Masters Quiz…runners-up: 1) 1978…Gary Player won…name the three runners-up, initials H.G., T.W., R.F. 2) 1980…Seve won…name the runners-up, initials G.G., J.N. 3) 1982…Craig Stadler won…name the runner-up, initials D.P. 4) 1993…Bernhard Langer won…name the runner-up, initials C.B. 5) 2003…Mike Weir won…name the runner-up, initials L.M. Answers below.
We Are…Butler
So much for a small school like Butler not drawing a television audience as the ratings for Duke’s 61-59 spellbinding triumph were 34% over last year’s yawner…North Carolina-Michigan State. Aside from Gordon Hayward’s miss at the buzzer, I’ll always remember (as long as the brain cell responsible for it cooperates) Nored’s three that rimmed out.
At the same time, few are talking about the officiating, except for the insufferable Clark Kellogg saying it was fantastic. I don’t know which game Clark was watching…one seldom knows when it comes to this character straight out of Lewis Carroll…but as Phil W. and I kept messaging each other during the contest, the officiating was horrid! The officiating in the whole freakin’ tournament was as bad as any I’ve seen for that matter. Thankfully, in most cases the players rose above it.
And I have a confession to make. Of course, like every non-Duke alum I wanted Cinderella, but I’m also still an ACC guy and I don’t mind some pundits being shut up again. Bottom line, the ACC, despite its problems the past few years, has also had its fair share of champions…like try five of the last ten national titleholders [2 SEC, 2 Big East, 1 Big 12]. As Ronald Reagan would have said, “Not bad, not bad at all.”
I also said last week that Butler is already my pick to win it all next year, assuming Hayward returns. And I said last chat the kid is a future NBA star, but many GMs just believe he’d be a nice player. I know he didn’t have the greatest title game, but you can see in his moves he has what it takes. That said, I’m guessing he recognizes one more year, with Butler in the spotlight from day one as a top five in the pre-season polls, can only help him. One also has to believe that coach Brad Stevens will schedule even more high-profile contests against out of conference opponents, and this would only help Hayward as well. The kid would be a lock national player of the year and then he’d be a surefire lottery pick in 2011. I know, I know…there are the lockout fears…but I’m saying he’s staying.
“Arguably, there has never been a better NCAA men’s basketball tournament than the one (ending tonight). From the very first games on the very first day [Ed. think back…the first four in succession were barn-burners] there was one upset after another, one remarkable finish piling on another….
“In short, this NCAA tournament (has been) as close to a perfect sporting event as happens in the jock pantheon.
“So why is it almost certain that the NCAA will blow up a system that has worked so well for 25 years and completely change the landscape of college basketball?
“The answer – surprise – is one word: money. A 65-team NCAA tournament (the current format) cannot produce as much revenue as a 96-team NCAA tournament (the likely new format) would, and no one at the NCAA seems to care how the tournament will be affected by expanding, even though expansion will mean more mediocre teams and, in all likelihood, fewer stunning upsets the first week of a watered-down event.
“In short, this is the worst idea anyone has come up with since New Coke. It is also inevitable.
“Men’s basketball pays most of the bills for college athletics. The notion that football makes the most money is a myth. Because football teams at the highest level must fund 85 scholarships every year, only about 30 superpower schools make money. The rest struggle to break even. Basketball teams, with a fraction of the costs of football – they fund a maximum of 13 scholarships – and huge TV contracts for the tournament and for regular-season games, fund just about every other sport….
“This is where the 96-team field comes into play. Under the current setup, to pull in enough money to make its $700 million investment viable, CBS has 10 TV timeouts for commercials built into every game, not to mention it adds five minutes to the standard 15-minute halftime to pack in more commercials. If the contract goes to, say $1 billion annually, the network that wins the bid is going to need commercial inventory. That will mean more games, as the 64 games played in today’s format are already choked to the brim with commercial interruptions.
“That’s the real reason there will be 96 teams. Not, as NCAA propagandists say, to give more ‘student-athletes’ the chance to play in the tournament. This isn’t 6-and-under tee ball where everyone gets a trophy for participating. You’re supposed to be good to have the chance to compete for a championship.
“If 96 teams had been in this year’s field, North Carolina, the defending national champion, would have qualified. The Tar Heels were 5-12 in games against their Atlantic Coast Conference competition. Connecticut, a two-time national champion, also would have qualified. The Huskies were 7-12 against teams from their Big East league.
“In short, a 96-team field is guaranteed to reward mediocrity. Everyone who loves college basketball deserves better. Especially the ‘student-athletes.’”
More on the coaching front: Cornell coach Steve Donahue is replacing Al Skinner at Boston College. Donahue was loved by his players, one of whom said “we’re BC fans now. We want to see him do well.” I noted the other day that assuming all the players come back, BC is loaded and if Donahue is the miracle worker he’s being touted to be, the Eagles could take a huge step up.
Meanwhile, in a surprise (some say shocking) development, Clemson coach Oliver Purnell signed a 7-year contract to go to DePaul. “It’s a super job,” Purnell said. “They are very, very committed to restoring a tradition and make DePaul Chicago’s team.” DePaul had a 1-17 record in the Big East last season. The year before they were winless. Clemson was stunned by Purnell’s move, especially seeing as he had signed an extension last June. Clemson, like BC, has a lot coming back but no word on who the new coach will be.
And Wagner tabbed Danny Hurley, the former Seton Hall guard, and son of Bob Hurley and brother of Bobby. Danny (who goes by ‘Dan’ these days…so we’ll keep calling him Danny), was the head coach at top high school St. Benedict’s Prep of Newark. It is pretty awesome that a Division I program, even as shaky as Wagner’s is (they were 5-26 last season) picked a high school guy. I just wish one of these days someone would look at my friend Jose Rebimbas of William Paterson who has something like a 302-134 record in Division III.
Lastly, West Virginia’s De’Sean Butler did indeed tear the ACL in his left knee, plus he suffered a sprain of the medial cruciate ligament and two bone bruises. We wish him the best through the grueling rehab to come and assuming he makes it back, this is one guy to cheer in the NBA.
But this bulletin, as I go to post, 4:00 p.m. Thursday… Dino Gaudio is out at Wake Forest!!!! Helloooo Brad Stevens. I’m going to light a candle…back in a second…
Enter the Tiger
“As he now says himself, (Tiger) forgot in the process to remember that with fame and fortune comes responsibility, not invisibility. It is not simply the degree of his conduct that is so egregious here. It is the fact that he disappointed all of us, and more importantly, our kids and our grandkids.
“Our hero did not live up to the expectations of the role model we saw for our children. I hope he now realizes that every kid he passes on the course wants his swing, but would settle for his smile.
“We at Augusta hope and pray that our great champion will begin his new life here tomorrow in a positive, hopeful and constructive manner, but this time, with a significant difference from the past. This year, it will not be just for him, but for all of us who believe in second chances….
“Certainly his future will never again be measured only by his performance against par, but measured by the sincerity of his efforts to change.”
“There is no way to know if the Tiger Woods we watched Monday is telling the truth, just as there was no way to determine how much he was lying all those years before. He lied to everyone then. Now he’s telling us he lied before but isn’t lying now. Let’s hope that’s true.
“I asked him the question about Galea, the Canadian doctor arrested with possession of performance-enhancing drugs who says he visited Woods’ Florida home at least four times, because that goes right to the heart of the story of our lives in sports – steroids – and whether Tiger’s performance on the field of play has been legitimate or not.
“Woods later said that federal investigators on the Galea case have contacted his agent, Mark Steinberg, and Tiger pledged his ‘full cooperation,’ putting him on the record on a serious criminal matter.”
At other times, Tiger was curt when issues of family came up. He wasn’t happy fielding a question about why he wasn’t spending more time patching up his relationship with Elin.
“For those few seconds, the old Tiger was back. You can be the judge of whether that’s good or not. But it’s certainly interesting that a man who has spoken time and again in his post-Thanksgiving public appearances about how important his family is to him now is escaping to golf without them.
“Then again, isn’t that the premise on which all country clubs were built?”
Phil Mickelson did something great at last week’s Houston Open. From Yahoo Sports’ Jay Busbee:
“Mickelson had invited Dr. Tom Buchholz, a radiation oncologist at Houston’s M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, to the tournament along with many other doctors and hospital staff. And on Sunday, on the 14th tee, when Phil was out of contention…he invited Buchholz to take the bag from regular caddy Bones Mackay. [Buchholz has been treating Phil’s wife and mother for cancer.]
“That’s one hell of a cool gesture, isn’t it? It cost Phil absolutely nothing – matter of fact, it might have helped. Buchholz helped Phil to a birdie on 14, and suddenly a one-hole stint turned into three holes.
“ ‘Three great reads, three great clubs,’ Mickelson said later. ‘It was only supposed to go one hole. I ended up making birdie, and I kept making birdies. We went 3-for-3 together.’….
“ ‘This man has helped us through some of the toughest times that we’ve gone through,’ said Lefty. ‘He’s the best at what he does.’”
Regarding Tiger, Phil said of Woods’ apology to his fellow players:
“Well, he doesn’t owe me an apology. I mean, in the last 12 years, he’s done so much for the game of golf. I don’t know if there’s been an individual who has capitalized more on the opportunities that he’s brought to the game of golf than myself. He doesn’t owe me a thing.”
But regarding Tiger’s statement that he wanted to be more accessible to both his fellow players and fans, at least project that image, Padraig Harrington, one of the more honest people in sports, said:
“I think everyone has found that he was difficult to know. At the end of the day, Tiger has always struggled to mix with the players purely because anywhere he goes people want things from him. So he’s not one to come into the locker room and sit down and talk about various sports or so on. I’ve seen players asking him to sign this or sign that. There’s more stress in that for him. Everything must build up. I would say over the years that Tiger, other than in a rain delay, would use one out of 10 locker rooms….
“In the evening, it’s not like he can say to a couple of golfers, ‘C’mon, we’re going out to dinner.’ There is no way I could sit in a hotel room in the evenings. That is no way to live your life, but in many ways he was forced into that lifestyle. If you just go straight back to your hotel, you become a prisoner in your hotel room and you are going to find trouble.”
As for defending champion Angel Cabrera, tradition dictates that he select the Champions Dinner menu and seeing as Angel is from Argentina, it was all about the meats.
But GolfWorld was invited to watch Angel prepare a meal of his own at his manager’s condo near Juno Beach, Fla., the other week…chicken and rice stew. Swing coach Charlie Epps explained, “He told me on the way over, ‘You have to understand, it’s going to take a while to shop because I have to buy it all.’ We did this on Saturday night at the Masters. He was tied for the lead, and people in Kroger were asking, ‘What’s he doing in here?’ I asked him that night, ‘How much beer do you want me to buy?’ He said, ‘Buy all you can because we’re going to celebrate no matter what.’ So I bought a couple cases of Corona.”
At the Honda Classic, though, Cabrera purchased just two six packs of Corona and three bottles of Argentine wine. “Unrecognized at the supermarket, now back to agent Manuel Tagle’s home just off the ocean, Cabrera unpacks the groceries, grabs a knife and a chopping board and goes to work….This is a boy’s night out, but despite his manliness, Cabrera is quite domesticated.
“ ‘Angel’s the one cooking at home, too,’ says Tagle, laying down the only law of the kitchen: No matter how good it smells, no one is to touch the lid on top of the pot. ‘You might lose your fingers,’ he explains. The first bottle of malbec is opened, the capocollo and sopressata is laid out on the counter with a loaf of crusty bread. Angel chops the onions, parsley and the garlic, skins the chicken and shows the type of surgical dexterity that he displayed when he putted so well last April on Augusta’s greens.
“The aroma wafts through the apartment as the second and third bottles are opened….
“Abandoned by his parents, Cabrera fended for himself in a barrio in Mendiolaza, Argentina, a town north of the big city of Cordoba. The meal he’s cooking is spiced with irony and symbolism. ‘He told me when you get hungry enough, you go steal the chickens,’ says Epps. ‘You’re not afraid of anything, not even the snakes or the dogs that were barking. He said one night they even stole the dog.’”
Well, we toast Angel Cabrera with the ultimate honor…selection to the Bar Chat Hall of Fame… to be built at a site yet to be determined.
For the record, Sports Illustrated selects the Phillies over the Rays in the World Series. For Philly, getting Roy Halladay in the offseason was a brilliant move.
I didn’t realize the Twins had already sold over 2.6 million tickets for their new stadium. Very strong. 24,000 are full-season tickets, or 13,000 more than last year. Heck, with 40,000 seats, looks like the Twins will sell out the entire year.
“In the Mets opening day victory over the Florida Marlins, the Venezuelan starting pitcher Johan Santana threw six strong innings. He was replaced by his countryman Fernando Nieve, who shut down the Marlins in the seventh and eighth, and then Nieve gave way to Francisco Rodriguez, another Venezuelan, who tossed a perfect ninth.”
So it seems the above is just one example of what Major League Baseball has now determined is the Mets’ uniqueness. They have a record 18 players who are from six foreign countries and one commonwealth (Puerto Rico), including players on the 25-man roster plus the disabled list, “and it is almost double any other major league team.” Five teams have 10 such players.
According to MLB, 27.7 percent of the 833 major league players on opening day (including 83 on the DL) were born outside the 50 states. The Dominican Republic has the most, with 86; followed by Venezuela (58), Puerto Rico (21) and Japan (14).
And the average salary of major league players on opening-day rosters dropped a mighty 17% from last year, the largest decrease since USA TODAY began its annual salary survey in 1988. The average player salary is $2.7 million compared to $3.2 million in ’09. But the New York Yankees retain their lead with a payroll of $206.3 million, a 2% increase, while the Red Sox are second at $162.4 million. The Cubs are third at $146.6 million.
Separately, Alex Rodriguez’s $33 million salary practically equals the Pittsburgh Pirates’ total of $34.9 million. New York’s starting infield…A-Rod, Jeter, Cano and Texeira…$85.2 million, exceeds that of 16 teams.
–We congratulate the UConn Lady Huskies for another perfect season as they captured the NCAA Women’s Basketball crown with a surprisingly tough 53-47 win over Stanford. UConn will now take a 78-game winning streak into next year.
–With Donovan McNabb moving over to Washington, the Redskins’ odds of winning the Super Bowl improved from 55-1 to 28-1, according to one gambling site. McNabb took the Eagles to the postseason eight times, but no Super Bowl triumphs. As for the Eagles, who now turn to 4th year QB Kevin Kolb, their odds of winning went from 16-1 to 20-1.
“McNabb, for the record, didn’t know until the last second where he was going to wind up. The rumors that the Vikings were atop his list were erroneous; McNabb told me that himself last week. The Raiders were a team that was interested, but not the only team. McNabb and I talked about the business of football the other night in Arizona, a totally off-the-record conversation. But I was reminded that night, with all due respect to (current, for now, Redskins QB Jason) Campbell, why McNabb is about the best fit around to be the quarterback of the Washington Redskins…
“…Because Donovan McNabb has done most of it and seen all of it. Even on an evening when the Eagles, the only team he has played for, were trying to trade him, he was completely unfazed. We’re talking about an 11-year veteran who was booed by Eagles fans from the moment he was selected. He’s dealt with injury, the harshest criticism imaginable, idiot teammates such as Terrell Owens, roiled up locker rooms. He’s watched his team draft his replacement, taken the field with few if any Pro Bowl-caliber weapons. He’s shrugged off controversies involving race that were none of his doing. Yet, McNabb has always been able to speak his mind, keep his dignity and keep his team in Super Bowl contention….
“If you can survive playing quarterback in Philly, and lead the team to five NFC championship games, then Washington ought to be a piece of cake. After a week or two in D.C., McNabb will wonder who turned down the volume.
“He’s as battle-tested a quarterback as could possibly have been available to the Washington Redskins right now. The silliness that passes for controversy in Washington will likely make Donovan McNabb smile…if not laugh out loud.”
So…will Eagles fans like Mark R. yet rue the day McNabb left? To be continued….
–I always thought former Giants running back Tiki Barber was a slimeball and now it’s confirmed. As reported by the New York Post’s Emily Smith and Chris Wilson:
“(Barber) has dumped his 8-months-pregnant wife, Ginny, for sexy former NBC intern Traci Lynn Johnson, sources told The Post.”
“Ginny, who is expecting twins, found out about the relationship late last year, after the run-around running back moved out of their Upper East Side home.
“Johnson, a model-thin bombshell, was photographed sitting next to Tiki last month at a Washington, D.C., screening of a documentary on Senegal that he hosted for the Travel Channel. Sources believe Johnson also accompanied Tiki to Senegal for the filming late last year, when Ginny was three months pregnant.
“The affair is particularly stunning in light of Barber’s longstanding disdain for his philandering father.
“ ‘I don’t give a [bleep] that the relationship didn’t work,’ he said of his parents’ split in a 2004 Post interview. ‘Not only did he abandon her, I felt like he abandoned us for a lot of our lives. I have a hard time forgiving that.’”
Ah yes, this is why Tiki is yet another one slapped long ago by your editor with the “disingenuous” label.
Understand Tiki and Ginny have two sons, 6 and 7, and now the twins. Tiki released a statement that read in part, “(We) will continue to work together to raise our children with the love and dedication they have always known.”
“In his 2007 memoir, ‘Tiki: My Life in the Game and Beyond,’ Barber described the example he wanted to set for his kids.
“ ‘I want to be an honorable man, because that’s what I want them both to be,’ he wrote, noting, ‘My family is everything to me.’”
–With the NFL draft two weeks away, USA TODAY Sports Weekly examined the tight ends and you have Oklahoma’s Jermaine Gresham as the consensus first pick at this position, even with his reconstructive knee surgery last season, though he was ready for the NFL combine. But the sleeper, if you can call him that, is Pitt’s Dorin Dickerson. This 6-2, 226 target played everything in college, including wide receiver, linebacker, kick returner, fullback and tight end. “His freakish athletic ability was displayed at the combine, where he had 24 repetitions with 225 pounds in the bench press, a 43 ½-inch vertical jump and a 4.40 clocking over 40 yards.” Good lord! This is a man, sports fans! C’mon, Jets. Take him…and worry about finding the right spot for him later.
And, hey Wake Forest fans…cornerback Brandon Ghee is rocketing up the draft board, now a projected second rounder. He ran a 4.37, 40. I also have to add, Wake QB Riley Skinner is going to be a steal for someone in the late rounds. He makes the squad of whoever picks him.
–Funny NBA tidbit involving the New York Knicks. Last week they signed a 7-footer, Earl Barron (who played his college ball at Memphis), out of the Developmental League to a 10-day contract as a little audition for next season. After scoring 10 points in his first game, he had 17 points and 18 rebounds in a win over the Celtics. As the New York Post’s Marc Berman then noted, “In one night, Barron secured more rebounds than center Eddy Curry notched in the past two seasons (and) Barron has now scored more points (28) in his two contests…than Curry did in his seven games.”
“Two visitors from Ohio interrupted a life-or-death struggle between a moose and wolf on a Kenai Peninsula trail this week, but it wasn’t until after the wolf gave up the struggle and fled that things took a dangerous turn for the men, according to Alaska Wildlife Troopers.
“That’s when the cow moose charged the men, forcing one up a tree and the other behind a downed tree to avoid the injured animal. There, they waited for four hours, the moose holding its ground the entire time, before help arrived and killed the animal, according to troopers.
“Events began Thursday afternoon (last week), when 31-year-old Sean Evans of Toronto, Ohio, and his cousin, Josh Clark, 30, of Scio, Ohio, were snowshoeing out to a cabin at Crescent Lake to spend some time snowboarding. The men came around a bend in the trail and were dipping underneath a fallen tree when they saw a spectacle crashing through the brush toward them from a hill about 20 feet away, said Clark.
“ ‘The wolf had torn off some skin from the moose’s neck and was hanging on its neck. The moose was making awful noises. We kind of looked at each other for three seconds and decided to start moving,’ Clark said. ‘The moose was trying to get rid of the wolf, and they started coming down the hill really fast at us. And so we split, we got out of the way, and they started fighting right where we had been standing.’
“The men told troopers they heard other wolves howling in the woods, though they saw only the one.
“They dropped their packs and Clark hustled up a nearby birch tree, while Evans got behind the fallen tree, Clark said. The wolf apparently lost its appetite at the sight of the men and ran off. But the moose, which had injuries to its back legs and its neck, wouldn’t leave even after they yelled and threw things at it.”
Well, a lot of time elapsed and the moose wasn’t leaving. So they finally called for help, which luckily was just a few miles away, and a bunch of U.S. Forest Service law enforcement officers showed up and killed the moose because the wounded animal was refusing to budge. But fret not…
“They shot it with a rifle, cleaned it and took a shoulder and a hindquarter. A charity got the rest Friday.” I imagine the meat is tough, anyway. I’ll stick with my veal cutlet, thank you.
Josh Clark and his friend were none the worse for wear. “We went to the Sunrise Inn and had some beers and some food,” Clark said. Because in the end, folks, it’s all about the domestic.
—WARNING: The following tidbit is for mature audiences only.
Did you see the discovery by scientists in the Philippines of a new species of lizard, 6-feet long?! And get this, “The secretive monitor lizard is a close cousin of the Komodo dragon of Indonesia, but, unlike the fearsome dragon, it is not a carnivore.” It eats fruit…and it’s “endowed with a double penis.”
So what does one do with two, err, you know. “Sometimes they contain spines or hooks that serve to anchor the male within the female during,” err, you know.
–USA TODAY had a story on KFC’s new breadless chicken sandwich with two boneless fillets as the bun and two pieces of bacon, two slices of cheese and some sauce in between.
Oh baby, this is better than….better than…the Mets on a 2-game winning streak!
Granted, it’s not real healthy, but confessional booths were built for items such as this.
By the way, the sandwich is introduced April 12. I need to camp out over the weekend. Gotta figure out my Masters hook-up.
–My father, big time “Dancing With the Stars” fan, said Buzz Aldrin was indeed awful and worthy of being booted.
Top 3 songs for the week 4/9/77: #1 “Dancing Queen” (Abba) #2 “Don’t Give Up On Us” (David Soul) #3 “Don’t Leave Me This Way” (Thelma Houston)…and…#4 “Rich Girl” (Daryl Hall & John Oates) #5 “Southern Nights” (Glen Campbell) #6 “The Things We Do For Love” (10 CC) #7 “Hotel California” (Eagles) #8 “I’ve Got Love On My Mind” (Natalie Cole) #9 “Love Theme From ‘A Star Is Born’ (Evergreen)” (Barbra Streisand…painful) #10 “So In To You” (Atlanta Rhythm Section…big at Wake Forest…had some excellent stuff)
Masters Quiz Answers…runners-up: 1) 1978…Hubert Green, Tom Watson, Rod Funseth 2) 1980…Gibby Gilbert, Jack Newton 3) 1982…Dan Pohl 4) 1993…Chip Beck 5) 2003…Len Mattiace
Next Bar Chat, Monday….our EXCLUSIVE full season baseball statistical projections.
