[Posted Sunday p.m., before Game 2 of Dodgers-Cubs]
MLB / Postseason Quiz: 1) Who are the five to play in 100 postseason games? 2) Who are the only three to hit 20 postseason home runs? [Hint: All three are part of #1.] Answers below.
MLB Playoffs
Dodgers-Cubs
In a classic Game 1 at Wrigley on Saturday night, the Cubs took an early 3-0 lead off Dodger starter Kenta Maeda (Chicago’s Javier Baez scoring the third run when he stole home on a botched suicide attempt), as Chicago’s Jon Lester was in full control. Lester then gave up a solo pinch-hit homer in the top of the fifth off the bat of Andre Ethier to make it 3-1, Lester exiting after six innings of one-run ball and the lead, though he was understandably upset after throwing just 77 pitches.
The Dodgers then tied it up in the eighth on a two-run single by Adrian Gonzalez off Cubs closer Aroldis Chapman, who once again was brought in for a six-out save, which you know by now he has only done once in his career, and with the bases loaded and no outs to boot. But Chapman fanned Corey Seager and Yasiel Puig before Gonzalez’ clutch hit.
So it was 3-3, bottom of the eighth, when Dodger manager Dave Roberts was outmaneuvered by Cubs skipper Joe Maddon, as Roberts had reliever Joe Blanton intentionally walk his second batter of the inning to load the bases, wanting the Cubs to be forced to remove Chapman for a pinch-hitter, and it backfired big time. Miguel Montero was sent to the plate, expecting the Dodgers to switch to a lefty reliever, at which point Montero would have been pinch hit for, but Roberts kept the righty Blanton in and Montero crashed a deep drive toward Lake Michigan for the grand slam, the Cubs eventually prevailing 8-4.
Meanwhile, Chicago center fielder Dexter Fowler made two super diving catches in the third and fourth, and homered in the eighth following Montero.
Bob Nightengale / USA TODAY Sports
“One swing of the bat, by a man who never thought he’d even be given a chance, may now be forever immortalized in this part of the world.
“There have been plenty of memorable home runs hit at Wrigley Field, but perhaps none bigger in the history of the Chicago Cubs’ franchise.
“Miguel Montero’s dramatic pinch-hit grand slam Saturday not only won the game for the Cubs, 8-4 over the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series, it may have saved their season.
“It was the first time that a pinch-hit grand slam provided the game-winning run in a postseason game, and was only the third pinch-hit grand slam in postseason history.
“Really, this was Montero’s Kirk Gibson moment, receiving treatment all day on his sore back, guessing that he was in and out of the hot tub 17 times, when he was called to pinch-hit.
“Two outs, three on, and the crowd standing on its feet, Montero slowly walked to the plate, convinced that Dodgers manager Dave Roberts would change pitchers, forcing him out of the game.
“Roberts liked the matchup, even more when reliever Joe Blanton got ahead of him with two quick strikes, only to watch Montero swing, and connect.
“It was as if time stood still.”
Blue Jays-Indians
Cleveland has now won its first five playoff games, taking the first two of the ALCS against Toronto, 2-0 and 2-1, shutting down the powerful Blue Jays lineup.
In the first game on Friday night, Corey Kluber* pitched 6 1/3 of shutout ball before yielding to Andrew Miller and Cody Allen for the final 8 outs. Francisco Lindor provided all the offense with a two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth against Toronto starter Marco Estrada, the only mistake Estrada made as he went eight.
*Kluber has yet to allow a run in his two playoff starts, 13 1/3 innings.
Then Saturday, Josh Tomlin got the nod for the Indians, throwing 5 2/3 of one-run ball, with Miller pitching a scoreless 7th and 8th, and Cody Allen once again closing it out in the ninth. It’s a pretty good formula. [And you can see why so many teams wanted Miller from the Yankees at the trade deadline.]
So with the series resuming on Monday night in Toronto, Cleveland being up 2-0 bodes well for the Indians as only three of the last 27 teams that won the first two failed to advance to the World Series.
–Just a word on the Washington Nationals, who lost the deciding Game 5 of the NLDS to the Dodgers Thursday night in D.C., 4-3.
Washington starter Max Scherzer threw six innings of one-run ball, exiting in the top of the seventh when L.A.’s Joc Pedersen hit a home run to lead off the inning, tying it at 1-1. But then the Dodgers continued to score three more in the frame off the Nats’ ineffective bullpen, making it 4-1 heading into the bottom of the seventh.
Washington didn’t just curl up and die, though, as Chris Heisey hit a two-run pinch home run off Grant Dayton to make it 4-3, but that’s where it remained, as Dodgers relievers Kenley Jansen and Clayton Kershaw closed the door, allowing just one hit over the final three innings.
Kershaw? He went to manager Dave Roberts in the seventh and said he was available. Entering with the tying run on second, winning run on first, and one out, he got Daniel Murphy and Wilmer Difo to pop out to end the game, his first save since 2006; this after throwing 110 pitches in his heroic Game 4 effort two days earlier.
So once again Washington exits with a whimper; the third season in five they made the playoffs, only to go out in the LDS.
In fact a Washington professional baseball team still hasn’t won a playoff series since 1924.
The franchise’s futility in clutch time was best summed up by Juliet Macur of the Washington Post.
“Thursday, with the Nationals up 1-0 in the sixth, and Jayson Werth on first with two outs, Ryan Zimmerman “lined a hit down the left-field line and Werth blazed around the bases and past the third-base coach, Bob Henley, whose arm was windmilling as he sent Werth home.
“Except that the ball got to the Dodgers catcher before Werth did. About two hours before Werth did. The fans, just about all 43,936 of them at Nationals Field, yelled, ‘No!’ Henley finally said the word no, too, but hours later.”
Manager Dusty Baker, who has lost a staggering nine straight playoff elimination games in his long career, also caught heat for leaving Scherzer in too long, Scherzer’s pitch count nearing 100, with him having a penchant for giving up home runs this year.
College Football Review
No. 1 Alabama (7-0) demolished 9 Tennessee (5-2) 49-10 in Knoxville, as the Crimson Tide outgained the Vols 594-163! Eegads.
No. 2 Ohio State (6-0) won a biggie, 30-23 in overtime against 8 Wisconsin (4-2) in Madison, as J. T. Barrett tossed a scoring strike to decide it after Wisconsin had taken a 16-6 halftime lead in largely containing the Heisman candidate. Barrett finished with 226 yards passing and 92 rushing, but it was tough going for him as the Badgers outgained the Buckeyes 450-411.
Wisconsin had lost the previous week to 4 Michigan 14-7, but with a much easier schedule the rest of the way, the Badgers could still be a New Year’s Six participant.
In a terrific contest, North Carolina State (4-2) should have upset 3 Clemson (7-0) in Death Valley, but Wolfpack kicker Kyle Bambard was just 1 of 4 on his field goal attempts, missing a 33-yarder at the end of regulation that would have given N.C. State a signature win for the program.
Instead, it went into overtime and Clemson won, 24-17, as Marcus Edmond intercepted Ryan Finley in the end zone after Clemson scored on their first possession.
For the Tigers, Deshaun Watson was 39/52, 378, 2-1, with Mike Williams hauling in 12 for 145 and a touchdown. Clemson running back Wayne Gallman left the game with an injury after just two carries.
Friday night, Duke (3-4) hung tough with No. 7 Louisville (5-1) before the Cardinals prevailed 24-14, outgaining the Blue Devils 469-239, though with Heisman candidate Lamar Jackson throwing for only 181, while rushing for 144.
My Wake Forest Demon Deacons (5-2) played a truly gutty game against 14 Florida State (5-2) in Tallahassee but fell short 17-6. Wake’s defense was superb, forcing four turnovers, including two fumbles by running back Dalvin Cook, but on offense, the Deacs didn’t have the weapons and turned it over three times themselves, including on a costly bad snap of a Wake punt late in the first half that allowed FSU to take a 10-3 lead at intermission.
The star of the game for the Seminoles was receiver Travis Rudolph, who had a career-high 13 receptions for 238 touchdowns.
But a great effort for the Deacs, plus they handily beat the spread (22 points), and at the end of the day, boys and girls….
No. 10 Nebraska stayed undefeated (6-0) with a 27-22 win at Indiana (3-3). Doesn’t it seem like Cornhusker QB Tommy Armstrong Jr. has been around like 10 years?
The NCAA is hating that 11 Baylor is now 6-0 after manhandling Kansas (1-5) 49-7 in Waco. It was 42-0 at half when Bears coach Jim Grobe pulled all his starters. Quarterback Seth Russell played only the first two quarters and had two touchdowns passing and two running. It’s very conceivable Baylor could go undefeated and what a nightmare that would be for the powers that be and the BCS after the school’s sexual assault scandal.
So much for 12 Ole Miss (3-3) playing in a New Year’s Six bowl game as they lost to 22 Arkansas (5-2) 34-30.
15 Boise State (6-0) held on to defeat Colorado State (3-4) 28-23. They could run the table, but will not be in the BCS or New Year’s Six conversation. Book it.
16 Miami (4-2) lost a tough one at home to North Carolina (5-2), 20-13, as the Tar Heel’s Mitch Trubisky threw for 299 yards and two scores. Miami has a new coach, Mark Richt, but it is the same old story. They start off a season well, then lose a tough game against rival Florida State and the season seems to go downhill from there.
Syracuse (3-4) had a nice win, 31-17, against 17 Virginia Tech (4-2) at the Carrier Dome.
20 West Virginia (5-0) served notice it wants to be taken seriously with a 48-17 laugher down in Lubbock against Texas Tech (3-3).
21 Utah (6-1) beat Oregon State (2-4) 19-14 in Corvalis. With both the Beavers and the Oregon Ducks having poor campaigns, it hasn’t been a good fall for Oregon football fans. It also means my Duckwear and Beaverwear in the sports drawer has been buried, with Deaconwear taking over.
My Beaverwear hedge against the Duckwear just hasn’t worked out as planned.
24 Western Michigan is now 7-0 after a 41-0 win at Akron (4-3). For the Broncos, Jarvion Franklin rushed for 281 yards and a touchdown. The junior is for real. He had 1,551 as a freshman before an injury-plagued sophomore season.
In other games….
God it would suck being a Rutgers fan. The Scarlet Knights fell to 2-5 with a 24-7 home loss to a crappy Illinois (2-4) squad. Rutgers turned the ball over five times and had only 10 first downs, after getting just two the week before in their humiliating 78-0 loss to Michigan. Including a 58-0 loss to Ohio State, that means Rutgers has been outscored 160-7 its last three contests.
Notre Dame fell to 2-5 with a 17-10 loss to Stanford (4-2) in South Bend. Quarterback DeShone Kizer had a poor game with two interceptions to open the second half, including one that was returned 50 yards for a score by the Cardinal, who had trailed 10-0 at the break. The Brian Kelly death watch continues.
Army improved to 4-2 with a 62-7 win against Lafayette, outgaining the Leopards 537 to 10 on the ground. Which is really what you want our boys to do. Handle the ground game. Let Air Force take care of the aerial campaign. [Navy can do both, right Bobby C.?]
–And now…your new AP Poll…
1. Alabama 7-0 (60)…Texas A&M next week
2. Ohio State 6-0
3. Michigan 6-0 (1)…clear the calendar, Ohio St.-Michigan on Nov. 26
4. Clemson 7-0…appropriate they drop one
5. Washington 6-0
6. Texas A&M 6-0
7. Louisville 5-1
8. Nebraska 6-0…far from convinced
9. Baylor 6-0…cue the theme from “Jaws”
10. Wisconsin 4-2
12. West Virginia 5-0…shocking, up 8! Very rare this late in the season
14. Boise State 6-0
20. Western Michigan 7-0…love it
24. Navy 4-1
NFL Review
So I watched the entire Giants-Ravens game as I was working on this column and Giants fans should be happy to get a ‘W’ and just move on, New York winning 27-23 in a game that had a ton of twists and turns, questionable calls, great stops, like an early Giants goal-line stand, with the Ravens’ Joe Flacco missing some receivers at the worst possible time…that kind of thing.
But the game was all about Odell Beckham Jr. Watching the first half, where Eli Manning was having trouble getting much started, the Giants down 10-7 at the break, I did see that Beckham seemed to be controlling his emotions.
Then in the second half Beckham exploded, mostly in a good way, as he ended up with 8 receptions for 222 yards and two touchdowns (75 and 66 yards), though he continued to act like a total jerk after his scores, and it almost cost the Giants the game as he had an unsportsmanlike penalty due to taking his helmet off after his second TD made it 27-23. Flacco and Co. had a last shot, but this wasn’t his most accurate day.
Anyway, the Giants are back in it, 3-3, while the Ravens have lost three straight to fall to 3-3 as well.
The Giants’ ‘D’ had its moments and Giants fans should be encouraged by that.
My Jets play Monday night down in Arizona.
In other games….no particular order….
The Washington Redskins (4-2) started off 0-2 and as I wrote at the time, the nation’s capital was apoplectic. But now look. Four straight, the latest a 27-20 win over Philadelphia, which started 3-0 and is now 3-2. Matt Jones had 135 yards rushing and a touchdown for Washington.
Tom Brady is 2-0, New England 5-1, after defeating the 2-4 Bengals 35-17, as Wonder Boy was 29/35, 376, 3-0, 140.0 rating. As Ronald Reagan would have said, ‘Not bad, not bad at all.’ Rob Gronkowski had 7 receptions for 162 yards and a score.
Tennessee moved to 3-3 with a 28-26 win over 0-6 Cleveland, which hasn’t picked up the LeBron/Indians mojo.
Chicago (1-5) blew a 13-0 lead after three to lose 17-16 to Jacksonville (2-3).
What’s this? Pittsburgh (4-2) lost to Miami (2-4) down in Miami 30-15? Gadzooks! Ben Roethlisberger was just 19/34, 189, 1-2, 57.1! Antonio Brown had all of four catches for 39 yards. [Fantasy football players picking this duo were committing hari-kari at a record pace.]
For Miami, it was all about Jay Ajayi, who rushed for 204 yards and two scores on 25 carries, which will have Fantasy football players rushing to select him next week.
Detroit is now 3-3 after defeating Los Angeles, also 3-3, 31-28 in Motown. Jim Caldwell keeps his job another few weeks as Matthew Stafford threw for four touchdowns (139.8 rating), one going to Golden Tate, who caught 8 for 165 yards.
How about Rex Ryan and his Bills? He started 0-2, we were writing his obituary after a disappointing first year in Buffalo, and all he’s done now is win four-in-a-row, including a win over the Pats, to get to 4-2; the latest a 45-16 pasting of San Francisco at home.
The game marked the return of Colin Kaepernick as the starter for the 49ers and after a solid first half, he basically took a knee and ended up just 13/29, 187, 1-0, 77.8, though he did rush for 66 yards.
For Buffalo, LeSean McCoy ran for 140 yards and three scores as Rex is focusing on smash-mash football. We’re just a few weeks from Lake Effect snowstorms there and Bills games could be must-see TV.
Did Carolina go to the Super Bowl last February? Are they now 1-5? Yup, 1-5 after losing to New Orleans (2-3) 41-38 down in the Big Easy on a Wil Lutz 52-yard field goal with 11 seconds to go.
Drew Brees threw for 465 yards and four touchdowns. [Pssst…he was my Fantasy football QB….I won some coin on the week, but my buddy, Dr. W., won far more.]
Kansas City (3-2) beat Oakland (4-2) as Chiefs QB Alex Smith was his usual efficient self, 19/22, 224, 109.1. Spencer Ware rushed for 131 yards and a touchdown for K.C.
Dallas (5-1) beat Green Bay (3-2) at Lambeau Field, 30-16, as Dak Prescott was 18/27, 247, 3-1, 117.4. Ezekiel Elliott rushed for 157 yards on 28 carries for the Boys, and he now has 140, 138, 134 and 157 his last four games. [Prescott did finally throw his first interception, after earlier extending his mark to 176 passes without an INT from the start of one’s career, with the previous mark being Tom Brady’s 162.]
For his part, Aaron Rodgers was once again highly mediocre.
So will it be the returning Tony Romo or Prescott? I have to go with Prescott, though I reserve the right to revise and extend my remarks later.
Atlanta fell to 4-2 after losing to Seattle (4-1) in the Pacific Northwest, 26-24.
Thursday, Denver (4-2) lost its second in just five days after starting the season with four victories, 21-13 to San Diego, which got a badly needed win of its own to move to 2-4.
–Until seeing a piece by Gregg Doyel of USA TODAY Sports, I didn’t realize last Sunday that the Colts’ Adam Vinatieri not only hit five field goals, but he had kicks of 53 and 54 yards. The thing is he’s 43!
Vinatieri also entered this week with 38 in a row, third-longest all time. His last miss was Sept. 21, 2015. Since 2014, he’s 68 of 71, 95.8%, the best in the NFL over that period.
The guy is signed through 2018, at which point, sometime during that 2018 season, he’ll surpass Morten Andersen (one of my favorite NFL players of all time because his kicks were so pure) as the No. 1 scorer in NFL history.
—Nevada took a big step closer to becoming the home of the Raiders on Friday, as state lawmakers narrowly approved a hotel tax increase that would put $750 million in public money toward an NFL stadium partly funded by casino mogul Sheldon Adelson.
Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval, who sees the $1.9 billion stadium as a way to ensure Las Vegas’ continued dominance in tourism, is expected to sign the deal Monday in Vegas.
But as much as Raiders owner Mark Davis is pleased with Nevada’s move, Oakland still hopes to keep the Raiders from leaving them a second time, and a relocation needs the blessing of three-fourths of NFL team owners – a conservative bunch that’s historically shunned Las Vegas because of its legalized sports betting.
The NFL owners meet next week and this topic will be at the top of the agenda, though a decision on a move could be a ways off.
–During the Philadelphia Eagles’ bye week (Week 4), quarterback Carson Wentz went back home to Fargo, North Dakota, to see his alma mater, North Dakota State, play.
After the game he hosted a party for his friends at a joint called Herd and Horns Bar and Grill. [Sounds like my kind of place.]
“Senor Wentz’s” then paid for the $1,000 tab and left a $500 tip.
—Fulton Walker, the first player to score on a kickoff return in a Super Bowl, died at the age of 58, apparently of a heart attack.
Walker scored for the Dolphins on a 98-yard kickoff return in Super Bowl XVII in 1983. But Washington would win the game, 27-17. Walker played in the NFL from 1981 to 1986 for Miami and the L.A. Raiders. Walker had five interceptions as a D-back.
–Finally, it was a sad day for New York area sports fans with word that former Jets lineman Dennis Byrd had died in a two-car accident in Oklahoma. He was 50. It was 11:00 a.m. Saturday morning when a 17-year-old inexplicably veered into the oncoming lane of traffic on Oklahoma 88, striking Byrd’s Hummer. Byrd was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver and a 12-year-old passenger in Byrd’s vehicle were critically injured.
Byrd is the man whose career was ended by a neck injury years ago. He was a 6-foot-5, 270-pound defensive end drafted in the second round by the Jets in 1989 who quickly became a fan favorite with his fierce play on the field and humble demeanor off it.
Byrd had 27 sacks his first three seasons, including 13 in 1990, but in his fourth year, his life changed forever during a game on Nov. 29, 1992, against Kansas City.
Byrd broke his neck slamming headfirst into the chest of teammate Scott Mersereau as Chiefs quarterback David Krieg stepped forward to avoid a sack. The impact broke the C-5 vertebra in Byrd’s neck, leaving him briefly paralyzed, with doctors uncertain if he would ever walk again.
After vigorous rehab, though, Byrd walked – albeit haltingly – to midfield as honorary captain in the Jets’ opening game the following season, a moment Jets fans will never forget.
But Byrd never fully recovered and had to undergo continuous rehabilitation ever since.
During the 2010 season, Byrd sent then-Jets coach Rex Ryan the No. 90 jersey that had been torn from his torso on the field after the collision as an inspirational gift. Byrd then delivered a moving speech to the Jets at their hotel the night before a 28-21 playoff victory over the New England Patriots.
On Oct. 28, 2012, the Jets honored Byrd by making him the fifth player in franchise history to have his number retired.
But now Dennis Byrd is gone…senselessly. It’s just very sad. [Dennis Waszak Jr. / AP]
NHL
You all know my deal by now. I was a huge hockey fan, Rangers, from like 1967 (age 9) until the 1990s. I used to go to three games a year in my youth, plus playoffs, with my father who got his tickets thru work, and then in the 1980s I had season tickets for a few years (though there is a separate story there that only my ticket partner, Mark S., and I can tell…let’s just say as the years went on, we got to the games later and later…something about backgammon* and beer at the then-Statler Hilton across the street from the Garden).
*Remember when that was a huge bar game? For the sake of society, it needs to make a comeback.
Anyway, I stopped caring a lot about the league the past decade or so and I’m not going to follow the NHL much this new season, save for my Rangers, and I will only concern myself with them getting into the playoffs, at which point that is all I watch…because there simply is nothing better than Stanley Cup hockey.
But from time to time during the regular season I’ll prove I’m half-paying attention, having grown up with the likes of Frank Mahovlich, and such is the case with the achievement of rookie Auston Matthews the other day.
First off, I subscribe to the hard copy of USA TODAY Sports Weekly (outstanding), but I normally don’t get it until Saturday when most articles I’m guessing are written like Tuesday, and so this week they have their NHL preview and writer Kevin Allen has the following comment.
“Matthews era begins: Arizona native Auston Matthews showed at the World Cup that he will have a major impact for the Toronto Maple Leafs as a rookie.
“Matthews, 19, should be able to score 20 to 25 goals and register 50 or more points. He is a 6-2 center who can score and create.”
And so all Matthews did, as every serious sports fan learned within hours, was score four goals in his very first game on Wednesday, but Toronto lost 5-4 in overtime to Ottawa.
In their second game on Saturday, Toronto beat Boston 4-1, though Matthews didn’t score (nor pick up an assist).
But back to his debut, he became the first to score four goals in his first game, and became just the fifth player overall to notch a hat trick in his debut, the last to do so being Derek Stepan of the Rangers in 2010.
—Johnny Gaudreau is a 23-year-old from New Jersey who played his college hockey at Boston College and had a very solid first two full seasons in the NHL for Calgary. Jimmy Hascup of USA TODAY Sports has him winning the MVP this year, with most expecting a big season from the Flames.
–It seems the consensus of everyone I’ve read is that the Tampa Bay Lightning will win it all this year.
Saturday, I went through the entire Rangers roster to acclimate myself (they’ve made lots of changes) so that when I read a box score, I’m not going ‘Who the heck is that?’
–It’s worrisome that Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby did not play in the team’s first two games due to yet another concussion, though he’s been practicing.
Crosby, 29, missed significant time during the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons while recovering from post-concussion symptoms.
Golf Balls
–At the Safeway Open in Napa, the first event of the PGA Tour’s wraparound 2016-17 season, Brendan Steele picked up his second career win. Phil Mickelson finished T-8. Matt Kuchar didn’t even make the cut as the weather was generally miserable.
–In the British Masters at Watford, England, 34-year-old Alex Noren of Sweden won his third tournament in his last eight events, the others being the Scottish Open and European Masters. I mean to tell you, this guy, who will be making his Masters debut next spring, is suddenly No. 18 in the world!
Meanwhile, Andrew “Beef” Johnston was mobbed by the crowds, his first event in England after rocketing to fame with a fifth-place finish in this year’s British Open at Royal Troon. Is “Beef” tiring of all the attention? Hardly. “It’s wicked,” he said. “I always look forward to it…It’s so nice because every hole you want to make that putt, hit it in close and get the crowd going.”
Unfortunately, he faded over the weekend and finished T-28 after being top five following the second round.
—Doug Garwood, 53 and in his 44th Champions Tour event, picked up his first title today in Cary, N.C., at the SAS Championship. Now it’s on to the three tournament Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs, beginning next weekend in California.
—Se Ri Pak retired. The South Korean was one of the greatest in LPGA Tour history, picking up 25 victories while becoming the first South Korean to be inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame.
She had a huge influence on her fellow countrywomen, so get this. There are 34 South Korean players competing full time on the LPGA Tour this season, and 27 of them have at least one win! That’s remarkable…but it’s also part of a problem for the casual golf fan. It’s hard to remember who is who.
–I love this one…from ESPN.com:
“Michigan golfer Nick Carlson was the delayed recipient of a special memento last week – a letter from legendary golfer Arnold Palmer.
“Carlson said he was amazed to receive the three-paragraph note congratulating him for being a semifinalist in the U.S. Amateur in August at Oakland Hills Country Club.
“ ‘Utter shock, really,’ Carlson told The Detroit News on Thursday. ‘Like, I never expected it. It’s just something really cool and almost a priceless moment, in my opinion.’ Palmer sent the letter Sept. 8, a few weeks before he died Sept. 25. Carlson received it Oct. 7.
“ ‘Keep up the good playing,’ Palmer wrote. ‘I wish you the very best in whatever pursuit you choose to follow in the future.’”
The sophomore said he hadn’t been back to the golf course where he works to get the note until now. Yes, it’s framed.
Carlson did not know nor had he met Palmer, but Carlson, 20, had made an unlikely run to reach the U.S. Amateur semis.
NASCAR
Kevin Harvick won today at Kansas Speedway to clinch a spot in the round of eight in the Chase for the Sprint Cup. The field gets cut next weekend from 12 to 8 at Talladega, and race fans know anything can happen there.
Premier League
Play resumed this week after a break for international play and in a terrific contest, Manchester City could manage only a 1-1 draw at home against Everton, as Everton keeper Maarten Stekelenburg made saves on two penalties, one by Kevin De Bruyne, the other by Sergio Aguero (both huge stars), and Stekelenburg had other truly spectacular saves…as in it was as good a performance as I can recall.
In other contests…Chelsea shutout struggling Leicester City, 3-0; my Tottenham Spurs managed only a 1-1 draw at West Brom, but they remain unbeaten; and Arsenal beat Swansea 3-2, American manager Bob Bradley’s debut for Swansea and his club played alright.
Monday we have a biggie…Manchester United at Liverpool.
Standings
1. Man City 8 games…19 points [ties settled by goal differential]
2. Arsenal 8…19
3. Tottenham 8…18…only team without a defeat [5 (W) 3 (D) 0 (L)]
4. Liverpool 7…16
5. Chelsea 8…16
6. Everton 8…15
7. Man U 7…13
–In other news, Chelsea Football Club signed a mammoth apparel/shoe deal (what the Brits call a ‘kit’ sponsorship) with Nike worth about $1.1 billion…$70m+ a year for 15 years at current exchange rates.
According to Spanish media reports, FC Barcelona signed a 10-year extension to its deal with Nike that was to terminate in 2018 for about $150m a year!
Stuff
—J.R. Smith signed a four-year, $57 million contract to stay in Cleveland, $45 million guaranteed over the next three seasons, with the fourth year not fully guaranteed, at which point he would be 34. LeBron James had been pushing for the Cavs to get a deal done with Smith
—7 Wake Forest defeated 4 Louisville 2-1 in Winston-Salem on Saturday night in men’s soccer, so the Deacs should move up another notch or two, especially with 2 Notre Dame losing to Virginia and 3 Clemson tying Boston College on Friday.
–I normally wouldn’t care about the Shanghai Masters tennis tournament, but boy, it sure looks like Novak Djokovic had a total meltdown as he was upset in the semis by Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut 6-4, 6-4. Djokovic smashed a racket, tore his shirt, and blasted the chair umpire, Carlos Bernardes, over line calls and a time violation he received for changing his ripped shirt.
Afterwards, Djokovic said, “[Bernardes} was the star of the show. That’s what he wanted to be today.”
But earlier in this tournament, Nick Kyrgios was booed “during a listless 6-3, 6-1 loss to Mischa Zverev,” as described by the AP, “then angrily defended his behavior by saying he didn’t owe the spectators anything and fans could ‘just leave’ if they didn’t like his attitude.”
I wrote of the Australian earlier this year. He has immense talent, but frankly tanks some matches, as was the case this week. At one point, “Kyrgios tapped a soft serve over the net and started walking toward his chair before Zverez had even returned the ball. He floated other first serves in at 67 mph and smacked second-serve faults at 130 mph.”
The chair umpire at one point admonished the jerk.
“This is a professional tournament, you have to act like a professional,” said Ali Nili.
Andy Murray ended up winning the tournament over Bautista Agut; Murray announcing he is taking aim at No. 1 Djokovic, hoping to surpass him sometime early next year.
–We note the passing of boxer Aaron Pryor, 60. The cause was complications from heart disease, according to his wife. He was a well-known figure in the fight game when he defeated Antonio Cervantes of Colombia to win the world welterweight championship in 1980, when he was only 24.
Two years later, he survived a punishing 14 rounds in a memorable (and controversial) victory over Alexis Arguello of Nicaragua. The controversy was over whether a liquid administered by his cornerman had contained an illegal drug.
Ring magazine called this first Pryor-Arguello contest the “Fight of the Decade” and later the eighth-greatest title fight ever.
But Pryor then descended into a world of cocaine addiction and he was stripped of his title in 1985 for failing to defend it. He ended his career in 1991 with a professional record of 39 wins – including 35 knockouts – and one loss. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1996.
This past April I wrote this about the one time I actually saw the great Aaron Pryor.
“Indulge me on this. I think I’ve told it twice in 17 years. But in writing the above I was reminded of a time in the mid-1980s when I drove one Saturday morning to the Larry Holmes Commodore Inn in Phillipsburg, N.J. for a baseball card show. So I park my car at this motel, with the car facing a room. I get out, the door to the room opens up and there is this guy in boxing shorts, yawning and welcoming the day.
“It was World Junior Welterweight champ Aaron Pryor! ‘Good morning, Mr. Pryor,’ I said. [He was big then and easily recognizable for any sports fan.]”
RIP, Mr. Pryor. You were one helluva boxer.
–Sports Illustrated’s “Sign of the Apocalypse”: “Ecuador striker Enner Valencia allegedly faked an injury during a World Cup qualifier so he could use an ambulance to escape police waiting to arrest him for unpaid child support.”
—Animal Chat: The current issue of TIME has the following:
“Under the influence: A flock of starlings recently made headlines by mysteriously flying into trucks and cars on an Austrian motorway, causing miles-long traffic jams. Turns out it was because they were drunk – specifically, on fermented berries.”
And this from Justin Zaremba / Star-Ledger:
“Blaze, a search and rescue dog with the Sussex County Sheriff’s Office, died in his sleep last week.
“Sheriff Michael Strada announced the dog’s passing in a Facebook post on Wednesday saying his death was sudden but peaceful.
“ ‘Throughout his eight-year career with the Sussex County Sheriff’s Office, K-9 Blaze responded to and assisted in the location of over 40 missing juveniles, adults, and seniors, throughout Sussex County and the surrounding area.’”
Blaze had earlier been a Seeing Eye Dog. A life well-lived.
And this…from the BBC:
“The first elephant sanctuary in Latin America has opened in Brazil to provide a home for an estimated 50 circus animals from across the region.”
Two elephants, both over 40 years old, were the first residents. I saw all the pictures. It’s very cool where they will be living….forested areas with pastures. Personally, I just need pastures, being kind of tired of trees because they can take down power lines.
It’s a U.S.-based group that bought the land to give the elephants a refuge. More and more zoos in Latin America have been closing, plus laws are now prohibiting the use of animals in circuses.
But this…from the Moscow Times:
“Emergency workers in the Russian city of Khabarovsk rescued a dog that had been trapped between two buildings for more than three years. When it was still a puppy, the dog was immured in the gap between a high-rise apartment building and a small grocery store, the Vesti-Khabarovsk television network reported. Realizing that the dog wouldn’t be able to escape, the building’s residents fed the animal and kept it alive. Locals made multiple appeals to city officials, trying to save the dog, but there was no response for three years.
“For those three years it was trapped between the buildings, the dog only had space to poke its head through a small gap. When they finally responded, rescuers merely had to widen the gap slightly by chipping away at some of the bricks. With a hole large enough, a local animal right activist then crawled between the walls and pulled out the dog.
“According to a report, a family has already volunteered to adopt the animal.”
Now I saw a picture of the dog and the space it was wedged in, and it’s amazing on so many levels that, 1) the dog had the will to live, 2) that locals didn’t just say ‘screw the officials, we’re chipping at the bricks ourselves,’ and 3) that it took officials three years just to do the right thing!
And I’m supposed to elevate ‘Man’ from his 330 spot on the All-Species List?! I think not.
One more….
That must have been some scene outside a London Zoo the other day when a gorilla escaped. The Regent’s Park Zoo, in a crowded London suburb, houses at least seven gorillas in its popular Gorilla Kingdom attraction.
Somehow the gorilla escaped, armed police arrived quickly, and eventually they found him and the gorilla was subdued by a tranquilizer gun and recaptured.
–From the Star-Ledger:
“The owner of a North Jersey Hooters that suddenly closed amid a slew of health violations is being sued by Hooters of America.”
Noooo!!!!
Actually, the violations were really gross. The girls, however, were fine.
–This would have been cool. Paul McCartney and his band played a show at an “oddball desert roadhouse,” Pappy and Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace near Joshua Tree, Calif., the other night. It was announced on short notice (like early that day on his web site) and all tickets were $50, cash only.
Top 3 songs for the week 10/19/68: #1 “Hey Jude” (The Beatles) #2 “Fire” (The Crazy World of Arthur Brown) #3 “Little Green Apples” (O.C. Smith…timeless…)…and…#4 “Harper Valley P.T.A.” (Jeannie C. Riley) #5 “Girl Watcher” (The O’Kaysions) #6 “Midnight Confessions” (The Grass Roots) #7 “My Special Angel” (The Vogues) #8 “I’ve Gotta Get A Message To You” (The Bee Gees) #9 “Over You” (Gary Puckett and The Union Gap…great tune…) #10 “Say It Loud – I’m Black And I’m Proud” (James Brown)
MLB / Postseason Quiz Answers: 1) 100 games: Derek Jeter, 158; Jorge Posada, 125; Bernie Williams, 121; David Justice, 112; Manny Ramirez, 111. 2) 20 home runs: Manny Ramirez, 29; Bernie Williams, 22; Derek Jeter, 20.
Ramirez hit .285 in his postseason career, with 29 home runs and 78 RBIs in 410 at-bats.
Williams was .275, 22-80 in 465 ABs.
Jeter was .308, 20-61, 650 ABs.
Williams and Ramirez are 1-2 in RBI.
Next Bar Chat, Thursday.
***All-Species List is launched, but this is very much a work in progress. I’ll have more next BC explaining just what I’m doing and how I hope it evolves. Remember, no one else in the world has it. I was the first to come up with the ASL.
Click on the home page, or at the top of this column. I’ll be asking you to help me spread the word shortly.
