PGA Golf Quiz: The first PGA Championship was 1916. 1) Name the three to win four or more. 2) Who was the only golfer to win two in the 1990s? 3) Who was the only one to win two in the 1980s? Answers below.
[Some of the following is from the archives…some of it is new.]
It’s 5:07 p.m., Aug. 15, 1969, on Max Yasgur’s farm in Bethel, Sullivan County, New York – 70 miles from the actual town of Woodstock, which confuses the heck out of most folks, including yours truly (the organizers wanted to take advantage of Bob Dylan’s living in Woodstock, though he then blew off the event), when folk singer/guitarist Richie Havens takes the stage for what is officially known as The Woodstock Music & Art Fair.
The festival was created and organized by four young entrepreneurs who together formed Woodstock Ventures Inc. in March: Joel Rosenman, Artie Kornfeld, Michael Lang, and John Roberts. Roberts, heir to a toothpaste and drugstore business, bankrolled much of the event.
The first day lineup, aside from Havens, had performances by Sweetwater, Bert Sommer, Tim Hardin, Ravi Shankar, 22-year-old newcomer Melanie, Arlo Guthrie, and bill-topper Joan Baez. The “summer of love” (which originated in ’67), hippie/peace movement was at its zenith and an estimated 450,000 showed up in Bethel, when a crowd of 150,000 was hoped for. There would be three deaths, two births and four miscarriages, innumerable conceptions, lots of drugs and alcohol, and the closure of the New York State Thruway (as an eleven-year-old the thing I remember most from the news reports), thus precipitating one of the worst traffic jams in the history of our country over four days.
Day two, Aug. 16….The crowd is up to 250,000 and they see Quill, Country Joe McDonald, John B. Sebastian, Keef Hartley, Santana, Incredible String Band, Canned Heat, the Grateful Dead, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Janis Joplin, Sly & the Family Stone, the Who and Jefferson Airplane…wow…that’s a lineup.
Day three, Aug. 17…it’s Joe Cocker, Country Joe & the Fish, Leslie West & Mountain, Ten Years After, the Band, Johnny Winter, Blood, Sweat & Tears, and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young as the crowd has swelled to 450,000.
Day four, Aug. 18…The Woodstock festival closes after morning performances by the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, retro-50s combo Sha Na Na (I still find this incredibly bizarre), and finally, at 9:00 a.m., Jimi Hendrix and his famous rendition of the ‘Star-Spangled Banner.’
Well, it just so happens I have here in my library Richie Havens’ autobiography, “They can’t hide us anymore,” with Steve Davidowitz. Here is his tale of getting to the festival.
Aug. 15… “I was in New York City and I could feel the swell of energy 100 miles away. Nobody seemed to care that the Woodstock Festival was no longer going to take place anywhere near Woodstock. The only thing that mattered was that it was going to happen. Today.
“I left the city at 5:30 in the morning on the day I was supposed to play – the first day – and drove straight to the Howard Johnson Hotel in White Lake, New York, without a hitch. We were only a few miles away from the farm and all the bands had been told to come there first.
“I was lucky to get up the road so smoothly. By 7:30 in the morning, I was sitting in the lobby with my band. I wasn’t worried. I was fifth in the order and wasn’t scheduled to go on for hours. But at two in the afternoon, I was half-asleep when news came that there was no music; still no way to get through.
“From the edge of the hotel parking lot I could see traffic stopped cold on the approach road. I could tell right there that the crowd was much larger than anyone was saying.
“The road to the stage had disappeared. It was now a wall-to-wall parking lot of abandoned cars. The main highways were backed up with traffic that wasn’t going anywhere. The Northbound Quickway (Route 17) had just been closed by the state police…The whole thing was beginning to look pretty shaky.
“Michael Lang, one of the promoters, rushed back and forth nervously on a motorcycle, weaving between the crowds, riding up and down the hills trying to figure out ways to get a few musicians to the stage. He was mumbling to himself and sweating and we were beginning to think we were all stuck. Right there. No music. At all.
“Yet somehow, through all sorts of missed connections and broken leads, Michael managed to find someone with a glass bubble helicopter about twenty miles away. Now here it was, dropping slowly into the parking lot right outside my hotel window. The prop blades made the air sound like shotguns going off. This would be my first helicopter ride and my first good look at what was really happening here.
“We were squeezed into the glass bubble cockpit. We were the perfect choice; there were only three of us and we had the fewest instruments. Me; my guitarist, Deano (Paul Williams); and my drummer, Daniel Ben Zebulon. We were sitting behind the pilot with two conga drums, two guitars squeezed between us. The glass surrounded us, top to bottom.
“Looking below my feet, I could see the ground clearly, as if I was sitting on the air. I got dizzy for a second. It felt like I was riding a stem that was holding two seats. And we were moving 100 miles an hour.
“It was beautiful below me. A sea of trees – the tops of them whizzing beneath me in the wash of the helicopter’s props. So much green; gray shades of leaves flipped upside down; slight hints of orange and red, the first hues of autumn.
“We banked a bit to the left and the sea of trees changed into a different kind of sea, just as beautiful. My mouth dropped when I saw all those people, hundreds of thousands of them. Definitely more than the 250,000 reported in the New York papers the following morning, a whole lot more like half a million on the first day.
“It was awesome, like double Times Square on New Year’s Eve in perfect daylight with no walls or buildings to hold people in place. The people filled the field and formed a human blanket across the road to the other side of the hill and into the forests all around the field, where nobody could possibly see the stage.
“Hovering above the hill, looking all around, my eyes could not take it all in, but I knew what to call it.
“ ‘We finally made it,’ I told myself. ‘We’ve all finally made it above ground. They won’t be able to hide this picture from the rest of the country.’”
But with Havens due to go on stage fifth, organizer Michael Lang begged him to lead off because the crowd was getting restless. Havens:
“I knew what the situation was. I calmed myself with the thought that it would only be a twenty-minute set. I picked up my guitar and climbed the steps. The crowd went nuts. I felt the people just wanted something to happen after all the hours of nothing.
“So I sat down on the stool and looked out at the huge crowd and said what I had been thinking since that first look from the helicopter at the never-ending blanket of people.
“ ‘YOU KNOW, WE’VE FINALLY MADE IT,’ I said into the mike. ‘WE DID IT THIS TIME. THEY’LL NEVER BE ABLE TO HIDE US AGAIN.’
“The rumbling roar from the crowd was like a small earthquake. It came first in a low-pitched wave, then it rose up and shook the stage. I heard the word freedom loud and clear in my brain. A word I would hear over and over again while I was up there. I was home, among long-lost and newfound friends….
“There were smiling faces in every direction and plenty of people over fifty in the crowd. Huge numbers of college kids, of course, but I had no trouble seeing plenty of parents and grandparents with their families – adults who believed in world peace like we did and wanted to hear the music we played. For some reason, this too was omitted from most press accounts. We were all rebels forced into a cause who learned along the way that we had plenty to embrace. We had ourselves. We had the good sense to prefer peace, not war. We were not down on America. We were Americans with the highest ideals. And we could see all around us that there were way too many of us now to be ignored.
“I didn’t know that being first onstage was going to be anything but a horror. Who knew what to expect? But there I was – in full view of hundreds of thousands of people. So what choice did I have but to start talking and singing? Suddenly I was in any other place I’ve ever been, no fear, just doing what I do. I understood who they were and they understood who I was and we were off….
“I began with a relatively unknown song, ‘Minstrel from Gault.’…It was close to a pure folk song and it felt like an easy way to get things rolling for me. I sang more of my songs, about forty minutes’ worth, which was twice as long as I expected. But I figured if they weren’t pulling me off the stage after forty, nobody else must be ready yet.
“Which is exactly what I found out as soon as I saw Michael at the back of the stage on my way off.
“So I went back and sang three more songs and then I looked over at Michael and his people. They were asking me to do another. So the set went on….
“Seven times in all and nearly three hours after I’d first looked out on the crowd, I’m back out there one more time, when finally I’ve completely run out of songs and know I’ve got to get off, no matter what the situation is. So I start tuning and retuning, hoping to remember a song I’ve missed, when I hear that word in my head again, that word I kept hearing while I looked over the crowd in my first moments onstage.
“And I say to the crowd: ‘Freedom is what we’re all talking about getting. It’s what we’re looking for…I think this is it.”
“I start strumming my guitar and the word freedom comes out of my mouth as “FREE-dom, FREE-dom’ with a rhythm of its own. My foot takes over and drives my guitar into a faster, more powerful rhythm. I don’t know where this is going, but it feels right and somehow I find myself blending it in to an old song – ‘Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child’ – a great spiritual my grandmother used to sing to me as a hymn when I was growing up in Brooklyn. It’s a beautiful song, a song I hadn’t played in six or seven years.
FREE-dom, FREE-dom, FREE-DOM, FREEDOM…
SOME-TIMES I FEEL…like a MOTH-ER-LESS CHI-LD…
“I’m singing it, ‘FREE-dom, FREE-dom,’ picking up the rhythm another beat and the pulse of it is carrying me and connecting the whole Woodstock Festival for me in my very last moments onstage. It felt like I could feel the people I couldn’t even see on the other side of the hill… ‘Clap your hands! Clap your hands!’ And they all did!
“That last song turned out to be an anthem for me and for a lot of other people too….
“I stayed on the grounds for several more hours, talking to people, catching the music….
“More bands were coming in by military helicopter and the National Guard was helping out. After a shaky start and a lot of worries, the festival was moving along great.
“I wanted to stay and catch more music, but we were booked at Indiana University the next night. What happened next I will never forget. There’s no doubt it captured the essence of this event better than anything.
“It was on the Army helicopter transport, heading back to the hotel when I saw it. The first thing I noticed was that this helicopter was much larger than the bubble we came in. The door was like a big bay window without any glass. Exactly the kind of helicopter the troops jump out of. It was huge.
“It probably had seen its share of bodies and severely injured. It probably had been to ‘Nam.
“It’s a Beautiful Day was on board, along with my band and another band. We were all in it with room to spare. The seats were opposite each other, backs to the wall. A long bench on one side and a long bench on the other.
“So I’m sitting there, facing the open door, leaning a bit on my guitar, holding it between my legs, on my lap, bracing my arms around it, staring straight out the door into the evening sunlight, seeing only the treetops, when a thought came to mind that stopped me in my tracks.
“This is what it must feel like to be in ‘Nam, I thought to myself. You can’t see anything below the treetops except the machine gun rounds flying up at you. Imagine what that’s like. You’re nineteen or twenty years old. They’ve shipped you ten thousand miles from Kansas or Brooklyn and you’re sitting there in your uniform too scared to breathe and tracer bullets are whizzing by….
“Slowly I turned to look down the line to the three guys across the way on either side of the open door. I turned again to look down the line on my side and saw four or five guys sitting to my right, while my own guys and another two were sitting to my left.
“Most of them were guitarists and bass players. All – and I mean all – were holding their instruments the same way I was. They were leaning on them like they were rifles, holding them upright on their laps, between their thighs with the guitar necks straight up in the air.
“The image is burned in my brain. All of them sitting there like they could easily have been in uniform on the way to another skirmish with the Vietcong. But I had to laugh at what I saw. I knew what I was really seeing was exactly what Woodstock was all about: ‘We’re the new army,’ I said aloud. ‘We’re the new army!’…
“As long as I live, I’ll never forget that image and there’s no question that I was right. We had no weapons; we had no harm in our hearts. We were musicians and singers and songwriters and we had come to Bethel from everywhere to rally the spirit and the harmony of so many voices, including our own.”
Note: Tickets were just $6.00 for each day, though tens of thousands crashed it by climbing over and through the flimsy fences.
[Other Source: “Rock & Roll: Year by Year,” by Luke Crampton & Dafydd Rees]
–Boy, it’s going to be a long season for Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino, now that it’s emerged he had sex with a woman accused of trying to extort $10 million from him after he paid for her abortion [Pitino’s attorney denies the coach actually earmarked funds for the abortion itself, but rather medical services. Which is why you hire an attorney when in this situation, sports fans!] From the AP:
“The Courier-Journal of Louisville published on its Web site that Pitino told police he had been drinking in a Louisville restaurant and had consensual sex with Karen Sypher in August 2003. The police report said the 56-year-old coach denied Sypher’s allegations that he raped her after the restaurant closed and another time somewhere else.”
Sypher had reported the rape allegations to police last month, but the prosecutor said there was insufficient evidence to pursue the case. Louisville is standing by Pitino, who the school claims has been truthful with officials.
Note: The above was posted before Pitino\’s apology late Wednesday.
–It’s easy to come up with “Dirtballs and Idiots of the Year” candidates, but less easy for the “Jerk” category. However, we have us an all-timer in Philadelphia Phillies hurler Jamie Moyer.
“Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Jamie Moyer lashed out at team management Tuesday, saying he felt ‘misled’ by the club and ‘disheartened’ by its decision to demote him to the bullpen.
“Moyer was dropped from the rotation to make room for Pedro Martinez, set to return to the majors when he starts Wednesday night against the Chicago Cubs. [Ed. this column is being posted before Pedro’s start.]
“ ‘I felt a little disheartened,’ the 22-year veteran said. ‘I feel a little bit like I’ve been misled. I feel like I’ve played this game long enough that the respect factor should be there.’
“Moyer leads the NL East-leading Phillies in wins and losses with a 10-9 record. His 5.47 ERA is among the highest in the majors….
“ ‘Ultimately, I’m a little disheartened because I know this past winter, when I was negotiating with the Phillies, this was a sore thumb, if you will, about this potentially happening,’ Moyer said. ‘You can’t promise anything in this game, but I really felt that Ruben kind of parlayed to me that this type of situation would not happen.’
“Moyer was told on Monday he would be going to the bullpen. The recently signed Martinez, a three-time Cy Young winner, will start in his place.
“ ‘When we signed Jamie Moyer in December it was under the pretense of being a starter,’ GM Amaro said in a statement through a team spokesman. ‘but right now circumstances have changed and that’s why we’re moving him to the bullpen.’”
As for Pedro, he said he sympathized with Moyer’s situation. “I have all the respect in the world” for him. Recalling their time together in the American League, “It was always a mutual respect and admiration. But Jamie being older and longer in the game, I kind of admired him. I was a young buck coming up and he was a steady veteran…He’s my friend, my teammate and my colleague. Of course I have to feel [for him].”
Yoh, Jamie. Here’s the bottom line for any baseball fan. You have an absolutely dreadful 5.47 ERA. You’re lucky to have the opportunity to perform in another World Series. Keep your mouth shut and be a team player. If Pedro can’t get it done, you’ll be right back in that slot.
[Update: Pedro did just fine, going five innings and gaining the win.]
–I didn’t have time to mention it last chat, but in watching the Bridgestone Invitational, won by Tiger Woods, it was kind of lousy that Padraig Harrington and Tiger were put on the clock throughout even though as Jim Nantz said, the event was due to end within minutes of the 6:00 p.m. ET target for the network. Harrington is notoriously slow and on one hand they were over one hole behind often in the final round, but they were also in the last group, three ahead of the field, and locked in battle so what was the big deal?
After the round, Tiger apologized to Padraig for the actions of the rules official assigned to them, the chief referee for the PGA European Tour, John Paramour [Bridgestone being one of the World Golf Championship events].
“Like I was telling [Padraig] out there, ‘I’m sorry that John got in the way of a great battle,’ because it was such a great battle for 16 holes [before Padraig felt rushed and took an 8.]”
For his part, Harrington was understanding, if not a bit bewildered.
But the next day, the PGA Tour announced that Tiger was being fined for his public criticism. At least that was the story being floated, which Tiger himself quickly beat down at his press conference at the PGA Championship on Tuesday; Tiger coming to Padraig’s defense again though saying that while the Tour had talked to him, there was no fine.
I’ve talked to some friends about this whole incident and one thing is certain. Tiger has gained a lot of respect by sticking up for Harrington the way he has.
–For those of you who like to collect autographs, you may want to contact Jack Smalling of 2308 Van Buren Avenue in Ames, Iowa. The New York Times’ Michael Schmidt wrote of Smalling the other day because this 68-year-old crop insurance salesman has more than 100,000 autographs of baseball players in his personal collection which he started in 1962.
What he does is collect the home addresses for every living major league baseball player, umpire, manager and coach, which he then puts out in “The Baseball Autograph Collector’s Handbook,” the 15th edition of which is now shipping. Currently, Smalling has about 8,000 addresses. He sells about 2,000 copies of the book for $22.50.
–So much for one of the more intriguing sports stories of the year; the comeback of the great Formula One champion Michael Schumacher. Schumacher was going to be a temporary replacement for Felipe Massa, who is recovering from head injuries suffered in a freak accident during practice for the Hungarian Grand Prix, but Schumacher said he hasn’t fully recovered from a neck injury he suffered in a motorcycle accident in February.
–We note the passing of Jimmy Bedford, who as the New York Times’ Dennis Hevesi wrote, was “a lean, laconic Tennessean who for 20 years held what he considered one of the most enviable jobs imaginable – making sure Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7 Tennessee Whiskey tasted just the way it had since 1866.” Bedford was only the sixth master distiller in the 143-year history of the place.
–And Merlyn Mantle, the widow of Mickey, died. She was 77. Merlyn and Mickey were married 43 years, until Mantle’s death in 1995. Writing in a 1996 memoir, ‘A Hero All His Life,’ Merlyn said, “I developed an instant crush on Mickey Mantle, and by our second or third date, I was in love with him and always would be.” As for why she never left Mickey despite all his womanizing, Merlyn said: “I adored Mick. I thought I couldn’t live without him. In many ways, he was very good to me, very generous. I never wanted a divorce, and he never asked for one.” She will be buried next to her husband and two of their four sons, Mickey Jr. and Billy, at Sparkman Hillcrest Memorial Park in Dallas.
–A photo has emerged of Juan Antonio Samaranch, the president of the International Olympic Committee, giving the fascist salute in honor of General Franco back in 1974, the 38th anniversary of Franco’s coup in 1936 that led to his victory in the Spanish Civil War three years later. It’s always been known Samaranch was a Franco supporter, but it’s time for the guy to step down.
–It turns out Olympic swimming sensation Dara Torres rode a tourist helicopter with her 3-year-old daughter in New York City last week. What makes it noteworthy is that the pilot, Jeremy Clarke, was the same one involved in the horrific crash with the light plane on Saturday over the Hudson. Torres knows he was because of all the photos she took.
—1969 Mets, continued…59-47, 9 games back of the Cubs
Aug. 8…at Atlanta, Mets win first of two, 4-1, behind Jerry Koosman (9-7), who goes all the way and scatters 7 hits. The Mets score 3 in the top of the 9th to break a 1-1 tie, with Cleon Jones, Donn Clendenon and J.C. Martin delivering the RBI. Milt Pappas (5-9) takes the loss.
Aug. 8…in the nightcap, the Mets lose 1-0 in 10 as the Braves’ Ron Reed (10-8) goes all the way, allowing just 5 hits and walking none. Ron Taylor takes the loss in the 10th after Gary Gentry’s 9 shutout innings are wasted. Felipe Alou drives in the game-winner.
Aug. 9…Mets defeat the Braves, 5-3, as Tom Seaver (16-7) gains the victory, going 7 1/3 and giving up 3 runs while walking 5. Cal Koonce gains his 7th save. George Stone (9-8) takes the loss in relief as Tommie Agee has 3 hits, including home run No. 18. For the Braves, Orlando Cepeda (No. 18) and Hank Aaron (No. 29) go yard against Seaver. Interestingly, Phil Niekro relieved in the game and was ineffective.
Aug. 10…Mets beat Atlanta 3-0 as Don Cardwell (4-9) throws 4 scoreless innings of relief after starter Nolan Ryan can go only 2 1/3. Tug McGraw gets save No. 7. Agee has another 3 hits including his 19th home run.
Aug. 11…Mets travel to Houston where nightmare against the Astros continues. Mets lose opener 3-0 as Tom Griffin (8 innings) defeats Jim McAndrew (3-5). Fred Gladding picks up save No. 24. [Griffin was the ultimate Met killer in ’69, throwing 25 scoreless innings against them and allowing just 13 hits while fanning 28.]
Aug. 12…Mets lose to Houston 8-7. Jerry Koosman (9-8) gets shelled, giving up 7 runs in 6 1/3. Don Wilson (15-7) picks up the win and Fred Gladding gets another save. But at least Ed Kranepool hits his 10th home run and drives in 3, while Tommie Agee has 2, 2-run singles. Curt Blefary hit a 3-run shot for Houston, his 9th.
Aug. 13…Mets lose to Astros 8-2 as Larry Dierker (14-9) goes all the way for Houston. Gary Gentry (9-10) is removed after 1 inning and 3 runs. Agee clubs No. 20, while Denis Menke hits his 8th and drives in 4 to give him 77 RBI on the year. [Mets complete the year 2-10 vs. the Astros, losing all six in the Astrodome.]
–I was at a friend’s lake house in Connecticut last weekend and over a few domestic brews the topic of the sale of Hugh Hefner’s manor house, located next door to the Playboy Mansion, came up. Hefner, looking to raise funds for Playboy Enterprises, sold it for $18 million, $10 million less than the asking price. But the real topic of discussion is the buyer of the ‘guest house,’ a 25-year-old son of a Beverly Hills investor, Daren Metropoulos. 25?! And he’s now living next to the Playboy Mansion and all those parties?! Does life get any better than that?
–Uh oh….Britney update. It seems Ms. Spears’ kids, ages 2 and 3, have quite a mouth. According to the New York Daily News, they’ve been heard repeatedly yelling, “Oh s—!” And that’s your Britney update for Aug. 13, 2009.
–The six-CD boxed set “Woodstock 40 Years On: Back to Yasgur’s Farm,” is receiving rave reviews. It’s set up in proper chronology and complete with all the announcements.
—Brooks & Dunn are calling it quits after 20 years, and after a final tour in 2010 and a greatest-hits album. Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn were struggling single artists when Arista’s Tim DuBois urged them to join forces in 1990. Together they’ve had 23 #1 hits and won the Country Music Association’s vocal duo of the year award every year between 1992 and 2006, except for 2000, as well as being entertainers of the year in 1996.
–Last weekend, driving up to Connecticut, I was listening to the New York oldies station, WCBS-FM, and they were featuring groups that were “two-hit wonders,” one being Janis Ian. So they played her two big ones back-to-back and you forget just how brilliant they are.
Back in Sept. 2003 I wrote of Janis in this space after she announced she was getting married to 14-year partner Patricia Snyder in Toronto, such proceedings being legal in Ontario.
Born Janis Eddy Fink, 4/7/51, Ms. Ian had a troubled childhood dealing with the middle name ‘Eddy’ (let alone the last one) so she changed her name. At age 14 she wrote “Society’s Child,” a story about teenage interracial love. Atlantic Records paid for the session when the record was cut but Atlantic and 22 other companies subsequently turned it down. Finally, Ian signed with Verve Folkways Records and it released the song, but it got off to a very slow start as many of the stations found the lyrics too controversial. [I was 8-9 years old at the time and had no freakin’ idea what it was about. The music was good though.]
Then in April ’67, Leonard Bernstein featured the song in a CBS-TV special, “Inside Pop – The Rock Revolution” after a New York Times critic had given Bernstein a copy. By July the tune was #14 on the Billboard Pop Chart. Ian was just 16. But a year later, disillusioned by the demands of the pop marketplace, Janis retired to live in Philadelphia.
She returned 3 years later, though, to do live performances and in September ’75 her single “At Seventeen” (I learned the truth at 17 / That love was meant for beauty queens) hit #3, earning the Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Performance. And here’s some big time trivia. In October ’75, Ian and Billy Preston were the guests on the first-ever “Saturday Night Live.”
Top 3 songs for the week 8/12/67: #1 “Light My Fire” (The Doors) #2 “All You Need Is Love” (The Beatles) #3 “I Was Made To Love Her” (Stevie Wonder)…and…#4 “Pleasant Valley Sunday” (The Monkees) #5 “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy” (The Buckinghams) #6 “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” (Frankie Valli) #7 “A Whiter Shade Of Pale” (Procol Harum) #8 “Windy” (The Association) #9 “Carrie-Anne” (The Hollies) #10 “A Girl Like You” (The Young Rascals)
PGA Golf Quiz Answers: 1) Walter Hagen and Jack Nicklaus won 5; Tiger Woods 4. 2) Nick Price won in 1992 and 1994. 3) Larry Nelson won in 1981 and 1987.
