Super Bowl Quiz, part I (of III) [Some easy, some hard]: 1) In
SB I, who had two TD receptions in Green Bay’s 35-10 victory?
2) In SB II, who caught two TD passes accounting for Oakland’s
only scores in its 33-14 loss to Green Bay? [You get this one,
you’re good] 3) In SB III, who was the Jets tight end? 4) In SB
IV, name the Chiefs’ linebackers in their 23-7 win over
Minnesota? 5) In SB V, who kicked the winning field goal for
Baltimore in its 16-13 triumph over Dallas? 6) In SB VI, what
two Dallas backs rushed for a combined 169 yards in the
Cowboys’ 24-3 win over Miami? Answers below.
The FedEx Cup
With this week’s PGA Tour event at Torrey Pines, the 4th of the
season and the first of the year for Tiger Woods, golf will once
again begin to gain more attention.
But not since 1983, when the Tour went to a top-125 all-exempt
system has a season had such drastic change as this one with the
advent of the FedEx Cup. So here’s what you need to know.
Instead of just looking at the money winnings list, now players
accumulate points in the 33 weeks from January to mid-August.
4,500 are awarded for first in an event, 2,700 for second, 1,700
for third, and on down the list to the No. 70 player and ties
who receive 50 points……25,000 points in total for the tourney.
More points will be awarded to the four majors and The Players
Championship, 27,500, and 26,250 for the World Golf
Championships. Events played opposite the WGCs and British
Open, however, have far fewer points available, just 12,500.
The first 33 weeks then lead to a four event playoff for the FedEx
Cup, with the top 144 players on the points list eligible. Now
everyone is reset:
Season finishing position after first 33 events:
1. 100,000
2. 99,000
3. 98,500
4. 98,000
5. 97,500
on down to No. 144….84,700
Then you have the four playoff events.
The Barclays (Westchester C.C.) 8/23-26…144 in the field
Deutsche Bank (TPC of Boston) 8/31-9/3…field cut to 120
BMW Championship (Cog Hill) 9/6-9…field cut to 70
Tour Championship (East Lake G.C., Atlanta) 9/13-16…final 30
The bonus for winning the playoff? $10 million, the largest
single bonus payout in sports.
The top 30 finishers that make it to the Tour Championship are
also guaranteed exemptions into the following year’s FedEx Cup
season, not a big deal since they’d all be in anyway under the old
system, but important in reaching a final 125.
Then, after the Tour Championship, you still have the “Fall
Series”; seven events from late September to early November
that finalize the following year’s eligibility for players who do
not finish in the top 30 of the FedEx Cup. Players will vie for
Nos. 31-125, based on final-season earnings.
So the money-list is still relevant.
Well, there are all kinds of issues that we’ll discuss over the
coming months (thus boring the hell out of non-golf fans), such
as the fact with a World Golf event and the PGA Championship
right before the FedEx Cup playoffs, the top players would have
to play 6 of 7 weeks when few do. [7 of 8 in a Ryder Cup year.]
Which means that the big question is will Tiger and Phil play in
six of seven? If you skip one of the four FedEx Cup events, it’s
highly unlikely you can win it all under the point system.
One problem for the non-superstars, though, is that aside from
the top-125 exempt list from 2006, there are 62 others who
earned their playing privileges for this year by virtue of
graduating from Q-School or the Nationwide Tour. Most events
start out with 156 slots, plus each tournament has a number of
sponsor exemptions to hand out to old pros, international stars, or
even Michelle Wie, if they so choose. In other words, come
FedEx playoff time, an awful lot of golfers are going to be left
high and dry, but at least they have the final seven events in the
“Fall Series” to scramble for their Tour card.
What’s my opinion of it all? I think by early summer fans will
be into it. The Tour Championship itself, no longer in the
middle of football season and before the baseball playoffs,
should also be exciting as these guys go for a $10 million first
prize. And the Fall Series could be fun, too, for us armchair
fanatics.
Broadway Joe
I picked up this book “The Playboy Interviews: They Played the
Game,” but before I get into Joe Namath and Bachelors III as
related in his Dec. 1969 interview, I thought I’d retell the story
from over three years ago in this space.
In the book “Going Long: The Wild 10-Year Saga of the
Renegade American Football League in the words of those
who lived it” by Jeff Miller, I noticed in the index it had a bit on
Joe Namath and the incident over his ownership of the restaurant
“Bachelors III.”
Following his Super Bowl III triumph, you can imagine how
Namath and the rest of the Jets had New York City wrapped
around their fingers. There were the Singing Jets, for example,
Don Maynard, Bake Turner, Matt Snell and Jim Turner, who
appeared on “The Tonight Show,” and all the players were
getting commercial endorsements, especially Broadway Joe, who
had guaranteed the upstart Jets would beat the Colts and then
delivered.
But then NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle got a bug up his ass
about Namath’s co-ownership of the Manhattan establishment.
Rozelle’s people had been observing who was going into
Bachelors III and Namath’s attorney/friend, Mike Bite, was
presented with photos of “undesirable” people fraternizing there.
Namath claimed he knew nothing of the background of the
customers in question, reputed mob figures. Nonetheless,
Rozelle wanted Namath to sell his interest in the place.
Namath: “It was frustrating, like when you were a little kid and
you got called to the principal’s office. I didn’t do anything!
They had policies on undesirable people. Who are undesirable
people in a restaurant? I don’t know.”
You have to picture the whole episode exploded in the New York
media. I was only 12 at the time, but I’ll never forget it.
Rozelle thought Namath would roll over.
As one player put it (an answer to the above quiz): “Hell, there
weren’t any more mobsters in that place than there were next
door at the shoe shop. We were going in there and having fun.”
Namath decided he would resign from football rather than sell.
Broadway Joe’s former coach at Alabama, Bear Bryant, called.
Mike Bite picked up the phone.
“Hello. I wanna speak to Joe. This is Paul Bryant.” Namath
told Bryant what he was doing and then in a tearful news
conference, “Namath announced that he had been presented with
an ultimatum by Pete Rozelle – sell the interest in what the NFL
considered a haven for undesirables or be barred from playing in
the league. Namath said he’d rather fight and quit, saying the
NFL had no business in his business.” [Jeff Miller]
Wide receiver George Sauer: “I had heard about the press
conference the night before and was tipsy…I went to (it) with
a hangover and was talking to Howard Cosell.”
With the cameras rolling, Sauer and two other Jets teammates
said that if Joe wasn’t going to play, neither were they.
Well you can imagine the uproar then, but at the same time the
NFL realized they may have gone too far and Rozelle began
negotiating with Namath, meeting him at Namath’s apartment.
Training camp started, but Namath was a no show.
Namath: “I was sitting in Central Park while the team was out in
training camp, watching the world go by. And I thought, ‘All
these people walking around Fifth Avenue, all these people
walking around the park – they couldn’t care less whether Joe
Namath plays football. I’m the only one that cares. And why am
I not playing? Because something’s not right? Sometimes it’s
not fair, and you still have to deal with it.’”
Joe Willie went back to play, after making a deal with Rozelle
that he would get out of the restaurant. Ironically, Bachelors III
was opening in other locations, but the NFL only cared about
New York. Namath”s participation there was perceived to be too
hot. He got a raw deal.
So Namath goes back to training camp and the Super Bowl
champion Jets proceeded to barely beat the College All-Stars in
an exhibition game, 26-24. Then they had to play the Giants, in
the first game ever between the two.
Fullback Matt Snell: “When you went in the bars on the East
Side where everyone hung out, everybody said, ‘Wait’ll the
Giants get you guys. You think you guys are the world
champions? You’re nothin’ ‘til you beat the Giants. And we
don’t think you can beat the Giants.’ We heard that all off-
season.”
The game was at the Yale Bowl and while an exhibition, it was
obviously far more than that. The Jets took it seriously and
Namath was on fire, throwing 3 touchdown passes in a 37-14
drubbing of the cross-town rival. Actually, the star of the game
was a 12th round draft pick, punt returner Mike Battle from
USC, who took one 86 yards for a touchdown. But Battle liked to
drink.
Namath: “Mike was really a piece of work. All of us change a
little bit, I guess, when we get a little firewater in us…Don’t dare
him to do anything; he would. He started eating glasses and
putting holes in the wall with his head. But the team loved him.”
Well, we try to set an example for the young people at Bar Chat
so we’ll wrap it up right here. Except I’m looking at the Playboy
interview with Joe Willie and I realize because of the depth of
the story I need to start fresh with the topic next chat.
Stuff
–SHARK!!! I first saw the story of the Australian diver and his
battle with a Great White on BBC News and then our shark
correspondent Bob S. forwarded a Reuters piece. Now it’s all
over the place.
It seems that Eric Nerhus, 41, was diving with his son and other
divers off Cape Howe on Australia’s southeast coast when he
was attacked by a 10-foot Great White.
“A fellow diver said the shark bit Mr. Nerhus from the head
down, crushing his face mask inwards and breaking his nose. He
managed to break free and was hauled aboard a waiting boat.
His condition is described as serious but stable.”
“ ‘Eric is a tough boy, he’s super-fit,’ his friend and fellow diver
Dennis Luobikis told reporters. ‘But I would say that would test
anyone’s resolve, being a fish lunch….The shark swallowed his
head.’”
Goodness gracious. As BBC reports, “The shark then took a
second bite, this time seizing Mr. Nerhus by the body and biting
into his torso.”
Diver Michael Mashado told Reuters, “(The water) was black.
He didn’t see it coming, but he felt the bite and then started
getting shaken, and that’s when he knew he was in the mouth of
the shark.”
Mr. Luobikis said that after the second bite, Nerhus “pushed his
abalone chisel” into the shark’s head, managing to wrestle
himself free. He was later airlifted to a hospital with massive
blood loss and in a state of shock.
But the key is Nerhus is an abalone diver. How many times have
we seen these folks attacked?! Don’t they ever learn? Sharks
dig abalone as much as humans do and are always hanging out
where abalone can be found in abundance, so when a diver
comes along it’s gravy…or lunch, as Dennis Luobikis said. [By
the way, don’t believe these “the shark mistook the victim for a
seal” stories. You’d think after a few million years a shark can
tell a diver or surfer from a seal.]
–[WARNING: The following is pretty gross. The above story
was tame by comparison.]
There’s a piece in the February 2007 issue of Smithsonian by
Susan McGrath on the mysterious disappearance of the long-
billed vulture in India and Pakistan. This wicked bird with the 7-
foot wingspan once had a population of 40 million, feeding on
livestock carcasses. Incredibly, though, the number has dropped
an estimated “99 percent,” with much of the decline occurring in
just the past 15 years, which is staggering.
So what happened? The first clue for villagers was simply not
seeing vultures feeding on dead livestock like they had in the
past. It was the vultures’ job to dispose of them, especially in
urban areas where the dead were hauled off to dumps.
“As many as 100 vultures may feed on a single cow carcass,
stripping it clean in 30 minutes. Two thousand, 3,000, even
10,000 vultures swarmed the larger dumps in the early 1990s, the
huge birds lapping at carcasses with their leathery tongues,
thrusting their narrow heads neck-deep to reach internal organs,
tussling over choice gobbets of meat. Year after year, (said a
wildlife biologist), five million to ten million cow, camel and
buffalo carcasses disappeared neatly down the gullets of India’s
vultures.” [Susan McGrath]
So if there wasn’t a shortage of food, what was killing the
vultures? Scientists surmised increasing use of pesticides wasn’t
the culprit. Nonetheless, they needed fresh bodies to examine
and in 100-degree heat it was hard to find them.
Finally, an American living in Delhi spotted a dead vulture on
her lawn, called the authorities, and when a pathologist slit it and
another fresh carcass open he “almost dropped his scalpel. The
internal organs were covered by a whitish paste of uric acid
crystals, a condition called visceral gout. The birds’ kidneys had
failed.” Maybe it was a virus, the scientists thought.
Well, it’s a long story but the bottom line, after a very frustrating
process dealing with the Indian government, and then Pakistan
after 9/11, was that it wasn’t a virus, but rather a “pharmaceutical
drug given to domestic livestock, whose carcasses are
subsequently consumed by vultures.” The suspect was
diclofenac, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory that had been used
as a painkiller for decades in the West, but had only recently
been licensed for veterinary use in India and Pakistan.
And why was diclofenac given to livestock in the first place?
Said one expert, “Western India especially is covered with
invasive thorn bushes, which cause a lot of small injuries. And
then maybe the animal can’t keep up with the group, or is more
subject to predation.”
The drug can speed a cow’s recovery so it can give milk or pull a
plow. But some treated animals die and a Cambridge zoologist
calculated that “only 0.1 to 0.8 percent of livestock carcasses
would have to contain diclofenac to kill vultures at the rate
observed.”
Finally, after years of prodding, both India and Pakistan (as well
as Nepal) banned the manufacture and importation of the drug
in 2006.
But it will take decades before there is any real recovery in the
vulture population, and in the meantime, dogs eat the carcasses at
the dumps. So the dog population is exploding, and these aren’t
real pleasant, “animal of the year” types, know what I’m sayin’?
Which means that incidences of rabies are rising and 30,000 (the
world’s highest toll) die of it in India yearly.
And now experts believe that because the rat population is
soaring, “outbreaks of bubonic plague” are an increasing
possibility, too.
RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!!
–The other day here in the New York area, the local CBS radio
affiliate alerted residents of Bergen County to a pack of coyotes
said to number 7. Seeing as much of Bergen is urban, this is
great news for readers of Bar Chat. No attacks to report as yet,
however.
But in perusing the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday, it seems
coyotes there are also terrorizing residents. “We get calls from
all over about cats and small dogs disappearing,” said Capt.
Wendell Bowers. “Coyotes are everywhere – Wilshire, San
Pedro. They used to be nocturnal. Now they’re out all the time.”
Just three years ago police in Simi Valley shot and killed a
coyote after it attacked three children playing on a street.
However, there is only one documented case of a coyote killing a
human in the L.A. area.
But I was wondering if these coyotes are what I think they are,
drug runners, and it turns out many are coming from Runyon
Canyon Park, “about a mile and a half north of their homes, or
the Wilshire Country Club.” Case closed. [Bob Pool / L.A.
Times]
–A British zoo announced the virgin birth of five Komodo
dragons. Flora, the eight-year-old mother at Chester Zoo in
northern England, had become pregnant without ever being
exposed to the opposite sex. But in case you’re having a case of
déjà vu, yes, earlier a Komodo dragon had given birth at the
London Zoo and mom was also a virgin. And what is this self
fertilization process called? Try ‘parthenogenesis,’ the Bar Chat
“Word of the Week.”
–International Living has come out with its annual survey of best
and worst places to live, based on cost of living, leisure &
culture, economy, environment, freedom, health care,
infrastructure, risk & safety and climate. The Best?
1.. France 2. Australia 3. Netherlands 4. New Zealand 5.
United States 6. Switzerland 7. Denmark 8. Italy 9.
Luxembourg 10. Argentina. [The editors admit to a western
bias.]
The bottom five are Afghanistan, Sudan, Yemen, Somalia and
Iraq.
Of the ten most polluted cities on earth, three are in Russia.
The ten most touristed countries in 2006, according to The
Economist are:
1. France 2. Spain 3. U.S. 4. China 5. Italy 6. U.K. 7. Hong
Kong 8. Mexico 9. Germany 10. Austria
The world’s biggest recyclers (in tons per 1,000 people) are
Switzerland, Sweden, Austria, Netherlands, and the U.S.
The world’s most expensive country is Norway, while the
world’s cheapest is Iran.
–It must be nice being Tank Johnson, Chicago Bears tackle.
After all, on Dec. 14 police raided his Gurnee, Illinois, home and
found three rifles, three handguns and ammunition. So he was
charged with 10 counts of possession of firearms without a state
gun-owner identification card. It was also the third time in 18
months that Johnson had been arrested. But then remember, two
days after his Dec. arrest, his bodyguard was shot to death in a
nightclub incident, with Tank in attendance.
As Bart Simpson would say, however, “no problemo.” Cook
County Judge John Moran is allowing Tank to play in the Super
Bowl, when otherwise he might not be allowed to leave the state.
Why even the assistant state’s attorney didn’t object, because it’s
all about ….DA BEARS!
–I have to apologize to Falcons quarterback Michael Vick, I
guess, as does everyone else. Miami authorities now say his
suspect water bottle with the secret compartment was clean.
Something is wrong here, as in what about the smell that security
screeners at Miami International Airport had initially picked up
on?
–Congratulations to the Cincinnati Bengals for having a ninth
player, cornerback Johnathan (sic) Joseph, arrested on a drug
charge. But it was just a bag of marijuana that police found
during a search of his possessions….which is only a
misdemeanor! Good for him.
–Lawmakers in Washington state are to rule on a measure
introduced in its senate that would allow well-behaved dogs to
accompany their masters into bars, should the establishment want
to invite them in. Why not? They already play poker.
–Former big league hurler Vern Ruhle passed away at the age of
55…cancer. Ruhle was 67-88 in a career that spanned 1974-86.
–Thankfully, Lynn Johnston is giving us all a break in “For
Better or For Worse” as the strip has taken on a most
uninteresting story line concerning April’s mental fragility. We
should be getting back to Liz, Flyboy and Pitiful Wimp Anthony
soon.
–Did you know…that fire ants can actually be beneficial? It’s
true, according to research by the Department of Entomology at
Texas A&M University (and my High Plains Journal). “Red
imported fire ants benefit such crops as soybeans, sugarcane and
cotton because they break up and aerate the soil, making more
water and nutrients available to plants. They also attack other
harmful insects in cotton fields.” However, fire ants also kill
beneficial insects. Overall, it’s estimated the benefits in Texas
equate to $6.5 million a year, far outweighing the costs, $236.5
million. And that, sports fans, is your fire ants update.
–Speaking of Texas A&M, their hoops team is suddenly the
surprise in all of college basketball as it is ranked an all-time
best, #6 in the AP poll. But back on 12/7/06, I put you all on
alert about Winthrop, which is now 15-4 with the four defeats
coming at the hands of #4 North Carolina (73-66), Maryland (71-
60), #2 Wisconsin (82-79) and #6 Texas A&M (71-51). All four
were away contests as well.
–I saw a blurb in the Journal the other day that HBO Films is
doing an adaptation of the classic book “Bury My Heart at
Wounded Knee” by Dee Brown, slated for a May release. But
according to the story I read, “The screenplay departs from Mr.
Brown’s work, managing to end the depressing tale [of how
Washington screwed the Sioux Indians] on a ‘wonderful note of
hope’ to reflect the wishes of Sioux descendants who want the
world to know their culture is still alive.” Well, I loved the book,
but this doesn’t sound encouraging to us truth tellers.
–Good news…for once. Former Yankee great and current
broadcaster Bobby Murcer said in a radio interview on Tuesday
that “I’m just doing absolutely fabulous” with his treatment for
brain cancer and that he plans on returning to the booth this
season. We’re pulling for you, Bobby.
Top 3 songs for the week of 1/25/69: #1 “I Heard It Through
The Grapevine” (Marvin Gaye) #2 “Crimson And Clover”
(Tommy James and the Shondells) #3 “I’m Gonna Make You
Love Me” (Diana Ross and the Supremes with the Temptations)
…and…#4 “Soulful Strut” (Young-Holt Unlimited) #5
“Everyday People” (Sly & The Family Stone) #6 “Hooked On A
Feeling” (B.J. Thomas) #7 “Touch Me” (The Doors) #8 “Worst
That Could Happen” (Brooklyn Bridge)
Super Bowl Quiz Answers: 1) SB I – Max McGee caught two
TD passes in Green Bay’s 35-10 win over Kansas City. For the
game McGee had 7 receptions for 138 yards. What made this so
unusual is that he had caught only four passes all season. 2) SB
II – Wide receiver Bill Miller caught two TD passes for
Oakland’s only scores vs. the Packers. Miller had five receptions
in the game overall. But during the regular season, like McGee,
he was largely invisible with just 12 catches. However, of the
12, six went for TDs! 3) SB III – The Jets tight end was Pete
Lammons. 4) SB IV – K.C.’s linebackers were Willie Lanier,
Bobby Bell and Jim Lynch. 5) SB V – Jim O’Brien kicked the
winning field goal for Baltimore against Dallas. 6) SB VI –
Dallas rushed for a total of 252 yards in its 24-3 win over Miami.
The two leaders were Duane Thomas (19 for 95) and Walt
Garrison (14 for 74).
Next Bar Chat, Monday p.m….more on Bachelors III, if you
keep it where it is.
