NASCAR Quiz: OK, shredded pork barbecue and beer
fans…counting myself as one… 1) What were the two previous
names for the Nextel Cup Series, going back to 1949? 2) Name
the seven drivers to win three or more titles. Answers below.
Baseball Quiz [courtesy of Bob S., athlete of the year at a recent
high school golf, basketball, poker, beach bocci ball reunion]
Name the players who hit 30+ home runs and batted .300 in the
same season…and have done it at least once in each league.
Think post-1950. [Few players changed leagues before then.]
Answer below.
[Posted from Prague…Wednesday]
Friends, arrived in Prague on Tuesday, via Amsterdam; a rather
long day. But I’d like to thank the good folks at the KLM lounge
in Amsterdam who had good Net access, so four hours didn’t go
totally to waste.
And I’d like to thank the KLM stewardesses, who were a far
better lot than the ones serving me on Continental. Goodness
gracious, I love Continental, but can they start hiring women
under 60?
OK, I admit it…when you ask for a beer on KLM they
automatically give you Heineken and they don’t charge you $5.
“Free?” I said to the stewardess. “Bless you.”
And then I get to Prague, where I haven’t been since 1973, and it
was the most civilized airport I’ve been in.
For starters, the baggage area and customs was orderly and when
you emerge on the other side, you’re not immediately hounded
by gypsy cabbies (I always just let them take over anyway
…what the hell). No, in Prague they have an official taxi stand
inside the arrivals building, a beautiful woman tells you what the
fare will be, and she ended up nailing it exactly to the Koruna
…pretty hard to do when it’s metered and it’s about 20 Koruna
to the $1. [And it was only $25 including tip.]
But lest you think Prague is cheap, it’s not, though a bottle of
Pilsner Urquell in the two places I’ve hit thus far is only $3.50.
Speaking of beer, there are about 450 Czech beers made by some
100 breweries. The Czechs are known for consuming more beer
than any other country in the world, according to a piece I read in
the New York Times recently…320 pints annually for every
man, woman and child.
For me it’s probably just Pilsner Urquell. I’m here two nights at
the front of this trip and two nights on the back end and when
you come this far and get perhaps the best beer in the world,
fresh, well you’d be an idiot not to drink the stuff, know what
I’m sayin’?
After all, when I have a good week in the stock market and I feel
like treating myself to premium, it’s normally Pilsner Urquell.
[OK, sometimes Harp, which isn’t necessarily a great beer but it
costs a lot in New Jersey and I feel like it’s premium. And when
I have visitors, I normally stock Heineken….because it’s a little
cheaper than Pilsner Urquell. But I digress.]
Actually, it’s early in the trip, so not much to report yet.
My hotel, though, is just one block from the Charles Bridge and
upon my arrival on Tuesday I headed out on a gorgeous night,
walked across this fantastic landmark, and found a restaurant I
was looking for…U Patrona.
Now I picked this place out because I had read it had some great
dishes with goat cheese and you know what they say…man CAN
live on goat cheese and Pilsner Urquell alone. You may only
live to 50, however.
U Patrona had just six tables…two of which were occupied and
both with couples. Some nice classical music was on in the
background, I’m drinking my beer, and I can’t help but hear this
one conversation….a guy talking to an older woman.
“My teenage boyfriend…..and then he said, let’s do….”
Yikes! I decided to focus on the music and the food and drink
after catching that line.
Today I took a long walk up to Prague Castle, said to be the
largest in the world. I bought a ticket for what I thought were the
key attractions (the place has tons of sites within, though few
‘must sees’) and I entered St. Vitus Cathedral, where a bunch of
big muckety-mucks are buried.
Well I handed the guy my ticket once inside, most of it being off-
limits to non-ticket-holders, and I had the wrong ticket! And the
line was too long to get the extra special one so I bagged looking
at the burial sites
Of course this meant I missed seeing the key one, though, that
being St. Wenceslas….of Good King Wenceslas fame.
The Wenceman was born in 907 and assumed power over his
fellow Bohemians in 924. Legend has it he was a bit pious,
though a good dude, and the people evidently loved him.
Ah, but his brother Duke Boleslav I was a jealous SOB and so he
whacked Wenceslas in 935. But later he moved his brother’s
remains to St. Vitus and thus the Wenceslas cult was born, which
really took off in like the 12th century.
So I’m reading this in one of the museums and now I can’t get
“Good King Wenceslas” out of my brain.
Good King Wenceslas looked out
On the Feast of Stephen
The Mets batted all around
Scoring six runs e-ven….
By the way, there are a lot of bad dates on the Net concerning the
Wencemeister as I just Googled his name to see what came up.
Mine are directly from the Story of Prague Castle Museum, in
case you’re like “Hey, I know my St. Wenceberg and you’re like
all wrong, editor.”
One last bit on Prague Castle and the Bohemians. The
Habsburgs came to power in 1526 and around here we like them
because were it not for the Habsburgs, Vienna wouldn’t be the
great city it is today. [Vienna still being my favorite.] Frankly, I
know the peasants suffered and all, but the Habsburgs cared
more about patronizing the arts and at the end of the day, isn’t
that what’s more important?
Stuff
While I’ve been away I see that…
–There is quite an uproar concerning the officiating at the
Oregon–Oklahoma game last weekend. The Pac-10 suspended
the crew responsible for botching the onsides kick that was
handed to Oregon, but Oklahoma’s president, David Boren, a
former governor and senator, is perhaps taking things a little too
seriously…he wants the result expunged and all manner of stuff
to happen to Oregon and the conference. Oh, chill out, my Okie
friends. As one guy I read (whose name escapes me) wrote,
‘What, are the St. Louis Cardinals supposed to still be
complaining because Don Denkinger botched a call in the 1985
World Series?’
–ABC’s Brent Musberger is in a little hot water, though this time
it has nothing to do with driving 100 mph in a 50-mph zone,
something Brent has been known to do, and with an occasional
beer in hand.
In the Nebraska-USC game last Saturday night, Musberger gave
up some privileged information on USC quarterback John David
Booty, specifically how he ‘tips off’ some plays when he sees
one-on-one coverage. Musberger, who learned this in a
production meeting before the game, knows this kind of info is
not to be put out on the air but he did anyway. But at least from
what I read later, USC coach Pete Carroll couldn’t have cared
less, nor, evidently, did Booty. It was USC’s athletic department
that made a stink and we all know who runs the show there,
Mike Garrett, who is known for stirring up controversy, often
when none exists.
–My friend Dave H. wrote, all distressed, that I was jumping off
the Jets bandwagon…not that there is one this year.
Au contraire, mon frere. I just have to go with the gut and the
Giants winning the Super Bowl, but I’ll always be a Jets fan.
Dave then told me, ‘Well at least your track record sucks,’ and
he does have a good point there. But I did pick Maryland to win
the NCAA’s that one year! [The only one I got right, but don’t
tell the children….they’re still falling for the wizard behind
the curtain.]
–And I did pick my New York Mets to go all the way this year.
One step down, three to go. I loved that Manager Willie
Randolph got a congratulatory phone call from Gil Hodges’s
widow, Joan, after wrapping up the division title.
–Back to ‘picks to click,’ here are my first three of the college
football season. Remember kids, always ask your parents’
permission if you plan on raiding the college fund.
Georgia…giving 27 vs. Colorado
Clemson…giving 16 vs. North Carolina
Louisville…giving 12 ½ vs. Kansas State
[All the lines are Monday’s]
Louisville, by the way, has moved into the top slot in your
exclusive Bar Chat Top Ten.
1. Louisville…3-0
2. Wake Forest…3-0…but we just lost our running back, after
losing our QB
3. Richmond…2-0…58-7 winners over VMI
4. Navy…3-0…37-9 over Stanford
5. Ohio State…3-0
6. USC…3-0
7. Rutgers…3-0
8. Boise State…3-0
9. New Hampshire…2-0…62-7 over Stony Brook
10. Auburn…3-0
–And for the archives, how ‘bout that Dodgers win on Monday?
Down four runs in the ninth, L.A. hit four consecutive solo
homers to tie the score, then won it in the bottom of the 10th on
a 2-run Nomar blast. It was the first time since 1964 (and only
the 4th time in major league history) that a team had hit four
straight, and never in such an important situation, as L.A.
battles the Padres for the division crown.
–Good to see arrests were made in the Duquesne basketball
attempted murder case. But that poor school is going to be
suffering from an admissions standpoint. The fact is both
Duquesne and Pitt are near some bad neighborhoods (also
Carnegie Mellon). But this kind of stuff, townies crashing
school parties, happens everywhere.
–Mickey Hargitay died. The 1955 Mr. Universe was partly
responsible for putting body-building on the map as a sport, but
for most of us he’s better known as the husband of Jayne
Mansfield, before she lost her head. [Very ugly demise for the
blonde bombshell.]
–Is there a bigger dirtball, in the true sense of the word, than
Pete Rose? He’s admitted to signing baseballs “I’m sorry I bet
on baseball,” this after he’s been banned for life for gambling on
the game, yet denying it for so long.
I still say I have the best solution. Tell him he’s in the Hall of
Fame…when he dies.
Top 3 songs for the week of 9/18/71: #1 “Go Away Little Girl”
(Donny Osmond….OK, what guy will own up to buying this?
Anyone?……….Steve Lawrence’s version was better……….) #2
“Spanish Harlem” (Aretha Franklin) #3 “Ain’t No Sunshine”
(Bill Withers…underrated artist)…and…#4 “Maggie May” (Rod
Stewart…should have stayed with Britt Ekland) #5 “Uncle
Albert / Admiral Halsey” (Paul & Linda McCartney) #6
“Smiling Faces Sometimes” (The Undisputed Truth) #7 “I Just
Want To Celebrate” (Rare Earth) #10 “Watcha See Is Watcha
Get” (Dramatics….one of the all time greats)
NASCAR Quiz Answers: 1) The two previous names for the
Nextel Cup were, of course, the Winston Cup Series
Championship (1971-2003) and, from 1949-70, the Grand
National Championships. 2) The seven who’ve won at least
three titles are: Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty, 7; Jeff
Gordon, 4; Darrell Waltrip, David Pearson, Cale Yarborough and
Lee Petty, 3.
* “King Richard” is the leader in overall wins with 200 and
David Pearson is second at 105. But Petty and Pearson raced
many years when there were 45 or more events in a season.
Since 1972 there have been between 29 and 36, with 36 the
current number.
That said, you still can’t discount 1967 and 1971 for King
Richard. In ’67 he won 27 of 48 official races and in ’71 he won
21 of 46. Now that’s simply phenomenal.
Baseball Quiz: Seven who’ve hit .300 with 30 home runs, and
did it at least once in each league.
Frank Robinson, Dick Allen, Ken Griffey Jr., Fred McGriff,
Carlos Delgado, Vladimir Guerrero, and Ellis Burks.
Uh oh, last time I use Bob S.”s research and not my own. He
just informed me that Mark McGwire should be added to the list,
if you count one with only 236 at bats. In 2000, McGwire hit
.305 with 32 homers…talk about juiced!
Next Bar Chat, Tuesday….or earlier….time for some Balkans
history and then the story of Vlad the Impaler…as we work our
way to a Bar Chat exclusive…a sit down with Count Dracula
himself……………..or some reasonable facsimile thereof.
*Update…11:00 PM Prague time…just came back from getting
a bite to eat…cool place…but I was seated next to four
businessmen, talking English but none from America.
So after 45 minutes, the host goes “I just got a call from Thomas
and he’s stuck in Hong Kong and won’t be at the meeting
tomorrow.” [The call didn”t originate at the table.]
Well I’m thinking, if this isn’t an “A-Hole of the Year”
candidate, I don’t know who is. Understand, “Thomas” was the
key to the whole conversation leading up to this rather important
announcement.
No, I didn’t say anything. I should have. But I was enjoying my
Bohemian Grill and Pilsner Urquell too much.
Speaking of…I spoke too soon earlier. The beer was $4.50 at
this last one. Inflation. All the more reason why the Federal
Reserve should have acted today.
