Lincoln

NFL Hall of Fame Quiz: Some easy, one or two hard. I give you the initials, you give me the Hall members. L.N., M.R., C.S., P.W., L.W., G.Z.  Answer below.

February 12 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of one of our two best presidents in history and I just want to make note of a book I picked up, the great James M. McPherson’s 65-page new work titled “Abraham Lincoln.” That’s right…65 pages…big print, small pages. You’ve gotta love it. 

McPherson is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the single best book on the Civil War, “Battle Cry of Freedom,” but here is why McPherson says he wrote his latest on Lincoln. 

“Only after years of studying the powerful crosscurrents of political and military pressures on Lincoln did I come to appreciate the skill with which he steered between the numerous shoals of conservatism and radicalism, free states and slave states, abolitionists, Republicans, Democrats, and border-state Unionists to maintain a steady course that brought the nation to victory – and the abolition of slavery – in the end. If he had moved decisively against slavery in the war’s first year, as radicals pressed him to do, he might well have fractured his war coalition, driven border-state Unionists over to the Confederacy, lost the war, and witnessed the survival of slavery for at least another generation.” 

McPherson notes the many books on Lincoln that are coming out this bicentennial year, but “Amid this cascade of information, I believe there is room for a brief biography that captures the essential events and meaning of Lincoln’s life without oversimplification or overgeneralization.” 

So you’ll have to indulge me when I say for those of you who are parents, this is the perfect book to give to that son or daughter of yours that seems to be a little interested in history. Propel that interest forward. Heck, read it together. Here’s how it starts. 

“Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809, in Hardin County, Kentucky, about fifty miles south of Louisville. His father, Thomas Lincoln, had come as a child with his family from Virginia in 1782. Thomas acquired only enough literacy to sign his name but gained modest prosperity as a carpenter and farmer on the Kentucky frontier. He married Nancy Hanks, also illiterate, in 1806. Abraham was born in a log cabin on Sinking Spring Farm three miles south of Hodgenville. When he was two years old the family moved to another farm on Knob Creek about seven miles northeast of Hodgenville. On this farm of 230 acres (only thirty of which were tillable), young Abraham lived for five years, helped his parents with chores, and learned his ABCs by attending school for a few weeks with his older sister, Sarah.” 

In this one paragraph you’re taken back to 200 years ago, frontier America. So go to Amazon.com, or better, your neighborhood bookstore if it still exists, and pick this up. Plus it’s only $12.95 list! 

[I also picked up another short McPherson work, this one 140 pages of big print, small pages, titled “A Walk at Gettysburg” for those of you heading there anytime soon now that the new visitor center is completed. Looks like a must to have with you in your journey back in time.] 

We note the passing of Lt. Gen. Victor H. Krulak, 95. You know the Higgins landing craft that New Orleans boat builder Andrew Higgins built for the U.S. military, without which there would have been no Normandy or Okinawa? The actual design was Gen. Krulak’s, as explained by the New York Times’ Richard Goldstein. 

“In 1937, while a lieutenant in an intelligence outfit in Shanghai, when the Japanese were trying to conquer China, (Krulak) used a telephoto lens to take pictures of Japanese landing craft with a square bow that became a retractable ramp, enabling troops and equipment to be dispatched quickly onto an enemy beach. 

“Envisioning those ramps as answering the Marines’ needs in a looming world war, Lieutenant Krulak showed the photographs to his superiors, who passed on his report to Washington. But two years later, he found that the Navy had simply filed it away with a notation saying it was the work of ‘some nut out in China.’ 

“He persevered, building a balsa wood model of the Japanese boat design and discussing the retractable ramp concept with the New Orleans boat builder Andrew Higgins. That bow design became the basis for the thousands of Higgins landing craft of World War II.” 

Then during the war, Krulak commanded a battalion that captured the important island of Bougainville. Some of his wounded men were evacuated by a Navy torpedo boat skippered by Lt. John F. Kennedy. 

In the late 1940s, General Krulak helped pioneer the use of helicopters to carry marines and supplies into battle, a practice employed in Korea. 

And in the mid-1960s, Victor Krulak commanded all marines in the Pacific during the Vietnam War. He had constant disagreements with Gen. William C. Westmoreland and President Lyndon Johnson on strategy and once related how in mid-1966 he met with LBJ to press his ideas, including the mining and bombing of Haiphong’s harbor. But in the words of Krulak, “as soon as he heard me speak of mining and unrestrained bombing of the ports, Mr. Johnson got to his feet, put his arm around my shoulder, and propelled me firmly toward the door.” 

“In a speech to the Marine Corps Association in 2007, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates told of the young marine lieutenant of the late 1930s who pursued his ideas for an innovative landing craft after being written off as a ‘nut.’ Mr. Gates said that ‘Victor Krulak’s story and accomplishments’ provided lessons in ‘overcoming conventional wisdom and bureaucratic obstacles.’ 

“In his history of the Marines, General Krulak expressed concern over an ‘all-encompassing military bureaucracy’ that ‘represents a more formidable battlefield than many the corps has known.’ 

“ ‘The marines,’ he wrote, ‘are an assemblage of warriors, nothing more.’” 

–This column is being posted before Thursday night’s BCS title game between Oklahoma and Florida, but there is a movement afoot to create mischief in the final AP poll and place Utah No. 1, regardless of the BCS outcome, because AP voters can do whatever they want. I still say Utah, despite their impressive win over Alabama in the Sugar Bowl, can’t finish higher than No. 4. Or will it be No. 3 after Texas’ incredibly unimpressive, yet highly entertaining, Fiesta Bowl win over Ohio State? 

Ohio State took a 21-17 lead with 2:05 left in the game but Longhorn QB Colt McCoy connected on a 26-yard score with only 16 remaining. I have to admit I wasn’t planning on staying up for the entire contest, because I thought it would be a blowout, but the game kind of reeled you in as a viewer the second half. Special mention has to be made to Texas receiver Quan Cosby who caught 14 passes for 171 yards, including the game-winner.

Back to Utah. Gregg Doyel of CBSSports.com reminds everyone why Utah can not be selected No. 1 in the nation by AP. 

“People, please. Utah is the same team that beat Michigan 25-23. Michigan went 3-9 this season. 

“Utah is the same team that beat Air Force 30-23. Air Force went 8-5. 

“Utah beat Weber State 37-21. Weber State isn’t even in Division I. 

“Utah beat New Mexico 13-10. New Mexico went 4-8. 

“These are facts. But people don’t want to hear facts right now, because they’d rather burn down the big, bad BCS witch…. 

“Utah is a very good team, probably even a top 10 team. 

“Assuming they weren’t still laughing after watching film of Utah’s games with Weber State and New Mexico.” 

And one final note on the bowl scene, prior to the title game. Did Ball State flame out its last two contests or what?! After fumbling a gazillion times in the MAC championship game against Buffalo, Ball State was outgained 632 yards to 223 by Tulsa in the Ezra Merkin/GMAC Bowl, getting 30 first downs to Ball State’s 9 in a 45-13 ass-whupping.    And not for nothing, but depending on Tulsa’s out of conference schedule next year, the nation’s No. 1 offense (after the bowl games, depending on Thursday night) returns all but six starters and could be a BCS sleeper next year. 

–This whole deal with Boston College football coach Jeff Jagodzinski and his interview with the Jets is strange on a number of levels. The school has said Jagodzinski will be fired for seeing the Jets even though the athletic director, Gene DiFilippo, told him he couldn’t. 

Jagodzinski, for some stupid reason, apprently didn’t talk to DiFilippo before saying he was going to take up the Jets’ offer for a visit as New York attempts to fill the vacancy left by the firing of Eric Mangini. I agree with DiFilippo, if the facts are as they seem, that Jags was being incredibly “disloyal” in pursuing another job opportunity without at least discussing it first. 

–I can’t say I’m a big fan of Bode Miller, but this is absurd. At a World Cup event in Zagreb, Croatia, Miller was disqualified from the slalom for “wearing boots a mere one-hundredth of an inch too high.” He was 29th after the first run and then disqualified following a random check that showed the soles of his boots were too high. 

So I’m looking at a standard ruler, divided into sixteenths, .0625 of an inch increments and, well, you get the picture just how ridiculous this is. I could see a quarter inch, but one-hundredth?! 

–Congratulations are in order to former pitcher Ray Burris, who has been selected to finish the Senate seat of Barack Obama, it would appear as I go to post, despite the fact he was picked by disgraced Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who himself faces impeachment. Burris, who had a 108-134 career mark from 1973-87, had his best years with the Cubs, thus making him a logical choice, even if Hot Rod was the one to elevate the hard-throwing righty. 

[Oops….I was just informed the individual replacing Obama is “Roland” Burris, not Ray Burris. Never mind.] 

–So it turns out I wasn’t the only one wondering about Matt Millen’s appearance on NBC over the weekend during Saturday’s football coverage. Richard Sandomir of the New York Times had a piece on Tuesday about the whole deal. I missed the interview Dan Patrick did with Millen on his 31-84 tenure as president of the Detroit Lions, but while Millen took responsibility for the disaster, conceding he was not fully qualified to take the job, “Many among the 131,033 local Detroit TV homes watching him must have been surprised to see him break his post-firing silence on NBC. 

“Drew Sharp, a columnist for The Detroit Free Press, wrote on Sunday that ‘simply saying that you’re responsible for the disaster doesn’t make you accountable; that requires serving a penance.’ He wanted much more from Millen than an allusion to unspecified ‘reasons’ for what went wrong. Sharp suggested that Millen wear an 0-16 stamp on his forehead during future TV appearances.” 

Millen said in response, “Anything you say is wrong and sounds like I said on Saturday, an excuse after the fact,” he said Monday. “I said I was responsible, and what else needs to be said?” 

My point is why are we supposed to listen to this guy? Sure, he was a great player, but it’s our recent memories that need time to expunge. It’s like having John Edwards in NBC’s booth this past Election Night. He might know a thing or two about politics, but after what he did to his family all of America would be asking “Why is he on?! Go away!” It’s the same with Millen. Only time will heal the wounds he inflicted on Detroit. Lots and lots of time. 

—Carl Pohlad, the longtime owner of the Minnesota Twins, passed away. He was 93. Taking over in 1984, the Twins won the World Series in 1987 and 1991 and Pohlad seemed to be a committed owner, willing to sign the likes of Kirby Puckett and Kent Hrbek to long contracts. But then he decided he couldn’t compete against the larger market teams, his losses mounted, and he ordered his staff to slash payroll. That started a slide of eight consecutive losing seasons beginning in 1993. Pohlad’s reputation among Twins fans plummeted and at one point he was on the verge of folding the team as part of an ill-fated plan to contract the National and American Leagues. 

But this guy was also worth $3.6 billion. While on a football scholarship at Gonzaga, he started a used-car business and then served in World War II. He made his first big play in 1949, buying Marquette Bank in Minneapolis.

By the 1960s, he parlayed a string of financial institutions into the Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas and a small airline that became Texas International, which he sold to Frank Lorenzo in 1972. Smart move. Very, very smart.   Then Pohlad teamed with takeover king Irwin Jacobs. Then he bought a bunch of small bottlers and sold them to PepsiCo for $600 million. And before you knew it, Carl was a mega-billionaire with a baseball team. Many in Minnesota, though, are today saying good riddance.   

I have to admit, I was surprised that Pitt took the top spot after the UNC loss to Boston College. I guess I was more surprised that instead of UNC unanimously receiving all 72 first place votes, as they have every week thus far, Pitt received 70 and UNC the other two. Geezuz, it was just one game, sports fans. 

Nonetheless, while I’m one who believes you can only have one favorite team in a sport, I can’t help but be a closet Pitt (and Steelers) fan due to my parents both graduating from there and a ton of relatives in the area. So as they said back in my folks’ day, “Yeah, Pitt…sock it to ‘em!” [These were simpler times, you understand.] 

One other item on Wake, though. SI’s Seth Davis gave his mid-year thoughts on 30 teams, rating them Buy, Sell or Hold, and he has the Deacs as a Sell. 

“I love the Deacs but let’s face it, this team has nowhere to go but down. Even if they’re able to knock off North Carolina on Sunday, at some point Wake’s youth is going to catch up. The Deacs have just one senior in their rotation; their top three scorers are two sophomores and a freshman. I’m a big believer in experience when it comes to the NCAA tournament because I’ve seen too many freshmen who made great progress during the season suddenly play like freshmen again when thrown into the crucible of a one-and-done situation. I’ve love to be proven wrong, though, because this team is great fun to watch.” 

I hate trite expressions like “time will tell,” but, hey, time will tell. 

–Golf Digest has an interview with Tommy Armour III, TA3, for its February issue, conducted by the Golf Channel’s Rich Lerner, and the two are discussing the playboy’s recent trip to Cabo for fellow golfer Pat Perez’s bachelor party, when the issue of the five greatest athletes came up as the partiers were sitting around. They were unanimous on four: “Gretzky, Lance, MJ and Tiger, with maybe Ali or Secretariat as the fifth.” 

Gotta love the inclusion of Secretariat. But if you’re looking at athletes in our lifetime, say from 1950 on, whom would you pick? We’ll let the issue of steroids slide when discussing the four the group came up with. It’s not a bad start. So who else? Limit yourself to no more than one in a sport, so you really have to stay with Gretzky over Mario Lemieux. [By the way, just looked this up. In case you were wondering, Gretzky scored 2857 points in 1487 games in the NHL, or 1.92 points per game. Lemieux scored 1723 in 915, or 1.88.] 

Willie Mays? Mickey Mantle (before his knee issues)? [Sorry, Hank Aaron fans. This is about pure, spectacular ability.] There’s no one else in the conversation with Michael Jordan. [Way too early for the likes of LeBron.] Tiger stays, though TA3 says Jack Nicklaus could be no. 5. But if you can only pick one in a sport, it’s Tiger. 

In football is there anyone? Jim Brown, Jerry Rice? Brown over Ali? That’s an interesting debate. Ali in his prime is certainly top five worthy. Gale Sayers? [Too short a career.] 

Then you obviously now have Michael Phelps, though would we be talking about him in this regard were it not for Jason Lezak? What if Usain Bolt continues to set new records in the 100 and 200 through the 2012 Games in London? 

Finally, just a word on steroids. I’ve said enough about a guy on TA3’s list above. But what if Marion Jones hadn’t been caught? Some of you would be clamoring to select her as one of the top five. 

In the end there’s only one thing to do. Assemble your friends and run off to the local tavern to debate this. If forced at gunpoint, I’d go with Tiger, MJ, Gretzky, Jim Brown and Willie Mays. Secretariat? Alone in the annals of the Animal Kingdom. You know what they say when zebras, elephants and black bears get together at the zoo Christmas parties. “Oh yeah, it’s Secretariat. No one else comes close.” 

—Baseball’s Hall of Fame reveals the results of this year’s ballot this coming Monday and it’s expected Rickey Henderson will get in on his first try. But will Jim Rice get in on his last attempt? 

As for Rickey, some of us can’t wait to hear his acceptance speech. It should be a laugh riot, even if not intended to be. 

After all, this is a guy of whom one-time teammate Bob Shirley once said, “We had a couple of games in the Dominican Republic. He wanted to know how long a bus ride it was.” 

Another teammate, Dave Beard, notes “the story of the million-dollar check from Oakland. The team called him and said, ‘Rickey, you have not cashed that check yet.’ He’d framed it.” [Source: Sporting News] 

–Golf Digest is running a contest to select an amateur to play with Michael Jordan and two others before the U.S. Open at Bethpage, like the first such outing prior to last year’s event at Torrey Pines, to see how well amateurs and entertainers can do on a course set up for Open play. 

The thing is, Golf Digest allows you to use only six words to state your case. So as the magazine listed in the current issue, you have countless folks who have submitted “essays” such as “I want to be like Mike,” or “For the love of the game.” Golf Digest liked this early submission from Chuck, Edgewood, Ky., who wrote “Have never yelled, you the man!” 

Anyway, you have until Jan. 31 to submit your own at gdopencontest.com. I just did. 

–Golf Digest’s annual look at the top 50 in earnings, 2008, both on course and off. 

On-course income includes all money earned on the PGA Tour and the five international tours, and the Champions Tour (or for the women the LPGA Tour and its international rivals).   It also includes unofficial money won through Dec. 1 in non-tour events. 

Off-course income includes estimates of all money earned from endorsements, bonuses, appearance fees, corporate outings, speaking engagements, licensing fees, product lines (clothing, wine), etc. [Appearance fees can be big overseas.] 

What needs to be repeated is a favorite topic of mine. These are independent contractors and if you take out Vijay’s on course earnings, only Sergio Garcia (No. 7 on the list overall), earned more than Tiger’s $7.7M at $8.97M.  

So compare this to baseball, for example. Derek Lowe, a nice free agent pitcher but far from a superstar, will probably sign a 3-year, guaranteed contract for $36M, or $12M per year. 

Paul Casey is No. 50 of all golfers, male and female, in the world and he took in $4.4M. Plus there are obviously no guarantees in the sport of golf. You have to prove yourself year in and year out. Only a select few make enormous money compared to their peers in other sports. What golf can offer, though, that most of the others can’t, is the fact that for some well past their prime, you can still make a decent buck. For example, 7 in the Top 50 are above the age of 50. [Palmer, Norman, Nicklaus, Player, Watson, Faldo, and Jacobsen] 

Tiger, incidentally, who started his professional career in 1996, is at an estimated $886M in career earnings. $108M on course, $778M in endorsements. 

–Dr. Bob S., Bar Chat’s Director of Shark Attacks for the West Coast (even though he is in the east), noted a piece by Sophie Tedmanson of the London Times and a necropsy New Zealand scientists are performing on a 10-foot great white shark – believed to be the first of its kind. 

The marine curator at the Auckland Museum, where the autopsy will be viewed in front of 1,000 members, plus streamed live online [aucklandmuseum.com….11 a.m.-1 p.m., Thurs., local, which means virtually all of you reading this will have missed it, what with the time difference…but I’m assuming they will keep the video on the museum site somewhere] said, “It’s very exciting…Little is known about the life history of these apex predators of the ocean.” 

“We’re interested in the gut content to see what the shark has eaten – it could be anything from seals, penguins, fish or even whale blubber. 

“We’re certainly hoping not to find any human bits inside, but you never know.” 

Well, should this last conjecture prove to be the case, I would hope they would send the remains to the International Shark Attack File in Gainesville, Fla., with a note attached. “Add these three to your totals. Then multiply by 600.” 

By the way, about six years ago I was at this museum in Auckland and the story says the shark itself was accidentally caught by a local fisherman in the Harbor. There are some great bars along the water and I can just imagine how cool that would have been to see it come in. Then again, our sympathies to the shark’s family. 

–Brad K. sent me a Reuters story that, as he put it, is yet another reason for yours truly to stay single. 

WARSAW – “A Polish man got the shock of his life when he visited a brothel and spotted his wife among the establishment’s employees. 

“Polish tabloid Super Express said the woman had been making some extra money on the side while telling her husband she worked at a store in a nearby town.

“Officials at a Hamilton Township school are hoping for a return to normal Tuesday, a day after class was disrupted by two deer leaping through a window. Pastor Lance Walker of the Faith Baptist School says the deer jumped into a teacher’s supply room Monday morning, startling three students and a teacher who were working on a lesson. They managed to get out and close the door, leaving the deer to trash the room. The school canceled outdoor recess for the day. By early afternoon, animal control officers showed up and tranquilized the animals so they could be taken away from the school.” 

Lots of issues with this one, including the delayed response of homeland security. Doesn’t exactly give one a warm, fuzzy feeling. 

But as Brad notes, one deer is random, two is a mission. He also wonders just where the deer were taken. Of course we can all imagine it wasn’t pretty, Dick Cheney still being in charge another few weeks. 

–McMinnville, Tenn. (AP) – Jolene Solomon is beginning the new year with her life, her mule named Lou and little else. The Southern Standard in McMinnville reported Solomon had just finished eating supper on New Year’s Day when Lou’s braying and acting up got her attention. 

Solomon, 63, who lived alone, stepped outside and saw her house was on fire. She called 911 and as she waited for firefighters, her home and everything in it burned to the ground. 

Now there is something very wrong with this story. We don’t know why Jolene couldn’t tell her own house was on fire, like in smelling something called smoke, for crissakes. But I also think it’s a shameless attempt to promote mules and their donkey brethren for the upcoming revision of the All-Species List. They can stand on their own…a probable top 40 due to their work ethic when used as pack animals. 

–I wasn’t going to say anything about Dick Clark and New Year’s, but the topic came up in Newsweek’s “Dignity Index.” 

“We promise we mean this in the kindest way possible: Dick Clark, God love ya, why don’t you join us on the couch to watch the crystal ball drop next year?” 

–Trader George says I need to keep an eye on the Chatham, N.J., high school girls swim team, George having two daughters, Brittany and Nicki, on the squad. For this shameless plug, George owes me a premium at the local watering hole. Of course Brittany and Nicki understand that appearing in Bar Chat opens doors and future career opportunities just not available elsewhere. 

–Speaking of bars, Shu passed along a quote from Bruce Webber of Esquire that Shu found on the inside of a matchbook cover from The Rhinoceros bar in Greensboro, N.C. We just thought it was a good description of a drinking establishment. 

“My idea of an honest drinking bar is a place where there are limited attractions, a plain place. You want to have your attention focused right in front of you, on the liquor and the talk. You don’t go there for strawberry daiquiris or quiche and white wine. Rather, you go to a drinking bar to explain yourself to whoever is across from you. You want to feel fierce and ironic. You want a shot poured with a heavy hand and beer in thick mugs or cold sweaty bottles. Drinking bars are places where friendships are cemented, philosophies declaimed, criticisms leveled, heartbreaks salved, successes toasted and failures rued. New York is dotted with such places but you have to sniff them out, because the tradition of the smoky chatter-ridden alehouse is being buried in glitz and obscured by hanging plants.” 

–We note the passing of guitarist Ron Asheton of Iggy Pop’s punk band the Stooges. Asheton appears to have died of natural causes at the age of 60.

From Randy Lewis, Los Angeles Times: 

“The Stooges charted a short but influential career from their formation in 1967 until they disbanded seven years later. Like New York’s Velvet Underground, the Stooges had minimal commercial success, but their recordings and explosive live performances, during which Pop was known to cut himself and vomit on stage, put primal emotion front and center, paving the way for a whole new strain of rock music.” 

Iggy Pop is not exactly Eddie Fisher, in other words. But as Randy Lewis notes, the Stooges really were a decade ahead of their time and the punk rock era. 

Top 3 songs for the week 1/8/72: #1 “Brand New Key” (Melanie) #2 “America Pie – Parts I & II” (Don McLean) #3 “Family Affair” (Sly & The Family Stone)…and…#4 “Let’s Stay Together” (Al Green) #5 “Got To Be There” (Michael Jackson) #6 “Scorpio” (Dennis Coffey & The Detroit Guitar Band” #7 “Sunshine” (Jonathan Edwards) #8 “I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing” (The New Seekers) #9 “Cherish” (David Cassidy) #10 “Hey Girl” (Donny Osmond) 

NFL Hall of Fame Quiz Answer: 

Leo Nomellini, DT, 1950-63 (yes, this was brutally hard, at least to me); Mel Renfro, CB-S, 1964-77; Charlie Sanders, TE, 1968-77; Paul Warfield, WR, 1964-77; Larry Wilson, S, 1960-72; Gary Zimmerman, T, 1986-97 (thought this one was hard as well) 

As for Leo Nomellini, who passed away in 2000, he was born in Lucca, Italy, and played every game of 14 seasons for San Francisco, making 10 Pro Bowls. Is it me or is Nomellini’s name never part of the conversation in terms of the great ones?