U.S. Open Golf Quiz: 1) Who finished second to Graeme McDowell last year? 2) Who won the event three years in a row, 1903-05? 3) Who am I? I won in 1975, initials L.G. 4) Since 1970, who are the only two 3-time winners? Answers below.
LeBron, Part Deux… “Jerk of the Year”
So of course when I wrapped things up Sunday night following the Mavs’ win over the Heat in Game 6 to take the NBA title, the last thing I was about to do was listen to an NBA press conference, it being enough for me to stomach NBA basketball in the first place.
But I did note in this space when the series began that the only reason to give a hoot was to pray for LeBron and his mates to lose and we thank Big D for giving us pathetic LeBron haters a reason to get through at least one day of joy, joy being so missing from our pitiful lives because we can’t experience the thrill of being in King James’ orbit. I know I’m ready to jump off the Whitestone Bridge (near Citi Field) because I lack all the appropriate accoutrements to lead the good life.
So for the record, the addendum heard ‘round the world. LeBron James, in his post-game press conference, after teammate Dwyane Wade said the right things, even as he himself was a primo jerkball for making fun of Mavs’ superstar Dirk Nowitzki’s Game 4 illness.
LeBron was asked about the fans who’ve rooted against him since he opted to create a “Dream Team” in Miami with Wade and Chris Bosch.
“All the people that were rooting on me to fail, at the end of the day they have to wake up tomorrow and have the same life that they had today. I’m going to continue to live the way I want to live and continue to do the things that I want to do with me and my family and be happy with that. So they can get a few days or a few months or whatever the case may be on being happy about not only myself, but the Miami Heat not accomplishing their goal. But they got to get back to the real world at some point.”
Now many of you wrote me after this quote broke on Monday morning, with most mainstream reporters not having a chance to respond until their Tuesday columns due to the Sunday night deadline, but my brother was first to sum up the feelings of us pathetic little people. LeBron “gets to wake up as the magnificent asshole and continue his happy life. He’s a schoolyard thug.”
Or as Dallas’ DeShawn Stevenson put it, Stevenson admitting the triumph was even sweeter because LeBron was such a [my censors are exhibiting control over this one…in the end they are always looking out for me]:
“It makes me feel good, man, to beat him, to beat that Miami team. The way they act, the way they treated Dirk, all the things that they said were very classless. To win on the court the way we did it, it was wonderful.”
[Oops, I see Stevenson was arrested Tuesday night for public intoxication.]
“Clearly, here we have a team, and a superstar, with a public relations problem. The Heat are the oil companies of professional basketball.
“That came to mind after Game 6 when LeBron and Dwyane sat together at their press conference podium looking something like two Wall Street executives called before a congressional committee.
“After hearing them asked if they (A) choked, (B) failed and (C) made the world a better place by getting their lunch handed to them, you half expected the last question to be, ‘So tell us, where did you bury the baby?’
“Richard Nixon didn’t have an enemies list this long.
“James is now in the media meat grinder where big-name players go to suffer. They hype you to absurd proportions, then tear you down when you turn out less than unbeatable. No wonder James seemed a little touchy after being eliminated….
[Insert Exhibit A… “All the people that was rooting on me to fail…”]
“Did that mean alcoholics, kleptomaniacs and those with a gambling problem are also aligned against the Heat? Might as well be. Everyone else is.”
“Crisis averted. The Miami Heat were not rewarded for their chutzpah, and the Dallas Mavericks are the NBA champions. A lot of people, including me, didn’t want to see the Heat cash in so quickly after last summer’s Decision Debacle and all the ridiculousness that followed.
“But I found as the Finals began that I didn’t care nearly as much as I had at the beginning of the season. Did you? Or did you, like me, feel that life’s too short and there are bigger worries than whether LeBron James hoists a trophy this year or next? Because it’s obvious the Heat is going to win the title soon. So the inevitable has been delayed at least a year – so what?
“And then James once more opened his mouth and proved that he may be the most clueless athlete in professional sports (and that’s saying something). Here’s what he said after Sunday night’s 105-95 loss in Game 6….
[Insert Exhibit A… “All the people that was rooting on me to fail…”]
“The insistence on the part of James…that the rest of the world’s happiness or lack thereof is based solely on the outcome of their basketball games is baffling to me. Sure, there were people rooting hard against the Heat – just as there are James lovers out there who were rooting for them. I can hardly wait to see the new movie ‘Bad Teacher’ just to hear the full exchange between the character played by Jason Segel and a kid arguing that James is better than Michael Jordan. Segel’s character, of course, brings up rings – as in NBA championship rings – and the kid can’t believe that’s his best argument. That scene should bring down the house this summer.”
[Ed. I love the commercials I’ve seen for this movie as well.]
“Mavs NEVER stopped & now entire franchise gets rings. Old Lesson for all: There are NO SHORTCUTS. NONE.”
Ryan Smith, an insulation installer from Mentor, Ohio.
“Basically, I was saying, at the end of the day, this season is over and with all the hatred not only myself, everyone else has to move on with their lives as well….So it wasn’t saying that I’m superior or better than anyone else, any man or woman on this planet. I’m not.”
U.S. Open
Without Tiger Woods in the field, it’s a wide open tournament at Congressional with Phil Mickelson the favorite at a general 10-1, followed by Rory McIlroy, Lee Westwood and Luke Donald.
But of course no event at Congressional takes place without mention of the historic 1964 U.S. Open win by Ken Venturi on a day when the temperature hovered around 100 degrees with stifling humidity. Raymond Floyd recalls spectators passing out on nearly every hole, being whisked away on stretchers by medical personnel. Billy Casper’s caddie collapsed on the 13th hole, overcome by the oppressive heat; a spectator came out of the gallery and carried Casper’s bag the rest of the way.
Back then, it was customary to finish with 36 holes so given the heat, what Venturi accomplished was truly one for the ages. He started shaking on No. 17 in the morning round and a doctor on the scene, John Everett, a Congressional member, recommended Venturi withdraw during the break and warned him that continuing could be fatal.
“It’s better than the way I’ve been living,” Venturi replied. And forever after this triumph is remembered far above the others, 14 PGA Tour titles in all, in Venturi’s career.
Venturi started the final day six strokes back of leader Tommy Jacobs but he soared into second place with a 66 in the morning, leaving him two behind Jacobs, despite two bogeys on his last two holes as the heat took its toll.
He then laid down in the locker room and had tea, lemon and salt tablets. Dr. Everett ended up walking all 18 holes in the afternoon with Venturi, constantly giving him salt tablets and water. Raymond Floyd, then 21, played alongside Venturi and to show you what a class act Floyd was, he seemed more concerned about Venturi than winning it himself. “Keep going, you can make it,” Raymond kept telling him.
“You could see he was struggling,” Floyd recalled. “At times, it was like he wasn’t there…To watch him go through that was almost eerie.”
Venturi slowed to a crawl later in the round and officials gave him permission to play slower than they normally allow. Jacobs, playing behind him, said, “It was slow – we waited on every shot, no doubt. Who’s to say how much it affected my play? I don’t want it to sound like sour grapes. Ken put the number on the card.”
Jacobs would shoot 76, while Venturi had a heroic 70. When the final putt went down, Venturi raised his arms and blurted out, “Oh my God, I’ve won the Open!” He stayed composed until looking over at playing partner Floyd, who had tears streaming down his face.
Venturi lost 8 pounds that day but gained an enduring legacy and respect from his peers.
His win was also so memorable, the USGA promptly abandoned its 36-hole final day format.
In looking at Golfweek, I forgot the details on Tom Lehman’s run of ultimate futility at the U.S. Open, 1995-98. To wit:
1995…Shinnecock…T-1 starting final round…shoots 74…finishes 3rd (3 back)
1996…Oakland Hills…1st (1 up) starting final round… shoots 71…finishes T-2 (1 back)
1997…Congressional…1st (2 up) starting final round… shoots 73…finishes 3rd (2 back
1998…Olympic…T-2 (4 back) starting final round… shoots 75…finishes T-5 (6 back)
This one isn’t U.S. Open related, but in reading Golf World and a piece on NBC’s colorful Roger Maltbie, he tells an oldie but goodie…how he once lost the $40,000 winner’s check in a bar, T.O. Flynn’s, after taking the Quad Cities Open. Yes, they actually handed you the money in those days.
“I come to the next morning – I think that’s the appropriate term – sat on the edge of the bed, literally trying to piece together what happened,” says Maltbie. “I won. I was going to go out, buy a newspaper. I throw on my pants. I don’t have a dollar, a dime, nothing. I’m flat tapped. After a little pause, it dawned on me. I got no check.”
“Quickly, payment was stopped and another check issued, this time for $39,000 and a grand in cash so he would have some get-out-of-town money. It turns out the bartender at T.O. Flynn’s found the original and the owner asked if he could keep it. ‘Sure,’ replied Maltbie, who knew a vintage piece of bar lore when he, blurrily, saw one….
“And, there was the time in the Anheuser-Busch Golf Classic at Silverado CC when he was walking past one of the golf course condos and a group of the usual suspects that included Eddie Pearce, Allen Miller and Jack Newton beckoned him come join the party. They didn’t have to ask twice. ‘I open the sliding door, the ceiling looks like it’s got smallpox,’ Maltbie says. ‘They’d left the screen door open and there were a bunch of flies in there, so one of them got the idea that he’d get a chunk of hamburger meat – because we were going to barbecue stuff – and fire it up at the ceiling trying to stick the flies to the ceiling. Blotches all over the place.’
“Not to be out-anecdoted, Newton remembers when he and Maltbie were in the clubhouse at Westchester CC in 1978 celebrating the birth of Newton’s daughter, Kristie. ‘We’d had quite a few drinks. I was a pretty happy fella at my beautiful daughter born in Australia,’ says Newton. ‘We got the cigars out and proceeded to have several more drinks. I had my hand on the table, palm up. He went to put his cigar out and he put the cigar out in the palm of me hand. The next day I was playing with Nicklaus. I had this massive cigar burn at the base of me thumb, which is not congenial to holding onto a golf club, particularly when you’re playing with Jack. I’ve still got the scar where he put the bloody cigar out. Having said all that, he’s not a bad septic.’”
Maltbie was a pretty fair player in his day…winning five PGA Tour events including the inaugural Memorial in 1976 when he beat Hale Irwin in a playoff. He also missed the 1987 three-way playoff at the Masters by a shot.
But perhaps the best reflection of what a good guy Roger Maltbie is, and how he is respected among today’s touring pros, is the fact that he seems to be the only one who can have a good post-round interview with Tiger and get Woods to laugh.
Open Bits:
Greatest comeback…after 18 holes…9 shots…Jack Fleck, Olympic, 1955.
I love this one: Highest score…George Parr, R1, Myopia Hunt, 1908…114. 21st Century. Felix Casas, R2, Bethpage Black, 2002…92. You hackers out there (including moi) can smile at these efforts.
Multiple Host Venues: Oakmont, 8; Baltusrol, 7; Oakland Hills, 6; Pebble Beach and Winged Foot, 5.
Longest span between first and last wins: Jack Nicklaus (1962-80), 17 years, 11 months, 28 days. Hale Irwin (1974-90), 16 years, 2 days. Irwin is the oldest champion at 45 years, 15 days. Ray Floyd is next at 43 years, 9 months, 11 days.
Largest winning margin: Tiger Woods, Pebble Beach, 2000…15 shots!
Most runner-up finishes: Phil Mickelson, 5 (1999, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2009). Bobby Jones, Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus all had four. I forgot Colin Montgomerie had three.
–I am posting this before Game 7, but I was struck by how much the Stanley Cup Finals remind me of a World Series long ago; 1960, Pirates-Yankees. There’s only one reason. The score disparity. To wit:
Game 1…Pirates Win 6-4
Game 2…Yankees Win 16-3
Game 3…Yankees Win 10-0
Game 4…Pirates Win 3-2
Game 5…Pirates Win 5-2
Game 6…Yankees Win 12-0
Game 7…Pirates Win 10-9
Game 1…Canucks Win 1-0
Game 2…Canucks Win 3-2 OT
Game 3…Bruins Win 8-1
Game 4…Bruins Win 4-0
Game 5…Canucks Win 1-0
Game 6…Bruins Win 5-2
Game 7…
Yup, one team dominated in its victories, the other won the close ones.
–With the Dallas Mavericks’ first NBA title, 13 teams have yet to hold a victory parade.
Charlotte Bobcats…suck
Cleveland Cavaliers…lost in 2006-2007 NBA Finals to San Antonio
Denver Nuggets…geezuz, never better than conference semis
Indiana Pacers…lost in 1999-2000 NBA Finals to Lakers
Los Angeles Clippers…best is conference semis, including as Buffalo Braves
Memphis Grizzlies…lost in this year’s conference semis
Minnesota Timberwolves…lost in 2003-04 conference finals
New Jersey Jets…lost in NBA Finals to Lakers and Spurs, 2001-02 and 2002-03.
New Orleans Hornets…lost in conference semis, including as Charlotte Hornets
Orlando Magic…lost in NBA Finals in 1995 to Rockets and 2008-09 to Lakers
Phoenix Suns…lost in 1975-76 NBA Finals to Celtics and 1992-93 to Bulls
Toronto Raptors…lost in conference semis
Utah Jazz…lost in NBA Finals to Bulls in 1996-97 and 1997-98
–Major League Baseball is discussing a simple form of realignment that would lead to two leagues of 15 teams, rather than the current 16 teams in the National League and 14 in the American League. The proposed format would eliminate the divisions altogether, so that you’d have 15 teams in each vying for five playoff spots (part of the proposal being to add a second wildcard team, which would seem to be a definite for next season).
But while I don’t mind the one league, no divisions concept, which worked fine before 1969’s expansion to 12 teams in each league and two divisions, the obvious issue is that with an odd number of clubs, the season would end with interleague play for at least four teams, which would totally suck. I can’t stand interleague play to begin with.
–Interesting piece in the Wall Street Journal by Darren Everson. He took a look at baseball’s 30 teams and their performance vs. projections according to sportsbooks since 2006. The most overrated team under this metric, thru Sunday, was the Cubs, who had won 34 fewer games since ’06 than they were expected to, the biggest shortfall. Next on the most-overrated ranking are the Pirates (-29) and Indians (-27).
The most underrated franchises in recent years have been Florida and Minnesota (+29), although the Twins are on pace to fall far short of their 2011 “over-under” of 86.5. The Cubs are a safe “under” bet this season because they are on pace for 63 wins, or 17 short of their projection.
—Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak, 1941…continued
Game 30…June 17…Chicago…1 for 4
Game 31…June 18…Chicago…1 for 3
Game 32…June 19…Chicago…3 for 3…1 HR 2 RBI
Game 33…June 20…Detroit…4 for 5…1 RBI
–Last time I mentioned that Lukas Verzbicas became just the fifth high schooler to run under four minutes in the mile. Jeff MacGregor later had these thoughts on ESPN.com, MacGregor being in attendance at the meet on Randall’s Island in New York City.
“At 2:40 in the afternoon, with the Manhattan skyline behind him lost in a lowering mist, Lukas Verzbicas and 13 other high school boys from around the country take off running.
“And for the first time in 10 years, and for only the fifth time in history, a high school kid in America breaks four minutes in the mile. At the end of it, the crowd rises and their noise washes over him like the ocean.
“He is 6-feet tall and weighs 135 pounds. He is as pale as paper, except where his skin has reddened with exertion. His features are as sharp as the obverse on a new coin. He is led into a press corral and for the next half-hour answers politely the same questions again and again. How? When? Why?
“ ‘I wanted…[camera shutter] I needed…[camera shutter] I tried…[flash flash flash]. I did what I came here to do…[camera shutter] I did what I needed to do…[flash shutter flash] I did what I thought I could do. [shutter shutter shutter]
“And then they’re done with him. Like someone has flipped a switch. He walks off alone. He’s enrolled at Oregon this fall, so you’ll hear a lot more about him. Or you’ll never hear of him again. Which is how life works for us all.
“But in the middle of a wet Saturday afternoon one June in New York in the early part of the 21st century, he was exactly who he hoped to be and did exactly what he set out to do.
“He was actual. Emphatically so. Real and therefore undeniable.
“And from these two young men, from LeBron James and Lukas Verzbicas, comes to us a message of some kind about America. About ourselves. About our future.
[Meanwhile, as I noted last time, New Jersey’s Rosa twins ran the race described above and acquitted themselves well. But in the fiasco of their state title race in the 2-mile on Thursday, which was canceled with one lap to go because of the threat of lightning, the twins couldn’t compete in the re-run on Monday after also running in the NYC event Saturday. It’s a big controversy in these parts how officials screwed them over. But then my state can really suck at times.]
—Darrell Waltrip and Cale Yarborough, both three-time NASCAR champions, are among those just voted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
Speaking of the above two drivers, I forgot to mention last time that Jeff Gordon, in winning at Pocono on Sunday, moved into a tie for third with Waltrip at 84 career wins.
Richard Petty…200 (deceiving record, as great as he was, in that there were far more races each year as opposed to today’s uniform schedule)
David Pearson…105 (ditto…but probably the least known “second greatest in his sport” of them all)
Bobby Allison…84
Jeff Gordon…84
Darrell Waltrip…84
Cale Yarborough…83
“Research indicates the Nazis were working on a secret weapon during World War II: talking dogs. The goal was to breed dogs that could talk, read and tap out signals with their paws. There were even experiments with human-dog telepathy, according to the London Daily Mail newspaper.
“A Cardiff University researcher, working on a book about dogs in history, found records showing that intelligent canines were drafted into the Nazi’s SS, and some may, in fact, have learned to ‘talk’ and tap signals.
“There were rumors one dog could say ‘Mein Fuhrer,’ and another may have learned to tap out poetry using some kind of code. But the telepathy experiments apparently never made it beyond the point of trainers sensing that a dog wanted a bone.”
“Sightings of a species of shark known to attack humans have been reported to harbor officials in Cornwall (England).
“The harbormaster’s office in St. Ives said two people on separate boats had reported seeing an oceanic whitetip shark about a mile offshore….
“The oceanic whitetip shark is usually found far further south in deeper waters away from the coast, with Portugal being the usual northern-most reach of its habitat.”
But one official said, “If I was a swimmer in Cornwall I would not be worried.”
A rather Neville Chamberlainesque statement, don’t you think?
Alas, were Churchill still alive, he’d strike the right tone and steel the British people for the coming assault.
“Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth lasts for a thousand years, men will still say, ‘This was their finest hour!’”
—Crystal Harris, 25, was to wed Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, 85, this weekend but Hef announced it had been cancelled, which really ticked me off because I’m not sure I can get a refund on my hotel and airline reservations. Hef told me last night, “Crystal has had a change of heart.” Seems the couple had a nasty argument over the weekend and Harris moved out of the mansion. Crystal was Playmate of the Month in December 2009.
“Despite calling Angelina Jolie ‘uncool’ for moving in on her ex-husband, Brad Pitt, Jennifer Aniston’s romance with Justin Theroux has ended his 14-year relationship with his live-in girlfriend Heidi Bivens – who moved out of their home last weekend, Page Six has exclusively learned.
“Sources tell us Holly the costume designer Bivens ‘is devastated’ after Theroux abruptly ended their relationship as he got close to Aniston.”
This is very disturbing, sports fans, and all fans of Jennifer, including yours truly. Come back to us, Jen! Really, like come back to us…
But wait…there’s more! The reason why Jen likes Theroux is because he is “edgier than the guys Jen usually dates…she really likes him.”
Drat. I’m not edgy at all. I’m just drinking domestic these days and watching the Mets try to get to .500 (which can drive you to drink a lot of domestic, if you catch my drift). So, that takes me out of the Jen Derby.
–We note the passing of the original lead singer of the Coasters, Carl Gardner, at the age of 83. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame group churned out one big hit after another in the 1950s with their songs written by the famed duo of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller…”Searchin’,” “Poison Ivy,” “Young Blood,” “Charlie Brown,” “Along Came Jones” and Yakety Yak” were all top ten Billboard Pop hits from 1957-59, though they didn’t have another one thereafter. Carl Gardner Jr. took over as lead singer of the new Coasters that still tours when his father retired in 2005.
–We wish the E Street Band’s Clarence Clemons a speedy recovery following a stroke. Details on his condition have not been forthcoming.
Top 3 songs for the week 6/14/86: #1 “On My Own” (Patti LaBelle and Michael McDonald) #2 “Live To Tell” (Madonna) #3 “I Can’t Wait” (Nu Shooz)…and…#4 “There’ll Be Sad Songs (To Make You Cry)” (Billy Ocean) #5 “Crush On You” (The Jets) #6 “Greatest Love Of All” (Whitney Houston…major issues with this woman) #7 “A Different Corner” (George Michael… reminder, don’t shake his hand…you don’t know where it’s been) #8 “No One Is To Blame” (Howard Jones) #9 “All I Need Is A Miracle” (Mike & The Mechanics…these guys did some good tunes…like the #1, 3/89, “The Living Years”) #10 “Something About You” (Level 42…I’m getting very bored with this decade…time to go back to the 60s, folks)
U.S. Open Golf Quiz Answers: 1) Gregory Havret finished second to Graeme McDowell at Pebble Beach last year. 2) Willie Anderson won three in a row, 1903-05, at Baltusrol, Glen View Club (“Golf,” IL), and Myopia Hunt Club, Hamilton, MA. 3) Lou Graham won in 1975.* 4) 3-time winners since 1970: Hale Irwin (1974, 79, 90) and Tiger Woods (2000, 2002, 2008).
* I couldn’t give this away up above, but Lou Graham holds the record for the greatest 36-hole comeback of them all, down 11 at Medinah.
