Note: Posted early Wednesday, before the final games of the baseball season. Oakland-Texas should be great fun. What a story Billy Beane’s A’s team has written this year.
Chicago Bears Quiz: 1) Name the only QB in Bears history to throw 100 TD passes. 2) Name the only three to rush for 5,000 yards. [Hint: One played from 1955-64.] Answers below.
Ryder Cup Aftermath
“(What) happened at Medinah Country Club yesterday will go down on this side of the Atlantic as one of the biggest choke jobs in American sports history. The 2012 U.S. Ryder Cup team will carry that stigma with it for all eternity.
“Congratulations to European captain Jose Maria Olazabal for getting his revenge for what happened at Brookline 13 years ago. And give his European team credit for its dogged determination and improbable win, 14 ½ – 13 ½. But to say the Americans were simply outplayed yesterday would be too simplistic….
“(The) Americans came up small when the Europeans came up great. They arrived at Medinah cocky and overconfident. They played to the crowd instead of playing golf. It was cute when Bubba Watson implored the fans to cheer when he teed off. Then he went out and got whipped by Luke Donald 2&1 in the first match, putting the first blue flag on the board.
“U.S. Open champion Webb Simpson folded under the pressure of the tenacious Ian Poulter and Ryder Cup rookie Keegan Bradley proved no match for Rory McIlroy, who didn’t even need to warm up to beat him. (Justin) Rose flat out beat Mickelson with clutch putts on the final three holes, but FedEx Cup champ Brandt Snedeker was a no show in losing his match to unheralded Paul Lawrie, 5&3.
“There was nothing clutch about the Americans yesterday. Apparently, they believed all they had to do was show up to win….
“If there was an ultimate goat it was Steve Stricker, who finished 0-4 in his matches. He missed an 8-footer on the 18th hole Saturday that would have halved a four-ball match with Sergio Garcia and Donald. His miss gave Europe a point and belief it had a chance in singles. Yesterday, he missed a putt for par at the par-3 17th. It left Kaymer only needing to make par at the 18th to reclaim the Cup….
“The Americans were perceived to be stronger in singles. Individually, they were deeper and more talented. But when the blue flew up on the board early, the Europeans were inspired while the Americans shriveled. Jim Furyk bogeyed the last two holes to lose his match to Garcia. Matt Kuchar never led against Lee Westwood. Stricker was 2-over on the back nine against Kaymer. Tiger Woods, whose match didn’t matter, made just one birdie.
“Ian Poulter’s exploits in the Ryder Cup did much to cement his status as one of golf’s true global superstars. Yet it wasn’t that long ago that he was a complete nobody. Not since Ian Woosnam has the European Tour produced a bigger rags-to-riches story.
“Poulter might now fly around in private jets, have homes in England, Florida and the Bahamas, and never has to worry about money again, but about 15 years ago his future was anything but predictable.
“Nothing in the flamboyant Englishman’s background predicted near cult status as Europe’s Ryder cup hero. Even Poulter sometimes has trouble coming to terms with his never-have-to-worry-again lifestyle. ‘It is sometimes a bit surreal when I drive past the house I grew up in,’ Poulter admits.
“Poulter grew up in Stevenage, England. He began playing golf, as many small boys do, by following his father Terry around Stevenage Municipal with an old cut down 3-wood. Although he showed proficiency for the game, he didn’t have the luxury of playing elite amateur golf like peers Luke Donald, Justin Rose and Lee Westwood.
“ ‘I couldn’t tell you the names of the big amateur tournaments in Britain,’ Poulter admits. ‘I didn’t have the chance to play full-time amateur golf like some other kids because my parents couldn’t afford it.’”
Poulter worked at an outdoor market to earn pocket money. Then he decided to become an assistant club professional. His handicap was four. He made $5.20 an hour working at Jack O’Legs Golf Centre in Hitchin (now called Chesfield Downs Golf & Country Club).
“Poulter was so hard up he drove a clapped out Ford Fiesta and moonlighted as a part-time taxi driver for former European Tour pro turned referee Mark Litton. Poulter earned one dozen Titleist Professional 90s every time he drove Litton to the airport during the 1995 season.
“ ‘It was a big deal for me, though, because I had to pay for my own balls and couldn’t afford them,’ Poulter said.”
“The bull’s-eye on Ian Poulter’s back at the start of the week had swollen considerably by the time he walked on to the 1st tee for yesterday’s singles.
“And it must have doubled again by the time Poulter came off the 18th green with yet another point to his credit, another victim added to his tally after one more searing demonstration of just how remarkable he is in this competition….
“Poulter, who loves the limelight as a pig loves manure…is an anomaly, an Englishman with chutzpah, a man who likes to draw and designs clothes, a man who is not afraid to wear pink, a man with a big mouth, but someone who can back it up.
“You would think that a golfer who can rise to the occasion as clearly as Poulter does at the Ryder Cup…should be a serial tournament winner.
“Poulter’s victory haul since joining the European Tour in 2000 (and the PGA Tour in the U.S. four years later) is 11, of which two were at match play….[Ed. He has just one PGA Tour victory.]
“If you want an assessment of a golfer, then ask his peers. They know. They play alongside him. ‘That guy is an amazing talent,’ Bubba Watson said. Paul Azinger, the winning American captain four years ago, tweeted about Poulter: ‘You have a heart the size of Secretariat. If Europe can clone Poulter then this Ryder Cup can get close.’…
“One of those following him (on Sunday) was Theresa, his mother. Watching her son’s performance, she recalled how hours after he had been born she cradled him in her arms, saying quietly over and over again: ‘What are we going to call you? What are we going to call you? This boy’s name is destined to be up in lights. Let’s hope it’s for the right reasons.’
“It was yesterday. Poulter’s name was up in lights again. He had won his fourth match, defeating the U.S. Open champion. He had done his bit. He strode from the green in that quick walk of his, head held high. Ian Poulter, the hero of Europe.”
“Just how close Rory McIlroy came to being disqualified from the Ryder Cup became clearer yesterday when it was explained how his and Europe’s day was saved.
“McIlroy was blithely going about his business in his hotel room when he received a call from Conor Ridge, his manager, asking him if he was at the Medinah Country Club, where the singles matches were just about to get under way. The answer Ridge received turned his blood to ice.
“The world’s No. 1’s absence was drawn to the attention of the Europe team by two courtesy car officials whose job it was to check players out of the team hotel and to check them in at the course.
“When he was eventually tracked down, McIlroy was given the choice of a courtesy car to take him to the course or an unmarked police car. He ran to the police car and jumped in, with less than 25 minutes to go before he was due to tee off against Keegan Bradley in the third match of the day.
“Maggie Budzar, based at the hotel, had taken a call from her colleague, Erica Stoll, at the course asking if McIlroy had left.
“It was then that the alarm bells rang with the world No. 1, it emerged, still at his hotel, having thought that his match was an hour later, reading it on his phone as Eastern time rather than Central time.
“ ‘It was 10:30 a.m. and I knew J.P. [Fitzgerald, his caddie] had left about an hour earlier. I knew his tee time was 11:25 and he was third group to go off. And we still hadn’t seen him,’ Budzar said. ‘There was a huge crowd here waiting to video and photograph the players so everyone knew he [McIlroy] hadn’t come down yet….
“I called the guys at the driving range to see if they had seen him. They hadn’t so I called the European Tour officials to alert them. We then had someone go up to his room.
“ ‘I then asked a trooper [Pat Rollins, deputy chief of the Lombard Police Department] at the front of the hotel if he could take him with the ‘flash’ lights on. I gave Rory the choice of cars and he went straight to the front seat of the trooper’s car. That was about 10:52 and there was a sense of panic by then.’
“Two minutes late to the tee would have resulted in the loss of one hole. Five minutes and he would have been disqualified. And if that happened, the whole history of this particular Ryder Cup would have changed completely.”
Rory said, “I’ve never been as frightened going to a golf course in my life. I don’t want to think what sort of abuse I would have got if we had lost by a point and I hadn’t got there in time.”
–Euro captain Jose Maria Olazabal: “Seve will always be present with this team. He was a big factor for this event, for the European side, and last night when we were having that meeting, I think the boys understood that believing was the most important thing, and I think they did.”
–U.S. captain Davis Love III said: “We are all kind of stunned….I’m going to second-guess myself for a long time. Could have done a lot of things differently, but I’m proud of our team.”
–As Sean Martin of Golfweek wrote: “Love didn’t want to mix up his lineup…His team was split into six pairs that remained intact through practice rounds and the team matches. Each player had just one partner for the week. Woods could’ve used help, though. Stricker was struggling.”
—Steve Stricker: “I am disappointed that I let 11 other players down and the captains, and probably there at the end, Tiger and I at the end there to probably get some points. And I didn’t. So that’s disappointing…I felt like I was a part of this team. Towards the end of the season, I played well. I was really one birdie short of making the team on my own. So I felt like I deserved to be on the team. That wasn’t it. And I felt like my game was in good shape….I didn’t get it done.”
—Jim Furyk: “As far as team or individual, it is the lowest point of my year. It’s been a low year. I’ve played well…but haven’t closed the door.”
—Justin Rose: “We are in shock. We wanted to believe, we really did. But we had no illusions of how hard the day was going to be, four points against a team that’s played so well all week.
–Three of Love’s captain’s picks – Steve Stricker, Jim Furyk and Brandt Snedeker – combined to go 2-8-0. The fourth, Dustin Johnson, was the only undefeated American at 3-0.
—Five matches came to the 17th tee Sunday either all square or with the United States holding a 1-up lead. Europe won four of them, and halved the other. [Molinari’s match with Tiger.] The United States didn’t turn a single match in its favor over the final two holes.
—Tiger Woods’ Ryder Cup record is now 13-17-3.
Ball Bits
Oh well…I did say the Braves, Nationals, Cards and Giants would make the postseason.
But in the A.L., aside from the ChiSox, I picked the Yankees, Blue Jays, Rangers and Angels.
–Back on 7/16 in this space, I said that if the Braves make the playoffs, Craig Kimbrel is the Cy Young Award winner. Of course I want R.A. Dickey to get it (more on him below), but Kimbrel heading into the final game is 3-1 with 42 saves and a 1.02 ERA. That’s great.
But until listening to the Mets announcers the other day, I didn’t realize Kimbrel’s 16.5 strikeouts per nine innings and .123 opponents’ batting average are the two best in baseball history!
–Pretty dramatic win for the Yankees on Tuesday as they stayed one game ahead of the Orioles as 40-year-old Raul Ibanez tied the game in the bottom of the ninth with a two-run homer and then won it in the 12th with a single.
–For the third straight season, Derek Jeter has the most popular jersey, according to Major League Baseball. Jeter was followed by Josh Hamilton, Ichiro, Bryce Harper and Mike Trout.
Pretty funny about these last two because you would think by next year, they will be No. 1 and No. 2…and stay that way for perhaps the next 15 years.
Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates was a surprising sixth. Not because he doesn’t deserve it, I’m just surprised he has become that popular residing in small-market Pittsburgh.
–After a no-decision in his final start, the Mets’ R.A. Dickey (20-6, 2.73) revealed he would require surgery for a small tear in his abdomen that he suffered way back in April. He required regular treatment on it all year and pitched with a dull ache, he said. Luckily, Dickey added the injury wasn’t serious enough to land him on the disabled list until literally his last time on the mound when he said he felt “significant pain.” Dickey’s 230 strikeouts were the most by a Met since David Cone fanned 241 in 1991.
—David Wright said if the Mets don’t hammer out a contract extension in the offseason, he will test the free agent waters end of 2013. The Mets announcers were talking about this the other day and Keith Hernandez said he wouldn’t offer more than five years, but clearly Wright and his agent will be looking for a 7- to 8-year deal. I’ll say Wright is traded.
–Back in 2005, Adam Greenberg made his major league debut with the Chicago Cubs and was promptly hit in the back of the head with the very first pitch he saw. His career was immediately over.
But seven years later, now age 31, Greenberg signed a one-day contract with the Miami Marlins and appeared as a pinch-hitter against R.A. Dickey on Tuesday. Greenberg struck out on three pitches but received a rousing standing ovation both before and after. He hopes to resume a professional career though he hasn’t been with a major league organization since 2008.
Greenberg’s beaning in 2005 caused blurred vision and he had constant bouts of vertigo and severe headaches and it took nearly two years for him to regain his full health.
For seven years, Greenberg was one of just two players in baseball history to be hit in their first at-bat and never take the field. The other was Fred van Dusen of the 1955 Philadelphia Phillies. Van Dusen attended Tuesday’s game and threw out the first pitch.
“The man who held the career home-run record for 33 years finished his big league career with a single in his final at-bat.
“For Henry Aaron, it seemed wonderfully appropriate that the man who was – and still is – the career RBI leader plated a run with his final MLB swing.
“Thirty-six years ago this week – on Oct. 3, 1976, Aaron played his final big league game as the Milwaukee Brewers hosted the Detroit Tigers at Milwaukee’s County Stadium in the final contest of the year for both teams. The 42-year-old Aaron was penciled into the Brewers lineup as the designated hitter in the cleanup spot.
“Aaron grounded out to shortstop and third base in his first two plate appearances against the Tigers’ Dave Roberts. But in the bottom of the sixth inning, Aaron’s two-out, infield single scored Charlie Moore to cut Detroit’s lead to 5-1. Brewers manager Alex Grammas, possibly sensing the history at hand, immediately inserted pinch-runner Jim Gantner to replace Aaron.”
—Baseball umpiring has been so poor this year that I hope the umps are replaced by Division III football officials.
–As reported by Chris Dufresne of the Los Angeles Times:
“Rolling Tide, meet Beaver Dam.
“Alabama, it turns out, does not have a mortal lock on the No. 1 spot in college football.
“Oregon State, which is off to a 3-0 start, is No. 1 in two of the computer indexes used in the BCS standings formula.
“The Beavers are tops in the ColleyMatrix, which boasts ‘Bias Free Matrix Rankings.’
“If Colley had its way, Oregon State today would play No. 2 Notre Dame for the national title.”
Florida is No. 3 in Colley’s rankings, followed by ‘Bama, Florida State, South Carolina and Kansas State.
Ken Massey’s BCS rankings also have Oregon State and Notre Dame, one-two. But Massey’s has Texas Tech No. 3!
As for this week’s schedule, there are some good ones, to say the least. Don’t bother me starting at 3:30 ET…No. 4 LSU at No. 10 Florida.
Then at 7:00…one of the marquee games of the year when the schedule was first released…No. 5 Georgia at No. 6 South Carolina.
“Chicago survived a teachers’ strike, Los Angeles survived Carmageddon II and, now, America has survived its scars-and-stripes apocalypse, in which random citizens pulled out of line from Radio Shack were making critical third-down – and sometimes fourth-down – calls that could affect the outcome of football games and small families for generations to come.
“If we were not stronger as a people – thankfully, we have a foundation of fair play and a sense of perspective in this nation – I shudder to think where we might be today….
In defense of the replacement refs: Of the 10,000 most difficult calls in NFL history, 6,279 of them came in this season’s first three weeks. To arrive at this fact, I sat with Ron Jaworski at the NFL Films vault in Mount Laurel, N.J., until the wee hours of many nights and watched all available game footage from 1933 to the present.
The blatant offensive pass interference on that final Packers-Seahawks play was NOT reviewable. On that play, Golden Tate could’ve blindfolded and waterboarded the defensive back, and, if it wasn’t flagged, it’s okay. Heck, he could’ve taken out an AK-47 assault rifle he bought legally online – I apologize for getting too graphic here – and mowed down the entire Seahawks secondary and, although he might face criminal charges later on, it does not affect the video review of the play.”
–I do just have to get down the ending of the Giants-Eagles, Sunday night contest that came about after I had posted Bar Chat. Eli Manning was down 19-17 at his own 35 and had about two minutes to work with. But the Giants got greedy.
Manning moved the team to the Eagles 27 without completing a single pass owing to two pass interference calls. There were 49 seconds left. A 44-yard field goal for reliable kicker Lawrence Tynes. Coach Tom Coughlin ran Ahmad Bradshaw for one yard on first down. But then Manning threw a deep ball down the sideline for Ramses Barden and this time Barden was called for the interference. That backed the Giants up 10 yards to the 36 with 15 seconds left. Eli then threw an incomplete pass on second and 19. With no timeouts, the Giants couldn’t attempt another pass so Tynes was called on to kick a 54-yarder and, after his first attempt went wide left, he got a do over because Eagles coach Andy Reid had called timeout. Tynes’ second attempt was then right down the middle, but a yard or two short. It was not Tom Coughlin’s finest hour.
“We had the game in our possession, we were in position, we were in field goal range, we had an opportunity to do that and we didn’t get it done,” Coughlin said. “All of those things, put the blame right here.”
–Needless to say, the Mark Sanchez-Tim Tebow debate is in full throttle in these parts following Sanchise’s awful three games after a solid opener.
“So, yes, it is time for the Jets to get their money’s worth out of Tebow, time to stop treating (offensive coordinator) Tony Sparano’s playbook like some kind of mystical land of hidden treats and unconventional goodies….
“Right now, Tim Tebow is earning $2 million to be a decoy.”
Meanwhile, owner Woody Johnson made news when he told Bloomberg TV that he would rather see Mitt Romney win than his Jets.
“Well, I think you always have to put country first. So I think it’s very, very important that for – not only us – but in particular for our kids and grandkids that this election come off with Mitt Romney and (Paul) Ryan as president and vice president.”
“Over the past three weeks the Jets have been slammed by Pittsburgh; prevailed narrowly in an inept afternoon over Miami (that game was like watching a pair of baby skunks wrestle over a Styrofoam burger box); and gotten thrashed at MetLife Stadium by the San Francisco 49ers….
“(At 2-2, though,) the situation could be worse. And they did not lose the Ryder Cup to the Europeans on Sunday….
“(Nonetheless), they are hard to watch. Being bad in football is one thing but being bad and boring is a brutal combination. The (opening) Bills game was fun. The rest has been cold oatmeal.”
–We wish Indianapolis Colts head coach Chuck Pagano well after he was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, which is forcing him to step aside for six to eight weeks, or more. Offensive coordinator Bruce Arians will serve as interim coach.
“Washington’s Alfred Morris became just the sixth rookie running back since 1960 to accumulate 350 yards and four touchdowns through Week 4, according to Pro-Football-Reference.com. The sixth-round draft pick from Florida Atlantic, who rushed for 113 yards Sunday against Tampa Bay, joins Hall of Famers Earl Campbell (1978 Oilers), Eric Dickerson (1983 Rams) and Marshall Faulk (1994 Colts), five-time Pro Bowler LaDainian Tomlinson (2001 Chargers) and three-time Pro Bowler Billy Sims (1980 Lions).”
Morris has 376 yards. No. 1 in the NFL after Week 4 is Seattle’s Marshawn Lynch with 423.
It’s also yet another example of why NFL teams hardly ever use a high draft pick on a running back these days.
–If you are squeamish you may want to skip this one but it’s reported the Jets’ Santonio Holmes will miss the entire season because of a Lisfranc injury, the most serious break you can suffer to your foot. And what is this? [Quick…turn away…] One or all of the toes are completely separated from the foot.
–According to STATS LLC, the New York Knicks will be the oldest team in NBA history with an average age of 32.7, based on the top 13 players.
–Director of Shark Attacks and Vice President of Human Resources for Bar Chat, Bob S., was the first to submit this story out of Coos Bay, Oregon (near world famous Bandon Dunes).
From FOX 12: “An Oregon man trying to feed his 700-pound hogs was eaten by the animals Thursday, and sheriff’s deputies are trying to determine what led to his death.
“Terry Garner, who lived near the rural town of Riverton in southern Oregon, went to feed the animals on his farm at 7:30 a.m.
“When he wasn’t seen for several hours, a family member went to look for him, and found Garner’s dentures on the ground in front of the hog enclosure, which housed several of the animals.
“While searching the hog enclosure, the family member found Garner’s body in several pieces, with a majority of it consumed by the hogs, the district attorney said.
“Now deputies are investigating how Garner ended up in a position where the hogs were able to eat him.
“District Attorney Paul Frasier said there are a number of possible scenarios, including one in which Garner suffered a heart attack. Another possible scenario is that given Garner’s age and health, the hogs were able to knock him down and kill him. Frasier said there have been reports that at least one of the hogs had been aggressive toward Garner in the past.”
His remains are being further examined by experts at the Univ. of Oregon.
I’m guessing the aggressive hog overheard a conversation about a certain slaughterhouse and it didn’t take him long to put two and two together. He then spread the word quickly to the others.
“Oink…oink oink oink!!”
“Oink?! Oink?!”
–I’ll watch the beginning of next year’s Oscars telecast just to see Seth MacFarlane, who was selected to host it.
–R&B singer R.B. Greaves died. He was 68. Greaves’ “Take a Letter, Maria,” was a No. 2 pop hit in 1969.
So take a letter, Maria, address it to my wife / Say I won’t be coming home, gonna start a new life.
Top 3 songs for the week 10/5/85: #1 “Money For Nothing” (Dire Straits) #2 “Cherish” (Kool & The Gang…talk about mailing it in…) #3 “Oh Sheila” (Ready For The World…if you were hammered and at a dance club, you might find this passable…)…and…#4 “Take On Me” (a-ha…whatever…) #5 “Dress You Up” (Madonna) #6 “Saving All My Love For You” (Whitney Houston…downhill after this one…) #7 “Freedom” (Wham!…ughh) #8 “Lonely Ol’ Night” (John Cougar Mellencamp) #9 “Dancing In The Street” (Mick Jagger/David Bowie…just awful) #10 “Part-Time Lover” (Stevie Wonder…another piece of crap from Stevie…I’m going back to the Sixties…I can’t take this anymore…)
Chicago Bears Quiz Answers: 1) Talk about a franchise with little history at QB…Sid Luckman (1939-50) is the only Bears QB to throw 100 TD passes, 137. Jay Cutler is at 68, along with Billy Wade. Jim McMahon threw 67. Erik Kramer 63. Jim Harbaugh 50. 2) 5,000 yards: Walter Payton (16,726); Neal Anderson (6,166); Rick Casares (5,657…1955-64). Gale Sayers had 4,956. I totally forgot about Casares.
Next Bar Chat, Monday. Gonna be an awesome sports weekend, what with the NFL, CFB and the baseball playoffs. So load up on domestic, boys and girls. [Premium if your portfolio is in good shape.]
