[Posted early Wed. a.m.]
College Football Quiz: 1) O.J. Simpson broke the single-season Div. I rushing record with 1,880 yards in 1968 with USC. Three years later, who set the new record at 1,881? [Hint: Big name, small school.] 2) Who were the only two, and first two, to rush for 2,000 yards in the 1970s? Answers below.
MLB
Wild Card Races
N.L.
Mets 80-71
St. Louis 80-71
San Francisco 80-71
A.L.
Toronto 83-68… +1
Baltimore 82-69… —
Detroit 80-70… 1.5
Houston 80-71… 2
Seattle 79-72… 3
Yankees 78-72… 3.5
–So as the Mets took on the Braves for the first of three Monday night at Citi Field, with Noah Syndergaard on the mound against a stiff, Aaron Blair, “Thor” was hideous, throwing 99 pitches in just 3 2/3, giving up five runs on eight hits. This from a guy who was 4-1, 1.36 ERA in his previous six starts. Mets lose 7-3, as the bats have gone cold at the worst time.
For Atlanta, Freddie Freeman went 4-for-5 with a home run and three RBI in extending his hitting streak to 23 games.
Then Tuesday, the Mets lost 5-4, a late comeback falling short, as once again the two main culprits in the lineup, Jay Bruce and Travis d’Arnaud, came up small.
Bruce, after hitting 25 home runs and driving in 80 in just 340 at-bats for the Reds, before the Mets acquired him midseason, has 4 homers and 11 RBIs in 142 ABs for the Metropolitans, batting .176.
D’Arnaud, who was highly productive in last season’s stretch run, has a whopping 14 RBIs in 240 ABs this season and is hitting an unbelievably awful .118 with runners in scoring position (6-for-51).
It’s no surprise these two are the prime whipping boys for Mets fans. Booo! Boooo!
Tonight, the Mets need another huge effort from Bartolo Colon, and some hitting!
–Meanwhile, out in Los Angeles, the Dodgers had a stirring 2-1, ninth-inning comeback win over the reeling Giants on Monday, with both Clayton Kershaw and Madison Bumgarner pitching well, though with a no-decision for each.
For Kershaw, it was his third start since missing 2 ½ months with a back injury and he showed he is ready. Six innings, 1 run (0 earned), 1 walk, 7 strikeouts.
Bumgarner was spectacular, 7 innings of one-hit ball, no walks, 10 strikeouts; though the Giants’ star and the Dodgers’ Yasiel Puig got into another near brawl with a staring and shouting match that led to both benches clearing.
Tuesday, the Giants rebounded behind Johnny Cueto (17-5, 2.79) and a solid effort from the bullpen to defeat the Dodgers 2-0 and get into the three-way tie for the wild card…St. Louis winning its fourth in a row, this one against the Rockies in Colorado, 10-5.
But back to Kershaw, Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times said his performance may have appeared better from a distance than up close.
“There were signs that the remnants of his herniated disk injury could be limiting his ability to overpower hitters with all of his pitches. The devastating slider wasn’t always there. The frustrating slow curve didn’t always finish in the right spot.”
Kershaw acknowledged afterward he didn’t yet feel like himself, but, “Arm feels good, back is fine, maybe it’s one of those days you don’t have your good stuff.”
He is likely to have two more starts before the end of the regular season.
–How good has Boston’s Rick Porcello (21-4, 3.08) been? He is 13-2 in his last 16 appearances. After throwing a complete game Monday night in Boston’s 5-2 win over Baltimore, he now has 11 straight appearances that have lasted at least seven innings, while allowing a .184 batting average in that span. And he has yielded just 29 walks in 210 innings.
As Ronald Reagan would have said, ‘Not bad, not bad at all.’
–Miami pitcher Jose Fernandez won again at home, 1-0 over the Nationals on Tuesday, as he is now 29-2 lifetime at Marlins Park (9-15 on the road). Fernandez struck out 12 in 8 innings and now has 253 for the season in just 182 innings as he also moved to 16-8, 2.86 on the year.
—Vin Scully has less than two weeks remaining in his 67-season career and he was asked the other day on “The Dan LeBatard Show” if he had a most embarrassing moment calling games.
“The most embarrassing, and I think you’ll get the picture immediately, was back about my third year, about 1952, and the Dodgers were playing Cincinnati and Cincinnati had an outfielder named Lloyd Merriman, I’ll never forget it, and Lloyd hit a ball foul and my mind told me to say ‘hot shot hit foul’ and it never came out that way,” Scully said. “Everybody in the booth fell down and I was absolutely mortified.”
College Football
New AP Poll
1. Alabama 3-0 (50 first-place votes)
2. Ohio State 3-0 (4)*
3. Louisville 3-0 (6)…up 7 slots!
4. Michigan 3-0 (1)
5. Clemson 3-0
6. Houston 3-0
7. Stanford 2-0
8. Michigan State 2-0
9. Washington 3-0
10. Texas A&M 3-0
15. Miami 3-0…up 10!
25. Oklahoma 1-2
*Ohio State came in this season as the least experienced team in the country, with only six of 22 starters returning. I mean they lost 12 players in the first four rounds of the draft – a modern record dating to 1967. Ten were in the first three rounds, an all-time draft record; including two of the first four…Joey Bosa and Ezekial Elliott.
As a pure football fan, who wouldn’t want Urban Meyer vs. Nick Saban for all the marbles?!
—Notre Dame and Oregon fell out of the top 25, Oklahoma should have as well. Not a good year for their fan bases.
Looking ahead….
Thursday, Clemson is at 3-0 Georgia Tech.
Saturday, 11 Wisconsin at 8 Michigan State, noon. And Oklahoma State at Baylor, Sat. night, is kind of intriguing.
–Boy, I feel sorry for Oregon wide receiver and Olympic hurdler Devon Allen, who suffered a season-ending left knee injury in last Saturday’s game against Nebraska. Allen finished fifth in the 110-meter hurdles down in Rio.
This is the second time he has suffered a torn ACL, the first in the Ducks’ 59-20 win over Florida State in the 2014 Rose Bowl. But he came back for the 2016 Oregon track season.
—Wake Forest quarterback Kendall Hinton is out 2-4 weeks with a knee injury, which sucks, as the Deacs are at Indiana this Saturday.
–The Wall Street Journal had a piece on most competitive football rivalries since 2006 (minimum five games).
Should Be Rivals….
Florida State vs. Georgia Tech… 4.4 pts. avg. margin
Michigan State vs. Wisconsin… 4.9
Colorado vs. Utah… 5.4
Notre Dame vs. Pitt… 5.6
Actually Rivals….
Florida State vs. Florida… 20.4
Michigan State vs. Michigan… 12.7
Colorado vs. Colorado State… 12.9
Notre Dame vs. USC… 17.6
Arizona vs. Arizona State… 11.2
NFL
–Monday night, Philadelphia rookie QB Carson Wentz had his second straight impressive performance, throwing for 190 yards and a touchdown as the Eagles improved to 2-0 in beating the Chicago Bears 29-14.
But the Bears were awful, and quarterback Jay Cutler exited in the third quarter with an injured right thumb.
“I’m concerned. As a quarterback, you kind of need your right thumb,” said Cutler after the game.
The Bears are in deep trouble.
David Haugh / Chicago Tribune
“By the end of the Bears’ pathetic 29-14 loss Monday night at Soldier Field, empty seats were everywhere.
“You could say the stadium was half-full.
“But after this debacle, everything involving the Bears looks half-empty. If you are looking for bright spots, check the weather forecast. If you want to be encouraged about the Bears, scan your 1985 video library. Optimism left the building, too, somewhere between Connor Barth’s missed 31-yard field goal and Jay Cutler’s awful interception….
“On national television, the Bears identified themselves as a local disaster.
“The Bears lost more than a football game to the Eagles, more than four defensive regulars and Cutler to injuries. They lost more than anything that can be recorded on a stat sheet or injury report.
“The Bears lost the faith of their fans, loyalists who have waited far too long for signs of sustainable progress. They lost credibility (coach John) Fox and general manager Ryan Pace sorely needed by letting a team with a rookie quarterback and rookie head coach come into their once-proud stadium on the lakefront and embarrass the franchise. Fox now has lost eight of nine home games.”
Read that again…the Bears are 1-8 in their last nine home games.
–Not for nothing, but as Steven Ruiz of USA TODAY points out, Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers hasn’t exactly been lighting it up in his last 15 regular season games, including Sunday night’s 17-14 loss in Minnesota.
Comp: 58.1%
Yards/game: 230.1
Yards/attempt: 6.28
Rating: 84.4
Ruiz compares these numbers to those of San Francisco’s Blaine Gabbert:
Comp: 61.5%
Yards/game: 244.4
Yards/attempt: 6.92
Rating: 83.8
So Rodgers has been merely Gabbertesque.
But, to try to be fair, Rodgers’ supporting cast is nowhere what it used to be, and he desperately needs Jordy Nelson to look more like the Jordy Nelson before his major knee surgery, and that might never happen.
Meanwhile, for the Vikings, Sam Bradford, newly acquired from the Eagles, which opened things up for Carson Wentz in Philly, had a superb first start for Minnesota, 22/31, 286, 2-0, 121.2.
But the Vikings may have lost Adrian Peterson for a while as he suffered a torn meniscus in his right knee Sunday, though there was still a chance he could play next weekend. Peterson wasn’t exactly lighting it up before the injury, with a mere 50 yards on 31 carries through 1 ½ games. I mean that blows.
Should Peterson be out a while, the Vikings will turn to Matt Asiata and Jerick McKinnon, who combined for 1,108 yards in 2014 when Peterson missed 15 games because of NFL discipline.
–In New England, as I go to post it’s not known how long, if at all, Jimmy Garoppolo will be out with his injured shoulder (though Tom Brady returns in two games anyway). We learned on Tuesday that it would be a game time decision for Thursday night against the Houston Texans, with Jacoby Brissett waiting in the wings if Garoppolo can’t go.
Coach Bill Belichick was asked about the injury situation yesterday and it was classic Belichick.
“I’m a football coach,” he said. “I’m not a doctor. The medical staff is the medical staff. I coach the team. The medical people handle the injuries. They don’t call plays. I don’t do surgery. We have a great deal there. Works out good.”
–Week Three coming up and the Cleveland Browns are already on their third quarterback, rookie Cody Kessler the starter against Miami on Sunday. Josh McCown injured his left shoulder, after he started in place of Robert Griffin III.
Cleveland seemingly has no intention of calling up old friend Johnny Manzell.
–Having visited the campus of Danny Woodhead’s alma mater, Chadron State, I have a soft spot for the lad and was sorry to see the ex-Jet tore the ACL in his right knee on Sunday for San Diego and is out for the season. At age 31, this could be the end of the line for a player who when healthy every team would love to have on their roster for his versatility.
–The Steelers’ DeAngelo Williams, filling in for the suspended starter Le’Veon Bell, is leading the NFL in rushing with 237 yards after the first two games, and at age 33, he’s the oldest player ever to amass more than 200 yards in his first two of the season.
Williams was a 2006 first-round pick by the Carolina Panthers who last ran for 1,000 yards in 2009.
But he now has five 100-yard games at age 32 or older, which is behind just John Riggins (13), Franco Harris (8), Emmitt Smith (8), and Jerome Bettis (7). [Andrew Beaton / Wall Street Journal]
–The details on Twitter’s live streaming of last Thursday night’s game came out after my last chat and they aren’t that good. There were 2.1 million total viewers, but this was out of 15.7 million who watched the game, meaning Twitter’s viewers represented about 13% of total eyeballs, though I’m not sure how if you later went on TV that was calculated.
But of the 2.1 million, only 243,000 watched at any one time, which is like, ehh…and the average time watched over Twitter’s stream was 22 minutes…for a game that lasted 180.
Golf Balls
–This is it…for all the marbles and the FedEx Cup. $10 million to the winner. 30 golfers left. East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.
But while Dustin Johnson is the favorite and has a nice points lead heading into it, the other half of the intrigue will concern the 12th Man on the upcoming U.S. Ryder Cup team, as Captain Davis Love III appears set to pick between Bubba Watson, Justin Thomas, Daniel Berger and Jim Furyk
It is really silly that while the European team has been set for three weeks, and as the Euros have kicked our butts 8 of the last 10 times, we have to drag it out to halftime of Bears-Cowboys on Sunday night before learning the final selection.
The buzz among the players is that Watson has been the pick all along, but I still think it comes down to whether any of the three (Furyk is not in the field) light it up at East Lake. It would be tough to deny a captain’s pick to any one of them if they won it.
But I’ll say Bubba plays well enough to wrap it up.
That said, he’s not a likable guy and as Jaime Diaz writes in Golf World, “His quirks and idiosyncrasies make him a high-maintenance teammate who does not play well with others and is, potentially, a drag on chemistry.”
—Commissioner Tim Finchem gave his final season-ending address to the media on Tuesday, Finchem officially retiring in a few months. He has been in the lead since taking over for Dean Beman in 1994.
It’s been a pretty good run, which coincidentally ran with the advent of Tiger Woods.
Total purses on the PGA Tour in 1994 were $56.4 million. This season that number exceeded $325 million.
Under Finchem’s stewardship, the Tour also added four World Golf Championships events, the Presidents Cup and the FedEx Cup. And golf is back at the Olympics.
Plus the Tour has given more than $100 million to charity this year alone. And he survived the financial crisis, with the Tour not losing any tournaments during its regular-season schedule, which looking back was rather remarkable. [That certainly wasn’t the case with the LPGA Tour.]
Finchem said this of Woods:
“Well, he’s the only living player to win 79 times, and only one player has ever won more. He’s the only active player to have won 14 majors, and only one player has won more. I love Jack Nicklaus beyond belief, but I have to put Tiger down as probably the greatest player to ever play, and the way he did it and his domination at a time when you’re bringing more and more good players along, is incredible. It lifted all boats. I always refer to it as kind of like Michael Jordan in the NBA. He just lifted boats and brought in so many new fans to the game and changed it.”
All in all, Tim Finchem takes his place as one of the two or three best commissioners in sports history.
[If you want to say there is a blemish, it might be the lack of stringent drug testing.]
–Meanwhile, the senior players are gearing up for the inaugural Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs, a three-tournament, season-ending competition to determine the Charles Schwab Cup Champion. The three events are taking place Oct. 27-Nov. 13.
At the completion of the SAS Championship (Oct. 10-16), the leading 72 players on the money list will advance to the first Playoff event, the PowerShares QQQ Championship.
The second one, the Dominion Charity Classic, will feature the top 54 players who advanced from the previous week, and then the Charles Schwab Cup Championship field will be comprised of the leading 36.
Phil W. and I have an interest in this series, because our college classmate, Gary Hallberg, is No. 58 on the money list and will qualify for the Playoffs. Lots of other Wake boys will be in it as well.
Stuff
–The Westgate SuperBook in Las Vegas released its over/under regular-season win totals for the 2016-17 NBA season and it’s no surprise the Golden State Warriors are tops at 66.5 wins. Most people expect the Warriors to exceed their record 73-win total of last season.
The Brooklyn Nets are projected to be the worst at 20.5 wins. I’d snap up the ‘over’ if I were you.
–From USA TODAY…and Melbourne, Fla.
“A homeless man swimming in a Florida creek was attacked by an alligator Monday, Melbourne police say.
“The man, known in the homeless community by his street name ‘Ron Jon,’ suffered a number of deep punctures along his shoulder as a result of a struggle with the alligator in Melbourne’s Crane Creek, police said. The attack happened under a U.S. 1 overpass, in a fishing spot popular with the area homeless community.”
And clearly the alligator community as well.
The offending gator has not been found…he is to be considered armed and dangerous.
–Brad K., who I shared a beer or two with last weekend, passed on the following:
Calvin Onsarigo / The Star (Kenya)
“An Italian tourist was trampled to death by an elephant on Sunday while taking pictures of the animal at Swara Camp, Kulalu ranch within Tsavo National Park.
“Police said Fernando Mocclola, 66, spotted the elephant at a watering point a few meters from the camp and curiously moved closer to take pictures when the animal attacked him.
“Fernando was with his wife when the incident happened.
“Police said the wife had warned him against going too close to the elephant but he tricked her by going to his room.
“He later sneaked out of his room without taking his breakfast at around 10 a.m. and went looking for the elephant.
“Fernando started capturing photos of the jumbo oblivious of the fact that he had moved too close. The agitated jumbo charged at Fernando as other guests watched in disbelief.”
I tend to pick up my breakfast shortly after 5:00 a.m. from Dunkin’ Donuts.
‘Elephant’ remains No. 2 on the All-Species List. ‘Man’ falls to 330, behind the boll weevil.
–Lindsay Crouse / New York Times
“At a time when ‘endurance running’ no longer means mere marathons – and even 100-mile races are attracting the masses – Karl Meltzer, a former ski-resort bartender, has proved he can suffer longer and faster than almost anyone else.
“When he staggered onto Springer Mountain in Georgia before dawn Sunday, Meltzer set a record for completing the Appalachian Trail. He covered the 2,190 miles over 14 states in 45 days 22 hours 38 minutes.
Meltzer, 48, is a little different from other titans of the newly booming ultra-running scene. He is six years older than Scott Jurek, who was featured in the best-selling book about almost-barefoot endurance running, ‘Born to Run’ – and who set the former Appalachian Trail record last year (46 days 8 hours 7 minutes).
“In a sport checkered with mantras like ‘clean living,’ Jurek sustained his trek on a vegan diet. Staples of Meltzer’s diet, by contrast, included Red Bull and Tang. Jurek incurred a $500 fine and public outrage for opening champagne at the summit of Mount Katahdin in Maine during his record run. When Meltzer finished Sunday, he walked down the mountain, sat in a chair and sated himself with pepperoni pizza and a beer.”
Meltzer has won 38 100-mile trail races, more than anyone else in the world. He had tried twice before (2008 and 2014) to set the Appalachian Trial record. In 2014 he dropped out with 600 miles left.
Meltzer averaged 50 miles in 15 hours of running a day, but twice he slept on the ground because he didn’t make it to his support van. But in the last two days, he ran 83 miles nonstop in the final leg to finish with the record Sunday morning.
–Brandon Drenon, writing in the New York Post, had a story on Olympic gold medal shot putter Ryan Crouser, and how much he eats to keep his weight at an ideal 295 pounds for his 6-foot-7 frame.
Crouser said he eats five or six times a day, starting with two shakes in the morning – usually a blend of oatmeal with whole milk, peanut butter, protein powder, berries and granola – which take up less space in his stomach, leaving room for lunch, dinner, second dinner and dessert.
“Lunch is usually my first solid meal, so by then I’m pretty hungry,” he said. “I’ll normally load up on some carbs like pasta or mac and cheese, a couple of pieces of bread, a bowl of rice. For protein I try to eat about a pound of meat per meal, so that’s usually like three to four chicken breasts. Occasionally I will eat some red meat, but mostly chicken or fish. And dinner I’ll eat pretty much the same thing, maybe throw in some fruit and vegetables. But I’m not as hungry then, so I’m normally forcing myself at that point to eat more than I want to.”
So how many beers can he drink and still function the next morning? Brandon Drenon asked Crouser.
“It depends on the type of beer. If it’s something easy like a Bud Light, I can take down a 12-pack and still have an effective workout the next morning.”
Drenon:
“I imagine him in college, toting a personal keg around to parties. He’s definitely strong enough to get it around.”
Crouser said his bench press is about 500 pounds for a single rep, 440 pounds for five reps.
He lifts weights six days a week, hitting the weight room twice on three of them, plus his normal practice.
–We note the passing of actress Charmian Carr, best known for portraying Liesl von Trapp in the 1965 film version of “The Sound of Music,” performing the song “Sixteen Going on Seventeen,” except she was a hot 21 in real life.
Interestingly, she appeared in only one other major Hollywood role, starring with Anthony Perkins in the television musical “Evening Primrose,” which I do not remember.
–The earth stopped on Tuesday (I felt it) on news Angelina Jolie filed for divorce from Brad Pitt. Never liked her.
Top 3 songs for the week 9/20/80: #1 “Upside Down” (Diana Ross…dreadful…) #2 “All Out Of Love” (Air Supply…equally so…) #3 “Another One Bites The Dust” (Queen…their worst…)…and…#4 “Fame” (Irene Cara…ughh…) #5 “Lookin’ For Love” (Johnny Lee…whatever…) #6 “Give Me The Night” (George Benson…tune not aging well…) #7 “Late In The Evening” (Paul Simon…at my age I shouldn’t be out late…) #8 “Drivin’ My Live Away” (Eddie Rabbitt…OK…) #9 “One In A Million You” (Larry Graham…staple slow dance tune…) #10 “Emotional Rescue” (The Rolling Stones…sorry, I’m a ‘Hot Rocks’ Stones fan…Well, folks…after such a hideous week, it’s back to the Sixties!)
College Football Quiz Answers: 1) Ed Marinaro of Cornell broke O.J.’s single-season mark with 1,881 yards in 1971; Cornell being Div. I-A back then. [Marinaro did this in just nine games, carrying the ball an average of 40 times a game!] 2) 1970s: First two with 2,000 yards…Tony Dorsett…2,150, Pitt, 1976; Charles White…2,050, USC, 1979.
Next Bar Chat, Monday.
