BULLETIN!!! DAVE CLARK FIVE HOSED!!!!!
[Read to the end of the lead story]
Baseball Quiz: 1) Craig Biggio starts the season with 637 career
doubles, No. 8 on the all-time list. Name the four with 700 or
more. [Hint: Not Aaron, who is No. 9, or Barry Bonds, who is
No. 14 with 587. In fact none of the four are members of the
500-homer club.] 2) 52 players in major league history had 150
or more triples, but few in modern times. Sam Crawford, for
example, is the all-time leader at 312 but he finished his career in
1917. So…only 3 at this level finished their careers post-1945,
Paul Waner being one of them. Name the other two. [Hint:
Willie Wilson had 147 triples…ain’t him, in other words.]
Answers below.
Rock and Roll Bust
As my good friend Jeff B. noted, I should have stayed home. On
Monday night I went to the Waldorf-Astoria in New York to
cover the scene at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction
Ceremony and it proved to be a giant bust. After checking into
my room, I quaffed some adult beverages at the bar with a bunch
of sleazy music types (the only type there is, actually) and
knowing that news coverage would begin around 7:30, I took my
“Where Is The Dave Clark Five?” sign outside the front entrance
to begin to protest. Only no one was outside.
So I went back in to join 100 others who were waiting to see
celebs like Keith Richards, who was said to be coming to induct
The Ronettes, as well as to see if any of the members of Van
Halen would show.
I made some fast friends around me and it turns out they were
mostly locals who come to this event every year. Then I had
someone take a picture of me and my sign with some New York
City cops and that’s when I knew the evening would be a
disaster.
“Oh no….I can’t have my picture with that sign,” said one.
“What if it shows up in a magazine?!”
Now the guy’s partner was very amused, neither of these 20-
somethings knowing who the hell the Dave Clark Five are, but it
set a poor tone. I didn’t even want to argue.
Next I went up to a local NBC News reporter and told her the
real story of the evening was the omission of the Dave Clark
Five yet again. Her cameraman seemed fired up, trying to
convince her to interview me, but she begged off. [I think I
scared her when I called her by her first name.]
And so the bottom line ended up being that 100 of us stood in the
main entrance of the Waldorf for well over an hour and not one
big name passed by. Scouts were sent to check out other
possible entry points and for the life of me I still can’t figure out
why the big names chose to hide from such an innocuous group.
I had to find out in the papers the next day who did end up
showing. Yes, Richards was there, in awful shape, as did
Sammy Hagar. And of course Ronnie Spector was there and
from her picture it looks as though she has aged rather well.
[She refused to acknowledge former hubby Phil Spector in her
comments.]
Two years earlier, when U2 was inducted, I was told by my new
friends waiting with me that it was a mob scene, and that Bono,
Springsteen and Bon Jovi had all walked in together where we
were waiting. This year the lineup was weak, to say the least.
[Ronettes, REM, Van Halen, Patti Smith and Grandmaster Flash
and the Furious Five.]
So I repaired back to the bar at the Waldorf and talked to more
sleazy music types who would pop in for a quick one during
breaks in the show taking place in the ballroom. Later, the
highlight proved to be the blue cheese pizza I ordered up. I bet
you didn’t know they had such a thing.
Yes, I let you all down. But I’ll find a way to make it up to you,
I promise. Like Keith Urban in Milwaukee on July 26. Then
again, given my luck he’ll go back into rehab the day before.
One last note on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, particularly the
museum in Cleveland. As I’ve told you on more than one
occasion it is really one of the outstanding showcases of any kind
in the entire world and you must get to it. But it’s just a shame
that the selection process for the Hall thus far has not only
excluded the DC5, but also the likes of Genesis, Jethro Tull,
Grand Funk, the Moody Blues, Chicago, the Guess Who, Petula
Clark, Tom Jones and Blood, Sweat & Tears. And that’s a
memo.
***But this just in…….hot news via Liz S. and FoxNews.com.
ROCK HALL VOTING SCANDAL: ROCK GROUP
ACTUALY WON
“According to sources knowledgeable about the mysterious ways
of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, British Invasion
group The Dave Clark Five and not Grandmaster Flash finished
fifth in the final voting of the nominating committee and should
have been inducted on Monday night.
“According to sources, Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner,
who recently appointed himself chairman of the Foundation after
the death of Ahmet Ertegun, ignored the final voting and chose
Grandmaster Flash over the DC5 for this year’s ceremony.
“ ‘Jann went back to a previous ballot instead of taking the final
vote as the last word,’ my source insisted. ‘He used a
technicality about the day votes were due in. In reality, The
Dave Clark Five got six more votes than Grandmaster Flash. But
he felt we couldn’t go another year without a rap act.’ …
“ ‘We begged Jann to allow all six acts to be inducted. But he
insisted that he couldn’t because there wouldn’t be enough time,’
my source said. ‘He wanted to have Aretha Franklin come and
perform in memory of Ahmet Ertegun.’
“The Ertegun tribute, while very nice, was deemed unnecessary
by members of the main committee because the Atlantic Records
co-founder will be memorialized in New York on April 17.
“ ‘But Jann wanted to do his own tribute. It was insane,
especially since he took over Ahmet’s position on the board
before Ahmet even had a memorial….
“The Dave Clark Five ballot tampering, however, stings the
most. The group, part of the British Invasion of the ‘60s, should
have been inducted long ago for their hits like ‘Glad All Over,’
‘Bits & Pieces’ and ‘Catch Me If You Can.’ Making them wait
has turned out to be a huge mistake, as their fortunes have not
been great.”
[Recall that sax player Denis Payton recently died and lead
singer Mike Smith has been paralyzed since 2003 after falling off
a ladder.]
So there you have it. This story suddenly has legs, and ask me if
I’m ticked off. We also have a new target, once I get further
confirmation on this story…one Jann Wenner…a possible shoe-
in for “Dirtball of the Year.”
Stuff
–Just an awful story in Wednesday’s New York Times by Alan
Schwarz on post-concussion syndrome and the NFL. The great
Hall of Fame tight end, John Mackey, has a severe case of
dementia and his wife, Sylvia, is the leader in a movement
among former players’ wives to get help in dealing with their
husbands’ declining health.
The result of Sylvia’s work has been the formation of Plan 88 (so
named after Mackey’s uniform number) so the families of
players suffering from dementia can gain aid depending on
whether the player is in an outside facility or being treated at
home.
While dementia is not just a problem with former NFL players,
and while the league continues to deny there is a connection
between those suffering today and prior head injuries, it’s pretty
clear there is. [For her part, Sylvia Mackey has turned down
approaches from attorneys wanting her to sue the league.
Instead, she feels the plan worked out with the commissioner’s
office is better because there is now a level of cooperation (and
compensation) that didn’t exist before.]
–“Big Cat” Ernie Ladd died of colon cancer at the age of 68.
Ladd is the only man ever to be elected to both the NFL and
Wrestling Hall of Fame. Ladd was a giant of a defensive
lineman for San Diego, Houston and Kansas City of the old AFL,
1961-68, measuring in at 6’9” and 315 pounds with 20-inch
biceps and a 19-inch neck.
But he quit the AFL at the age of 28 because he found he was
making more money wrestling in the off-season than playing
football so he gave it up to wrestle fulltime. “That first year
wrestling, I made $98,000, and after that never made less than a
hundred grand a year,” said Ladd. “That was big money back in
the ‘60s.”
As noted by Frank Litsky in the New York Times, “In that era, as
now, the outcomes of wrestling matches were scripted, and the
good guys included Bruno Sammartino, Gorilla Monsoon and
Bobo Brazil. They invariably won. Ladd was a villain and
usually won, too. He said it was his idea to be a bad guy.”
“ ‘That’s when the real fun began,’ he said. ‘I was too big to get
sympathy by getting beat on, so I made a much better heel.’”
Alas, bad knees from football and wrestling caught up with him
and by 1986 he was in a wheelchair.
–I just filled out my full NCAA bracket and I have no 13-16
seeds winning their first round game and just one 12, Old
Dominion over Butler. [I have two 11s, VCU over Duke and
Winthrop over Notre Dame.] The highest seed I have advancing
to the Sweet 16 are two 6s, Vanderbilt (my sleeper Final Four)
and Louisville.
Final AP Men’s Top Ten
1. Ohio State
2. Kansas
3. Florida
4. UNC
5. Memphis
6. Wisconsin
7. UCLA
8. Georgetown
9. Texas A&M
10. Oregon
15. Nevada….but a No. 7 seed?!
17. Notre Dame…but a No. 6?
22. Winthrop…but a No. 11?
–Division I Hockey Poll
1. Notre Dame
2. Minnesota
3. New Hampshire
4. St. Cloud State
5. Clarkson
6. North Dakota
7. Boston College
8. Boston University
9. Michigan
10. Michigan State
11. St. Lawrence!!!!! ….this whole exercise was for the benefit
of Trader George, St. Lawrence alum and high school hockey
stud.
–I just picked up the sponsorship of Barry Bonds’ page on
baseballreference.com. Now if you Google Barry’s name, the
baseballreference.com link is 2nd. I don’t ask for much from you
all, but I’m giving you a homework assignment. Google his
name and go onto baseballreference.
Barry’s page is obviously going to get a ton of traffic this year
and there I’ll be, taking the other side, as they say. Is this a great
country or what?!
–Speaking of steroids, police in New Jersey arrested two
dirtballs, both 24, who were manufacturing them in one of their
basements. 14 others were picked up, along with $100,000 in
drugs and more than $20,000 in cash. What is disturbing, though
hardly surprising, is that one of those arrested is a 17-year-old
high school football player. Steroids are rampant in high school
athletics, if you didn’t already know.
One of the two ringleaders, where the steroids were being
manufactured from ingredients purchased from China and
Greece, lives alone with his father. Prosecutors divulged that
this kid had a “fully functional lab” complete with a pill press.
So the father, in an “Idiot/Jerk/Dirtball of the Year” response,
told authorities, “They are dead wrong. It’s all BS. There’s no
manufacturing here. It’s not a factory and there was no buying
or selling in my house.”
The other ringleader ran for 22 touchdowns his senior year in
high school (2000). It also turns out three students or recent
grads of the school in question died of overdoses last summer
and fall. For those of you who read “Week in Review,” the
school is in the county I mentioned a few weeks ago; a very
wealthy one.
–Alex Rodriguez really is perhaps the strangest superstar in
recent memory. During a radio interview with New York radio
sports station WFAN, A-Rod said this year represents a “do or
die situation. Either New York is going to kick me out of New
York this year, say ‘I’ve had enough of this guy, get him the hell
out of here,’ and we have an option. Or New York is going to
say, ‘Hey, we won a world championship, you had a big year,
you were a part of it and we want you back.’”
You see, A-Rod has an option to become a free agent at the end
of the season and while he keeps saying he wants to finish his
career in New York, the next minute he’s saying it’s up to the
fans and management; that he wants to make sure “I’m wanted
here.”
All I’ve got to say is A-Rod better get off to a good start, or he
will suffer a nervous breakdown right on the field as the fans rip
him unmercifully.
–I received a note from reader Chuck E. who had this disturbing
observation upon the death of former Philadelphia Phillies player
and coach John Vukovich. He is the fourth member of the mid-
to late-Seventies Phillies to die from a brain tumor, the others
being Tug McGraw, Ken Brett and Johnny Oates. What was
going on at Veterans Stadium?
–Incredibly, Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan
gave New York Knicks coach and president Isiah Thomas a
multiyear contract extension despite the fact the Knicks are five
games below .500.
Now everyone is in agreement the Knicks are better than last
year’s 23-59 edition and mildly interesting to watch compared to
past squads, but most of us had to laugh when Thomas said in
response to his new contract that he was thrilled to “have the
approval of the City.” Not quite, Isiah. You have the approval
of one man, James Dolan, and most of us are scratching our
heads, wondering just what kind of relationship the two of you
have.
–Last chat, I forgot to list these classic lines from Sunday’s
“Simpsons.”
Moe to Homer: You ain’t exactly open casket material yourself.
Homer to Marge: Why are you blaming me? He’s your father-
in-law.
Bart to Lisa, with their fort about to be attacked by an army of
UPS men: Who knew guys in brown shirts could cause so much
trouble?
–Be afraid….be very afraid. From Reuters:
“Wild camels in drought-stricken Australia are in plague
proportions, damaging the environment and property as they
compete with native animals for food and water.
“Camels ‘mad with thirst’ recently rampaged through the
Western Aboriginal community of Warakurna, damaging toilets,
taps and air conditioners to find water.
“ ‘There were a couple of hundred – they get big mobs up here,’
the operator of the Warakurna Roadhouse said on Wednesday.”
A couple hundred? A couple hundred wild camels? Goodness
gracious. I’d like to see the Spartans try to beat them, know what
I’m sayin’?
What I didn’t realize is camels were first introduced to Australia
in the 18th century to help explorers venture into the dry interior.
A researcher said there are “An estimated one million feral
camels, whose numbers double every eight years.”
Personally, I can’t think of anything worse than celebrating an
anniversary or something at the Sydney Opera House and being
attacked by a pack of feral camels on the way home.
–From the AP: “Seven Indonesian hikers have died in bad
weather as they attempted to climb a towering volcano in the
center of the country…..A porter who helped recover the bodies
said they may have died from exposure or starvation. ‘In their
rucksacks we found cooking equipment but no food, so we think
they ran out of food in very cold weather.’” I’m thinking
Mothra.
–USA Today took a look at the NBA’s centers, the 30 from each
team receiving the most playing time, then graded them on points
per game, blocked shots, steals, assists, rebounds, FT%, FG%,
three-point shots made per game, durability (percentage of
team’s games played in), and team winning percentage.
And the top-rated center? San Antonio’s Tim Duncan. [Yes,
he’s listed at power forward but plays as a center most of the
time.] 2nd is Phoenix’s Amare Stoudemire, 3rd Orlando’s Dwight
Howard.
–About a year ago I was down in Adamsville, TN, and stopped
into the Buford Pusser Home and Museum. It’s a must see,
especially for those who may be taking in the nearby Shiloh Civil
War battlefield.
So I just got a note from my friend down there, Renee, who tells
me that the 19th Annual Sheriff Buford Pusser Festival is May 23
thru May 26. I can’t make it myself but if you’re in the area I
know it’s a great time. Beauty pageant, golf tournament, 5k run,
car show and bluegrass music.
–Action in “For Better or For Worse” has ground to a halt, it
would seem, as we are forced to deal with April and her growing
pains (as if the insufferable Liz wasn’t bad enough). But on
Wednesday, Shannon reappeared; which makes me wonder what
creator Lynn Johnston will do when she pulls the strip in
September? She can’t possibly be thinking of leaving this, err,
mentally deficient girl to fend for herself, could she? And now it
would appear Weed’s “party of the century” is being dragged out
until July, after which the last two months will be taken up with
Liz’s wedding to Anthony. It’s enough to make one sick.
[Jeff B., who wrote in from his annual vacation in the tropics,
does add that April should be given a drug test. I couldn’t agree
more.]
–From the New York Post’s Page Six:
“Jennifer Hudson might be letting her Oscar win for Best
Supporting Actress in ‘Dreamgirls’ go to her head.
“Besides tangling last week with Simon Cowell of ‘American
Idol,’ the show that gave the ungrateful diva her big break, the
singer tried to back out of performing at Saturday’s taping of the
Soul Train Awards show in Los Angeles.
“ ‘Jennifer called Friday and said she couldn’t make it,’ said our
source.
“ ‘Soul Train’ producer Don Cornelius immediately called Clive
Davis, the legendary J Records mogul who created the careers of
Whitney Houston, Alicia Keyes and dozens of other artists.
“ ‘Clive called Jennifer and read her the riot act. He said, ‘Get
your ass out to L.A.’ and then hung up on her.’”
Hah! Baby, you’ve gotta love it, having recently slammed Ms.
Hudson on more than one occasion myself.
But what’s the real lesson here, boys and girls? Never, ever, diss
Don Cornelius; the baddest dude in town.
–The State of Colorado has selected John Denver’s “Rocky
Mountain High” to be the 2nd state song; the original one being
something titled “Where The Columbines Grow,” not exactly a
tune filled with good memories these days.
Top 3 songs for the week of 3/12/66: #1 “The Ballad Of The
Green Berets” (SSgt Barry Sadler) #2 “These Boots Are Made
For Walkin’” (Nancy Sinatra) #3 “Listen People” (Herman’s
Hermits…great little tune)…and…#4 “California Dreamin’”
(The Mamas and the Papas) #5 “Elusive Butterfly” (Bob Lind
…ok, I’m a total sap…I actually liked this one…now we could
make this a big issue or just move on…I choose to move on) #6
“19th Nervous Breakdown” (The Rolling Stones) #7 “Nowhere
Man” (The Beatles) #8 “Lightnin’ Strikes” (Lou Christie…this
one has held up great over the years) #9 “I Fought The Law”
(Bobby Fuller Four) #10 “Homeward Bound” (Simon &
Garfunkel)…………Now that’s what I call a top ten!
Baseball Quiz Answers: 1) Four with 700 or more doubles: Tris
Speaker, 792; Pete Rose, 746; Stan Musial, 725; Ty Cobb, 724.
2) Other two with 150 or more career triples who finished their
career after 1945. Stan Musial, 177 (last season 1963), and
Roberto Clemente, 166 (last season 1972).
Next Bar Chat, Monday pm.
