Alpine Skiing Quiz: OK, sports fans. Every few years I have to give my skiing brethren a shout out. Today it’s the men. The World Cup has crowned an overall champion since its inception in 1967. Jean-Claude Killy was the champ the first two years. Name the following multiple winners since then (up through 1997). Of course I’ll give you major help, but in turn you aren’t entitled to party with Bode Miller (2005, 08) afterwards unless you get all of them right.
STEELERS 27 CARDINALS 23
Pittsburgh wins record sixth world championship in an absolutely terrific game.
I was thinking when it got to 20-14, gee, too bad it couldn’t go another ten minutes beyond regulation; then what we saw the last few minutes was spectacular. Certainly Larry Fitzgerald confirmed what I wrote weeks ago, that he’s second best to Jerry Rice. But Ben Roethlisberger proved why he is so great as well, and now the nation knows Santonio Holmes. The best Super Bowl ever? Certainly top three.
My man on the ground, Jeff B., wrote in late to say he was sitting just five rows from Adam Sandler, who treated all the attention with aplomb. Then I see in the Daily News that Sandler ignored Paris Hilton as she table-danced next to him at the Hard Rock Hotel.
Steve Serby / New York Post
“This turned into a classic heavyweight brawl, Big Ben standing toe-to-toe with the wondrous Warner, MVP Holmes standing toe-to-toe with the great Larry Fitzgerald, last men standing hoist the Lombardi Trophy.
“In the end, Big Ben, the pocket-elusive quarterback the Giants didn’t want as much a Eli Manning, and Holmes, the receiver who needed to step up with Hines Ward not quite Hines Ward, refused to let their team lose….
“ ‘Ben, I want the ball in my hands no matter what…no matter where it is,’ Holmes told his quarterback (in the last-gasp huddle).”
And by the way, check out this proprietary stat of mine from “Wall Street History,” 1/16/09.
In each of the 10 years that the S&P 500 finished down, including 2008, the loser of the Super Bowl scored fewer than 20 points (17 or less, specifically), while in each of the 10 years in which the loser scored more than 20 points, the market finished up.
There you have it! The market is going to rock and roll…really.
Just give it a week or two…or three.
From Gary Meyers / New York Daily News
“Vikings center Matt Birk sent a letter that was express-mailed and delivered to every NFL player right after Thanksgiving. He asked they donate a portion of their game check from the Dec. 21 game to Gridiron Greats, the charity that benefits former players in need.
“According to Jennifer Smith, the executive director of Gridiron Greats, as of Thursday a total of 10-15 players have sent in checks in response to what they were calling Gridiron Guardian Sunday.
“The response was not 10-15 players per team. That’s 10-15 players total. That’s not even one player per team. The money collected had reached $175,000, but $50,000 of that came from Birk himself.
“That’s pathetic and embarrassing. For today’s players to turn their backs on their forefathers who helped build the foundation that has transformed the NFL into an $8 billion a year industry with the players getting 60% of the revenue must make it hard for them to sleep at night….
“Low pension payments are a problem for the retired players, getting disability benefits has become a hopeless exercise in cutting through red tape and the old-timers believe the NFL and the NFL Players Association have forgotten about them, despite some recent improvements to their benefits….
“The NFL can charge $1,000 for Super Bowl tickets, but many of these former players, broken down and in pain, have to go begging for help.”
Mike Ditka, very active in Gridiron Greats, says today’s players just don’t care. “It’s a dog-eat-dog world. You hate to put it that way, but they care about themselves. When you are young, you think you are invincible.”
–Watching John Madden do the Super Bowl, can you imagine he is now 72? He did his first game in 1979 after his coaching career with the Raiders. The initial contract was for four games and $12,000. Today he earns a reported $4 million a year and is signed until he hits 75, plus his EA Sports’ Madden NFL videogame has sold more than 70 million copies. Madden may have lost a step or two, but it’s easy to forget just how much he revolutionized the broadcasting of the sport. Madden will go down as one of the two or three truly memorable, and important, sportscasters of the past 50 years.
[Madden and Al Michaels were super last night.]
—Serena Williams captured her 10th Grand Slam championship in kicking Dinara Safina’s butt, 6-0, 6-3, to take the Australian Open. Williams now has four Aussie titles, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009. So here is your SAT question. Knowing the preceding, what would be the next number in the progression? 2010…2011…2012…or 2013? Don’t take all day…I have a column to finish.
Serena has now won 10 of the 13 Grand Slam title matches she’s been in, with two of the losses at the hands of Venus.
But on Friday, in the longest match in tournament history, Rafael Nadal defeated countrymen Fernando Verdasco in five sets and in five hours, 14 minutes, to gain the final against Roger Federer, who was attempting to match Pete Sampras’ 14 Grand Slam singles titles.
So all Nadal did was go out and defeat a sobbing Federer in five, this one lasting 4 ½ hours. Amazing. It was the 6th Grand Slam title for Nadal, his first Australian title.
–What an awful loss for Wake Forest on Saturday, 76-74 to Georgia Tech. Wake barely defeated Duke, or it would have been three losses in a row. They read their press clippings when they were undefeated and it got to their heads. Jeff Teague, their leading scorer and a guy who was being touted for Player of the Year after a hot streak, has now had three highly mediocre efforts in a row. Maybe I was right all along in shooting for 2009-2010 long before this current season began. I can see us losing our second round NCAA game now, and, hell, we better right the ship quickly or we might be talking a 4 seed, not 1 or 2.
But in the heated debate between the Big East and ACC, start with the top four in each conference as of today.
I have to give the advantage to the Big East. In fact, when the poll comes out Feb. 10, the four above Big East squads could fill the top six, along with Duke or UNC and Oklahoma. Louisville is the hottest team in the nation and Marquette, now 19-2 and 8-0, has DePaul, South Florida, Villanova, St. John’s, Seton Hall and Georgetown coming up. If Marquette runs this stretch, it could be ranked No. 1 or No. 2. Imagine that. [Then things toughen up and it ends the regular season with UConn, Louisville, Pitt and Syracuse.]
I have to admit I haven’t seen Marquette yet but in analyzing their stats, they have the best backcourt tandem in the nation in McNeal and Matthews, both seniors, though only four players do all the scoring, which is kind of fascinating.
But back to the conference debate, I’d say the ACC’s bottom dwellers, like Georgia Tech, Virginia, Miami, North Carolina State and Maryland are far better than the likes of DePaul, Seton Hall, St. John’s and Rutgers. Nonetheless, for today the Big East has the overall edge.
*And on Monday, don’t forget UConn and Louisville at 7:00 PM ET.
Nice game by DeJuan Blair of Pitt against Notre Dame on Saturday…23 points, 22 rebounds.
Also, the other day I mentioned how Saint Mary’s could make some noise in the NCAAs. Not any more. In a loss to Gonzaga, Thursday night, Saint Mary’s lost their point guard, Patty Mills, an Aussie Olympic star, to a broken hand and he’ll be out at least a month. Saint Mary’s lost again to Portland State on Saturday and by the time Mills returns, an NCAA bid could be bye-bye. Gonzaga, on the other hand, is heating up.
–We note the passing of Glenn Davis, a three-time Gold Medalist in the 1956 and 60 Olympic Games. He was 74. Davis was an All-American in track at Ohio State when he decided to run the 400-meter hurdles for the first time in ‘56, won an AAU championship, and then led a U.S. sweep in the event at Melbourne. In Rome, 1960, he won gold again in the 400 hurdles, as well as another one in being a member of the 4X400 relay team. At one point Davis held world records in both the 200 and 400 hurdles (meters and yards, not to confuse matters), as well as the 440-yard run. He received the Sullivan Award as the nation’s best amateur athlete for 1958.
Glenn didn’t have the easiest upbringing, and not to be corny about it but there must have been a lot of love because I see his parents died when he was 15, leaving 10 children, and he was sent to live with a brother in Barberton, Ohio. He then starred in track and football there, earning a scholarship to Ohio State.
–And Ingemar Johansson passed away at the age of 76. Johansson stunned the boxing world in 1959 when he knocked out Floyd Patterson to win the heavyweight title. Sadly, Johansson was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s ten years ago and was in and out of nursing homes since.
In the 1959 bout, Johansson floored Paterson seven times in round three before the referee stopped the fight. Good Lord. A year later, Paterson avenged the defeat by knocking Ingemar out in the fifth round. Then in March 1961, Paterson again knocked him out, this time in the sixth, despite being decked twice himself.
“Baseball does not make it easy. There’s the Bonds trial looming in San Francisco and the Clemens inquiry in Washington and the unnecessary Joe Torre book (not that I don’t like gossip) and the Yankees’ maneuvers with vanished parkland in the Bronx. Now we are realizing just how seriously cursed the Mets are with that name on their new ballpark. [Ed. Citi Field]
“Somehow baseball remains the best American sport, coming at just the right time every year. It arrived for me on Tuesday, the afternoon of the annual dinner for the Baseball Assistance Team, the charity that aids former players down on their luck.”
Vecsey was sitting with the great Robin Roberts, a Hall of Famer who won 286 games in his day, but also gave up a major league record 505 home runs.
“Roberts thinks everybody overthinks pitching today. Teams get a youngster with a live arm, and they mess with his delivery and they mess with his mind, producing the insecure six-inning nibblers we see most days.”
Roberts and former Phillies pitcher Larry Christenson were talking about their hitting prowess, before the advent of the designated hitter, with Roberts knowing off the top of his head that Wes Ferrell leads the pitchers’ list in home runs with 38, followed by Bob Lemon with 37. Roberts said he hit five in his career, while Christenson hit 11, including two in one game.
And then Roberts described an off day in Chicago when he was roped into playing in a pick-up game and fondly recalling a long home run he hit. Roberts, now 82, “raised his immortal right hand to attest to the rising trajectory of his home run.”
Vecsey, observing it all: “Now it was mid-July and it was a day game and the brutal sound system was turned down and Jimmy Rollins was batting against Johan Santana and I knew for sure the slush and the Super Bowl would soon pass.”
–Speaking of Joe Torre and his book, Torre appeared on Larry King.
“I really don’t think there’s anything in the book at all that I’d apologize for. I feel badly if people are taking it the wrong way. I’m not going to say I’m insensitive to it…But I think I was very sensitive in writing the book.”
Former Yankee hurler David Wells called Torre a “punk” for writing about things that happened in the “sanctity” of the clubhouse. As expected, Torre is hiding behind the position that the more publicized quotes that have emerged need to be taken in the context of the entire book. Torre also told King (whose 8-year-old wants to be black now because of Obama, you’ll recall) that he’s shocked by the uproar the book caused.
As for the “sanctity” of the clubhouse, “Ball Four” author Jim Bouton said, “Why in the world anyone is still talking about the sanctity of the clubhouse is beyond me. Baseball and the Yankees should feel lucky that this book is generating so much attention in January…there is no job hitting a ball with a stick unless a lot of people are convinced it’s important.”
Bouton also told the Daily News’ Andy Martino, “These guys have voluntarily gone into a business where people know that everything that they do or say is subject to being written about. They act as if they’re surprised when somebody tells what they do. Roger Maris always wanted to be a private person. Well, get into the shoe business if that’s what you want.”
Bouton also had some simple advice for those offended by the Torre book. “Books are going to be written. Therefore, don’t act like a jerk.”
Back to Wells, David says the Torre book will affect A-Rod. “It is going to open a can of worms. If he goes out there and is not playing up to A-Rod’s expectations, you’re going to hear the fans come out and start nailing him on Joe….if it affects him, then the Yankees are in trouble.” Heh heh.
–The Barry Bonds case is heating up rapidly. First, the Feds raided the home of the mother-in-law of Bonds’ personal trainer, Greg Anderson. Madeleine Gestas is the target of a tax investigation that Anderson’s lawyer, Mark Geragos, says is aimed at pressuring him to testify. Geragos said 20 FBI and IRS agents showed up at Gestas home and “trashed the place….The execution was illegal and a grotesque example of bullying.” Geragos insists Anderson, who served two separate terms in prison for refusing to testify before a grand jury, will not rat out Bonds.
Anderson is required to appear on March 2, and the judge at the time will then decide whether to send him back to jail if he refuses to talk.
But the Giambi brothers, Jason and Jeremy, are going to appear and supposedly will aid prosecutors by talking about the doping calendars that Greg Anderson created for them, which will help the prosecution show how Anderson did the same for Bonds, the calendars being a prime exhibit.
And then there is former catcher and Bonds teammate Bobby Estalella, who is expected to testify firsthand that Bonds used steroids. Estalella appeared before a grand jury in November 2003 and admitted then he used performance-enhancing drugs. Estalella has also been named in the Mitchell Report.
–The Boston Red Sox are having trouble renewing all their corporate sponsorships for this season, a canary in the coal mine for the sport.
The PGA Tour sued Ginn Resorts, citing breach of contract after the real estate company dropped sponsorships of both Champions Tour and LPGA events. Ginn still had three years left on its Champions Tour contract and had planned a 2009 tourney with a purse of $2.5 million. So we hereby throw Ginn Resorts into the December file for consideration for a major dirtball award.
Meanwhile, U.S. Bancorp’s U.S. Bank is pulling out of its sponsorship of the PGA Tour’s annual outing in Milwaukee after this season. The tournament has been hurt over the years by the fact it is played the same week as the British Open.
Down at the FBR Open in Scottsdale, Phil Mickelson, in his first appearance of the year, missed the cut badly, as in seven strokes, in going 76-73. [Kenny Perry won the event in sudden death, his 13th PGA Tour title.]
Say it ain’t so! Darren Clarke has given up both cigarettes and drinking! OK, we’re all for the former, but the latter? Clarke has also whittled down his caffeine addiction from 15 lattes a day to about two. Good god, 15?!
Greg Norman is determined to be competitive in his return to Augusta for the Masters. According to Golfweek, Norman is going to appear in four U.S. events before his trip down Magnolia Lane. He turns 54 on Feb. 10.
And this bit on Seve Ballesteros. After undergoing his first chemotherapy treatment following four surgeries for a brain tumor, Seve evidently told friends and family that he feels better “day by day.” That’s phenomenal news.
–Did you ever hear of barramundi? It’s a fish I never heard of, an Aussie fish, to be exact, and it is said to be quite nutritious, packing more omega-3 fatty acids than most other white fish. It’s now farmed in the U.S. and researchers say that is a good thing, which would shoot to hell my theory that I won’t buy any fish that’s farmed because they’re swimming in their own crap.
And here’s another thing I didn’t know on the nutrition front. Did you ever hear of quinoa? It cleared spell check, as did barramundi. Quinoa is whole-grain goodness that makes other grains look like nutritional lightweights, according to researchers at my alma mater, Wake Forest. In fact, they claim that people that eat 2.5 daily servings of whole grains like quinoa are 21% less likely to suffer from heart disease. So I’m hoping there is a brewer out there that could perhaps come out with Quinoa Light.
One last item…almond butter is said to be as good if not better than peanut butter. And that’s your nutrition update, courtesy of Runner’s World.
–Looking at Sporting News’ top 100 college football recruits, once again Wake Forest doesn’t have one of them. But that’s the way it always is with us yet the last three years we’ve done alright. [SN’s No. 1 pick, RB Bryce Brown, is headed to Miami. The leading quarterback, Matt Barkley, is going to USC.]
And on the NFL draft front, SN now has USC quarterback Mark Sanchez going number one to Detroit. This is nuts. Sanchez just isn’t that good. But now we know why Detroit could be destined for another 0-16 campaign.
–This whole Eddy Curry deal is one giant mess. Now we learn that not only was the three-year-old who witnessed the killing of his 9-month-old sister, along with Curry’s former girlfriend, Curry’s child, but the 9-month-old was as well (follow?). Last year, we’ve also just learned, Curry asked the Knicks for an advance of $8 million to take care of some outstanding debts. The Knicks rejected the bailout package, according to the Daily News’ Frank Isola. Curry is slated to earn $9.7 million this season (he’s played two minutes due to being out of shape) and $22 million the final two years. Something tells me the rest of the league will pass when he’s offered around.
Oh, Curry is married and has four other children, and then there is the sexual harassment suit recently filed by his driver.
–But when it comes to the Knicks, sans Eddy, they are suddenly playing some ball! 21-25 and actually in the hunt for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Coach Mike D’Antoni is the man…and I’m kind of getting interested again. Yet this week the Knicks play, in succession at home, the Lakers, Cavs, and Celts; what is being described as the toughest stretch in team history. Heck, I don’t know how many in league history have had to face three like this, back-to-back-to-back.
–From what we here, Dallas quarterback Tony Romo is still seeing the increasingly corpulent Jessica Simpson.
And in a story titled “The Fat Lady Sings,” the New York Post’s Todd Venezia writes:
“During her set in Charlottesville, Va., the portly pop singer tried to hide her hefty folds with a waist-length jacket over her skin-tight pants and wide belt.”
Aww, she didn’t look that bad, Mr. Venezia. Here at Bar Chat, we’re cutting Ms. Simpson some slack. Until spring. I don’t look that good myself this time of year.
But what do we see on Super Sunday? President Obama dissing Jessica in his interview with Matt Lauer.
–Good news out of Italy. The brown bear population there, just a few years ago thought to be near extinction, is rebounding. 50 are now thriving in one section of the Alps and at least 24 in another area. It is now hoped the bruins take out all the farmers who previously tried to do them in over the death of a few freakin’ sheep.
This side note, though. Last year a baby bear was killed…by an eagle! True story. Make that a Nazgul, folks. They are no longer just in Middle Earth, as moviemakers would have us believe.
–Speaking of birds, Falcon Environmental Services Inc. is a falconry service based in Plattsburgh, N.Y. Owing to the problem with geese at our nation’s airports, FES should be doing quite well, and the Port Authority of New York/ New Jersey has a 5-year, $3 million contract with the company at JFK Airport. Falconry was not used at LaGuardia, however, where US Airways Flight 1549 originated.
“Armed with a beak like a curved bayonet and razor-sharp talons, Nantucket (one of FES’ birds), can reach speeds of 80 mph in level flight. When dive-bombing, he can do a rocket-like 230 mph.”
Holy Toledo! Falcons weren’t even in the top 25 of the last All-Species List. You can be sure this will be rectified next summer.
“Scientists have discovered the marine mammals can perform a series of sophisticated maneuvers that rid a cuttlefish of its ink and bone to produce a tasty soft meal.
“A wild female bottlenose dolphin was observed repeatedly using the same steps to prepare cuttlefish cuisine in her kitchen in the waters of Spencer Gulf in South Australia.
“ ‘It’s a sign of how well their brains are developed. It’s a pretty clever way to get pure calamari without all the horrible bits,’ the curator of mollusks at Museum Victoria and a member of the research team, Mark Norman, said.
“First the dolphin herded a cuttlefish out of the weeds and onto a sandy patch of sea floor.
“Standing on her head, she pinned it down with her snout. Then, with a powerful flick of her tail, she killed it with a rapid downward thrust.
“Dr. Norman said the black ink that cuttlefish squirt out to defend themselves was toxic. ‘It’s pretty horrible stuff.’
“To get around this problem the dolphin lifted the corpse up and whacked it with her snout ‘like a cricket bat’ as it floated around until all the ink came out.
“ ‘Cuttlefish also have a big, hard surfboard of cuttlebone inside,’ he said.
“To avoid this unpalatable part, the dolphin returned the cuttlefish to the sea floor and forced it along the sand to scrape off its skin until the cuttlebone popped out – and then dinner was ready.”
The researchers believe this tactic is not limited to a single dolphin they’ve been observing over the years because they have seen lots of cuttlefish bones on the surface of the water where pods are.
And so, sports fans, dolphins could very well be zooming back up the All-Species List after a stumble last summer caused me to drop them out of the top ten. Cuttlefish, on the other hand, don’t stand a chance.
–BREAKING NEWS…the Chatham, N.J., girls swim team won the Morris County Championship as one of our favorite youths, Brittany Ross, placed third in the 100m fly. Brittany is the daughter of an old friend, Trader George, who I’ve known over 35 years. The problem is we both have too much dirt on the other, so you’ll never see a conversation between the two of us in this space.
And get this, it was quite a Saturday for Team Ross as Brittany’s sister, Nicki, and her partner Corey Delaney, won the 2009 Junior Nationals Girls 18 and under division in paddle tennis. But they are both only 15…and now three-time national champions; 12 and under, 14 and under, and now 18 and under. In the semis and finals, they defeated pairs of 18-year-olds both times.
So like, George, how do we make money off this? [I’m not sure that was an appropriate question.]
—Eddie Logan, who ran a shoeshine stand at Santa Anita Park from the day the horse racing track opened in 1934 until just a few weeks ago, died Saturday. He was 98.
Imagine. 74 years. As Claire Noland writes in the Los Angeles Times, “Jockeys, trainers, track employees, bettors and spectators all made their way to his brass-trimmed stand, where he would shine their shoes, sell them a Racing Form and shoot the breeze.”
“I don’t finesse the customer, don’t cheat him. I just give a piece of leather what it needs.”
Ah yes. Nothing like a good shoeshine. Those over about the age of 40 who attended sporting events at Madison Square Garden will remember John, the shoeshine man at the Statler Hilton Hotel. Phil W. and I always went there before a game, partly for the ego trip of hearing John say I tipped more than Walt Frazier, not that Clyde was cheap.
–Earth to Michael Phelps. What the heck are you doing? You’ve probably all seen the photo of him doing a bong, supposedly from a Nov. 6 party at the Univ. of South Carolina that he just suddenly showed up at. Said a witness, Phelps knew what he was doing. “He was the gold-medal winner of bong hits.”
Another source told the British tabloid the News of the World, “He arrived with a group of girls hanging all over him. Every girl wanted a piece of him, and every guy wanted to be his best buddy. He couldn’t get enough of all the attention.”
The next night he was at a college bar, Pavlos, “throwing back shots two at a time and pouring drinks for every cute girl,” the source said.
But this just in….Phelps apologized to the Associated Press late Sunday.
“I engaged in behavior which was regrettable and demonstrated bad judgment. I’m 23 years old and despite the successes I’ve had in the pool, I acted in a youthful and inappropriate way, not in a manner people have come to expect from me. For this, I am sorry. I promise my fans and the public it will not happen again.”
–Looking through the Anchorage Daily News, I see that recreational boating deaths were way down in 2008, only twelve Alaskans perished, according to the Coast Guard. But get this, there were 70 deaths in 1985. To paraphrase that guy at Woodstock, there must have been some bad acid going around in those days.
–In an interview with Sporting News, Phillies slugger Ryan Howard says the pitcher he hates to face the most is Oliver Perez.
By the way, over the four years Howard has been the first baseman and Charlie Manuel the manager, the Phillies have a .503 winning percentage before the All-Star break and are .601 after. For his part, Howard is .255 pre-All-Star break, and .303 after.
–We note the passing of former San Francisco 49er great, Billy Wilson, 81. He was a six-time Pro Bowler at wide receiver during a career that spanned 1951-60. Wilson caught 407 passes for 5,902 yards and 49 touchdowns, leading the league in receptions three times, 1954, 56, and 57.
–Saturday had some interesting birthdays. Jean Simmons, 80. Ooh baby…think “Spartacus.” Jessica Walter, 68. Think “Play Misty For Me,” though it was the blond chick (Donna Mills) Clint was after, much to Ms. Walter’s character’s chagrin. Nolan Ryan, 62. No doubt he could still blow ‘em away. KC, of KC and the Sunshine Band, 58. And my man Justin Timberlake, 28. OK, I just have to explain. In a world bereft of old-style celebrities, like Sinatra, Hope, Crosby, Phil Harris, Milton Berle and Jack Benny, Timberlake is filling the void. And of course it doesn’t hurt he’s a big fan of golf and now sponsoring his own event. So here at Bar Chat, we are huge fans, even if I couldn’t name one song of his. I am determined to rectify this, however.
–So remember Tommy TuTone’s “867-5309/Jenny” song? Candice Leigh Helfand of the Star-Ledger had this funny story. [The Sunday New York Times then ripped her off, incidentally.]
“Half a decade ago, 28-year-old Spencer Potter got ‘Jenny’s’ number in the 201 area code when he and several roommates requested it in jest for their home phone. They were in luck, it seemed.
“ ‘We thought it would be funny to call people from that number,’ he said. ‘The day I called the phone company was the day they released the number back into circulation…so we got it.’
“Potter (a former Weehawken, N.J. DJ) said the second they plugged their phone into the wall, it began to ring.”
Today, they supposedly receive 30 to 40 calls a day, and as many as 10,000 in a year. Needless to say they have an answering machine.
“One of the callers was a young woman who gave out the number to men who she didn’t want to hear from.
“ ‘She called me one day, since she gave out my number as a bum number,’ he recalled. ‘She thought I must be cool if I had the number…so I invited her out for drinks – we dated for a while.’”
But now Potter is moving to Rye Brook, N.Y., to start a new venture and he is selling the phone number as part of the package including the old business.
–I missed this last time, but Billy Powell, former keyboard player with Lynyrd Skynyrd, died at the age of 56, apparently of heart problems. Powell survived the 1977 crash that claimed three band members, including lead singer Ronnie Van Zant. Powell started out as a roadie for the band until he sat down one day and began to play “Free Bird” on keyboard and Van Zant hired him.
—Springsteen was great, and Phil W. told me he was listening to Clarence Clemons on E-Street radio on XM and it turns out Clemons played at Maryland Eastern Shore with three who would go on to play with the Super Bowl Champion Jets; Emerson Boozer, Johnny Sample and Earl Christy. I checked it out…it’s true. Very cool.
Top 3 songs for the week 2/3/79: #1 “Le Freak” (Chic) #2 “Y.M.C.A.” (Village People…can’t stand this one, not that I don’t think the ‘Y’ is an outstanding organization) #3 “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?” (Rod Stewart)…and…#4 “A Little More Love” (Olivia Newton-John) #5 “Too Much Heaven” (Bee Gees) #6 “My Life” (Billy Joel) #7 “Every 1’s A Winner” (Hot Chocolate) #8 “Fire” (Pointer Sisters) #9 “September” (Earth, Wind & Fire…saw them in concert on the actual 21st night of September…as a bunch of us Wake kids had a Donald Sutherland/Animal House moment beforehand with K—…actually, I better leave the rest of this out) #10 “I Will Survive” (Gloria Gaynor)
Alpine Skiing Quiz Answer: Multiple World Cup champions up thru 1997 – Karl Schranz, Austria, 1969-70; Gustavo Thoeni, Italy, 1971-73, 75; Ingemar Stenmark, Sweden, 1976-78; Phil Mahre, U.S., 1981-83; Pirmin Zurbriggen, Switzerland, 1984, 87-88, 90; Marc Girardelli, Luxembourg, 1985-86, 89, 91, 93 [the only five-time champ]
