World Cup Ski Quiz: 1) The World Cup titles were first handed
out in 1967. Name the first three overall men’s champions, each
of whom won at least two in a row. [Hint: from three different
countries] 2) Who was the first U.S. overall men’s World Cup
titleholder? 3) What five-time overall men’s champion hailed
from Luxembourg? 4) Who was the first woman to win three
overall titles? Answers below.
GO DEACS! Wow, what a win for Wake Forest (16-8, 6-5) last
night; an 86-73 whipping of #2 Duke. Our two freshmen, Jeff
Teague and James Johnson, combined for 50 points. I’ve been
pleasantly surprised like all Wake fans at our performance thus
far but suddenly this victory allows us to dream of going to the
Big Dance. Gotta win 2 of the final 5 conference games and then
the first-round ACC tourney contest to get selected, though. And
have I mentioned next year we get the best recruiting class in the
nation? What? I’ve only written this 40 times before? Sorry.
George Washington
A little snippet from the book “George Washington” by James
MacGregor Burns and Susan Dunn. Happy Birthday, George!
“Slowly the ornate carriage lumbered on its long journey
northeastward toward New York. At every stop along the way,
outpourings of people crowded around the general, cheering him
while church bells rang and cannon boomed. People sang and
people wept. Crossing a bridge outside of Philadelphia, he
passed under an elaborate arch erected in his honor and was
crowned with a wreath of laurels. He rode into Philadelphia on a
white horse as twenty thousand citizens struggled to catch a
glimpse of their hero. In Trenton women and girls scattered
blossoms on the ground before him, singing ‘Welcome, mighty
Chief!’
“The little procession – George Washington and two companions
– that had left Mount Vernon without ceremony on the morning
of April 16, 1789, had turned into a triumphal promenade of
republican spirit. A people frustrated by years of war and
uncertainty and hardship, a people starved for leadership and
direction, citizens denied the power of directly choosing their
leaders and often denied any vote at all – these persons were now
voting with lungs and legs for their leader, a man on a white
horse, a republican hero.
“Washington had hoped for a subdued arrival in New York City,
where his inauguration would take place. ‘No reception can be
so congenial to my feelings,’ he had written in late March to the
governor of New York, ‘as a quiet entry devoid of ceremony.’
But there would be no quiet entry. On the afternoon of April 23,
a flotilla of gaily festooned boats of all sizes, their flags waving
in the wind, accompanied his barge across Newark Bay toward
Manhattan. As one sloop approached the barge, the women on
board sang an ode to the general, who lifted his hat in thanks. A
Spanish warship fired a salute. Nearing the pier at the foot of
Wall Street, Washington could make out masses of people
crowded along the waterfront and stretching up the streets
behind.
“He was emotionally exhausted. ‘The display of boats, the
decorations of the ships, the roar of cannon, and the loud
acclamations of the people,’ he wrote in his diary that evening,
‘filled my mind with sensations as painful (considering the
reverse of this scene, which may be the case after all my labors
to do good) as they are pleasing.’
“Indeed, gloomy thoughts crowded in his mind. Neither the
elated throngs nor the evidence of his staggering popularity could
dissipate his apprehension. He had been the unanimous choice
of the Electoral College, but his accession to the chair of
government, he had written to a friend in early April, ‘will be
accompanied by feelings not unlike those of a culprit who is
going to the place of his execution.’ Concerned that he
possessed neither the skill nor the zeal to manage the helm, he
worried that he was placing in jeopardy not only the fate of his
countrymen but also his own good name. Still, he was ready to
sacrifice his private life and answer the country’s call. ‘Integrity
and firmness is all I can promise,’ he wrote. ‘These never shall
forsake me although I may be deserted by all men.’
“Was he truly reluctant to accept the nation’s highest office? He
had made similar noises of diffidence and self-sacrifice when
delegates to the Second Continental Congress unanimously chose
him to be commander in chief of the revolutionary army in 1775
and again a dozen years later when he had hesitated to attend the
Constitutional Convention. And yet Washington always
happened to be in the right place at the right time. A happy set
of coincidences? Or a consuming ambition to be at the center of
events masked by a virtuoso performance of self-effacement,
reserve, and disquiet?
“The president-elect had perfected a brilliantly effective formula.
By professing his distaste for high office, by reminding people of
his yearning for retirement, and by admitting his uncertainty as to
his abilities, he had learned to hedge all bets and come out ahead.
Even so, there was a note of sincerity in his hesitation to occupy
the president’s chair. ‘I have had my day,’ he had written a few
years earlier, painfully conscious of his mortality. And, though
ambitious, he did not want to put at risk or injure the reputation
he had nurtured for decades. But he also knew that his reputation
was not yet fully realized.
“The general’s revolutionary glory had issued not only from his
skill as a military strategist but also from his remarkable farewell
in 1783. At the moment of victory, he stunned Americans with
his resignation of military power and his even more unusual
refusal to seize political power. Instead, he announced his
decision to return to his farm. It had been an unprecedented
gesture that electrified the world. But relinquishment of power –
however unexpected, dramatic, and virtuous – was not enough.
The logic and momentum of his career as a fighter for
independence and as an advocate for a strong republic called for
him to accept one final challenge.
“His presidency – his shaping of that office and his consolidation
of executive power – would be his ultimate achievement, for it
would undergird every future president who would seek to offer
strong and determined leadership.”
—
If you’re sick of the Roger Clemens / Brian McNamee steroids
debate, you can skip the next few pages. But since I have done
as good a job as any in documenting the entire issue over the
years, I have to include some of the following for the archives.
Brian McNamee’s opening statement before the House
Committee on Oversight and Government:
[Excerpts]
“My name is Brian Gerard McNamee, and I was once the
personal trainer for one of the greatest pitchers in the history of
baseball, Roger William Clemens. During the time I worked
with Roger Clemens, I injected him on numerous occasions with
steroids and Human Growth Hormone. I also injected Andy
Pettitte and Chuck Knoblauch with HGH….
“Make no mistake: When I told Senator Mitchell that I injected
Andy Pettitte with performance enhancing drugs, I told the truth.
Andy Pettitte – who I know to be honest and decent – has since
confirmed this.
“Make no mistake: When I told Senator Mitchell that I injected
Chuck Knoblauch with performance enhancing drugs, I told the
truth. Chuck Knoblauch, I believe, will confirm this as well.
“And make no mistake: When I told Senator Mitchell that I
injected Roger Clemens with performance enhancing drugs, I
told the truth. I told the truth about steroids and Human Growth
Hormone. I injected those drugs into the body of Roger Clemens
at his direction. Unfortunately, Roger has denied this and has led
a full court attack on my credibility. And let me be clear, despite
Roger Clemens’ statements to the contrary, I never injected
Roger Clemens – or anyone else – with Lidocaine or B-12.”
Howard Bryant / ESPN.com
“He did not drown as Mark McGwire and Rafael Palmeiro did in
the same seat three years before him, but after a riveting and
grueling day of testimony…Clemens nevertheless could not
escape his singular isolation. And so his improbable position
remains: He has asked the public to believe that his personal
trainer obtained human growth hormone, and used it on his most
loyal protégé as well as his wife, but not on him….
“Brian McNamee was ruined on Wednesday. But unlike
Clemens, he was human, and on one point – the only point that
matters – still credible.
“Clemens, meanwhile, revealed himself as incapable of
introspection or culpability. When cornered, he attempted to
bully, but Room 2154 of the Rayburn House Office Building is
not a pitcher’s mound and he did not hold the gavel. Not being
in control frustrated Clemens, and he did not know what to do.
“He avoided accountability for his role in his own drama. At no
point during the day did he take responsibility for the direction of
his career or the choices he’s made. As much as McNamee, by
being a signature player in the steroids era, Clemens has been
part of a drug culture that has diminished his standing and that of
his sport, but he never once acknowledged his part in its, or his,
downfall. There was always someone else who should have
done something for Roger. Clemens had an answer for
everything the committee asked him, and each answer, when
sifted to its essence, was that nothing was his fault….
“He was asked about his use of vitamin B-12, generally accepted
in the United States as unnecessary except in extreme medical
cases, and blamed his use on his late mother, who in 1988 told
him to use it. Left unsaid was discussion of the Toronto Blue
Jays’ medical staff, which administered his B-12 shot. The
medical staffs of all 30 major league teams have been told for
years not to administer B-12 shots because most, if not all,
world-class athletes do not need them….
“Clemens said he knew ‘nothing about growth hormone.’ In
fact, Clemens said he learned more about growth hormone over
the past month than he did during his whole career. He learned
about HGH through magazine articles and his wife, Debbie.
McNamee injected Debbie with HGH, Clemens said. And even
though he welcomed McNamee into their home, Clemens
wouldn’t even take responsibility for that, either….
“And when faced with the accumulation of facts – that he was
clearly involved in an unethical and illegal culture and aware that
McNamee was not an expert professional, yet kept him in his
employ – Clemens relied on blinding the committee with his
celebrity. He said he was simply too good. He was, as he said,
‘trusting to a fault.’
“He did not say that retaining and rehiring McNamee on two
occasions was an error in judgment. He did not say that perhaps
he should have or could have handled these details of his life
differently. He was never at any point accountable for being in
his current position, despite the glaring inconsistencies in his
testimony.
“He threw his entire team – family, friends, agent, team doctors,
everyone – under the bus. And they all had to take it, because
he’s Roger Clemens.
“Ultimately, we did not learn that Roger Clemens lied, nor did
we learn he did not. As expected, the truth lies somewhere in the
creases of the memories of the people involved. What we did
learn is that Roger Clemens had an answer for everything the
committee asked him. At the ready, his finger was always
pointing at a reason, but it was never at himself. And that is why
so many of the committee members did not believe him.”
Mike Wise / Washington Post
“It wasn’t just that he almost certainly lied on Capitol Hill; it was
the enormity of Roger Clemens’ untruth, the Texas-size
audaciousness to think that his stature in society was big enough
to get away with committing perjury.
“It’s the greatest pitcher of his generation believing, down deep,
that regular people were too in awe of him to warrant prosecution
for taking performance-enhancing drugs – the sickness of
believing his own myth.
“As the contradictions kept coming yesterday in the Rayburn
House Office Building, Clemens came across as a
megalomaniac, a habitual liar and a barrel-chested fraud. The
people who believe him now seem to be either paid by Clemens,
married to him or in worse denial than the Rocket himself.
“He came to Capitol Hill not to swear, under oath, his innocence
of being a drug cheat; Clemens came here to show America that
the arrogance of the elite athlete has moved beyond our ball
fields, universities and clubhouses straight into a witness chair at
a congressional hearing.
“Brian McNamee is no paragon of virtue; at best, he’s a drug-
runner for his celebrity baseball clients, one link in a chain that
tells us, emphatically, we can’t believe what we see anymore
from our athletic uberhumans.
“But next to the contradictory statements and flat-out whoppers
told by Clemens, the former New York City cop turned shot-
doctor looked and sounded like an evidence-based detective who
relied on the facts as he knew them. Dispassionate, calm, maybe
a little too quiet, McNamee refused to get caught up in the
morality play of the baseball icon who sat a few feet from him.
“The one witness before the House Committee on Oversight and
Government Reform whose credibility no one impugned was
Andy Pettitte, Clemens’ good friend and teammate. In a
deposition given before members of the committee, Pettitte
admitted McNamee injected him with human growth hormone
and testified Clemens told him he had used the drug too.
“Clemens said Pettitte ‘misremembered’ their conversation.
Think about that. A player who has no ax to grind, who admitted
he cheated the game as well, spilling the beans on the man he
used to idolize.
“If Clemens is to be believed, his wife, Debbie, and McNamee,
at the time his personal trainer, covertly set up an appointment to
administer an HGH injection to Debbie in order to help her look
like a total babe for a Sports Illustrated photo shoot with her
husband.
“Clemens said he had no knowledge of the injection – which he,
his wife and McNamee agreed happened – until after the shot
was administered and Debbie began to complain of circulatory
problems.
“Then there was the nadir of Nannygate, in which the au pair for
Clemens’ children, who had not seen the family since 2001, was
summoned to his home after the committee wanted her number
and whereabouts. Committee Chairman Henry A. Waxman (D-
Calif.) implied with his questioning that Clemens and his snake-
oil people appeared to have interfered with a witness, and
Clemens’ inability to answer his questions directly – and his
lawyers’ meltdown behind him – ended up hurting Clemens and
bolstering McNamee.
“The more you heard them spin and backpedal, the more it
became clear these people don’t have a bottom. When
confronted by Waxman, Clemens glared, grimaced and, later,
grew almost emotional when talking of his upbringing, as if the
congressmen not already politically in the tank for him would be
moved to tears. The size of the man’s ego is just astounding.
“The entire hearing was high drama, and it was unfortunately
taken over by partisan politics. The Red Staters, with perhaps
one exception, went after McNamee as hard as they could, trying
to paint the guy from a liberal state as a desperate liar who
wanted to get back at his former employer. The Democrats
pounded the athlete from Texas, hitting hard at all the core
values Clemens will probably profess on his deathbed.
“ ‘It’s hard to believe you, sir,’ said Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.)
to Clemens in probably the most honest assessment of the day’s
events. ‘I hate to say that. You’re one of my heroes, but it’s
hard to believe you.’
“The most ridiculous of grandstanders was Clemens backer Dan
Burton (R-Ind.), who treated McNamee worse than the Clintons
during his Whitewater questioning. But the congressman was
right about one thing, when he referred to Clemens as ‘a titan.’
“Years ago, Clemens gave his essence away on, of all shows,
‘Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.’ He couldn’t just renew his
vows to his Debbie in a small civil ceremony before their
children; no, Clemens had to co-opt Robin Leach and do it up big
and right, at a resort in Hawaii.
“Clemens’ largesse has always defined the mercurial person and
the burly pitcher who no longer belongs in the Hall of Fame.
From his incendiary temper to his gaudy statistics, the Rocket
does nothing small.
“Under oath, on Capitol Hill, he cemented his legend yesterday.
Roger Clemens, who won’t believe the ugly truth about his
career, is now a titan of deceit.”
And then you have the issue of race and fairness.
Mike Lupica / New York Daily News
“Jeff Novitzky, the IRS guy who drove BALCO and who didn’t
think that Marion Jones should get away with lying about drugs,
was in that hearing room in Washington on Wednesday, a tall
guy, bald, in a dark suit. He heard what you heard, obviously has
heard Clemens change his story on a lot of things since the
Mitchell Report was released in December. There is no question
that he has enough to move on Clemens right now.
“The feds think Bonds lied in front of that BALCO grand jury.
There are more people than ever who think Clemens lied to
Congress Wednesday, even if they never hang a positive test on
him. They think he did exactly that after he put up one of the
most famous right hands in the history of sports in this country
and swore to tell the truth in Room 2154.
“All we know for now is that Clemens has a lot more backup in
Congress than Bonds ever did. And maybe more backup from
the First Family. You think George Bush the Elder has called
Barry Bonds from a duck blind lately to offer moral support?
“Richard Emery, one of McNamee’s lawyers, said Thursday that
since he can’t believe that Rusty Hardin, one of Clemens’
lawyers, turned this stupid overnight, and because smart lawyers
always have a backup plan, that maybe Hardin’s was a pardon
down the road from one Texan, Bush the Younger, to another.”
William C. Rhoden / New York Times
“What we all know now is that someone was lying. And at this
juncture, that someone would seem to be Clemens.
“We’re not talking about razor-thin. ‘I thought it was flaxseed
oil’ types of lies before a federal grand jury, which is what Barry
Bonds stands accused of. We’re talking about potentially
whopping lies before Congress, before the world. And before
Jeff Novitzky, the steroid-pursuing special agent for the Internal
Revenue Service, who was sitting not far from Clemens when he
testified Wednesday.
“If there is fair and equal justice under the law, Clemens should
become the next super athlete, after Marion Jones and Bonds, to
be pursued by Novitzky to the end of the earth. Or at least to a
room containing a federal grand jury.
“What originally troubled me is that the decision to aggressively
move forward on the Clemens-Brian McNamee affair depends
on who wants to press the case.
“After Wednesday’s hearing, Henry A. Waxman…said that
‘perjury was not my focus’ and ‘lying is not necessarily perjury.’
He told reporters that he hadn’t reached any conclusions about
whether a criminal investigation was warranted.
“I spoke to Waxman on Thursday and was more assured that
Clemens would not be given a free pass. ‘I don’t know whether
that’s going to happen,’ Waxman said during a telephone
interview. ‘Most people who looked at that hearing yesterday
came away not believing the story that Clemens had to tell.’
“He added: ‘I think in the opinion of those who have been
following this issue and have heard about it, Roger Clemens is
going to be looked at as someone who pressed his case to the
point where many, if not most, people, no longer believed him.’
“Things were so neat for the public when Bonds was the
symbolic figure of baseball’s steroids scandal. Bonds was
demonized for everything from his hat size to his personality.
Anyone who defended Bonds was accused of falsely crying
racism, of feeding into a national persecution complex.
“Bonds was ultimately indicted on four counts of perjury and one
count of obstruction of justice for telling a federal grand jury in
2003 that he never knowingly took illegal performance-
enhancing drugs….Now we are confronted by a performance by
Clemens that makes Bonds’ flaxseed story seem almost naïve.
But none of this means a thing unless the Department of Justice
investigates Clemens.
“On the surface, there seems to be little choice but to do so.
What Jones and now Bonds and Clemens have in common is not
accusations of illegal use of steroids but of lying to
representatives of the federal government: Jones to federal
agents, Bonds to a grand jury and Clemens to members of
Congress.
“Jones was pursued and disgraced and finally sentenced because
she lied; Bonds was pursued and faces a trial because the
government believes he lied. Clemens, by virtue of his
performance Wednesday, has to be a prime candidate for the
same treatment.
“Elijah E. Cummings, a Democrat of Maryland, an African-
American and a tough questioner of Clemens on Wednesday,
predicted Thursday that justice would be served.
“ ‘The same people who looked at the Marion Jones case and
Barry Bonds are looking at Clemens,’ Cummings said in a
reference to the presence on Wednesday of Novitzky and other
agents. ‘I have full faith that they will use the same standards
and will do what is appropriate.’…
“Earl Ward, an African-American who is one of Brian
McNamee’s lawyers, directly addressed the issue of color
Thursday, noting that ‘several people of color have been caught
up in the steroids scandal’ and that if Clemens is left
uninvestigated, ‘it would send the entirely wrong message to
African-Americans.’ Ward is a paid adversary of Clemens, of
course, but what he is saying, many others are thinking.
“One of them seemed to be Cummings. ‘I don’t want kids to
think that because of their circumstances, if they do something
wrong they’ll get punished and someone else will not be
punished because of where they live or how they look,’ he said.
‘That’s not the message we want to send to our children.’”
Mike Lupica / New York Daily News
[On what Andy Pettitte faces, beginning with his first appearance
at spring training on Monday.]
“If the government ever puts a grand jury on Roger Clemens
because of the story he told to Congress, Clemens’ lawyers will
do more than just say that Pettitte ‘misheard’ or
‘misremembered’ Clemens telling him he’d used HGH. They
will challenge Pettitte’s credibility, no matter how close we’re
supposed to believe Clemens and Pettitte still are.
“If Clemens was quick to give up his own agents the other day,
essentially blaming them for Clemens not talking to George
Mitchell (this after Clemens had first tried to blame George
Mitchell himself for not trying hard enough to find him) you
think he won’t take down Andy Pettitte to save himself from
prosecutors if it ever comes to that?
“It is why Pettitte, even drawing on the immense goodwill he has
accumulated across his career, really does need to be careful with
how much he says. And how he says it. This does not go away.
It does not go away for Clemens when the government comes
after him – if it doesn’t , that same government will have a lot of
explaining to do with Barry Bonds and Miss Marion Jones – and
it doesn’t go away for Pettitte, as much as he wants to be some
kind of innocent victim here.
“Now comes the story in today’s Daily News about where Andy
Pettitte’s dad, Tom, was getting his human growth hormone, to
help him with his numerous medical issues. The story and the
reporting from this paper’s I-Team is about a place called the 1-
on-1 Elite Personal Fitness gym in Pasadena, Texas, run by Kelly
Blair, who grew up in nearby Deer Park in the 80s, the same as
Andy Pettitte did.
“When first contacted by our reporters, Blair responded that
Pettitte was just a family friend and had never ever been to 1-on-
1 Elite Personal Fitness. Then we found a photo on the gym’s
Web site, when it was still operating out of a strip mall in
Pasadena, showing Pettitte and Blair together. Now, nobody can
find Blair and people threaten our reporters when they come
around asking questions about Blair and the Pettittes and HGH.
“Once you start looking, there is always more. Marion Jones, in
the end, was sunk as much by her involvement in a tax fraud case
as she was by her involvement, and subsequent lies, about
steroids. The Congressional circus packs up and moves on now.
Pettitte and Clemens, two star pitchers the last time the Yankees
won a World Series, two star pitchers who pitched the Astros
into the World Series in 2005, they desperately want to move on.
“It doesn’t work that way. This isn’t talking to reporters after the
game. The feds will get into this now with Clemens because
they have to. And it isn’t just one hearing for them, and one set
of depositions. Once they are in it they are in it for the long haul,
just ask Bonds, and they hardly ever mishear or misremember
anything when it comes to drugs in sports.”
And just one note on the reporting of Michael O’Keeffe,
Christian Red, Teri Thompson and Nathaniel Vinton of the Daily
News concerning the above issue of Pettitte and trainer Blair. In
their report in Sunday’s paper there is this curious line.
“Besides Pettitte, the professional athletes who have stood beside
Blair in pictures he proudly displayed on the wall of his gym
include eight other major leaguers, several pro golfers, an NFL
quarterback and various stars of the Ultimate Fighting
Championship game.”
Golfers? That’s the only time the News’ reporters mention the
word, but others are bound to pick up on it. In this part of Texas
(the Houston area) there would be a lot of golfers calling it home,
and they could easily have just been using Blair’s services for
legitimate purposes, but I can guarantee this isn’t the last we’re
going to hear of golfers linked to him. For the sake of the sport, I
hope there isn’t anything of real concern.
—
Stuff
–Ryan Newman won the Daytona 500 as leader Tony Stewart
made a fateful move down the last backstretch, allowing
Newman and teammate Kurt Busch to slingshot by him.
–Phil Mickelson won at Riviera, his 33rd PGA Tour title. As
Ronald Reagan would have said, ‘not bad, not bad at all.’ [Best
wishes to Nancy, by the way, as she recovers from a fall.]
–Catcher Paul Lo Duca, implicated in the Mitchell Report,
issued his first statements since his name was cited on Dec. 13.
“You do something wrong in your life and you get away with it,
you still have something inside you that burns. And, um, it’s
been a big relief for me to know that I’ve come to grips with it.
That I made a mistake.”
Earlier, in a written statement, he said “In regards to Senator
Mitchell’s report, I apologize…for mistakes in judgment I made
in the past.”
But in his news conference, when asked whether the report was
accurate about him, Lo Duca said: “I’m not going to comment on
that.”
Like so many of the others, what the hell is he apologizing
about? These a-holes continue to sully a great sport.
–Back to Pettitte, as the Daily News’ Bill Madden writes, no one
is ticked off more these days than Hank Steinbrenner, who has
taken over the ownership role from father George. His ‘baseball
people,’ such as GM Brian Cashman, convinced Hank to try and
resign Pettitte rather than go after pitcher Johan Santana. So
Pettitte, a few days before release of the Mitchell Report, signed
a one-year, $16 million contract to return and having spent that
amount the Yankees could no longer afford Santana.
But as Madden writes, “didn’t Pettitte have an obligation to at
least tell (ownership) about the HGH injections and his father’s
role in helping him get the drug? You can make the case that
maybe Cashman should have pressed Pettitte about what might
be forthcoming in the Mitchell Report, especially since everyone
around the Yankees knew the fragile nature of Pettitte’s persona
and how any tinge of controversy and scandal might affect him
mentally….
“Who knows? Maybe in these extra few days the Yankees have
allowed him to take before reporting to camp the sensitive
Pettitte has decided to retire rather than have to publicly answer
any more questions about his family and their involvement in the
‘1-on-1 Elite Personal Fitness’ gym. Even if he were to walk
away from the $16 million, however, it will be of no consolation
to Hank Steinbrenner, who is finding out all of these things about
Andy Pettitte two months too late.”
–Talk about my motto “wait 24 hours,” that was certainly the
case with all the news organizations that reported Barry Bonds
tested positive for steroids in November 2001. Problem was it
was a typo from a Bonds perjury case document. The original
indictment says November 2000. The difference was important
because 2001 was his record-setting season, not that we are
letting Barry off the hook in any respect.
–Former St. Louis Rams player Willie Gary filed a $100 million
lawsuit seeking damages from the alleged taping of a Rams’
practice by the New England Patriots prior to the 2002 Super
Bowl. The Pats upset the Rams 20-17 on a last-second field
goal. Gary wants each of his teammates to receive $25,000 to
make up for the difference between the bonuses paid to the
winning and losing teams. Gary is also seeking compensation
for not receiving a Super Bowl ring, while a ticket broker who
attended the game is asking the court to grant the 72,922 people
who attended the game a full refund for the $400 tickets. Both
are seeking class-action status as their attorneys allege the
Patriots committed crimes like fraud, racketeering and breach of
contract.
Separately, Sen. Arlen Specter said there is confirmation “the
Patriots have taped since the year 2000 when coach Belichick
took over.” But Belichick himself denied he told anyone to tape
the 2002 Super Bowl, adding “In my entire coaching career, I’ve
never seen another team’s practice film prior to playing that
team.” Can’t say I believe Belicheat myself.
–New Jersey Devils goalie Martin Brodeur became a 30-game
winner for the 12th straight season. Last year he set the NHL
record with 48 victories. Brodeur also owns a record 10 straight
seasons with 35 victories. To give you a sense of just how good
this is, consider that the retired Patrick Roy is runner-up with
eight straight 30-game seasons. Brodeur is also now just about
25 wins behind Roy’s all-time 551 and is third all-time with 96
shutouts. [Mark Everson / New York Post]
–Mark Henderson of the London Times writes that as global
warming raises sea temperatures, “Predators such as crabs, rays
and even sharks are ready to invade the Antarctic.” The main
problem is the native species, including giant sea spiders, have
evolved without any real defenses. One researcher noted: “The
crabs are on the doorstep. They are sitting in deep water, and
only a couple of hundred meters now separate them from the
slightly cooler shallow water in the Antarctic shelf environment.”
Run for your lives!
–Goodness gracious. Officials at Melbourne, Australia’s Arts
Center are employing an eagle by the name of Zorro to protect
the building’s façade against damaging cockatoos that have been
attacking the historic tower. Flocks of the birds have been
pecking at tiny lights illuminating the 163-meter spire, causing
$63,000 in damage thus far. But Cockatoos are normal prey for
eagles so Zorro should have a jolly good time. May I
recommend a fine red to go with your meal, sir?
–Uh oh…according to Lance Archer of the New York Post,
there is a serious problem with raccoons at historic Green-Wood
Cemetery in Brooklyn. The final resting place of the likes of
“Boss” Tweed, Samuel Morse and Horace Greeley, over 500
raccoons had been captured since the early 1990s because they
were munching on flowers left at grave sites.
But now “the city’s Center for Animal Care and Control stopped
accepting the snared critters, which has led to them running
rampant and multiplying like wild.”
One cemetery official told the Post “I’m sure there are hundreds
if not thousands.” Another said, “If I put out 100 traps tonight,
I’ll probably get 95. At night, you can see their glowing eyes
everywhere.”
Time to introduce some wolverines to set the raccoons straight,
don’t you think?
–Big fight down Florida way over whether off-road vehicles
should be allowed in a portion of the Big Cypress National
Preserve, home to some panthers. Thankfully, the panther
population in South Florida is said to be 100, after hitting a low
of 30 in the mid-1990s, so there’s a good chance we could be
soon reporting “Panthers take out 42 ORV riders in one
weekend.”
–Coin collector Walter Husak received $10.7 million for his
collection at auction on Friday in Long Beach, California.
Among the 301 “large cents,” or antique copper coins roughly
the size of quarters, were two 18th-century coins that sold for
$632,500 each.
But before you go searching through your own coffee can tins of
coins, it’s unlikely you will find any 1793 Lady Liberty pennies.
[L.A. Times]
–I couldn’t care less about the NBA All-Star game, as in I didn’t
watch a second of the festivities, but I do have to note a piece by
Mike Wise in the Washington Post concerning Pistol Pete
Maravich, who was being honored over the weekend.
Widow Jackie Maravich said of her late husband, “I remember
Pete tellin’ me, ‘When you die, people forget you.’ I mean, he’s
more alive today than ever. He kind of reminds me of Elvis
Presley, the way people see him now. He had such an impact on
and off the court.” [Pete died in 1988.]
And as Wise reports, how is this for a Louisiana State starting
five…Maravich, Bob Pettit, Robert Parish, Karl Malone and
Dwight ‘Bo’ Lamar?! Lamar, a three-time All-American at
Southwestern Louisiana averaged 31.2 points per game between
1969 and ’73. [The all-century college ‘second’ team had the
likes of Shaquille O’Neal, Willis Reed and Joe Dumars.]
–Washington Post sportswriter John Feinstein on Indiana
University’s delay tactics in the investigation into basketball
coach Kelvin Sampson, previously covered in this space.
“The folks in Indianapolis (site of the NCAA) must really be
mad at Kelvin Sampson because they are actually threatening to
ban Indiana from postseason play.
“It just won’t happen this season, when the Hoosiers, led by Eric
Gordon and D.J. White, are a top 10-type team that could go
deep into the tournament in March. You see, even though the
NCAA investigation of Sampson and his cellphone fetish dates
from last season, even though the NCAA is accusing Sampson
and Indiana of five major violations – including lying to both
investigators and the school – Indiana doesn’t have to respond to
the charges until May 8.
“That just happens to be a month after the nets will come down
in San Antonio and CBS’s ratings will be taken care of for
another year…
“(But) why, exactly, does (Indiana) need three months to respond
to charges? The questions here are pretty simple: Was Sampson
involved in phone conversations he should not have been
involved in? If the answer’s yes – as seems likely – he and the
school are guilty.
“His weak excuse when the story first broke – that he didn’t
know the calls were violations – holds no water: Everyone
should know the rules but those who have been caught breaking
them should know better than anyone.
“Sampson may very well get fired. If (athletic director)
Greenspan doesn’t get fired, too, that would be a huge injustice.
But even if both are fired, the Hoosiers will be there when the
ball goes up in mid-March.”
–In the world of soccer, there was a fantastic story on Saturday
as seven-time FA Cup champion Liverpool was knocked out in a
fifth-round match by Barnsley.
Barnsley? Understand that you have the Premier League, with
the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United,
and then you have the second-tier Championship League.
I’ve been trying to come up with an analogy and one would be
it’s like the Red Sox losing a playoff to AAA Omaha, but this
isn’t realistic because it’s not even plausible. Such a series can’t
exist.
So I’m thinking it’s more like a #1 seed in the NCAAs losing to
a #16 seed, something that has never happened.
–There are some stories that are just so stupid, they need to be
acknowledged. Like is there a soul alive in this country who
gives a damn about the victims of that drag-racing incident in
Maryland that claimed eight lives? With all we have to care
about in this world, such as the real tragedy at Northern Illinois
University, this isn’t one of them. All involved in this episode,
except the poor driver who appears to be innocent, are truly
“Idiots of the Year.” And I also have to note an idiotic statement
from one of the victims’ brothers. “He liked going to the race
track watching races.” This wasn’t going to some NASCAR
event, you idiot.
–Now this is more like it. You know that Battle at Kruger video
on YouTube I mentioned the other week with the Cape Water
Buffalo? Mary T. said her pastor used it last Sunday as an
example of ‘If you are surrounded by a body of believers they
can pull you out of anything.’ Great stuff.
–Shu passed along a story about how actress Teri Hatcher sold
herself at a charity auction for $50,000 at the MGM Grand in Las
Vegas. But get this…it’s $50,000 for lunch. For lunch! As I
told Shu, “I can’t believe I was suckered into this……….”
–You’ve undoubtedly noticed that Jeff B. and I no longer
comment on “For Better or For Worse.” Would you? Creator
Lynn Johnston has destroyed her reputation by sinking so low as
to intersperse old strips with a new week or two. She should
have just quit, leaving her fans with good memories. Instead it’s
now “Lynn who?”
–Someone please tell Aretha Franklin she’s lucky anyone even
thinks of her these days. Franklin is ticked that at the Grammys,
Beyonce referred to Tina Turner as “the Queen.”
“I am not sure of whose toes I may have stepped on or whose
ego I may have bruised between the Grammy writers and
Beyonce,’ Franklin said in a statement issued by her publicist.
‘However, I dismissed it as a cheap shot for controversy.”
Beyonce’s father said, “I am not taking something this ridiculous
to Beyonce. Beyonce referred to Tina Turner as a ‘queen.’ Not
queen of gospel, queen of soul, queen of blues, Queen of
England. I consider my wife a queen and sometimes call her
that. Does Aretha have a problem with that?”
–So I see in Parade Magazine that Vanna White is 50 and single
once again. I’m just not into women who insist on spelling out
every single conversation, know what I’m sayin’?
–Nice Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, I think you’d agree,
guys. One of the stars is Brooklyn Decker, though she is no
relation to Desmond Dekker, who had the #9, 1969 hit
“Israelites.” Special kudos to Melissa Baker, Julie Henderson,
Bar Rafaeli, Danica Patrick and Selita Ebanks; the latter no
relation to game-show host Bob Eubanks, nor is she related to
Tyra Banks.
Top 3 songs for the week 2/17/73: #1 “Crocodile Rock” (Elton
John) #2 “You’re So Vain” (Carly Simon) #3 “Oh, Babe, What
Would You Say?” (Hurricane Smith…super tune)…and…#4
“Dueling Banjos” (Eric Weissberg & Steve Mandell) #5
“Killing Me Softly With His Song” (Roberta Flack) #6 “Do It
Again” (Steely Dan) #7 “Could It Be I’m Falling In Love”
(Spinners) #8 “Don’t Expect Me To Be Your Friend” (Lobo) #9
“Why Can’t We Live Together” (Timmy Thomas…huh?) #10
“Rocky Mountain High” (John Denver)
World Cup Ski Quiz Answers: 1) The first three men’s overall
champions: Jean-Claude Killy, France (1967, 68); Karl Schranz,
Austria (1969, 70); Gustavo Thoeni, Italy (1971, 72, 73). 2) The
first American was Phil Mahre, who won the overall title in each
of 1981, 82 and 83. 3) Five-time winner from Luxembourg:
Marc Girardelli (1985, 86, 89, 91, 93) 4) First three-time
women’s overall champion: Annmarie Proll, Austria (1971, 72,
73, 74, 75, 79…yup, kind of a trick question. She won six, the
first three as Annemarie Proll, the last three as Annemarie
Moser-Proell. Don’t know why marriage changed the spelling of
Proll, but it did, sports fans). By the way, the first overall U.S.
women’s champ was Tamara McKinney, 1983.
Next Bar Chat, Thursday.
