[Posted from Albany, Oregon]
Minor League Baseball Quiz: How many franchises in the
Pacific Coast League can you name? [Hint: There are 16 and
only four are in either Washington, Oregon or California.]
Answer below.
Albany…and the Olympic Trials
So it’s getting late on Sunday night and I need to get some
thoughts down, haphazard as they’ll be.
Here’s what I’ve been doing. On Thursday I flew to Portland
from Newark and headed down in my rental about 60+ miles to
Albany, which is 40 miles north of Eugene, Oregon, site of the
Olympic Track and Field Trials.
You might be thinking, ‘Why the heck am I staying 40 miles
away?’ Well, I got my tickets for the 10-day event as soon as
they were available last October and immediately tried to make a
hotel reservation in Eugene but everything was blocked off…and
for good reason because Eugene is a pretty small place and they
don’t have a lot of big hotels. Ergo, everything good was taken
up for athletes and sponsors and NBC and such.
So the next best thing was a hotel I need to keep nameless to
protect my security and it happened to be in Albany because
there is zippo between Albany and Eugene. Plus, at the end of
the trip I have to fly back from Portland so at least I cut off some
time there. [Inside the mind of the editor…another free feature
of Bar Chat.]
OK, I get down to Albany on Thursday, around noon, and as I
pull off the Interstate 5 exit, I see my gleaming four-story hotel
and a big sign next to it, “Adult Bookstore.” Yikes, I think.
Seeing as it was early, before checking in I decided to drive
around Albany a bit; Albany being a town of 45,000. No offense
to the one reader from Albany I might have, but after three full
days, I’m still trying to find where the good part of town is. I
mean I found a Starbucks, and there are good looking people in
there [I hate Starbucks, but I went looking for a Wall Street
Journal…there are three papers I like the hard copy of when on
the road…the Sat./Sun. Journal, the Sunday New York Times
and Barron’s…at least Starbucks gets the Sunday Times…but I
digress]……………now where was I? Oh yeah, there are decent
looking people in Starbucks but where the hell do they live?
Now to be fair, there are some absolutely lovely Americans at
my hotel. But in town, including at Denny’s, where I just had
my Sunday dinner, there were some of the scariest folks I’ve
seen anywhere in the world. [This story will be continued,
because the Denny’s, for some reason, has a bar attached to it
and seeing as it’s across the street from my hotel, which doesn’t
have a bar, I’ll be hitting it up once or twice and dressing down
as much as possible for the occasion. “Where you from, out of
towner?” “Me? I’m from San Pedro, Mexico. On the border
with Texas. I’m also part of a feared Mexican drug gang. Why
do you ask?”………advice on dealing with tough guys in
Albany, Oregon…yet another free feature of Bar Chat.]
OK, back to the main part of our story. I settled in Thursday to
get some work done, after dinner at a truly lovely spot, “Novak’s
Restaurant.” You see, I had checked out the Net before and for
those of you who have corresponded with me, you know the
name Novak is rather meaningful. Turns out the Novaks
emigrated to Albany in the 1950s and started an absolutely
delicious Hungarian restaurant which their daughters now run.
So I’ve eaten here Thursday and Saturday.
But back to the story….after working on that other column I do
on Friday, I headed to “Historic Hayward Field” on the campus
of the University of Oregon [you can’t say Hayward Field
without adding the word ‘Historic’ first] for the opening day’s
events.
For those of you catching some of the action on TV, I’m seated
on the start/finish line side of the track on about the 20 meter line
and just four rows up so I’m in good shape on that front. [As
opposed to my experience at the Daytona 500, for example.]
Friends [or “My friends,” as John McCain says], if you don’t like
track and field, you’ll be bored to tears the next few Bar Chats
but I just love the sport, particularly anything on the track. But,
the sport faces huge problems these days in terms of credibility
because of steroids. I’ll address this in more detail shortly, but
for now let’s just say Historic Hayward Field has been jam
packed with 20,000+ each of the first four days (more than
capacity).
Oh, why is it Historic Hayward Field? This is the home of
legendary track coach Bill Bowerman (and before him Mr.
Hayward). Bowerman is the fellow who in the 1960s and 70s
put Oregon track on the map with the likes of Steve Prefontaine,
plus Bowerman was also a co-founder of Nike with his buddy
Phil Knight. I’ll get into this part of the story later in the week.
Bowerman actually experimented with shoes for his athletes and,
in conjunction with Knight, a giant of a shoe company was born.
Speaking of Prefontaine, “Pre” in these parts, or among anyone
who runs with a passion, I’ll get into him more as well but let’s
just say for now, even at 50 years of age I’m already psyched to
get back home and get in running shape again. Everyone around
the Univ. of Oregon campus seems to be running. It’s refreshing
and I’m going to rededicate myself to doing at least a half
marathon in 2009. [Of course one of the great things about
running is the beer afterwards.]
Where was I? OK, on Friday I missed the first few events in the
women’s heptathlon (quiz on this later in the week) and much of
the evening was just prelims, like in the women’s 100 meter dash
and men’s long jump, but there were two dramatic moments.
First, in one of the women’s 800 meter races, a 10th grader from
Fargo, North Dakota, Laura Roesler was running. We only knew
this because they have an absolutely fantastic track announcer. I
mean to tell you, you could be a total Know Nothing (from the
old Know Nothing Party) and end up knowing everything you
needed by just listening to the fellow. So after the first lap he let
us know that Laura in the pink top was in 10th grade and
suddenly the crowd was like, “Hey, she’s doing well!” and
Laura, as she rounded the final turn, was gaining and then as she
passed me, heading for the last 80 meters or so, it looked like she
would get in the top four to move on! And she did. Yeah, you
had to be there but it was a magical moment. [The next day in
the paper it said Laura had purchased her pink top at Target. No
name of her school, let alone college or sponsor. Unfortunately,
Laura flamed out in the 800 semis…pink top and all.]
There were also two great men’s 800 meter runs on Friday
because the fields were packed with Oregon runners; either
currently at the school, such as Andrew Wheating, or affiliated
with various Oregon Track Clubs, particularly Matt Scherer and
Nicholas Symmonds. The locals all did well and Wheating’s
race was very, very cool. Just warming up for the race you could
tell he was a likeable sort and he came through to advance to the
semis.
But the other big event on Friday was the lone final, the women’s
10000 meters. The U.S. has not been good in distance races,
men or women, for a long time but now Bernard Lagat is on our
side, the former Olympic medalist in the 1500 and 5000 having
taken up U.S. citizenship once he realized his native Kenya had a
few problems. But for the women’s 10000, where the leaders
run in around 31 to 32 minutes, you can’t go to the Olympics
without running a 31:45.00, either as your personal best or in the
qualifying race, and we were no lock to have three hit the mark.
Amy Begley had never run a 31:45 and suddenly on Friday, there
she was, in third, after this long, grueling race, and the announcer
informed us with about two or three laps to go exactly what her
situation was. I mean to tell you, it was electric…and Amy
pulled it off, finishing third in 31.43.50…1 ½ seconds to spare,
after 10000 meters.
You see, you kind of assume because of America’s success on
both the track and in the pool that the top three in each event
automatically qualify for the Olympics but that’s not always the
case. In the sprints, we obviously dominate. But in some other
events, such as Saturday’s women’s triple jump, we don’t and
the second place finisher actually didn’t qualify because her best
jump didn’t meet the Olympic qualifying standard because it was
wind aided and she hadn’t jumped that distance before.
Anyway, back to Saturday, I teared up twice, I’m not ashamed to
say. In the men’s 800 meter semis, local boy Andrew Wheating
came through again to place himself in the final and the crowd
was so behind him that unless you didn’t have a pulse or were an
ax-murderer (I think I saw one at Denny’s tonight) you couldn’t
help but get swept up in it.
And then there was the final event of the women’s heptathlon.
Diana Pickler and Ginnie Johnson were battling in the last of
seven events [the Jackie Joyner-Kersee event] for the third spot
on the Olympic team. It was the 800 meters and before the race
started, the announcer informed the crowd that Pickler had to
stay within 1.5 seconds of Johnson to keep third.
Well, the two raced shoulder to shoulder the whole way until
about the last turn when Johnson began to pull away. But Pickler
hung in there, just when you thought she would fade bad, and she
finished…get this…1.3 seconds behind Johnson…….so Pickler
got the bronze and the trip to Beijing.
What made it emotional for many of us was the first two days I
was sitting behind “Team Pickler,” four women with t-shirts
bearing that moniker and at first I just thought they were fans. It
didn’t hit us they were the actual family until the 800 began and
then they lost it during the race, and everyone around them lost
it, just swept up in it all. Goodness gracious, there wasn’t a dry
eye in section G when it was over. It was also funny looking
around as everyone tried to cover up that they were crying. I had
my shades on but I couldn’t hide it too well as I kept taking them
off. [Phil W., it will never match our moment watching Michael
Johnson’s 200 in Atlanta, but it came close for pure drama.]
Finally, while I’m not a big fan of the field sports, the men’s shot
put on Saturday was just great fun as Reese Hoffa defeated
Christian Cantwell and the charismatic Adam Nelson. These
guys are monsters. [As are the women’s shot put and discus
throwers….very sweet girls, but they’d crush me nonetheless if I
said something stupid to them.]
Hey, I forgot to talk about the weather! It was 96 degrees on
Saturday. I never drank more water in my life and, thankfully,
there weren’t any long distance races or we might have seen a
casualty or two.
Sunday it was still about 92 (haven’t seen the official temp yet)
and the big story here was the athletes in day one of the
decathlon. Brutal weather for them.
Sunday also saw the women’s final in the triple jump, as noted
earlier, and the men’s pole vault and long jump. The pole vault
proved to be anti-climactic as some of the vaulters had to drop
out with injury and Brad Walker, current gold medal favorite,
didn’t have to exert himself to wrap up a slot on the team.
As for the long jump, I identified a real asshole, Trevell Quinley,
who ended up doing a personal best in winning the thing, while
denying the 2004 Olympic gold medalist Dwight Phillips a spot
as Phillips finished fourth. [Phillips couldn’t believe it, walking
around in a daze for fifteen minutes after.]
During the warm-ups, right in front of me, Quinley walks by #2
Brian Johnson (my man) and bumps him hard. Johnson turns
around, yells at him, and Quinley doesn’t acknowledge the
move. It was so blatant, such an act of intimidation and trash,
that I don’t know how these two will get along in Beijing. You
had to be there, but Quinley is my “A-Hole of the Week.”
Lastly, we had the final in the men’s 100 meters. Tyson Gay
came through in world record time, 9.68, but it was wind-aided
so it’s not a record. Nonetheless, he served notice to Usain Bolt
and Asafa Powell that he is to be reckoned with.
Monday is going to be a great day. The decathlon wraps up with
the 1500 and thus far it’s shaping up to be Brian Clay and Tom
Pappas for first and second, so that could be dramatic to see who
finishes third, plus we have the 800 meter finals for both men
and women as well as the 5000 finals for men and semis for
women.
I love the 5000. They hang in a tight pack for the first half, then
someone breaks out and it’s fun to see if the strategy pays off.
Just a few other bits and pieces.
Yes, steroids is a huge topic, but understand track and field
athletes are easily the most heavily tested in any sport and just
through sheer numbers you are going to have more cases of those
testing positive. For the Olympic Trials, not only are the
participants giving it up in the specimen bottle, but for the first
time they are being blood-tested at the Trials for all the things the
urinalysis doesn’t easily pick up. You don’t see this in football
or baseball, to say the least. Some, such as Allyson Felix (who
didn’t qualify for Beijing in the 100, but should in the 200),
fellow sprinter Lauren Williams and Tyson Gay are among those
who have volunteered to be part of a program by the U.S. Anti-
Doping Agency whereby they are tested non-stop. It’s their way
of saying we can do it clean and it’s to be admired. Track is such
a great sport but steroids have killed it. Now, though, the
athletes are fighting back. Hopefully by 2012 we aren’t talking
about this anymore.
The U.S. sprint teams are so freakin’ powerful it isn’t funny. My
guess on the men’s side is that we easily have 10 of the 20 fastest
in the world. These guys are absolute warriors. They walk by
me as they prepare for the event and it’s no different than
watching any group of the greatest athletes of all time. They’re
like gladiators. In other words, “They be bad!”
I’d also be remiss in not mentioning Jeffrey Demps. This guy
ran a 10.1 in the 100 meters, the fastest time in the history of
high schoolers. Guess whose record he broke? Houston
McTear’s. I could not believe it when the announcer said
McTear did his 10.4, or whatever it was, back in 1976! Geezuz,
I feel old. McTear captured America back then.
And I forgot to mention that in classic Olympic Trial fashion, we
almost saw one of the great faux pas of all time when in the first
prelim of the 100 meters, Tyson Gay pulled up way too soon and
realized it just in time to reaccelerate and barely make the
quarterfinals on Saturday. We were incredulous in the stands,
that’s for sure, watching it all unfold in front of our eyes. “Don’t
pull up yet!” we were screaming.
Stuff
–Catching up on some things of the past few days…the Dodgers
became the fifth team in history to win a game despite being no-
hit as Angels’ pitcher Jered Weaver made a throwing error for
the lone run in a 1-0 contest. The next day the Dodgers lost 1-0
on only three hits so three hits in two games. Eegads, that sucks.
Almost as much as my Mets.
–Golfer Stacy Lewis was attempting to become the first, male or
female, to win a major in her initial pro tournament at the
Women’s U.S. Open but alas she faded and Inbee Park, only in
her second year on tour, won. No other person in the history of
mankind named “Inbee” has ever won anything, including a
lottery.
–The Mets are 40-41, but Oliver Perez is 5-1 with a 2.61 ERA
against the Yankees lifetime following Sunday’s win.
–Greg Norman married Chris Evert in the Bahamas and among
the 140 guests were supposedly Gwen Stefani, Bill Clinton and
Chevy Chase. Heck, I kind of wish Greg and Chrissie had
invited me. Then again, after drinking four bottles of Norman’s
wine, you’d have one helluva headache the next morning. Not
that the wine isn’t good, it is, but I would have forgotten to take
aspirin and drink water before going to bed.
–On Saturday as I drove around Albany looking for the good
neighborhood that must be somewhere here, I came across the
scariest looking house I’ve ever seen. Big, old ramshackle place
with literally straw hanging out of the gutters where the birds are
running their own hotel or somethin’. But here’s the payoff. As
I was at a stoplight and couldn’t help but notice the ugliest
women you ever did see sittin’ on the porch, I saw a sign on the
lawn. “For Sale by Owner.” Thank god the light turned green. I
feared for my life.
–I did stop in a lot of stores on Saturday and the people couldn’t
have been more helpful. Even bought Lenny Kravitz and Dwight
Yoakim CDs for the ride back and forth to Eugene at Target.
And some Goldfish at Fred Meyer.
–I love the Knicks’ draft pick…Danilo Gallinari. He’s only 19
and from Italy, but the kid has his act together and I’m convinced
he’ll take New York by storm. I also love what the Nets are
doing to rebuild. Basketball could be fun again around here.
–A teen was decapitated at Six Flags over Georgia when he
scaled two, six-foot security fences to retrieve a cap and the
roller coaster got him. Enough said.
–NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell joined the chorus against
the outlandish contracts being doled out to rookies these days.
As he points out (and I have) it’s ridiculous that someone like
offensive tackle Jake Long of Michigan is given $30 million,
guaranteed, by Miami in this case, without ever playing a single
down.
–Golfer Rocco Mediate, the good guy that he is, said “It doesn’t
bother me at all” what Johnny Miller said about him during the
U.S. Open.
–Back to the Women’s Open, Michelle Wie shot 81-75 and
missed the cut by six. So much for her resurgence.
–I haven’t had a chance to acknowledge Fresno State for their
stunning win in the College World Series, Fresno becoming the
first No. 4 regional seed to reach the CWS since the field
expanded to 64 teams in 1999, and it finished with more losses,
31, than any other champ. [47-31] It was unranked all season
and made the NCAAs only by winning the Western Athletic
Conference tournament.
–Sports Illustrated’s Mark Bechtel on the city of Boston and its
sports riches these days.
“Bostonians have long basked in their Boston-ness. And now
they have all kinds of things to be smug about; recent titles for
the Celts, Sox and Pats; an NCAA hockey championship for
Boston College; Oscars for The Departed; Emmys for Boston
Legal; John Adams’ newfound status as America’s favorite dead
president. When news that New Kids on the Block are reuniting
brings joy to a large segment of the populace, it’s a sign that
Beantown can officially do no wrong. The ubiquity of happy
Bostonians is almost enough to make a man swear off clam
chowder and Cheers reruns and long for the days when those
cuddly, understated Yankees fans were the ones who had it all.
“Look, guys, no one is asking you to swallow your civic pride.
But all this wicked pissah talk is starting to make the rest of us
wicked pissed. Would it kill you to remember all those promises
you made to the sports gods to never ask for another thing if the
Red Sox could win one – just one –World Series? It seems that
plenty of people who vowed in late 2004 that they could now die
in peace have gone on living raucously….
“Enough already!”
–Did you see the story of the 14-year-old girl near Anchorage
who was critically injured in a mauling by a grizzly bear? The
girl was part of a 24-hour bike race; yes, 24 hours. You see, it’s
summer solstice season up there and at 1:30 a.m., when she was
attacked in the woods, you can supposedly see enough along the
biking path, so anxious officials now say. Alas, the girl may
have been saved by the fact she was wearing a helmet and the
bear chomped down on her head. This and the fact she was able
to place a cellphone call before collapsing, the 911 folks called
the number back, and a fellow competitor picked up the phone to
give the location and then stayed with the girl, not knowing if the
grizzly would return. What a story.
–Broomfield, Colo. [AP] “A close encounter between flirtatious
strippers and children playing in a golf tournament was the result
of ‘mistiming,’ golf course officials said Tuesday as they
apologized to parents.
“The scantily clad women spilled out of a limousine as the
youngsters were finishing their game as part of the Gold Crown
Junior Gold Association tournament. Tournament officials said
they were not warned the strippers would be arriving before the
end of the game for children, who ranged in age from 7 to 12.”
–Geezuz, speaking of scantily clad, looks like “60 Minutes”
reporter Lara Logan can’t keep her clothes on in Iraq. And it
ain’t just the heat, folks…if you catch my drift.
Top 3 songs for the week of 6/25/77: #1 “Got To Give It Up”
(Marvin Gaye) #2 “Gonna Fly Now” (Bill Conti) #3
“Undercover Angel” (Alan O’Day)…and…#4 “Feels Like The
First Time” (Foreigner…have no clue what they are talking
about) #5 “Lucille” (Kenny Rogers) #6 “Dreams” (Fleetwood
Mac) #7 “Lonely Boy” (Andrew Gold….if you don’t listen to
the lyrics, not a bad tune…like just make up your own… “Oh, oh
what a special brew….oh what a special brewwww…..woh woh
wohhh! Oh, what a special brew….) #8 “Da Doo Ron Ron”
(Shaun Cassidy) #9 “Angel In Your Arms” (Hot…can’t place
this one) #10 “Jet Airliner” (The Steve Miller Band…I had a
college buddy who played the LP “Book of Dreams” only about
40 times a day. Then the same guy played Boston about 35
times when it came out…or it might have been the other way
around)
Minor League Baseball Quiz: Pacific Coast League clubs.
Iowa (Des Moines)…Cubs
Memphis…Cardinals
Omaha…Royals
Nashville…Brewers
Oklahoma City…Rangers
Albuquerque…Marlins
New Orleans…Mets
Round Rock…Astros
Salt Lake City…Angels
Portland…Padres
Tacoma…Mariners
Col. Springs…Rockies
Sacramento…Athletics
Las Vegas…Dodgers
Fresno…Giants
Tucson…Diamondbacks
Bonus Question: What was the fish count of the Chinook salmon
at the Bonneville station on the Columbia River on June 27?
Survey says? 1400.
Next Bar Chat, Thursday. More from Historic Hayward Field.
