NFL Quiz: 1) In the 2006 draft, name the top five colleges for
total picks. [For example, Wake Forest, one.] 2) Name the top
three positions that were selected, overall. Answers below.
[Posted Sunday from Sofia, Bulgaria]
Ryder Cup
Well, I watched a lot of it this weekend…but I had to put up with
the homerism on Sky TV.
But let it be said, as poor as some of your editor’s sports
predictions can be, I was way ahead of the game on this one,
warning you that the way the U.S. team was shaping up in June,
we were doomed.
As it turned out J.J. Henry played pretty well, but you can’t say
Zach Johnson, Brett Wetterich, and Vaughn Taylor are among
the top American players…at least not yet.
But it’s also stupid to Monday morning quarterback when it
comes to Captain Tom Lehman. He did all he could (when you
lose 18 ½ – 9 ½, you can’t discuss how Scott Verplank played
only twice).
That said, Thomas Boswell of the Washington Post had these
two descriptions before Sunday’s singles matches.
Phil Mickelson: still in his “post-Winged Foot fetal position.”
Sergio Garcia: The “brat-next-door.”
But Garcia is now 14-4-2 in Ryder Cup play, and the
“overbearing” Colin Montgomerie is 6-0-2 in singles play.
I’m also tired of hearing “what a great competitor” everyone is.
Some of them choke, or as the British commentators correctly
said, too many of the Americans realize they can’t catch Tiger,
the purses on the U.S. tour are nonetheless huge, so they play for
the money rather than to try and win. And that kind of attitude
carries over to an event like the Ryder Cup.
David Toms was interviewed and he was brutally honest and
disgusted at how the U.S. totally sucks in team play.
One thing is for sure, unless I see the U.S. lining up a truly great
squad in two years, I’m not going to care half as much as I did
this year.
You know, I’ve also been critical of the price-gouging by the
Irish for the event, but they deserve a ton of credit for the great
show they put on. Bottom line, if the U.S. and global economy
hold up, the Irish benefit big time. If the economy goes into
freefall, few will be heading across the pond to pay $425 for a
round of golf.
Lastly….Darren Clarke is simply a class act, as is Lehman. Euro
Captain Ian Woosnam also deserves a ton of credit for putting
Clarke on the team in the first place. Too bad, Thomas Bjorn.
—
Before I get to the local stuff, time to catch up on other…..
STUFF
–First things first. Kids, I hope you bet your lunch money on
your editor’s picks this week in college football.
Recap:
I told you to bet Clemson, giving 16, to North Carolina…
Clemson won 52-7.
I gave you Louisville, giving 12 ½, vs. Kansas State…Louisville
covered, 24-6.
True, I also gave you Georgia, giving 27 to Colorado and it’s the
last freakin’ time I bet on the Bulldogs, that’s for sure! They
only won 14-13.
But the bottom line is I went 2-1….and as Ronald Reagan said,
that’s not bad…not bad at all. [I’ve only used this Reaganism 52
times….expect me to use it another 64 times this year alone.]
Stay tuned next chat for more…PICKS TO CLICK!
–So what else happened in college football?
WAKE FOREST…4-0!!!! And not for nothing but without
looking at the stats, we have to be #1 in the nation in rushing
defense, limiting Mississippi to 34 yards on 30 carries in this
week’s 27-3 thrashing. [Wake, on the other hand, only passed
five times and ran the ball 53 times for 240 yards.]
And my resurgent Cal Bears, who I told you last time would still
make it to the BCS after their opening loss to Tennessee, beat
#22 Arizona State 49-21.
And my preseason #1 pick, Nebraska, destroyed Brad Pitt’s
Troy, 56-0. Don’t count the Cornhuskers out yet either.
But here in Sofia, everyone is talking about Notre Dame.
Actually, I haven’t heard one person talkin’ Irish football, even
at this pub called Flanagan’s where I’ve quaffed a few pints. Not
a lot of ex-pats here, if you catch my drift.
Anyway, Notre Dame did stage a stirring comeback to defeat
Michigan State 40-37. I still say Brady Quinn is overrated,
however. But I do like receiver Jeff Samardzija. And as his
Topps football card would say… “Jeff can play baseball, too!”
[I just have to throw this one in for Ken P. “Dick once hit 66
home runs in the Sally League!” accompanied by the screaming
baseball, if I recall.]
And note to Steve D. Wassup with Boston College? How the
hell can they lose to North Carolina State? [17-15]
As for your Exclusive Bar Chat Top Ten…it was distressing to
see #4 Navy lose to Tulsa, 24-23, in overtime when an extra
point was blocked. That blows. But #3 Richmond annihilated
Allen H.’s Bucknell Bisons, 48-21, and #9 New Hampshire
destroyed the smarter kids at Dartmouth, 56-14.
So your new top ten reads:
1. Louisville
2. Wake Forest
3. Richmond
4. Ohio State
5. USC
6. New Hampshire
7. Rutgers…also 4-0 after destroying Howard 675-0.
[Bulgarians wouldn’t be allowed into Howard, by the way. I also
couldn’t move Rutgers up in the poll because it’s pitiful they
played Howard in the first place. Then again, Wake next plays
Jerry Falwell’s blessed Liberty squad.]
8. Boise State
9. Auburn
10. Cal-eeee-for-nia
–I see that reporters Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams
face 18-month jail sentences (pending appeal) for refusing to
give up the source for the grand jury testimony leak in the
BALCO case. Meanwhile, Barry Bonds is up to 734. I’m sick to
my stomach.
You know I was just thinking. Since President Bush is supposed
to be such a big baseball fan, now that he has regained his right
to select individual methods of torture, why doesn’t he authorize
waterboarding for Bonds? I’d be back on the Bush bandwagon if
he did.
–Former baseball executive Syd Thrift died following knee-
replacement surgery. [Something’s obviously not right there. I
haven’t seen any results from an autopsy.] It was Thrift who set
up Kansas City’s baseball academy that produced Frank White.
And while with the A’s, Thrift drafted Rickey Henderson, plus
he helped rebuild the Pirates in the late 80s, hiring Jim Leyland
in the process.
–You’ve gotta love the Cubs’ Carlos Zambrano. I wish he was
on my team. And just give the Cy Young to him.
Zambrano is 16-6 for a pitiful Chicago team and he’s also
clouted six home runs! Just 11 hits all year, but six out of the
park. Now how cool is that? And he plays with a passion that is
sorely lacking these days. [Fergie Jenkins is the last Cubs
pitcher to hit six in one year, 1971.]
–Ken P. alerted me to a story on Yankees pitcher Carl Pavano,
he of the four-year, $40 million contract that has another two full
years to run, even though Pavano hasn’t thrown a pitch for the
Yanks in over 450 days.
I didn’t realize Pavano fired his agent when he found out the
contract was actually for $39.95 million, not $40.
And after getting into an auto accident and failing to tell the team
while he was rehabbing in Florida, manager Joe Torre, the front
office, and the whole team hates him. So with the Yankees in
Tampa Bay this weekend to play the Devil Rays (where Pavano
is rehabbing anew), Torre made Pavano show up and go through
the locker room. The reception he received, as you can imagine,
was frosty.
–Speaking of the Yankees, I missed the Sports Illustrated story
on A-Rod. Juicer Jason Giambi, who some of us hate because he
continues to get a free pass on the BALCO deal, said “A-Rod
doesn’t know who he is.”
Then we hear from the man himself…the despised Alex
Rodriguez.
“I can’t help that I’m a bright person….When people write (bad
things) about me, I don’t know if it’s (because) I’m good-
looking, I’m biracial, I make the most money, I play on the most
popular team…”
The New York Post’s Mike Vaccaro:
“You not only see the arrogance that so many of his rivals see,
you not only sense the delusion that so many of his teammates
sense, you can also feel the detachment that has clearly begun to
wear away even at Joe Torre’s limitless supply of patience.”
–You know how some entertainers have no problem performing
for private parties at the right price? I was reading the Financial
Times weekend magazine and saw where Christina Aguilera
earned a reported $2 million for singing three songs at the
wedding of Russian billionaire Andrei Melnichenko last year.
The way it works, if an artist gets $200,000 for a public show,
they normally charge 1 ½ times that amount for a private event.
So I guess my chances of hiring Beyonce for $250 are practically
nil.
–Our thoughts and prayers go out to Japanese Tour golfer
Mitsuhiro Tateyama, who took 19 strokes to get down on a par-3.
19…for crying out loud. Tateyama hit his tee shot in some
bushes and it took him 14 strokes to whack it out of there. He
said he just lost track of what he was doing. Tateyama has been
admitted to a psychiatric hospital and is under 24-hour guard.
–I’m posting this with knowledge of just the 1:00 NFL results on
Sunday…but I see my Jets, out of nowhere, are suddenly 2-1
after defeating Buffalo! Why they were supposed to go 1-15!
And Brett Favre is the second with 400 TD passes (402). Dan
Marino has 420.
–And congratulations to 48-year-old Gary Hallberg (a Wake
classmate) for making the cut at the PGA’s Valero Texas Open.
Two tries this year and two cuts made. Not bad, not ba…sorry.
Sofia
So what have I been doing since arriving here on Thursday?
Well it started out slow, partly because I had some work to do,
but after taking a little stroll outside my hotel Thursday, which
was as centrally located as possible, I ended up having dinner
back at my place in a nice spot. I was the only one there so I was
treated royally. The food wasn’t that good, and I tried only local
dishes, but I loved the flaming sambuca the bartender made for
me at the end. A nice touch. The lights suddenly went down,
I’m thinking power failure, and both he and the waitress got a
kick out of my reaction.
And what beer did I drink here? Zagorka. I asked the first bar I
was in what the locals drank and this was the first name I
understood so I stuck with it. Very tasty.
Friday I only got another walk in (Sofia is, err, let’s just say it
needs a lot of work), but I went to a pub to watch a little of the
Ryder Cup.
Saturday it picked up. I wanted to go to Rila Monastery, high in
the Rila Mountains and a little over a two-hour drive from Sofia.
I couldn’t find a tour operator, though, that had space for me,
which turned out to be just as well because my housekeeper,
overhearing my conversation, said she could find someone.
Well for $160 I hired out “Tony.” I couldn’t pronounce his real
name so he said “Just call me Tony…my friends do.”
Tony and I spent over five hours together and what a great
experience. He’s a young kid, in his 20s, speaks good English
and we covered every topic imaginable; many of which I’ll leave
for that other column I do at week’s end.
We talked about the wildlife, for example. There are lots of
wolves in the mountains in Bulgaria, which I didn’t know. But
no bears. [Romania has the bears….oh baby.] But Tony said a
lot of people love hunting for wild boar, and I’m sure many of
you know the worst of this species are in this region. They aren’t
to be messed with. Tony never took a shot at one, but he’s seen
how big they get and word is if you miss them with your first
shot, you’re a dead man.
We also talked at length about gambling. Turns out Tony is a
professional soccer player, though he’s out now with a knee
injury. But lest I thought he was some superstar, he reminded
me he doesn’t play for the money because it’s pitiful. He just
loves the sport.
But there is a ton of gambling on the side for the matches and he
said the players are always getting in fights with the mobsters
who’ve lost bets because of a particular play or two. At least
Tony said he’s never been asked to throw one!
Anyway, the monastery was very cool, built in the 10th century
and then expanded in the 14th. The setting was as spectacular as
anywhere in the world, so if you’re ever in Bulgaria, check it out.
In case you’re curious about the roads, most of the way to Rila
was on a main ‘highway’ that connects Sofia to the Greek
border…3 ½ hours or so away. It’s a mess, though they were
doing construction work, by hand it seemed, on a Saturday. So
that’s good, right? Not quite. Tony said they’ve been working
on it five years and he’s not sure it will be finished in his
lifetime.
The radio we listened to the whole time was interesting. Because
we kept crossing over mountains, the reception would quickly
fade on one and pick up on another. At one point Tony goes
“That’s from Iraq.” After listening awhile, he said “the
commentator is talking about the number of American deaths in
Iraq now exceeding 9/11.” Since I had just read that online, I
knew he wasn’t kidding me. That then opened up an interesting
conversation I need to leave for “Week in Review.” You need to
check it out next weekend. It’s an eye-opener, to say the least.
Other topics I’ll cover later involve the mob, on a broader scale,
and national pride, but we arrived back in Sofia and I bid Tony
adieu (leaving my camera in the car, which was later returned….
Doh!) and hit this pub for a few Zagorkas. Later Saturday I had
dinner back at Thursday’s spot…again, the only person eating
there…but a different bartender was on staff and no flaming
sambuca…drat!
So now it’s about 11:00 pm and I thought, “Hey, time to check
out this casino around the corner.”
Good call. It’s a small place, only about 8 tables with some
slots, and maybe about 75 people in the joint when I walked in. I
left my passport with security, went to the cashier, handed her
my Visa card, and got a few hundred dollars worth of Lev (the
local currency).
Normally I scope out the blackjack tables and just observe how
people are betting, particularly on ‘doubling down,’ and when a
seat opened up at the $5 min. table I sat down. [The equivalent
of $5, that is.]
Now I’ve played a lot of casino blackjack and while, net, I’m
definitely down over my career I’m a good player and know
what to do.
What I’ve learned in a few of the Eastern European casinos I’ve
been in, however, is that half the players at any given table don’t
know squat….like they often stand with 14 when the dealer is
showing 8 or higher. Of course it drives the other players crazy,
but I just find it amusing.
Anyway, I was playing $10 a hand and doing well when I hit a
nice hot streak. I successfully doubled down twice in a row on 9
when the dealer showed 6. And other moves I made worked out.
It was then that Boris, out of central casting and with his wife
playing next to him and I think his mistress next to her (he was
giving both money), suddenly plopped down $75 on my slot. I
knew instantly what he was doing, but frankly no one has ever
done that.
You see, Boris had been observing my play, liked the way I was
handling things (and, of course, the luck of the cards) and
decided to let me play for him. Yikes! Talk about pressure. In
Moscow when I went to a little casino, I thought a mobster, who
I knew was armed, was going to kill me because he didn’t like
the way I was playing. [He was an idiot.]
Well wouldn’t you know…I won three straight times, $75 each
play for Boris! He slapped me on the shoulder, uttered
something with a smile I have no clue what it was, and then
immediately reduced his bet to $25. I (we) lost the next two and
then he moved back to his normal playing. I got another friendly
pat, a big puff of smoke in my face, and frankly I was pretty
pleased with myself. Hell, I netted Boris $175!
Forget the fact I then played another 45 minutes and took an up
$150+ night and turned it into down $50, I had a blast.
By the way, with the smoking, they have a jar of cigarettes on the
blackjack table for all to use. Mayor Bloomberg wouldn’t
approve of that, I imagine. And the drinks were flowing, but not
for me.
So when I left the casino, I walked past security and hear this
“Wait…Mr. Trumbore!” Of course I had forgotten my passport,
which I was forced to leave with them. And there with the
passport was my membership card to the “London Casino.”
Remember those commercials for Player’s Club and Telly
Savalas? That’s right…I’m now a member, baby, in Sofia.
On Sunday morning, after doing some site work, I heard the
church bells ringing at Alexander Nevski Cathedral across the
road from me. Oops! I wanted to check out a Russian Orthodox
mass, scrambled over there but they were letting out. So I went
to the woman selling votive candles, gave her about $2, and for
that I got this giant stick with a wick. After praying for world
peace, I lit it, and at that moment I wish there was a video
camera. It turns out everyone buys very small candles, no one
gets the deluxe model like I did….and I didn’t know where to
cram this baby in! So I’m struggling with the candelabra (or
whatever it’s called) and I feel like I’m about to take the entire
cathedral down….that or set it on fire. Alas, a local kindly
showed me that there was one slot in each candelabra for a giant
candle such as mine and no one was hurt.
After this I went to the National Foreign Art Museum. I read it
wasn’t anything special, and that proved to be the case. In fact it
was awful in terms of both the artwork and the presentation. I
recognized only one artist, Anthony Van Dyck (though I checked
closely to make sure it wasn’t something by former Pirate Andy
Van Slyke, the lighting was so poor). They say they have a
Picasso but I couldn’t find it, nor do I give a damn about the
guy’s work.
By this time it’s about 12:30 and I was ready for a big lunch so I
hit this outdoor café near my hotel, on the same square, and
thought if nothing else the people watching will be good.
And boy was it ever. Picture I’m ten feet from three parking
slots marked ‘reserved’ and all were empty when I sat down.
First came a beautiful Beemer with a gorgeous couple emerging
from it. He looked like he was in the mob, she looked like Posh
Spice. Then I heard a purring….goodness gracious, a black
Lamborghini pulled in slot #2. What a funny sight. A fairly
non-distinguished young guy emerged, made a few phone calls,
looked at me, and hopped back in the car. Purrrrrrrrr…..
But wait, a minute later, a red Ferrari pulled in. And out stepped
another, err, you know, along with another Posh lookalike. I
mean to tell you, with those two couples seated next to me, I was
enjoying myself, but I also had quite a complex. [I wasn’t
dressed real well.]
When I finished my meal (by far the best I’ve had here), the
waiter said in excellent English… “Sir, next time you should
make a reservation. You were lucky to get a seat when you did.”
No kidding. And I told Mr. Ferrari, “Nice car.” He smiled
broadly and said “Thank you.” Posh didn’t smile. Darn it, I’ll
never fit in with the Bulgarian Mob!
Well that’s it for now. I have to grab a bite to eat, then post this,
and maybe hit the casino in the next few hours.
Hope you enjoyed the little travelogue.
Balkan Tidbits
Years ago Robert Kaplan wrote a great book on the region,
“Balkan Ghosts,” that I need to reread some day. Since Bulgaria
is near Serbia and Kosovo, Kaplan once described a visit to a
disco in the town of Pec, Kosovo, in the early 1990s. Here is
what Ismail, a Muslim-Albanian said to Kaplan during a
conversation.
“Do you know why I don’t like to drink plum brandy, why I
drink beer always? Because the Chetniks [the WW II Serbian
guerilla fighters] used to do their killing after drinking plum
brandy. Do you know what it is to throw a child in the air and
catch it on a knife in front of its mother? To be tied to a burning
log? [It gets worse, though I’m not printing it.] And they go to
church after.”
And here’s one from “A History of Modern Europe” by John
Merriman.
Here in Bulgaria, Todor Zhivkov became 1st secretary of the
Communist Party (meaning he ran the place) in 1954. He stayed
in power until being deposed in Nov. 1989. And man was this
guy a dirtball.
“(Zhivkov) could boast a record of modest economic growth, at
least until the late 1970s. He also had orchestrated several cover-
ups of the misdeeds of his family members (including the
implication of his hard-drinking and gambling son in the death of
a television announcer and a sexual assault perpetuated by his
grandson). When a Bulgarian airliner crashed at the Sofia
airport, killing most passengers, Zhivkov’s reputation was tainted
when he ordered that his jet leave at once for his Black Sea
vacation, flying over the burning jet and its victims.
Furthermore, the Bulgarian secret police had achieved
international notoriety, being blamed for an attempt to
assassinate Pope John Paul II in Rome in 1981, and for a James
Bond-like murder of a Bulgarian dissident, killed by the deadly
jab of a poison-tipped umbrella in London.” [Georghi Markov]
Well hopefully I have better luck on my Bulgarian airliner
Monday morning.
It was Mikhail Gorbachev, by the way, who actually believed
Zhivkov should go in 1989 amidst the upheaval in Eastern
Europe.
Top 3 songs for the week of 9/23/72: #1 “Baby Don’t Get
Hooked On Me” (Mac Davis) #2 “Black & White” (Three Dog
Night) #3 “Saturday In The Park” (Chicago)…and…#4 “Back
Stabbers” (O’Jays) #5 “Alone Again (Naturally)” (Gilbert
O’Sullivan…most depressing song ever written) “Ben” (Michael
Jackson….nose in tact, at this point…full functionality…skin
tone normal…) #9 “Go All The Way” (Raspberries…great tune,
but be careful about playing it on a first date, guys) #10 “Rock
And Roll Part 2” (Gary Glitter…a k a John Mark Karr)
NFL Draft Quiz Answers: 1) Top five colleges for 2006 draft:
USC, 11; Miami, Ohio State, Virginia Tech, 9; Florida State, 8.
[Georgia and LSU had 7] 2) Top three positions: Wide receiver,
33; Cornerback, 23; Defensive tackle, 23.
Next Bar Chat, Thursday…..it may be posted late. Depends on
my sit down with Count Dracula…or Count Yorga, should the
Dracman not be available. Also, the history of Vlad the Impaler,
Drac’s alter ego. Regardless, I hope to be traveling in
Transylvania Wednesday and Thursday, but won’t know the final
schedule until I get to Bucharest.
