Last Baseball Quiz of 2011: OK, it’s been a little while since the World Series: Name the eight franchises with at least 5 Series titles. [For example, the Minnesota Twins/Washington Senators have three.] Answer below.
So Saturday night, after telling you all for weeks and weeks about LSU-Alabama (not that you needed any reminding), I ended up watching mostly Wake Forest-Notre Dame, though I did see the bloody end of the former, as well as a terrific last quarter in the Oklahoma State-Kansas State contest (you have to love K-State coach Bill Snyder…a real throwback).
And as you all know by now, Alabama coach Nick Saban needed to spend a little more time recruiting a kicker, ‘Bamas two having missed 4 of 6 field goal attempts combined in the 9-6 OT loss to the Tigers.
“The ‘game of the century’ might not have been the best game Saturday night.
“Louisiana State and Alabama lived up to the billing to the extent the volume was high and the scoring was low.
“It was a brutally battled contest pulled out by LSU, 9-6, on Drew Alleman’s 25-yard field goal in overtime.
“The sold-out crowd of 101,821 at Bryant-Denny Stadium, stunned in the end, could not have been more vocally prepared.
“ ‘I don’t think anybody could watch that game and say Alabama doesn’t have a really good team,’ Crimson Tide Coach Nick Saban said.
“Alabama is really good and LSU, at least on this night, was a little better.
“But was it worthy of a rematch in the Bowl Championship Series title game?
“Neither bruising team Saturday could even bruise the end zone. There might as well have been a sign posted on the goal line: Keep Off The Grass.
“The game had plenty of passion and drama, but it was more a throwback to ‘Leatherheads’ than a modern-day keeper.”
It was only the 23rd regular-season matchup of No. 1 and No. 2 in the AP poll and the first time it had happened with SEC schools, but Nebraska-Oklahoma, circa ’71, it was not.
*By the way, LSU coach Les Miles will make an extra $200,000 on top of his $3.75 million salary if the Tigers win the SEC title, and $300,000 more for winning the national crown, as reported by Bloomberg’s Curtis Eichelberger. The football team had an operating profit of $43.9 million for the year ended June 30, 2010.
Elsewhere, the aforementioned No. 3 Oklahoma State-No. 14 Kansas State matchup was a 52-45 shootout as the Cowboys’ 28-year-old senior quarterback Brandon Weeden threw for a school-record 502 yards and four touchdowns, while the defense stopped Wildcats QB Collin Klein three times from inside the five in the last 12 seconds of the game to seal the deal.
No. 4 Stanford thrashed Oregon State, 38-13, as Andrew Luck had three TD passes.
No. 5 Boise State beat UNLV, 48-21.
No. 6 Oklahoma defeated Texas A&M, 41-25, thanks to a 28-0 third quarter.
No. 7 Arkansas bested No. 9 South Carolina, 44-28.
No. 8 Oregon beat Washington, 34-17.
No. 10 Nebraska lost at home to Northwestern, 28-25, in an incredibly awful loss for the Lincoln faithful.
And No. 13 Houston, still undefeated, whipped UAB, 56-13, as Cougar QB Case Keenum became the all-time leader in passing yardage, now 17,212 to Timmy Chang’s 17,072, in throwing for 407 on 39 of 44 passing. Rather efficient, I think you’d agree.
Finally, Wake Forest, playing in one of the biggest home games in its history, had a 17-10 halftime lead over the Fighting Irish but then were held scoreless in the second half and lost 24-17, the first and probably only time Notre Dame will travel to Winston-Salem. There was no way I could manage Charleston and the Wake game in the same week which was why I didn’t go, in case you’re wondering. Given the result, glad I stayed home.
–And glad I’m not a Penn State alum…Cathy Burke / New York Post
“A vaunted Penn State assistant coach who helped build its football program into a national powerhouse was busted yesterday for the sexual abuse of eight boys – while two other school honchos were accused of covering up the sickening case.
“Jerry Sandusky – once viewed as the odds-on favorite to succeed legendary head coach Joe Paterno – was arraigned on 40 counts involving youngsters he met through a nonprofit organization he founded in 1977.
“A grand jury said the boys were targets of sexual advances or assaults by Sandusky from 1994 to 2009 – a period during which Sandusky ‘used his position within the university and community to repeatedly prey on young boys,’ prosecutors said.
“One accuser, now 27, testified that the coach initiated contact with a ‘soap battle’ in the shower that led to multiple instances of involuntary sexual intercourse and indecent assault, a grand jury report said….
“At the same time, Penn State Athletic Director Tim Curley, 57, and Vice President for Finance and Business Gary Schultz, 62, were charged with perjury and failure to report Sandusky’s behavior….
“The grand jury report of the case said Paterno immediately reported an allegation of abuse against Sandusky as soon as he learned of it, but that Sandusky was no longer coaching at the time. [Ed. Sandusky retired in 1999.]
“The case is a huge blemish on an athletic program that prided itself on its squeaky clean – and scandal-free – reputation.”
“We are…Penn State. This cheer represents the pride alumni have always taken in both the academic and athletic standards the school has maintained.
“But the pristine image of Happy Valley took a huge hit Saturday when athletic director Tim Curley and Gary Schultz, the senior vice president for finance and business, were both charged with felony perjury relating to sexual abuse charges filed against former football assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. The indictment centers around an incident in which Sandusky allegedly assaulted a naked boy in the Lasch Football Building on the Penn State campus in March 2002.
“If these allegations prove to be true, Curley and Schultz have to go. But they’re not the only ones.
“Legendary coach Joe Paterno, who is said to have testified before a state grand jury that he knew of the allegation and informed Curley, apparently took no other steps such as telling authorities, so he should be gone, too. Sexual abuse of children is a zero tolerance issue.”
By the way, much of the grand jury testimony is so awful I refuse to print it here.
“A graduate assistant for the team told the grand jury he alerted Mr. Paterno in 2002 that he had seen Mr. Sandusky sexually assaulting a boy in the shower at the Lasch Football Building on the Penn State campus. The graduate student told the grand jury he went to Mr. Paterno’s home the next day and described what he had seen. Mr. Paterno, in turn, told Mr. Curley.
“About a week and a half later, Mr. Curley and Mr. Schultz met with the graduate assistant, then told Mr. Sandusky that he could not bring any children from (Sandusky’s) Second Mile (Foundation) onto campus, a ban the grand jury said Mr. Curley acknowledged was ‘unenforceable.’ The university officials did not alert law enforcement.”
This story is just heating up. It’s also now part of Paterno’s legacy. On Sunday he issued a statement:
“If this is true we were all fooled, along with scores of professionals trained in such things, and we grieve for the victims and their families. They are in our prayers.
“As my grand jury testimony stated, I was informed in 2002 by an assistant coach that he had witnessed an incident in the shower of our locker room facility. It was obvious that the witness was distraught over what he saw, but he at no time related to me the very specific actions contained in the grand jury report….
“In the meantime I would ask all Penn Staters to continue to trust in what that name represents, continue to pursue their lives every day with high ideals and not let these events shake their beliefs nor who they are.”
–Meanwhile, back to the ugly issue of realignment, Boise State was given permission by the state of Idaho to accept an invitation to the Big East as a football only member. The conference is also targeting Air Force and Navy, on a football only basis, as well as Houston, SMU and Central Florida as all-sports members in its attempt to rebuild and keep its automatic BCS entry.
Separately, West Virginia filed suit to be allowed to leave earlier than the 27-month waiting period the Big East demands as the Mountaineers head to the Big 12.
Notre Dame defeated Wake Forest, as noted earlier, but as an alum I have to say it was kind of cool to see this bit by Andrew Kahn in the Wall Street Journal prior to the contest; an item I touched on in a different fashion the other week when it comes to the Demon Deacons.
“Notre Dame is at Wake Forest Saturday, which – based on those schools’ performance in Graduation Success Rate – is the premier showdown of the college football season.
“If you’re not familiar with it, GSR is the metric the NCAA uses to determine the number of student-athletes on any team who actually earn a college degree. Unlike the federal graduation rate, the GSR takes into consideration transfer students, so long as they’re academically eligible.
“In the latest report, which was released by the NCAA last week and was based on student-athletes who entered school from 2001 to 2004, Notre Dame’s overall GSR (99%) ranks No. 1 among the 120 major-college schools. Wake Forest (94%) is tied for No. 7. In terms of football GSR only, Notre Dame (97%) is first and Wake Forest (81%) is 16th.
“But if you consider these school’s athletic programs as a whole, it’s No. 1 vs. No. 2. Eighteen of Notre Dame’s 22 teams (82%) got a perfect GSR score – the highest percentage nationally. Wake Forest’s 79% ‘perfection’ rate is second-best. In case you’re wondering, 25% of Alabama’s teams received perfect scores (four out of 16), while just one of LSU’s 16 teams did.”
I still would rather have a few more wins quite frankly, even if it means accepting a lower GSR because when I’m sitting at a bar with friends discussing results, no one really gives a [darn] about the ‘perfection’ rate.
–You’re new AP Poll…
1. LSU 9-0
2. Oklahoma State 9-0
3. Stanford 9-0
4. Alabama 8-1
5. Boise State 8-0
6. Oregon 8-1
7. Oklahoma 8-1
8. Arkansas 8-1
9. Clemson 8-1
10. Virginia Tech 8-1
11. Houston 9-0
12. Penn State 8-1
14. Georgia 7-2…if they beat LSU in the SEC title game, does Boise play in the BCS Championship? The computers would be scrambled big time, I’m tellin’ ya. [I don’t need to repeat anymore exactly why Georgia’s play is important for B.S.]
And the new BCS Poll…
1. LSU .9931
2. Oklahoma State .9447
3. Alabama .8836
4. Stanford .8749
5. Boise State .8473
6. Oklahoma .7978
7. Oregon .7708
8. Arkansas .7452
Next weekend’s Oregon-Stanford affair in Palo Alto.
LSU-Arkansas, Fri., Nov. 25
Oklahoma-Oklahoma State, Sat. Dec. 3
What a day for New York area football fans as both the Jets and Giants registered huge wins; the Jets handily defeating the Bills up in Buffalo, 27-11, as the defense shined, while the Giants posted a huge win up in Foxboro in beating the Patriots, 24-20, as quarterback Eli Manning engineered another dramatic 4th quarter TD drive with little time remaining. So the Jets, at 5-3, and the Giants, 6-2, look to be in the hunt for sure the rest of the way, making Sunday afternoons rather entertaining around here.
[Next Sunday the Pats come to play the Jets; the Giants head out to San Francisco.]
And not for nothing but Tom Brady now has 10 interceptions, throwing two more on Sunday, after having just four all last season.
Elsewhere, the 49ers go to 7-1 after beating a pathetic Redskins squad, 19-11. Cincinnati is 6-2 after defeating the Titans, 24-17, behind rookie QB Andy Dalton. And Tim Tebow rushed for 117 yards and threw two touchdown passes as Denver defeated Carson Palmer and the Raiders, 38-24, with Palmer throwing three INTs. No doubt, Tebow is a lightning rod, or rather if you criticize him you’re the one likely to be struck down by lightning by, err, you know, the Big Guy, cuz that’s what He does, except when He doesn’t.
But in the games that really matter…in terms of 2012 and beyond…the Suck for Luck contests:
Miami won its first, 31-3, over the Chiefs. The Colts fell to 0-9 as Atlanta rolled, 31-7, and in a game of historic proportions, 1-6 Arizona defeated 1-6 St. Louis in OT, 19-13.
Indianapolis 0-9
St. Louis 1-7
Miami 1-7
Arizona 2-6
Minnesota 2-6
Seattle 2-6
Carolina 2-6
Jacksonville 2-6
–There were a number of articles heading into Week 9 on the state of the kicking game in the NFL.
“Through Week 8 – less than halfway through the 17-week NFL schedule – place-kickers made 45 field goals of 50 yards or longer, putting them on pace to obliterate the record of 66 long-range field goals set in 2008, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
“While the coming bad weather might slow the pace a little, history indicates it will not foil field goals entirely. At this point in 2008, kickers had made 32 field goals of at least 50 yards, leaving more than half to be made in harsher conditions. Even more surprising: kickers are making the longest field goals at an astonishing rate – 71.4 percent this season. In 2008, Elias said, the rate at season’s end was 63.5 percent.”
Consider this. “The only pure kicker in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Jan Stenerud, made only 17 of 64 field-goal attempts of 50 yards or more in his 19-year career. He made the most – converting 3 of 4 – in 1984.”
This year, Oakland’s Sebastian Janikowski and Jacksonville’s Josh Scobee have already made five each.
“Stenerud’s career field goal percentage was 66.8. Were he kicking this season, that would place Stenerud next to last in success rate…Overall field goal percentage this season is 85.9, up from 82.3 last season.”
As Battista notes, there are always rumors the balls are being doctored, but more importantly, long snappers are so much better than they used to be. Long gone are the days when the regular center performed both roles, so the result is “fewer wobbly snaps, more precise placements and little to throw off the timing of the kicker.”
As New York Jets special-teams coach Mike Westhoff said, “You have a really efficient operation. It becomes an efficient battery.”
–As reported by Bill Madden of the New York Daily News, all this talk that the owners and baseball players’ union are close to a new collective bargaining agreement is bunk. There is a huge issue out there, the slotting of the amateur draft, which the union is vehemently opposed to. Suddenly, prospects for a new deal by Dec. 11, when the current one expires, are up in the air. Simply, the owners want to limit the amount that can be shelled out to players in the draft.
Ergo, the winter meetings, scheduled for Dec. 5-8, “are likely to be held hostage, as is the entire free-agent market, at least for the big-ticket players such as Albert Pujols, Prince Fielder, Jose Reyes and C.J. Wilson, as long as the clubs are in the dark as to the new financial parameters surrounding a luxury tax, free agent compensation, minimum salaries etc.”
Madden also reports that the A’s will eventually be given permission to move to a new stadium in San Jose.
–Baseball lost two of its alumni this week. Matty Alou, the middle brother in one of the sport’s great families, died in the Dominican Republic. He was 72.
Alou was a part-time outfielder for the San Francisco Giants, hitting just .231 in 1965, when he was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates following the season for Joe Gibbon and Ozzie Virgil. The slap-hitting Alou then blossomed as the Bucs installed him as their everyday center fielder and Matty thrived under the tutelage of Manager Harry Walker, who revamped his swing, getting him to choke up on a heavier bat and go the opposite way.
1966 .342…leads league
1967 .338
1968 .332
1969 .331…leads league in hits (231) and doubles (41)
For his career, Alou hit .307 and had 1,777 hits. As Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times noted:
“His unorthodox style wasn’t pretty. Hall of Famer Ted Williams, among the greatest hitters in baseball history, told the Sporting News that Alou ‘violates every hitting principle I ever taught,’ and Hall of Fame pitcher Steve Carlton once called Alou ‘the worst .300 hitter I’ve ever seen.’”
It was on Sept. 15, 1963, that Matty and his brothers, Jesus and Felipe, made history when they became the only trio of brothers to play in the same outfield, for the Giants in Pittsburgh’s Forbes Field.
The trio amassed 5,094 career hits, beating out Joe, Dom and Vince DiMaggio for the best three-brother total of all time. [Paul and Lloyd Waner were the best brother act, however.]
And former Cardinals hurler Bob Forsch died suddenly at the age of 61 of an aneurism. Forsch was 168-136 in his career, 163 wins in a St. Louis uniform making him the third winningest in franchise history behind Hall of Famers Bob Gibson and Jesse Haines. He is the only Cardinal to throw two no-hitters (1978 and ’83). Forsch was also a solid hitter, clubbing 12 homers in his career.
And like Matty Alou, Forsch was part of a brother act; Ken Forsch pitched 16 seasons in the big leagues, winning 114. Ken also threw a no-hitter, thus they are the only two brothers to accomplish the feat.
What was so shocking about Bob’s death, though, was it was just a week earlier that Forsch threw the ceremonial first pitch before Game 7 of the World Series, filling in for an ailing Whitey Herzog, who had been slated to perform the duty.
–It’s reported the New York Mets will lose $70 million this year, so they cut 15 people from the 180-member front office. Aside from the uncertainty over the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme and what the Mets owners may end up paying, you also have the $25 million they borrowed from Major League Baseball. The Mets lost $51 million last season, according to principal owner Fred Wilpon.
So…if you thought the Mets will try to re-sign shortstop Jose Reyes, you can forget it. Let alone the fact the team, in deciding to move in the fences at Citi Field, is taking away Reyes’ speed game to a great extent, i.e., the triple machine when healthy. The “Great Wall of Flushing” in left will remain as a structural element, but it is no longer in play – a ball hitting it will be a home run, after having cleared an eight-foot fence that will be erected in front of it. Other areas are being brought in by 10 or more feet. GM Sandy Alderson said, “We’re trying to come up with a park that is a little more balanced in terms of offense and pitching and defense.”
The Mets say studies show that in the three seasons in Citi Field, using the new dimensions, the Mets would have hit 81 more home runs over that time while opponents would have hit a combined 70 more homers.
The move is being made ostensibly for two players…David Wright and Jason Bay, but now the Mets are acting like they will trade Wright this off-season.
I kind of liked the park the way it was. Build a club around the spacious place, like the Cardinals did long ago with the speed merchants they assembled in 1980s.
And two items I need to get in for the archives since I didn’t have a mid-week BC the other day; CC Sabathia’s new contract and the retirement of Tony La Russa.
Sabathia had four years and $92 million left on his deal through 2015 ($23 million annually), but he could have opted out to become a free agent. So the Yankees gave him $25 million in 2016 and in 2017, he has a vesting option for $25 million with a $5 million buyout. Thus, Sabathia is guaranteed $122 million over five years (with the buyout), or the possibility of receiving $142 million over six years. The guy’s been a workhorse, but he is grossly out of shape.
As for La Russa, in going out on top I forgot one item, pointed out by USA TODAY’s Mike Lopresti.
“The Cincinnati Reds, during the prime of the Big Red Machine, are the only National League team to repeat as World Series champions in 89 years.”
For La Russa, six pennants, three World Series titles…of course the guy is a lock for Cooperstown.
And, again for the archives, I didn’t have a chance to note an article by Thomas Boswell of the Washington Post on the Cardinals’ amazing run.
“For decades, and perhaps even generations in this baseball-as-secular-religion city, what the Birds did in the last 65 days of this season will be retold with amazement and, perhaps someday, almost with a hint of skepticism: Great-Grandpa might be embellishing a few details because, while some of this stuff could be true, surely all of it couldn’t.
“Yet it was. It is. We saw it. And we get all winter to digest what even now seems like a sequence of escapes, heroics and last-strike-of-the-season rescues from the edge of a 10,000-foot cliff that make you tingle, chuckle or want to cheer all over again just reciting them.
“What moves us so much about a two-month trek like the one the Cards just finished is not that it is literally ‘impossible.’ Of course, it’s not. What grabs us is that it borders on the unbelievable, it presses against the wall of wish fulfillment, in a way that we recognize from our own lives.
“What the Cardinals have done in their athletic world is akin to the best possible outcome we could imagine for ourselves, or those we love, in some area of our lives if maximum effort and maximum good fortune conspired….
“If you calculate and approximate the true percentages against the Redbirds – their comeback from 10 ½ games behind to win the wild card on the last midnight of the regular season; beating the Phillies and Brewers in the playoffs as underdogs while spotting them home-field advantage; and, finally, beating the Rangers, an almost universal pick to win this series – you’d probably come up with something like 1,000 to 1….
“This divine madness began after midnight on September 28th as Boston and Atlanta collapsed on the last night of the regular season, letting the Rays and Cards into the October party. The unexpected thrills continued as the Yankees and their $200 million-plus payroll were knocked out in Game 5 of their American League Division Series by the Tigers, while the Cards did the same to the Phillies and their Four Aces.
“So, between Sept. 28th and this final night of October 28th, baseball has produced so many superior games it would be silly to list them all.
“ ‘Last night, after Game 6, I told several friends, ‘I’m really proud to be the commissioner of a sport that can produce what just happened,’’ Bud Selig said before Friday’s game.
“Now, as one last tasty morsel, that amazing Game 6 can get its full due. The team that wouldn’t die erased every bleak memory from its embarrassing Phone Follies Fiasco in Game 5. Seems like years ago already. Why, Tony La Russa can probably laugh about it. Okay, maybe not.
“But he and his Cards, and every baseball fan, maybe including a few in Texas with especially broad minds, can all join in the last laugh, the last grin and the final glow of a two-month St. Louis drive from irrelevance to a title the like of which has never been seen since the World Series began in 1903.
Negotiations between NBA players and owners failed again over the weekend and now the players have four days, until Wednesday afternoon, to accept the league’s final offer or the entire season could be jettisoned.
Players Union President Derek Fisher said, “Right now, we’ve been given the ultimatum. And our answer is: that’s not acceptable to us.”
“The next move made by the players might be the one they have dutifully avoided since the lockout began – dissolving their union. A powerful group of agents and players are clamoring for such an action, which would shift the battle to the courts and perhaps buy them the leverage they need. But it could take months to execute, leaving little hope for salvaging the season.”
The league is sticking with its proposal of a 50-50 split of revenues and harsh restrictions on team spending and free agency.
The players vow not to accept less than 52.5 percent of league revenues, but then proposed a 51 percent share, with 1 percent devoted to aid retired players.
It will all become clearer on Wednesday. I’m guessing we end up with a 50-game season, beginning in mid-January.
Breeders’ Cup
I watched the last three races of the Breeders’ Cup on Saturday and it was thoroughly entertaining as Johnny Mac and I exchanged many a note on it.
“They were once engaged, Mike Smith and Chantal Sutherland. He is older and a Hall of Fame jockey. She is an up-and-comer whose interests extend to modeling and acting. Under the lights at Churchill Downs on Saturday night, however, they were just two riders on a couple of horses nobody thought had much chance of winning the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic.
“Smith’s horse, Drosselmeyer, was a plodder who had pretty much disappeared since winning the Belmont Stakes last year. Since then, Drosselmeyer had won only once, in a minor stakes race, in six starts.
“Sutherland’s horse, Game On Dude, was a run-early type who figured to press a wicked pace but was not thought to possess the class to hold off Uncle Mo, a former 2-year-old champion, let alone hold his own against the filly Havre de Grace…
But it was Drosselmeyer running down Game On Dude down the stretch in a truly thrilling finale.
For Smith, it was quite a contrast to last year when he failed to close the deal with Zenyatta in her last dramatic race.
“This helps, but that one is always going to hurt,” he said.
Sutherland, on seeing that it was Smith who beat her, said in good humored frustration, “You got to be kidding me – Mike Smith, aaaaah. I never saw them coming.”
Also at the Breeders’ Cup, Joseph O’Brien, 18, became the youngest jockey to win a Breeders’ Cup race when he won aboard St. Nicholas Abbey in the $3 million Turf. O’Brien is 5’ 11” and will soon be too big to be a jockey. His father is trainer Aidan O’Brien.
In the $2 million Juvenile, undefeated Union Rags, the early favorite for next year’s Kentucky Derby, finished just a nose behind front-running Hansen. Union Rags, though, had to run far more than Hansen and so the former should remain a Derby favorite come next spring. As for Hansen, what a great run, but who the hell knows if he can then translate the Juvenile success into a Rose garland. The race is supposed to showcase next year’s 3-year-old favorites but from 1984-2006, the winner of the Juvenile failed to then win the Derby, while the last four winners of the Juvenile did not even run in the thing.
Lastly, the France-based mare Goldikova came up short in her bid for an unprecedented fourth consecutive Breeders’ Cup Mile when she finished third in her last start of a remarkable career that saw her win 17 of 27 starts.
Steve Williams
Appearing at a banquet for caddies as part of the HSBC Championship in Shanghai, caddie Steve Williams, formerly on Tiger Woods’ bag for 13 of Woods’ 14 major titles, received a mock award from his fellow caddies for ‘celebration of the year’ for his jubilant posturing after his first win with Adam Scott.
Williams then explained that his demonstrative behavior had been fueled by a desire “to shove it right up that black arse—-.” Everyone in the audience, which included Lee Westwood and Rory McIlroy, was aghast.
The Daily Mail quoted an unnamed caddie who said: “Never have you been in a room and seen so many jaws drop at the same time. We knew he was an idiot but we didn’t know he was a racist idiot.”
Of course everyone knows how upset Williams remains over being fired by Tiger, so on Saturday morning, Williams issued an apology, admitting that the comment could be construed as racist but was not intended to be.
Both PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem and European Tour chief executive George O’Grady condemned Williams’ comment in a joint statement, though fell short of taking any action against him. For his part, Adam Scott, for whom Williams now works, said he’ll continue to support Stevie. “Everything in that room last night was all in good spirits and a bit of fun.” When asked by a reporter after the final round of the event, with Scott finishing tied for 11th, if he was condoning racism by not taking action against Williams, Scott evidently responded angrily:
“Look, I don’t think digging for a story out of me on this is a good idea. I had Steve issue an apology. What more should I do? I don’t know if you were there in the evening.” When the reporter shook his head, Scott added, “So I don’t think you have a leg to stand on when it comes to commenting.”
Woods was with agent Mark Steinberg when he heard news of what Williams had said. Steinberg said, “If (the account we heard) is true then it is sad it has come to this. It’s a regrettable comment but there’s really nothing Tiger can do or say. He’s just going to move on.”
Seth Davis, who wrote about golf for Sports Illustrated during many of the years Williams caddied for Tiger, tweeted he wasn’t that surprised over Williams’ comment.
“Why would anyone be shocked by anything that comes out of Steve Williams’ mouth? The guy is a lout – which is why Tiger kept him around. Pro players often say to their caddies: Your job is to show up, keep up and shut the f— up. Too bad Stevie didn’t get the memo.”
Oh yeah, this story has legs. Woods and Williams will be crossing paths a bunch the next few weeks, including at the Australian Open and the Presidents Cup.
–On a lighter vein, Golf Magazine had its annual year in review / reader poll.
David Feherty on Luke Donald’s consistency: “He’s a bloody walking ATM. I slid my AmEx between the cheeks of his ass and out popped $500.”
Which of these players is most overrated?
53% Camilo Villegas
29% Rickie Fowler
11% Luke Donald
Which of these players is most underrated?
31% K.J. Choi
24% Nick Watney
24% Matt Kuchar
16% Webb Simpson
Which 20-something will end his career with the most majors?
75% Rory McIlroy
11% Jason Day…I’ll go with him…and Simpson
Which player would you most like to see win his first major in 2012?
38% Steve Stricker
22% Dustin Johnson
20% Sergio Garcia…I kind of want him to, even though he is a jerk
Are you more likely to watch a PGA Tour event when Tiger is in the field?
40% Yes, a lot more likely. 20% Yes, a little more likely. 32% As likely. 8% No, less likely.
College Basketball
1. North Carolina
2. Kentucky
3. Ohio State
4. UConn
5. Syracuse
6. Duke
7. Vanderbilt
8. Florida
9. Memphis
10. Louisville
11. Pitt
But ESPN the Magazine ranks all 344 Division I hoops programs and Wake Forest, which not too long ago was No. 1 in the country, is ranked No. 197! 197?! Here are a few schools ranked in front of us.
191. Morehead State
192. Western Carolina
193. UT Arlington
Man, it’s going to be a long season…make that ‘another’ long season.
342. Houston Baptist
343. Southern
344. Chicago State
–The boxing world is saddened to learn Smokin’ Joe Frazier is under hospice care for liver cancer. Frazier, 67, was diagnosed four or five weeks ago.
It was in the “Thrilla in Manila,” Ali-Frazier III, that Ali insulted Frazier often leading up to the fight, calling him a “gorilla.” Frazier, deeply hurt, came out with a vengeance, only to lose in 14 in a vicious bout. At one point in the fight, Ali whispered in his ear: “Joe, they told me you was all washed up.” Frazier’s classic response: “They told you wrong, pretty boy.” Ali later conceded that their third bout “was the closest I’ve come to death.”
—Geoffrey Mutai of Kenya won the New York City Marathon in record time, 2 hours, 5 minutes, 6 seconds, smashing the previous mark of 2:07:43. Ethiopian Firehiwot Dado won the women’s race. Mutai earned $200,000 for winning and setting the course record. Dado took home $170,000. I always watch this event. Gets me all inspired to jog a little.
“3…Players in a lower-division Czech soccer match last week who were sent off with red cards before police, notified that the referee was repeatedly falling over, administered a Breathalyzer test that revealed the ref’s blood-alcohol level as 0.194.”
—Idiot of the Year candidate Kris Jenner, Kim Kardashian’s mom, was on “Good Morning America” Thursday, when Jenner was asked if her daughter should return Kris Humphries’ $2 million engagement ring after their 72-day marriage ended.
To which the National Congress of American Indians replied:
“The phrase ‘Indian giving’ is wrong and hurtful. The cultural values of Native Americans are based on giving unconditionally and empowering those around them. Instead this cultural value is forgotten when negative stereotyping of Native people occurs.”
I guess that’s why some Indians used to scalp their victims…to then give the scalp unconditionally to others.
—Director of Shark Attacks for Bar Chat, Bob S., sent in this bit from CBS and the AP.
“A professional surfer competing in a contest Tuesday in the cold waters of San Francisco’s Ocean Beach left the waves before the end of his heat after saying he saw a large shark.
“Surfer Dusty Payne, 22, of Hawaii left the surf while competing against Jordy Smith of South Africa. Payne said he spotted a large shark fin outside the ‘lineup,’ where surfers sit in the water for their turn.
“ ‘I was just sitting there, and I was waiting for a wave. I’ve seen dolphins before, and it wasn’t a dolphin,’ Payne said during an interview on the beach with the Rip Curl Pro Search event’s camera crew. ‘It was the biggest fin I’ve ever seen in my life coming straight at me.’
“A contest boat floating just offshore called in after the alleged sighting, saying they saw a dolphin, not a shark, said Dave Prodan, media director for the Association of Surfing Professionals.
“ ‘This obviously doesn’t preclude the situation of having both a dolphin and shark in the water at the same time, and event organizers launched a jet ski to further assess the situation,’ Prodan said.”
“An adult deer was found intact inside a huge Burmese python Thursday, after the snake was captured and killed in the Everglades.
“Contractors for the South Florida Water Management District encountered the python on a tree island…It was killed with a shotgun blast.”
Yet another reason why I recommend you always pack a bazooka. But get this…
“The python, an ambush predator, had staked out a known deer trail, (said Skip Snow, a biologist and python specialist). When the deer walked by [‘Zippity-do-daaa…Zippi-de-ayyy…My oh my what a wonderful…Doh!], the snake presumably seized the animal in its sharp, backward-pointing teeth, crushed the deer under its weight and coiled around it, killing the deer before consuming it, he said.”
Remind me not to go jogging on a deer path in the Everglades.
“The surveillance cameras at Hilltop Ski Area caught an unexpected prowler early Monday morning. ‘It was a big grizzly. He walked all around the chalet,’ said operations manager Rick Cramer.
“Cramer also said bears had been poking around the on-site caretaker’s cabin, where he lives, in the past few days.”
Aren’t bears supposed to be hibernating by now, especially in Alaska, you might be asking yourself? [Or perhaps your brain is just numb after reading all the above.]
“Holly Brooks, the Olympic skier and Alaska Pacific University coach, skied on the Hillside trails Thursday morning and was spooked to learn later about the bear….
“ ‘Usually I have a false sense of security in the winter when I’m skiing,’ she said. ‘It’s a little disconcerting to know that (the bear is) out there and hasn’t gone to sleep yet.’”
So let this be a warning to you, boys and girls. By the end of October, most black bears are out looking for a warm den or foreclosed property to bed down in. But as one wildlife official put it, “Brown bears may stay out longer…until around Thanksgiving.”
Lock the door on Thanksgiving, even if you’re expecting company. You just can’t be too careful these days. See the above deer.
–So you know that nut in Zanesville, Ohio, Terry Thompson, who released all the animals at his exotic animal farm before taking his own life? Turns out police encountered a little more excitement than we’d been previously told. From the AP:
“According to reports released on Friday, sheriff’s deputies who arrived at Thompson’s private compound had no choice but to shoot the animals, crouching between abandoned vehicles and tigers still coming out of their cages.
“Nearly all the cages were unlocked and holes had been cut in the metal fencing. A tiger and a black bear were in the same enclosure, but the door was unlocked and open. ‘As I backed the team up, the tiger came out the door and charged right at us,’ said deputy Jay Lawhorne.
“Deputies shot the tiger, and the bear, after it ran at other officers. Another deputy said he shot a charging black bear that dropped within two meters of him.”
–Lastly, on the ballot here in New Jersey this Tuesday.
Constitutional Amendment Authorizing Legislature by Law to Allow Wagering On Sports Events at Atlantic City Casinos and at Horse Racetracks
Top 3 songs for the week of 11/9/74: #1 “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” (Bachman-Turner Overdrive…great car song) #2 “Jazzman” (Carole King) #3 “Whatever Gets You Thru The Night” (John Lennon with The Plastic Ono Nuclear Band)…and…#4 “Tin Man” (America) #5 “Back Home Again” (John Denver) #6 “My Melody Of Love” (Bobby Vinton) #7 “Do It (‘Til You’re Satisfied)” (B.T. Express…do what? I don’t understand…) #8 “The Bitch Is Back” (Elton John) #9 “Life Is A Rock (But The Radio Rolled Me)” (Reunion) #10 “Carefree Highway” (Gordon Lightfoot…only one more decent year to go before the list begins to blow…which of course provides me with better material)
Last Baseball Quiz of 2011 Answer: At least five World Series championships…New York Yankees, 27; St. Louis Cardinals, 11; Oakland/Kansas City/Philadelphia Athletics, 9; Boston Red Sox, 7; Los Angeles/Brooklyn Dodgers, 6; San Francisco/New York Giants, 6; Cincinnati Reds, 5; Pittsburgh Pirates, 5. [Detroit has 4]
