College Football Quiz: Three players rushed for 200 yards in a game a record 11 times, and all then had solid NFL careers. One is still active, one rushed for 3,772 yards in the NFL, and the other played college ball from 1978-81 and is an all-time NFL great. Name ‘em. Answer below.
Yap to Cairns
When I last left you, I had just arrived on Yap. Happy Hour was all it was cranked up to be at the Manta Ray…I did buy my own mug, which weighs about 42 pounds, giving one terrific exercise as long as you switch arms. Otherwise you’d look like some of those lobsters with one giant claw. I didn’t do the boat justice that the hotel owner has attached to the dock of the place. It truly is a big one that easily passes for the size of the Mayflower, or HMS Bounty. He purchased it in Indonesia and had a guy sail it up. Very impressive. So at night (sun sets around 6:30 in these parts, pretty much all year round), he shows movies or underwater videos on a screen he has on the mast, which is very cool. And the Stone Money beer is quite tasty. No aftereffects, as we say, ‘cause it’s pure! No chemicals.
Anyway, I had one of the locals take me out on the water, Thursday, to go out to the reef and tool around so I could get some pictures, but, alas, it was showery and the photos aren’t that good, save for a few rainbow shots. Thursday night I had dinner with two of my Maryknoll Sister friends, and Father John, who impressively matched me beer for beer. [Sister Joanne asked me on Saturday, ‘How many did you two have?’ Pssst…she was drinking whisky, then beer. ‘Not sure, Sister.’]
On Friday, I largely worked on that column I do that is often kind of lengthy (and truth be told a pain in the ass…especially when I get a brain cramp). We had a torrential 90-minute rainstorm Friday night as I was having dinner on the ship with some of the other guests and the power went off a few times, though thankfully the hotel had a generator. Turns out it was the formation of a tropical storm.
Then on Saturday, the adventure. I had remarked to a friend that I was kiddingly going on a ‘three-hour tour,’ painting the picture I could get stranded, and that almost proved to be the case.
Yap is run on its own pace, certainly not the kind I’m used to. My friend Margaret here told me her nephew, Luis, was picking me up at 9:00 AM to take me out to Rumung, the tribal island where my church is. The tides are extremely tricky here and you can only head there certain times of day so at 9:00 I’m in the lobby, waiting for Luis…9:15, 9:30, 9:45…at which point I go to the desk, ‘If Luis shows up, I’ll be working in the room.’ Not the end of the world, got stuff done I would’ve been doing later, but at 11:30 I walked past the reception desk on the way to the village to grab some lunch, thinking I’d hire a guy to take me back to the reef, worst case, Sat. afternoon, when the girl at the desk says, ‘Brian, I have a call for you. Luis is at the dock.’
Good grief. I run out to the dock and there he is. I had met him like in 2001 and he had a little motor boat (really a skiff) with two other friends. ‘Ah, I guess I’m ready. I already have my camera.’ And I had my wallet with money to give them after. So I hopped in the boat and off we went.
There is lots of open water before you get out to the other end of Yap from where I was staying, the reef and Rumung. The reef is gorgeous and after about 30 minutes we were there when Luis goes, ‘You want to go in the water?’ ‘No…I thought the current is wicked here.’ It is, and Luis goes, ‘Yes…if you go in you’d immediately be taken away but we’d pick you up.’ I could only shake my head. Luis couldn’t be paid if I was swept on to the reef, to be devoured later by barracuda.
So we’re circling around Rumung, which each time I go there I forget how beautiful and unspoiled it is, but clearly the tide wasn’t right to try and dock (way too shallow, lots of rocks thus exposed) so we were just hanging out when I noticed all around us the sky was darkening quickly.
‘Looks like a big storm, Luis!’ The other two, by the way, didn’t speak English. Luis just shook his head, which wasn’t exactly reassuring. Five minutes later, we’re still there, and not heading back, which I thought was an obvious thing to do…and that’s when I realized the locals have no concept of weather like I do. [I swear to you I know weather better than they do. I have a story for WIR this coming week on that.]
So it started to rain and we’re the farthest point from home you can be. A good 45 minutes. And then Luis, who wasn’t piloting the boat, gave the order to head back. I’m thinking, if it starts lightening, we’re so [you know, screwed]. It didn’t, but the rain started coming down in sheets just like the day before…round two of the formation of the tropical storm (that last I saw was heading west of Yap and Guam…Typhoon Megi, was one of the strongest of all time that just hit the Philippines and Taiwan, first formed in these same waters). We’re out in open water (except about a 5-minute stretch where there’s a river I never knew existed), the waves are becoming very choppy, I’m drenched in 10 seconds with the spray, and we have no life jackets…not that this would have done anything because we’d all be taken back out to sea, anyway.
Well, the next 40 minutes or so were sheer terror for yours truly, though I didn’t show it, nor say anything…just covered my eyes because it felt like hail and I didn’t want my face to be a bloody mess. I did make it back in one piece, and can never do the story justice, but I just wish someone had a picture when I arrived back at the Manta Ray. If it had been about 10 degrees colder, hypothermia would have been an issue, I’m guessing. [It was still pouring when we returned, by the way.]
Of course this called for, first, a nice hot shower, and, second, a big bowl of egg drop fish soup (out of this world), and, oh, a few beers. The guests at the hotel, there were only 20 of us, were almost all divers but had missed the bad weather because of going out earlier and couldn’t believe that I, the non-diver and wimp, had picked the worst possible time for my adventure.
Oh yeah…Luis and mates didn’t get paid because the money needed to be dried in a kiln. I gave it to Margaret to give to them later.
So that was Yap. I had dinner Saturday night, with the same crew, Sisters Joanne and Marie, plus Margaret and her niece, Cheryl, from San Francisco, who had quickly flown in for her father’s funeral (that of which I spoke last chat). Cheryl hadn’t been back to Yap in like 30 years and told the story of how when she was 8, her father, Tony, took her out to the reef, put a knife in his teeth, dived in and came out with a huge fish. Forever after, her father was Superman, as she put it.
But thanks to Continental Micronesia (Steve G., the flight attendants didn’t recall your friend’s name, but I may have screwed it up), I had a 4:30 AM Sunday morning flight to Guam, so after dinner Saturday night (and of course more Stone Money beer), I slept about two hours and then had to get up to assemble for the trip to the airport and all that stuff. Not exactly a civilized way to travel.
However, got to Guam before 6:00 AM and since my flight to Australia wasn’t for another 13 hours, took a chance and went to the Hilton, asking for a room, and lucked out. Got a little sleep, got a ton of work done, had a leisurely lunch overlooking the beach (Guam is very relaxing… been there a ton), a few Coronas, walked the beach, and get back to my room just in time for the end of Game 6 of Phillies-Giants, and, the final minutes of Oklahoma-Missouri…so everything worked out perfectly.
And my flight, Sunday night, to Cairns (pronounced ‘Kenz’), was terrific (it helped I got an upgrade), about 4 ½ hours, and settled in around midnight.
So it’s Monday morning, gonna get this column finished in a few hours, and then hit the harbor.
Cairns is a leading jumping off point for the Great Barrier Reef, which I’m checking out Tuesday, but the place is surrounded by beautiful mountains so hitting them on Wednesday, and then the ol’ crocodile farm/park on Thursday. Yup, I’ll get a few stories along the way. I keep checking my room (very nice hotel…Sebel Cairns) for snakes and poisonous spiders but none yet. Remember, Australia is one place where in the middle of a big city you can still come across a hazard or two. My room even has this note.
“It is a fact of life in this amazing part of the world that we live & share our environment with insects & animals of all descriptions.
“You may notice very small ants in your room. These are brown or black in color and called sugar ants and are attracted by open food and sweet substances. They generally do not bite.”
Well, they also warn about Geckos selling car insurance, and “Skinks,” another kind of lizard. But I’ve been assured the mini-bar person is real and not a giant lizard or croc in costume. And no ants as yet…it helps I’m on the 15th floor, I’m thinking.
Speaking of Phillies-Giants on Saturday (Guam is 14 hours ahead of New York, so forgot to mention that’s why I could see the Sat. night baseball and football games…Guam also being a major U.S. military base, let alone a U.S. possession), as soon as Ryan Howard came up at the end, all I could think of was the Mets’ Carlos Beltran and a similar situation in 2006. Sure enough, Howard looked at a called third strike (great pitch, I think we’d all agree), and I immediately thought, “Beltran.” So much for my prediction the Phils would go 11-1 in winning the whole shooting match.
But how ‘bout them Texas Rangers? As the Daily News’ Mike Lupica put it, the Rangers won in six but it was really a sweep. The Yankees were outscored 31-6 in the four losses and for the 6 games, hit .201 to Texas’ .304, while the Yankee staff pitched to a 6.58 ERA to the Rangers’ 3.06. The Yankees were mauled.
And it just warmed my cockles to see that A-Rod went 4-for-21, .190, and in nine playoff games total, Alex hit .219 with no homers.
So the Series starts Wednesday and I’m thinking I might be able to catch Game 3 when I’m back on Guam next Saturday or Sunday.
Turning to College Football…what a year it’s been. Far crazier than even I thought it would be as Missouri’s win over No. 1 BCS Oklahoma was the third straight week No. 1 went down (Alabama and Ohio State being the previous two).
No. 4 Auburn also handled No. 6 LSU, 24-17; No. 5 TCU had an important, and solid, win over Air Force, 38-7; No. 7 Michigan State stayed unbeaten in beating Northwestern; No. 16 Nebraska handed No. 14 Oklahoma State its first loss; and No. 13 Wisconsin bested No. 15 Iowa. Back on Thursday, the No. 2 Oregon Ducks slaughtered UCLA, 60-13. I had some comments on Yap when I was seen in Duckwear. ‘I thought you were from New Jersey? ‘Sup with the Duckwear?’
[Just a few other games of note. Gotta love Navy’s 35-17 pasting of Notre Dame, dropping the Wimpy Irish to 4-4. Nice win for Iowa State over No. 19 Texas. Students no doubt partied over that one. And Syracuse upset No. 20 West Virginia, thus assuring that the Big East’s entry in the BCS bowls will be a total embarrassment, as could the ACC’s unless Virginia Tech continues to run the table. And thank god Wake Forest was off. I do have one Wake shirt I’ve been wearing and I’d really hate to have to answer another round of questions from gawkers. “Doesn’t Wake suck this year? Why are you wearing that shirt?” “Ah, ah…but I have some Duckwear!”]
The new AP poll
1. Oregon 7-0
2. Boise State 6-0
3. Auburn 8-0
4. TCU 8-0
5. Michigan State 8-0…just a great story
6. Alabama 7-1
7. Missouri 7-0…ditto, obviously
8. Utah 7-0…not out of the picture yet
9. Wisconsin 7-1
10. Ohio State 7-1
21. Virginia Tech…still important
26. Nevada
27. Hawaii…these last two important for Boise State
1. Auburn .9371
2. Oregon .9069
3. Boise State .8846
4. TCU .8833
5. Michigan State .8387
6. Missouri .8006
7. Alabama .7100
8. Utah .7049
23. Virginia Tech
24. Nevada
Not for nothing, but I made some very good comments about Auburn weeks ago. They’re now in the driver’s seat with Alabama, Nov. 26, and the SEC Championship game the following week. Win both and they are a lock for the national title contest.
Oregon is still sitting pretty, certainly more so than Boise State, though now Oregon has to worry about TCU. If the Horned Frogs beat Utah on Nov. 6, TCU could yet pass the Ducks.
I don’t see how any of the others could suddenly be in the top two come the final survey, except if Alabama beats Auburn and then wins the SEC Conference Championship, you never know how the computers will sort it out.
Boise State is out…no way. Not only would Auburn have to stumble vs. ‘Bama, but the Broncos would be passed by TCU (or Utah, should they run the table). Even if the Ducks stumbled (along with Auburn), TCU, ‘Bama, and maybe Michigan State would pass Boise. [I can’t figure out how Missouri gets in the top two…just don’t see it. Then again, a win over Nebraska this coming week would help.]
So there you have it. Unfortunately, the Boise State-Idaho game I’m going to in a few weeks is important, but not a game-changer. I may end up rooting for Idaho to pull a monumental upset at the Kibbie Dome. Actually, seeing as I’ll be sitting in the Idaho section, I better root for the Vandals if I value my life.
Finally, in the world of high school football, my alma mater, Summit, ran its winning streak to 19 in defeating arch-rival New Providence, where I lived for 16 years, 36-19, in a battle of undefeateds. Paul J. owes me lunch and I’m licking my chops already for veal parm at Marco Polo.
NFL Bits
With the Jets off this week, I haven’t even turned on the TV here in Cairns to see if the NFL is covered, but in looking at the Net, just a few things stood out from Week 7 thus far.
DeAngelo Hall became the 19th in NFL history to pick off four passes as Washington defeated Chicago, 17-14. Jay Cutler was the victim all four times as Hall also ran one pick back for a score.
Atlanta moved to 5-2 in beating Cincinnati, 39-32, in what must have been an entertaining contest as the Bengals’ Carson Palmer threw for 412 yards in defeat (Ochocinco and Owens caught 19 passes between the two of them but the Bengals drop to 2-4).
Tennessee ran its record to 5-2 as Kerry Collins was 17 of 31 for 276 yards and 3 TDs against the Eagles. But that’s only part of the story. Rutgers grad Kenny Britt caught 7 of Collins’ throws for a stupendous 225 yards and the three scores, meaning the others had 10 receptions for 52 yards.
New England goes to 5-1 in defeating San Diego, 23-20, as the Chargers unbelievably fall to 2-5.
Cleveland, of all people, upset New Orleans, in the Superdome, 30-17, as Drew Brees threw four INTs.
Ben Roethlisberger had another productive game for the Steelers, now 5-1, as they beat Miami, 23-22.
Kansas City’s Thomas Jones had his second straight 100-yard rushing effort as the Chiefs go to 4-2. Not for nothing, but in a few weeks Jones is going to pass the 10,000-yard mark. While I’m glad the Jets got LaDainian Tomlinson in the offseason, I wish they had re-signed Jones. He’s an ageless wonder.
And Carolina picked up its first win, 23-20, over the now 1-6 49ers. Thank god no one made me watch that one.
Other Stuff
–I see that Roger Federer won his 64th career title, tying him with Pete Sampras. The only ones ahead of the two are Jimmy Connors, 109, Ivan Lendl, 94, and John McEnroe, 77; though I’m not pretending this is really that important a record. It’s all about the Grand Slam events in tennis.
–I’m going to see “Lombardi” on Broadway in November and I read a review on Bloomberg by John Simon, who basically panned it. I can see it might be tough to translate David Maraniss’ great book to the stage, football being a tough topic to cover in such a fashion, but what pissed me off is Simon admits up front he’s not a football fan. Well that freakin’ makes all the difference in the world! How can you then write about it? I think I can count the number of guys who aren’t football fans on one hand.
[Sorry, getting defensive because I’m now bemoaning the fact I spent mucho dinero on tickets.]
–For the archives, I missed last week that the Bears’ Devin Hester tied Brian Mitchell for most touchdowns on kickoff and punt returns, 13, in NFL history.
—College Basketball…ESPN/USA TODAY Preseason Coaches Poll
1. Duke
2. Butler…very surprised…not without Hayward are they No. 2!
3. West Virginia
4. Michigan State
5. Kentucky
6. Kansas
7. Kansas State
8. Syracuse
9. Tennessee
10. Baylor
13. Northern Iowa…cool
17. Cornell…really?! Not this year.
Wake Forest…zero votes…as the athletic suckathon continues. [Even the men’s soccer team’s great run of the past few years is over.]
–On Yap, for almost the entire island the speed limit is 20 mph, which means that if the Jets’ Darrelle Revis were driving here, he’d be 60 mph over the limit, Revis having recently done 81 in a 40 mph zone near where I live. [At least he was sober.]
–Johnny Mac, send me a note on the following. Before I left, WFAN’s Mike Francesa, a k a “The Pope,” or condescending one, said there was “no way” Joe Girardi would start A.J. Burnett in Game Four if the Yankees were down 2-1. As it turns out they were down 2-1 and Burnett indeed started. You have to understand it’s the biggest sports radio market and Francesa is such a buffoon, an amazing blohard, constantly berating callers for questioning His Holiness, but this mistake is one of his biggest. So I’m just curious, Johnny, how he handled it, not that I’m then going to bore the readers here with the details.
–We note the passing of Penthouse founder Bob Guccione, his death coming after my last Bar Chat (I also forgot to note Tom Bosley hitting the dirt). Guccione was one of a kind, Penthouse becoming a huge competitor of Playboy because it had racier pictures.
But it was in 1984 that he really made a splash with Vanessa Williams becoming the first black Miss America and then having her nude photos in Penthouse. She was forced to relinquish her crown but the publicity obviously didn’t hurt her any in her career, eh? That issue sold six million copies.
Alas, Penthouse, like Playboy, has suffered mightily in the Internet/video era.
–And finally, we have the Animal Kingdom continuing to show us it’s tired of playing second fiddle to Man.
Since my last BC we learned, two months after the fact, that a crocodile escaped its owner’s carryon bag on a domestic Democratic Rep. of Congo flight and proceeded to cause a panic among the 20 passengers and crew, which led to a severe shifting of the weight on the plane, sending it spiraling to earth.
The reason why we are just learning of the Aug. 25 incident, I’m assuming, is because the lone survivor was finally in a position to tell the tale. A crocodile was indeed found, alive, at the site, and was dispatched “with a machete.”
So here we feel like we are reasonably secure in terms of Islamic terrorists on a plane (hey, NPR, you can’t fire me for saying this!) after our various security checks, but now we have to screen for crocs. If I ever see one seated next to me, I’m just going to have to say, “Don’t try anything, kid,” and hope that works.
Terrorist crocs, the vicious mountain goat the other week that killed the hiker in Washington State, elephant stampedes in India (good), and then the shark attack off Vandenberg Air Force Base in California this weekend.
Yes, it sure appears the body boarder was killed by a great white, a final “Help me, Dude,” the last words of the victim in what was one of the more gruesome scenes of recent memory as the water instantly turned red, according to the guy’s friend, who heroically tried to save him.
All the more reason I’m being extra cautious in Australia, land of poisonous everything. Actually, after proofing and posting this, it’s off to hit Happy Hour…I’m just not telling you what time that would be.
Top 3 songs for the week 10/21/67: [accidentally went out of sequence last time] #1 “To Sir With Love” (Lulu) #2 “The Letter” (The Box Tops) #3 “Never My Love” (The Association)…and…#4 “How Can I Be Sure” (The Young Rascals…as Bill Murray says, these guys were the best) #5 “Expressway To Your Heart” (Soul Survivors) #6 “It Must Be Him” (Vikki Carr…she was hot…trust me, you younger guys…when you get to be my age, you’ll learn Vikki was alright) #7 “Soul Man” (Sam & Dave) #8 “Little Ole Man” (Bill Cosby) #9 “Gimme Little Sign” (Brenton Wood…has held up great) #10 “Your Precious Love” (Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell…terrific duo scores again)
College Football Quiz Answer: Three who rushed for 200 yards in a game, 11 times. Marcus Allen, USC, 1978-81; Ricky Williams, Texas, 1995-98; Ron Dayne, Wisconsin, 1996-99.
