PGA Golf Quiz: 1) Who am I? I won in 1964, initials B.N. 2) Who am I? I won in 1965, initials D.M. 3) Who am I? I won in 1990, initials W.G. 4) John Daly defeated who in 1991 at Crooked Stick? Answers below. [Yeah, easy for many, but you have to get all four before you can drink a premium.]
The Steve Williams Fallout Continues
“There are a lot of caddie protocols on the professional golf tour, and one is to be seen but rarely heard, especially if the listening ears belong to reporters or broadcasters with microphones. So it was astonishing last Sunday to see the usually taciturn caddie Steve Williams chatting with the CBS course reporter David Feherty in the minutes after his new employer, Adam Scott, had won the W.G.C-Bridgestone Invitational.
“And this was no quickie interview; Williams went on for 1 minute 40 seconds. When he was done, he had stuck a hearty, spiteful thumb in the eye of his former soulmate, Tiger Woods, declaring that four rounds with Scott in Akron, Ohio, had amounted to the ‘most satisfying win of my career’ and ‘the greatest week of my life.’
“This from a man who walked side by side with Woods during 13 major championships and 72 worldwide victories in 12 years. Like any jilted partner, Williams might as well have added, ‘And you look terrible in red.’
“On Tuesday at the Atlanta Athletic club, during the practice rounds for the P.G.A. Championship, Williams was not receiving much sympathy from Woods’ peers, who clearly believe that part of the caddie code is to take a firing privately.
“ ‘There was no relevance to the interview other than to have a good dig in the ribs at Tiger Woods,’ said Lee Westwood. ‘Obviously, there’s a bit of friction there, so what’s the point?’….
“The world’s top-ranked golfer, Luke Donald, noted the most obvious – that Williams did not praise or congratulate Scott, and seemed instead to be deflecting attention from him.”
Williams backtracked a little, telling FoxSports.com, “Looking back on it, I was a bit over the top. I had a lot of anger in me about what happened, and it all came out.”
For his part, Adam Scott said that he had talked to Williams, twice.
“He said it was not his intention to do that, so I told him, ‘That’s fair enough.’ Hopefully, we’ll just go and let our clubs do the talking for the rest of the week now.”
“Given who he is and what he does – he’s a caddie, for crying out loud – Stevie Williams put on one of the most narcissistic displays I’ve ever seen in professional sports.”
“(It) is Williams who should now shut up and disappear.
“Please. This caddie needs to be shacked. Long considered one of golf’s most classless figures, Williams outdid himself Sunday by using the furor over being fired by Tiger Woods to overshadow his new golfer’s success….
“(Woods) had long since made Williams one of the richest golfing figures who never struck a drive or made a putt. Woods was simply exercising the right used by golfers every week. So he decided to change his caddy. So what? It stinks for caddies, but it’s part of their job description, and it’s never an excuse to steal the show from your boss.
“But that’s Steve Williams. Woods created a monster, and Williams’ ugliness knew no limits. Williams was never the star, but he always acted like it. He bullied fans, scolded the media, and would even publicly rip opposing players – remember his criticism of Phil Mickelson? [Ed. good point, had forgotten that one.]
“Adam Scott clearly cringed Sunday afternoon with Williams’ misguided victory march. After imitating the old Tiger Woods on the golf course, Scott now needs to imitate him in the clubhouse.
“Two days before the start of the season’s last major championship, the clamor over Williams’ comments was noteworthy for another reason. Most of the talk was about a former caddie of a former No. 1 player. Rare was the talk about Tiger Woods’ chances of winning the tournament.”
Woods, by the way, won $58,500 last weekend for tying for 37th. Steve Williams picked up 10% of Scott’s $1.4 million first-place check, or $140,000. As the Times’ Larry Dorman noted, “It was the first time in 12 years Williams had earned more than Woods at a tournament.”
And switching topics, just a word on Rory McIlroy, who once again opened up about life in the fishbowl since winning the U.S. Open. In a press conference at the P.G.A. Championship, Rory admitted, in confirming his decision to move to Florida and play the U.S. tour full-time next year:
“I’ve had security guards at my house (in Northern Ireland) every night since I won the U.S. Open, just patrolling around the area. There have been people driving up the driveway and stuff like that which isn’t very nice. It is something that I just had to put in place, I’m afraid.
“It’s tough but it is just the world we live in unfortunately….It’s something I am just going to have to deal with….
“I can deal with people walking up in restaurants when you’re eating and wanting autographs and photographs and stuff like that. That’s fine, it’s not a big deal. It’s the stuff going on at home that’s hard to accept.”
Rory has forged a nice friendship with Jack Nicklaus and will probably live near The Bear Club in West Palm Beach.
Ball Bits
–Can you believe Dan Uggla, who was hitting .173 before going on a 30-game hitting streak?! I hope by the time most of you read this it’s over. If DiMaggio is ever seriously threatened, which I guess we could agree means a streak of 40, it has to be a true great of the game, not someone like Uggla or, earlier this year Andre Ethier.
–Cool stuff from Bob S. out California way. San Francisco reliever Sergio Romo on Wednesday night, a week ago, completed the reliever’s version of a perfect game. Over 12 appearances beginning July 6, he retired 27 consecutive batters, a reliever’s perfect game, striking out 13.
Romo then extended it to 31 batters before finally giving up a hit on Tuesday night. Overall, he has allowed just 20 hits in 37 2/3, striking out 53 and walking just 4!! Right-handers are hitting .111 against him, 10 hits in 90 at-bats with 46 strikeouts.
–Boston’s Tim Wakefield is waiting on his 200th career win, failing on his last four attempts. The longest wait for No. 200 was Steve Carlton’s, ‘Lefty’ needing 7 starts to hit the milestone. Wakefield is slated to pitch again on Sunday.
–The Wall Street Journal’s Jason Gay had this suggestion:
“At this point, would anyone mind if the Yankees and Red Sox started their remaining six games at 9 a.m.?
“There’d be plenty of time for all the usual delays in this starry but draggy rivalry: paranoid pitching changes, dawdling pinch hitters, superstitious batter’s box rituals, Jonathan Papelbon offering each Yankee two minutes of Papelbon Evil Face.
“With a 9 a.m. start, a nine-inning Yankees-Red Sox contest would wrap around 2 p.m. Extra-inning games might finish by 6 pm. Even if there was an eight-hour rain delay, you’re done in time for Chuck and Sue. [Ed. local news anchors.]
“The Boston-New York baseball feud has grown too red-eyed. On Sunday night – rather Monday morning – the Red Sox capitalized on a blown save by Mariano Rivera to tie the game in the ninth and go on to win in the 10th, 3-2.
“Somewhere, there’s a little kid who’s grown to love watching night games of the Yankees and Red Sox. And that kid is probably in Australia, watching on the internet.”
–As for two Yankee pitchers, A.J. Burnett and the aforementioned Rivera, we’ll talk about Burnett first. On Tuesday, he had his seventh consecutive non-quality start (a quality start being six innings while yielding no more than three earned runs). Burnett now has failed to have a quality start in 16 of his 24 starts this year. The $16.5 million man ($82.5 million contract) has the following record in his three seasons with the Yankees since getting his big deal.
2009…13-9, 4.04 ERA
2010…10-15, 5.26
2011…8-9, 4.60
Just pathetic. As good a stuff as any pitcher in baseball but he’s an amazing head case and total jerk.
As for Rivera, every year he has a minor blip, 2 or 3 bad games in a row, people want to say he’s finally hit the end, as is the case after his last two efforts thru Tuesday. It is a fact, though, that he has five blown saves and hasn’t had more than that since 2003 when he had six.
But what’s amazing is his ERA this year, again, thru Tuesday, is 2.23, exactly what his career ERA is. It will be interesting, however, to see how the 41-year-old stopper performs down the stretch. Another 3 or 4 blown saves the rest of the year would be more than a bit worrisome heading into postseason play.
–Mets shortstop Jose Reyes was in line for a seven-year, $140 million, Carl Crawford-ish contract when he became a free agent this fall, but now he’s on the shelf with his second hamstring “strain” of the season and seventh of his career. His value is plummeting and while he’ll still find someone willing to give him five or six years, assuming he doesn’t get hurt a third time when he comes back in 2 or 3 weeks, he’s probably lost about $40 million with this second injury.
–Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg made his first rehab start after reconstructive elbow surgery last September and he passed the test, striking out four of the eight batters he faced, with a fastball clocked at 96 to 98! Not bad. I’d say there is cause for optimism come next spring.
Meanwhile, 18-year-old Bryce Harper is getting a bit of a comeuppance at AA Harrisburg, hitting just .255 in 106 at-bats. Harper will be at spring training as well, no doubt, but since he’s not tearing up AA, I think it’s safe to say next season he’s starting it off in AAA, maybe AA, depending on the kind of spring he has. Regardless, Harper should be on the big club next June. Just my guess.
–Shu first informed me of a statement White Sox slugger Adam Dunn made the other day. On Monday, Dunn, he of the .163 average, said he will “do what I can to not let this happen again, obviously,” in agreeing with a suggestion by manager Ozzie Guillen that Dunn needs to show up next spring in much better shape. Like how can Dunn admit he was clearly out of shape after signing a huge contract for the ChiSox?
–There is a story that the Los Angeles Dodgers will lose a minimum of $27 million this year but the figure could be far higher, based on the decrease in tickets sold, some 8,000 less per game than last year. You see, it doesn’t include all the no-shows. As the L.A. Times put it, “Like almost scary” how many there are. Huge swaths of empty seats in Dodger Stadium. Empty sections (like at Tuesday night’s Mets home game against San Diego, I’d add). Some nights the number of no-shows is about 50%, according to some, vs. a figure of 17.4% given as part of the McCourt divorce proceedings for 2009. Just a simple math calculation, using an average $11.74 of lost concession revenue per no-show, has the Dodgers losing an additional $7 million+ on top of the estimated $27 million. [Steve Dilbeck / L.A. Times]
Foot-Ball Bits
–A lot of the players in the NFL are complaining how the new collective bargaining agreement took away two-a-days. They say it doesn’t feel like a real training camp.
–Goodness gracious, Denver quarterback Tim Tebow is just getting riddled, including by ESPN.com’s Rick Reilly, who observed a scrimmage in Denver the other day wherein No. 1 quarterback Kyle Orton was nearly perfect, and the man he deposed, Tebow, “looked like a man being chased by bees. He barely got off a pass (1-for-3) and was sacked three times. Nice kid, sincere as a first kiss, but he’s not ready yet, might never be ready. Somebody alert the Filipino missionaries. If he doesn’t improve, he might be among them sooner than we thought.
“The Heisman Trophy winner looks stiff under center. Most quarterbacks go snap-step-step-step-throw. Tebow goes snap-step-step-step-think-ponder-think-some-more-finally-decide-throw-three-feet-behind-the-receiver.
–The Los Angeles City Council and developer AEG (Anschutz Entertainment Group) reached agreement on building a downtown football stadium so now there is all kinds of conjecture as to who might fill it. The Oakland Raiders? Would they consider coming back? How about San Diego? The Chargers haven’t been able to get a stadium of their own. Would they move up the coast? Actually, the NFL is hoping two teams fill the new stadium, a la the Meadowlands. The Chargers seem to be a lock for one. The only other possible candidates would then be Jacksonville, St. Louis, Buffalo and Minnesota.
As for Oakland, the only Los Angeles professional team to win a Super Bowl while they were in L.A. for 13 years, as the L.A. Times’ Bill Plaschke writes:
(The) lowlights were many, with gangs adopting their colors and thugs roaming their stands and crazy Coliseum tailgate parties that once included the cooking of a dog.
“The atmosphere got so ugly, ‘Raider Fan’ became a euphemism for every rogue and rascal in town. Somebody cut you off in traffic? Raider Fan. Somebody talking too loud in the movie theater? Raider Fan. The recent spate of violence at Dodger Stadium? Who else? Everybody blamed it on Raider Fan.
“The moniker is often unfair, of course, because 95% of Raiders fans are just good football fans who simply like to wear foreboding colors. But perception became reality, and the Raiders did little to distance themselves from it.”
College Ball
—Rutgers is the latest school to consider allowing the sale of beer at home games. 36 Division I schools now sell it in some capacity, including seven of the eight schools in the Big East. Of course it’s all about revenues. West Virginia, for example, will make between $500,000 and $1.2 million from beer sales and additional sponsorship rights. At WVU, like at most schools allowing beer in some form, the sales will be shut off middle of the third quarter.
–Penn State coach Joe Paterno, 84, was due back on the practice field for the Nittany Lions, Wednesday, following a collision with a player that sent Joe Pa to the hospital with arm and hip injuries. Geezuz, he could have been killed at his age. Paterno is entering his 46th season.
–Two competitors in Sunday’s New York City Triathlon died in the swimming portion; a 64-year-old man and a 40-year-old woman, both of heart attacks. The only other fatality in the 11-year history of the event was also in the swim portion in 2008. Race officials may now start seeking proof participants can do the swim. It’s also not as if officials weren’t prepared. They had 53 kayakers, 32 lifeguards, 10 boats and two jet skis patrolling the river during the race.
Incidentally, the Journal of the American Medical Association published a study last year that showed there were 1.5 deaths per 100,000 participants in the triathlon from 2006 to 2008, virtually all in the swim portion; twice the rate of fatalities in marathons. I’m almost positive the rate in half-marathons is even higher for reasons I’ve noted before. [I just signed up again for the half-marathon in December down in Kiawah, only this time I’m giving zero thoughts to breaking two hours and just want to make sure I run the 13 miles, no walking. It was two years ago I passed a guy near the finish line at Kiawah who was on the ground and learned later he died from a heart attack. Detroit had a half-marathon the same year where three died.]
–Back to swimming, distance swimmer Diana Nyad ended her second bid to swim from Cuba to the Florida Keys after about 29 hours of what was expected to be a 60-hour, 103-mile event. Nyad, 61 years young, said she realized the conditions weren’t conducive to finishing and that currents were pushing her towards Africa (slight exaggeration, perhaps). Way back in 1978, Nyad tried the same swim and quit after 41 hours. But last time she used a shark cage, which hindered her. This time she relied on an electrical field to keep Whitey away from her.
Nyad does hold the record of 102.5 miles for a cageless, open-sea swim, set in 1979 when she stroked from the Bahamas to Florida.
–Update on the polar bear attack. The father of one of those injured, Patrick Flinders, said the boy has a fractured skull and his head was in the bear’s mouth before he escaped.
“Mr. Flinders said his son had undergone an operation in Norway to remove small pieces of bone and parts of the polar bear’s teeth…His son’s face and head are badly swollen but he has spoken to him on the phone and he sounded well.”
Patrick punched the bear in the nose and used his rifle to fight back.
Mr. Flinders acknowledged what we all know; that his son’s mental health will be more important than the physical side down the road.
“I imagine the horrors of seeing his friend savaged and killed by a polar bear just inches away will play through his mind time and time again.”
The Irish Independent’s James Orr and Richard Alleyne described what happened the fateful night in Svalbard.
“An explosive trip wire designed to scare off approaching animals failed to trigger and without a watchman there was no second line of defense.
“Mike Reid, the 29-year-old expedition leader, desperately tried to shoot the animal after it attacked the tent where people were sleeping, explained Superintendent Arild Lyssand. But each time he pulled the trigger the rifle failed to fire. His fellow guide Andy Ruck, 27, tried to fire a flare, but that failed too.
“Moments later, having fatally hurt Horatio (Chapple), the bear turned its attention to Mr. Reid, severely injuring him.
“It then returned to the tent where it attacked one other teenager before chasing down a third, who had tried to escape. Mr. Reid picked up a round off the ground which had failed to fire and reloaded. He then shot the bear in the head and killed it.
“Superintendent Lyssand said: ‘The 29-year-old picked up the rifle and pulled the trigger but the gun didn’t fire. Why did this happen?
“ ‘The gunman fired again but again it didn’t go off. He fired all four bullets in the magazine but none went off. We need to look at the routines of this British company to see that they were in order.’”
An autopsy showed the polar bear had an empty stomach and was probably driven by hunger to attack.
—Danica Patrick is going to be racing a full Nationwide Series schedule next year for JR Motorsports, owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr. This will be a much needed boost for NASCAR. She’ll also race in a few Sprint Cup events, including the Daytona 500.
–We note the passing of Fred Imus, younger brother of radio personality Don Imus. I used to be a big Imus listener, especially in the days when I was commuting, and Fred’s appearances were always entertaining.
–This is pretty funny. So I’ve seen one episode of “Jersey Shore” and that’s it for me in terms of reality television, but I may have to catch “Russian Dolls” on Lifetime for a number of reasons, namely because I have some experience with Russians. It’s about a bunch of women from the heavily Russian Brooklyn enclave of Brighton Beach and Crain’s New York Business interviewed some local residents.
“It’s a black eye for Russians,” said Anthony O., a 27-year-old Brighton Beach resident. “This show is going to stir a lot of negative feelings.”
“Truth be told, it already has. Local politicians began pummeling the show’s producers more than a year ago when casting calls first went out, claiming they were just cashing in on tired Russian stereotypes. Others note that the show begins on the wrong foot, given that Russian ‘dolls’ are literally synonymous with prostitutes. Many in Brooklyn’s ‘Little Odessa’ neighborhood have called on show producer Lifetime to pull the plug before the first episode airs Aug. 11 and real damage is done.”
Q: My girlfriend wants to use…[Err, err…can’t go there. Let’s find another.]
Q: After two dates, I can’t stop thinking about her. Am I in love, or just horny?
Worst topics on first dates, from a survey on dating site Zoosk.
67% – your ex
19% – medical issues
9% – politics…boy, I’d love to comment on this last one, given recent experience, but can’t.
Men’s Health asked Cintia (sic) Dicker for a few tips. [Ooh baby, guys.]
“Offer to cook. I’ll really be impressed if you can teach me something in the kitchen I haven’t seen yet.”
So like I’m at the A&P the other day and always check out the frozen food section for a 5 / $10 special and this week it was 5 packages of Stouffer’s Lasagna for $10! I mean it’s normally $4.49 a package, guys! I mean that’s like savings of $12.50! Or close to 2 six-packs of Heineken. She’s bound to be impressed, no?
“If you’re lousy on the dance floor, I’ll assume you’re lousy in bed. So fix that.”
Uh oh. Guess your editor won’t be asking out Ms. Dicker!
“Write a song for me, and you’ve got a card you can play for the rest of my life. ‘I wrote a song for you, honey.’ Game over.”
Roll out those…lazy hazy crazy days of summer
Those days of soda…and pretzels…and beer
—J.Lo is once again sparking controversy on the set of “American Idol.” She is reportedly negotiating a deal for up to $20 million to return for another season. Steven Tyler is already locked into a deal paying him $10 million a year, while Randy Jackson is coming back, salary not known. So J.Lo threatens to explode the pay scale all over again. Tyler and Jackson aren’t happy.
Top 3 songs for the week of 8/13/77: #1 “I Just Want To Be Your Everything” (Andy Gibb…eh) #2 “I’m In You” (Peter Frampton…you’re in me….yeesh…get a room, will you two?!) #3 “Best Of My Love” (Emotions)…and…#4 “(Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher And Higher” (Rita Coolidge…hasn’t aged well, the song that is) #5 “Do You Wanna Make Love” (Peter McCann… Frampton’s girl will…just sayin’ you might want to check with her…) #6 “My Heart Belongs To Me” (Barbra Streisand…peaked 13-14 years earlier) #7 “Easy” (Commodores… another big slow dance tune at Wake…incredible to think we actually drank Southern Comfort back then…good lord…no wonder I had a headache half my college days) #8 “Whatcha Gonna Do?” (Pablo Cruise… blows) #9 “You And Me” (Alice Cooper) #10 “You Made Me Believe In Magic” (Bay City Rollers…Scots introduced to America by Howard Cosell in a very bizarre moment)
PGA Golf Quiz Answers: 1) 1964 – Bobby Nichols defeated Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer. 2) 1965 – Dave Marr defeated Nicklaus and Billy Casper. 3) 1990 – Wayne Grady defeated Fred Couples. 4) 1991 – John Daly defeated Bruce Lietzke.
