NHL Quiz: Name the six to score 700 goals in their career. I’ll give you Nos. 7-10 to help you out. [Mark Messier, 694; Steve Yzerman, 692; Mario Lemieux, 690; Jaromir Jagr, 669 (still active)] Answer below.
Out of nowhere, Danica Patrick won the Daytona 500 pole, becoming the first woman to do so. Talk about a gigantic shot in the arm for NASCAR.
“Hopefully, there are good things to come,” said Danica.
Seriously…for those of you who aren’t race fans, this is so huge. This will be the lead on the national news next Sunday, I guarantee, as this week the media takes hold of a super story.
Of course it doesn’t hurt Danica is flat out beautiful and sexy, and now dating fellow NASCAR driver Rickey Stenhouse Jr., who is starting 12th on the grid.
Oh baby. I love it.
College Basketball Review
–Not a ton of upsets over the weekend, save for Maryland’s big one, 83-81, over No. 2 Duke in College Park. Maryland’s Alex Len totally outplayed Duke’s Mason Plumlee; 19 points, 9 rebounds, vs. 4-3 for Plumlee. The Terrapins may have wrapped up a NCAA tournament bid as they are now 18-7, 6-6, while Duke dropped to 22-3, 9-3…thus handing the ACC regular season title to Miami. [Good gawd….on Sunday, No. 3 Miami just scraped by Clemson 45-43.]
–Earlier in the week among AP top ten teams, No. 6 Syracuse lost to UConn 66-58, and No. 9 Arizona lost to Colorado 71-58.
–Looking for a sleeper team in the tourney? Remember Ohio from last year? Made it to the Sweet Sixteen, only to lose to No. 1 seed North Carolina in overtime.
Well the Bobcats got off to a rough start this year, despite returning virtually the entire squad, and because of that have been ignored. [8-5 with losses to Robert Morris, UMass and Winthrop.]
But now they are 10-1 in MAC play (while upstart Akron is 12-0), 19-6 overall, and certainly capable of more March magic this year as well.
–I also just need to throw this out for the archives. You want a real upset special? West Virginia wins the Big 12 tournament and makes noise in the Big Dance.
But, Editor, they are 13-12, 6-6!!! Yes, but they are starting to play better at the right time, I love Bob Huggins, and I’ll say Terry Henderson explodes down the stretch. [You can stop laughing.]
–My San Diego State Aztecs completed a lost week on the road, losing at No. 24 Colorado State 66-60, before going down Saturday night in Vegas to UNLV 72-70; both contests not decided until the very end. And your editor saw every single minute of action; the first one not ending until 12:30 AM ET. I’m too old for that.
So SDSU is 18-7 and tied for third in the Mountain West with UNLV at 6-5. They have got to finish no worse than 9-7 or they’ll be forced to win the tournament to gain a NCAA bid. What might save them is the fact the MWC has the number one RPI, ahead of the Big East and Big Ten. [CBS on Sunday said MWC is No. 2. Not sure who is right as of this posting.]
Meanwhile, the same can be said of UNLV. Johnny Mac told me to focus on Anthony Bennett, the super freshman for the Rebels, and boy, what a future at the next level this 6’8” 240 lb. monster has. A good enough touch to drain threes, and a massive presence down below.
As for Aztec superstar Jamaal Franklin, who is a surefire lottery pick, the fact is he hasn’t played well in weeks and he’s shooting 25% from downtown. It’s killing them. But sky’s the limit for him. Great defender, too.
Finally, back to the Mountain West overall, in watching the Colorado State game from Ft. Collins, Doug Gottlieb was doing the game for CBS and he had the point that what makes the conference great (and if you haven’t watched a Mountain West game this year, catch one) is for starters it’s the only game in town (even in Vegas with all its distractions). The arenas are packed, regardless of the team’s record. Laramie? I’ve been to Laramie. It sucks. But of course it’s the only game in town so the Cowboys pack ‘em in. Ditto Boise State. Colorado State. [Fort Collins? Been through there too….sure ain’t Boulder…]
I hope they keep this conference together. Far more entertaining than the ACC. And talk about crowd support….check out my alma mater Wake Forest and lack thereof.
–Speaking of which, the Demon Deacons completed one of the worst weeks in the program’s history as Wake lost to Boston College, in Chestnut Hill, 66-63, blowing a seven-point, 63-56, lead with less than two minutes to play, and then coming home to lose to lowly Georgia Tech on Saturday, 57-56.
In both games, the two experienced players, senior C.J. Harris and junior Travis McKie, choked. I mean on Saturday, they had seven turnovers between the two of them. Earlier against B.C., Harris put on one of the more embarrassing, inept displays in crunch time of the entire college basketball season.
So the Deacs are 11-14, 4-9. Conferring with my adviser on all things Wake athletics, Chris K., he’s now pretty much in agreement that Coach Jeff Bzdelik has to go after three utterly disastrous seasons. The thing is we have this freshmen class that has some talent (though not exactly basketball talent as yet….just raw athletes…) and you don’t want to lose them.
Alas, us Deacon fans have to turn to the past from time to time to remember when we had a real program.
Fred Kerber of the New York Post had a great story over the weekend on one old Deacon great from yesteryear, Rodney Rogers. It was in 2008 that the 12-year NBA veteran suffered a devastating spinal injury that left him paralyzed from the neck down.
Now 41, Rogers no longer shrouds himself in self-pity and spreads a message of hope through his Rodney Rogers Foundation that raises funds to offer financial assistance to victims of spinal-cord injuries. He made the 20-hour trip by van to Houston for the All-Star Game festivities from his home in North Carolina.
Rodney, who Chris K. correctly labels “The most important recruit we’ve ever had at Wake…He put our program back on the map,” has annual medical expenses of around $400,000, is on a ventilator and requires the full-time care of two nurses. Luckily, he saved enough money from his NBA career and receives supplemental medical assistance from the league.
“I was a person who went as far as I went and remembered where I came from. Bad things happen to good people, but I feel I’m blessed.”
–That was sad to see Kentucky forward Nerlens Noel go down with a torn ACL in his left knee the other day. He is quite a talent and the 6’10” freshman was potentially the first pick in the upcoming draft.
–And in women’s hoops, Rutgers’ C. Vivian Stringer failed again to get her 900th career victory as the Scarlet Knights were taken down by No. 3 UConn 65-45, dropping Rutgers to 5-6 in Big East play.
Speaking of Rutgers, you know who really sucks around these parts? Rutgers and Seton Hall men’s basketball, that’s who. This used to be a good rivalry, but as one writer put it this week, the programs have fallen so far, there is no rivalry…just total indifference.
Golf Balls
–I’ve said this before, and because of the action at Riviera this weekend, I have to say it again. There is only one athlete in the world I will never criticize and that is Wake Forest alum Bill Haas. Heck, I spent six days with his mother!
Bill, his mom, his uncle that I met….and obviously from everything I’ve heard, father Jay, are just a classy family. The best the sport, and Wake Forest, has to offer.
Unfortunately, Bill wasn’t able to hold onto the lead on Sunday at what is one of the truly fun tournaments to watch each year because Riviera is just a tremendous course, filled with history.
Instead, John Merrick defeated Charlie Beljan on the second hole of a playoff for his first PGA Tour title as Haas finished in a tie for third; fellow Deac Webb Simpson another shot behind.
“It was high noon Friday and the faithful were everywhere, waiting for Phil Mickelson to pull the trigger on his second round in the Northern Trust Open.
“About 300 yards down the fairway, where his opening tee shot would land, they were three deep behind the ropes. Behind and above the tee, hanging over the railings of historic Riviera clubhouse, were perhaps another 1,000.
“ ‘That’s so cool,’ Mickelson would say later. ‘They’ve got pictures on the walls inside of that very same scene, with Hogan and Snead teeing off. It’s such an honor.’
“To the galleries, he wasn’t just the man in black. He was their man in black.
“There are many other great players on the PGA Tour, most of them with fine personalities. But Mickelson would win any popularity contest, hands down….
“Is it that he religiously signs autographs, never misses thanking a scorecard carrier or shaking the hand of a military person, always seems to find the most shy 10-year-old in the crowd and gives him or her a golf ball?
“Or is it that, as one of his friends says, ‘He’s just a big old gummy bear.’
“Mickelson seldom is asked about it because observation shows the obvious. So when he is asked about his popularity, he struggles.
“ ‘I don’t have a great answer for you,’ he says. He pauses and adds, ‘I guess I just love golf so much that people see that. I’m just guessing.’
“Maybe it’s because he can be so painfully human. He would have a fifth major title had he not tried to hit a shot over a sponsor’s tent at Winged Foot in the 2006 U.S. Open. Afterward, he labeled himself ‘an idiot.’ Every duffer who has ever tried a foolish shot related….
“On that first hole, with the gallery swarming around him, he hit an eight-iron that needed to roll just another foot for a double eagle. The fans got what they wanted. Their hero as superman.
“Then, on the tricky No. 10, he hit a bad drive, a worse chip and a bladed third shot. He took a double-bogey six. That, too, has become, for his fans, part of the continuum of Phil. Their hero as a 25-handicapper at Rancho Park.
“When he was done, he had been spectacular and scary. Never boring. His 67 put him just five shots off the lead and assured the galleries of at least another day of Phil thrills.
“When he was done, he made eye contact with the fans, signed autographs, found a little kid to give a ball to and never stopped smiling.
“If this is all an act, Mickelson’s next career will be on Broadway.”
–So I’m looking at a bit in Golfweek on Brandt Snedeker and his equipment and see the following you may be interested in.
“For $119.98, any player can own the same driver used by the hottest golfer on the planet.
“Snedeker plays a TaylorMade Burner SuperFast driver (8.5 degrees). This is the fourth year he has used the driver, which predates TaylorMade’s switch to white clubheads. The black-headed SuperFast still can be purchased in new condition at bargain prices. The Golf Warehouse (www.tgw.com), for example, offers it for $119.98. (Snedeker’s model shouldn’t be confused with the SuperFast 2.0, which has a white head.)”
His putter, by the way, is an Odyssey White Hot XG Rossie.
TaylorMade won three equipment categories – drivers, fairway woods and irons, at the AT&T/Pebble Beach.
Michael Jordan at 50
Hey, I can say I was there…March Madness, 1982, Superdome, North Carolina-Georgetown, Michael Jordan’s true coming out party on the national scene as he hits the game-winning jump shot. Granted, my buddies and I were like in the top row and the players looked like ants, but we were there.
Dominique Wilkins: “Quite frankly, there is never going to be another Michael Jordan. Ever. I’ll try to put it in perspective: People in any sport have won three championships, retired, to come back and win three more championships, it’s never been done.”
Kobe Bryant: “The imprint he’s had on the league, he’s an immortal. Everything that he’s done, from a business aspect, to professionalism, work ethic to the global appeal of the game has been something that carries on for generation and generations.”
“Somehow he turns 50 years old today, though that merely is the deceit of a birth certificate. Forever he will be 28 years old, at the peak of his powers, filling arenas and thrilling fans and turning an entire generation of people – worldwide – on to the splendid game of basketball.
NBA Bits
–You know, former NBA executive director of the players union Billy Hunter must have really been a corrupt, awful guy to get fired by a unanimous vote of the 24 player representatives, but how did he then last 16 years? It took a government investigation into his business practices and major conflicts of interests, such as dolling out contracts to family members, to finally do him in.
In a two-hour meeting with representatives and others, including LeBron James and Tyson Chandler, James apparently was the most forceful voice in the room, rallying the players to make the change.
“Hunter, 70, was charged with nepotism, poor management and abuse of union resources in an independent audit released last month. He remains the subject of a criminal probe by the United States attorney’s office.”
He has three years and $10.5 million remaining on his contract, which he will pursue through the courts.
–The Washington Post points out that only 11 players are averaging 20 points a game this season, which would be the lowest number since the 1965-66 campaign, when the NBA had just nine teams. The Post’s Mike Lee cites two reasons:
“Defenses have adjusted to create schemes that crowd one side of the floor to limit scoring opportunities for individuals. Coaches have changed offensive approaches to focus more on ball movement than isolation, leading to more balanced attacks.”
Heck, the college game is seeing its lowest scoring in decades, too, and someone averaging 13 or 14 is like BMOC.
—LeBron James extraordinary streak of six games with at least 30 points while shooting 60% from the field ended on Thursday when he scored 39 in a win over Oklahoma City, but shot 58.3%, missing a 28-footer with 1 minute 2 seconds left that dropped the percentage below 60.
Ball Bits
–When Ryan Braun’s name first surfaced in the Anthony Bosch / Biogenesis case, one of the local sports talk radio guys said he was amazed how little grief Braun had to take from opposing fans last season. Many of us hope that changes, and with the latest revelation in the Bosch case, it should.
ESPN reported Friday that it had obtained documents belonging to Bosch that list the names of Alex Rodriguez, Braun, Francisco Cervelli, and Melky Cabrera – alongside what appear to be dollar figures. The list indicates players received PEDs from Bosch – and that Braun owed him money – in contradiction to what Braun has said in his earlier statements.
A-Rod continues to deny any dealings with Bosch, while Cervilli has offered up lame excuses, saying he consulted with Bosch on his broken foot, and Cabrera has supposedly already talked to federal investigators.
But the target for now, especially with A-Rod sidelined potentially for the season following hip surgery, is Braun. Nail him!
His attorney, Martin Singer, told ESPN that there are several witnesses who will confirm Braun only used Bosch as a consultant as he fought his MLB suspension, which he eventually won when an arbitrator ruled his urine sample had been mishandled by a specimen collector. Yeah, right.
“Fifteen years after being traded away in a fit of ignorance by a long-departed Fox official, (Mike) Piazza has used this anniversary to pick a fight with, of all people, Vin Scully.
“In his new book, ‘Long Shot,’ Piazza blamed Scully for causing Dodgers fans to boo him in his final weeks with the team until he was traded to the Florida Marlins in May 1998. It is these boos, which later rained down upon Piazza when he played for the New York Mets, that have caused him to avoid Dodger Stadium since his retirement five years ago. Last season he even refused the Dodgers’ offer of ultimate respect when he declined to return for what would have been his own bobblehead night.
“Piazza blames Scully for stirring the fans’ ire in a 1998 interview in which the legendary announcer challenges the slugger for giving the Dodgers an ultimatum on stalled contract talks. Piazza had criticized the Dodgers in an opening-day story in The Times, even implying that the contract impasse would affect his play. He is now accusing Scully of turning his words against him.”
Scully is wounded, saying, “I have no idea where he is coming from. I really have no idea. I can’t imagine saying something about a player and his contract. I just don’t do that.”
KTLA unearthed a video of the 1998 interview and Scully simply asked Piazza about the ultimatum and gave him a chance to clear the air.
Why Piazza would stick this in his book is beyond me as well. He got his best buddy Tommy Lasorda to comment, “I’m very disappointed in that, I’m sorry he would even do that. I don’t know what he was thinking.”
“If Piazza was thinking he was criticized on his way out of town, he’s right, but it didn’t come from Scully; it came from newspaper columnists who accused him of being selfish, one of them writing, ‘It’s time for Mike Piazza to zip it.’
“Those words were mine. In that same 1998 column, I also wrote, ‘Piazza may love L.A., but he is not Eric Karros, he is an East Coast guy, he will disappear in a minute.’”
And so we throw Mike Piazza’s name in the December file for “Jerk of the Year.”
Oscar Pistorius
Pistorius’ uncle said Oscar is “numb with shock, as well as grief” after the shooting death of his girlfriend at his home in South Africa.
Give me a break. He shot Reeva Steenkamp through the freakin’ bathroom door, after all. Prosecutors have charged Pistorius with premeditated murder, which carries a sentence of life in prison.
“If you would have told me the double-amputee track star they called the Blade Runner – who incredibly ran on carbon-fiber prosthetics at the London Games this past summer and beat able-bodied Olympians to the tape – would be charged in the shooting death of his model girlfriend two days ago, I would have said you’re delusional…..
“I stood inches from this man after one of his Olympic qualifying heats, heard him almost break down talking about a letter his mother had written him and its inspiring message: ‘A loser isn’t the person that gets involved and comes last, but it’s the person that doesn’t get involved in the first place.’….
“What did I miss? What did everyone miss? The more that comes out about his anger and his recklessness – speedboat wrecks, violent threats, a gun obsession – it’s almost as if no one wanted to pull back those layers because they didn’t fit the ‘Fastest Man With No Legs’ script….
“Why do we keep searching for real-life inspiration from our athletic heroes after they do so much to disappoint us as citizens?….
“Before the next definitive magazine or broadcast piece is written or taped, can’t we just admit we don’t really know anybody anymore. We think we do, but we don’t. And more than ever we’re duped by Web sites and handlers who feed false narratives that carefully camouflage flawed humans who happen to be great at what they do.”
American Ski Heroes
“One day after the American Ted Ligety became the first man in 45 years to win three events at one world championship, his 17-year-old teammate Mikaela Shiffrin became the youngest female world champion in 28 years with a come-from-behind victory in the slalom.
“Shiffrin was in third place after the first two runs on Saturday in Schladming, Austria. Then, with a crowd of 30,000 roaring during her second run, she chased down her more veteran rivals to become the third-youngest women’s slalom world champion.
“ ‘I can’t process it yet – it’s just amazing and emotional,’ Shiffrin said in a conference call with reporters. ‘I’m so grateful to everyone who’s helped me.’
Truly amazing. I mean this girl has three World Cup slalom victories as well this season, so guess who is the favorite in the event for Sochi?
Overall, the U.S., with Shiffrin and Ligety’s heroics, won four golds and captured a fifth medal with Julia Mancuso getting a bronze in the super-G, so we had more than any other country’s team.
Shiffrin is a senior at the Burke Mountain ski academy in Vermont, in case you were wondering where such talent goes to school.
The only slalom world champions younger than Shiffrin were Hanni Wenzel of Liechtenstein (I remember her) in 1974 and Esme Mackinnon of Britain in 1931 (don’t remember her…I’m guessing they wore skirts back then).
Back to Ligety, he won in the super-G, the super-combined, and the giant slalom, his best event.
Thelast man to win at least three gold medals at the world ski championships was Jean-Claude Killy, who won four golds in 1968. Those of us of a certain age vividly remember how the sport of skiing really burst on the scene back then through Killy and the coverage on ABC’s “Wide World of Sports.” It was way cool. Seeing exotic places up close for the first time. ABC did the same thing with auto racing, too….like in their coverage of LeMans and Monaco.
Ligety now has four world championship gold medals, tying the American record held by Bode Miller.
Now a few years ago I spent a week in the Windy City and had a blast. It’s a terrific place. But these days too many of its kids are gunned down senselessly and its idiot voters elect the likes of Jesse Jackson Jr. I mean is there one brain cell in that district of his? Seemingly not.
The primo dirtball and now former congressman we’ve learned used campaign funds, like $750,000 worth, to buy music memorabilia and $40,000 Rolex watches, while his equally corrupt wife fixed their taxes, for which she may join her hubby in jail.
But Chicago does have something going for it these days (aside from delicious hot dogs….best in the world…). The Blackhawks!
Goodness gracious. What a start…12-0-3…the longest streak with at least one point to begin a season since Anaheim’s 16 in 2006-07.
You know, this 48-game compressed schedule for the NHL is pretty good. The fans should be totally back come Stanley Cup time, if they aren’t already. I’m following the Rangers fairly closely.
The Loss of Wrestling
The Star-Ledger is the main newspaper in New Jersey, an excellent one, with super sports coverage, and it’s also always heavily covered high school wrestling, as much as even the Iowa papers do, I imagine. I mean when we have our state championships, it’s wall-to-wall for days and weeks.
So I took note of an editorial in the paper the other day which I think sums up the feelings of many of us.
“When the first modern Olympics were held in 1896, wrestling was there. When the ancient Greeks created the Games, wrestling was one of the earliest events. Hercules was a wrestler.
“Now, a sport that survived centuries might no longer be part of the Olympic lineup – scratched so the International Olympic Committee can invite Tiger Woods and the modern pentathlon to the party.
“The IOC recommendation this week to drop wrestling starting in 2020, shocked the sports world – particularly in the United States and Russia, where it’s a wildly popular amateur sport. Blame the crazy politics of the IOC – a world-traveling cocktail party of aristocrats, connections and bribes.
“Wrestling got the boot so the Olympics could stick to 25 ‘core’ sports, which now include golf – whose best players go head-to-head year-round for million-dollar prizes – and the ‘modern pentathlon,’ an oddly built event that combines running, swimming, shooting, fencing and jumping horses. Gold medal, Indiana Jones.
“The IOC executive board voted in secret. Of 15 members, no Americans or Russians – wrestling’s historic powerhouses. And afterward, no formal explanation. No wonder the world thinks these people are corrupt….
“Whether the 2020 Games land in Istanbul, Madrid or Tokyo, this is a New Jersey story, too. We have nearly 10,000 high school wrestlers and thousands more in youth programs. If anything, the sport is growing. The Olympics added women’s wrestling in 2004. Today, 8,000 girls are on their high school teams.
“Wrestling is pure sport: two combatants, nothing more. It’s gritty, but it lacks the glitz of NBA stars, the pomp of track and field. Ancient Greeks and Romans immortalized wrestlers in art and mythology, but it’s all being chucked aside in favor of the Dream Team sports – the ones with celebrity athletes and TV sponsorships. The IOC pretends it’s a public trust; it’s more like a traveling circus that stops where the suckers pay most.
“The 2020 Olympic Games might be more marketable, definitely more snooty. Without wrestling, sadly, the Games will be far less Olympian.”
I was going to suggest that perhaps President Obama could direct one of our drones to target IOC headquarters unless they relent, but then Obama is big time up golf’s butt these days, having played with Tiger on Sunday. I mean here’s a chance at a real reset with Russia, as opposed to the fake one we’ve supposedly had.
Then again, maybe Vladimir Putin can just send some of his henchmen to give the word to the IOC. Developing…..
We Are…St. Lawrence!!!
A very good friend of Bar Chat, Trader George, went to this small school in upstate New York (Canton) that every now and then produces a competitive men’s Division I hockey team. Well, suddenly, the Saints are on a roll and when the next poll comes out should crack the top 20 in a big way as on Friday they defeated No. 1 Quinnipiac, there, 2-1, and then followed that up with a 3-2 win at Princeton on Saturday. Way cool. We now have a team to root for in a big way come college hockey playoffs. [Steve D., you’ll get your B.C. press as well.]
We Are…the Redskins!!!….or maybe not…
Sally Jenkins / Washington Post…on the ongoing debate whether or not to change the name. On the team’s Web site, “A series of prominently displayed pseudo-articles defend the club’s use of a racial slur as a mascot on the grounds that lots of high schools are nicknamed ‘Redskins’ too – so it must be okay.”
Some of the posts, such as from high school athletic directors, are asinine. One confessed that he wasn’t sure his students “know the whole history behind the nickname ‘Redskins.’”
“No, they probably don’t know. Given that the most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress found that only 12 percent of high school seniors were proficient in American history. And only 2 percent were able to identify the social problem addressed by the Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education.
“This is just a guess…But I’m willing to hazard that most 10th graders don’t realize a team calling itself Redskins might as well rename itself the Darkies, Guidos, or Slant Eyes. I’m pretty sure they are unaware that the term Redskins dates to the settler era when hunters boasted about shooting down ‘damned government pets’ and peddled Indian scalps as if they were animal pelts along with deerskins and bearskins.
“It’s (owner Daniel) Snyder’s favorite ploy to summon ‘history’ and ‘heritage’ to defend his use of a term that belongs in the same class as Dagos, Hymies and Krauts. By history, Snyder seems to mean the apocryphal notion that team owner George Preston Marshall meant to ‘honor.’ Lone Star Dietz with the name of the team. A real reading of this history shows that, actually, Marshall was a virulent racist and segregationist who liked to play Slave and Master. According to Thomas G. Smith’s book ‘Showdown,’ when Marshall proposed to his wife, he hired black performers to dress up as chattel and sing ‘Carry Me Back to old Virginny.’ He once said, ‘We’ll start signing Negroes when the Harlem Globetrotters start signing whites.’ He also once said, in answer to the charge that he was anti-Semitic, ‘I love Jews, especially when they’re customers.’ It’s far more probable that when Marshall invested in the team known back then as the Boston Braves, he simply renamed it to differentiate it from the baseball team….
“I’m betting that (Snyder) has no idea American Indians have the highest per capita military service commitment of any ethnic group in this country. Or that 47 percent of all tribal leaders are veterans….
“So I have a suggestion for the commanders in chief and the secretaries of the Army, Navy and Air Force…Pick up the phone. Put in a call to Snyder, and tell him, ‘Stop demeaning our most loyal volunteer troops.’”
–NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell earned $11.6 million in 2010. In 2011, at a time of the NFL lockout, Roger Goodell was voluntarily earning a $1 salary. When the collective bargaining agreement was reached with the players, and only one preseason game missed, the league’s tax return now shows the commissioner earned $29.49 million for the year. The league’s general counsel, Jeff Pash, earned $8.8 million in total comp.
Oh well…whaddya gonna do? Bud Selig and David Stern reportedly earn in the neighborhood of $20 million.
–The New York Post, using the Harvard Sports Analysis Collective, had the following data on New York area fans and which teams they like.
In Manhattan, for example, it’s Yankees over Mets 78-22. In Queens, 68-32. In the Bronx, 83-17. And in North Jersey, 84-16! Geezuz. Hey Johnny Mac and Phil W. I thought at least in Jersey it would be 75-25.
In Hockey, in North Jersey it’s Devils over Rangers 62-36 (2% stupidly said Islanders), while in Manhattan it’s 85-15 Rangers.
Lastly, North Jersey favors the Knicks over the Nets 63-37, and 59-41 in Brooklyn. In Manhattan it’s 72-28 Knicks. I’m surprised the Nets get that many supporters in Jersey.
Frankly, us Mets/Jets/Knicks/Rangers fans are desperate for a title.
—Edward Cheserek of St. Benedict’s Prep in New Jersey, the nation’s number one high school distance runner (best in state history, too), announced he is attending Oregon! Well I’m rather familiar with the running program there. Great choice.
Cheserek made his decision on Saturday night after breaking the national high school indoor two-mile record by running 8:39.15 in the elite men’s race at the Millrose Games in New York City.
I mean we’re talking a record that goes back to 1964 and the legendary Gerry Lindgren of Rogers High in Spokane, Washington (8:40.0); the oldest boys high school national indoor record.
–Talk about a “Dirtball of the Year” candidate (though obviously, when convicted, Oscar Pistorius may have a new award named after him), you have the case of the University of Alabama fan, Harvey Updyke, who poisoned Auburn University’s landmark oak trees. The other day, a judge revoked Updyke’s bond after he violated terms of his bond by getting arrested as a result of a disturbance at a home improvement store.
The university says the trees are all but dead. May a meteor rocket down from the heavens and make a direct hit on his jail cell.
“A major auctioneer tossed a pair of purportedly historic baseballs from a New York City auction yesterday (Sat.) after an upstate memorabilia collector called them out as fakes.
“A baseball supposedly signed by Yankee great Lou Gehrig in the 1930s and another supposedly used to make the final out in the 1917 World Series were abruptly pulled from bidding next Saturday by Heritage Auctions.
“Both balls were manufactured years after their consigners claim, says memorabilia collector Peter Nash.
“Heritage’s director of sports auctions, Chris Ivy, pulled the balls to cover his company’s losses….
“A collector was ready to pay $28,000 for a ball manufactured after 1940 that bears a clear, unwavering Gehrig signature.
“But Nash says that by 1940, Gehrig’s signature was illegible because his illness made his hands shake.
“The last bid for the 1917 World Series ball was $10,000. But Nash says the stamping on the ball shows it dates to no earlier than 1926.”
–Folks ask me, “Hey, Editor. What is the toughest job you have for Bar Chat?” I always have the same reply…selecting my three favorite Sports Illustrated swimsuit models.
This year I have to say Kate Upton’s cover shot is much better than last year’s. Some of her other photos are rather spectacular as well.
But I’m going with Genevieve Morton, Nina Agdal and Emily DiDonato. Lifetime subscriptions to Bar Chat are going out to the three, as well as the home version of “Bar Chat: The Game,” once we get around to making it.
–A young British backpacker found alive after three nights alone in the Queensland (Australia) outback survived by drinking contact lens fluid and his own urine.
–Johnny Mac passed along this touching story from Columbia, S.C., as reported by the Charlotte Observer’s Jeff Wilkinson.
“Gabe, a weapons sniffing dog at Fort Jackson and the 2012 American Humane Association’s Hero Dog of the Year, died Wednesday in Columbia – just four months after winning the title.”
Sgt. 1st Class Charles ‘Chuck’ Shuck said Gabe would be “cremated and he gets buried with me when I die.”
“Gabe – possibly the only dog in America with more than 35,000 Facebook friends – won the honor from the American Humane Association at a star-studded gala in Beverly Hills in October. Gabe represented the military against dogs in seven other categories, from police dogs to guide dogs.”
Gabe and Shuck deployed to Iraq in 2006 and survived 210 combat missions, including an attack in which a roadside bomb struck the vehicle they were riding in.
–As I’ve said on countless occasions, there is no one I admire more than songwriters (and authors). So we note the passing of Shadow Morton, 71. Morton was almost singlehandedly responsible for the success of the Shangri-Las, the Queens girl group he introduced and propelled to international stardom. Yes, Shadow Morton wrote “Remember (Walking in the Sand)” and “Leader of the Pack.” [Of course it helped the girls had nice sweaters, and I admit to falling in love with Mary Weiss, the blonde, and the lead, at the tender age of six.]
In fact, how cool is it that “Remember” was the first song Morton ever wrote?!
But he soon abandoned songwriting, partly out of indifference, as well as alcoholism. He did nonetheless produce Janis Ian’s hit single “Society’s Child,” which the more I listen to after 47 years, the more I like it, and he did some albums for Vanilla Fudge.
After battling his demons, he began a second career…designing golf clubs.
Top 3 songs for the week 2/19/72: #1 “Without You” (Nilsson) #2 “Let’s Stay Together” (Al Green) #3 “Hurting Each Other” (Carpenters…perhaps their best)…and…#4 “Precious And Few” (Climax) #5 “Never Been To Spain” (Three Dog Night) #6 “Down By The Lazy River” (The Osmonds) #7 “American Pie” (Don McLean…the Irish absolutely love to sing this one in their pubs…) #8 “Joy” (Apollo 100 featuring Tom Parker…makes you want to shoot yourself…Bach was super ticked…) #9 “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” (Robert John…Jeff B. likes this one…I don’t…) #10 “Everything I Own” (Bread…I also eat horseradish sauce…it detoxifies the liver…)
NHL Quiz Answer: Top six goal scorers…
1. Wayne Gretzky 894
2. Gordie Howe 801
3. Brett Hull 741
4. Marcel Dionne 731
5. Phil Esposito 717
6. Mike Gartner 708…this is one I never would have gotten
