Sports Quiz: Who died 20 years ago, Oct. 4, at the age of 19? Answer below.
College Football Quiz: 1) According to official NCAA records, who was the first player to rush for 1,000 yards? [Well known figure outside football, played pre-1940.] 2) Who holds the record for most pass attempts in a game with 83? [Played yesterday in the NFL.] Answers below.
Golf Quiz: Who holds the current PGA Tour mark for consecutive cuts made at 28? Answer below.
Yankees vs. either Detroit or Minnesota [Tues. playoff]
Angels vs. Red Sox
How great is it that three weeks ago we were complaining there were no pennant races (or wild-card ones) in baseball, but then the Twins came through (and Colorado made it close in the N.L. West)?!
And is there a better organization than Minnesota? Small market, but 8 of the last 9 seasons they’ve been above .500, made the playoffs four times (maybe five), and going back 20 years won World Series titles in 1987 and 1991. Plus I still think their cap is the best.
And as Johnny Mac reminded me the other day, how good is Twins closer Joe Nathan?
[By comparison, Mariano Rivera has 243 saves in 261 opportunities over the same period, while Nathan is 246 of 271. Pretty close. But outside of the small percentage of fans that really follow the sport closely, how many casual ones know Joe Nathan?]
“Laid nights with David Letterman”
Sorry if the above is a bit racy, but I can’t beat this headline from the New York Post, as reported by Rebecca Rosenberg, Matthew Nestel and Jeane MacIntosh. And who is the prime target of their piece? Why none other than a Wake Forest Demon Deacon grad, Stephanie Birkitt, “a vivacious 34-year-old highlighted blonde who started out as an intern, became his assistant – and then his office paramour, sources said Friday.”
It seems the Letterman/Birkitt affair occurred right in the middle of David’s relationship with wife Regina Lasko. And as you all know by now, Ms. Birkitt, who was living with the now-disgraced CBS producer, Joe Halderman, wasn’t Letterman’s only girl. No sirree…Mr. Stupid Pet Tricks had at least one other affair with a staffer in the late 1990s, though People magazine claims at least this woman wasn’t an intern. It’s also important to remember that with some of this stuff, Letterman wasn’t married in those days, but it’s the intern angle that screams “lawsuit!” [However, no one who worked for Letterman ever filed a harassment complaint.]
“Birkitt was a Wake Forest University grad when she landed a gig as a measly ‘Late Show’ intern in 1996.”
GO DEACS! Hey, I graduated from Wake and started out as a measly clerk/typist and now look at me. [OK, stop snickering…we all gotta start, and stop, somewhere.]
It seems Birkitt loved to gush about working with Dave, who she called “truly the greatest boss I could ever have.” And Birkitt became an on-air favorite as Dave would put her on to discuss her social life.
Gawker.com reports that Letterman ended up picking up Birkitt’s law school tuition, but the affair ended in 2003 after Lasko gave birth to his son, Harry. It was then, though, that Birkitt hooked up with extortionist Halderman after his wife of 13 years filed for divorce the same year. But recently Birkitt left him…not that all Wake babes behave in this fashion.
At least by early accounts it appears Birkitt had no knowledge of Halderman’s dark thoughts.
But as the Post points out, with Letterman now it’s a case of the pot calling the kettle black, such as in these past Letterman quips.
“I really have to hand it to the White House. Around here, we can’t even get the interns to work the copy machine.”
“President Clinton has gotten himself a new dog…He’s teaching the dog to sit up, to beg, to roll over – you know, just like he did with the interns.”
“You may think you have a stressful job, but since she’s been a senator, Hillary Clinton, they say, put on 30 pounds. In fact, she has gotten so heavy that today Bill hit on her.”
“Gov. Mark Sanford disappeared…and it turned out he was in South America. And then it turned out he was down there because he was sleeping with a woman from Argentina. Once again, foreigners taking jobs that Americans won’t do.”
On Friday, Jay Leno took some shots.
“Settle down. If you came here tonight for sex with a talk show host, you’ve got the wrong studio.”
“What is going on? First Conan hits his head, and then somebody tries to extort money from Letterman. I’m so glad I’m out of late-night.”
“I was once a victim of an extortion plot. How do you think NBC got me to do a 10 o’clock show? That’s why I’m here.”
“This guy who was trying to blackmail Letterman was a producer from the show ’48 Hours.’ It could have been worse. At least it wasn’t a producer from ‘To Catch a Predator.’ That would have been bad.”
“I’m happy to say that I’ve never had a sexual relationship with any of my staff members.” [As a band member throws down his drumsticks and storms off stage.]
Meanwhile, the media thus far have been cutting Letterman slack. But Don Imus told Fox News that Letterman is “an angry, mean-spirited jerk.” Hmmm…talk about the pot calling the kettle black.
Holy cow…did you see some of those [deleted by StocksandNews censors] on the beach in Rio after the city won the right to host the 2016 Summer Games? I mean to tell you, there was some mighty [deleted by censors] in that crowd. Wish I was at that party, assuming I had left my wallet in a secure place back at the hotel.
Anyway, it’s absolutely incredible how the U.S. was dissed on the first ballot.
28 Madrid, 26 Rio, 22 Tokyo, 18 Chicago…see ya!
Then it was 29 Madrid, 46 Rio, 20 Tokyo…see ya!
By the way, Tokyo’s cause wasn’t helped when they pulled out an erector set as their model and showed a 1960 Godzilla flick destroying same.
Stuff…in the usual random and haphazard fashion
J-E-T-S…Jets Jet Je….oh well, I never said your next Super Bowl champs would go 16-0. And Sunday gave us an idea why some of us didn’t initially like the Mark Sanchez draft pick. Against undefeated New Orleans, Sanchez laid a clunker…with no one to turn it in to as he was directly responsible for 14 of New Orleans’ 24 points in their 24-10 victory, throwing three picks (one returned for a TD) and fumbling in the end zone (recovered for a TD). But the Jets’ D played superbly against vaunted Saints QB Drew Brees and I’m thinking the Jets can finish 11-5, at worst, make the playoffs and go from there. Coach Rex Ryan has this franchise headed in the right direction, that’s for sure.
Speaking of Ryan, he’s not only moved into my home town of Summit, but he’s got his freshman boy going to Summit High School, my alma mater. None of this private school stuff for Rex; yet another reason to love the guy. Coach has been attending his son’s frosh football games on Fridays, which is very cool. Then again, if the Jets finish 8-8, it might not be. And that’s a memo.
So how many undefeateds remain after Week 4…recognizing some teams had a bye this week, though none of the following.
Indianapolis(new coach Jim Caldwell hasn’t missed a beat), Denver, Giants, New Orleans and Minnesota (who play Monday night against Green Bay). That’s it.
The biggest shock thus far is Tennessee, 13-3 last season, starting off 0-4.
–Authorities arrested 48-year-old Michael David Barrett at Chicago O’Hare International Airport on Friday, Barrett being accused of secretly taping ESPN sports reporter Erin Andrews in the nude. According to the network:
“Barrett allegedly filmed seven of the eight videos at a hotel room in Nashville, Tennessee, in September 2008.” Barrett then stupidly tried to sell the videos to Web site TMZ.com, who helped in the investigation. Ah, Mr. Barrett? That’s not exactly how even TMZ operates.
The whole deal was incredibly creepy to begin with, but imagine how the guy apparently called all over trying to figure out where Andrews was staying and then requested a hotel room next to hers. And someone gave it to him! Obviously someone who didn’t know who Erin Andrews was, I’m assuming.
[Then again, my hotel source, LT, says it would have been very easy for Barrett to get a room next to Andrews… "I\’m with ESPN and I need a room next to…."]
Barrett has been charged with interstate stalking, a crime punishable by 5 years in the pokey being prodded by Bubba, no doubt.
—College Football Review
Oregon running back LeGarrette Blount is being reinstated, but not until after the Oregon-USC game that your editor is attending in Eugene on Oct. 31. It seems Blount’s parents and a lawyer representing him contacted the school in the days after he was suspended for punching a Boise State player.
Here’s what sucks. A new organization, the NCAA Alumni Association, is designed to advocate for student-athletes like Blount and they offer pro bono assistance from Rob Carey, a trial lawyer specializing in class-action lawsuits. Carey was on the call with Oregon AD Mike Bellotti and Blount’s parents. No, that wasn’t intimidating.
Now Blount is being allowed to return, probably Nov. 7 against Stanford. Coach Mike Kelly, in turn, has had brief discussions with noted Professor Harry Edwards and Tony Dungy on how to handle the case.
Clearly, while Blount has been remorseful, the school is scared to death over a lawsuit so a compromise was struck. Blount, a senior, has some NFL potential and at least he gets a shot to remain part of the conversation come draft day next spring.
Back to Oregon-USC, the contest could still play a major role in the national title picture as Oregon (4-1, 2-0) has gotten its act together and is now ranked No. 13.
Meanwhile, LSU rallied in the 4th quarter to defeat Georgia, 20-13. Miami gave the ACC a nice win in besting No. 8 Oklahoma, 21-20, though OU was without Sam Bradford again. It sucks when the great ones are sidelined and the team just isn’t the same.
No. 12 Houston suffered a horrible loss to 2-3 UTEP, 58-41. See ya, Cougars! Michigan laid an egg against a lousy Michigan State squad, 26-20 in OT. And Virginia (1-3) had a big win over UNC (3-2), 16-3.
Syracuse’s Greg Paulus, former Duke b-ball star, threw five interceptions against undefeated South Florida.
And then you have Wake Forest with a nice 30-24 victory over a decent North Carolina State team.
I told you beginning of the season that I thought Wake could get off to a 7-1 start. That’s exactly what we should have done. At 3-2 currently, our two losses were the 24-21 home opener to a mediocre Baylor squad, and a 27-24 OT loss to Boston College when QB Riley Skinner fumbled on the 4-yard line in overtime. We should be 5-0 and would have been ranked about No. 20. Instead, we’re headed to 7-5 and a lousy bowl game. Skinner will end his career holding virtually every Wake record but after his sterling freshman year, it’s been more than a bit disappointing, even if he’s likely to lead us to four bowl games in four years. And that’s your Demon Deac update.
6. Boise State…this version is very overrated
9. Ohio State
10. TCU…double wow…TCU t-shirts must be flying off the shelf
–Did you see that Greg Norman and Chris Evert, after just 15 months together, are splitting? Goodness gracious…it must be impossible living with either.
–The only two states without a native NFL player are Vermont and New Hampshire, as reported by the Wall Street Journal. By contrast, six hail from American Samoa (we hope their families are OK after the tsunamis). And get this, 20 foreign countries – including Sierra Leone, Tonga, Haiti and the Czech Republic – have a player but no Vermonters.
So what’s the top state? Try Louisiana…when measured by per capita. The state has 80 players with a population of 4.5 million. By this measure Mississippi is next (42 / 2.8M), followed by South Carolina, Alabama and Florida.
–Speaking of tsunamis, check this out…from the London Times.
“As a 20-ft. wall of water surged towards the Samoan coastline a New Zealand man rode out the deadly tsunami on his surfboard, thinking he would be ‘smashed into the jungle.’
“Hospitality student Chris Nel, from Wellington on New Zealand’s South Island, was on holiday on the south coast of Savai’i, Western Samoa, when the 8.3-magnitude earthquake struck, triggering the tsunami.
“ ‘I went out early morning for a surf, then I felt the tremor – you get them all the time in New Zealand, so I didn’t really think too much of it – then I went out in the water and caught a few waves,’ Mr. Nel told a New Zealand paper.”
He was out with four other guys when, “All of a sudden the water went really weird, it kind of glassed off and got really lumpy, then we started moving really quick, getting sucked out to sea,” he said. “It was pretty scary looking back and seeing the reef completely dried up; it looked like a volcanic riverbed, it was just gone.”
Mr. Nel witnessed a “big-ass spurt of water hit the shore. I was thinking, ‘This is it, we’re going to get washed away and smashed into the jungle.’ We didn’t know what was going on, we thought ‘Why is no one coming out to help us?’ but it turned out everyone had already been evacuated by that point.”
Clinging to their surfboards “as waves surged towards the shore, the surfers tried desperately to make it in as ‘trees and all sorts of stuff’ started floating past them.”
–Attention cattlemen…I see in South Dakota the grasshopper season was bad as the little a-holes ate so much grass that ranchers were forced to sell off some of their herds because they won’t have feed for the animals this winter. One rancher, Mark T., said, “This year we had a good start but they just took it. The grasshoppers have taken it down to the dirt. They’ve eaten everything but the cactus.” The problem is supposed to be worse next year. [High Plains Journal]
–“Sexual satisfaction may lead to greater well-being in women”
And isn’t that what it’s really all about, sports fans? According to Robert Preidt, from a story first published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine (I don’t subscribe to this one), and then USA TODAY…
“Women who are happy with their sex lives have higher well-being scores and more vitality than women who are sexually dissatisfied, Australian researchers say.”
“More than 90% of the women in the study said their sexual activity involved a partner, and that sexual activity was initiated by the partner at least 50% of the time. This means that the sexual activity of the study participants may have been affected by partner presence/absence, partner health (H1N1, I’m thinkin’) and sexual function.”
Wait…let’s back up. ‘More than 90% of the women…’ What does that mean? The other 10% didn’t involve a partner? Why I….oh, sorry, one of the staff here just whispered in my ear. Never mind.
Personally, I’ve just been moping a lot these days…you would too if you were a Mets fan.
–Speaking of the Mets…you know it’s been a long year when the beat writers are screwing up in the final weekend.
Mike Puma of the New York Post: “Pat Misch gave the Mets a second straight strong start, allowing a run over five innings. This came after the right-hander fired….”
Over the past three years, the Metsies have done the following.
In 2007, they lost 12 of their last 17 and saw a seven-game lead over Philadelphia in the NL East evaporate, with the Mets being eliminated on the final day of the season.
In 2008, the Mets lost 10 of the final 17 and a 2 ½-game lead over the Phillies went first, followed by a lead in the wild-card race. On the final day of the season, the Mets were sent packing again.
But 2009 has been worse than the previous two. For starters, we haven’t had a meaningful game since about late June. In 2007/08, us longtime fans caught virtually every contest on the tube but this year the games were merely background noise, if on at all.
And to make it worse, the future looks bleak…very, very bleak…especially if Jose Reyes returns from his injuries and is half the player he had been. Today, there’s zero reason to even look forward to spring training.
*To give you a sense of how the Mets collapsed this year…Sports Illustrated had them defeating the Angels for the World Series. Ah, not quite. SI did have the Yanks, Twins, Red Sox and Angels in the A.L., but the Cubs with the Mets, along with the Dodgers and Phillies in the N.L.
–As for the Yankees…all eyes are on A-Rod as the playoffs begin this week. The Yanks have lost the last four playoff series with him (after winning the first) and in those four he’s hit .200 (15-for-75). But in the last three he’s .159, 7-for-44 with one RBI. Some of us just love it.
Then there’s CC Sabathia. Now I like the guy, but he does not have a good playoff past either, going 2-3 with a 7.92 ERA for the Indians and Brewers. CC also got shelled in his bid for a 20th win the other day.
[Back to A-Rod, gotta hand it to him. In the final regular season game he had two home runs and an A.L. record 7 RBI in one inning to reach 30-100 for a 13th time (12 in a row), another record.]
–Mark Feinsand of the Daily News was comparing CC Sabathia’s first year under his mammoth $161 million, 7-year contract, with other recent Yankee signings and 19-8 certainly isn’t shabby. The Yanks have to be pleased with this particular investment… thus far.
But what’s astounding is it was just a few years ago that the Yanks paid pitcher Kei Igawa, yes, Kei Igawa, $46 million over five years. In a total of 16 appearances between 2007 and 2008, Igawa went 2-4. $46 million!!!
I can’t believe my main man, Adam Dunn, slumped disastrously in Sept./Oct. and failed out of nowhere to hit 40 home runs for the first time in six years, ending with 38.
The Mets ended up with 95 home runs…next in the N.L. was San Francisco with 122. The Yankees had 244. Then again, the Yankees are playing in a wiffle ball field while using a hard ball.
Johnny Mac made the great point that Houston’s Aaron Boone came back faster than Jose Reyes…Boone having had open heart surgery! [Reyes having had a little hammy injury. And note to Jose, dump your family, pronto! They are the cause of half your problems.]
No one hit 50 home runs in either league. In fact, for a second straight season no one hit 40 in the A.L. And here’s something you won’t find elsewhere in terms of analysis, before then, from 2001-2007, guess who the A.L. home run champs were? Either A-Rod, David Ortiz, or Manny. Gee, what do they all have in common? [Rhymes with hemorrhoids.]
Ichiro finished the year at .352. In his 9 years in the majors, he’s had an interesting career aside from the consistency of nine consecutive 200-hit seasons. I’m referring to the fact he’s hit .350 or better four times, but the other five he’s gone .321, .312, .303, .322, .310. Nothing between .322 and .350. Yeah, yeah, I know I’m the only one in New Jersey who finds this interesting.
–Nice decade for Tiger Woods. Tiger had the most wins on tour every year except during Vijay Singh’s career season of 2004, when Vijay had nine titles. Woods won 56 PGA Tour events from 2000-2009, including 12 of the 40 major championships contested. [Bill Fields / GolfWorld]
–North Dakota’s state Board of Higher Education has postponed a final decision on whether to scrap the University of North Dakota’s Fighting Sioux nickname for another 30 to 60 days. The board said it needs more time to discuss the matter with the Standing Rock Sioux tribe’s new tribal council. [You know, smoke ‘em peace pipe and stuff.]
“Madrid: Jose ‘Pepe’ Ruiz, 58, a self-described warlock from Malaga, has warned Real Madrid that he has been hired to cast a spell on their star Cristiano Ronaldo to make him suffer a serious injury. ‘It is nonsense,’ the football club said.”
–From the AP and the New York Daily News:
“Now here’s a guy New York City could really use.
“Bangladesh farmer Mokhairul Islam was honored on Wednesday for killing more than 83,000 rats and launching a month-long campaign nationwide to kill millions more.
“Islam, 40, won the first prize – a color television – for killing some 83,450 rats in the past nine months. It was part of the country’s efforts to protect crops and reduce the need for food imports….
“ ‘I am so happy to get this honor,’ Islam told the Associated Press after receiving a 14-inch television and a certificate amid cheers at an official ceremony packed with 500 farmers and officials. ‘I had no idea that the government gives prizes for this.’”
14 inches?! C’mon. Give him at least a 19-inch model, for crying out loud.
“Islam said he mainly used poison to kill the rats at his poultry farm, and that the cull has paid off as the rodents now scavenged less.”
Left unsaid is the fact that Islam’s poison then killed 642 farmers as it leeched into the water supply. That’s why the crowd didn’t exceed 1,000 as originally anticipated.
–Brad K. passed along this tragic story involving the holiday season.
“Businesswoman trampled in ‘freak attack’ by Mr. Frosty the reindeer at farm”
“Reindeer are usually associated with Santa Claus and seasonal cheer, but not so for one reindeer who had to be put down after it trampled a businesswoman on a farm.
“The normally placid animal called Mr. Frosty attacked Kay Davies, 51, who was knocked to the ground with its antlers.
“Self-employed Ms. Davies was recovering today following the attack.
“The reindeer trampled Ms. Davies before colleagues heard her cries for help and dragged her to safety. She had been tending the animal at Churchfield Farm, near Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire, before the attack.
“Police and paramedics were hampered by the reindeer, which took almost 40 minutes to bring under control.”
Brad K. notes that if famed holiday reindeer are turning on us, it can’t bode well for the economy as a whole during the Christmas season. Excellent point, B.K.
–This one is too much. From Frank Pope / London Times:
“An anglophile green turtle has made a 550-mile journey through the Caribbean, sticking to territories administered by Britain.
“Following her progress via a satellite tracking device on her shell, scientists watched with incredulity as she skipped non-British nations on her month-long trip.”
The turtle, who goes by the name of Suzie [Suzie Green Turtle, to be exact…her friends call her SGT], is not said to be particularly intelligent, thus deepening the mystery.
–Is Kate Hudson pregnant with A-Rod’s baby?! Hudson’s rep denies his client is expecting. Could be Kate was merely drinking premium beer. I know I add a pound or two when I knock down some real stuff.
—Justin Timberlake is not, repeat, not, breaking up with Jessica Biel. It seems there are reports out there he was prepared to dump Biel for Rihanna. Don’t do it, Justin! Rihanna isn’t worth it.
[Dating advice for super celebs…another Free Feature of Bar Chat.]
Top 3 songs for the week 10/9/65: #1 “Yesterday” (The Beatles) #2 “Hang On Sloopy” (The McCoys) #3 “Treat Her Right” (Roy Head)…and…#4 “Eve Of Destruction” (Barry McGuire) #5 “The ‘In’ Crowd” (Ramsey Lewis Trio) #6 “Catch Us If You Can” (The Dave Clark Five…the one and only…) #7 “You’ve Got Your Troubles” (The Fortunes …great tune) #8 “Baby Don’t Go” (Sonny & Cher…my favorite of theirs…in fact, in my top 50 all time) #9 “You Were On My Mind” (We Five) #10 “Do You Believe In Magic” (The Lovin’ Spoonful …what a great week…)
Sports Quiz Answer: On Oct. 4, 1989, the great Secretariat passed away. There were more than a few tears shed that day.
College Football Quiz Answers: 1) Byron “Whizzer” White, Colorado, 1937, ran for 1,121 yards. [Unofficially, Morley Drury of USC gained 1,163 in 1927 but the NCAA wasn’t tracking records then.] Of course later, he was U.S. Supreme Court Justice White, in what has to be one of the five most underrated American success stories of all time. [Don’t ask me to name the other four.] 2) Drew Brees had 83 pass attempts for Purdue in a game against Wisconsin, Oct. 1998. [He completed 55]
*OK, Wake fans. Rusty LaRue still holds the NCAA records for pass attempts and completions in a half…41-56 vs. Duke, Oct. 1995. And he holds the record for most passes completed in three consecutive games, 146, in what was really an incredible run as the coaching staff just let him loose. [LaRue is going to be an assistant coach for the b-ball team this season.]
Golf Quiz Answer: Kenny Perry has 28 consecutive cuts made. Next is Graeme McDowell at 15.
