Sportsmen of the Year Quiz: [The first award was given out in 1954.] 1) Who was the last tennis figure to be so honored? 2) Who is the only auto racer? 3) Who is the only jockey? 4) Who is the only college basketball player so honored? [This last one is hard, and I’m not talking about any that may have been part of the 1987 “Athletes Who Care” edition…which was stupid…like Time picking all of us as People of the Year…idiots.] Answers below.
Everyone can bitch and moan about there not being a playoff, but it’s just not going to happen. Period. So give it up. There are too many entrenched interests, particularly as the number of games begins to shrink by 2010. That will just give the major bowls, and conferences, even more clout…and money.
That said; what does tick me off is the fact we have to watch Texas play Ohio State, 10-2, when it should be 12-0 Boise State as the opponent. Boise State is ahead of Ohio State in the BCS, anyway.
Then again, I don’t have time to watch a lot of games so here are the ones I’m mildly interested in.
Wake Forest vs. Navy…just because
Boise State-TCU
West Virginia-UNC
Oregon State-Pitt
USC-Penn State…excellent
Utah-Alabama…ditto
Oklahoma-Florida
Virginia Tech-Cincinnati? You’ve got to be kidding me. Plus it’s a school night for some of us.
Actually, I may have to flip on Buffalo-UConn for a few minutes. Right, Jeff B.?
Florida-Alabama was certainly a great college football game Saturday night and, no doubt, Tim Tebow is as worthy as anyone when it comes to the Heisman vote, though I’m still going with OU’s Sam Bradford.
Speaking of Oklahoma, they set a NCAA record by scoring 60 points a fifth straight game, absolutely staggering. OU had 39 first downs against Missouri. 39! I can’t ever recall seeing that many.
And did I pick Mizzou to go all the way this year? Oops. Quarterback Chase Daniel completed 74% of his passes…and yet he had a poor season. Look, he threw 8 interceptions in the team’s four losses. That’s all that matters. When the going got tough, Daniel didn’t get it done, pure and simple.
7. Texas Tech…heading to the Cotton Bowl
8. Penn State
9. Boise State
10. Ohio State
22. Ball State…where they deserve to be
What a choke job by Ball State (12-1) in the MAC championship against Buffalo on Friday night. They lost their chance at a perfect season by fumbling four times, resulting in 28 points for the Bulls (8-5). For Buffalo it was their first win over a ranked opponent and they will now play in their first bowl game, Toronto’s International Bowl. Back in 1958, Buffalo turned down a chance to play in the Tangerine Bowl because their black players wouldn’t have been able to participate.
You have to feel good for Buffalo coach Turner Gill, the former Nebraska star. As Johnny Mac commented, there better be an investigation if Gill doesn’t get an opportunity at a bigger school. [Incredibly, in just his third season, Gill is the dean of black coaches in Division I-A.]
As for Ball State’s star QB Nate Davis, he had a hand in all four fumbles, with NFL scouts in the stands. Davis, though, said he is coming back for his senior year. I’m assuming he will sleep with a football the next nine months.
I have to give Rutgers credit. After a disastrous 1-5 start, they have reeled off six straight, some in impressive fashion such as Thursday’s 63-14 win over Louisville.Quarterback Mike Teel also deserves some applause. What a performance against the Cardinals…21 of 26, 447 yards (17.2 avg.), and seven touchdown passes, a team and Big East record. Coach Greg Schiano deserves credit for keeping the team focused. But it was still a deeply disappointing season and, as noted in Sunday’s Star-Ledger, the investigations into the football program and all the money that has been spent on it continue.
A Texas Tech defensive back was arrested by federal agents and charged with dealing cocaine. His name? De’Shon Sanders. When the hell are parents going to learn to give their children normal names?! No wonder they’re messed up and become drug dealers.
1. Matthew Stafford, Georgia, QB [where have I been all year?]
2. Chris Wells, Ohio State, RB
3. Andre Smith, Alabama, OT
4. Michael Crabtree, Texas Tech, WR
5. Michael Johnson, Georgia Tech, DE
7. Sam Bradford, QB, Oklahoma
11. Aaron Curry, LB, Wake Forest
17. Alphonso Smith, CB, Wake Forest
18. Knowshon Moreno, Georgia, RB
Now SN doesn’t list Tebow in their top 99, even though he’s a junior, nor does it list junior Colt McCoy (don’t know about either’s status), or Texas Tech senior Graham Harrell, which is kind of interesting.
Don’t worry, I too had to be reminded who this fellow was, Elmer having died the other day at the age of 85. Turns out he co-founded the legendary rock club Whisky a Go Go on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood that gave birth to the go-go dancer phenomenon of the 1960s. Dennis McLellan wrote in the Los Angeles Times:
“A former Chicago cop who arrived in Los Angeles in 1960, Valentine was co-owner of P.J.’s, a successful West Hollywood restaurant-nightclub, when he sold his interest and took a trip to Europe in 1963.
“While in Paris, he visited a discotheque and was so impressed by the large, enthusiastic crowd of young dancers that he decided to borrow the disco’s name and start his own club back home in Los Angeles.”
Valentine then founded Whisky a Go Go with three other partners and it was an immediate success, with Johnny Rivers headlining and celebrities peopling the audience.
Times music critic Robert Hilburn wrote in 1977, “For much of the ‘60s and early ‘70s, Elmer Valentine’s Whisky was the most important rock club in town. It was an incubation spot for local bands and a showcase for highly touted visiting groups.”
Try the Byrds, the Doors, the Kinks, the Who, Them, Love and Buffalo Springfield.
Friend and business partner Lou Adler said that up until that time, rock acts didn’t have a venue of that kind, where celebrities loved to be seen and the celebrities drew people who wanted to see the celebrities. Folks like Steve McQueen, Jayne Mansfield and Cary Grant.
Of course a big part of the attraction was the mini-skirted go-go girls. As Dennis McLellan wrote it was “a contribution to pop culture that happened by accident.”
Valentine recounted for Vanity Fair in 2000 that a public contest was held for the job. “But when the young winner called Valentine on the night of the opening to tearfully say her mother forbade her from doing it, Valentine recruited the club’s cigarette girl, Patty Brockhurst.
“ ‘She had on a slit skirt, and we put her up there,’ Valentine said. ‘So she’s up there playing the records. She’s a young girl, so while playing ‘em, all of a sudden she starts dancing to ‘em. It was a dream. It worked.’
“Valentine quickly hired two more girl dancers, one of whom, Joanie Labine, according to the Vanity Fair article, ‘designed the official go-go-girl costume of fringed dress and white boots.’”
Did you see Stephen Curry’s performance against North Carolina State? Curry had 44 in Davidson’s 72-67 win. He plays at Madison Square Garden this week and as the New York Daily News’ Mike Lupica wrote, “can’t we just keep him?”
Sporting News listed its top five freshman this year and wouldn’t you know, one is a Demon Deacon.
JaMychal Green, Alabama
Al-Farouq Aminu, Wake Forest
Tyreke Evans, Memphis
Jrue Holiday, UCLA
Kemba Walker, UConn
I really need to talk to America’s parents. Again, please give your children real names! I swear the above are spelled as they wanted it.
Actually, this is interesting. Look at the five seniors the Sporting News picked as the best in their class.
Normal names! I mean, what the heck is JaMychal and Jrue?!
Then again, it’s time I came clean with my own name….JaDomestic Beer.
Uh oh…fighting words. Wake sophomore forward James Johnson, one of the more underrated players in the country and a surefire NBA draft pick in a few years, was asked by Sporting News to choose between Tyler Hansbrough and Davidson’s Curry. Johnson chose Curry, “because he plays hard and shoots well.” Of course we all know that no one plays harder than Hansbrough, and since Wake plays UNC in its ACC opener in January, you kind of wonder why Johnson would give Hansbrough even more of an added incentive.
Actually, when asked to pick the best cheerleaders, Johnson said “Georgia because they dance good.” Boy, I would have said “Wake Forest,” unless Mr. Johnson has a Georgia honey down there.
[Of course I’ve come clean on this topic. When I was at Wake, it was the Carolina cheerleaders who got my pick in conference. Nowadays, I’m kind of partial to South Florida…since the networks don’t seem to want to show USC’s anymore.]
Wake Forest vs. UNC
Maryland vs. St. John’s
Wake defeated South Florida 5-0 in the quarterfinals, after whipping Dartmouth 7-0. Folks, this just doesn’t happen at this level.
–I didn’t know this….since 2000, only five running backs 30 or older have run for 1,300 yards, according to the Sporting News’ Clifton Brown.
The Jets’ Thomas Jones is threatening to join this group. [1,144 in 13 games]
Speaking of the Jets, they are imploding and some of us are saying, I told you so; as in we should have kept Chad Pennington!
And Chad plays the Jets the final game of the season. Delicious.
“Knucklehead receiver Plaxico Burress was acting like a Giant jerk at the Latin Quarter even before he shot himself and ended up on the floor shaking and bleeding, employees at the Midtown club said.
“ ‘Burress was an ass,’ said a female bartender about his conduct last Saturday.
“ ‘He was rude and disorderly and didn’t acknowledge anyone unless they were in the VIP section. He didn’t treat anybody with respect.
“ ‘I’d rather work with regular customers. Celebrities like Plaxico just cause more problems. He gives the club a bad rep,’ the bartender said.”
Let’s see, Plax was already up for Bar Chat “Dirtball, Jerk and Idiot” of the year honors, though Pacman Jones, Steph and others will give him a run for his money.
But if he were to also earn the “A-hole of the year” award, why that’s the Superfecta! I mean, that would be a first not just for Bar Chat, but any site…including those domiciled in Turkey and Botswana.
–What the heck is going on out on the west coast? Geezuz, the death toll is rising with the water.
“Authorities Friday identified three young men who were swept to their deaths off Point Mugu (Ca.) on Thanksgiving Day after a wave pulled them and two companions into the water.
“The three were standing with two friends at the water’s edge on the landmark Mugu Rock.”
A witness said they realized they were in danger and tried to make their way back from the water line when “A big wave came, and…knocked them in the water.”
“The area, a popular destination for fishing, climbing and sightseeing, has long been known for its danger as well as for its beauty.”
The wave that killed the three was said to be three feet high but the surf is “deceivingly powerful.”
O.K., that was the first story. Then on Friday, in San Pedro, Calif., “One man was in critical condition after he and two other men were swept into the ocean this afternoon, fire officials said.” [The other two swam back to shore.]
The site, the cliffs of Point Fermin Park (this is basically L.A.) was the place where USC’s record-setting kicker Mairo Danielo fell to his death last year.
And then there was this one, which made the top of the Drudge Report…so you know it’s important!
From the AP: “A romantic marriage proposal on the Oregon coast turned deadly for the bride-to-be when a wave swept her out to sea. Scott Napper had taken 22-year-old Leafil Alforque [nice name…is it a tree, or a dish?] to Proposal Rock near Neskowin Beach to pop the question at a place that got its name from couples ready to marry. Napper and Alforque had been dating since they met on the Internet in 2005.
“But Alforque had arrived in Oregon on a visa from the Philippines just three days before the fateful trip to the coast.”
“Napper said the tide had receded around Proposal Rock on Saturday when the couple began to walk to it. He had planned to propose and give her the ring he carried in his pocket. About 10 feet from the rock, a wave about 3 feet high suddenly came toward them.
“ ‘I turned into it to keep from getting pulled under it,’ Napper said.
“By the time he turned to find Alforque, only 4-foot-11 and 93 pounds, she had been caught by the receding waters.
“ ‘She was about 30 feet away, getting swept away,’ Napper said.”
Napper is 45. She was 22…found on the Internet. Hmmmm.
Let this be a lesson for you 70- to 75-year-old mothers out there. Always know what your kids are doing online. Looks like Mrs. Napper should have been more vigilant of her son’s activities, let alone Mrs. Alforque.
–Update: “The Penn State senior who plays the Nittany Lion mascot will miss the Rose Bowl after being suspended for violating team rules.”
This, you’ll recall, is one James Sheep…the highly conflicted youth who has a major identity crisis.
But Sheep will return for his senior season, says the cheerleading coach; no doubt a changed man, err, whatever.
“Bengals receiver Chad Johnson was at a Cincinnati-area Best Buy at 5:25 a.m. on Black Friday to buy Rock Band 2.”
–Sorry, I was a big boxing fan back in the day of the heavyweights, as I’ve written many a time before…men like Oscar Bonavena, Jerry Quarry, Ernie Shavers and the like…but not as much today so I did not see Manny Pacquiao dismantle Oscar De La Hoya in eight one-sided rounds on Saturday. But after reading of the fight, I will now make an attempt to see Manny’s next bout.
–Oh baby…Shu relayed the great news that Danica Patrick will be appearing in two GoDaddy.com spots during the Super Bowl, despite the tough economy. I’m convinced this could be the stimulus package the U.S. economy requires, with all due respect to the program Barack Obama has begun to lay out.
–I was reading a story in the Times on Mets pitcher Johan Santana and how he divides his time between his home in Fort Myers and his hometown of Tovar, Venezuela. Through his foundation he has done great things for his people and has a big charity event at Christmastime there. But I’ve gotta tell ya, I really wish Johan would stick to the U.S., being a selfish Mets fan. It’s just far too dangerous in Venezuela.
–Congratulations to Michelle Wie for making it through LPGA Q School and qualifying for her Tour card in 2009. [Actually, I really don’t care that much, but if she’s contending in a major, I’m more likely to tune in than I otherwise would, unless Natalie Gulbis is in the hunt….]
–Check this out, a note from Johnny Miller in the January 2009 issue of Golf Digest on the swing.
“Speed kills. I can see wanting 10 more yards with the driver, but squeezing extra distance out of your irons is the kiss of death. In my prime, my standard distance for the 9-iron was 125 yards. I hit my 6-iron 160, and my 4-iron 185. I didn’t want to be long with my irons, only smooth. Reining in my swing speed was key to distance control and accuracy. If you can resist the tendency to swing more than 75 percent, you’ll have better balance and rhythm. Your mechanics will be better, and you’ll find the sweet spot more often. You don’t need a crazy swing speed to spin the ball, either: Pure backspin comes from good contact more than anything else.”
Aren’t those distances shocking? Granted, the technology was far different back then, but even I can still hit those distances and many of you, I imagine, can hit a 4-iron 200.
–Jaime Diaz / Golf Digest, on the sadness of Seve Ballesteros, who continues to struggle with brain cancer.
“Way before there were obvious reasons, Seve would make me sad.
“This was in the 1980s, when the Spaniard’s genius and his way of managing it was the most compelling thing in golf. It didn’t seem right that he reached his peak in his 20s and was overtaken by the less artistic (but better organized) Greg Norman and Nick Faldo.
“But the bigger downer was seeing that even in his finest hours – at Augusta and St. Andrews and Lytham, and at Ryder cups where he played his most liberated golf – a guardedness and melancholy would inhabit Ballesteros by the time he arrived at the winner’s conference.
“Most champions confess to an ‘Is that all there is?’ sensation. But they quickly learn that wining can’t be everything, that what builds and sustains a successful career is dedication to improvement and acceptance of wherever that leads. It’s playing for the right reasons.
“Great as he was, Ballesteros played for the wrong reasons. Victory and its supposed spoils – the praise of the peers and public, the vanquishing of his critics – were his fixations. Finding those increasingly empty eventually made his all-or-nothing approach essentially a no-win.
“ ‘Seve was truly special, had more shots than anybody, but he didn’t really enjoy playing,’ says Lee Trevino, a longtime friend. ‘He always cared too much about what other people thought. Biggest thing, he never learned how to lose. It just ate him up until he couldn’t play at all. Yeah, the game made him. And the game destroyed him.’”
Ballesteros has had a tough stretch and it’s not known how much his mood was altered by his brain tumor. Among the tragic events in his life was the death in a car accident of a woman he had become close to since his 2004 divorce. Longtime confidant and fellow golfer Vicente Fernandez said, “These last few years, he has been very depressed….I feel so sad.”
–Harrison Frazar shot a 59 at the PGA Tour Q School, the first in eight years to break 60, though it doesn’t count in the record books because the six-round tournament is not an official event. Play ends Monday.
–From the AP: Buna, Texas – The one that didn’t get away held an unlikely surprise for a Texas man.
The blue-stoned class ring of Joe Richardson – engraved with his name – turned up inside an 8-pound bass 21 years after he lost it while fishing on Lake Sam Rayburn.
“My first reaction was – ‘You gotta be kidding,’” he said yesterday.
The fisherman who discovered the tarnished ring inside his catch contacted Richardson on Nov. 28 in Buna, about 100 miles northeast of Houston, after tracking him down with help from the Internet.
“It is going to be rat versus rat in the looming battle for Mosman.
“In what may be a world first, scientists are planning to release native bush rats into the Sydney suburb in an attempt to force out vermin black rats. If successful, it could be the opening shot in a war to drive the pests out of suburbs across the city.
“Black rats, unlike the more benign native rodents, invade houses, chew on wiring, carry diseases that can spread to humans and wildlife, and climb trees to devour eggs of native birds.”
But, “Despite their tough reputation, Dr. Cleary said preliminary research conducted at Jervis Bay showed that black rats were really ‘soft’ and could be ‘easily bullied’ by native bush rats. ‘If given a chance to claim territory, native bush rats will evict black rats.’”
–So you think sports salaries are more than a bit outrageous these days? Manchester City, which takes a back seat to Manchester United in Premier League play, reportedly made an offer for Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas. How big an offer? Try $16.5 million a year. But Casillas rejected it. Unreal ‘transfer fees’ are also paid in these instances. Like about $200mm if this one had gone through. You’re reading that right.
–Jason Collins is a 7-footer I used to comment on when he played for the Nets. Nice guy, but he made an amazing amount of money for someone who was totally unproductive. Collins is now on the T’Wolves and made his first return visit to New Jersey the other night, where he told the Star-Ledger’s Dave D’Alessandro why he was on the injured list earlier in the season.
“It’s one of those stories you read about and say, ‘It couldn’t possibly happen,’” Collins said.
“The short version: After they hit their tee shots during a round of golf in California on Sept. 8, Collins’ brother, Jarron, was driving the cart at around 12 to 15 mph on a slick path and didn’t anticipate a sharp left turn that was unmarked. The cart rolled over, and Jason landed flat on the concrete, elbow first.
“ ‘My brother (also) had an elbow injury – he fell on top of me,’ Collins said. ‘And the cart fell on top of us. We were very fortunate that’s all it was – especially with what happened to Rodney Rogers.’”
–Rodney Rogers. What a tragedy. One of Wake Forest’s all-time greats and the 1993 ACC Player of the Year, Rogers is now paralyzed from the shoulders down following an accident in his all-terrain vehicle near his home in Durham, N.C.
Rogers, 37, had a solid 12-year NBA career, including winning the Sixth Man award, 1999-2000. Just two days before learning this awful news, I was thinking of Rodney, wondering what he was doing. He was so immensely talented, a man among boys, but while some said he underachieved, I always felt he was misunderstood because I knew his true love was NASCAR and racing of all kinds.
ESPN.com and the News & Observer of Raleigh-Durham had this touching bit following the accident.
“A Durham native who starred in high school football and basketball, Rogers had returned to his hometown and was working for the city public works department as a heavy machinery operator. He was promoted to a supervisory position six months ago, according to the report.
“He was also volunteering as a girls’ basketball coach at a Durham middle school and had set up a computer lab at a city public housing complex.
“His agent and lawyer, James ‘Butch’ Williams, described Rogers as ‘an outdoorsman, plain and simple. He hunts, motorcycles, rides horses. He loves big trucks.’
“Rogers, who was financially set, took the job with the Durham DPW because he liked working with heavy trucks, Williams said.
“ ‘Rodney isn’t the type to sit around twiddling his thumbs. There aren’t any jobs he considers too small for him,’ Williams said. ‘He started his own trucking company and was usually the lead driver. He’d be out there driving to the quarry at 3:30 in the morning.’
His boss at the Durham DPW said “I didn’t even know he had lots of money. He is very friendly, very concerned, very conscientious. We chose him because of his ethics and his attitude. He was highly motivated. He was promoted to supervisor six months ago.”
–Greg Maddux is announcing his retirement on Monday. Maddux ranks 8th all-time in wins with a stupendous 355. [355-227, 3.16 ERA] He won four Cy Young awards, 1992-95, led the league in ERA four times, wins three times (with 17 straight seasons of 15 or more), and won 18 Gold Gloves. But I do have to note he was 11-14 in postseason play. Otherwise, not bad…not bad at all. So now we wait to see if Tom Glavine and John Smoltz elect to retire as well, as all three great friends could then go into the Hall of Fame together in five years.
–I only note for the archives, and future editions of Bar Chat: The Game, that O.J. was sentenced to a maximum 33 years in prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, though it appears he will serve nine…assuming he doesn’t kill any of his fellow inmates. I’m guessing he will grant “60 Minutes” an interview in 18 months. [Steve Kroft will have the honors.]
–Actor Paul Benedict, 70, died. He was Harry Bentley on “The Jeffersons.” Never liked the character and wasn’t a big fan of the show, quite frankly. They were better when they were bit players in “All in the Family.”…and that’s a memo.
–Count me as a big fan of Jennifer Aniston. In fact, Jen, you have an open invitation to tour the headquarters of StocksandNews any time, a rare treat few have had the privilege of seeing. [OK, it’s really just a ton of books and hard copy of everything I’ve ever written….but work with me.]
Anyway, Jennifer “has had enough of the tabloids,” adding that it was “very uncool” the comments Angelina made to Vogue….or was it the other way around?…..I’m so confused.
Jennifer also said she isn’t pregnant, but babies could be in her future. She admitted she made mistakes like the rest of us. But these days, she says things are on the upswing.
“I don’t know if I’m just a late bloomer, but I feel like everything is just beginning.”
Me too, Jen. [This is a huge lie….but again, work with me. We’re talking Jennifer Aniston.]
Top 3 songs for the week 12/5/64: #1 “Mr. Lonely” (Bobby Vinton) #2 “She’s Not There” (The Zombies) #3 “Ringo” (Lorne Greene…yup, that Lorne Greene)…and…#4 “Come See About Me” (The Supremes) #5 “I Feel Fine” (The Beatles) #6 “Time Is On My Side” (The Rolling Stones) #7 “You Really Got Me” (The Kinks) #8 “Baby Love” (The Supremes) #9 “I’m Gonna Be Strong” (Gene Pitney) #10 “Dance, Dance, Dance” (The Beach Boys…what a great week…America fights back against the British Invasion)
Sportsmen of the Year Quiz Answers: 1) Arthur Ashe, 1992 [he died of AIDS in ‘93] 2) Jackie Stewart, 1973. 3) Steve Cauthen, 1977. 4) Jerry Lucas, Ohio State, 1961.
Next Bar Chat, Thursday….Denny McLain…meant to do him a while back.
