College Football Quiz: [All AP champs; no co-champs these
years] 1) 1979 / Alabama: Name the QB who was also the top
rusher. Name the #2 rusher. 2) 1980 / Georgia: Name the QB,
top rusher, and either of the top two receivers. 3) 1981 /
Clemson: Name the QB, one of the two top rushers, and the top
receiver. 4) 1982 / Penn State: Name the QB, top rusher and top
receiver. Bonus points: Name the #2 rusher. Answers below.
Corporal Jason Dunham…Medal of Honor recipient
The other day, President Bush awarded the Congressional Medal
of Honor to the parents of Cpl. Jason Dunham, the first Marine to
be so honored for service in Iraq. Appearing at the dedication of
the new National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, Va.,
the president said:
“I am proud to announce that we will recognize Corporal
Dunham’s actions with our highest decoration for valor, the
Medal of Honor. As long as we have Marines like Corporal
Dunham, America will never fear for her liberty.”
The Wall Street Journal’s Michael M. Phillips wrote a book, “A
Gift of Valor,” on Dunham’s story and recounted the tale the
other day in the paper.
“On patrol on April 14, 2004, Cpl. Dunham found himself
engaged in hand-to-hand combat with an insurgent near the
Syrian border. When his attacker dropped a live hand grenade,
the Marine made the split-second decision to cover the weapon
with his own helmet, shielding two of his men from its full
explosive force.
“The other Marines staggered away from the blast, injured but
alive. Cpl. Dunham suffered deep shrapnel wounds to the brain.
He survived eight days in a coma, only to die with his parents at
his bedside. He was 22 years old.”
According to a Marine Corps press release:
“(Corporal Dunham) and his men stopped a convoy of cars
trying to make an escape (following a report that a Marine
convoy had been ambushed). As he moved to search one of the
vehicles, an insurgent jumped out and grabbed him by the
throat….
“Dunham shouted to the other Marines ‘No. No. No. Watch his
hand.’ As the two scuffled, the Iraqi dropped a grenade with the
pin removed, and Dunham quickly jumped on it, using his
Kevlar helmet and body to smother the blast….
“Three of Dunham’s platoon mates…suffered shrapnel wounds
but survived….
“The battalion commander at the time…submitted Dunham’s
nomination for the Medal of Honor, noting: ‘I deeply believe that
given the facts and evidence presented, he clearly understood the
situation and attempted to block the blast of the grenade from his
squad members.”
Dunham is just the second service member to receive the Medal
of Honor for actions in the Iraq war; the other being Sgt. 1st Class
Paul Smith, who almost single-handedly saved at least 100
soldiers and killed 20 to 50 enemy troops during the battle for
Saddam International Airport. Smith suffered mortal wounds
from his position manning a .50-caliber machine gun.
Jack Palance, RIP
Palance died of natural causes at the age of 87. The son of
Vladimir and Anna Palahniuk, Ukrainian immigrants who settled
in Lattimer Mines, Pa., with the father being a coal miner, Jack
(who changed his name upon becoming an actor) was a World
War II vet who took up acting while in college on the G.I. Bill of
Rights (North Carolina and Stanford). Until his Oscar-winning
role in 1992’s “City Slickers,” Palance was typecast as the bad
guy in everything from Western’s to Jack the Ripper to Attila
the Hun.
The Washington Post’s Desson Thomson summed up the
Palance mystique.
“(He) was cool in his own way. You imagined his brawniness
was earned from old-fashioned lugging, hefting and swinging of
heavy stuff like rocks, bricks and metal pipes, not on Nautilus
equipment with wall-to-wall mirrors and some trainer named
Serge looking on. And you didn’t think about inconvenient
facts, like his real name….
“Some of you will remember him as Jack Wilson, the relentless
bully in 1953’s ‘Shane’ who drew guns on Alan Ladd – that
reluctant White Hat – and took two in the gut. It was always
Palance’s role to be the dead guy in the final reel. He was the
hero’s best friend, in a way. After you shot Palance dead, there
wasn’t much left to do except walk into the sunset. You had
gunned down Palance; you were the man….
“(Palance) seemed mercifully free of airs. ‘Most of what I do is
garbage,’ he told a reporter once. And as for the directors he
worked for, ‘most of them shouldn’t even be directing traffic.’
Real men, you see, don’t talk pretty or eloquent. They just say it
like it is.
“So we hope you know what we mean when we say, admiringly
and with a tip of the black hat, that Palance was one of the last
real men. Just remember the way he said, ‘Prove it!’ before he
died at the hands of Shane. The pug-ugly majesty. The way he
went down like a rock. You never cried for him, going down.
Which is why, we guess, we shouldn’t cry for Jack, even with the
knowledge that, after the credits roll, he isn’t going to get up,
dust off his hat, ready for another take. He’s done and down.
And he ain’t getting up.”
Stuff
–College football review:
After losses by #3 Louisville, #4 Texas, #5 Auburn and #8
California, the plot has thickened.
AP Poll
1. Ohio State…11-0
2. Michigan…11-0
3. Florida…9-1
4. USC…8-1
5. Arkansas…9-1
6. Notre Dame…9-1
7. RUTGERS…9-0
8. West Virginia…8-1
9. LSU…8-2
10. Louisville…8-1
13. Boise State…10-0
14. WAKE FOREST…9-1
BCS
1. Ohio State – .9765
2. Michigan – .9735
3. USC – .8699…up from 7th
4. Florida – .8495
5. Notre Dame – .8193
6. RUTGERS – .7866…up from 13th
7. Arkansas – .7567
8. West Virginia – .6575
12. Boise State – .5541…eligible for BCS game at this level
16. WAKE FOREST – .4362
It really is funny how little respect New Jersey gets, what with
the “New York Giants” and “New York Jets” playing in New
Jersey, for example. And it was funny to see ESPN on Thursday
during the Rutgers-Louisville contest constantly display the
Empire State Building…which is in New York…not New Jersey.
New Yorkers are trying to hijack Rutgers for their own! This
will not stand! [The editor, feigning outrage and a call to
arms/civil war]
By now some of you are aware of Rutgers coach Greg Schiano’s
mantra of “chop wood.” Steve Politi, writer for the Star-Ledger,
had these observations.
“You know, it was a late night in Piscataway covering the big
victory over Louisville, and such a pretty autumn afternoon
yesterday, I really didn’t feel like writing this column. But I
knew what I had to do.
“Keep chopping!
“Yup. I woke up, poured myself a bowl of Cheerios and got
right back on the chop. Had to do it. Hey, if it works for Rutgers
during this 9-0 season, why not me? Why not everyone in the
state?
“Have a flat tire? Chop away.
“Lose your car keys? Remember the chop.
“Wife ran away with your best friend, your loyal dog and the
entire stock portfolio? Chop, chop, CHOP!”
Lenn Robbins / New York Post:
“This is unfolding as the greatest season ever in modern college
football history.
“It has been fueled by three story lines: Michigan and Ohio State,
two of the nation’s most storied programs, are undefeated and
ranked 1st and 2nd, respectively, for the first time ever heading
into Saturday’s showdown.
“Unbeaten Rutgers has made college football relevant in the
largest media market in the world, which means the sport is
getting a huge boost….
“But the best story in college football has unfolded at a
basketball school in a small town in North Carolina. What Wake
Forest has done is simply unbelievable….
“And the Deacons, now 9-1, have done it without their starting
quarterback, Ben Mauk, who was injured in the first game of the
season, and running back Micah Andrews, who also went down
early in the season.
“Imagine Ohio State without Troy Smith and Antonio Pittman,
Michigan without Chad Henne and Mike Hart, Rutgers without
Mike Teel and Ray Rice.”
And recall that were it not for a botched hold on a field goal
attempt that would have iced Clemson, we’d be 10-0 and in the
national championship conversation. I keep thinking back on
that game because it just shows what a special coach Jim Grobe
is. 9 out of 10 teams would have packed it in, especially given
our tradition, after such a devastating defeat. But not this year’s
edition.
Johnny Mac’s all-time favorite player, East Stroudsburg’s Jimmy
Terwilliger, finished up his career on Saturday vs. Kutztown
State and all he did was throw eight TD passes in a 56-16 win.
That brought his total to 148, tying the record for all divisions
held by Justin Peery of Division III Westminster, Mo.
Terwilliger also finished his career with 16,064 yards of total
offense, exceeded only by Timmy Chang of Hawaii and Steve
McNair of Alcorn State.
Clifton Dawson of Harvard became the Ivy League’s career
rushing leader, surpassing Ed Marinaro of Cornell in 1969-71.
Dawson has 4,781 yards with one game to go.
As for my football picks, I’m really sorry you’re down $500,000
after I was shut out, losing all three picks this time.
Maryland, giving Miami 2 ½….Maryland wins, but 14-13.
Boise State, giving 13 to San Jose State…BS wins, but by only
23-20.
And the Rajin Cajuns of Louisiana-Lafayette lost to North Texas,
16-7, when they were supposed to win by 11. Remind me never
to bet again on these losers.
So I’m now 11-13 on the year and time is running out. But fear
not, because Thursday I’ll be back with more….PICKS TO
CLICK!
–From the Honolulu Star Bulletin:
“A Canadian visitor was attacked by a shark near the shoreline of
a south Maui beach, yesterday [Saturday].
“Kyle Gruen…was swimming about 30 to 40 feet from the
shoreline near Kamaole Beach Park II close to 1 p.m. when a
shark bit him on the left leg and hand, according to a witness.
“ ‘He was screaming, Shark!’ said Brad Quinto.”
[A nearby kayaker said the shark was 8 to 10 feet long. The
crew of a rescue helicopter confirmed the sighting.]
Gruen suffered a 15-inch laceration down the top left side of his
leg and the top of his hand but won’t lose any limbs. This was
the third non-fatal shark attack in the past year in south Maui.
The last fatal incident was April 2004. I’m anticipating a large
pickup in attacks this coming spring.
–Florida has an estimated one million alligators, as the state
looks at rules making it far easier to trap and kill them. The
beasts are obviously no longer endangered.
–This is a good one. Broward County Commissioner John
Rodstrom is a stamp collector and in going through some
absentee ballots the other day he noticed an unsigned envelope
(which made it invalid) that had a small stamp collection on it.
Rodstrom immediately recognized one of them as being a 24-
cent Jenny from 1918. Only 100 were known to have gone into
circulation but it’s not known just how many still exist. Bottom
line, it could be worth $200,000, but because the stamp was
canceled it might sell for only $20,000 to $100,000.
But here’s the kicker. The ballot is already sealed in a box with
the other absentee votes and under election law it can’t be
unsealed for up to 22 months, after which they are usually
destroyed. However, county officials may take a look at it after
the vote is certified on Monday.
–I didn’t realize Lance Armstrong had such an entourage when
he ran the New York City Marathon. In an attempt to get him
across the finish line in under three hours, the likes of Joan
Samuelson (former Olympic marathon champion), former NY
Marathon champs Alberto Salazar and German Silva, as well as
Moroccan mile legend Hicham El-Guerrouj all helped
Armstrong along, with, for example, Samuelson replacing
Salazar at mile 10 in terms of pacing Lance. Kind of takes a
little away from the effort, don’t you think? I mean I would have
run my two marathons under four hours if I had these folks with
me; though I probably wouldn’t have been able to drink as much
beer as I ended up doing were this to be the case. [Sports
Illustrated]
–New York Knicks coach Isiah Thomas went ballistic against
the Spurs’ Bruce Bowen on Saturday night. It’s alleged Bowen
has a habit of sticking his legs out when defending a shooter and
the other day the Knicks’ Steve Francis came down on Bowen’s
foot, twisting his ankle after taking a jump shot. The league is
looking into whether or not Bowen deserves to be suspended, or
at least reprimanded for this as others such as Vince Carter and
Ray Allen have also complained.
But on Saturday, Thomas singled out Bowen and started
screaming at him. Spurs coach Greg Popovich shouted to
Thomas, “Don’t talk to my player.” Thomas shouted back, “Tell
your player not to keep sticking his foot under my players.”
Tim Duncan said, “It’s a bad situation when a coach puts himself
in that position and goes after a player.” More importantly, the
Knicks are 2-5, on the way to my projected 16-66 season.
–The New York Daily News reports that Beyonce Knowles and
Eva Longoria are set to shoot a big-screen lesbian story based on
the book “Tipping the Velvet,” a Victorian tale of a love affair
between a 1890s dance hall star and an oyster-shucking
fishmonger’s daughter. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
–Golfer Tom Pernice is real piece of work. First, he took off
after Tiger Woods for not showing up at the Tour Championship.
“I think it’s a disgrace. It’s a slap in the face to [presenting
sponsor] Coca-Cola and the tour. Tiger wouldn’t make the
money he makes if it wasn’t for the PGA Tour. At some point
there is a credibility factor as to what’s inside you as a person.
There is a responsibility and an obligation to the people who
helped make you who you are.”
Ah, Tom? You may be right, but you do realize that were it not
for Tiger your own paychecks would be about half what they are,
don’t you?
Tom wasn’t finished. He then ripped commissioner Tim
Finchem for the setup of the FedEx Cup next year, where you
will have three events of 144 golfers leading to the Tour
Championship.
Pernice wanted a cut after each of the first three. “We need to
cut those fields, and (Finchem) says we’re not going to. He says
we’re not changing anything and that’s [baloney]. He works for
us. He needs to answer to the [tour policy] board, and that’s
Davis Love, Joe Ogilvie and Joe Durant.”
At which point Love said that the players themselves, a majority
of them, had elected for the 144 slots. “I understand what Tom’s
saying,” Love sighed. “I just don’t like the way he says it. We
worry too much about playing opportunities for the guys between
80th and 120th, but it wasn’t the tour staff that did this.”
[GolfWorld]
So we eagerly await an event where Pernice is in the hunt, paired
with Tiger. Wouldn’t that be fun?
–Did I tell you that Beyonce and Eva Longoria are set to do a
steamy picture together?
–Dan L. passed along a story about troubles in shark land.
Experts claim fisheries “can remove 50 to 90 percent of an entire
shark species in only 10 years.” This sucks. If you kill off all
the sharks, rhinos, lions, tigers and elephants, just what the heck
am I supposed to write about?! [Of course the above noted Maui
attack is part of the sharks’ counteroffensive.]
–I’m not into reporting tragedies like this, but in doing so maybe
I’ll help prevent some senseless accident in the future. This past
week a 27-year-old gymnastics instructor here in New Jersey
died while attempting a quadruple flip off a trampoline at the
private gym where he worked. The guy was very experienced.
“The move entailed a running jump onto a trampoline, followed
by four somersaults in the air before landing on one’s feet.
Although spotters were next to McCurdy while he practiced the
move, they were unprepared when he spun out of control, flying
headfirst into a 6-foot pit filled with foam designed to cushion
falls.
“McCurdy somehow landed in between the pieces of padding
and struck his head on the concrete floor.” [Star-Ledger]
–Citigroup is paying the New York Mets a reported $20 million
a year to have the team’s new stadium named CitiField. I would
have had a problem with this ten years ago, but today, no big
deal. Citigroup was the lead underwriter for $613 million in
bonds the Mets floated to finance the new park. William Shea,
the late lawyer largely responsible for bringing National League
baseball back to New York, had a good run with his name on the
current stadium for over 40 years.
–Remember the story of casino mogul Steve Wynn, who
accidentally poked a hole in a Picasso he was getting ready to
sell for $139 million? To add insult to injury, it’s costing Wynn
$85,000 to repair the hole. Wynn said he will now keep it and
the question, anyway, is how much would the painting’s value be
diminished?
–Great win by the Jets yesterday over the Patriots. And what a
classless jerk Bill Belichick is. Jets coach Eric Mangini used to
be on Belichick’s staff, but now Bill won’t even mention
Mangini’s name in press conferences.
–Jonathan Winters is 81. Hope he’s doing well. There was
never anyone funnier in his prime. Of course Robin Williams
ripped him off unmercifully.
–It doesn’t get any easier for readers of “For Better or For
Worse” these days. Jeff B. summed it up perfectly. “Just call it
‘For Worse.’” For starters, Anthony and Liz are two of the most
self-centered jerks on the planet, especially with some of their
fellow Canadians waging war in Afghanistan these days. It
would also appear that Anthony is attempting to cash in on
Borat’s fame with that mustache of his. I asked Jeff, “Has Lynn
Johnston no shame?” To which Jeff then passed along a picture
of Lynn where she bears a striking resemblance to Hillary
Clinton. It’s all starting to come together. I don’t see any
improvement as the holidays approach.
–Jeff B. also mentioned he was at the Jimmy Buffett Madison
Square Garden concert in Sept. 2005 when CBS’ Ed Bradley
startled everyone by appearing on stage with his friend to sing
“Sixty Minute Man.” No doubt Bradley loved life.
–Rolling Stone’s review of Kevin Federline’s debut album.
“This reprehensible rap debut finally offers Britney Spears’
much-mocked husband a platform to answer that burning
question. Who is the real K-Fed? ‘I’m looney/All these model
chicks want to do me’; ‘I’m the pimp of all pimps’; ‘I come tight
with every rhyme’. Boasts like these go on ad infinitum over
fourteen tracks.” [Then the reviewer throws in an expletive I
really can’t post here. Suffice it to say, it got one *.]
Top 3 songs for the week of 11/15/75: #1 “Island Girl” (Elton
John) #2 “Lyin’ Eyes” (The Eagles) #3 “Who Loves You”
(Four Seasons)…and…#4 “Miracles” (Jefferson Starship) #5
“Heat Wave” (Linda Ronstadt) #6 “That’s The Way (I Like It)”
(KC & The Sunshine Band) #7 “This Will Be” (Natalie Cole)
#8 “Feelings” (Morris Albert) #9 “The Way I Want To Touch
You” (Captain & Tennille) #10 “Low Rider” (War)
College Football Quiz Answers:
1) 1979 / Alabama: QB and top rusher, Steadman Sheely. [For
the life of me I can’t picture him] The #2 rusher was Major
Ogilvie. [Him I remember] This ‘Bama team gave up a total of
67 points in 12 games.
2) 1980 / Georgia: QB – Buck Belue; RB – Herschel Walker;
WR: Lindsay Scott and Amp Arnold.
3) 1981 / Clemson: QB – Homer Jordan; RB – Cliff Austin and
Chuck McSwain; WR – Perry Tuttle
4) 1982 / Penn State: QB – Todd Blackledge; RB – Curt Warner
and John Williams; WR – Kenny Jackson
Rutgers tidbits…just to show you where they’ve come from…
1997: 0-11…gave up 45 points per game!
1999: 1-10…lost 56-28 to Temple
2001: 2-9…lost 80-7 to West Virginia, 61-0 to Miami
2002: 1-11…only win vs. Army; lost to Buffalo 34-11 and
Villanova 37-19. Just four years ago.
And when you hear about Rutgers’ undefeated season in 1976,
11-0, understand they finished the year ranked just 17th in the
AP. Why? Look who they played that year.
Bucknell, Princeton, Cornell, UConn (when the Huskies were
Division XVI), Navy, Lehigh, Columbia, UMass, Louisville
(ironically), Tulane and Colgate
Next Bar Chat, Thursday…spymaster Markus Wolf. Not your
normal fare, I’ll admit. But then most people don’t have KGB
archives lying around like I do.
