates, coach and mother
gathered, stunned and praying. Across town, his agent phoned a
senator’s office, searching for a military helicopter that could
deliver a world-class cardiologist to save him.
“At 8:50 that Thursday morning, Len Bias was pronounced dead.
“He had been killed, it would turn out, by an overdose of
cocaine, a nearly pure form he and friends had been snorting
from a pile on the living room table. It turned out, too, that he
had gotten F’s in three classes and dropped two others in his last
semester, leaving him – like most of his teammates – unable to
graduate.
“At the University of Maryland at College Park and across the
country, the scandal exposed the twin corruption of drugs and
academic failure in high-pressure, big-money college sports….
“President Ronald Reagan sent Bias’s parents a handwritten note.
The Celtics’ Larry Bird called the death ‘the cruelest thing I
think I’ve ever heard.’”
But did Bias, a 6’8” scoring machine who would have been a
spectacular small forward who could go both inside and drain 3s,
leave any kind of positive legacy? It’s doubtful. Most college
basketball programs still have trouble graduating their athletes.
Maryland’s own record has improved little, if any. None of its
four seniors graduated this year, for example, and appear
unlikely to, ever.
[Wake’s all graduated!!!!!!]
By the way, some of Bias’s dirtball teammates, in case you
forgot their names, were Terry Long, David Gregg, and Keith
Gatlin; all of whom were partying with him that fateful night.
Gatlin was asleep in the room and awoke only when paramedics
were working on Bias, a few feet away.
What a waste. At the time we all were in a state of shock. But
were it to happen today, I for one would just go, eh.
Aaron Spelling
This guy was a jerk, from what I’ve read, but oh what a
successful jerk he was!
Spelling, who died the other day at the age of 83, was the
wealthiest television producer in history, having come up with
huge hits such as “Starsky and Hutch, “The Rookies,” “Charlie’s
Angels,” “Dynasty,” “The Love Boat,” “Fantasy Island,”
“Melrose Place,” “Beverly Hills 90210,” and “7th Heaven.”
Personally, as a kid I watched a fair amount of “The Love Boat”
and “Fantasy Island,” whenever there wasn’t a local New York
sports team in action, but believe it or not I never was a fan of
“Charlie’s Angels.” No, I didn’t have a poster of Farrah Fawcett.
I was a Peggy Fleming fan, don’t you remember! One can’t
switch allegiances that easily, after all.
Anyway, according to an obituary in the Los Angeles Times by
Brian Lowry:
“Spelling’s roster of hits (made) him one of Hollywood’s richest
denizens, with a fortune estimated in the mid-1990s at more than
$300 million. His wealth was underscored by the 56,000-square-
foot, 123-room mansion – complete with bowling alley and
indoor skating rink – that he built on Bing Crosby’s former estate
and dubbed ‘The Manor.’
“After years of chatter about the gargantuan home and
complaints from neighbors about the construction disrupting
their quiet community, the Spellings wryly announced that the
work was done with a postcard to friends and the media saying
simply, ‘We’ve moved.’”
Now that’s a jerk, folks, but the fellow did just pass on.
Anyway, as to his commercial success, a close friend of his
(well, it’s Hollywood, how close can they actually have been?),
director Joel Schumacher, said “Aaron knows we like to watch
rich people fight with each other.” And, heck, you do have to
give Spelling a ton of credit. His work was constantly criticized,
artistically, but at the end of the day the shows got the ratings
and he raked in the loot. There’s something to be said for that.
As he himself put it, the fans he met in his travels told him “I
want to come home after a hard day’s work and enjoy myself
watching television. What they were saying was, they like to be
entertained, and I think our shows are entertaining.”
The one show I regret not watching was “Beverly Hills 90210,”
even as everyone at work (this was when I was at PIMCO)
seemed to be. After all, I’m up for mindless entertainment as
much as the next guy. In fact, I’d love for some of you to write
in and tell me what I should be watching next fall, aside from the
HBO show de jour.
Back to Spelling, his second wife, Candy, who was at his bedside
when he passed on to that great set in the sky, was a “hand
model.” I can’t say I’ve ever met one, personally, but the topic
sure made for a great “Seinfeld” episode. Of course of Aaron
Spelling it was said he never saw Candy’s face.
[Actually, this last part isn’t true.]
But one final item on why I think he had to be a real jerk. Bill
Carter of the New York Times notes Spelling “was often
attended by a uniformed butler…and was known for trucking
snow to Los Angeles in December to provide his two children
with a white Christmas.”
Case closed.
[I sure hope Tori isn’t a regular reader.]
Stuff
–Just a refresher…an “Idiot of the Year” candidate is someone
like Ben Roethlisberger. Idiots don’t mean any harm,
necessarily, they’re just, you know, idiots. A “jerk” is someone
like Mark Cuban. Jerks also generally don’t mean to harm
anyone, physically, but they do it with words and in so doing
also harm those around them, like, say, teammates.
Now a “dirtball,” by definition, is one who almost always harms
someone physically, or at least intended to do same. Such an
example can be found in the case of Philadelphia Phillies pitcher
Brett Myers, suddenly a major candidate to take home the
“Dirtball” hardware come year end. And, let’s face it, the entire
Philadelphia Phillies organization deserves an award of its own,
possibly “Jerk Franchise of the Year.”
You see, on Friday night Myers was charged with assaulting his
wife on a Boston street after witnesses said he hit her in the face
following an argument outside a bar.
But instead of benching him, the Phillies allowed Myers to keep
his regular slot in the rotation and he started on Saturday against
the Red Sox, giving up three runs in five innings. Afterwards,
while Myers expressed “embarrassment,” the Philly organization
issued no such regrets. At least the Red Sox crowd booed him
vociferously.
One witness to the incident, Courtney Knight, told the Boston
Globe:
“It was disgusting. He was dragging her by the hair and slapping
her across the face. She was yelling, ‘I’m not going to let you do
this to me anymore.’
“He had her on the ground. He was trying to get her to go, and
she was resisting. She curled up and sat on the ground. He was
pulling her, her shirt was up around her neck.”
Philadelphia fans will not let Myers off the hook. This, after all,
is a guy who had a reputation as a real jerk to begin with. Here’s
hoping he’s run out of town, and the sport, entirely.
–Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, on the other hand,
is a pure “Jerk of the Year” candidate. From an editorial in USA
Today.
“Guillen freely spouts opinions – even when they cross the line
of decorum and civility. He made fun of Buck Showalter. He
called Alex Rodriguez a phony. [ed. well, he is….] But while he
likes to brush back people with high heat, he accepts criticism
with the equanimity of Hugo Chavez and the Venezuelan
National Guard. For someone who considers himself such a
macho tough guy, Oz has an onion-thin skin. What he should
realize is this:
“His job is to manage. It is not to call people ‘fags.’ He should
consider that his actions may cast a bad light upon Latinos, fair
or not. It might make it tougher for the next guy to come along
and get an opportunity.
“For years, there was serious question about whether Latinos
would make good managers, and let’s just say that a fair amount
of bigotry went into the equation. Guillen’s success may create a
trend, but his mouth puts the progress in jeopardy.”
Meanwhile, Chicago ownership is rapidly tiring of his act.
–I’m beginning to feel a little sorry (just a little) for Lance
Armstrong, a real jerk for his treatment of Sheryl Crow. The
wife of one of Armstrong’s teammates from back in 1996 said
Armstrong admitted in front of them, and doctors, that he had
used steroids while he was recovering from his cancer surgery.
Betsy Andreu said “They (doctors) began to ask him some
questions, banal questions, and all of a sudden, boom, ‘Have you
ever done any performance-enhancing drugs?’ And he said,
‘Yes.’ And they asked, ‘What were they?’ And Lance said,
‘EPO, growth hormone, cortisone, steroid, testosterone.’”
This has been uncovered among thousands of pages of testimony
taken in what’s being called “confidential litigation” between
Armstrong and a company that is withholding a $5 million bonus
he claimed after winning the 2004 Tour de France. [Alan
Abrahamson / Los Angeles Times…the Times dug it up.]
–Speaking of steroids, Marion Jones captured the 100 meters at
the U.S. Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Friday. She
had not won a sprint title since 2002. [Justin Gatlin won the
men’s 100.]
–So it’s time for our annual look at the New Jersey high school
All-State baseball squad as pictures of the players were in the
Star-Ledger on Sunday. And once again, out of 11 there are no
blacks. Heck, I looked at the 11 for the All-State softball
squad and it was all white, too.
So what do talented black athletes do in the springtime these
days? A few participate in track; the others just be a rappin’
and chillin’.
[If some of you think this is a little harsh, go read one of Bill
Cosby’s speeches.]
–I caught a fair bit of the World Cup over the weekend and saw
the second half of Argentina-Mexico, including overtime. No
one can say soccer players aren’t in shape. [Actually, no one
would dare say that.] And what an unbelievable goal in OT by
Argentina’s Maxi Rodriguez.
And then there’s David Beckham and his super shot against
Ecuador. He is amazing. Beckham does little for years at a time,
but he’s had enough crucial moments in the sun to extend his
celebrity status for another ten years. And I must say, guys, Posh
did look rather sexy on Sunday sitting there in the stands, don’t
you agree?
As for my teams…first Paraguay and Ivory Coast…then
Ecuador; all out. The heavyweights are beginning to rise to the
top, despite the terrible job by the referees.
–Goose Gossage, at Old-Timers’ Day in Yankee Stadium on
Saturday, said Barry Bonds did not deserve to be in the Hall of
Fame.
“The integrity of the game is all these numbers that all those
great players like Hank and Babe Ruth put up before. I could
never understand why there wasn’t an investigation being done.”
Gossage added that he suspected some players of steroid use
during his playing career but never saw anything firsthand.
Since this stretches back to 1972, it would be disappointing to
find out this was actually the case, outside of the amphetamine
use that has evidently been rampant for decades.
Separately, when asked to comment about Manny Ramirez and
how he stands at home plate to admire his home runs, Gossage
said “I would have drilled Manny years ago. He wouldn’t have
pulled that stuff, stand there and stare at home runs.”
That’s our Goose…you gotta love him.
–Murray Chass of the New York Times had a piece on the
Oakland A’s and their penchant for starting slowly and then
finishing with a rush. It’s remarkable, really. Following is their
play the last eight seasons.
1999…started 30-40, rest of year 57-35
2000…started 25-26, rest of year 66-44
2001…started 35-40, rest of year 67-20
2002…started 28-30, rest of year 75-29
2003…started 35-29, rest of year 61-37
2004…started 12-15, rest of year 78-56
2005…started 24-27, rest of year 64-37
2006…started 23-29, 17-5 (thru Sat.)
And think of how they have lost Jason Giambi, Johnny Damon,
Jason Isringhausen, Miguel Tejada, Keith Foulke and Jermaine
Dye; all without getting anyone in return. And they’ll lose Barry
Zito to free agency after this season, but won’t trade him
beforehand because they’re in the thick of the playoff picture
again.
–Not for nothing, but the only 10-game winners in baseball are
41-year-old Kenny Rogers (10-3) and 40-year-old Tom Glavine
(11-2). [Thru Sunday’s games.]
–Jose Reyes is on what has to be one of the best hitting streaks
in history. I don’t see how you can get much better, as Reyes is
32-for-57 (.561) over just his last 13 games. Despite the fact he
has already been up a ton of times this season, during the stretch
he has raised his overall average from .246 to .302.
–This is sad. I just saw in Sports Illustrated that former
Cardinals pitcher Rick Ankiel, who’s been attempting a
comeback as an outfielder, recently underwent knee surgery and
the prognosis isn’t optimistic. But he’s still just 26 so maybe he
can pull it off. Any good baseball fan certainly hopes he does.
–The A.L. is kicking the N.L.”s butt in interleague play,
103-64 thru Sunday.
–College Baseball World Series….It”s Oregon State vs. UNC,
Monday night, for the title.
–As Johnny Mac noted, can there possibly be worse fans than
they have in Atlanta? Many of you probably saw the picture this
weekend of Atlanta fans wearing bags over their heads because
of the team’s rough start. All the Braves have done is win their
division the last 14 years! What a bunch of a-holes!
–I forgot to note last time that Bob S. had a brilliant suggestion
for “For Better or For Worse.” The Mtigwaki Indians should sell
off their property to a major energy outfit in order to take
advantage of the rush to develop Canada’s oil sands. [Frankly,
Bob, Jeff B. and I are simply looking for a way for Lynn
Johnston to gracefully quit the strip.]
–Final, final thoughts on Phil Mickelson and the U.S. Open. [I
receive a lot of golf publications on Thursday and Friday, plus
Sports Illustrated had to weigh in, of course.]
SI’s Rick Reilly:
“Me, I like pulling the legs off spiders….I’m the guy yelling up
to the man on the ledge, ‘Just do it!’
“But nothing ever gave me as much joy as last week’s U.S. Open
at Winged Foot Country Club, where there was more silent
screaming than on Mime Night at the tattoo parlor. God, it was
delicious!
“Pros worth $50 million were hitting full shots two feet. Studs
with jets were flubbing chip shots that would roll back into their
own divots. Legends were biting their putters in half. Nothing’s
been this much fun since the days of the KGB.
“This wasn’t an Open. It was an open wound….
“Golf is cruel. It will hold you upside down and shake you by
your heels until all your dignity falls out. Mickelson had
dreamed of winning an Open since he was a boy, practiced
thousands of hours for it – and visited Winged Foot so many
times that they nearly charged him membership dues. And then
he came to the big moment and played like a diseased yak.”
[Well, this gives yaks a bad name. They are, after all, quite
noble, as well as nutritious. Anyway, Reilly goes on to talk
about all the others who choked and then concludes]:
“But nobody needed to bathe in Bactine more than Mickelson,
who apologized to his fans, then guessed he’d probably spend the
next three days in bed.
“As for Monty, he sighed and said, ‘I look forward to coming
back next year to try another U.S. Open disaster.’
“Lord, I just can’t wait.”
–SI’s Alan Shipnuck:
“Mickelson’s self-immolation threw into sharp relief the key
difference between him and (Tiger) Woods. Tiger is 10 for 10
protecting a 54-hole lead in a major. When it matters most his
decision making and execution are flawless.”
And in case you wondered how Phil reacted immediately
afterwards in the locker room…
“He had retreated to the privacy of the clubhouse and was sitting
at his locker, motionless, staring into space with his head resting
wearily in his hands. Amy came by to give him a kiss, but Phil
didn’t seem to notice. In his roller-coaster career Mickelson has
taken plenty of punches to the solar plexus, but he has always
come back for more. This one will be harder to get over. The
U.S. Open has become his annual psychodrama, much as the
Masters tortured Greg Norman. Mickelson has now finished
second at the Open four times, including another final-hole loss,
in 1999. ‘I’ve never seen him like this,’ Amy whispered. ‘I
think he’s in shock.’”
Yes, it’s really going to be interesting to see how Phil handles all
this, beginning at the British Open. Plus he not only has the
PGA in August, in September there’s the Ryder Cup. Perhaps
he’s a non-factor at the two majors, but if he helps the U.S. win
back the Cup it will aid him tremendously in the future, aside
from maintaining his fan base that is on the verge of abandoning
him…as Johnny Mac first told me. Fans love greatness, and if
Tiger can get back to his old self, his throngs will return en
masse.
But, boy, Tiger can still be so frustrating. He threw around the
F-bomb on a few occasions in and around Winged Foot, and then
there was this comment by NBC’s Johnny Miller in GolfWorld.
“Every time I’ve asked him a question, I can honestly say he has
never given me a real answer. Never once. And I’ve been pretty
nice to him.”
I like Tiger because without him, my interest in following
tournament golf would be limited to about ten events a year. But
there is just no reason for him to be such a jerk 99% of the time.
Hey, Tiger. You’re 30 years old now, for crying out loud. It’s
time to start growing up.
–Back to the Open, here’s something I didn’t know about 15-
year-old Tadd Fujikawa, all of 5’1” and 135 pounds. When he
was born on Jan. 8, 1991, he was 3 ½ months premature and
weighed only 31 ounces. He was the size of a Coke can. His
mother Lori told reporters during the Open, “The doctors didn’t
even consider him an infant. They said, ‘You have a fetus.’ His
lungs weren’t developed, nothing was developed.” Lori’s
mother, Ellen, remembered searching for answers. “One of the
doctors said that some kids just like to rush out,” she said.
“The next few weeks were a blur of scares and surgeries,
including an operation when he was five days old to repair a hole
in his tiny stomach. ‘He went through five surgeries,’ Tadd’s
grandfather said. ‘Twice he almost died. At first the doctors
said he had a 50-50 chance of survival, then if he did, a 50-50
chance of being normal. The dream was that he would grow up
normal. Now look at him.’”
Tadd admitted at Winged Foot, “Yeah, I mean I think I am
special, not only in golf but in just surviving with everything that
I’ve been through.” [Bill Fields / GolfWorld]
Now there’s a guy to root for. Let’s all say a little prayer that
Tadd continues to move on up in the golfing ranks. You don’t
get any better than his story.
–Sports Illustrated’s Bill Syken had some interesting facts about
George Mason University and the impact of their reaching the
Final Four last spring.
“George Mason would have had to spend at least $50 million for
a public-relations campaign that gave it the exposure it received
during the tournament. That’s the conservative estimate of C.
Scott Bozman, as associate professor of business marketing at
Gonzaga, who studied the benefits of hoops success at his own
school….
“In March (George Mason’s) campus bookstore sold more than
$800,000 worth of George Mason clothing, compared with
$625,000 worth in all of 2004-05.”
And during the tournament, there was a 10% increase in the
alumni database on the school’s website.
–Andre Agassi is retiring after Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.
It would be pretty cool if he could give us one last moment.
–Mike Lupica of the New York Daily News on Cablevision
executive and Madison Square Garden owner James Dolan,
following the dismissal of Coach Larry Brown with $40 million
remaining on Brown’s contract; money Dolan and MSG are
convinced they won’t have to pay because of some supposed
breaches of contract.
“Dolan would rather keep paying some of the stiffs (GM Isiah)
Thomas brought to the Knicks rather than his Hall of Fame
coach. Maybe he thinks this makes him look tough in front of
Dad. [Founder of Cablevision.]
“ ‘I’m not taking the blame!’ Isiah Thomas said all season to
Brown, then would go out and tell the media that the opposite
was true, that everybody had to do better, himself included. He
is as two-faced as anybody to ever hold sports jobs as big as the
ones he now holds on to for dear life.
“Once the season went south, once he realized he could not do
what he promised Brown he would do and move some of these
stiffs, there was only one job for the man whose job it is to hire
the right talent for the Knicks: save his own sorry self.”
Understand that Lupica is a legendary writer in New York and
this is as harsh a commentary as I’ve ever seen. But Lupica is
bang on. Ever listen to Thomas? Ever see those shifty eyes of
his?
–I went to Indianapolis Speedway on Thursday. While I’ve been
to the race, 1983, I had never seen the museum. It is way cool,
with the exception of the movie they show which has zero racing
action, but they have a ton of cars that have raced here.
So…I know there are one or two fanatics out there who will
appreciate some of this.
Mark Donohue’s 1972-winning Sunoco McLaren…I went to his
funeral, by the way.
Jack Brabham’s classic 1961 Cooper-Climax.
The 1922 Murphy Special, driven by Jimmy Murphy, that he
guided to victory lane, averaging 78.22 mph.
1964 Hussein1 / Dodge Zerex Special, a non-Indy car that was
designed by John Mecom and backed by King Hussein of Jordan.
Has to be the coolest race car I’ve ever seen.
Jim Clark’s 1963 Lotus (designed by Colin Chapman). This was
Clark’s rookie year, qualifying speed 149.75.
1968 Lotus driven by Graham Hill, very ugly, Andy Granatelli
turbine.
1967 Sheraton-Thompson that A.J. Foyt drove to victory (his
third) in a super tight race over Jerry Grant. Very cool looking
car.
Bobby Unser’s 1968 No. 3 Rislone Special that he won with.
1962 Mickey Thompson Harvey Aluminum Special driven by
Dan Gurney in his first Indy start. [But he finished 20th .]
1967 Granatelli turbine, driven by Parnelli Jones. Now
remember, the turbines were a huge deal in the mid-60s, very
revolutionary, and Jones was leading with just a few laps left
when he developed gearbox trouble. Jones had a qualifying
speed of 166 mph. [By the way, this was an STP car. I forgot
STP was a division of Studebaker Corp.! That explains
everything.]
Saw a portrait of legendary broadcaster Chris Economaki. That
brings back memories.
Of course Indy is known as the “Brickyard” because originally
the track was all brick…after the first attempt at dirt failed
miserably. Today you just have that brick strip at the start/finish
line. But just how many bricks did it take to pave an entire 2 ½
mile oval? Try 3.2 million.
Lastly, I didn’t know the same man who developed Indy also
developed Miami Beach…Carl Fischer.
And that’s all from Gasoline Alley. Except one other thing. You
know that golf course that has four of its holes inside the Indy
oval? It’s actually very nice. Pete Dye, Indianapolis resident (or
native, can’t remember which), re-designed it a few years ago.
There’s a nice motel attached to the course / track as well
…Brickyard Golf Resort (or something like that), in case you’re
looking for a different kind of weekend.
–Former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Theo Bell died. He
was just 52. Bell appeared on two Super Bowl-winning squads
and had 136 catches over a nine year career that also included a
stint at Tampa Bay.
–We note the passing of Claydes Charles Smith, 57, co-founder
of Kool & The Gang. Better known as Charles, he had been
touring with the group until January when he was laid up by an
undisclosed illness.
Born in Jersey City, where the bulk of the group also came from,
Smith helped found the great band with Ronald Bell, Robert
“Kool” Bell, George Brown, Dennis Thomas and Robert “Spike”
Mickens. He wrote “Joanna” and “Take My Heart,” and co-
wrote “Celebration,” “Hollywood Swinging” and “Jungle
Boogie.” The last one gets major play on your editor’s car
stereo.
–By the way, the Beach Boys have been ejected for now in favor
of Corinne Bailey Rae’s new debut CD. “Put Your Records On”
and “Breathless” are great tunes. This is also another attempt by
yours truly to stay hip and in the groove, know what I’m sayin’?
Top 3 songs for the week of 6/27/70: #1 “The Love You Save”
(The Jackson 5) #2 “Mama Told Me (Not To Come)” (Three
Dog Night) #3 “Ball Of Confusion” (The Temptations)…and…
#4 “The Long And Winding Road” (The Beatles) #5 “Hitchin’
A Ride” (Vanity Fare) #6 “Ride Captain Ride” (Blues Image)
#7 “Get Ready” (Rare Earth)……I wonder how many remember
that it was Blues Image that did “Ride Captain Ride”? I never
remember it, myself.
NBA Draft Quiz Answers: 1) #1, 2004…Dwight Howard,
Orlando. 2) #1, 2002…Yao Ming, Houston. 3) Tim Duncan was
selected #1 (after GRADUATING) in 1997. 4) Brad Daugherty
(UNC) was selected #1 in 1986 by Cleveland, directly ahead of
Len Bias. 5) Mark Aguirre was #1 in 1981, selected by Dallas
out of DePaul.
Next Bar Chat, Thursday. String theory explained………….
…………..JUST KIDDING!
[Very funny “Doonesbury” on Sunday….the kid who’s been in
college six years said he was studying “yarn theory.”]
