**Update…Wed. a.m. As noted below, next BC on Mon., Dec. 31, but wanted to take care of a few items before they age too much.
New AP College Basketball Poll
1. Duke*
2. Michigan*
3. Arizona*
4. Louisville
5. Indiana
6. Kansas
7. Missouri
8. Cincinnati*
9. Syracuse
10. Ohio State
17. San Diego State
21. Notre Dame
24. Pitt
*Remaining undefeateds…one other, Wyoming, is unranked. On Tuesday, Arizona edged San Diego State, 68-67, in the finals of the Diamond Head Classic. SDSU proved they can play with anyone, even as star Jamaal Franklin was held to just nine points.
Love Letter
I missed Sunday that now former Mets pitcher R.A. Dickey had written an extraordinary farewell note to Mets fans and members of the organization that read in part:
“This is where my heart was, where I wanted to be, where I lived out a story of redemption and felt that every one of you shared it with me in some form or fashion. I loved pitching for you. I loved your passion, the way you embraced me from the start, and the way you seemed to appreciate the effort I was putting forth. Every time I’d walk off the mound after an outing, I’d look in your faces, the people behind the dugout, and felt as if all your energy and support was pouring right into me – even when I was lousy. It gives me chill bumps thinking about it even now….
“From the beginning of last season to the end – when you cheered with all you had that Thursday afternoon when I won my 20th game – I felt that this was a shared journey, that we were all in it together. What a great way for an athlete to feel….
“There were so many special relationships I formed that made my time with the Mets so much richer. Not just in the clubhouse, either. I enjoyed talked with Bill Deacon, the head groundskeeper, about his craft, and all that went into it. The security people who helped my wife and kids get in and out of the family lounge, the policemen who helped me get out of the parking lot, the folks at the Hodges Gate – so many people went out of their way to be kind to me, and they should know how much it was, and is, appreciated.
“I was going to take out an advertisement to express these thank yous, but decided in the end that there was too much I wanted to say. So I am writing this instead.”
As USA TODAY put it, “Can anybody make an argument that he’s not the most likable guy in baseball?”
Now he’s a member of the Toronto Blue Jays. Mets fans will root for him, while hoping the prospects we got in return pan out over the next 2-3 years. They better.
–I only watched a little of the Heat-Thunder Christmas Day game, and none of the others. Family took precedence, you understand. As we had dinner at my place, we actually had the Weather Channel on in the background as some members of the family had travel plans the next few days.
But Michael Lee of the Washington Post had a story yesterday on the age of some of today’s NBA players. To wit:
“Of the 47 players in NBA history to play at least 17 seasons, 10 are currently on active rosters.”
Jason Kidd and Grant Hill are in their 19th seasons; Jerry Stackhouse, Kevin Garnett and Kurt Thomas in their 18th seasons; and Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, Ray Allen, Marcus Camby and Jermaine O’Neal in their 17th seasons.
Paul Pierce, 35, recently became the second-oldest player to record consecutive games with at least 35 points, trailing only Michael Jordan.
In the past few weeks, 36-year-old Tim Duncan has had games of 22 points, 21 rebounds, and six blocks, and eight days ago had 30 points, 18 rebounds and five blocked shots, the first time in 11 years he had those numbers.
—DeMarcus Cousins’ “indefinite suspension” last all of one game.
–It’s now been revealed with the suicide of former major leaguer Ryan Freel at the age of 36 that he once estimated he had suffered up to 10 concussions, Freel being a fearless outfielder who hurtled into the walls, seats and other players while attempting to make spectacular plays. In one instance, 2007, he was carted off the field in an ambulance after a collision with a teammate.
–In a related vein, I forgot to mention the death the other day of Larry Morris, the Chicago Bears star linebacker who was named the MVP of the 1963 NFL Championship game as Chicago defeated the Giants. Morris died of complications from dementia, with a geriatric psychiatrist saying Morris’ condition was related to football contact. His wife said Morris had first displayed these symptoms in his mid-50s.
–In SMU’s 43-10 win over Fresno State, SMU defensive end Margus Hunt had quite a game and as a result is no doubt rocketing up the draft board for this coming spring. Hunt in the first half alone forced two fumbles, had two sacks and got a safety.
The thing is, SMU had recruited the now 6-8, 280-pounder from Estonia to be on the track team where he was a junior world champion in the shot and discus back in 2006. He then caught the eye of the football coach, walked on and in his first year blocked seven kicks, one short of the NFL record. [He would later block ten field goals in his career, an NCAA record.] He is rumored to run the 40-yard dash in about 4.6 seconds.
But back on 11/19/09 in this space I wrote of Hunt, at the prodding of SMU alum and PIMCO friend Paul P., and then I forgot about the guy.
“While the typical college or high-school season lasts no more than 14 games, this year’s rookie standouts are getting better as the season goes on. Seattle’s Russell Wilson has a 66% completion rate and 15 touchdowns to 2 interceptions in the Seahawks’ recent 6-1 run. Robert Griffin III has won five straight starts, a stretch during which he’s completed 68% of his passes with 12 touchdowns and two interceptions, while averaging 6.8 yards per rush. And Andrew Luck, who’s been asked to do the most passing among the three likely playoff-bound QBs, has completed 55% of his passes while throwing 14 touchdowns to 11 interceptions in Indianapolis’s recent 8-2 run, better than the No. 1 pick’s shaky start.”
—Charles Durning, 89, passed away. The man who grew up in poverty in Highland Falls, N.Y., whose father died when he was 12 and lost five of his sisters to smallpox and scarlet fever, became a World War II hero and then one of the better actors of his generation, got his start as an usher at a burlesque theater in Buffalo, N.Y., when one of the comedians showed up drunk and Durning took his place.
Charles Durning went on to appear in 1982’s “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas,” “Dog Day Afternoon,” “Tootsie,” “The Muppet Movie,” “Dick Tracy,” “The Sting,” “North Dallas Forty,” and four different Santa Claus movies made for television.
He was also among the first wave of U.S. soldiers to land at Normandy during the D-Day invasion and the only member of his unit to survive.
“He killed several Germans and was wounded in the leg. Later he was bayoneted by a young German soldier whom he killed with a rock. He was captured in the Battle of the Bulge and survived a massacre of prisoners.
“In later years, he refused to discuss the military service for which he was awarded the Silver Star and three Purple Hearts.
“ ‘Too many bad memories,’ he told an interviewer in 1997. ‘I don’t want you to see me crying.’”
–And Jack Klugman passed away at the age of 90. From about 1970-78, some of us of a certain age were able to catch what I consider the golden age of comedy on television. “The Bob Newhart Show,” “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “All in the Family,” and “The Odd Couple,” for starters…and then cult favorites like “Room 222,” “The Brady Bunch,” and “The Partridge Family.”
Klugman of course starred in “The Odd Couple,” which ran from 1970 to 1975, with Tony Randall. Klugman then went on to star on “Quincy, M.E.,” 1976 to 1983.
In TV Guide’s 1999 listing of “TV’s Fifty Greatest Characters Ever,” Felix and Oscar ranked No. 12. Klugman won two Emmy Awards for his portrayal of Oscar Madison, a New York sports writer.
Just a little anecdote from Dennis McLellan of the Los Angeles Times:
“Back home in 1945 after serving in the Army during World War II, Klugman lost the $3,000 he had saved in U.S. savings bonds by betting on baseball games. Worse, he owed $500 to a loan shark and faced serious bodily injury unless he made a payment within three days.
“Unable to come up with the cash, Klugman skipped town and moved to Pittsburgh, where he was accepted into the drama department of what is now Carnegie Mellon University. A few years later he moved to New York, where he landed parts in off-Broadway and summer stock.”
Jack Klugman also loved the track. As recently as just a few months ago, he was sitting there, making bets all day. His life was about horses and show business, say his friends.
And it was back in 1980 that a horse he was co-owner in, Jaklin Klugman, finished third in the Kentucky Derby behind Genuine Risk and Rumbo. “The most wonderful time in the world,” Klugman said in a 1997 ESPN.com interview.
[Posted Sunday evening, with Seattle up big over San Francisco.]
College Football Quiz: Name the six schools to have 10 or more wins in each of the past three years, including bowl games (as of this weekend). Answer below.
NFL Review
–Wow, what a year for receiver Calvin Johnson. On a national stage, Saturday night, Johnson broke Jerry Rice’s single-season receiving yards record with 11 catches for 225, upping his total to 1,892, surpassing Rice’s mark of 1,848 set in 1995. Johnson now has one game to hit the remarkable total of 2,000, while he also set an NFL record with his eighth consecutive 100-yard receiving game, and he’s the first to have 10+ receptions in four straight.
It’s amazing to think that after seven games this year, many were thinking ‘What’s wrong with Calvin Johnson?’ after a slow start. I was prepared to pass that along but thought, oh, better wait a week or two. [Like my ‘wait 24 hours’ mantra.] Glad I did.
[Atlanta (13-2) won the game by the way, 31-18 as Detroit fell to 4-11.]
–In the latest episode of “As the Jets Turn,” there were stories that the team is looking to trade quarterback Mark Sanchez, while others have Tim Tebow headed to Jacksonville. I hope my dysfunctional Jets remember to go to training camp next summer with more than one quarterback, but with these bozos, you never know.
“I thought you were in charge of making sure we had some extra QBs lying around.”
So the last extra, Greg McElroy, got the start on Sunday against the Chargers and was promptly sacked 11 times (the NFL record being 12) in the Chargers’ 27-17 victory, both teams falling to a meaningless 6-9. McElroy was 14/24, 185, 0-1, 65.5. My Jetswear is all being shipped to Yap this coming offseason.
The Colts (10-5) secured a playoff spot with a 20-13 win over Kansas City (2-13) despite Jamaal Charles’ 226 yards on the ground. From two wins to ten and counting for Indy. Amazing.
The Bengals (9-6) eliminated the Steelers (7-8) 13-10 in Pittsburgh. What a disappointing season for Ben Roethlisberger and Co., the quarterback throwing two key interceptions on Sunday. It’s not as if the Bengals played well. They turned the ball over three times and will be the worst team to make the playoffs in both leagues.
The Redskins (9-6) won another, their sixth in a row, 27-20 over the Eagles (4-11) as Robert Griffin III returned from a knee injury to lead the way. Should Washington defeat Dallas at home next week, they win the division.
Dallas (8-7) inexplicably lost to the Saints (7-8) in Big D, 34-31 in overtime, despite Tony Romo’s 26/43, 416, 4-0, 123.8 performance. Drew Brees threw for 466 yards and three touchdowns.
And the Giants (8-7), just needing to win their last two to get in the playoffs, laid another egg in losing 33-14 to Baltimore (10-5), which clinched the AFC North. The Ravens outgained the Giants by a staggering 533-186. It’s not even worth getting into the Giants’ playoff scenario.
Minnesota’s Adrian Peterson needed to average 147 yards rushing the final two games to best Eric Dickerson’s single-season rushing mark of 2,105 and on Sunday, Peterson was held to 86 on 25 carries by the Houston Texans (12-3). But the Vikings won, 23-6, to go 9-6 and keep their playoff hopes very much alive. Peterson now needs 208 yards in the finale against the Packers to have the record all to himself.
–Finally, Dec. 23, 1972…the “Immaculate Reception,” Franco Harris against the Oakland Raiders. Many of us remember that day. With all my relatives in Pittsburgh, I had taken a temporary leave of absence from being a Jets fan to root on the Steelers as they suddenly improved, thanks to some awesome drafts, finishing the season 11-3 after eight straight losing ones.
Dec. 23 was a Saturday and my dad picked me up after a youth basketball game after which I caught the second half of the action in Pittsburgh. At age 14 I don’t think I uttered “Holy S—!” but it was certainly something close to it as my parents and I watched the moment that forever after has lived as one of the most remarkable plays in all of sports history.
This weekend, next to Heinz Field, the Steelers unveiled a monument to mark the moment when Terry Bradshaw’s pass to Frenchy Fuqua ricocheted off him or Raiders safety Jack Tatum and into the hands of Franco Harris, who then rumbled into the end zone with just five seconds left for the 13-7 victory. Said Harris on Saturday, “There are moments in life where you know what you’re doing. Me and Frenchy, we had no idea what we were doing.”
[There are two other monuments to the event; at Pittsburgh International Airport and the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum.]
“A few hours after he had performed the most famous feat in NFL history – or infamous, if you happen to be from Oakland, Calif. – Franco Harris walked into a bar, by himself.
“This is not the start of a cheeky joke, it’s a fact. The bar was located at Pittsburgh International Airport, which nowadays happens to have an eerily lifelike statue commemorating the Immaculate Reception, next to one depicting Gen. George Washington.
“Yes, Franco and George, side by side. Any problem with that? The fact is, in Pittsburgh, they rank them in that order if they rank them at all. But that has nothing to do with the story.
“Anyway, this 22-year-old rookie went into the airport saloon on that frosty evening of Dec. 23, 1972, and there they were – a few dozen large and surly men, lined up and staring down at the bar like it was some Easter Island reenactment, only this one included hard liquor and harder feelings.
“ ‘There were nothing but Oakland Raiders players in that bar, on their way home, just like me,’ Harris recalled. ‘And I said, ‘Oops.’’
“He found another place to wait for his flight to Philadelphia, and 20 miles later he was safely back home in Mount Holly (N.J.) for the holidays.”
Harris retired with 12,120 yards rushing, four Super Bowl rings, and a spot in the Hall of Fame. But he is forever noted for this one moment and he has no problem with that.
“I always say if you’re known for one thing, and it’s a positive, that’s not a bad place to be,” Harris said. “But I looked at the Immaculate Reception as just a beginning, and I tell people that it kept getting better after that, because we accomplished so many great things…and it was only the start of a whole new era for the Steelers.”
“If you are old enough, you can still rewind the details in your mind’s eye: the desperate fourth-and-10 fling by Terry Bradshaw from his own 40 with 22 seconds left and the Steelers down, 7-6, the collision between Jack Tatum and Frenchy Fuqua downfield that sent the pass back the other way, and some broad-shouldered rookie wearing No. 32 going after the ball because ‘that’s what Joe Paterno yelled at me to do every day at Penn State.’”
“The play took 17 seconds, but it spawned a dynasty for a Steelers team that would include nine Hall of Famers, and it forever changed the lives of most of the people who lived through it.”
And it had to add a few fans to the NFL. Oh, the Steelers lost the next week to the Miami Dolphins, the team that would go 17-0, but for Pittsburgh it was the start. The start of even more fun.
College Basketball
–Temple upset No. 3 Syracuse in Madison Square Garden, Saturday, 83-79. South Dakota State also upended No. 16 New Mexico, 70-65.
–I watched No. 9 Kansas defeat No. 7 Ohio State, 74-66, and thought the Buckeyes looked awful. No. 12 Missouri’s win over No. 10 Illinois, 82-73, was highly entertaining.
–And I caught some of San Diego State’s romp over San Francisco, 80-58, with Chase Tapley going off for a career-high 33. The “Bar Chat Pick to Click” Aztecs continue to get better with each game as the transfers are blended in. Right where we want to be this stage of the season. [Sunday, SDSU survived in the semis of the Diamond Head Classic against a good Indiana State team, 62-55.]
–But in the biggest contests, Boston College defeated Providence 71-68, while Wake Forest blew past UNC-Greensboro 84-70. Wake, now 6-5, has seen its fortunes (and reputation) sink so far that this game was incredibly rated a “pick ‘em.” I mean UNC-G entered the game 2-7!
More importantly, the stage is set for the great Steve D.-Editor winter lunch contest, yours truly having just collected last week on the football bet, as Steve and I await our two B.C.-Wake games. Most combined points wins.
–Johnny Mac alerted me to a solid win for UNC-Asheville Friday night over St. John’s, 72-65. Bad loss for the Johnnies. Heck, recall UNC-A got into the NCAA tournament last year and almost pulled off a No.1 vs. No. 16 upset before losing to Syracuse by the same 72-65 score, but the Bulldogs graduated all their production.
–In other notable contests since my last chat, Coastal Carolina defeated Clemson 69-46, and Texas walloped North Carolina 85-67. Not many of us thought the Tar Heels would struggle this much in the early going.
—Jabari Parker, who some have called the second coming of LeBron, has committed to go to Duke. I was with a Duke alum over the weekend and Ken P. is one of those frankly tired of the one-and-dones passing through Durham the last few seasons, though Parker acts like he might want to stay a whopping two years.
Parker is getting hate mail (hate tweets) for choosing Duke over BYU, Florida, Michigan State and Stanford. Tom Izzo had recruited him for Spartanland since he was a freshman.
The 6-8 Parker was named Chicago player of the year, and Illinois’ Mr. Basketball as a junior, averaging 19.5 points, 8.9 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 3.3 blocks a game, while leading Simeon Career Academy to three Illinois Class 4A state championships.
–Finally, Dec. 23, 1982, in the Neal Blaisdell Center on Oahu, tiny NAIA school Chaminade defeats the top-ranked team in the land, Virginia, led by 7-foot-4 star center Ralph Sampson, 77-72.
As the Silverswords coach Merv Lopes said, “It was more than an upset. This was impossible.”
Without this upset, there is no made-for-TV Maui Invitational each year. Instead, all the big schools now find their way into the tournament at one point or another.
Chaminade is Division II these days and the Maui Invitational is held in November. So thirty years later, last Nov. 19, Chaminade celebrated the anniversary by defeating Texas 86-73.
Back to Dec. 1982, though, Ben Bolch had a piece in the Los Angeles Times last year. In part:
“The Cavaliers were 8-0 and only a few days removed from a ballyhooed victory over Hakeem Olajuwon-led Houston in Tokyo when they made a stopover in Honolulu on the way back to the mainland. Virginia players spent part of their time in paradise boogieing at a disco with members of the top-ranked USC women’s basketball team, which was in town for a tournament.
“Chaminade also had reason to party, having recently beaten Division I rival Hawaii for the first time. Then, two days before taking on Virginia, the Silverswords fell to Wayland Baptist, a fellow NAIA school with a 5-9 record. In the stands scouting the game was Cavaliers coach Terry Holland.
“ ‘He probably said, ‘These guys can’t even jump,’’ said Lopes, the former Chaminade coach.
“Nobody outside the Chaminade locker room gave the Catholic school with an enrollment of about 900 much of a chance against mighty Virginia, particularly since the Cavaliers had shellacked the Silverswords in each of the previous two years.”
Michael Wilbon was in Honolulu for the Washington Post to cover Maryland’s football team in the Aloha Bowl. He had been instructed to take the night off, but with Ralph Sampson recovering from the flu, Wilbon decided to check it out and with the score tied at the half, 43-43, he instructed his editors to save some space in case of an upset.
UVA scored the first seven of the second half, but plucky Chaminade came right back and at one point 6-foot guard Tim Dunham took an alley-oop pass and dunked over Sampson, tying the score back up. And the rest is history. Wilbon needed the space.
Ball Bits
—40-year-old Raul Ibanez signed a one-year contract to return to Seattle for what will probably be his final season, a blow for the Yankees.
–And as expected, the Yankees also lost outfielder Nick Swisher, who signed a four-year, $56 million deal with Cleveland. I always thought he was a jerk, but he did produce about 25 HR and 85 RBI, with a good OBP each of his four seasons with the Yanks. But ask me if I think he’ll replicate that with Cleveland.
–The Pirates are close to trading All-Star closer Joel Hanrahan to Boston for a number of prospects. Not sure I understand this one, even as the Pirates, having signed Russell Martin for way too much money, are giving lefty starter Francisco Liriano $14 million over two years.
—A.J. Pierzynski signed a one-year deal with the Texas Rangers, the soon-to-be 36-year-old catcher having just had his best season for the White Sox with 27 homers and 77 runs batted in. He’s a .284 career hitter in 1,629 games.
–The Mets were looking at outfielder Cody Ross but Ross was seeking too much money. So instead he goes to Arizona for three years and $26 million. This is absurd, but then virtually every contract you see in baseball these days is.
–Former major leaguer Ryan Freel, who in eight seasons with five teams hit .268 with 143 steals, apparently committed suicide at the age of 36.
Freel had a three-year stretch with the Cincinnati Reds, 2004-06, where he hit in the .270s each year with 36 or 37 stolen bases.
–The Oakland A’s have requested to stay in Oakland for five more years, which would delay their targeted move to San Jose until 2018.
–Robert Gearty and Larry McShane of the New York Daily News report that “A California man who tried to sell a fake Babe Ruth glove for $200,000 was slapped Thursday with two years’ probation and a $25,000 fine, and was barred from peddling sports memorabilia until his sentence is completed.”
Irving Scheib tried to pass off a vintage $750 glove he bought on eBay as the Babe’s favorite mitt. “He claimed the Yankees great gave the glove to the late Hollywood actor Robert Young, who was related to his wife.”
But a broker called the FBI after Scheib refused to notarize a letter making the false claims.
College Football
–Nice win for Boise State, 28-26, over Washington in the Las Vegas Bowl on Saturday, their third straight in that event. Just another very solid season for the Cowboys, even if they weren’t in the national title conversation following a season-opening loss to Michigan State. And La.-Lafayette finished up 9-4 after defeating East Carolina (8-5) 43-34 in the New Orleans Bowl.
[Boise State is now looking to stay in the Mountain West conference after committing to leave for the Big East next fall. Louisville and Rutgers then announced they were bolting for the ACC and Big Ten, respectively, and the seven Catholic-based non-FBS schools decided to split from the Big East as well, leaving BS to exclaim, ‘What the [heck is going on here?’]
–Interesting story out of Oregon land as UO boosters are tired of coach Chip Kelly. Oh, they love his success on the field, but he refuses to do the little, and not so little, things when it comes to promoting the brand. Previous coaches Mike Bellotti and Rich Brooks were not just popular on Saturdays, but also Sunday to Friday.
Kelly, though, won’t golf with boosters, sending assistants instead, and doesn’t do the weekly booster lunches in person, preferring videoconferences. Plus, as a member of the local press put it, Kelly “treats us like a malignant tumor.”
So, add it up and some segments in Eugene aren’t going to be too upset if Kelly goes to the NFL, as was rumored after last season and almost seems a certainty this time around.
—LeBron James has scored at least 20 points in 29 consecutive regular season games (including the longest streak to open a season since 1989 and Karl Malone), but also hasn’t committed a personal foul in his last six contests thru Saturday night.
–One of the true jerks in all of sports, Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins, was suspended indefinitely “for unprofessional behavior and conduct detrimental to the team,” according to GM Geoff Petrie.
Cousins, immensely talented but often uncontrollable, had a vicious verbal altercation with coach Keith Smart during halftime of a Kings’ loss to the Clippers on Friday night. While nothing of a physical nature occurred, sources say Cousins used “extensive profanity” while sharing his frustrations with Smart.
The problem is, the guy is the centerpiece of their never-ending rebuilding program.
–Great story out of Philly. On Friday night, the 76ers took possession of the ball with a 99-80 lead and 23.7 seconds to play. At the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, the crowd gets a Big Mac if the home team scores more than 100 points.
Philly’s Evan Turner wanted to give the booing fans (once they saw the Sixers were just going to hold the ball) a chance at the burgers but Collins didn’t want to show up the visiting Hawks. As the clock ran down, and the booing picked up, Collins acted.
Oh, the final score was still 99-80, but he told the public address announcer to tell the crowd the Big Macs are on him!
—For the NHL to salvage a 48-game season, a collective bargaining agreement would need to be agreed to the first week in January. Otherwise, Commissioner Gary Bettman said it wouldn’t be worthwhile, 48 being the number of games following the 1994-95 lockout. What a freakin’ shame this whole deal is.
—Lionel Messi finished 2012 with his record 91st goal in Barcelona’s 3-1 win at Valladolid on Saturday. Barcelona is now 16-0-1 in Spanish League play, the greatest start in the history of the sport for any league it seems. Messi’s 91 goals are a record for both club and country in a season.
–What a bunch of a-holes; the NBA, NHL, NFL, Major League Baseball and the NCAA that is. They are all moving forward (with the NHL standing still in another sense) with plans to fight New Jersey in the courts over my state’s plans to allow sports betting.
A judge on Friday rejected arguments that the leagues couldn’t prove they would be harmed. U.S. District Judge Michael Shipp said expanding legal sports betting to New Jersey would negatively affect perception of their games. According to the Associated Press:
“In his ruling, Shipp cited studies offered by the leagues that showed fans’ negative attitudes toward game-fixing and sports gambling….
“Stacey Osburn, director of public and media relations for the NCAA, said the association was ‘pleased with the court’s ruling. The NCAA has long maintained that sports wagering threatens the well-being of student-athletes and the integrity of college sports.’”
U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., D-N.J., who has worked in the House to change the federal law, said of Shipp’s decision:
“It is absurd for the professional sports leagues and the NCAA to claim that they will suffer injuries as a result of the legalization of sports betting in New Jersey.
“That these organizations claim that the sports they represent will somehow have their reputation impacted is naïve at best and assumes that illegal gambling is not currently occurring in lieu of legal sports betting. The fact is that the presence of illegal betting and the crime that goes with it has a far greater impact on the legitimacy of sports organizations.”
Gov. Chris Christie has vowed to defy the federal ban, but the state agreed to give the leagues 30 days’ notice before it grants any licenses and hasn’t done so yet. New Jersey is being represented in court by former U.S. Solicitor General Theodore Olson, who argued that the leagues are as popular as they’ve ever been despite the existence of legal gambling in Nevada and more widespread illegal gambling.
This issue really pisses me off. I know a lot of folks, like myself, who would make trips to Atlantic City just to have some fun on game days. A.C. needs this kind of shot in the arm in the worst way.
—Gabby Douglas was named the Associated Press’ 2012 female athlete of the year, edging out swimmer Missy Franklin, 48-41 out of 157 votes. Douglas is the first gymnast since Mary Lou Retton to win it.
—Michael Phelps edged LeBron James for the AP’s male athlete of the year, 40-37 on the media ballot.
–44-year-old Suzy Favor Hamilton, one of the best middle-distance runners this country has ever produced, has been living a double life, dealing with depression and a failed marriage by becoming a prostitute, as first exposed by The Smoking Gun site. Favor Hamilton tweeted in response: “I do not expect people to understand. But the reasons for doing this made sense to me at the time and were very much related to depression.”
See, I told you America’s trackletes don’t earn enough money in their sport without, err, doing something else to supplement their meager income.
The Smoking Gun alleges Favor Hamilton charged $600 an hour to be an escort in Las Vegas, as well as Los Angeles, Houston and Chicago.
Not sure if you get a discount for three hours, like 3-for-$1695.
–Story in the Los Angeles Times by Andrew Khouri on how the moose population in Minnesota is mysteriously in decline. From 2005 to 2012, the number has dropped 48% to an estimated 4,230 animals, according to an annual survey, and no one seems to know why.
So the state is going to fit 100 with GPS tracking collars to attempt to get a handle on the situation. Hopefully they put the guys on some kind of website…something to do from New Jersey while quaffing a Moosehead.
–I missed the Miss Universe pageant the other night, won by Miss USA, Olivia Culpo (from Rhode Island), but my brother passed on the interview with Miss Venezuela, who according to The Daily Caller, and the video, did the following.
“One of the judges asked Irene Sofia Esser Quintero if given the chance, what law she would create and why. A Spanish-speaking interpreter repeated the question to her, but for some inexplicable reason Quintero decided to answer the question in English.
“I think that any lays (sic) there are in Constitution or in life, are already made. I think that we should have, uh, a straight way to go in our similar, or, eh, in our lives as is this.
“For example, I’m a surfer, and I think that the best wave that I can take is the wave that I wait for it. So please do our only, eh, law that we can do. Thank you Vegas!”
–Since the world didn’t end the other day, I failed to inherit Mark R.’s Taylor Made irons, while he doesn’t get my Lew Alcindor rookie card, which I later learned he didn’t want anyway, which is a real insult to Mr. Alcindor, err, Abdul-Jabbar. I would have been willing to substitute my Nate Thurmond card, he being easily one of the five most underrated athletes of the century. Tris Speaker, Billy Casper…Dan Gurney…Smokin’ Joe Frazier…
And where did Mr. Thurmond go to school? Bowling Green.
–We note the passing of Lee Dorman, 70, the bassist for Iron Butterfly, whose claim to fame was the 17-minute heavy metal track “In-a-Gadda-Da-Vida,” a hideous tune from 1968.
Top 3 songs for the week 12/25/82: #1 “Maneater” (Daryl Hall & John Oates…they did far better, but then this was an awful week…as you’re about to see…) #2 “Mickey” (Toni Basil…pathetic…) #3 “The Girl Is Mine” (Michael Jackson/Paul McCartney…what can I say…doesn’t get worse than this crapola…)…and…#4 “Dirty Laundry” (Don Henley…I just broke two glasses in the kitchen, shards all over the place, and I’m washing all the throw rugs…just sayin’…) #5 “Gloria” (Laura Branigan…I literally break out in hives every time I hear this, even as I leap for the on/off switch…) #6 “Steppin’ Out” (Joe Jackson…incredibly depressing tune…musically….like something out of Culture Club…god, what an awful year…) #7 “Sexual Healing” (Marvin Gaye…I mean this guy is in my top five favorite artists all time and even he decides to mail it in royally with this drivel….) #8 “Down Under” (Men At Work…see Joe Jackson…song totally blows…just because they were from Australia doesn’t mean we’re supposed to go, “Oh, gee…they are from Australia, Mildred! Let’s buy their record!” “But they suck, Jack!” “But they are from Australia!” “Do what you want. I’m going out with the girls. Not sure if I’ll come back.” And so, sports fans, you’ve just learned how Men at Work was responsible for 42 million broken marriages in America over a three-year period as the typical American male, a true idiot, thought this was some kind of unique sound…) #9 “Rock This Town” (Stray Cats…absolutely hate this tune! Never understood my friends who thought it was great…) #10 “Truly” (Lionel Richie…someone hand me my sword…over there, top shelf of that closet…)
College Football Quiz Answer: Six schools with 10 or more wins in each of the past three years.
Oregon, Alabama, Stanford, LSU, Boise State and…..Northern Illinois.
[The place where I got the idea for this quiz missed Boise State, which I picked up myself. So, if you can think of another let me know. Includes bowl wins. If someone gets on the list as a result of a coming bowl contest, of course I’ll see that.]
Next Bar Chat, Mon. Dec. 31…yearend award show with your host, Jamie Foxx! [Had to pay $650,000 to get him so hope you appreciate it.]
And now our annual Christmas special.
Apollo 8
Growing up, one of the more dramatic memories as a kid was staying up Christmas Eve 1968 to follow the remarkable voyage of Apollo 8.
If ever a nation needed a pick me up, it was America in ’68, after the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy, with the ongoing war in Vietnam and the dramatic Tet Offensive, and after LBJ’s sudden withdrawal from the presidential race, the turbulent Democratic Convention, and the invasion of Czechoslovakia. Yes, we were ready for a little space adventure.
Apollo 8 would be the first manned mission to orbit the moon. Commanded by Frank Borman, with James Lovell, Jr. and William Anders, it was launched on December 21 and on Christmas Eve the three began their orbit. What made it all even more dramatic was the first go round to the dark side of the moon, when all communication was lost until they reemerged at the other side. It was the middle of the night for us viewers, at least in the Eastern time zone, and I remember that Apollo was sending back spectacular photos of Earth.
Borman described the moon as “a vast, lonely and forbidding sight,” and Lovell called Earth, “a grand oasis in the big vastness of space.” The crew members then took turns reading from the Book of Genesis / Creation:
In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light;” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
James Lovell would later say, “Please be informed, there is a Santa Claus.” And Borman concluded with, “Merry Christmas. God bless all of you, all of you on the Good Earth.”
The story of Phil Spector’s “A Christmas Gift for You,” as told by Ronnie Spector in her book “Be My Baby: How I Survived Mascara, Miniskirts, and Madness…or…My Life as a Fabulous Ronette”.
“One record that did feature all three Ronettes – and just about everyone else who worked for Phil – was Phil’s Christmas album, A Christmas Gift for You. Phil is Jewish, but for some reason he always loved Christmas. Every year he would spend weeks designing his own special Christmas card, which he would send to everyone in the business. In 1963 he took that idea one step further and recorded an entire album of Christmas music, with contributions from all the acts on his Philles label. All of the groups got to do three or four songs each. The Ronettes did ‘I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus,’ ‘Sleigh Ride,’ and ‘Frosty the Snowman.’
“We worked on that one forever. Phil started recording it in the summer, and he didn’t leave the studio for about two months. We’d start recording early in the evening, and we’d work until late into the night, sometimes even into the next morning. And everybody sang on everyone else’s songs, so all of Phil’s acts really were like one big, happy family for that one album.
“While he was recording it, Phil told everyone that this Christmas album was going to be the masterpiece of his career. And he meant it. We all knew how important this project was to Phil when he walked into the studio on the last day of recording and announced that he was going to add a vocal himself. The final song on the record is a spoken message from Phil, where he thanks all the kids for buying his records and then wishes everyone a Merry Christmas, while we all sing a chorus of ‘Silent Night’ in the background. A lot of people thought the song was corny. But if you knew Phil like I did, it was very touching.
“But then I always did have a soft spot for Phil’s voice. There was something about his phrasing and diction that drove me crazy. It was so cool, so calm, so serene. Phil wasn’t a singer, but when he spoke he put me in a romantic mood like no singer could. He was the only guy I ever met who could talk me into an orgasm. [Ed. oops…how did that get in there?]
“Of course, he wasn’t doing that back then. Not yet, anyway. Phil and I were still just sweethearts in those days. We spent lots of time together, and we were very romantic, but we still hadn’t slept together. Maybe that’s why we were so romantic.
“A Christmas Gift for You finally came out in November of 1963. But in spite of all the work we put into it, the album was one of Phil’s biggest flops. It was reissued as The Phil Spector Christmas Album in the early seventies, and nowadays people talk about it like it’s one of the greatest albums in rock and roll history. But nobody bought it when it first came out.
“President Kennedy had been shot a few days before it was released, and after that people were too depressed to even look at a rock and roll record. And they stayed that way until well into the New Year of 1964, when – thank God – four long-haired English guys finally got them to go back into the record stores.”
—–
The Gospel According to Luke
In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own towns to be registered. Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see – I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
—–
Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus
A famous letter from Virginia O’Hanlon to the editorial board of the New York Sun, first printed in 1897:
We take pleasure in answering thus prominently the communication below, expressing at the same time our great gratification that its faithful author is numbered among the friends of The Sun:
Dear Editor –
I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, “If you see it in The Sun, it’s so.” Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?
Virginia O’Hanlon
—
Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.
Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! How dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The external light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.
Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies. You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if you did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.
You tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived could tear apart. Only faith, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.
No Santa Claus! Thank God! He lives and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.
—–
A Visit from St. Nicholas
By Clement C. Moore [Well, he really stole it, but that’s a story for another day. This is the original version.]
‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;
And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap;
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,
With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;
Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Donder and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!
As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky;
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of Toys, and St. Nicholas too.
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof,
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof –
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of Toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.
His eyes – how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”
—
World War I – Christmas Truce
By December 1914, the war had been picking up in intensity for five months. Ironically, the feeling during the initial phases was that everyone would be home by Christmas, though little did they know it would be Christmas 1918.
On Christmas Eve 1914, along the British and German lines, particularly in the Flanders area, the soldiers got into conversation with each other and it was clear to the British that the Germans wanted some sort of Christmas Armistice. Sir Edward Hulse wrote in his diary, “A scout named F. Murker went out and met a German Patrol and was given a glass of whisky and some cigars, and a message was sent back saying that if we didn’t fire at them they would not fire at us.” That night, where five days earlier there had been savage fighting, the guns fell silent.
The following morning German soldiers walked towards the British wire and the Brits went out to meet them. They exchanged caps and souvenirs and food. Then arrangements were made for the British to pick up bodies left on the German side during a recent failed raid.
Christmas Day, fraternization took place along many of the lines, including a few of the French and Belgian ones. Some joined in chasing hares, others, most famously, kicked around a soccer ball. British soldier Bruce Bairnsfather would write, “It all felt most curious: here were these sausage-eating wretches, who had elected to start this infernal European fracas, and in so doing had brought us all into the same muddy pickle as themselves. But there was not an atom of hate on either side that day; and yet, on our side, not for a moment was the will to war and the will to beat them relaxed.”
In the air the war continued and the French Foreign Legionnaires in Alsace were ordered to fight Christmas Day as well. Plus, most of the commanders on both sides were none too pleased. Nothing like the Christmas truce of 1914 would occur in succeeding years (outside of a pocket or two) and by December 26, 1914, the guns were blazing anew.
[Source: “The First World War,” Martin Gilbert]
“May You Always”
From 1959-2002, Harry Harrison was a fixture on New York radio, the last 20+ years at the great oldies station WCBS-FM. Unfortunately, he was forced to retire, which ticked off many of us to no end, but he will forever be remembered for a brilliant greeting titled “May You Always.” Enjoy.
As the holiday bells ring out the old year, and sweethearts kiss,
And cold hands touch and warm each other against the year ahead,
May I wish you not the biggest and best of life,
But the small pleasures that make living worthwhile.
Sometime during the new year, to keep your heart in practice,
May you do someone a secret good deed and not get caught at it.
May you find a little island of time to read that book and write that letter,
And to visit that lonely friend on the other side of town.
May your next do-it-yourself project not look like you did it yourself.
May the poor relatives you helped support remember you when they win the lottery.
May your best card tricks win admiring gasps and your worst puns, admiring groans.
May all those who told you so, refrain from saying “I told you so.”
May all the predictions you’ve made for your firstborn’s future come true.
May just half of those optimistic predictions that your high school annual made for you come true.
In a time of sink or swim, may you find you can walk to shore before you call the lifeguard.
May you keep at least one ideal you can pass along to your kids.
For a change, some rainy day, when you’re a few minutes late,
May your train or bus be waiting for you.
May you accidentally overhear someone saying something nice about you.
If you run into an old school chum,
May you both remember each other’s names for introductions.
If you order your steak medium rare, may it be so.
And, if you’re on a diet, may someone tell you, “You’ve lost a little weight,” without knowing you’re on a diet.
May that long and lonely night be brightened by the telephone call that you’ve been waiting for.
When you reach into the coin slot, may you find the coin that you lost on your last wrong number.
When you trip and fall, may there be no one watching to laugh at you or feel sorry for you.
And sometime soon, may you be waved to by a celebrity, wagged at by a puppy, run to by a happy child, and counted on by someone you love.
More than this, no one can wish you.
—
Ross Cameron / Sydney Morning Herald…I first read this in December 2009.
“Jesus is easily the most influential person in history, and the most universally loved….
“Of his early life, the record is almost blank; we are left with a few fragments….
“He was deeply literate in Jewish scriptures but silent on writings outside that tradition. We may assume he lived his entire life within 160 km of his birthplace – he never describes a foreign custom or place. After a major spiritual moment under the influence of John, he launched into local prominence as an itinerant preacher at age 30. Tradition holds that Jesus was a public figure for three years but modern scholars strongly believe a single year is more likely….
“Riding a wave of fame and popularity, Jesus moved the road show to the heavily garrisoned provincial and religious capital of Jerusalem, entering the city in the lead-up to the most holy day of the Jewish year. The Roman authorities are not known for their tolerance of burgeoning mass movements. Jesus fairly quickly found his way to the agony and humiliation of public torture and execution by order of the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate – famous for casual brutality. It was a routine event in a typical day in a Roman occupied city.
“History’s great riddle followed. His supporters immediately claimed Jesus rose from the dead. The four biographies of Jesus often contradict each other on minor details but nowhere so much as in the resurrection narratives. The difficulty with dismissing the claim altogether, however, is how otherwise to explain the instant, unprecedented explosion of the Jesus movement across the Mediterranean. The willingness of so many sane first-century beings – many of them witnesses – to suffer death rather than deny the central tenet of their faith, is also cause for reflection….
“We are left to ponder how one year in the life of a seeming nobody could transform the Roman Empire and the entire planet. The reason for the triumph of this nobody is to be found in his first recorded words. ‘Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.’ Jesus is specially kind to the weak and the outcast – to women, the poor, children, a madman in chains and a hated tax collector.
“In the pre-Jesus record, in virtually every human society, vast faceless classes of people were less valued than domestic animals. The world’s second-greatest philosopher, Aristotle, while writing the 101 course of every academic discipline, fervently endorsed the keeping of slaves as natural and desirable to good order. Slavery continued for centuries after Jesus but the impulse to end it was Christian. Beyond the Jewish scriptures, to which Jesus gave a megaphone, no one cared about those on the margins. Jesus establishes the sublime idea that everyone matters.
“Today that single thought has transformed our sense of what it means to be human. Major political parties of the earth, whether left, centrist or right wing (with the possible exception of the Greens) agree the welfare of the whole human race is our common goal. ‘Blessed are the meek’ evolved into ‘All men are created equal, endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.’
“From whatever perspective we come, thinking people ought to be able to agree, the birth of Jesus was a good day for mankind. I suspect I may never quite shake the childlike hunch that there is some uniquely divine imprint on the central individual of the human story. Happy Birthday, Jesus.”
—
[From Army Times]
Gen. George Washington’s Continental Army was in a dire situation during the frigid winter of 1776. His army had been defeated and chased from New York, and forced to set up winter camp for his remaining 5,000 troops at Valley Forge, Pa., only miles from the capital city of Philadelphia. With morale at its lowest point of the war and enlistments coming to an end, Washington desperately needed a victory to secure reenlistments and draw in some new recruits. The outcome of the revolution was at stake.
On Christmas night, Washington’s troops began to gather on the banks of the Delaware River at McKonkey’s Ferry. His plan was to cross the partially frozen river by midnight, march to Trenton and surround the garrison of Hessian troops (Germans fighting for the British) in the city in a predawn attack.
Before the Army had even launched a boat across the river, it began to rain, then hail, then snow. Washington was behind schedule. Remarkably, the force crossed the river without a single casualty. At 4 a.m., Dec. 26, the ill-equipped army began to march toward Trenton, some with rags wrapped around their feet instead of shoes.
Washington had achieved complete surprise with the dangerous crossing. The battle began when the Army encountered a group of unprepared Hessian sentries at about 8 a.m., and by 9:30 the garrison had surrendered. The Army had killed 22, injured 83 and taken 896 prisoners.
By noon, Washington had left Trenton, having lost two men in the battle, and returned to camp at Valley Forge. He had won a major victory, inspiring the needed reenlistments. News of the battle drew new recruits into the beleaguered Continental Army. The revolution would live to fight another day.
Linus [From “A Charlie Brown Christmas”]
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shown round about them. And they were so afraid. And the angel said unto them, ‘Fear not, for behold, I bring you tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you. Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth peace, goodwill toward men.”
That’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.
