Baseball Quiz: Who is the oldest pitcher to save 50 games in a season, and it’s not Mariano. Answer below.
I know many of you don’t like auto racing. I only say that if you don’t, attend one. You really gain an appreciation of how awesome these drivers are. When I used to go to Rockingham and North Wilkesboro, two short tracks that sadly are no longer in the rotation, I couldn’t believe the speed and the intensity. Of course I also hold the world record for pulled pork sandwiches consumed at a NASCAR track, North Wilkesboro, at 48….but I digress.
Anyway, it was years ago I was at Daytona and that wasn’t a great experience because it ended up being the coldest race they ever had and my seat was up top. But it was the one Dale Jr. won, 2004.
So…uh oh…cliche alert…all eyes this year were on Danica Patrick and she did fantastic. With the pressure of the racing world on her, and her adoring public, both guys and girls, I hasten to add, she was in the mix the entire way and finished 8th, the best finish ever by a woman in the race, plus she was the first female to lead a lap. The thing is, the last few laps are always a mess, if not exciting, and you can go from first to tenth in the blink of an eye. Danica was third heading into the last one but still done well.
But Jimmie Johnson won, solidifying his standing as the best in his sport. The five-time Cup champ (2006-2010) gained his second 500 and what I really respect, aside from the obvious (the five titles) is he’s now won a race 12 consecutive seasons (61 in his career).
But this race had the almost perfect ending for a lot of reasons. Dale Jr. finished second, giving his fans a big boost, and 54-year-old Mark Martin (ahem ahem…same age as your editor) finished third.
Plus Brad Keselowski, last year’s surprise Sprint Cup champ, finished fourth in a car that looked like it was out of Mad Max.
As an aside, only two of the 500 winners in the last 30 years have gone on to win the Cup championship in the same season; one being Johnson in 2006.
College Basketball Review
It was far from the best weekend of college b-ball this season, but then there isn’t one fan out there who isn’t salivating over the coming March Madness because it will be so wide open.
Case in point, Wake Forest takes down No. 2 Miami in Winston-Salem, 80-65. Little ol’ Wake Forest. Yes, Deaconwear is coming back out of the losers’ sports drawer. And as Dan Collins of the Winston-Salem Journal so aptly put it, Wake Forest “at long last regained full-fledged membership in good standing in the ACC.”
I mean you know from my tales of woe just how awful these last three years have been and the fan base has now been rewarded with a true signature win the program can finally build on. Heck, aside from undoubtedly saving Coach Jeff Bzdelik’s job, some of our freshmen totally outplayed their far more experienced Hurricane counterparts. Wake had a 19-point first half lead, saw Miami cut it to 50-45 in the second half, but then the Deacons went on a 12-0 run and it was game over.
–What an effort by Georgetown’s Otto Porter Jr. in the No. 11 Hoyas’ 57-46 win over No. 6 Syracuse before a record crowd of 35,000 at the Carrier Dome, the final time these two teams will meet there as Big East rivals before Syracuse bolts for the ACC. Porter had 33 of the 57 points as Georgetown snapped Syracuse’ longest in the nation home winning streak at 57.
Understand that Porter was 12 of 19 from the field and his teammates were a combined 7 of 35! [So Georgetown was 35% from the field, overall, while Syracuse shot just 34%.]
–On Sunday, No. 18 Ohio State defeated No. 4 Michigan in Columbus 68-60. I have to admit, I didn’t see a second of this one but I’ve been totally unimpressed by the Buckeyes this year when I have watched them.
–On Friday, Saint Louis (21-5, 10-2 A-10) completed a season sweep of No. 15 Butler (22-6, 9-4), in Indy, 65-61. Very impressive. The Billikens are obviously one of those unranked teams (until this coming poll) that I was referring to the other day…an unranked team this late in the season that can go on to win the national title.
–Boy, Creighton better get its act together, and soon, as they fell to Saint Mary’s 74-66 in a bracket-buster game. Creighton is 22-7, 11-5 MVC. They are not a lock in my book. Saint Mary’s, by the way, is 24-5, 12-2 WCC.
–What the heck happened to the North Carolina State Wolfpack? Everyone’s Final Four darlings in the pre-season, but after falling to North Carolina, 76-65, N.C. State is just 19-8, 8-6, while Carolina is 19-8, 9-5.
–My San Diego State Aztecs are back in solid form following a convincing 88-75 win over Nevada to move to 20-7, 8-5 MWC. Still far from a lock, however.
Elsewhere in the conference, No. 16 New Mexico had a nice 91-82 road win in Ft. Collins in defeating No. 22 Colorado State. Lobos guard Kendall Williams went off for a stupendous 46 points, nearly double his career best of 24, as he was not only 12 of 16 from the field, but 10 of 13 from downtown! Yes, the 10 3-pointers were a conference record.
–In another bracket-buster game, Murray State defeated South Dakota State in Murray, Ky., 73-62. Isaiah Canaan, after my tongue lashing last week, has had back-to-back great efforts.
–Ah, Mr. Chairman? I’d like to revise and extend my remarks concerning West Virginia, losers at home to No. 14 Oklahoma State 73-57. They might not be an upset special for the Big 12 tournament.
–Talk about a disaster. Did you see the details behind Vanderbilt’s 72-31 win over Mississippi State down in Starkville? The Bulldogs were 7 of 40 from the field! And they were outrebounded 51-17! [The box score reads 47-13, but the story behind the game says 51-17. Regardless, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen this.]
Mississippi State has now lost 12 in a row and is 7-19, 2-12 SEC overall. And I thought it was tough being a Wake fan. Plus they lost the Civil War….so it’s not as if their fans can fall back on that one.
He’s in his fifth season at Oregon State and the Beavers are 13-15, 3-12 in Pac-12 play. They were 21-15, 7-11, last season so a step back and in his five years he hasn’t finished .500 in the conference.
But as long as Barack is president, you think the Beavers would have the guts to make a change? I mean Robinson’s supposed to be a good guy and all, and they’ve got some very underrated cheerleaders, but c’mon….the guy’s record blows!
–Meanwhile, Rutgers’ C. Vivian Stringer still hasn’t won the 900th game of her career; Rutgers Lady Scarlet Knights losing to St. John’s 61-48 on Saturday to go 14-12, 5-8 Big East. To say the least, some of us are getting a kick out of this because of her $1 million+ salary and her insistence Rutgers still has an elite women’s program. She did at least call Saturday’s effort “embarrassingly poor.”
“The Justice Department on Friday joined a federal whistle-blower lawsuit claiming that Lance Armstrong, his former team manager and the company that owned his cycling team defrauded the government because cyclists on the team, sponsored by the United States Postal Service, were engaged in a systematic, covert doping scheme.
“The lawsuit, initially filed in 2010 by Floyd Landis, one of Armstrong’s former teammates, asserts that the defendants concealed the doping from their sponsors because the sponsorship contract expressly prohibited the use of performance-enhancing drugs. The contract, from 2001 to 2004, was worth about $31 million.
“Ronald C. Machen Jr., United States attorney for the District of Columbia, said the government joined Landis as a plaintiff because Armstrong and his associates ‘took more than $30 million from the U.S. Postal Service based on their contractual promise to play fair and abide by the rules.’ It is also unfair, he said, that the Postal Service is now associated with the cycling team that ran what the United States Anti-Doping Agency has called the most sophisticated doping program in history.”
As Ms. Macur points out, “in federal whistle-blower lawsuits, a court or jury can award triple damages, which in this case could add up to an award of more than $90 million.”
Landis stands to benefit because as a whistle-blower, he would get a percentage of the award.
According to a source, Armstrong and his lawyers are attempting to settle for $5 million. With the Justice Department on Landis’ side, though, this is highly significant. The government only joins about 20% of the cases filed under the False Claims Act and when it does, it wins 80% of the time.
–In the World Golf Championship match play event, Hunter Mahan defeated Ian Poulter in the semis, 4 and 3, while Matt Kuchar bested Jason Day 3 and 2.
Then, Kuchar won his fifth PGA Tour title as he defeated Mahan.
–Congratulations to Chicago for being the murder capital of the U.S.! Oops, how did that slip in here.
I meant, congratulations to the Chicago Blackhawks for the best start to an NHL season in history; gaining at least one point in their first 17 games in beating San Jose on Friday night, 2-1.
And then they won on Sunday, 1-0, in besting Columbus to move to 15-0-3! We love you Stan Mikita!
–What a year for the U.S. Alpine and Nordic skiing team. American Sarah Hendrickson won the women’s ski jumping world title in Val di Fiemme, Italy. Hendrickson, just 18, defeated 16-year-old Sara Takanashi of Japan. Women’s ski jumping will be featured for the first time at next year’s Sochi Olympics. Great!
By the way, if you ever get the chance, go to Lake Placid (granted, not an easy trek) and go up the ski jump there. Boy, you really appreciate what these athletes do…the male ski jumpers of days of yore were the original “extreme sports” aficionados, when you think about it.
–I forgot that at the “1955 24 Hours of Le Mans, 83 fans and a driver were killed and 120 injured when Pierre Levegh’s Mercedes collided with a car, sailed into a dirt embankment and launched into the crowd.”
Saturday’s crash at the Nationwide race “was the worst involving fan injuries in U.S. auto racing since three fans were killed by a tire and suspension debris in the 1999 IndyCar race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. A year earlier, three fans were killed in a CART race when a crash sent a tire and debris into stands at Michigan International Raceway." [Nate Ryan / USA TODAY]
Many feel the whole catchfence concept needs reworking.
“Manti Te’o handled the biggest test of his NFL future with a defusing calm that one former league executive believes will help restore his battered image after an ‘embarrassing’ fake online girlfriend scandal….
“Te’o spent his 15-minute session (at the scouting combine on Saturday) before 200 news reporters and 35 television/video cameras answering questions with a polite directness. He never appeared rattled and didn’t snap when one reporter sarcastically asked if he was dating anyone in real life.
“You better believe all 32 teams were either watching or will watch at some point the session that was televised live by the NFL Network.”
Former St. Louis Rams vice president of player personnel Tony Softli told USA TODAY, “I thought he did a great job of being very articulate, poised and not deferring questions. He was pretty sincere….It’s a strange situation being that naïve. And he’s very immature socially. But he handled himself a lot better than I thought he would.”
Former Indianapolis Colts GM Bill Polian said the only thing Te’o is guilty of is being naïve.
“Everything (Notre Dame athletics director) Jack Swarbrick said has been true and it’s been corroborated by Manti…The clear verdict as all the evidence showed is that Manti was guilty of nothing. He was the victim of a hoax.”
Polian adds, however, that if he was asking questions, he’d want to know why he played so poorly in the Alabama game. Te’o disappeared. He told the throng, “They just executed better than we did.”
“It’s definitely embarrassing,” he said of the catfishing hoax. “You walk into a grocery store and you get people giving you double takes and staring at you…It’s part of the process and it’s only going to make you stronger.”
This is all well and good, but I repeat a statement I made before. Te’o can only fit in in certain environments. The Jets, for example, would be nuts to take him (not that they are thinking of it) because the fan base (and some in the media…see tabloids) would eat Manti alive. He needs to be in St. Louis, Arizona, Jacksonville….
On Saturday, Te’o said he had undergone team interviews with the Houston Texans and the Packers, with many more to follow. It was also cleared he was well-coached for the media event.
–The bloody sock Curt Schilling wore while pitching Game 2 of the 2004 World Series for Boston against the Cardinals was sold for $92,613 at a live auction Saturday night. It was expected to fetch $100,000. An anonymous bidder snapped it up. Schilling lost all his baseball earnings when his Rhode Island-based video game company 38 Studios went bankrupt.
Earlier this year, the ball that went through Bill Buckner’s legs in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series sold for $418,000.
Meanwhile, 1980 Olympic hockey hero Mike Eruzione sold all his gear from the “Miracle on Ice,” everything except his actual gold medal. His stick went for $262,900, while his jerseys went for $657,250 and $286,800 respectively. Good lord!
Eruzione said that the proceeds will be used to help his family and his charitable endeavors.
Also at the same auction, a $1,150 signing bonus endorsed by then 17-year-old Mickey Mantle sold for $286,800 and two checks related to the purchase of Babe Ruth went for $95,600. Holy Toledo!
–J. Mac and I watched the Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park on Saturday to catch Violence in his first race as a three-year-old, he being an early Derby favorite. But Violence finished second to a hard-charging Orb. Of all the things you can see on the Net, good horse races are at the top…especially in the months leading up to Churchill Downs. I recommend a fine six-pack of Shiner Bock, of course, while you observe the action.
–Few items find their way into both this column and that other one I do, the more serious effort, but in the case of the death of Paul C. McIlhenny, CEO and chairman of the board of the McIlhenny Company that makes Tabasco sauces, you’ll see his name again next weekend. He was only 68 and suffered a heart attack.
McIlhenny joined the company in 1967 and was responsible for years of record sales and earnings growth, as well as the introduction of new products and sauce flavors.
In all seriousness, when you just dream of running an operation, anything, in the world, this is the company I’d love to be involved in. It’s just the definition of “cool.” And, err, hot.
–So following Superstorm Sandy, in New York City everyone wondered what would happen to all the rats, what with the subway tunnels flooded. Tales sprang up all over of rats infesting other areas they were forced to move to.
But city officials, and citizens in the know, say the rats didn’t go anywhere.
One fellow, Richard Reynolds, who leads a group of dog owners who conduct urban rat hunts, told the Associated Press:
“What happened to the rats? Nothing! We’re finding rats right where we’ve always found them,” he said. “I think this whole idea that there has been some kind of major relocation of rats is just good news media fodder.”
He noted, as did other experts, that Norwegian rats, the species found in New York (ed. I didn’t know this), are known for being especially strong swimmers.
“I have seen them dive over 70 feet, swim 500 yards, give me the finger and head for the hills,” Reynolds said. “Hurricane Sandy is not going to affect these critters.”
Gee, these Norwegian rats kind of sound like a combination of Barney Cipriani, Johnny Weismuller and Madonna….know what I’m sayin’?
[OK…maybe I’m aging myself here…Greg Louganis, Michael Phelps and Madonna.]
–So you know how when I’ve gone to Guam, many times over the years, I always bring up the issue of the brown tree snake? Check this out…from Eric Talmadge / AP:
“Dead mice laced with painkillers are about to rain down on Guam’s jungle canopy. They are scientists’ prescription for a headache that has caused the tiny U.S. territory misery for more than 60 years: the brown tree snake.
“Most of Guam’s native bird species are extinct because of the snake, which reached the island’s thick jungles by hitching rides from the South Pacific on U.S. military ships shortly after World War II. There may be 2 million of the reptiles on Guam now, decimating wildlife, biting residents and even knocking out electricity by slithering onto power lines.
“More than 3,000 miles away, environmental officials in Hawaii have long feared a similar invasion – which in their case likely would be a ‘snakes on a plane’ scenario. That would cost the state many vulnerable species and billions of dollars, but the risk will fall if Guan’s air-drop strategy succeeds.”
Some brown tree snakes can grow to 10 feet in length. Personally, I’ve only seen them in zoos and reptile parks, but when you walk along the beaches in Guam, you know they are hiding in the undergrowth on the edge. Their venom isn’t lethal for humans, but if one ever bit you, you’d probably die of a heart attack. I know I would.
So the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture is taking advantage of two of the snake’s weaknesses. “Unlike most snakes, brown tree snakes are happy to eat prey they didn’t kill themselves, and they are highly vulnerable to acetaminophen, which is harmless to humans.”
Thus the air drop, which is scheduled to hit the area surrounding massive Andersen Air Force Base….heavy jungle…and a possible ticket off the island if one gets into a plane’s wheelbase. So the dead mice are going to be dropped from a helicopter, by hand.
–Boy, those Pistorius brothers are just a real barrel of monkeys, aren’t they?
–Back to Snake Chat…as you are aware, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is sponsoring a Burmese python hunt in the Everglades. Anyone willing to pay a $25 fee is welcome to plunge into swampland and risk instant death by water mocassin for the chance at a cash prize: $1,000 for the longest Burmese python and $1,500 for the most pythons captured and killed.
But as David Zucchino of the Los Angeles Times reports, “Alas, estimates of the Burmese python population of South Florida range from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands. The point of the first-time contest was not to kill every last python but to raise public awareness of the need to eliminate them.”
We do need to destroy them, however, I think you’d agree. It’s just that all the press isn’t helping. I mean pythons read and hear everything that’s out there.
—Steve G., my former neighbor in Summit who has basically been spending his time between Colorado and California since our childhood, told me he was snowed in in the Denver area on Sunday and had to knock the snow off his Direct TV antenna.
Well, I reminded him that the Direct TV genie is like Santa Claus and you need to leave cookies out for her at night so she can find your bedroom, err, home.
–After eight years, Josh Brolin is leaving Diane Lane. Yessss!!! There’s still hope for your editor.
Uh oh….the International Web Site Association is not happy with me. Says it’s too soon and that I’ve crossed the line. No doubt a hefty fine is coming. Drat.
–And as I wrap up Sunday night before the Best Picture award, let alone actor and actress, a few comments. I love Seth MacFarlane. I mean how can you not? The guy is brilliant.
Anne Hathaway will always be respected, big time, in these parts, because she attended Millburn High School, ten minutes from the global headquarters of StocksandNews. Yes, a public school, for all of you who think public schools suck. And look….she just won!!!
Queen Latifah is incredibly overrated.
Ben Affleck is a total tool. [Albeit a talented one.]
Adele rocks!
Daniel-Day Lewis by all accounts is a terrific person, let alone the best actor on the planet.
I’m still in love with Sophia Loren. And Ann-Margret. Not that they had anything to do with tonight’s Oscar telecast.
And huge kudos to the production folks for the James Bond tribute and god bless Shirley Bassey! Wow, she was terrific. Plus you talk about a song that has held up well….50 years….that’s the ultimate test. Frankly, that’s the Oscar night highlight of the last 20 years….or more.
Shu just wrote in to say he and wife Karen liked “Life of Pi.” I’m on my sixth Coors Light tall boy and, frankly, have to admit I haven’t seen a movie in a theatre since “The Deer Hunter,” or so it seems.
So I looked up John Cazale from Deer Hunter (and other films) fame to see when he died. What an awesome talent he was. [Wiki him.] But it was 1978! Now I’m depressed and out of beer.
Top 3 songs for the week 2/23/74: #1 “The Way We Were” (Barbra Streisand….ughh…) #2 “Seasons In The Sun” (Terry Jacks…whatever…) #3 “Until You Come Back To Me (That’s What I’m Gonna Do)” (Aretha Franklin ….easily my fave of hers…)…and…#4 “Spiders & Snakes” (Jim Stafford…great entertainer…) #5 “Love’s Theme” (Love Unlimited Orchestra…I miss Barry…) #6 “Jungle Boogie” (Kool & The Gang…get down..) #7 “Boogie Down” (Eddie Kendricks…everyone be boogeyin’ an’ sheeeet…) #8 “Rock On” (David Essex…interminable …) #9 “You’re Sixteen” (Ringo Starr….trying to stay relevant…) #10 “Let Me Be There” (Olivia Newton-John…song not aging well…)
Baseball Quiz Answer: Dennis Eckersley had 51 saves at the age of 37 in 1992. John Smoltz was 35 when he saved 55 in 2002. The overall single-season saves leader is Francisco Rodriguez, who had 62 in 2008. Then the Mets signed him and, oh, you know the rest of the story with all the Met signees of recent vintage.
Like Saturday, Jason Bay, now with Seattle, homered in his first at-bat and said he felt his swing returning. Unfreakin’believable. I mean this stiff hit .234 in three seasons with the Mets after signing a contract that paid him a gazillion dollars and he had all of 26 home runs in 986 at-bats. He also hit .165 last season.
If Jason Bay has any kind of season with the Mariners, I’ll commit hari-kari. Other Mets fans I know will do the same.
Next Bar Chat will be posted earlier than normal….not sure when.
