[Posted late Sunday night…stunning day in sports…]
David Ortiz Quiz, part I: With 18 home runs thus far in Boston’s first 68 games, the Big Needle seems destined for 30 or more in what is supposedly his last season at age 40. 1) Who holds the record for home runs in an age 40 season with 34? 2) What two players hold it for age 41 with 29? 3) Who holds the record for most home runs in their last season, period, at 35? Answers below.
Cavs-Warriors…Game 7
First the prelude. Golden State coach Steve Kerr said Saturday that his players ought to feel pressure ahead of Game 7.
“Of course they’re going to feel pressure,” Kerr said. “Of course there’s going to be some anxiety. But how lucky are we to feel that pressure? You could play on a lottery team your whole career and just make a bunch of money and go watch the playoffs every year.”
LeBron James said yesterday, “Listen, at the end of the day, I go out every single night and give everything I’ve got to the game. The game has always given back to me. So I’m OK with whatever.”
James led all players in points (181), assists (51), steals (16) and blocked shots (13), and he was tied with his teammate Tristan Thompson for the most rebounds (68), after the first six games. And he has those 41-point, back-to-back efforts in Games 5 and 6.
No team had ever come back to win the title after trailing in the finals by three games to one. [Teams in such a predicament have been 0-for-32.]
“I came back for a reason,” James said, “and that is to bring a championship to the city of Cleveland, to northeast Ohio and all of Ohio and all Cavaliers fans in the world.”
In LeBron’s only previous finals Game 7, June 20, 2013, he scored a game-high 37 points as the Heat defeated the San Antonio Spurs, 95-88.
The Warriors had to rebound from a 3-1 series deficit against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference finals.
The home team has 15 of 18 previous Game 7s in NBA history.
As for Game 6 on Thursday, not only was Stephen Curry ejected with six fouls, he threw his mouthpiece at a fan in anger, drawing a $25,000 fine, before exiting. Steve Kerr was also fined $25K for his comments about the referees.
For the record, in going off for 41 points a second straight contest, in Game 6 that the Cavs won 115-101, LeBron was 16-of-27 from the field, with 8 rebounds, 11 assists, 4 steals, 3 blocks. Kyrie Irving chipped in 23 and Tristan Thompson had 15 points and 16 rebounds.
The Warriors were playing without center Andrew Bogut, out for the series. Steph Curry (30) and Klay Thompson (25) combined for 55.
Regarding LeBron’s back-to-back efforts, no player had scored 40-plus points in consecutive Finals games since Shaquille O’Neal in 2000.
Sam Amick / USA TODAY Sports
“First things first, Stephen Curry will play in Game 7 of the NBA Finals on Sunday night at Oracle Arena.
“While it’s perfectly reasonable for those legions of title-starved Cleveland Cavaliers fans to wish for him to be suspended after firing a mouth guard fastball late Thursday night in the Golden State Warriors’ 115-101 loss in Game 6, league officials wasted no time afterward educating the masses on past precedent that is expected to keep the back-to-back MVP on the floor….
“So with that said, let the unwinding of this fantastic finish to the season begin.
“How perfectly poetic that Curry, the newly-crowned king of the NBA who spent the past eight months changing the game and making history, finds himself on the ropes against Cleveland’s prodigal-son-turned-savior who has been known as King James for, oh, 14 years now? Amid all the fun and frivolity on the floor afterward, where the locals who have to hear about their city’s 52-year title drought were so relieved that the Warriors didn’t celebrate a championship on their home floor for the second straight year, a man commented that Mark Twain couldn’t have written this any better himself.
“The truth, however, is that James is authoring a basketball tale that just might go down as the best of all time.
“Not only is he turning in the kinds of virtuoso performances that are adding to his Hall of Fame resume, but he’s demoralizing a fellow great and his all-time team along the way. Curry and the Warriors are shook.”
Jason Gay / Wall Street Journal
“Look what we have here: an improbable Game 7 between the Golden State Warriors and the suddenly brilliant Cleveland Cavaliers.
“If I had told you one week ago, after the Cavs had surrendered a listless Game 4 to the Warriors and fallen down three games to one in a best-of-seven elimination series, that they would transform not merely into a better team, but an altogether different one, like a body-switching movie, and roll over Golden State in successive games to knot the series, you’d have laughed me out of the gym.
“Come on, you’d have said. Not happening.
“And yet it’s happened.
“There will be a delicious do-or-die Game 7 in Oakland, Calif. on Sunday night. Cancel all plans. Prepare the TV room. Daddy doesn’t want a Father’s Day bash. He wants to watch the game.”
But first, a reminder….
Game 1…GS 104-89
Game 2…GS 110-77
Game 3…CLE 120-90
Game 4…GS 108-97
Game 5…CLE 112-97
Game 6…CLE 115-101
Not exactly scintillating. Like the series had pretty much sucked, though was fascinating for different reasons.
So in Game 7…
After the first quarter…23-22, Cavs.
At half…49-42, Warriors
After three…76-75, Warriors.
James had 16 points, 8 rebounds, 10 assists at this point; Kyrie Irving 21.
For the Warriors, Steph Curry and Klay Thompson had combined for just 24, 5-of-18 from three, but Draymond Green had 28 in a titanic effort.
So we go to the fourth quarter….
Back and forth, 89-89 with 3:40 left…89-89 with 2:10 left…James a spectacular block on Iguodala…James then misses up close…Curry bricks a three…1:09 left, timeout…Kyrie Irving, huge three over Curry to make it 92-89, Cleveland…Curry misses a three, defended by the maligned Kevin Love…James is fouled on an attempt for a clinching dunk…makes one of two, 93-89…10.6 seconds left…Golden State blows it…
Cavs win!!! LeBron brought home a championship to Cleveland, whose citizens have been waiting 52 years. Stunning.
Steph Curry choked. 17 points, 4-of-14 from three. Klay Thompson just 14, 2-of-10 from downtown. No one cares this team won a record 73 regular season games. They are failures.
I don’t like LeBron…but boy you have to respect the hell out of him.
Wow…what a day in sports.
U.S. Open
The Open got off to a miserable start on Thursday, one weather delay after another, with some golfers, such as Dustin Johnson, needing to play 36 holes on Friday (others played 36 on Saturday) as the USGA struggled to get the tournament back on track for a Sunday finish. But owing to sunshine and late sunsets in this part of the country, bucolic western Pennsylvania, there we were, heading into the final round on schedule.
Shane Lowry -7
Andrew Landry -3
Dustin Johnson -3
Lee Westwood -2
Daniel Summerhays -2
Sergio Garcia E
Jason Day +1
So in the fourth round, Dustin Johnson (DJ) had an incident on the fifth green where he called an official over to discuss whether he should assess himself a one-stroke penalty because the ball moved. I emphasize, Johnson called the official over. Recall, the other day I noted how I was shocked how it seems to be common knowledge that a one-time Tour regular cheated a lot. It’s on situations like this they are referring to.
Here, DJ called the official over to be sure he was doing the right thing and it was decided he had. He had not caused the ball to move.
But then on the 12th hole, DJ is advised the USGA is taking it under advisement and it might assess him a one-stroke penalty after the round is over. How the [blank] would you respond to that?
Well, in the end Johnson proved clutch while the others slowly fell back as happens at seemingly every U.S. Open. DJ stayed under control, unlike past majors, and wrapped it up with a spectacular approach shot on 18 that he converted into a birdie. The USGA still assessed him a penalty after the fact but it didn’t matter.
Dustin Johnson had gotten the monkey off his back. He had captured his first major. The great Jack Nicklaus was there to congratulate him as DJ walked off the 18th.
Johnson -4
Furyk -1
Lowry -1
Piercy -1
Bob Harig / ESPN.com
“Jack Nicklaus weighed in on the controversy.
“ ‘I told (DJ) what you did with all that crap thrown at you was pretty good,’ he told ESPN.com’s Ian O’Connor.
“He also said that the USGA telling Johnson he may face a penalty during his round was ‘terrible’ and ‘very unfair.’….
“ ‘We put him on notice,’ said Jeff Hall, the USGA’s managing director of competitions. Hall also said during the Fox broadcast that Johnson told him he didn’t feel he did anything to cause the ball to move. ‘We have some concerns,’ Hall said.
“Whether Johnson committed a violation is now more complicated under the 2016 edition of the Rules of Golf, which came out in January after a four-year review cycle. Under the old Rule 18-2b (Ball Moving after Address) a player would have automatically been assessed a one-stroke penalty if the ball moved. Under the new Rule 18-2, a player will be penalized if the facts show the player caused the ball to move.”
Johnson did nothing wrong, as his fellow players, like Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth tweeted as the round continued. After the fifth, Johnson trailed Shane Lowry by two strokes but by 13 DJ led by two and held on from there.
So good for Dustin Johnson. Here I wrote just last Bar Chat: “Will Dustin Johnson ever win a major? Absolutely. But not this time.”
I do have to add that I imagine the casual fan was wondering why DJ was so low key in the awards ceremony.
The guy is guarded. He has had some issues, details of which aren’t necessarily known by the public, including a cloud over a ‘layoff’ a few years ago.
But if you watched the Fox coverage to the end, you saw him talking animatedly to Jack Nicklaus and that told me everything.
I like Johnson. I’m convinced he is a good guy and he’s exciting for the game of golf. People watch if they know he’s in contention.
As for Paulina, may she be in the spotlight for years to come as well. [Male America is very happy.]
One last thing…Fox Sports did a terrific job with their coverage (especially with Saturday’s marathon). And the stuffy terds at Augusta need to understand that golf fans want the latest graphics and technology next time The Masters…a tradition unlike any other…on CBS…is telecast.
–Angel Cabrera won at Oakmont in 2007 at +5. Coming into this week, in eight previous U.S. Opens here, only 23 players have finished 72 holes in red figures. Only four did so this time.
By the way, among the membership at Oakmont, 125 have single-digit handicaps and as longtime head pro Bob Ford said, “they travel pretty well.”
–Among those missing the cut were Phil Mickelson, who is obviously running out of time to win that first coveted US Open. Rory McIlroy, Patrick Reed, Rickie Fowler, Justin Rose, Kevin Chappell (a favorite of many ‘experts’ coming in), Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, Brandt Snedeker, Webb Simpson and Henrik Stenson also didn’t make the third round.
–There was a little controversy over Stenson’s exit from the tournament. The seventh-ranked player in the world had a fine opening-round one-under 69. But in the second round he was 10 over through 16 holes when the round was suspended due to darkness. The projected cut was still in doubt, though Stenson would have had to birdie his last two to get to 8 over and then see what happened.
—Rickie Fowler is hardly in a position to place himself in a Big Four (with Rory, Jason and Jordan) with the track record he has in his last six majors.
2016 U.S. Open…missed cut
2016 Masters…missed cut
2015 PGA…T-30
2015 British Open…T-30
2015 U.S. Open…missed cut
2015 Masters…T-12
Rather than stick around, he left, citing minor neck and back issues, though he tweeted he hoped to be back next week. Yes, he took some grief over this.
–Oregon’s Aaron Wise won the NCAA Division I men’s individual title at Eugene Country Club, but as Golfweek notes, not since 2004’s individual title winner, UNLV’s Ryan Moore, has an NCAA champion then won on the PGA Tour. Among those on the list are Jamie Lovemark, Kevin Chappell, Scott Langley, and Bryson DeChambeau.
MLB
–Some games of note since the last chat….
Wednesday, Clayton Kershaw did it yet again, 7 1/3, 2 earned, 1 walk, 11 strikeouts as the Dodgers beat Arizona 3-2, Kershaw now 10-1, 1.58 ERA.
New west coast rival Johnny Cueto is also 10-1, 2.10, as he threw 7, allowing the lone run in a 10-1 Giants win over the Brewers.
The Mets’ Noah Syndergaard, aka “Thor,” was spectacular. 8 1/3, one earned, 11 strikeouts, 0 walks, in the Metropolitans’ 11-2 win over the Pirates, Thor now 7-2, 1.91
Thursday, 43-year-old Bartolo Colon improved to 6-3, 3.01, by throwing 7 2/3 of 2-run ball in the Mets’ 6-4 win over the Pirates.
The same night, the Yanks’ CC Sabathia continued to turn back the clock with 6 innings of one-run ball in New York’s 4-1 win over Minnesota. CC is 5-4, but with a 2.20 ERA. The Yanks can feel a little better about shelling out $25 million for him this season.
Actually, CC will turn 36 on July 21 and the Yanks have an option on him for another $25m next season, or a $5m buyout. If he goes, say, 12-10 with a 3.00 ERA, do the Yanks give it to him? He will have fulfilled his end of the bargain, after all.
Continuing with Thursday play, Detroit’s Victor Martinez had the second 3-homer game of his career, 3 solo shots in the Tigers’ 10-4 win over the Royals.
Friday, Toronto’s Michael Saunders had a career night, 3 home runs and 8 RBIs in the Blue Jays’ 13-3 win over the Orioles in Baltimore.
Also Friday, Detroit’s Michael Fulmer ran his incredible rookie scoreless string to 33 1/3 before giving up a solo homer, Fulmer allowing that lone run in 5 2/3 before being lifted after 100 pitches, only to see the Tigers’ pen implode, Detroit losing 10-3 to Kansas City, Fulmer now 7-2. 2.43.
For K.C., Yordano Ventura picked up the win, his second start since his supposed nine-game suspension, which kind of makes a mockery of the process. Yeah, you should be able to appeal, but in the case of a starting pitcher throw two games in between?
Manny Machado, who was suspended four games as a result of his dustup with Ventura, doesn’t have his appeal until Tuesday. I don’t know when Ventura’s is.
And the Cubs’ Jake Arrieta became the majors first 11-game winner, (11-1, 1.74), as he threw six shutout innings (3 BB, 11 SO, but 112 pitches) in the Cubs’ 6-0 win over the Pirates.
Saturday, the Mets played one of their worst games in history, losing to the Braves for a second straight night, 4-3. Curtis Granderson and third-base coach Tim Teufel were the two primary goats as the Mets blew a 3-0 lead, and while it’s not worth getting into the details, I have never been more ticked off after a game, seriously, going back to my youth.
Tim Lincecum made his 2016 debut with the Angels, his first major league start in 51 weeks, throwing six innings of effective one-run ball in the Angels’ 7-1 win over the A’s in Oakland.
Carlos Beltran continued his stellar hitting with a two-run homer in the Yankees’ 7-6 win over the Twins. Beltran now has 18 home runs and 48 RBIs. Alex Rodriguez hit his eighth homer of the season, No. 695 lifetime in the contest.
The Diamondbacks beat the Phillies 4-1 as Zack Greinke won his seventh straight start and is now 10-3, 3.54.
So Sunday, my Metsies really pulled out all the stops to avoid a sweep by the Braves and they got one hit…a third-inning single from Michael Conforto; Julio Teheran of Atlanta completing the near no-no, 6-0.
The Mets fell to 36-32. I am demanding Johnny Mac send me my sword FedEx. And as J. Mac said, Mets management, and the freakin’ players, need to apologize to their fans. For a team four over .500, they have played some of the most unwatchable ball of all time.
You know who is more exciting? The Marlins, now 37-32 after a 3-0 win today over the Rockies.
The Yanks lost at Minnesota 7-4 to go back below .500, 34-35.
The first-place Indians (38-30) beat the White Sox 3-2, and Chicago, which started off 23-10, is now 33-36, or 10-26 since! Eegads!
Am I the only one surprised at Texas’ start? 45-25, having won six straight, including a weekend sweep of the Cardinals in St. Louis…second-best in baseball behind the 46-20 Cubs, who are playing the Pirates Sunday night.
–Back to the Mets…David Wright underwent neck surgery on Thursday and is undoubtedly out for the season, though neither he nor the team will say so for weeks to come. It is reasonable to assume Wright will never come back, period.
Assuming he doesn’t return this year, he will have missed 277 total games from his age-31 through age-33 seasons, as the Mets continue to pay him $20 million per.
–The Colorado Rockies designated shortstop Jose Reyes for assignment, with the Rockies having another week to either trade him, release him or have him accept a demotion to the minors. It is unlikely he will find another home.
Reyes was suspended through May 31 after being charged with domestic violence for an altercation with his wife in Hawaii last October.
He is the Rockies’ highest-paid player and is due $22 million in each of the next two seasons.
–Jake Russell / Washington Post
“There’s a reason Los Angeles Dodgers broadcaster extraordinaire Vin Scully has been calling games since the franchise was in Brooklyn. The man knows how to talk about anything. The topic de jour at Friday’s game against the Brewers? Socialism.
“With Milwaukee third baseman and Venezuela native Hernan Perez at the plate in the top of the sixth inning, Scully offered his two cents on the political theory advocated by folks as far-reaching as Mark Twain, Albert Einstein and Pablo Picasso.
“ ‘Socialism failing to work as it always does, this time in Venezuela,’ Scully said. ‘You talk about giving everybody something free and all of a sudden there’s no food to eat. And who do you think is the richest person in Venezuela? The daughter of Hugo Chavez. Hello. Anyway. Oh and two.’
“Politics are not necessarily a popular topic of conversation during baseball telecasts but Scully, now in his 67th season calling Dodger games, has earned the right to talk about practically anything. Perez struck out swinging in case you were wondering.
“Obviously, Scully wasn’t ‘feeling the Bern’ Friday night.”
–The Texas Rangers opened their new stadium in 1994 in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, and at the time, Tom Schieffer, the Rangers’ then-president, told the media, “I will know if I failed if 30 years from now there has to be discussions in Arlington about building a new stadium.” The stadium he said, must ‘stand the test of time.’
But as the Wall Street Journal’s Eliot Brown reports, “Twenty-two years later, the Rangers are pushing ahead with a plan to replace the facility with a new $1 billion ballpark, with the cost split between the team and the city, featuring a retractable roof.”
Of course it has been the same story in Atlanta, where the Braves, who had been playing in a stadium built for the 1996 Olympics, are moving into a new park next season., while the Falcons get a new one to replace their 1992-vintage one.
–In the College World Series, which began Saturday…
Oklahoma State beat UC-Santa Barbara 1-0, and Arizona defeated Miami 5-1.
Sunday….
TCU defeated Texas Tech 5-3, while Coastal Carolina was leading Florida late….
Euro 2016
*Group play doesn’t finish up until next week, but in some games of note since last chat….
Slovakia beat Russia 2-1…being half Slovak, I celebrated.
England beat Wales 2-1 in a big one for the U.K.
Northern Ireland beat Ukraine 2-0.
Czech Republic 2 Croatia 2. [UEFA opened a disciplinary case against the Croatian soccer federation for racism and fan disorder. Play was stopped several minutes late in the game with the Czech Republic when firecrackers and lit flares were thrown on the field from one end of the stadium where the Croatia fans were sitting. UEFA’s anti-discrimination monitors also said on Saturday that they reported hearing fans sing far-right songs and displaying offensive banners. Croatia has a nasty track record in this regard. In a Euro 2016 qualifier, fans created a swastika image on the field before a home match. Two subsequent games were played in empty stadiums as punishment. FIFA has already barred fans from attending the first two of Croatia’s five 2018 World Cup home qualifying matches in Zagreb in September and November.]
Italy 1 Sweden 0
Belgium 3 Ireland 0…saw about half of this one…like I saw all three Belgium goals in about 20 minutes. Awful effort by the Irish.
Iceland picked up another draw, this time with Hungary 1-1, but…Hungary’s goal was late and an Iceland own goal, so a blown opportunity for the Minnows.
Portugal and Cristiano Ronaldo had another frustrating draw, this time 0-0 with Austria.
Sunday, France and Switzerland played to a 0-0 draw, but both will advance to the Round of 16.
There are now 10 group matches left, Monday thru Wednesday, to settle who the other 14 are.
Copa America
Thursday, in a stirring contest before a fantastic crowd in Seattle, team USA defeated Ecuador to advance to the Copa semifinals.
Friday, Colombia beat Peru on penalty kicks, 4-2, after a 0-0 tie.
Saturday, in rather stunning fashion, Chile embarrassed Mexico 7-0 in another quarterfinal, ending Mexico’s best-ever unbeaten streak at 22. For Chile, Eduardo Vargas scored four goals.
And in the final quarterfinal, Argentina whipped Venezuela 4-1, Lionel Messi scoring one of the four for Argentina.
So on Tuesday it’s the U.S. vs. Argentina in Houston in one semi (which should attract massive ratings relative to the sport’s history), while on Wednesday, Colombia goes up against Chile in Chicago.
The final is at the Meadowlands next Sunday night.
–Some of us in the New York area are amazed at the success of sports talk show host Craig Carton of the “Boomer and Carton” morning radio show. The guy is a flat-out idiot, but he has his following and as Tony Soprano would have said, ‘Whaddya gonna do?’
So the other day my brother hears Boomer and Carton talking about the Copa America tournament and Carton wants to know how come Argentina is in it but England isn’t. After a third guy on the program, Jerry Recco, tells Carton that, well, Argentina is in South America, Carton goes, “It is?” Seriously.
Gordie Howe, part II
Just a few more tidbits on Mr. Hockey.
Michael Farber / Sports Illustrated
“The Almighty blew it this time.
“Sure, vengeance might be His (Romans 12:19), but as the Creator vets His newest recruit – a powerful, stooped-shouldered man with an easy smile and old-fashioned values forged in Depression-era Saskatchewan, He would be well-advised to skim the Book of Gordie. Verse 1: Do not mess with Gordie Howe. Howe…had a memory as long as his unparalleled career, which touched five decades and included seven MVP awards in two leagues. Heaven might be a swell place, full of cherubim and gaping five holes, but if Mr. Hockey suspects that he was taken from us too soon, that he could have gotten yet another day out of his rich life…well, the Supreme Being should start skating with his head up, you know?….
“There were times when truculence moved Howe to apologize, as it did on one occasion in 1979-80, when, at age 51, he returned to the NHL with the Hartford Whalers (and scored 15 goals, by the way). Howe, who by then was poetry in slow motion, raked his stick across the chin of Bob Miller after the Bruins’ center had the effrontery to steal the puck from him. Miller left the ice late in the second period, leaking blood. When Boston’s veterans inquired about his fresh zipper during intermission, a credulous Miller replied, ‘Gordie got me…but he said he was sorry.’
“The room erupted in laughter.
“ ‘Then,’ said Brad McCrimmon, who was a Bruins defenseman that year, ‘it was show-and-tell time.’
“Somebody pointed to some missing teeth…Gordie.
“Another player displayed a scar…Gordie.
“A bent nose…Gordie.
“Said McCrimmon, ‘There’d be Gordie, blinking – you know how he was always blinking? – and he’d say, ‘Sorry, kid.’ Gordie was sorry a lot….
“This is the Gordie Howe that Mark (Howe, a Hall of Fame NHL defenseman who played with his father in the WHA for six seasons) knows… ‘He might break a guy’s jaw with his elbow, take out his teeth, cut him up real bad. Honestly, he was the nastiest person I ever saw on a pair of skates. He also was a completely different human being when he didn’t have them on.’
“This is the Gordie that Mark fondly remembers. In the late 1960s, when his father was earning, he guesses, $25,000 or $30,000 a year with Detroit, Mark would join Gordie mid-trip during the latter’s annual cross-Canada tour of Eaton’s department stores. Upon returning to the hotel room each night, Howe would autograph as many as 2,500 cards so the next day he could spend extra seconds joshing with the children in line rather than looking down and writing his name.”
Russia’s suspension
Russia’s track and field team was told not to bother packing for Rio, an extraordinary development, even if it was expected.
Christopher Clarey / New York Times
“Track and field’s world governing body, the International Association of Athletics Federations, still has a very long way to run before earning back our trust. Its former president, Lamine Diack, faces charges of corruption in France. Its new president, Sebastian Coe, who received Diack’s electoral stamp of approval, is back to answering prickly questions about what he knew and when he knew it.
“But at least Coe and his fellow I.A.A.F. council members did the right thing on Friday: ruling unanimously that they would not lift the ban on the Russian federation in time for its athletes to compete under the Russian flag at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro….
“The Russians have no monopoly on doping, as those of us from the land of Lance Armstrong and Marion Jones must acknowledge. But the breadth and depth of Russia’s top-down doping culture has still been shocking at a stage when international sports have seen enough scandals and fallen angels to turn even Pollyannas into cynics hunched over their coffee and the smoldering butt of a Gauloise in a dark corner of the global internet café.
“It takes something special – and not in a good way – to get a whole national team banned from the Olympics, an event that still likes to bill itself as a refuge from politics and exclusion.”
Stuff
–Former Baylor football coach Art Briles reached a financial settlement with the university, a longtime regent of the school told the Waco Tribune-Herald, saying, “the Briles era is over.”
Baylor owed Briles as much as $40 million for the remaining eight years on his 10-year contract and settlement terms are not known.
From the tone emanating from the school, it does not sound like Briles would be coming back for the 2017 season after sitting out a year, despite last week’s rumors that had donors pressuring the board of regents to consider this.
–Darren Whitehead / USA TODAY:
“A 5-year-old was in fair condition early Saturday after a mountain lion attacked him in his family’s yard about 10 miles northwest of Aspen, Colo.
“The boy suffered injuries to his head, neck, and face in the 8 p.m. MT Friday attack, according to the Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office.
“The child and his older brother were outside playing when the boys’ mother, who was inside their house, heard her son start screaming, according to the sheriff’s office. The woman ran outside, saw the mountain lion on top of her child, fought off the animal and pulled her son out of its grip.
“The mother sustained minor injuries to her hand and legs. The boy’s father drove the child to Aspen Valley Hospital for treatment,” where he was then airlifted to Denver’s Children’s Hospital.
Officers went to the home and spotted a mountain lion nearby. A Forest Service officer killed it. They are looking for a second mountain lion spotted in the area earlier the same day.
Poor kid. Aside from wishing him a full recovery, I hope somehow he doesn’t have memories of the attack the rest of his life.
–Long-time readers know I have an affinity for distance runners, especially high school, I can’t help but note a local boy, Millburn High School’s Matt Grossman, won the New Jersey State Meet of Champions in the 3,200-meter run in 9:05, which is pretty, pretty good. And he’s just a junior. Gotta remember to try to catch him next year.
And congrats, Matt. You’ve made Bar Chat!
—Shark sightings are soaring off Huntington Beach, Calif., which is potentially great for ratings.
“I’ve seen more white sharks this year than I have in the previous 30,” Lt. Claude Panis of the Huntington Beach Fire Department’s Marine Safety Division told the Los Angeles Times.
16 great white sharks were tagged in Huntington Beach in 2015, four times the total tagged in 2014.
A 2014 survey found that there are about 2,400 great white sharks living in California waters.
—Paul McCartney turned 74 this weekend. Goodness gracious. You have to love his attitude of [screw] it. I’m going to keep performing as long as I possibly can. And we all still want to see him.
—Larry David has agreed to return for a ninth season of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” on HBO, though a formal return date hasn’t been set. Some of us, like Pete M. and Denise D., are super fired up.
But you know what’s a little depressing? Can you believe the show last aired in September 2011?! Where did the time go?
On his return, David had this to say: “In the immortal words of Julius Caesar, ‘I left, I did nothing, I returned.’”
The last season ended with Larry in Paris with Leon (J.B. Smoove).
I’ll take a stab at it and say the new season begins next February as David and his team are already working on plotlines.
Top 3 songs for the week 6/24/72: #1 “The Candy Man” (Sammy Davis, Jr. with the Mike Curb Congregation) #2 “I’ll Take You There” (The Staple Singers) #3 “Song Sung Blue” (Neil Diamond)…and…#4 “Oh Girl” (Chi-Lites) #5 “Nice To Be With You” (Gallery) #6 “Outa-Space” (Billy Preston) #7 “Troglodyte” (The Jimmy Castor Bunch) #8 “(Last Night) I Didn’t Get to Sleep At All” (The 5th Dimension) #9 “Sylvia’s Mother” (Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show) #10 “Lean On Me” (Bill Withers)
David Ortiz Quiz Answers: 1) Age 40 season: Darrell Evans hit 34 for Detroit in 1987. 2) Age 41: Ted Williams, 29, 1960, also his last season, and Raul Ibanez, 29, 2013, Seattle. Barry Bonds, by the way, hit 28 at age 42, the record for that age. [baseballreference.com] 3) As for the home run record for a player’s last season, period, Dave Kingman hit 35, 1986, Oakland, age 37.
Next Bar Chat, Thursday.
