Baseball Quiz: Name the only six players to drive in 170 runs in a season. Answer below.
College Basketball Review
–Early in the week, Virginia moved to 10-5 in the ACC with a 73-68 win over No. 3 Duke behind junior Joe Harris’ 36; this as No. 4 Michigan lost to pathetic Penn State, the Nittany Lions’ first Big Ten win of the year, 84-78.
But on Saturday, with just a two-day turnaround, Duke prevailed in Durham over No. 5 Miami, 79-76, as Ryan Kelly returned to the lineup for the first time since Jan. 8. Duke is now 16-0 with him in the lineup, and 9-4 without.
What was remarkable, though, was that despite the layoff, Kelly put on one of the great college basketball performances of recent vintage in scoring a career high 36 on 10 of 14 shooting, 7 of 9 from downtown. Spectacular, and yet another reason why you really have to throw out all of Duke’s contests when they were playing without him in deciding how the Blue Devils will do, and where they are seeded, for March Madness.
As for Miami, now 23-5, 14-2, they are still ACC regular season champs, Duke being 12-4 in league play, and looked good on the road in defeat. The ACC with these two is well-positioned to get at least one of ‘em to the Final Four.
And on Sunday, Michigan recovered to defeat No. 9 Michigan State 58-57, but UVA lost to Boston College 53-52. Good gawd.
My San Diego State Aztecs lost their only contest to No. 14 New Mexico, 70-60, to fall to 20-8, 8-6. Like I’ve been saying, the Aztecs are hardly a lock, even if no one else seems to be talking that way. They just need to get into the tourney, but they better not only split their final two conference contests, they are almost forced to win two in the conference tourney.
By the way, after going off for 46 points the game before, New Mexico’s Kendall Williams was held to just 8 by the Aztecs, but it didn’t matter.
Akron continued undefeated in MAC play with a big overtime win at Ohio, 88-81, but then on Saturday was shocked by Buffalo, 81-67. As for the Bobcats, 12-2 in MAC play, they should still get into the tourney but like SDSU I wouldn’t consider them a lock yet either. Get a few surprise tournament winners, like in the MAC itself, and a school like Ohio is a casualty. I mean would the MAC get three schools in an upset scenario? I don’t think so.
Another team I thought was heading to bubbledom, Creighton, more than wrapped up a bid with a win over rival Wichita State, 91-79, as Doug McDermott, as surefire an NBA future star as you’ll find, scored 41 on 15 of 18 shooting from the field.
And early on Saturday, many of us watched VCU totally blitz No. 20 Butler 84-52. Shaka Smart’s boys moved to 23-6, 11-3 A-10, while Brad Stevens’ Bulldogs fell to 22-7, 9-5. Heck, Butler is just fourth in the A-10, tied with Temple. LaSalle is third at 10-4. Does the A-10 get five teams? [VCU and Saint Louis being the others.] I don’t think so.
–Teams ranked in the AP top five have lost 19 games to unranked opponents this season, the most since 2006-07 when 20 top-five teams lost to unranked teams, according to Stats LLC and the Wall Street Journal’s Rachel Bachman.
There have also been 13 teams ranked in the top five this year, the most since 2003-04 (18), but 23 teams ranked in the top 10 – the same as last season.
–It seems like it’s basically official. The Big East’s seven departing Catholic schools are expected to start their own league next season and will keep the Big East Conference name. DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, St. John’s, Seton Hall, and Villanova will be joined by Xavier and Butler. Creighton, according to ESPN, could be the tenth team. Fox Sports Network is hot for the new conference.
As for those remaining in the “Big East,” beats the hell out of me how it all shakes out.
–Talk about a great story. Four seasons ago, NJIT was 0-29 and set a Division I record with 51 consecutive losses at one point. They hired a new coach after that year, Jim Engles, and he endured a 1-30 first season as coach.
But on Saturday, NJIT won the regular season Great West Conference championship to go 16-11, 6-1. One would think Mr. Engles has a nice future in the Division I coaching game.
—Brandon Johnson was a star at the University of San Diego (not to be confused with San Diego State), the school’s all-time scoring and assists leader, but on Friday he was sentenced to six months in prison for his role in a game-fixing scheme. Johnson admitted to unsuccessfully soliciting an unidentified player during the 2010-11 season, when he was no longer at the school. He insisted he never manipulated a game in which he played, though prosecutors alleged he sought to influence the outcome of games during his senior year, as reported by the AP.
Johnson is the highest profile of 10 defendants indicted in 2011 as part of a conspiracy to fix games, part of an illegal gambling operation and marijuana distribution. Eight have pleaded guilty and five have been sentenced.
Johnson profited $5,000 to $10,000 for altering “approximately four games” during the 2009-10 season.
In a February 2010 game against Loyola Marymount, one in which San Diego was favored by 3 ½ points and lost 72-69, Johnson did not shoot late in the contest. In a secretly taped phone call, Johnson is quoted as saying: “Coach was like, how you aint’ get a shot up. I’m in the locker room, like, You can say what you want, but that’s a G ($1,000) right there.”
That, friends, is the purest definition of dirtball that there is and expect to see Johnson’s name at year end in this space.
–This is stupid. To commemorate the 75th anniversary of the NCAA, the organization is staging all three division basketball championships over the Final Four weekend in April, which means that in the case of Division III, whose playoffs just started, there will be a 41-day period between when the bracket was announced last Monday and the April 7 title game. The usual Division III tournament runs 19 days. To make it even stupider, there will be 15 days between the semifinals and the championship contest. Said Brandeis Coach Brian Meehan:
“It’s not the Super Bowl. These are not scholarship athletes. The NCAA always likes to say ‘students first,’ but rarely are their decisions for the students. This one isn’t.”
I think all of us have finally had it with the NCAA. I mean like really had it. Enough is enough.
Related to the above…a federal judge blocked a law signed last year legalizing sports betting at New Jersey casinos and horse racing tracks. Gov. Chris Christie and Jersey legislators vowed to continue the fight on appeal.
The ruling sided with the NCAA and the country’s four largest sports leagues in finding a federal ban on sports gambling was constitutional and superseded state law.
The chief legal counsel for the NCAA, Ronald Remy, said:
“The NCAA maintains that the spread of legalized sports wagering is a threat to the integrity of athletic competition and student-athlete-well-being. We hope the decision in this case is a step in the direction of preventing that from happening.”
So I’m watching UCLA-Arizona on Saturday night and there is an advertisement for the Pac-12 men’s basketball tournament in Las Vegas. Understand not one Pac-12 team is even in the state, unlike the Mountain West Conference, which has Nevada and UNLV. It’s just so hypocritical. And this while the petty NCAA has canceled several events in New Jersey.
What it all means is that sports betting is not likely to be in place for the Super Bowl at the Meadowlands, let alone the coming NFL season. This sucks. I was ready to supplement my income by being your favored bookie in New Jersey…the Garden State.
—C. Vivian Stringer of Rutgers finally won her 900th game.
Golf Balls
–So this weekend it was all about Rory McIlroy, and for all the wrong reasons. McIlroy, the No. 1 in the world, has had poor stretches before, but this year he has hardly played, and when he did, his performance has been miserable. A missed cut in Dhubai, a first-round takeout at the World Match Play tournament won by Matt Kuchar, and then the disgraceful effort this week at the Honda Classic where Rory walked off the course after eight holes of his second round on Friday, claiming he had an issue with his wisdom tooth, though he was 7-over after the first 8 holes. All are in agreement, from his playing partners on Friday, one of whom was Ernie Els, to Johnny Miller in the NBC booth on Saturday, that it was very poor form for McIlroy to just walk off.
“I sincerely apologize to the Honda Classic and PGA Tour for my sudden withdrawal.
“I have been suffering with a sore wisdom tooth, which is due to come out in the near future. It began bothering me again last night, so I relieved it with Advil. It was very painful again this morning, and I was simply unable to concentrate.”
Tournament organizers were pissed and the Tour will fine him $30,000, according to reports.
“Thus far, Rory McIlroy’s new life as a Nike athlete hasn’t gone well. The world No.1-ranked player walked off the course in the middle of his ninth hole Friday, withdrawing from the Honda Classic, where he was defending champion….After telling a small scrum of reporters, ‘I’m not in a great place mentally. I can’t really say much, guys. I’m just in a bad place mentally,’ he swiftly left the premises by car.
“An hour later, the 23-year-old Northern Irishman issued a statement apologizing for his withdrawal, which he attributed to a sore wisdom tooth affecting his concentration. A photographer caught him chomping on a sandwich minutes before withdrawing, causing some to doubt the explanation. PGA Tour policy prohibits a player from withdrawing except for injury, disability or serious personal emergency.
“Ernie Els, who played with McIlroy Friday, said later, ‘I’m a great fan of Rory’s, but I don’t think that was the right thing to do.’”
McIlroy signed a mega-deal with Nike in January and says he’s had trouble adjusting to his new equipment. His long-time coach, Michael Bannon, says it’s swing flaws that crept in over the winter. “He’s coming in under plane,” Bannon said.
Nick Faldo says it’s about Rory changing everything all at once, including his ball, which undermines confidence.
Meanwhile, speculation is of course growing that Rory and girlfriend Caroline Wozniacki, the former No. 1 tennis player (now No. 10) who has flamed out, are having major issues. Wozniacki this week lost to a competitor ranked 186th at the Malaysian Open.
The pair, normally very communicative with one another, have not publicly conversed on Twitter (their routine) for several days.
It doesn’t help that reporters pester the couple on whether they are getting married.
But as more than one scribe has said, what Rory is going through is “The Curse of Nike” after signing a $250 million deal to switch from Titleist. Nike has (had) Oscar Pistorius, after all, as well as Lance Armstrong.
Tiger Woods said of his new Nike partner: “He’s just got to be more…just got to think about it a little bit more before he says something or does something.”
“”(Rory) acted like a baby, is what he did, suffering from an acute case of bad golf and hurt feelings, and becoming the latest player to watch his game suffer because of a big expensive change from one brand of clubs to another.
“Suddenly his golf game is worse than the tennis game of his girlfriend.”
“Whether it was blinding pain from a wisdom tooth or the intolerable weight of his own and the world’s expectations, Rory McIlroy snapped like a dry stick and with a crack that’ll reverberate for some to come.
“The sight of McIlroy, his shoulders slumped and his spirits visibly crushed, walking off the golf course after completing the first eight holes of his second round at The Honda Classic in a calamitous seven-over-par sent a shock wave coursing through his sport.”
As McGinty writes, recall how during McIlroy’s Masters meltdown, when he was a mere 20, he “stunned the world with his bravery. After enduring the death of his Masters dream on the golf course, he showed true character by squaring up to the TV cameras in its aftermath.”
[Meanwhile, Michael Thompson won his first PGA Tour event at the Honda, defeating Geoff Ogilvy. Thompson had started the year missing the cut at three of his first four events. Go figure.]
–I forgot that there was a 90-day comment period on the USGA’s and R&A’s decision to ban anchoring the putter and now that it’s expired, the two bodies have to decide whether or not to fight the PGA Tour and PGA of America, which have expressed opposition to the proposal.
According to Commissioner Tim Finchem, at least 12 of the 16-man Player Advisory Council are against the ban (though Tiger Woods is for it), largely because no competitive advantage has been proven, as noted by Golfweek’s Jeff Rude.
Finchem said, “Unless you have a compelling reason to change it, you shouldn’t.”
Steve Stricker, member of the Tour Policy Board, said, “We’re at a point in time in the game that we’re trying to keep players, lure players into playing the game. A majority of the players feel (a ban would) detract the local guy, the club member, the public player, whoever, from playing at times. And this rule has been good for 30 years.”
–Meanwhile, over on the LPGA Tour, how’s Michelle Wie doing? Glad you asked. She finished T-45 at the HSBC event in Singapore this weekend, just 19 shots behind winner Stacy Lewis. I bet Wie’s sponsors are just thrilled at her highly mediocre play the past few years.
Ball Bits
–The Mets are seething about Johan Santana, with GM Sandy Alderson just coming out and saying Santana showed up at camp out of pitching shape and he’s not nearly ready to throw to major league hitters.
“I think there was an expectation that when he came in, he’d be ready to pitch,” said the GM. “But I think that was his expectation, too, regardless of the winter he had.”
Santana is in the final year of a six-year, $137.5 million contract. Outside of the first season, 2008, when he was 16-7, it’s been one injury after another, including missing the entire 2011 campaign, and he’s 46-34 for the Metropolitans. $137 million for 50-60 wins, max, it will end up being. Talk about blowdom.
[And then us Mets fans also have our Jets. Good lord. The other day, 35-year-old David Garrard worked out for the coaches to see if he could challenge Mark Sanchez, who we’re stuck with another season. Actually, the other QB talked about is Brady Quinn. If he is signed, I definitely commit hari-kari]
—Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig stated this weekend he wanted stiffer penalties for those using steroids. Earlier, the Yankees’ Mark Teixeira said the same thing and his comments were interesting.
“(If) someone is naïve enough to worship you, the professional athlete knows…better than anybody: Most of them are America’s Role Models in pretty much the same way that bird droppings are America’s Favorite Dessert Topping.
“But inside the Yankee clubhouse Wednesday, there was a guy who tried to put into words just how the word (‘accountability’) needs to be redefined by his industry, and if you want to know the truth, Mark Teixeira didn’t sound nearly as cloyingly gee-whiz as this quote might look in print:
“ ‘Generally speaking, I don’t even want a kid to look at me and say, ‘Oh, he just hit three homers in a game – he’s probably on steroids,’ the Yankees first baseman said. ‘That’s a tough thing. It’s part of our job, it’s been part of baseball for a long time, and it’s not going to go away. But we just have to know that we’re doing everything we possibly can.’”
MLB is instituting random blood tests for HGH for the first time this season, “and Teixeira might be the one guy you’ll hear around here who says that he’ll gladly spill some for the sake of transparency.”
Teixeira said: “I think we’ve tried to do everything we can to clean up the game, and we’ve done a good job, but there’s always going to be outliers. There’s always going to be cases where guys either intentionally or unintentionally break the rules, and to think that we’re going to solve every one of those issues would be naïve.
“At the same time, if there’s anything that we can do to make it more of a deterrent or to make the testing better, we are all for going through that process.”
I have to admit I’m one who just assumed Tex used, quite frankly. The above should make non-believers like myself want to treat him with more respect…I guess.
“Breathe easy, Milwaukee Brewers fans: The missing link has been found.
“The costume of Guido, one of the team’s baserunning sausages that had gone missing earlier this month, was located inside TJ Ryan’s Bar in Cedarburg, Wisconsin.
“Bartender Jen Mohney told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that two men – one wearing a hoodie pulled over his face – brought the $3,000, 7-foot-long Italian Sausage costume into the bar, dropped it onto a stool and told her, ‘You did not see anything.’
“She says the men left quickly, and she then called police.”
Frankly, I always suspected Guido of being on steroids (as well as fillers and additives); getting his supply from Ryan Braun.
–The Chicago Blackhawks extended their NHL record season-opening point streak to 22 games with a 2-1 shootout win over Detroit on Sunday. Chicago is now a stupendous 19-0-3.
As yes, nothing says hockey like Chicago vs. Detroit…and Montreal vs. Toronto.
–On Wednesday night, Golden State’s Stephen Curry dropped 54 on the Knicks at Madison Square Garden in a performance as good as any many of us have seen. True, the Warriors lost, 109-105, but Curry was 18-28 from the field, including 11-13 from three. Plus 7-7 from the foul line, 6 rebounds and 7 assists. The game was remarkable also for the play of Tyson Chandler of New York. 16 points and a career high 28 rebounds!
[The Knicks had a bad loss on Sunday, 99-93 to the Heat at MSG, being outscored 54-34 in the second half after building a 14-point first half lead. But at least Jason Kidd, after going 7 of 49 from downtown, finally hit 4 of 5.]
–Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco got his just reward; a new six-year contract with the Baltimore Ravens that will pay him a reported $20 million per, though in deals of this kind it’s all about the guaranteed money and no word on that as yet.
–USA TODAY Sports Weekly ranked the quarterbacks in the coming NFL Draft and I have to admit I was surprised Matt Barkley was tabbed first, what with his shoulder issues.
1. Matt Barkley…Southern Cal
2. Geno Smith…West Virginia
3. EJ Manuel…Florida State
4. Tyler Wilson…Arkansas
5. Mike Glennon…North Carolina State
6. Ryan Nassib…Syracuse
7. Landry Jones…Oklahoma
8. Tyler Bray…Tennessee
9. Collin Klein…Kansas State
10. Brad Sorensen…Southern Utah…huh, don’t know him…6-5, 230…
—54-year-old Mark Martin, who I thought was retiring two years ago, became the second-oldest in NASCAR history to win a pole at Phoenix. The oldest, by just a few months, is Harry Gant, who accomplished the feat at Bristol in 1994.
But Carl Edwards won the race, with Martin finishing 21st and Danica 39th.
—Tina Maize of Slovenia broke the record for points in a World Cup season by winning a downhill Saturday, becoming only the third woman to win a race in all five disciplines in a single season.
Maize has 20 podium finishes this season, tying for second on the single-season list with American Phil Mahre (1981-82). Hermann Maier holds the record with 22 in the 1999-2000 season.
Maize then just missed podium 21 in finishing fourth in the super-G on Sunday. The thing is, overnight she had received an e-mailed death threat so bodyguards accompanied her.
–From a report by Dan Levin of the New York Times:
“Since the beginning of 2012, more than 32,000 elephants have been illegally killed, according to the Born Free Foundation, a wildlife organization, and conservationists say the majority of ivory sold in China, which sells for more than $1,300 a pound on the black market, is of questionable origin.”
“The most accurate assessment to date of the impact of commercial fishing on sharks suggests around 100 million are being killed each year.
“The researchers say that this rate of exploitation is far too high, especially for a species which reproduces later in life.
“The major factor driving the trade is the ongoing demand for shark fins for soup in Chinese communities.
“The report has been published by the Journal Marine Policy….
“Scientists estimate a mortality range of between 63 and 273 million sharks in 2010.”
So, two stories…one country the main culprit. The same country that also seeks to steal all of America’s corporate secrets.
–We note the passing of actress Bonnie Franklin, 69. She was the determined Ann Romano on the television show “One Day at a Time.” I have to admit I hardly watched this one growing up, and if I did it was to see Valerie Bertinelli. Mackenzie Phillips was also pretty, err, cool then too. Of course I didn’t know at the time that Ms. Phillips was a rather heavy abuser of drugs, so it was ironic that in the early 1980s, I literally lived 100 yards from the rehab center she was in in Summit.
–It seems local girl made good, Anne Hathaway (Millburn High School) has “managed to become more unlikable, annoying and cloying by winning an Oscar” than she was before. Legions of Americans, as noted in the Daily News, have lit up the blogosphere with anti-Hathaway sentiment…the “Hathahaters”… “who aren’t fooled by her luminous skin, sweet pixie cut and perfect teeth.” [Sheila Mcclear and Nicole Lyn Pesce / New York Daily News]
Ouch! “Us Weekly reported she rehearsed her acceptance speech to make herself more likable (nice try!) and she told the magazine that the constant criticism over her speeches hurt her feelings. Joan Rivers summed up her feeling about her on Letterman by sticking out her tongue and saying, ‘blech!’”
Of course Ms. Rivers has her own problems these days, if you catch my drift.
Well, personally, I have no reason not to like Hathaway. Heck, I don’t even go to the movies.
But the News quotes Jenny Martinez, 31, a consultant from Tribeca. “I can’t stand Anne Hathaway. She reminds me of this girl I went to school with that was so overdramatic in everything that she did.”
–A friend of mine from my high school class, G. Bruce Knecht, has received some excellent reviews for a new book, “Grand Ambition: An Extraordinary Yacht, the People Who Built It, and the Millionaire Who Can’t Really Afford It.” Give it a look.
–Needless to say, we have fun with beer at Bar Chat, but in Britain, new rules taking effect calculate that the average cost of being convicted for a first “drink drive offense is between $30,000 and $75,000.” You’re reading that right. The costs include legal fees, a steep hike in insurance premiums for 11 years, and lost earnings for the 15 months you can’t drive. The new rules are being driven by an increase in fatalities due to drunk driving in the country.
–USA TODAY surveyed NBA arenas and the most expensive beer, $9, can be found at Knicks and Phoenix Suns games. The least expensive, $5, is served up in Oklahoma City and San Antonio. So I’m moving to OKC…but I’ll cab it to games.
–Sign of the Apocalypse: The study by neuroscientists at Duke University that have proven that telepathic communication between rats is not only possible, but can be done across continents. Yet another reason to always sleep with one eye open.
—Jimmy Kimmel is the favorite to be tabbed to host next year’s Oscars, according to the New York Post.
–I’ve been concerned about Dr. Tendler of Restasis fame…as in I haven’t seen her in a while…and then suddenly there she is in a new commercial, though she’s looking a little haggard.
So we move on to Xerox Girl! Goodness gracious. Nice move Xerox! Whoever came up with that idea deserves a CLIO!
Top 3 songs for the week 3/6/76: #1 “Love Machine” (The Miracles…laaa…la la la laaaa….la la la laaaa….la laaaa….do do dooo!) #2 “All By Myself” (Eric Carmen…I swear to god, the other week I’m in the checkout line at the supermarket, this song is on, and the checkout girl, who I’m friendly with, goes “That’s Eric Clapton.” “No,” I said, “it’s Eric Carmen.” “Eric Clapton.” “No, Jean, it’s Eric Carmen!” So she gets all indignant and hasn’t talked to me since….) #3 “December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)” (The Four Seasons)…and…#4 “Theme From S.W.A.T.” (Rhythm Heritage…just shoot me…talk about not aging well…) #5 “Take It To The Limit” (Eagles) #6 “Dream Weaver” (Gary Wright…didn’t realize he is a Tenafly, N.J. High School boy…) #7 “Lonely Night (Angel Face)” (Captain & Tennille…never knew what she saw in him …) #8 “50 Ways To Leave Your Lover” (Paul Simon… err, umm, ahhh…I can’t answer this one…) #9 “Love Hurts” (Nazareth…see #8…) #10 “You Sexy Thing” (Hot Chocolate…see Xerox Girl…)
Baseball Quiz Answer: The six to drive in 170…
Hack Wilson, 191 (1930)
Lou Gehrig, 184 (1931)
Hank Greenberg, 183 (1937)
Jimmie Foxx, 175 (1938)
Lou Gehrig, 175 (1927)
Lou Gehrig, 174 (1930)
Babe Ruth, 171 (1921)
Hank Greenberg, 170 (1935)
Chuck Klein, 170 (1930)
Post-1950, the record is 165 by Manny ‘Roid Ramirez, 1999…Booo! Booooo!!
