[Posted Sunday p.m.]
Super Bowl Quiz: Oakland Raiders trivia. 1) Who was the Raiders’ coach in Super Bowl II? 2) In Super Bowl XI, the Raiders’ 32-14 win over Minnesota, Oakland rushed for 266 yards on 52 carries. Who were the two running backs who accounted for 210 of the yards? 3) In the same SB XI, for the Vikings, who replaced Fran Tarkenton at QB and threw a TD pass late for the final score? Answers below.
NFL…Carolina’s QB
So we’re at the stage where we just want to see the game and I really couldn’t give a damn about anything else…except…Cam Newton gave some of us an excuse to sound off. If he doesn’t like it, he has only himself to blame.
I’m going to replay events, give the opinions of others, and then offer my own in the end but this is an important topic and I want it down for the record.
On Wednesday, the Panthers’ quarterback said he doesn’t plan to change who he is or what he says just because he’s preparing for the Super Bowl, in responding to his critics.
“I’ve said this since day one. I’m an African-American quarterback that may scare a lot of people because they haven’t seen nothing that they can compare me to.”
David Newton / ESPN..com
“Newton has been a lightning rod for criticism for much of his career. He was called immature and moody during his first couple of NFL seasons because he sometimes sat alone on the sideline with a towel over his head when the team was losing.
“He’s been questioned for a lack of leadership. He’s been questioned for his dabbin’ and dancing after scoring touchdowns, for taking photos of teammates at the end of a blowout win. But Newton said he’s the same person now as he was when the Panthers made him the first pick of the 2011 draft.”
Newton will be the sixth black quarterback to start a Super Bowl. This is the fourth straight Super Bowl to have a black starting quarterback.
Charles Barkley: “ESPN has already started their crap about black versus white, good versus evil and I know a lot of those fools over there got radio talk shows,” Barkley said on the Dan Patrick Show on Wednesday. “It really annoys the hell out of me. We just can’t appreciate the greatness of Peyton. And clearly, Cam is on the track to become one of the greatest players ever.”
But even Barkley admitted he would be bothered by Newton’s theatrics if he were on the other side.
“Let me tell you something, as much as I love Cam Newton, if I played against him, I would put a hit on him, no question. They rub it in pretty good.”
[Barkley attended Auburn, like Newton.]
Nancy Armour / USA TODAY Sports
“The quarterback runs into the end zone, spikes the football and does his patented touchdown celebration. You know, the one we see over and over on replays and commercials – even YouTube videos, because people love to imitate it.
“And yet Aaron Rodgers doesn’t get called a showboat.
“Surprised, aren’t you? It sounded a lot like Cam Newton, and, depending upon how you feel about him, you maybe rolled your eyes or gritted your teeth at the thought of him dabbing and dancing, enjoying himself on the field.
“Rodgers, J.J. Watt, Johnny Manziel, Chris Long, every member of the Green Bay Packers who still has the energy to hoist themselves into the stands after scoring – I could go on and on. They all draw attention to themselves after making big plays, yet it’s Newton who is bringing about the ruin of sportsmanship and civilization.
“If we’re brutally honest with ourselves, the criticism of Newton comes from somewhere ugly and mean, based more on prejudice than a wish for proper decorum.
“ ‘It’s almost impossible to prove because you’re never going to get someone to admit it. It’s very difficult to get someone to say, ‘I don’t like him because he’s black,’’ said James Rada, an associate professor of journalism at Ithaca College who has studied how black and white athletes are described in broadcast media.
“ ‘But when the things they’re critiquing fall in with preconceived stereotypes, then you do have to ask the question.’
“Newton critics will surely protest. After all, few people would consider themselves racists, let alone willingly admit that. Even the suggestion of intolerance was off-limits until Donald Trump started advocating it on a daily basis.
“That’s the real danger of bias and bigotry, however. They are deep-seated, embedded so far down in our consciousness we don’t even realize they’re there.
“Until someone like Newton comes along to expose them.”
Cindy Boren / Washington Post
“This season, Cam Newton’s level of play, and the according level of notoriety, has risen sharply. But along with the acclaim for a star quarterback playing at an elite level, so, too, rose a furor from those who see the face of the Carolina Panthers as more villain than hero.
“He dances, he smiles, he hands footballs to young fans – each action rustling up irate radio callers or a flurry of letters to the editor. For his part, Newton maintains he doesn’t care but with his Panthers playing in Super Bowl 50 on Feb. 7, the conversation around the perception of perhaps the NFL’s best player will only intensify over the next week.
“ ‘I’m an African-American quarterback that may scare a lot of people because they haven’t seen nothing that they can compare me to,’ Newton said Wednesday, confronting the matter head-on in a frank statement that isn’t likely to make him any less polarizing.
“Race, as he pointed out, almost certainly has something to do with it. Fox Sports’ Jason Whitlock may envision Newton as the new Magic Johnson, with a dazzling smile and a game to match, but Ryan Clark, a former NFL player turned ESPN commentator, recalled the wife of one player telling him that Newton ‘rubs her the wrong way and I don’t know why.’
“ ‘ ‘Here’s why he rubs you the wrong way, because you don’t understand it,’’ Clark said he told her, as retold on the ‘Mike and Mike’ show. ‘Because for so many years black quarterbacks didn’t have to conform to a way of playing quarterback, they had to conform to a way of behavior. [Seattle Seahawks quarterback] Russell Wilson is easier to take because every time he gets on the mic, he speaks about God ‘cause I’ve been around Russell Wilson in a setting where you’re supposed to dance and he has no rhythm.’…
“(The issue of Newton) bubbled up and intensified during the regular season. Newton’s joyous touchdown celebrations triggered many angry letters to the editor of the Charlotte Observer, with a Tennessee Titans fan asking how she could talk to her daughter about dancing and dabbing quarterbacks, concluding by calling Newton a ‘spoiled brat.’ Another letter-writer criticized Newton later in the season for having a child with his girlfriend outside of marriage.
“Never mind that the appropriateness of suggestive dance moves might be better directed to the NFL’s cheerleaders. And never mind that New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady also fathered a child out of wedlock. It was Newton that earned their ire…..
“Critics will point to a stolen laptop in college, but Newton confronted that head-on in November and spoke of his maturation.
“ ‘When I talk to people, I try to make it personable, because if I can make it anybody can,’ Newton said. ‘You’re talking about a person six or seven years removed from a stolen laptop – things that people don’t really want to talk about – a person that had to go to junior college. Its athletes all in junior college right now asking, ‘Am I going to make it? Am I going to get a scholarship?’ But I did all of that, and look at who I am today.’….
“Since he has been in the NFL, he has reached out to help disadvantaged people and children during the holidays – and literally reaches out to kids with a football after every touchdown he scores….
“Newton is clearly being held to a different, higher standard and one easy explanation is that he is black. But ESPN’s Clark traces the dislike of Newton to culture, not race.
“ ‘He isn’t disliked because he’s brown-skinned. He’s disliked because it’s culturally hard to understand for most people,’ he said. ‘See, for many years, if you looked at the black quarterbacks that were accepted, it wasn’t about skill set. We saw Randall Cunningham play very much like this. The plays weren’t called for him, but he played very much like this.
“ ‘Russell Wilson is a brown quarterback, but Russell Wilson’s culture is easier to understand. Russell Wilson doesn’t dance. Russell Wilson doesn’t have the hip-hop culture. Young Jeezy and Future aren’t going to Russell Wilson games. So, for the Caucasian fan, for the fan who doesn’t understand that culture, Cam Newton’s culture is too young, hip-hop, too young brown.’….
“(With Newton) everything is scrutinized, no matter how many charity events he hosts in Charlotte or how often he hands a football to a kid in the stands. It’s always been this way, dating back to the devastating assessment of Newton by Pro Football Weekly’s Nolan Nawrocki in 2011:
“ ‘Very disingenuous – has a fake smile, comes off as very scripted and has a selfish, me-first makeup. Always knows where the cameras are and plays to them. Has an enormous ego with a sense of entitlement that continually invites trouble and makes him believe he is above the law – does not command respect from teammates and will always struggle to win a locker room. …Lacks accountability, focus and trustworthiness – is not punctual, seeks shortcuts and sets a bad example. Immature and has had issues with authority. Not dependable.’….
“Now, in his fifth season and leading a team with just one loss this season to the Super Bowl, Cam Newton should be becoming the face of the league, no matter how difficult that may be for some people to accept.
“ ‘People can’t even articulate why they don’t like him, but I’m not going to turn this into race and say they don’t like him because he’s black,’ Clark said. ‘They don’t like his culture. They don’t like what he embodies, what he embraces. It’s not right for that position, but he’s winning and it’s right for that team, so we all just need to get over it and just stop having this conversation or making him have to answer [the issues].
“ ‘Because every time he has to answer it, we have to talk about it and there’s going to be more picked apart. Then it just brings race into this thing where it’s not so much race this time, it’s culture.’”
William C. Rhoden / New York Times
“As he prepares to take the greatest stage in American sports, Cam Newton has used the spotlight on him to discuss our country’s most persistent and vexing problem: racism.
“Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Newton…ensured that Super Bowl week would have a fiery discussion point when he suggested that the criticism of his exuberant style of play might be rooted in racism….
“As a result, Newton suggested, he does not receive his due as a player: ‘I don’t think people have seen what I am or what I’m trying to do.’
“Racism is the third rail of American consciousness, but raising it just before Super Bowl festivities begin this week, ahead of the Panthers’ game against the Denver Broncos on Feb. 7 is fascinating.
“Good for Newton.
“He is being talked up as a top contender for the league’s Most Valuable Player Award….
“He likes to celebrate his achievements on the field with dances like the dab or the hit dem folks.
“A lot of people laugh along with this, or dismiss it as the crass showboating some athletes resort to, but some are offended. On talk radio and social media, he has been called arrogant and immature, and a picture on his verified Instagram account with friends wearing bandannas generated more than 1,400 comments, some of which called him a thug or a gangster….
“Many have sought to explain what sets people off about Newton, be it his conduct or his complexion, or both.
“ ‘Newton is a young, successful black man celebrating through culturally relevant means,’ Justin Jones, a sportswriter who covers the Panthers, wrote in The Observer.
“Newton is not a civil rights activist.
“But Newton – minus the activism and the championships – has aspects of a latter-day Muhammad Ali. Handsome, talented and bright, he is transforming the position inside and outside the arena. Even before Ali refused to serve in the military, he was disliked by those who disliked how he broke the mold of heavyweight fighters and how they should comport themselves in public, a mold defined by boxers like Joe Louis.
“Heavyweight boxing champions were not supposed to write poetry. NFL quarterbacks are not supposed to dance – or talk about race.
“But at a moment when violence against African-Americans has given birth to a vibrant Black Lives Matter movement and an intense discussion is being waged about the movie industry under the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite, Newton has forcefully introduced black participation in sports into the discussion.
“I have followed several generations of black quarterbacks: James Harris and Marlin Briscoe; Eldridge Dickey and Joe Gilliam; Warren Moon and Randall Cunningham; Doug Williams, Steve McNair and Michael Vick.
“The thread that bound them was a sense of having to prove that they belonged, that they had the intellect, the leadership skills and the courage.
“Newton and Russell Wilson are the leaders of a new wave who seem to have the world on a string. The compensation is unprecedented and coaches, far from holding them back, are telling them to do their thing.
“Yet Newton sees racism in the underlying sustained criticism of the verve with which he plays the game.
“He comes from a generation of young African-Americans who, despite the historic path President Obama has carved, have been sobered – and traumatized – by the reality that no matter what elite schools they attend, no matter how diverse their social network, they are not immune from racism.
“Many in this generation harbor resentment, much of it subconscious, of people who dislike them, or perhaps fear them, because, like Newton, they are young, gifted and entitled.
“Of course, Newton should expect to be judged through an array of prisms.
“He has chosen to play the showman. He has embraced that role and must accept the criticism that comes with it. There is a thin line between the entertainer and the buffoon, the difference being success. As long as Carolina wins and Newton is the reason for the franchise’s success, he can stand on his head and the fans will cheer….
“I find it refreshing that as the NFL’s greatest showcase approaches, a young, talented quarterback has put racism front and center by suggesting his critics have a problem with him for reasons that run deeper than his performance.
“Newton has thrown the hard-to-catch pass in traffic. Will we make the catch? Or will we hear footsteps and drop the ball?”
So much of the above is unadulterated B.S.
Can we cut the crap about black quarterbacks, period, in the Super Bowl? As noted above, four straight SBs with one. We should have long gotten beyond this.
Comparing what Aaron Rodgers does to Cam Newton? Are you kidding me?
Green Bay’s players’ jumping in the stands after a touchdown is the same as Cam’s antics? Are you nuts, Ms. Armour?
The insinuation some of us don’t like Cam because he’s black?
William Rhoden’s conflating the Black Lives Matter movement with Cam? What?!
For years I have said my favorite player in the NFL is Larry Fitzgerald. I have written I would vote for him for president…really…because he is not only super intelligent, I love that he’s one of a dying breed…a true Renaissance man. Larry Fitzgerald, in case you don’t follow football, happens to be black.
I don’t mind players showboating a little. But there’s a limit. You see countless times these days where a jerk player showboats for a sack or TD even with his team down 30.
But the bottom line for me with Cam Newton is I just think he’s an amazing phony. A great football player, but a disingenuous jerk so I agree with that 2011 analysis of Nolan Nawrocki.
Just watch next time things don’t go well for Cam and how he reacts.
Yeah, I wish everyone would carry themselves like Derek Jeter, Curtis Granderson, the Jets’ Chris Ivory, Tim Duncan…you get the picture.
I’m old….I grew up with the ultimate in class and cool…Walt “Clyde” Frazier.
Of course all the above are black, but that’s what Cam Newton wanted. He wanted us white people to feel bad…he wanted a discussion about race. So he got one. If it’s also about culture, so be it.
—
Then there is Peyton Manning. I have never been a big fan of his either.
Des Bieler / Washington Post
“It’s somewhat remarkable that Cam Newton has jumped out as the Super Bowl Quarterback of Interest, at least initially, given that the other quarterback in the game is a) one of the best to ever play and b) currently under investigation by the NFL for past use of human growth hormone. But that’s not to say that Peyton Manning is being allowed to prepare for the Big Game with no scrutiny at all, and it didn’t take long Thursday before he was asked about Al Jazeera’s December report linking him with HGH.
“In comments to reporters, the Denver Broncos quarterback repeated his strong denials that the report, which included an allegation that HGH and other drugs were shipped to Manning in 2011 under the name of his wife, had any validity. He was asked about news that the NFL was already several weeks into what it described as a ‘comprehensive’ investigation.
“ ‘Just like I said in December, I do welcome it,’ Manning said (via Newsday). ‘It’s no news to me.’
“He added, ‘I still stand by what I said then, that I welcome it and it’s garbage from the first day it came out and it’s still garbage today.’”
The United States Anti-Doping Agency, best known for nabbing Lance Armstrong, confirmed this week it was helping the NFL in its investigation.
–The San Diego Chargers announced Friday they will not move to Los Angeles for the 2016 season and will redouble their efforts to reach a stadium deal in their hometown.
Chargers Chairman Dean Spanos, in an open letter to fans, said the team still had an agreement to share the Rams facility in Inglewood, “but my focus is on San Diego.”
“This has been our home for 55 years, and I want to keep the team here and provide the world-class stadium experience you deserve,” Spanos said.
So Los Angeles will have just one team next season and the Rams will most likely play their first three years at the Coliseum while their new stadium is being built.
The Chargers, on the other hand, have until Jan. 15, 2017, to exercise a one-year option to move to L.A. The team can ask for the option to be extended one year if San Diego voters approve public financing for a stadium there. If the Chargers remain in San Diego; the Oakland Raiders have the right to share the Inglewood stadium.
But the Raiders are beginning to explore options in Las Vegas, which is clearly where they belong.
–Ben Shpigel / New York Times
“The NFL has taken measures in recent years to detect concussions by placing unaffiliated neuro-trauma consultants on the sideline, adding spotters in the press box and permitting medical personnel to call a timeout if the on-field staff misses a possible head injury. Those advances contributed to the most diagnosed concussions the league has seen in four years, according to data released Friday….
“According to the NFL, players sustained 271 concussions across preseason and regular-season games and practices in 2015, an increase of 31.6 percent from the 206 of 2014, when concussions dropped 10 percent compared with the previous year. In regular season games, there were 182 reported concussions, a 58.3 percent increase from 2014.”
Sorry to repeat myself, but we’ve been watching a sport die in slow motion. One fatality on the field, though, and it’s over.
–On the college front…Notre Dame rewarded coach Brian Kelly with a six-year contract extension that is scheduled to keep him in South Bend through the 2021 season.
Kelly, long part of the NFL rumor mill, seems to finally be at peace with staying in the college game. He recently said the only way he’d consider the NFL would be if he was granted total control of the operation and that isn’t likely to be the case these days (especially after the failed Chip Kelly experiment in Philly).
–One other college football note…we have a “Jerk/Idiot of the Year” candidate in former Missouri quarterback Maty Mauk, who was dismissed from the team on Thursday after a video surfaced of someone closely resembling Mauk snorting a line of white powder off a table.
This was the third time in four months he was suspended; the other two times for failing a drug test and then getting into an altercation at a bar.
The sad part is the kid can play and Mizzou was 17-5 with him as their starting quarterback, but he’s got some Johnny Manziel in him for sure.
As for Manziel, I’m tired writing about him. I’d be shocked if he’s playing in the NFL next fall. I won’t be shocked if he ends up in a ditch in the next six months.
College Basketball Review
[Scores of note since last chat]
–Wednesday, 5 Texas A&M lost at Arkansas (10-10) 74-71.
–Thursday, 3 Iowa lost to 8 Maryland 74-68 in College Park.
Syracuse (14-8, 4-5) upset 25 Notre Dame 81-66 at the Carrier Dome, but it really wasn’t an upset. The ‘Cuse started off 4-5 under interim coach Mike Hopkins, but are 10-3 since Jim Boeheim returned from his suspension and they are a totally different team.
–Saturday there were a couple Big 12 / SEC Challenge games….
9 West Virginia (17-4) fell to Florida (14-7) in Gainesville and the Mountaineers will fall out of the top ten.
14 Iowa State (16-5) lost to 5 Texas A&M (18-3) in College Station 72-62 .
And 4 Kansas (17-4) held on in overtime to defeat 20 Kentucky (16-5) 90-84 in Lawrence as the home teams prevailed in these three.
Elsewhere, 11 Virginia (17-4, 6-3) whipped 16 Louisville (17-4, 6-2) 63-47, holding the Cardinals to just 32.7% shooting from the field at home, the worst such defeat under Rick Pitino. Plus Virginia shot 58% from the field itself.
North Carolina State (12-10, 2-7) upset 15 Miami (16-4, 5-3) in Raleigh, 85-69, behind Cat Barber’s 30.
19 Indiana (18-4, 8-1) beat Minnesota (6-16, 0-10) 74-68, which I only mention because I didn’t realize the Golden Gophers were 0-10 in conference play. Huge game with Rutgers on Feb. 23. [Rutgers (6-16, 0-9) lost to Michigan State (19-4, 6-4) on Sunday, 96-62.
Speaking of crappy teams, 2 North Carolina (19-2, 8-0) mauled Boston College (7-14, 0-8) 89-62, with the big one for the Eagles coming up Feb. 21 against Wake Forest in the Ferraro’s Lunch Challenge between Steve D. and myself.
As for Wake, we lost our sixth in a row to Notre Dame (15-6, 6-3) in South Bend 85-62 and are now 10-11, 1-8, after a terrific 9-3 start with some big wins over the likes of Indiana, UCLA and LSU…but then kerplunk. [It was Wake’s 20th straight ACC road loss and we’re 2-49 the last 51. You can’t make this s— up.]
I’m tired. I said I was going to get all over coach Danny Manning this time but here’s what us fans are scared to death of. We’re hearing bad stuff in terms of team chemistry and the player/coach relationship. Manning never seems to praise one of his players during a game (I literally have never seen him do so), plus we’re hearing stories that practices are brutal, which is why they are closed to the media, which hardly helps matters. The guy just seems like a real asshole.
So we’re scared the talented underclassmen we do have will just say, “[Blank] it, I’m transferring.”
Yoh, Danny….freakin’ smile, just once!
Lastly, on a slightly brighter issue, my “Pick to Click” for the season, San Diego State, advanced to 16-6, 9-0 Mountain West Conference, with a 67-52 win in Las Vegas against UNLV. The Aztecs actually shot 44.9% from the field! [They are averaging just .413 for the season.] And once again SDSU held an opponent below 40%, 36.7% in this instance. They are number one in the nation in holding opponents to a .360 percentage from the field, which is pretty remarkable.
But, once again, the announcers doing last night’s game were in agreement with yours truly…SDSU must win the conference tournament to be assured of an NCAA bid. They dug themselves quite an early hole, even though two of the schools they had seemingly inexplicable losses to, Grand Canyon (19-3, 6-1 WAC) and UALR (19-2, 9-1 Sun Belt), could make the tournament themselves.
–One other note…our friend Jamie Pifalo of the College of Staten Island Lady Dolphins suffered a broken nose in a game against Brooklyn College on Saturday, one of numerous injuries for her this season. But she’s helped lead her team to a 13-6 record and into a first place tie in the CUNYAC, while hitting .353 from three-point land, which I hasten to add compares with Kobe Bryant’s .250 from downtown. Hang in there, Jamie. Finish strong.
NBA
–Zach Harper / CBSSports.com
“Do you consider LeBron James a coach killer? Not many people seemed to think so after Paul Silas was replaced with Mike Brown in LeBron’s first run with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Most people didn’t seem to think so even when LeBron left for the Miami Heat and Brown received the ax in the process. But as things were initially complicated with the execution of the Big Three in Miami and Erik Spoelstra was one of the main scapegoats, people were looking for signs that LeBron was trying to oust the coach.
“After the recent firing of David Blatt and reports that James was undermining his coach in Cleveland and possibly lobbying for Mark Jackson or Tyronn Lue behind the scenes, it’s now something of a topic of discussion. Fairly or unfairly, LeBron has been charged in the court of public opinion with coach killing and he’s not a fan of the way his name is being labeled right now. From ESPN:
“ ‘I think it does suck that people want to throw my name in the dirt,’ James said.
“Some have labeled James a ‘coach killer’ for his perceived involvement in Blatt’s ouster, portraying James as a puppet master pulling the strings behind the scenes in order to elevate his preferred coach, Lue, to the top spot.
“ ‘It sucks,’ James said. ‘But what can I do about it? I’ve never, in my time since I picked up a basketball, ever undermined a coach, ever disrespected a coach. You ask any of my little league coaches, my high school coaches, coaches I’ve played for in tournaments, camps, my NBA coaches. I’ve always respected what they wanted to do. And I’m not the owner of a team, I’m not the GM of a team. I’m the player of a team.
“ ‘People get it so misconstrued because I’m a smart basketball player and I’ve voiced my opinion about certain things, which I did when I was here in my first stint with Paul Silas and Mike Brown. Which I did in Miami with Coach Spo [Spoelstra]. Which I did with Blatt and I’ll do with T-Lue. And at the end of the day, they’ll still have their final call.’….
“ ‘I don’t know,’ James continued. ‘What do you guys want me to do, turn my brain off because I have a huge basketball IQ? If that’s what they want me to do, I’m not going to do it because I’ve got so much to give to the game.’”
Some of us, like with Newton, are tired of LeBron. And that doesn’t make me (or them) racist.
–But…as for Tyronn Lue, he completed his first week successfully with a 117-103 win over the Spurs on Saturday, in Cleveland, and he is 4-1 since taking over. In the four wins (four straight) the Cavs have scored 114+, which he said was what he wanted to do….play more up tempo.
This is certainly an interesting story to watch going forward.
As for the Spurs, who played without Tim Duncan again, they are now 1-2 without the Big Fundamental who still keys their defense. No one seems to know if Timmy D’s knee issue is really a serious one.
Bazooka Joe says, “Timmy D. went to Wake Forest and not only played all four years, he received his degree in same.”
Actually, Bazooka Joe wouldn’t use the word ‘same’ in such a fashion and, yes, I edited the original bubblegum insert.
–I waited to post this Sunday night because I wanted to see how my Knicks did at the Garden against Golden State. Alas, not good. Warriors 116 Knicks 95.
Yes, way back my good buddy Phil W. and I went on a pilgrimage to see Steph Curry play when he was still at Davidson, but now I can’t stand him. It bugs the hell out of me his playing with his mouthpiece, which, unfortunately, everyone in college seems to be picking up because they gotta be like Steph. [I’d say more on the topic but William Rhoden would call me a racist.]
Sorry, the guy I love on the Warriors, as I wrote years ago, is Klay Thompson. He’s not only good, he’s old school in how he carries himself. [And 34 points tonight on 14 of 18 shooting.]
Australian Open
—Germany’s Angelique Kerber, the 7-seed, stunned world number one Serena Williams in the final in three sets to win her first Grand Slam title at the age of 28.
Kerber won a thriller (so they say…I was fast asleep) 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 at Melbourne Park. She is the first German to win a major singles title since Steffi Graf at the 1999 French Open and, ironically, it is Williams who failed again to match Graf’s open-era record of 22 titles as Serena was beaten for just the fifth time in 26 Grand Slam finals.
Kerber had won just one of six previous matches against Williams and was making her Grand Slam final debut. Williams had 46 errors to just 13 by Kerber.
I give Serena credit. I saw a tape later and some terrific photos of her with Kerber and she was very gracious in defeat, telling the German: “Angie, congratulations. You deserve this and I’m so happy for you. I really hope you enjoy this moment.
“It was remarkably fun and I really enjoyed all of this.”
So it’s two straight majors, going back to the U.S. Open, where Serena, seemingly dominant, got a severe case of the nerves (last year’s example being the unexplainable loss to Roberta Vinci).
–On the men’s side, Novak Djokovic did it again. The more you think about it (if you aren’t, you should), it was pure robbery that Djokovic didn’t share “Sportsperson of the Year” with Serena. I said all along this was absurd, seeing as Novak technically had an even better year than she did. But I also acknowledged if SI was partly giving Serena the hardware as a lifetime achievement award, I had no problem with that.
Anyway, Djokovic won his third straight major in defeating Andy Murray in the finals, 6-1, 7-5, 7-6 (3). It was Novak’s sixth Australian Open title, tying him with Roy Emerson, while his 11th overall Grand Slam title ties him with Rod Laver and Bjorn Borg.
As for Murray, he is now a five-time Australian Open runner-up (0-5…four of them to Djokovic). The last time he defeated Novak was in the final of the Scot’s historic 2013 Wimbledon championship.
Earlier, Djokovic dispatched of Roger Federer in the semis, 6-1, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. Federer is winless in his past 14 Grand Slam events, extending the longest drought of his career.
MLB
–The Dodgers made a smart move in re-signing second baseman Howie Kendrick; the two sides reaching agreement on a two-year, $20 million contract Friday.
Kendrick, 32, has a .293 career batting average in ten seasons but, incredibly, has made just one All-Star team. I’d sure as hell love the guy as my second baseman. He was a free agent but didn’t seem to garner much interest, probably because there was draft-pick compensation attached for any other team that signed him. [The other teams would have had to fork over a high pick, and these have become even more valuable over the years.]
So the Dodgers got Kendrick for $10m per, while the Nationals paid Daniel Murphy $37.5m over three years and the Cubs signed Ben Zobrist for $56m and four years. Kendrick is better than either of these two and he turned out to be cheaper.
–You know the talk of the NL adopting the DH for the 2017 season? Never mind. Commissioner Rob Manfred was quick to quash it, though he was the one who started it all, by accident, it now seems.
St. Louis GM John Mozeliak got the rumor mill started in saying the DH had gained “more momentum,” which Manfred then acknowledged when owners met last week in Florida.
The thing is, all he said was the DH was no longer considered “some sort of heretical comment,” but when you combined the two comments, it took on a life of its own, as even I thought it was serious.
So this week Manfred told ESPN, “The most likely result on the designated hitter for the foreseeable future is the status quo.”
Manfred said what was missed was his comment: “The biggest remnant of league identity is the difference between DH and no DH.”
As Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times duly noted: “If the DH comes to the NL, there would be no significant difference between the leagues, and no need for them to survive – in their current alignment, that is….
“So, if the NL product and the AL product becomes the same, realignment would be in order, to give the fans what they want [Ed. i.e., Mets-Yankees, Dodgers-Angels, etc.] – and, of course, to give the owners the chance to make the most money out of the regular season.”
But this is down the road. Bottom line, it does not seem as if the DH will be part of the upcoming round of collective bargaining with the players, but maybe in the one after that, in conjunction with relocation and/or expansion and some kind of geographical realignment as well. [See Montreal and, perhaps, somewhere in Mexico now that El Chapo is back behind bars….just kidding, Sinaloa cartel!!!]
–Bill Shaikin also had a piece on Dodgers ticket prices. This would apply to all of us and our respective sports teams these days as well.
“By now, we should be numb to the cost of supporting our favorite teams. We shrug, and we pay up, and up, and up.
“And then, one day, something makes you go, ‘Huh.’
“This was my ‘huh’ moment on Friday: $48 for a seat in the left-field bleachers at Dodger Stadium?
“Not every seat, and not every game. But, if you want to sit in the front row of the left-field bleachers when the Dodgers play the Milwaukee Brewers on Father’s Day, that’s $48, up from $35 last year and $30 two years ago. If you want to sit in the back row that day, that’s $43, also up from $35 last year and $30 two years ago….
“In his first year as commissioner, Rob Manfred spoke fervently about how to sell baseball to the video-game generation. First, he said, get more kids playing baseball.
“Second?
“We need to make sure that what I think of as the generational aspect of our game continues,’ Manfred told The Times. ‘What I mean by that is that we want parents and grandparents to get their kids into the park at an early age, and instill in those young people the love of the game that our generation has.’”
It just ain’t that easy though, Commissioner.
–The New York Daily News’ Mark Emery reminds us that Jan. 29 was the 80th anniversary of a big day in baseball history…the induction of the first class of players into Baseball’s Hall of Fame…Jan. 29, 1936….Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson and Walter Johnson.
So Emery has some tidbits on these five and here’s one I didn’t know, excluding the Bucknell reference, about Mathewson:
“The football stadium at Bucknell University is named for Mathewson, where he starred as a fullback, punter and drop-kicker. A Walter Camp All-American pick in 1900, he played professional football as early as 1898 with the Greensburg Athletic Association and won a title in 1902 with the Pittsburgh Stars.”
Now my mother was born in Greensburg (technically, a little township called Mutual just south of there) and none of us have any recollection of being told by the (very large) family that Greensburg once had a real football team, let alone the Mathewson angle.
For those of you who don’t know the full story of the man who many of us consider the greatest pitcher ever:
“After enlisting in the army in 1918, Mathewson was accidentally gassed overseas during chemical-weapons training. With a weakened respiratory system, he contracted tuberculosis and later died of the disease in 1925. In that year’s World Series, the Pirates and Senators wore black armbands in his honor.”
Another pitcher who many would consider the best of all time (Cy Young, by the way, bless his soul, doesn’t sniff this particular conversation), Walter Johnson, once did this:
“In September 1908, the Senators traveled to New York for four games against the Highlanders (who wouldn’t be known as the Yankees until 1913). Johnson started each of the first three, and in every single one he tossed a shutout. He retired with 110 career shutouts, easily the most of all time.”
And one more from Emery’s piece. I realize many of you know this but others may not:
“(Ty) Cobb’s mother shot and killed his father in 1905, three weeks before their son’s big league debut. Suspecting his wife of infidelity, William Cobb died while sneaking around their home after saying he’d be out of town. Amanda Cobb was acquitted of murder after claiming she thought he was an intruder.”
–The Diamondbacks traded right-hander Chase Anderson, second baseman Aaron Hill, infield prospect Isan Diaz and cash to Milwaukee for one-time All-Star shortstop Jean Segura and right-hander Tyler Wagner. Arizona is betting Segura can return to his 2013 form when he hit .294 with 12 homers and 44 stolen bases.
For Milwaukee, prospect Diaz is the key. He may be two years away but he hit .360 in rookie ball last season.
–Finally, we note the passing of former outfielder Walt “No Neck” Williams, 72. Williams played for four major league teams in a ten-year career (1964, 1967-75), batting .270 in 2,373 at-bats, with 33 HR, 173 RBI. Nothing spectacular, in other words.
But for older fans he will be affectionately known as “No Neck,” due to his rather unique physique…5’6”, 165 (up to 200), with literally no neck.
Oh sure, he did have a neck, somewhere…otherwise he never would have made it to adulthood since blood flow would have been difficult, but he was a character.
As Bruce Weber of the New York Times wrote:
“Like Pete Rose, he played with a caffeinated enthusiasm, running out every batted ball, hustling to his position for the start of an inning and even sprinting to first after receiving a base on balls, although that did not happen too often. Eager to swing the bat, he rarely walked….
“Unusually for such an aggressive hitter, he did not strike out much either – only 211 times.”
But this being a different time, some of the comments weren’t so kind regarding Williams’ physique.
Sportswriter Jim Murray quoted an unnamed scout as saying: “He looks as if somebody tried to cram him into a suitcase when they heard the cops coming.”
I’m glad No Neck wasn’t around in the social media era.
Golf Balls
–This week’s event at Torrey Pines in La Jolla, CA, had a glamorous field but then Jason Day, Rickie Fowler, Justin Rose and Phil Mickelson were among the better ones failing to even make the cut.
And then El Nino did a number on the play, Sunday, so it’s a Monday finish with Jimmy Walker in the lead at -7 thru 10 holes in the fourth. But with big winds expected tomorrow, Brandt Snedeker, already in the clubhouse at -6 after a brilliant 69 today, would appear to be the surefire winner.
–Meanwhile, back to Mickelson, Jim McCabe had this story in Golfweek.
“Ryan Ruffels said he seized upon the chance to play a round of golf with Phil Mickelson as a priceless learning experience.
“Chances are, however, that the 17-year-old never expected to get the sort of schooling that Mickelson delivered late Wednesday after his pro-am round at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines.
“ ‘That’s an interesting one…,’ Mickelson began in response to a question about a practice round with Ruffels in December. The word ‘interesting’ was a red flare that good stuff was coming and, in fact, Mickelson was at his pointed best. Lefty proceeded to say that Ruffels, an Aussie who was born in California, has ‘got some things to learn.’
“Lesson No. 1: Don’t cross Mickelson.”
So the story is, as first told in the Sydney Morning Herald, Ruffels played with Mickelson at Torrey Pines in December, with Ruffels, a very good junior player, saying they played for a steep wager – $5,000 if Ruffels won, $2,500 if Mickelson won, to be paid when the Aussie turned pro. The story then went into great detail about the round, with Ruffels saying he won as he birdied “six of the last seven” holes.
Ruffels was being recruited, according to the story, by Arizona State coach Tim Mickelson, Phil’s brother, so there were immediate questions raised about potential NCAA violations and the next day after the story, Ruffels’ managers at Wasserman Media Group issued a news release that rebutted much of the tale.
According to Wasserman, Ruffels already had decided to turn pro and the game with Mickelson had nothing to do with recruiting.
Ruffels then took to social media and said the story was “inaccurate” and the amount of the wager was “out of proportion.”
So after his pro-am round Wednesday, Mickelson said the 17-year-old must learn a few things, and “one of them is, you don’t discuss certain things.”
“You don’t discuss specifics of what you play for, and you certainly don’t embellish and create a false amount, just for your own benefit.
“So, those things right there…they are high school stuff, and he’s going to have to stop doing that now that he’s out here on the PGA Tour.”
Ouch. I can’t believe Ruffels made the cut with this kind of pressure on him. [He’s +7 thru 15 in the final round.] What an idiot! And into the December file he goes.
–As expected, Fox Sports has hired Paul Azinger to replace Greg Norman. Great move for Fox.
The problem is it only has the U.S. Open, and then the U.S. Women’s Open, U.S. Senior Open and the U.S. Amateur, with only the first one where you expect really biting criticism of the kind ‘Zinger is known for. And it’s not like the other three are ‘must-see’ events, frankly. Chances are I’ll be watching baseball those days, unless the Men’s Senior Open has a compelling field, Natalie Gulbis is in the hunt, or Maverick McNealy (and anyone from Wake Forest) is in the finals at the Amateur.
Stuff
—Viktoria Rebensburg of Germany won her second straight women’s World Cup giant slalom on Saturday in Maribor, Slovenia. Lindsey Vonn failed to finish her second run, skiing into the safety netting but was unhurt.
–The local online paper, TAP, had the following from the crime blotter:
“At 1825 hours a report for a theft of a bicycle from the Train Station was taken. The bicycle, which was secured to a bicycle rack on Railroad Avenue, was described as a male 26 inch, 21 speed, blue/gray Trek 3700 or 4700 – valued at approximately $200.00.”
Not sure what we’re really looking for. Sounds like it could be one of those little tricycles a small (male) monkey would ride on, don’t you think? Or maybe a souped up hamster wheel. Does Trek make those?
–Brad K. passed this on from the Daily Mail’s Julian Robinson.
“This is the moment a Russian had his hand ripped off by a caged bear – after ignoring his friends’ warnings and reaching in to stroke the animal.
“Footage taken in Murmanskaya Oblast, in the country’s far northwest shows a man screaming out in pain as the bear clamps its teeth around his arm.
“Seconds earlier his friends had been shouting ‘you [expletive] idiot, don’t do it!’ as he approached the giant animal….
“The man is believed to have lost his forearm up to his elbow in the attack – but did not die despite suffering from horrific injuries.”
This was a Brown Bear, which I lump together with Grizzlies and Kodiak bears at No. 6 on the All-Species List.
–From the Chicago Tribune:
“Two American endurance athletes have redefined the meaning of the term ‘globetrotter’ by running seven marathons in seven days on all seven continents.
“And they both did it in world-record time.
“Daniel Cartica, of Chicago, and Becca Pizzi, of Belmont, Mass., won the World Marathon Challenge on Friday – the first U.S. competitors to sweep the strength-sapping event.
On Saturday, “Cartica, a U.S. Marine Corps captain, and Pizzi, a day care center operator, finished with a beachfront marathon in Sydney. They and 13 others began Jan. 23 with a marathon in Antarctica, where the sub-zero temperatures caused Pizzi’s iPod to freeze and burst.
“In between, on consecutive days, they ran 26.2 miles in Chile, Miami, Spain, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates. Cartica averaged around 3 hours, 33 minutes per marathon, with an event-best of 3:12:46 in Chile. Pizzi averaged well under 4 hours; her fastest was 3:41:20 in Miami.
“They now join a club more elite than those who have voyaged into space or scaled Mount Everest.”
I mean this is so cool…and unfathomable. I can’t imagine doing a marathon in sub-zero temps, for starters. They are now in the December file for good reason.
–Speaking of marathons, last time I noted the bloodhound, Ludivine, who raced the half-marathon in Alabama. Well, reader Steve G., he of the sweet driveway jumper from my youth, asked, “Did the race officials confirm they have Ludivine’s correct chip? Was it the standard lost dog chip or a race chip?”
Good question, Steve. I don’t know…but we’re sending the home version of “Bar Chat: The Game” your way, via Parcel Post, once we get around to producing it.
–Terrific article in the Sunday Times Magazine by Charles Siebert on parrots and veterans traumatized with PTSD. You just have to read it yourself but it’s about a sanctuary for parrots, who themselves have been traumatized in one form or another (such as mistreatment), and how they immediately seem to understand the emotions of veterans who are struggling with their own issues.
Siebert writes:
“In the late afternoon on my last day at the sanctuary, I seemed to be the only one around. I passed Koko (an Australian Adelaide rosella) in his cage, sounding his particular strains of the park’s ongoing symphony of stranded human speech. I thought then of the numerous anecdotes people have told of wild-parrot flocks learning, via ‘cultural transmission,’ to speak the human words taught to them by reintegrated former pets. In the parks of Sydney, Australia, where there are native wild-parrot flocks, people regularly overhear a ‘Hello, darling’ or ‘What’s happening?’ sounding from the trees above. The early German naturalist explorer Alexander von Humboldt wrote of encountering, during his travels in South America toward the close of the 18th century, a parrot that was the last living repository of the language of the extinct Atures Indian tribe….
“Nearing Serenity Park’s exit, I decided to turn back and step inside Cashew’s quarters [Ed. Cashew is a caique parrot from the Amazon Basin] for a moment. I only had to nestle close to her perch and she immediately hopped on my back. Crisscrossing my shoulders as I had watched her do with Lilly Love (one of the vets), she stopped at one point for what I assumed would be the parrot equivalent of a kiss. Instead, she began to clean my teeth: her beak lightly tapping against my enamel, the faint vibrations strangely soothing. Immediately afterward, she took a brief nap in my shirt’s left breast pocket – it felt as if I’d grown another heart – then re-emerged and crawled to the top of my head. She strolled about there for a time before plucking out one of her own deep blue-green feathers and then descending to gently place it on my left shoulder. I have it still.”
Amazing. I’ve long written of my fascination with birds and how I believe they are so much smarter than we give them credit for. Mr. Siebert provides further proof.
Actually, next time you hear someone use the derogatory term “bird brain,” correct them. Substitute “Manziel” to connote someone with little intelligence.
–Finally, we note the passing of Paul Kantner, 74, the longtime guitarist for Jefferson Airplane and then Starship. As Recording Academy President Neil Portnow said in a statement: “Paul was a key architect in the development of what became known as the San Francisco Sound.”
Kantner’s was the backbone of Airplane, who had hits such as “White Rabbit” and “Somebody to Love,” the latter a real trail-blazing tune in particular when it came out in 1967, their first hit that peaked at #5.
Kantner cofounded the group with Marty Balin at the onset of the San Francisco hippie movement, and after their debut album, they soon recruited singer Grace Slick, lead guitarist Jorma Kaukonen, bassist Jack Casady and Spencer Dryden, who replaced the band’s original drummer, Skip Spence.
Airplane performed one of the better sets at Woodstock in 1969, but then they unfortunately were part of the Altamont festival months later, where Balin was attacked during the group’s set by a member of the Hell’s Angels, who were hired as security.
Kantner and Slick re-formed the group as Jefferson Starship in 1974, after the band was beset by infighting and legal problems, and they had the #3 “Miracles” in 1975. Later, simply as Starship, they had three #1s… “We Built This City,” “Sara,” and “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now.”
Kantner was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame along with Jefferson Airplane in 1996.
Top 3 songs for the week of 2/2/74: #1 “The Way We Were” (Barbra Streisand…we never went out, Barbra…what are you talking about?…) #2 “You’re Sixteen” (Ringo Starr) #3 “Love’s Theme” (Love Unlimited Orchestra…technically a Barry White hit since he formed this outfit…)…and…#4 “Show And Tell” (Al Wilson…terrific tune…) #5 “Americans” (Byron MacGregor) #6 “I’ve Got To Use My Imagination” (Gladys Knight & The Pips) #7 “Let Me Be There” (Olivia Newton-John) #8 “Until You Come Back To Me (That’s What I’m Gonna Do)” (Aretha Franklin…my favorite of hers…) #9 “The Joker” (Steve Miller Band) #10 “Spiders & Snakes” (Jim Stafford…totally underrated performer, in the purest sense of the word, similar to Ray Stevens and my man Steve Lawrence!…)
Super Bowl Quiz Answers: 1) John Rauch coached the Raiders in SB II, a 33-14 loss to Vince Lombardi and the Packers. 2) In SB XI, Oakland’s 32-14 win over Minnesota (John Madden’s team), Clarence Davis rushed for 137 yards on 16 carries and Colgate’s Mark van Eeghen had 73 on 18. 3) Bob Lee replaced Fran Tarkenton at QB in this game and threw a late TD pass to Stu Voigt.
Next Bar Chat, Thursday.
