NBA Quiz: Since the season starts this weekend, for the four of you who care a little quiz. There are eight new coaches in the league this season. Name the teams involved. [I can’t expect you to know all the names.] Answer below.
No secret times are tough all over. Due to the sliding economy, the Washington Nationals, Oakland Athletics and San Diego Padres have lowered tickets prices for next year by up to 25%. The Giants, Mariners and Reds have said they are freezing them.
And another sign of the times, Bloomberg reports the Arizona Diamondbacks are looking for an advertiser on the pool in the right-field stands after Riviera Pools filed for bankruptcy. I’m thinking “Bar Chat”. [If the asking price is $29.95, I can afford it. Only ‘domestic’ will be served in the pool area, however.]
Baseball had record revenue this season of $6.5 billion with attendance just one percent below 2007’s all-time mark. But to remind you again of attendance during the Great Depression, here were the Phillies’ figures.
Luckily for the Phils and Rays, the full impact of the recession has yet to hit home among fans of both clubs as the World Series games are a sell out. Fox has also sold about 97% of its advertising slots, with rates up over last year. But next year it will undoubtedly be a different story.
As for the NBA, it has already fired 9% of its staff as season-ticket sales have slowed across the league.
Then you have the likes of T. Boone Pickens. Joe Drape and Thayer Evans had a piece in the New York Times the other day concerning Boone and others of his ilk that had announced big plans to help their alma maters and now many of the projects are in jeopardy.
You’ll recall that in the case of Pickens, he had donated $165 million to Oklahoma State’s athletic department to turn it into a “Shangri-La for Cowboy sports, complete with an indoor practice center and new facilities for baseball, equestrian, soccer, tennis, and track and field.”
But, the funds, “along with $37 million from other donors, were invested in BP Capital Management, a hedge fund controlled by Pickens. At the time, it looked like a windfall that would keep on giving. Instead, Pickens recently acknowledged that his investments had lost $1 billion this year amid the financial crisis” [and oil bets that suddenly turned against him].
And some of you may have heard about Chesapeake Energy’s founder Aubrey McClendon, who was forced to sell 32 million shares, worth nearly $600 million, due to a margin call. McClendon had committed to do all sorts of things for the University of Oklahoma and OU officials aren’t saying if they already had the money or if the bulk of it had just been ‘committed.’
Another fellow, Tom Kivisto of now bankrupt energy company SemGroup, had pledged $12 million for a football complex at the University of Kansas. Kivisto was a former basketball star there. The other day, ex-FBI director Louis Freeh was appointed by the court to “sort out how the company lost $2.4 billion on the New York Mercantile Exchange and to look into allegations that Kivisto’s personal trading company in the oil futures market incurred $290 million of the losses.”
Ergo, KU isn’t going to see any funds from Tom anytime soon. Nor will Oklahoma State, as T. Boone has made it pretty clear his charitable giving is on hold until he gets his act back together on the trading front.
And then there is something like the Sports Museum of America, which opened last spring. Located in the Wall Street area, this was a for-profit project that had its genesis right before 9/11, but afterwards was then seen as a centerpiece of the rebuilding effort downtown. $57 million in bonds was sold by the New York Liberty Development Corp. with tax-exempt money.
Joe Mysak of Bloomberg commented at the time that he didn’t see how the museum could be successful and today he’s just as skeptical, if not more so. For example, the initial attendance projections were for 800,000 the first year, rising to 875,000 in four years.
But Mysak points out the U.S.S. Intrepid (docked on Manhattan’s west side), years after its opening in 1984, did 770,000 at its peak (before a recent renovation) when 1.38 million was projected in its first year. The original bond issue to finance the Intrepid went bust, and in 1988, “bondholders got 23 cents on the dollar.”
As for the Sports Museum, when it opened the ticket price was outrageous…$27. “The original private-placement memorandum said they would be $18. The new price is $16.”
Mysak concludes, now there will be fewer and fewer Wall Streeters to count on, as well as fewer foreign tourists visiting New York the next few years. “This won’t be the last we hear of the Sports Museum revenue bonds.” They are now in default, but the issuer “is in early discussions with the holders…with respect to a restructuring.”
Finally, “Links” is a glossy magazine for the golf crowd and is supported heavily by course developers and resorts. So there is an article in the current issue titled “Now is the perfect time to take advantage of the market and purchase the golf course property of your dreams.” Of course similar sentiments were made two years ago, at prices 20, 30, and 40 percent higher. Trust me, you’ll have even better opportunities in the spring.
–Good story involving Tiger Woods. As part of a contest sponsored by Buick, Tiger caddied for a fellow from New Jersey at Torrey Pines. Importantly, the AP reported:
“Hopping from a cart, Woods walked up to 59-year-old John Abel, doffed his cap and extended his right hand. ‘Hey, I hear you’re looking for a caddie. I’m Tiger Woods – pleased to meet you.’”
Hopped from the cart? Well that’s good news for those of us who want Tiger back in the hunt in 2009. The AP added, “Showing no signs of his season-ending knee surgery…,” another encouraging development.
As for the nine holes that Woods caddied for Abel, doing everything any other caddie would do, including cleaning the clubs off, Abel said he was a little surprised “how much of a down-to-earth guy he really is.” Woods signed the caddie bib: “Thank you for letting me caddie for you. Your friend, Tiger Woods.”
Woods said his rehab is on schedule and that he’s able to chip and putt. But he won’t be “doing some more fuller rotational things until toward the beginning of next year.”
Tiger said what frustrates him most is that he has to leave everything up to the doctors and “the surgeons don’t know, either, because they’ve never dealt with an injury like this for a person who plays golf at an elite level.”
–If this isn’t Bar Chat, I don’t know what is. Britain’s Ministry of Defense has been releasing to the national archives various studies concerning UFOs. The following is taken from news agencies reporting on the topic.
“Two U.S. fighter planes were scrambled and ordered to shoot down an unidentified flying object (UFO) over the English countryside during the Cold War, according to secret files made public on Monday (Oct. 20).
“One pilot said he was seconds away from firing 24 rockets at the object, which moved erratically and gave a radar reading like ‘a flying aircraft carrier.’
“The pilot, Milton Torres, now 77 and living in Miami, said it spent periods motionless in the sky before reaching estimated speeds of more than 12,000 kph.
“After the alert, a shadowy figure told Torres he must never talk about the incident and he duly kept silent for more than 30 years….
“In a written account, Torres described how he scrambled his F-86D Sabre jet in calm weather from the Royal Air Force base at Manston, Kent in May 1957.
“ ‘I was only a lieutenant and very much aware of the gravity of the situation. I felt very much like a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest,’ he said.
“ ‘The order came to fire a salvo of rockets at the UFO. The authentication was valid and I selected 24 rockets.
“ ‘I had a lock-on that had the proportions of a flying aircraft carrier,’ he added. ‘The larger the airplane, the easier the lock-on. This blip almost locked itself.’
“At the last moment, the object disappeared from the radar screen and the high-speed chase was called off.
“ ‘He returned to base and was debriefed the next day by an unnamed man who ‘looked like a well-dressed IBM salesman.’
“ ‘He threatened me with a national security breach if I breathed a word about it to anyone,’ he said….
“The (released) files blame other UFO sightings on weather balloons, clouds or normal aircraft. Torres said he had been waiting 50 years for an explanation.”
However, “UFO expert David Clarke said the sighting may have been part of a secret U.S. project to create a phantom aircraft on radar screens to test Soviet air defenses.”
–Penn State is 8-0 and No. 3, a most pleasant surprise considering the likes of Sports Illustrated didn’t even have the Nittany Lions in their preseason top 20. But with head coach Joe Paterno continuing to view games from the press box due to a hip injury, I just have to add the thoughts of USA Today’s Drew Sharp from about 10 days ago, before the Michigan game.
“A (now 8-0) record and No. 3 national ranking magically cleanse perception, turning troublesome, pampered athletes who believe the laws of standard conduct don’t apply to them into merely mischievous teenagers who occasionally cross that line.
“Penn State resembled a renegade program over the summer with a long ledger of legal misconduct allegations its 81-year-old head coach didn’t pay attention to because it conflicted with his afternoon nap schedule.
“But Joe Paterno’s no longer senile. When you’re undefeated and ranked third in the country, you’ve graduated to wily.
“Paterno should ride this wave of redemption and retire after this season.
“There’s no better time. Walk away or, in Joe-Pa’s state, limp away.
“He’s in tremendous physical pain, but it’s nothing compared to the competitive torment Penn State has administered to its opponents this season….He’s enjoying renewed power within the university administration that could ensure his hand-picked successor’s ascension if he were to step down after a national championship game appearance in Miami in January….
“It’s always better taking that final bow with the audience once you’ve gotten the last laugh….
“Paterno compared his plight with that of Sir Winston Churchill. Britain inevitably kicked him to the curb, forgetting that the prime minister led the nation in the Allied assault against the Nazis in World War II.
“ ‘Churchill said gratitude doesn’t exist in politics, only in history,’ Paterno said. ‘I’ve learned that gratitude doesn’t exist in football.’
“But when you’re approaching your 82nd birthday and the opportunity arises to leave on your terms with the program residing among the nationally elite, you should seize upon that chance.”
–This week’s college football picks, as I put my 10-8 record (34-21 the past two years) on the line.
Take Maryland, giving North Carolina State 10 ½ [I’m counting on “Good Maryland” this week…not “Bad Maryland’]
Take Oklahoma, giving 19 to Kansas State
Take Ohio State and 2 ½ vs. Penn State
–NFL Hall of Famer Gene Hickerson died. He was 73. Hickerson was the Cleveland Browns’ right guard, clearing the way for the likes of Jim Brown, Leroy Kelly and Bobby Mitchell. Brown called Hickerson “the greatest downfield blocker in the history of pro football.” When Hickerson was inducted into the Hall in 2007, all three pushed his wheelchair onto the stage.
“He was a great friend of mine, as well as a great protector. He was a tremendous guard…but also an outstanding individual.
“We all eventually leave this earth at some time, but I am so glad he was able to leave with his dignity and with the recognition from all of us – his former teammates, the fans and writers – who wanted him to go into the Hall of Fame after waiting so long for that honor.
In 1958, Hickerson was a sixth round draft pick from Mississippi, with Brown having been selected in the first round that year, and the 6’3”, 248 lb. guard was as quick as any in the history of the game. He was voted to six straight Pro Bowls at one point and was selected for the league’s All-Decade team of the 1960s. The Browns never had a losing record during his 15 years with Cleveland, 1958-73 (he was out the ’61 season with a broken leg).
It is truly sad, though, that for some reason Hickerson had to wait until 2007 to get to Canton and by then he was stricken with Alzheimer’s.
–So you have a great like Gene Hickerson, and then you have the continuing story of Adam “Pacman” Jones, who should handily make the NFL’s All-Dirtball team for this current decade. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who it should be noted while not related by blood is also an idiot, said that Pacman has entered an alcohol treatment center following his 15th or so run-in with the law. Pacman is in the midst of a four-game suspension, though few expect him to ever return.
–Good gawd! From the South China Morning Post:
“Thai biologists are seeking help from their Australian counterparts after the presence of the deadly box jellyfish in Thai waters was recently confirmed for the first time.
“An investigation was launched after Australian Lewis Jones, 6, was stung by a suspected box jellyfish in Trat province on the Gulf of Thailand in December. The boy’s heart stopped for two minutes. In April, a Swedish girl, 10, died from allergic shock suspected to have been caused by a jellyfish sting off the coast of Krabi, in the Andaman Sea.
“The probe by government scientists resulted in several jellyfish being trapped by fishermen in late August and they have since been confirmed to be a member of the venomous Carybdeidae family.
“More jellyfish were captured in waters off Phuket on July 30.”
But it wasn’t until this week that the various samples were sent to the “Australian Marine Stinger Advisory Services” in Townsville, Queensland.
Gotta tell you. When looking at career opportunities, I never thought about the Stinger Advisory Services Agency.
–Meanwhile, in Palin country…“Three grizzly bears pushed through a door to a garage in Salcha and tore into a freezer full of game meat. Wildlife authorities suspect the bears are the same ones that have entered other buildings near the small community about 35 miles south of Fairbanks. State biologists have been trying to capture the bears and say they will be killed because they pose a threat to residents.”
Run for your lives! [The bears, that is.] Continuing… “Brandon Mattzela was the homeowner hit Wednesday. He said his 7-year-old basset hound, Pike (I didn’t know they still made basset hounds, did you?) alerted him to the bears.
“ ‘I opened the door to let the dog out and he went off the steps like a rocket,’ Mattzela said. ‘I saw two bears come piling out of the garage, growling at him. One of them took a pretty good swat at him.’
“Mattzela, 29, grabbed his .44-caliber handgun and opened fire.” Alas, he missed and they got away. Biologists are hoping recent cold and snow will persuade the bears “to den up.”
By the way, the bears “got in and ripped the top clean off the freezer,” Mattzela said. “They got into a lot of salmon, moose and caribou.” I’m very hungry.
As for Pike the basset, he’s doing fine. Or as they say on television, “and no one got hurt!” [Source: AP]
–But here’s another tale from Alaska; this one from Mike Campbell of the Anchorage Daily News.
“Crashing sea otter populations in the Aleutian Islands in the 1990s forced bald eagles to adapt by changing their diets, but the predators changed so successfully they ended up producing more eggs and more young.”
Wha? Eagles were eating sea otters?! Read on….
Turns out 90% of the world’s sea otters live in coastal Alaska. The Aleutians once had 75,000 but now there are about 8,700.
However, lest you get all depressed, “Many scientists…suggest foraging killer whales may be responsible for the decline.” So at least we know our friend, Shamu, is keeping his weight up.
Back to the eagles and their diet, “Sea otters are a pivotal species in many northern coastal waters because of the role they play in maintaining a healthy balance in kelp forests. Otters munch on sea urchins, which devour kelp. Fewer otters mean urchins can devastate kelp beds, which host a variety of fish that eagles eat.
“Typically, sea otters dive to gather food in relatively shallow water, seeking clams, crabs, sea urchins, snails and octopus.”
Otters attack octopi?! Now I’m really confused. Kind of puts a new interpretation on Jules Verne and octopus vs. squid contests, know what I’m sayin’? [Or was that “Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea”?]
“With Aleutian sea otter populations shrinking, the always-opportunistic eagles adapted by turning to a variety of young seabirds, particularly glaucous-winged gulls, tufted puffins and northern fulmars.”
Geezuz, that’s kind of gruesome. Not a good time to be a northern fulmar, I guess.
“ ‘I once examined a bald eagle nest in the Aleutians that had eight skins from sea otter pups in it,’ said U.S. Geological Survey researcher Robert Anthony. ‘That’s a lot of pups for one pair of eagles.”
This is our national bird, sports fans. Kind of disappointing. I used to think it only ate trash and the occasional field mouse.
–BRADENTON, Fla. (AP) – “Authorities said a man tried to steal several bags of frozen shrimp from a supermarket by hiding them down his pants. The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office reported that an off-duty detective was shopping at a Sweetbay supermarket Sunday when he noticed what appeared to be a man with groceries stuffed in his pants.
“The detective approached the 32-year-old man and ordered him to stop. Authorities said the man then removed several bags of shrimp from his pants and promised to put them back.”
Personally, I’m laying off the shrimp for a few weeks. You never know where the “previously frozen” stuff has been, as this story proves.
“A slew of young celebs enjoyed the pool at Hollywood’s Roosevelt Hotel over the weekend – oblivious to the fact that the hotel staff never drained the water after a dead body was found in the pool a week earlier, sources said.
“At 4:30 a.m. Monday Oct. 13, Jordan Nagler, 30, a Rockville Centre, LI, native who was the executive director of International Student Exchange in Babylon, was found dead in the hotel’s Tropicana Bar pool.”
The guy was discovered by hotel staff at the bottom of the pool, wearing swimming trunks.
A Page Six source says hotel management met days later and decided it didn’t need to drain the pool because the chlorine would kill the bacteria. Staffers were instructed not to “say anything to anyone” because, “We don’t want this to get out.”
One week later, the likes of Kevin Connolly (“Entourage”), Lindsay Lohan and Samantha Ronson were frolicking in the pool.
–So I’m at the Chinese consulate in New York City the other day, picking up my visa for an upcoming trip, and I got a China Daily while there. Here’s a story from the national pages.
“A woman who cheated in a double suicide bid was arrested for attempted murder on Oct. 21 in Chishui, Guizhou province.
“Wang Ying (not her real name) and her husband, surnamed Hu, had been quarreling on Oct. 10 when Hu suggested they commit suicide together by drinking pesticide.
“Wang agreed but when they were meant to drink the poison, she spat hers out as her husband downed a whole bottle.
“Wang survived, watched as her husband died and called her father-in-law only after he was long gone.
“The family suspected Wang of foul play and immediately reported her to police, whose investigation found she had had an affair and wanted to leave her husband before betraying him one final time.” [Guizhou Metropolis Daily]
–I forgot to note this one last time. Phil W. alerted me to a story that in his words was “outrageous.” It seems Lisa Horne of ESPN.com came up with a list of the ten worst college mascots….and the Wake Forest Demon Deacon was 10th! C’mon. The Demon Deac is one of the best! What’s most upsetting is the rest of the list makes sense.
9. Western Kentucky…Big Red…a giant blob
8. Miami…a stupid duck
7. Vanderbilt…the Commodore, who Ms. Horne correctly says looks like Johnny Depp.
6. Nebraska…Big Red, like Bob’s Big Boy. [I’ve seen him in person and I still have nightmares.]
5. Akron…Zippy the Kangaroo
4. Ohio State…Brutus Buckeye
3. Syracuse…Otto the Orange…no wonder the program is awful
2. Tulsa…Captain Cane
1. Stanford…The Tree (not official, but in true Stanford fashion, a mess)
–Reuters / New York Post – “Female spiders who eat would-be suitors produce more babies, and those babies are stronger and bigger than spiders who stick to more mundane fare, researchers said Tuesday.
“The merciless mother spiders wait until they have mated – ensuring they will hatch spiderlings – before consuming their beaus, the researchers found.”
Dr. Jordi Moya-Larano of the Estacion Experimental de Zonas Aridas in Spain said his team reports, “Females benefit from feeding on a male by breeding earlier, producing 30 percent more offspring.”
Guys, for those of you who are married or have a full-time companion, may I suggest sleeping in separate beds, at least until the global recession runs its course.
–In perusing Mr. Blackwell’s obituaries, trying to figure out how he made his money because he wasn’t anything close to a real fashion designer, I see that he is survived by his partner of more than 60 years, Spencer. Maybe Spencer can tell us how he made his money. And I can just imagine their conversations. “Spencer, what do you think of this line concerning Babs?” “Why that’s brilliant, Richard! You’re so wicked!” [Richard being Mr. Blackwell’s first name.] “I’ll fix some tea.”
–Jeff B. and I are trying to figure out which Brady kids knew Greg and Marcia were screwing around off the set. [Though both Greg and Marcia insist it was all innocent fun. Ha!] Bar Chat has learned that Cindy (Susan Olsen) had an audio tape, but it was reel-to-reel and mangled when Tiger the dog got hold of it. This was before Tiger was hit by a car.
Top 3 songs for the week 10/21/72: #1 “My Ding-A-Ling” (Chuck Berry…not to be confused with Ring-A-Ding-Ding) #2 “Use Me” (Bill Withers) #3 “Burning Love” (Elvis Presley)…and…#4 “Everybody Plays The Fool” (The Main Ingredient) #5 “Nights In White Satin” (The Moody Blues) #6 “Ben” (Michael Jackson) #7 “Baby Don’t Get Hooked On Me” (Mac Davis) #8 “Garden Party” (Rick Nelson & The Stone Canyon Band) #9 “Popcorn” (Hot Butter…simply dreadful) #10 “Go All The Way” (Raspberries…see Greg and Marcia)
NBA Quiz Answer: Eight new coaches…Michael Curry, Detroit; Vinny Del Negro, Chicago; Erik Spoelstra, Miami; Larry Brown, Charlotte; Rick Carlisle, Dallas; Mike D’Antoni, New York; Terry Porter, Phoenix; Scott Skiles, Milwaukee.
Next Bar Chat, Monday (possibly later than usual…as your editor and his brother cruise through the Black Hills of South Dakota)
