UNLV Quiz: HBO Sports has a special on the Runnin’ Rebels of the Jerry Tarkanian era premiering next Sat., March 12. UNLV’s only championship, though, was the 1989-90 edition that won the NCAA Final 103-73 over Duke. So, your quiz for today is how many members of the 1990 title team can you name? Answer below.
The NFL…labor pains
“You do not shut down the richest sport in history when there are 13 million unemployed in this country. You do not do this in football anymore than baseball didn’t allow itself to shut down in 2002, when the country was still in the long, terrible shadow of Sept. 11. It does not just make you tone deaf, it makes you look stubborn and stupid, especially if you are a football owner trying to say you are still not making enough off your players.
“It reminds you of a great line from the great Red Smith.
“ ‘Baseball owners,’ Smith once wrote, ‘have moral scruples against taking any man’s dollar when there is a chance to take a dollar and a quarter.’….
“It is not the job of the players to prop up any owner who isn’t making enough money off this sport at this time, especially at a time when so many former players are walking around trying to figure out what day it is, and some of them are donating their battered brains to science.
“It is not the job of the players to help owners pay off debt on their fancy new stadium, or because some of these same owners weren’t able to sell enough PSLs….
“It is why they can’t leave the room without a deal this week.”
As for the ongoing concussion issue, I keep saying it indeed threatens the very sport itself. Check out some of these statistics, courtesy of Paul Solotaroff of Rolling Stone.
“The greatest threat to football is its own brutality. A generation ago, a defensive end weighed 230 pounds. Now he’s 300, runs like a rhino and leads with the crown of his helmet. The game has morphed from a contact sport to a freak show of front-end crashes, and in recent seasons there has been a drumbeat of stories about young ex-players with pre-dementia or veterans found dead by violent means [Ed. like Dave Duerson], presenting the brains of punch-drunk boxers. Then came 2010, the Year of the Monster Kill-Shot. Star after star was laid out cold, flattened by hits above the neck or pile-driven into the turf: 11 concussions in a single weekend and 154 over the course of the season, a jump of 34 percent in two years. So, too, the casualty rate in general: 350 players had their seasons ended early, landing on injured-reserve. That’s almost double the number from ’06, and it goes up every year.”
Those last two figures, concussions up 34 percent in two years and a doubling since ’06 of players on injured-reserve are staggering. It’s also why the owners better wise up.
Further on the hypocrisy of the NFL, Pittsburgh receiver Hines Ward, to GQ:
“Man, nobody paid attention to that video [on how the NFL wants players to hit one another]. We don’t know what they want. They’re so hypocritical sometimes. They came out with these new helmets that are supposed to stop concussions. If they care so much about our safety, why don’t they mandate that we wear the new ones? If they’re so worried about what concussions will do to us after our careers, then guarantee our insurance for life. And if you’re going to fine me for a hit, let the money go to veteran guys to help with their medical issues. To say the league really cares? They don’t give a f— about concussions.”
“Everybody doubts the league’s sincerity. Quit pretending to be the flag-bearers for our health care and safety when you’re telling us in the next sentence that we need to start playing eighteen games. Obviously you don’t give a s— about our health and safety. Remember that photo of [Steelers linebacker James] Harrison making a hit on [Browns receiver Mohamed] Massaquoi? They fined him $75,000 for that – and at the same time they were selling the photo on nfl.com for $24.99.”
“You hear about dementia, but you also hear about guys like Earl Campbell. His head is fine, but he can’t walk. That’s no good, either. And I think the way they’re calling it now and asking players to lower their targets, you’re going to see more brutal leg injuries.”
[The GQ article I’m referring to is by Robert Maxwell and ostensibly about former Minnesota linebacker Fred McNeil, who starred for the Vikings in the 1970s and 80s. Now 58, he’s losing his mind, yet another pathetic tale.]
Brandon Davies
Before getting into his story, Sports Illustrated, in conjunction with CBS News, has a special report in the current issue titled “Rap Sheets, Recruits and Repercussions,” a six-month investigation into the number of players at top college football programs with criminal records.
SI and CBS looked at last year’s preseason Top 25 survey (Sports Illustrated’s) and performed 7,030 background checks on 2,837 players, using 31 state or local courts, 16 court databases, 25 police departments or prosecutors’ offices, 20 Freedom of Information Act requests, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and a private investigator.
“The study found that 204 players had criminal records. Their 277 incidents included 105 for drug and alcohol offenses, 75 for nuisance crimes (disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, criminal mischief), 56 for violent crimes and 41 for property crimes.”
1. Pitt…22 players charged
2. Iowa…18
2. Arkansas…18
4. Boise State…16
4. Penn State…16
6. Virginia Tech…13
11. Ohio State…7
11. Florida…7
11. Oregon…7
11. USC…7
23. Texas…2
24. Stanford…1
25. TCU…0
But even TCU coach Gary Patterson acknowledges his goose-egg is deceiving because he’s had his share of lawbreakers in the past. He feels like he just learned that there are risks in taking them on so he’s sought to change the standards.
So keep the above in mind as we explore the following.
I noted last time that I was posting the column before I knew the details of BYU forward Brandon Davies’ dismissal from the team, though we knew it was for violating the team’s honor code. I wrote I just guessed he would be suspended through the Mountain West tournament, not the NCAAs. Well, this showed a bit of ignorance as we learned later that Davies was dismissed for admitting to having sex with his girlfriend, a major no-no for BYU. The Cougars proceeded to play Wednesday night, sans Davies, and got waxed by New Mexico, 82-64, though they rebounded on Saturday to beat Wyoming. Davies was on the sidelines, rooting on his teammates in a terrific display of class. He can return next season, but is out the rest of the year.
So needless to say this incident has generated quite a bit of buzz. My initial reaction, without really knowing the facts, or having much time to think about it, was wrong. Davies, by supporting his teammates while being suspended, tells you everything about the man, and the school. But he still screwed up big time. It was a selfish act. BYU, a legitimate threat to win it all, now will be lucky to win its second-round game; his 11 points and 6 rebounds being that important to the Cougars’ overall success. It’s not always the individual stats, but also about depth. BYU can’t replace him, the bench gets thinner, and the opposition can double- and triple-team Jimmer Fredette even more intensely without Davies’ presence in the post.
“When sophomore center Brandon Davies was dismissed from Brigham Young’s third-ranked basketball team for violating the university’s honor code, it dealt a hard blow to the championship aspirations of the Cougars. But it also highlighted one of the big differences between BYU and other universities involved in major college sports.
“Many colleges have honor codes, but they typically focus on protecting academic integrity and discouraging behavior that harms others. The United States Military Academy’s Cadet Honor Code states that ‘a cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do.’ Many universities follow that example.
“At BYU, owned and operated privately by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the honor code is separate from the academic honesty policy, and is more closely linked to the personal-behavior tenets of the Mormon church….
“It applies to all of the roughly 34,000 students, whether they are Mormon or not. More than 98% are.
“In college sports, BYU has always played by some different rules. It declines to play games on Sundays, which forces schedulers of the coming NCAA basketball tournament, for example, to place the Cougars in specific brackets. Most BYU students are Mormon and interrupt their studies and athletic careers with two-year missions, which detractors say can give them an edge in maturity and size….
“The rules would hardly be a surprise to Davies. He is Mormon and was raised in Provo, Utah, the home of BYU.”
“They are charged with assault on a Tuesday, and play linebacker on a Saturday. They are caught smoking dope in the morning, and practice free throws in the afternoon.
“Today’s college playing fields are dotted with athletes bearing fresh mug shots, lingering handcuff marks and not a trace of accountability.
“Athletes are often punished only to the degree at which the team will not feel pain. If the game is important, they are suspended only for the first half. If there is even a hint of the word ‘allegedly,’ the school abdicates its moral authority to the legal system and doesn’t suspend them at all.
“All of which would classify what happened with the Brigham Young basketball team as one shining moment….
“The rule? A section of the honor code that requires BYU students to ‘live a chaste and virtuous life.’
“That might not be your rule. That might be the kind of rule that makes you titter and wince and wonder, how can any school not attached to a seminary demand celibacy of college kids in a world in which seven out of 10 Americans have had sexual intercourse by age 19?
“But the point is, it is BYU’s rule, and kudos to the school for publicly enforcing it at the worst possible time with one of the most visible of students while risking damage to the school’s athletic reputation and national stature….
“BYU knows this will hurt in the future, costing potential athletic and academic recruits who may now be wondering: How can I spend four years at a place that really gives suspensions for sex?
“BYU knows the news could make it the butt of jokes, dragging its owner, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, back into public scrutiny, causing a stir the size of ‘Big Love.’
“BYU knows all this stuff, and it suspended the kid anyway, and if you don’t believe in its code, you have to love its honor.
“ ‘Nobody else would do this, nobody,’ said Mike Smith, the Clippers broadcaster who spent four years starring for BYU’s basketball team in the mid-1980s. ‘I’m really saddened because this could cost us our best year ever. But I’m really proud of us for sticking by the rules when it would be so easy to overlook them.’….
“Perhaps as amazing as BYU officials enforcing the code now is the fact that they didn’t actually catch Davies breaking it. Either Davies or his girlfriend came forward, and Davies later admitted his transgression not only to school officials, but also to his teammates.
“ ‘Honestly, it’s kind of like golf,’ Smith said. ‘You’ve got to call that two-stroke penalty on yourself. That’s why it’s called an honor code.’
“But why couldn’t a young couple live with their infraction at least until the end of the NCAA tournament?
“ ‘The guilt just overtakes you,’ Smith said. ‘If you really believe in a higher authority, and most people who attend BYU believe, then the guilt would just destroy you….You are set apart from the rest of the world. It’s not easy. It’s not for everyone.’
“The rules are not, but the conviction to enforce them on your powerhouse basketball team at the outset of this country’s premier basketball spectacle? That could be the only thing about this March that isn’t madness.”
“What makes this such a powerful testament [to the school’s integrity] is the fact that so many schools have cravenly abandoned their standards at such a time as this, embracing athletic expediency over institutional principles. It happens so often that we don’t even raise an eyebrow at it anymore. That certainly didn’t happen in this instance at BYU.”
“With the NCAA tournament ‘March Madness’ just days away, other big college basketball programs might have ignored their own rules or made a special exception for a premier player.
“And, refreshingly, Davies didn’t temporize: He blamed himself, then apologized to his teammates for letting them down.
“Maintaining high standards is tough and not without cost – BYU lost its first game without Davies by 18 points.
“And it’s safe to say that the school’s postseason prospects have been substantially diminished.
“But by placing a premium on personal and institutional integrity, BYU provides a valuable lesson to the entire nation.”
“Obviously, I think any code that requires – not encourages, but requires – college students to abstain from premarital sex and alcohol is bananas because premarital sex and alcohol were my two favorite things about college. Taco Bell was third. So my three favorite things about college were sex, alcohol and Meximelts, and the nights when I experienced all three are now considered my best memories. Those were good times.
“That said, I’m not a Mormon and I didn’t go to BYU. If I were and if I did, I would’ve been made aware of the school’s Honor Code before I enrolled (just like Davies) and been required to live my life accordingly (just like Davies). So when people say Davies knew what he was getting into, I get that. But that doesn’t make this any less complicated because knowing what you’re getting into doesn’t mean you understood what you were getting into….
“It’s easy when you’re in high school to promise what you will and won’t do. But then it’s a Saturday and you’re on the couch with an attractive lady, and, well, things happen. In most cases, it’s called life and nothing more. At BYU, it’s a violation of the Honor Code. So here we are.
“Yes, I think the whole thing is crazy. But I respect the religion. Yes, I think this stinks for Davies and his teammates. But I know why it was done. Yes, I think Tim Tebow is awesome. But he’s not even human in my eyes. So I guess my best advice is this: Be careful, future prospects. Go to BYU if you want, and I’ll wish you luck. But understand that your beliefs and desires will likely change greatly between the ages of 18 and 22, and if they do and if you slip your life will be turned upside down.
“If you don’t care about those risks, go ahead and enroll. But if you do care and think there’s a chance you’re more like a typical human than not, well, you might want to check out a different campus, you know, just to play it safe.”
College Basketball Review
–Big win on Saturday night for North Carolina over Duke, 81-67. Should the Tar Heels proceed to win the ACC tournament, it is not out of the question they emerge as a No. 1 seed. After losing to Texas to go to 7-4 in mid-December, UNC is 17-2 and won the regular-season ACC title with a 14-2 mark. As for Duke, they are going nowhere in the tourney. Sweet 16 at best. Kyle Singler has had a poor senior season. Hell, I really think the guy was better as a sophomore than he is two years later.
–Meanwhile, my alma mater, the Demon Deacons, finished their worst season ever in losing to Boston College. Wake ends the regular season 8-23 and a league-record worst 1-15. We were so bad that aside from beating Virginia and losing to Miami by one point, none of the other 14 losses were by less than 14.
This is a team that two years ago had four NBA players on the roster…James Johnson, Jeff Teague, Al-Farouq Aminu and Ish Smith. But, with the exception of Smith, they were an incredibly selfish group, you all know the first three went out early, we sucked in the NCAAs, and, despite a 61-31 record, coach Dino Gaudio was let go. I can’t defend Dino…the guy always looked lost on the bench and his game strategy was questionable at best. As surprising as the move was to dump him last spring, I understood.
But now look. Not one player on the team remotely improved from the start of the year to the finish, and that’s coaching. And lord knows how many of the freshmen and sophomores we’ll now lose to transfer. It’s beyond depressing, folks.
[Wake transfer Jamie Skeen had 21 points and 8 rebounds in VCU’s upset of George Mason in the CAA semis on Sunday.]
–However, as much as I’ve beaten up on Wake this year…get this. Earlier in the season, Wake beat Iowa. This weekend, Iowa beat Purdue. Earlier, Purdue beat Ohio State. So, that means that Wake is better than Ohio State…and so tonight I’ll rest easier knowing that our 8-23 mark is highly deceiving.
–Won’t have Coastal Carolina to kick around anymore following their Big South finals loss to UNC-Asheville, which advances to the NCAA tourney for the first time. [I’ll sell you my Chanticleerwear for $2.50.]
–Did you see the end of the West Virginia-Louisville contest and the foul the Louisville player committed with 0.6 left, thus sending WVU to the line for the win? Goodness gracious that was hideous. [Nice win for the Mountaineers though.]
–Sometimes a box score is just worth mentioning. Utah State defeated Louisiana Tech, at Tech, 72-30. LT was 10 of 56 from the field, 0 for 14 from downtown. Nice “Senior Day,” eh?
Speaking of Senior Day, it’s always nice to see the mothers during the pre-game, wearing their spiffy outfits and a carnation, arm in arm with their boy, isn’t it? One problem. Rarely do you see a father, know what I’m sayin’?
–As of Friday, the Wall Street Journal’s Darren Everson reported the following concerning the primacy of the Big East, which could land them as many as 11 NCAA tournament berths.
“So far, there have been 28 Big East games involving two ranked teams, including five top-10 showdowns. The totals for all other conferences: 35 and three.”
But has the Big East gone too far? It’s “a grind unlike any in the sport. And it might be doing the conference’s members a disservice.
“Since growing to 16 teams in the 2005-06 season, the Big East hasn’t won a national title, nor have any of its teams played in the championship game.”
It’s .593 winning percentage over the past five years is superior to the ACC and Big Ten, but it’s equivalent to the Pac-10 and behind the Big 12 (.618) and SEC (.614).
Some inside the Big East have called for cutting the conference schedule to 16 games from 18.
Well, I’ll take a stab at calling this year’s Final Four. Of course I’m sticking with San Diego State to win it all. But I’ll say two Big East teams make it as well. After looking at the brackets, I’ll tell you who and then you can bet accordingly, kids. Start today, though, by feeling your parents out on your trust fund and the ease in accessing it.
–“Between 1996-97 and last season, 37players led major college basketball in per-game points, rebounds or assists at least once. Only six won an NCAA tournament game in the same season. None made it to the Final Four, only nine appeared in 100 NBA games (although Reggie Williams and Blake Griffin should clear that threshold soon) and only two – Griffin and Tim Duncan – have become All-Stars.” [The Wall Street Journal’s Carl Bialik, in looking at BYU’s Jimmer Fredette who will lead the nation in scoring this season. Stephen Curry, who led the nation in scoring while at Davidson in 2008-09, should one day join Griffin and Duncan as an All-Star.]
“Not only did John Wooden’s great-grandson score the last men’s basketball points before Pauley Pavilion is closed for renovation, Tyler Trapani’s late basket Saturday also pushed the Bruins’ point total to 71 – on the day UCLA honored its Sidney Wicks-led ’71 national championship team.
“Lucius Allen scored the first points at Pauley Pavilion, sparking the Lew Alcindor-led freshman team to a 75-60 victory over the defending national champion Bruins in 1965.
“Afterward, sophomore Mike Warren later told freshman Lynn Shackelford, a pensive Wooden told the varsity, ‘Well, it looks like we’re going to be pretty good next year!’”
—Lindsey Vonn wrapped up her fourth consecutive World Cup downhill title by finishing second in Tarvisio, Italy; quite an accomplishment considering her knee issues, let alone the concussion. Vonn ended up winning 3 of the 7 downhills (one remains), with her friend Maria Riesch winning 3 as well. In 2010, Vonn won 6 of 8. Anja Paerson won Saturday’s race, her 42nd World Cup victory, 4th all time. Vonn has 40. Riesch remains the overall World Cup points leader.
But wait…there’s more! Vonn clinched the super-G title on Sunday by winning that race (thus WC victory No. 41) and on Friday had gained the super-combined, so she won 3 World Cup titles (disciplines) in three days…plus she is suddenly just 96 points behind Riesch overall.
–Ooh baby. Runner’s World has an extensive story on one of my heroes, American distance runner Shalane Flanagan, the bronze medalist in the 10,000 at Beijing. She is determined to win the marathon at the 2012 Olympics in London. Recall, she finished second at last fall’s New York City Marathon. [Flanagan went to UNC, by the way.]
But this gives me an excuse to inaugurate the “Bar Chat Women’s Hall of Fame” [sports category]
No time for a lot of discussion, but this is a combination of my life experience, their talent, and, I can’t help but add, beauty. The first three inductees are:
Peggy Fleming, Shalane Flanagan and Lindsey Vonn.
*In the entertainment category, add Shelby Lynne, whose photo graces my office (along with Arnie, Ronnie, Mickey Mantle and Ali), as well as Petula Clark, Lesley Gore, Marilyn McCoo and Sophia Loren.
But an additional word on Vonn. As you’ve undoubtedly noticed, I’ve followed her World Cup season pretty closely. I also wasn’t always kind to her, if I remember correctly…without going back through my voluminous archives. I just have a tremendous amount of respect for those who can step up and walk the walk.
Unlike, say….LEBRON JAMES!!!
Nope, you’ll never see him in Bar Chat’s Hall of Fame. No freakin’ way. I mean can he miss anymore potential game-winners than he has in just the past few weeks, including Sunday vs. the Bulls?! The guy sucks! The Spurs waxed Miami the other night and while I don’t think Miami will make it to the NBA Finals, I’d love to see that match-up just so Tim Duncan and Co. can school the Heat on the ultimate stage, leaving LeBron writhing on the floor, crying for his mother.
Get this, the vaunted Heat are now 14-18 against teams .500 or better. That’s astounding, and when it comes to crunch time, they are statistically the worst team in the league on last-second shots and it’s not even close. I turned on Sunday’s game with about five minutes to go just to see if LeBron would choke and he didn’t disappoint. Thank you, big guy. It was an incredibly gloomy day in these parts, weather wise, but you were a ray of sunshine.
—Michael Phelps is back. He entered five events at a big event in Indianapolis and won all of ‘em, including over 2010’s best swimmer, Ryan Lochte.
–The New Jersey Devils’ incredible surge continues… 20-2-2 over their last 24 games but they are still 8 points behind a final playoff berth as the Rangers (in 7th) have righted the ship, blasting the Flyers 7-0 on Sunday! Let’s Go Ran-gers!!! [I’m ready to get into the Stanley Cup Playoffs if the Rangers are in it.]
Reminder…the Devils were 10-29-2 and are now 30-31-4.
–Sports Illustrated had its annual survey of players on the PGA, Champions and LPGA golf tours. How conservative is the PGA Tour? If the presidential election were held today, 49% would vote for Sarah Palin, 20% for Barack Obama (31% neither). The Champions (Senior) tour respondents said 43% Palin, 14% Obama (43% neither). One unidentified senior said, “I will leave the U.S. if those two are the only candidates.”
Among the Champions Tour respondents, 78% believe Jack Nicklaus is the greatest ever. Tiger gets 12%. [81% still believe Tiger will break Nicklaus’ record of 18 majors, which means Tiger has to win five more. That’s a lot. I’m beginning to wonder if he’ll ever win one more. He needs to get back with Hank Haney.]
Among the PGA set, when asked the question, “With whom would you rather be paired, Tiger or Phil?” 49% said Tiger, 31% Phil (20% either). “With whom would you rather go to dinner?” Tiger 47%, Phil 44%. [It’s amazing what players think of Phil…as in not much…vs. us fans.]
36% of LPGA players say they’ve dated their caddie. The women also say by a landslide that Adam Scott is the most handsome player on the PGA Tour.
[On the PGA Tour this weekend, Rory Sabbatini won his 6th career title at the Honda Classic over Y.E. Yang. However, I was a bit unsettled by how Sabbatini’s wife, Amy, was shaking their baby….just kidding, Rory! Really.]
–Richard Hoffer imagines what it would be like if the first Ali-Frazier fight, held 40 years ago, March 8, 1971, were held today.
“Today? When a collection of 60-second TV spots otherwise known as the Super Bowl so reliably brings a nation to its knees? When an NBA dunk contest is all it takes to rouse us from midwinter doldrums? When a budding wisp of self-importance like LeBron James can stop us all in our tracks as we await the navigational direction of his talents?
“Oh, my. Ali-Frazier, which even then was more a cultural touchstone than a boxing match, would probably paralyze us if it were held today, leveraging its various themes of race and politics on our social networking fulcrums. America would have to close for business to properly attend to this frenzy. Ashton Kutcher has 6.3 million Twitter followers? Ali would crash the Internet with his feeds ( @smokinJoe is so ugly he should donate his face to @BureauofWildlife. #gonnawhupya)….
“Then again, how could our digital applications improve upon the analog beauty of their struggles that night, an eye-popping brutality that Frazier narrowly won, a contest of such evenly matched wills, such equal desperation that the words Ali-Frazier have come to signify a kind of ruinous self-sacrifice? The old ways are not necessarily the best, but once a generation, anyway, they’re good enough.”
–You know all those stories I did on the financials of the BCS and college bowl games? Check this out. From the AP:
“Connecticut said it lost more than $1.6 million on its trip to the Fiesta Bowl. In a report filed this week with the NCAA, the university said it had total Fiesta Bowl expenses of $4,280,998 and received $2,523,200 from the Big East, which splits bowl game revenue among its members.
“The biggest loss came from the sale of game tickets. UConn had to buy $3,349,835 worth of tickets, but had only $678,248 in ticket sales.”
–Regarding the recent Caltech 310-game conference losing streak in Div. III basketball, 10 of the losses were by five or fewer points. 60 were by 50 or more. [SI]
–Is there any way the Cardinals can hang onto Albert Pujols? He has vowed not to let his pending free agency become a distraction this season and thus he has said he refuses to negotiate until the season is over. The reaction of Cardinals fans is going to be fascinating and of course will be almost solely determined by Pujols’ and the Cards’ performance.
But the fact is he enters 2011 as the 23rd-highest paid player in the majors at $16 million for this year. You can say that’s more than enough, but that’s not the point. I mean Jason Bay is going to earn $18.1 million this season, after all. Carlos Zambrano $18 million. Todd Helton an incredible $20.3 million. Vernon Wells? $26.2 million. So you see the Cardinals’ dilemma.
–What a tragedy, the death of 16-year-old basketball player Wes Leonard, who just moments after making the winning basket in overtime for Fennville High School in Michigan, collapsed and died.
Leonard’s layup gave Fennville a 20-0 regular season mark, but it was when the players gathered for a team photo to commemorate their undefeated season, the 6-foot-2, 215-pound Leonard collapsed. An autopsy showed he died of cardiac arrest due to an enlarged heart.
One just can’t imagine how his teammates and friends are coping.
–Whenever Jim Nantz starts sending out his best wishes for a speedy recovery on one of his golf telecasts, you know the fellow is close to dying, and thus was the case the other month when Nantz waxed poetic about the great CBS sports producer and director, Frank Chirkinian, who passed away the other day at age 84. At least Chirkinian got to see himself elected into the World Golf Hall of Fame but it was only about ten years too late, and the induction is in May.
It was Frank Chirkinian, after all, who was the original pioneer of the modern golf telecast, going back to the Masters in 1959. Some of us remember the early days of golf when coverage would pick up on No. 15 or 16. You younger folks out there, just imagine how little we actually saw. In hindsight it was pathetic. It was like seeing only the fourth quarter of an NFL game, or picking up a baseball telecast in the 7th. [Then again, only showing the fourth quarter of an NBA contest would be a great idea.]
Chirkinian was given the name Ayatollah by Pat Summerall in the late 1970s when the Shah of Iran was deposed, and as he said in an interview, “I admit, reluctantly, that I enjoyed the nickname. If nothing else, it beat being called Adolf.”
You see, Chirkinian was a bit of a tyrant. “In rehearsals I was profane as could be. I ripped everybody. We had seven announcers all wanting air time, and it was important they remember I was the boss. I treated my crew almost like children, and let’s face it, sometimes children need to be spanked. It was a tough form of love.”
Chirkinian once feared that announcer Brent Musburger’s enthusiasm might overwhelm the stately Augusta telecast, so he told Musburger, “I’ll kill you if you raise your voice one-half a decibel.”
Chirkinian also directed coverage of the Winter Olympics, the U.S. Open tennis tournament, triple crown racing, and college and pro football.
–I didn’t know this. You know how the Jets cut Vernon Gholston recently after three seasons in which he was the first top ten defensive line draft selection not to register a single sack in three years? According to Business Insider’s Dashiell Bennett (and the Wall Street Journal), “Gholston had a clause built into his contract (before the 2010 season) that would award him a $9 million bonus if he simply recorded one sack. Or caused a fumble. Or recovered a fumble. Or caught an interception. In 45 NFL games, he did none of those things.”
For $9 million, I would have gone crazy on the field, wouldn’t you?!
–Former receiver Plaxico Burress is slated to be released from prison in June, three months early after time off for good behavior. Burress is just 33 and obviously his body hasn’t taken a punishment the past two years, while former Giants teammates who have visited him in prison say he’s been working out and is in great shape. [Incidentally, he has been held in “protective custody” because of his notoriety and has committed some minor infractions while in the pokey.]
Giants GM Jerry Reese said the team will keep its options open. Some players, such as Brandon Jacobs, say they would welcome him back. Burress will indeed be playing in the NFL this fall, assuming there is an NFL.
–Back to the issue of concussions, researchers examining the brain of deceased former NHL brawler Bob Probert discovered that he had the same degenerative disease, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, that has been found in more than 20 deceased professional football players. Probert died last July from heart failure at the age of 45. [Alan Schwarz / New York Times]
MARCO ISLAND, Fla. “A Pennsylvania woman on vacation in Florida took a tip from two dolphins to save a lost Doberman Pinscher that got stranded on a sandbar.
“When Audrey D’Alessandro and her husband, Sam, walked out of their home on Marco Island, near Naples, Fla., to go fishing, ‘we saw these two dolphins, and they were splashing and making this big commotion’ in a canal behind their vacation home, she said.
“Although it is not uncommon to see dolphins swimming through the canal on their way to the Gulf of Mexico, Audrey D’Alessandro said that this time, ‘they were just there, in one place, splashing water against the canal wall.’
“When the D’Alessandros went to investigate, they saw an 80-pound Doberman Pinscher was standing on a sandbar, half-submerged even at low tide. The dog, which disappeared from a nearby home some 12 hours before, was too weak to bark, she added, and could not get back onto land because of a several-foot-high canal wall.
“By the time the nurse lowered herself into the canal to get onto the sandbar, the dutiful dolphins were gone, but her husband called firefighters, who helped Audrey hoist the dog out of the water. Turbo, who was shaking and unable to stand after being rescued, was quickly reunited with his owner – who got the happy news while putting up lost-dog posters.
“A few days later, a thankful Turbo and his owner made the eight-block trip to visit the D’Alessandros, who have a yellow Labrador of their own.
“But Audrey D’Alessandro brushed off the island-wide praise the couple received afterward, saying that while ‘people pulled up to us when we were driving and said, ‘You’re the couple that saved that dog,’ I said, ‘Yeah, sure.’ But I think it was really those dolphins.’”
Dolphins are a lock for top five or six in the next All-Species tally.
–Bob S. also alerted me to this threat to America’s safety.
“Raccoons Chasing People From D.C. Metro Station”
“It’s not unruly teens or broken escalators at one D.C. Metro stop that’s keeping people away. According to one rider, it’s raccoons!
“Lisa Campbell says there’s a family of raccoons chasing passengers as they enter and exit the Fort Totten Station.
“Lisa says she has even spotted a raccoon inside the station near the ticket machine and that Metro has posted a sign asking people not to feed the raccoons.”
Clearly the raccoons are scouting out the location. I have my ideas who they are working for but I’ll keep those to myself and our intelligence agencies. I’m also maintaining Bar Chat Threat Level 17…which means I recommend you sleep with one eye open until further notice.
–Update: Luis Moreno, the soccer player who kicked an injured owl off the field, thus killing it, was suspended for two matches and fined $560 by Colombian soccer officials.
–The other day I was perusing one of my regular Web sites when I saw a story on philosopher Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832). What drew me to it was back in my college days, my poli-sci adviser was Dr. James Steintrager, a super guy who put up with your incredibly underachieving editor. To say I wasn’t a good student is one of the great understatements of all time. But I loved Steintrager because of his kindness towards me, plus he was a helluva professor.
Oh, we had some great chats. He knew it wasn’t worth his time to talk about my future (I ended up doing OK, when all was said and done…at least for now) so instead we just talked about the college experience. I remember one chat where we discussed poker strategies since I was playing in some higher stakes games at the time (off campus… not a good idea). He loved the game himself.
Steintrager has been long gone. Just dropped dead one day at a way too early age. But I remembered that he was apparently one of the foremost experts in the world on Jeremy Bentham, though I never looked into the fellow myself because he wasn’t part of any specific courses I was taking.
So I was drawn to this article and it said that among Bentham’s “radical ideas” was his advocacy of animal rights! [He was also a big proponent of economic freedom and separation of church and state, freedom of expression, equal rights for women, the right to divorce and the decriminalization of homosexual acts. Interesting dude, this Englishman, who was born in London, which is also where he died.]
But back to animal rights, Bentham is widely recognized “as one of the earliest proponents,” arguing that “the ability to suffer, not the ability to reason, should be the benchmark, or what he called the ‘insuperable line.’”
Back in 1789, as part of a passage on the abolition of slavery, Bentham wrote:
“(A) full-grown horse or dog is beyond comparison a more rational, as well as a more conversable animal, than an infant of a day or a week or even a month old. But suppose the case were otherwise, what would it avail? The question is not, Can they reason? Nor, Can they talk? But, Can they suffer?”
And so, boys and girls, we hereby place into the Bar Chat Hall of Fame, Jeremy Bentham. And at the same time I remember a good man, Professor James Steintrager. [I can virtually guarantee he would have been a reader of Bar Chat…and would have weighed in on the All-Species List. Lord knows Bentham would have!]
–So our boy Justin Bieber Cleaver has four albums in the Billboard Top 40 and this is the first time that has occurred since Garth Brooks in 1993.
–On the cover of Rolling Stone 35 years ago this week, Donny Osmond. “[Being the center of attention] is a big responsibility. ‘Cause there’s so many young ladies lookin’ up to me. Idolizin’ me. Everything I do, everything I say, they find out sooner or later. And it’s a big responsibility. It’s challenging, but I like challenges.” Can’t say I ever had this problem.
—Johnny Preston died. He was 71. Preston had the 1960 No. 1 hit “Running Bear,” which hasn’t exactly aged well but, heck, it became a million-seller. It was J.P. Richardson, aka the Big Bopper, who discovered Preston in Texas. Richardson died in the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens in Clear Lake, Iowa. [I’m going there this summer. If, out of nowhere, I have a reader from Clear Lake, please drop me a line. I’ll buy you dinner.]
Top 3 songs for the week 3/6/82: #1 “Centerfold” (The J. Geils Band) #2 “Open Arms” (Journey) #3 “I Love Rock ‘N Roll” (Joan Jett & The Blackhearts)…and…#4 “Shake It Up” (The Cars…ughh…just awful…) #5 “That Girl” (Stevie Wonder) #6 “Sweet Dreams” (Air Supply) #7 “I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do)” (Daryl Hall & John Oates…thank god these guys were around to help salvage a lousy decade…musically, that is…after all, we had Ronnie!) #8 “Mirror, Mirror” (Diana Ross) #9 “Leader Of The Band” (Dan Fogelberg) #10 “Take It Easy On Me” (Little River Band…these guys were good)
UNLV Quiz Answer: 1989-90 Championship UNLV Runnin’ Rebels. Starting five was generally Anderson Hunt, Greg Anthony, Larry Johnson, Stacey Augmon, and David Butler. Others seeing prominent time in the rotation were Moses Scurry, Stacey Cvijanovich and Travis Bice. Others on the team were James Jones, Barry Young, Chris Jeter and Dave Rice.
Duke’s main ‘six’ in the title game (and throughout the season) were Phil Henderson, Christian Laettner, Alaa Abdelnaby, Brian Davis, Robert Brickey and Bobby Hurley. Thomas Hill, Billy McCaffrey and Greg Koubek also saw decent court time.
*UNLV was preseason No. 1 in all the polls that year. Duke was AP No. 10. Duke would then win the next two years behind Laettner, Grant Hill and Hurley.
