[Posted Sunday p.m.]
New England Patriots Quiz: The Pats (Tom Brady and Bill Belichick) won their first Super Bowl in 2001, 20-17 against Kurt Warner and the St. Louis Rams. 1) Name the key running back on the Pats’ team that year. 2) Name the only two receivers to have 50+ receptions. Answers below.
Australian Open
What an opening Grand Slam event of 2017 for the sport of tennis. You just hope it carries through the rest of the year, though it’s going to be tough to do when three of the four finalists were 35-, 36-years old.
In the women’s final, Serena Williams won her record 23rd Grand Slam singles title with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over sister Venus.
With her record seventh Australian title, the 35-year-old Serena moved ahead of Steffi Graf for the most titles in the Open era. [Margaret Court won 24 majors, but 13 were before the Open era.]
It was also Serena’s seventh win in nine all-Williams Grand Slam finals, and the first since Wimbledon in 2009. It was 36-year-old, No. 13-seeded Venus Williams’ first trip back to a major final in 7 ½ years.
Some of us used to yawn when these two would square off against each other because the matches almost seemed like they were fixed, or Serena was just too overpowering. But even though this one was hardly a classic (I only saw bits of it on tape so relying on reports), with “uncharacteristic mistakes and unforced errors,” it hardly mattered. Just amazing that Venus in particular was able to turn back the clock like she did.
This was the oldest Grand Slam women’s final in the Open era with the Williams sisters combining for 71 years, 11 months.
Back on July 5, 2008, Venus Williams beat Serena for the Wimbledon women’s title, and the next day, Rafael Nadal upended Roger Federer for his first Wimbledon championship in what John McEnroe called “the greatest match I have ever seen.”
So kind of funny that nine years later, Federer and Nadal would square off again, Roger 35, Nadal 30; thus the first time in the Open Era that all four finalists at a slam were 30+.
And in a thriller, Sunday, Federer won his 18th major title, 6-5, 3-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3. It was Federer’s fifth Australian Open title, first since 2010. He was the oldest man to reach a Grand Slam men’s final since Ken Rosewall did so at the 1974 U.S. Open at the age of 39.
Greg Garber / ESPN
“In what might have been the most important tennis match in history, Roger Federer made an emphatic case for the title of greatest male player ever. Federer won a thrilling and bruising Australian Open final Sunday night….
“On Federer’s second match point, he finished it with a forehand winner on the line that was challenged by Nadal and – after an awkward but thrilling pause – upheld by replay.
“After missing six months of tennis from July to January, the 35-year-old Federer, who hadn’t won a Grand Slam singles title since Wimbledon in 2012, improbably ran his major total to 18, four ahead of Nadal. Suddenly, the odds of Nadal catching Federer have diminished greatly.
“ ‘Against Rafa it’s always epic,’ Federer said in a television interview. ‘This one means a lot to me because he’s caused me problems over the years.’” [Nadal had led the series between the two in Grand Slam finals, 6-2, including the last four.]
Federer accepted the silver trophy from Aussie great Rod Laver.
“When it was over, Nadal looked stricken.
“ ‘First of all, I can say congrats to Roger and all his team,’ Nadal said in his on-court interview. ‘Just amazing the way he’s playing after such a long time without being on the tour.’”
Federer is the fourth-oldest Grand Slam winner ever; Ken Rosewall won majors at the ages of 35, 36 and 37. He now has five Australian Opens, one French Open, seven Wimbledons, and five U.S. Opens.
How big was this one? Organizers opened the show court, Margaret Court Arena, to show the match on video screens and nearly 25,000 attended the session.
Federer and Nadal with their injury issues (Nadal and his balky wrist, Federer and his knee) were total afterthoughts entering the tournament. Federer a 17-seed, Nadal a 9. But the stage was set when No. 1 Andy Murray and No. 2 Novak Djokovic crashed out early.
Yes, between the Williams sisters and the men’s final, and the ages of all four participants, this was the greatest Grand Slam of all time. [That’s me.]
Grand Slam titles….
Roger Federer…18
Rafael Nadal…14
Pete Sampras…14
Novak Djokovic…12
College Basketball
—After last week’s Upset Tuesday, where Nos. 1, 2 and 4 all went down, 2 and 4, Kansas and Kentucky, met in Lexington and Kansas prevailed, 79-73, behind Frank Mason III’s 21 and Josh Jackson’s 20 points. Kansas is now 19-2 and should remain No. 2 in the next poll, while Kentucky falls to 17-4.
No. 6 Florida State (18-4, 6-3) is stumbling, losing its second straight, this time at Syracuse, 82-72, with the Orange now 13-9, 4-4.
No. 9 North Carolina was routed in Miami (14-6, 4-4), 77-62, as Hurricanes freshman guard Bruce Brown had 30 points. The Tar Heels fall to 19-4, 7-2.
No. 10 Oregon fell to Colorado (12-10, 2-7) in Boulder, 74-65, with the Ducks now 19-3, 8-1.
No. 11 Butler (18-4, 7-3) lost at home to Georgetown, 85-81, the Hoyas 12-10, 3-6.
Georgia Tech, which earlier in the week beat Florida State, 78-56, upset No. 14 Notre Dame (17-5, 6-3) on Saturday, the Yellow Jackets improving to 13-8, 5-4, and suddenly putting themselves in the NCAA tournament conversation.
[In the FSU game, Georgia Tech held the Seminoles to just 20 of 71 from the field, 28%.]
Meanwhile, No. 3 Gonzaga remained on track to be the new No. 1 after a 96-49 annihilation of Pepperdine (6-16, 2-8). The Bulldogs are now 22-0, 10-0.
Then we have Wake Forest…and Duke.
After Duke had gone 2-3 in coach Mike Krzyzewski’s absence as he mends from back surgery, Coach K, disgusted with his team’s play, held a meeting at his house Tuesday night in which he informed players that they were temporarily kicked out of the locker room and also forbidden from wearing Blue Devils apparel, sources told ESPN.
One source said: “He needs to do more than just take away their jerseys. There are bigger issues that need to be addressed.”
Well, it remains to be seen if with Saturday’s win at Wake Forest, 85-83, the Blue Devils (16-5, 4-4) are back on track, as Krzyzewski’s return appears imminent. But for Wake (12-9, 3-6) it was just another crushing defeat, once again blowing a late lead, this time 10 points with less than four minutes to play.
The Deacs can’t close. Emblematic of their issues was Bryant Crawford’s career-high 26 points, 15 of 15 from the free throw line, but only 5 of 15 from the field, missing four layups.
[Wake has given up an average of 48 points in the second half of ACC games, after yielding an average 35 in the first half. Wake led Duke 42-32 at the half, then gave up 53 in the second.]
For Duke, I do have to note the spectacular effort of Luke Kennard, 34 points on 11 of 14 shooting from the field, 6 of 6 from downtown, with 30 of the 34 coming in the second half!!! This guy is a stud. Grayson Allen chipped in with 19.
And there’s my “Pick to Click” San Diego State Aztecs. Good lord, they suck! 11-9, 3-5 in Mountain West play after a 78-77 loss at home to Colorado State (14-8, 6-3). But the MW is such a lousy conference, SDSU could still win the conference tournament and get a spot in the Big Dance. At least Malik Pope had a good game, 19 points and 7 rebounds in 22 minutes. This guy is one of the most frustrating, potentially great, players in the sport.
—On Sunday, we had a terrific game…12 Virginia at 1 Villanova. I watched this entire affair as UVA was up 31-22 at the half, holding the Wildcats to just 4 of 22 shooting from the field. Eegads, I mused.
But in the second half, ‘Nova turned it up a few notches and had a Villanova-Georgetownesque 13 of 18 second half as it eked out a 61-59 win at the buzzer on a tip-in by Donte DiVincenzo that was totally awesome. Just a great play, as the kid popped it off his palm, knowing the red light was about to go off. This could easily be a regional final match-up come March.
Virginia fell to 16-4, while Villanova is 20-2, having lost earlier in the week at Marquette.
[Virginia is one of those teams that is capable of a Final Four, or a first round victim in a #4-#13 upset.]
Also Sunday, 13 Louisville is going to be a big beneficiary of all the top ten upsets when the next AP poll is released. After defeating Pitt 106-51, it whipped N.C. State (14-8, 3-6) today, 85-60, as Donovan Mitchell followed up his 29-point Pitt effort with 28 against State. He is now 12 of 18 from three his last two. The Cardinals are 18-4, 6-3, and dangerous as ever come March.
And No. 7 Arizona (20-2, 9-0) defeated Washington (9-12, 2-7) 77-66.
–We note the passing of former North Carolina State star Charles Shackleford, 50. The cause of death was under investigation but his body was found in Kinston, N.C.
Shackleford left N.C. State after his junior season, having averaged 16.6 points and an ACC-best 9.6 rebounds, earning first-team all-conference honors.
But Shackleford had a lot to do with coach Jim Valvano’s departure from the school. In a book released less than a year after his departure, he was accused of numerous academic and legal improprieties, including point-shaving. Valvano was let go in April 1990, with a grand jury declining to bring charges against Shackleford on the point-shaving claims, citing a lack of evidence.
The New Jersey Nets drafted him in the second round of the 1988 draft and he was in and out of the NBA from 1988-99, playing in Europe along the way. He was a bit player.
After his playing days were over, Shackleford had numerous run-ins with the law, including a 2006 arrest on drug and weapons charges in North Carolina, and in 2010 he was charged with providing false information to police in Myrtle Beach, S.C., after he was involved in a fender bender while driving a car belonging to former NBA teammate Jayson Williams. (Shackleford originally told police he was Williams.)
And he was arrested again after this and, basically, this guy was less than exemplary.
But, he did leave us with this. Once, Shackleford was asked about his versatility.
“Left hand, right hand, it doesn’t matter. I’m amphibious,” he said.
NBA
–I have a story down below on 59s in golf, and now you can talk about 50-point triple-doubles in almost the same vein. Friday, Houston’s James Harden had 50 points, 13 rebounds and 13 assists in a 123-118 victory over Philadelphia, Harden thus becoming the first in NBA history to have two, 50-point triple-doubles in a season, the other a 53-16-17 effort on New Year’s Eve.
Coupled with Russell Westbrook’s 50-point triple-double this campaign, that’s three in one year when there had previously been just six in the NBA’s first 70 seasons!
–The Knicks continue to scramble to try and find a team that will take Carmelo Anthony and his big contract off their hands. A proposed deal to Cleveland for Kevin Love was a no-go for the Cavs. Now the Knicks have been involved in talks with the Clippers, but a third team is needed, it would seem, to close the deal…and swap some contracts.
Anthony has generally played well this year, but the Knicks are going nowhere and the 32-year-old is still owed $54 million the next two seasons. The biggest problem is he has a no-trade clause.
But real Knicks fans know Melo isn’t the problem the past few years. It’s Phil Jackson. As an anonymous NBA coach told the New York Daily News’ Mike Lupica the other day: “I know how much Phil won as a coach. Everybody in our game knows. But that was then. All he’s doing now is taking a rich man’s money.”
For those of you not from the New York area, trust me. Jackson is a total a-hole. In fact I just put his name in my December file, for early consideration for same in our yearend honors.
I do have to add, though, that I was furiously flipping back and forth between golf and Knicks-Hawks on Sunday, New York losing in four overtimes, 142-139. Melo hit like three clutch shots down the stretch and in the first few OTs before he fouled out with 45 points.
–I follow the Miami Heat some because of former Demon Deacon James Johnson’s presence on the squad and they have suddenly won seven in a row, due in no small part to the super play off the bench of Johnson, who is having his best year in the league.
–Can’t help but note the Warriors’ 144-98 win over the Clippers on Saturday. Good lord. That’s Globetrotters vs. Washington Generals type action. Steph Curry went off for 43.
[Years ago I went to see the Globetrotters for the first and only time at the Meadowlands and made sure I had a front row seat…but then prayed I wasn’t pulled out for a stunt. My buddy and I weren’t.]
–We have us an “Idiot of the Year” candidate…Oklahoma City thunder center Enes Kanter, who is out six-eight weeks after he broke his right forearm punching a chair during a 19-98 victory over Dallas the other night.
—Russell Westbrook was selected as a reserve for the NBA All-Star Game, which means he’ll be a teammate again with Kevin Durant, after Westbrook said this month that the two were no longer speaking.
Other West reserves include Sacramento’s DeMarcus Cousins, Marc Gasol of Memphis, the Warriors’ Draymond Green and Klay Thompson, Gordon Hayward of Utah and DeAndre Jordan of the Clippers.
For the East, the reserves are Indiana’s Paul George, Cleveland’s Kevin Love, Toronto’s Kyle Lowry, Atlanta’s Paul Millsap, Boston’s Isaiah Thomas, Washington’s John Wall and Charlotte’s Kemba Walker.
I doubt I’ll watch a second of this one. Just as for the 45th year in a row I didn’t watch a second of the NFL’s Pro Bowl, nor did I catch any of the NHL’s affair this weekend.
Yup, baseball’s All-Star Game is the only one for me, and I could easily miss that one too.
—The immigration ban imposed by President Trump impacts two players in particular, 19-year-old Bucks rookie Thon Maker and Lakers forward Luol Deng, who were both born in what has now become the country of South Sudan.
Maker, who has an Australian passport, made it back to America without issue on Saturday from Toronto.
Deng’s Lakers are not scheduled to face the NBA’s only Canadian franchise on the road the rest of the season.
Athletes around the world, though, have taken to social media to bash the move.
Golf Balls
–Add another to the burgeoning list of 20-something potential superstars…22-year-old Jon Rahm of Spain, via Arizona State, won the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines by three strokes ahead of Charles Howell III and C.T. Pan of Taiwan. [Pan is my new favorite for political reasons; your editor wanting Taiwan to excel in all fashions over its bastard neighbors across the Strait.]
Rahm’s coach at Arizona State was Tim Mickelson, Phil’s brother, and now he’s Rahm’s agent. I loved the comments early in the round of CBS analyst Gary McCord, who has played a lot with Rahm. McCord called Rahm’s win early. He also said he, McCord, gets five shots a side in their matches. [McCord being a 3-handicap, Rahm a +7.]
By the way, early in Sunday’s broadcast, Jim Nantz and Nick Faldo commented on a friend of theirs, out paddle-boarding in the ocean, and there were some rather hefty mammals breaching the water behind the guy. I knew right away those were killer whales…but Nantz and Faldo didn’t pick up on it. They weren’t dolphins, boys and girls.
Recall, the other day I noted that killer whales have been spotted off Southern California waters recently, a rarity so close to shore.
As for Nantz, I’m still hoping he does my eulogy, with the appropriate music and skyward shot.
“This week, friends, we lost The Editor…a longtime viewer of CBS Sports, consumer of Coors Light, creator of Bar Chat and the All-Species List, Mets and Jets fan and a friend to the entire CBS family….”
I will be editing this for Mr. Nantz over the coming weeks and, hopefully, years.
—Tiger Woods shot 76-72 and failed to make the cut, but he had some moments and there were no physical issues. Woods said after the second round, “It’s frustrating not being able to have a chance to win the tournament. I didn’t make the cut.
“You know, overall today was a lot better than yesterday. I hit it better. I putted well again. I hit a lot of beautiful putts that didn’t go in, but I hit it much better today, which was nice.”
But then there is the course management aspect.
“You saw it at Hero (World Challenge), I made so many dumb mistakes out there. I made plenty of birdies there, but a lot of dumb mistakes.
“Playing tournament golf is a little bit different from playing with your buddies at home in a cart.
“I need to get more rounds under my belt and more playing time and that’s what I’m trying to do,” he said.
Separately, Tiger signed a new equipment contract with TaylorMade, this after Tiger signed with Bridgestone to play its balls. Woods will play with a TaylorMade driver, fairway woods, irons and wedges. The deal does not include apparel, as Woods will continue to wear the Nike swoosh and his own TW logo.
–Here’s a fun story. Greg Eason was playing in the second round at the Web.com Tour’s Bahamas Great Abaco Classic and shot a 68. What was good about this? He snapped a streak of three consecutive rounds in the 90s! [Eason shot 91-95 two weeks ago at the Bahamas Great Exuma Classic.]
Eason went bogey-free in Round 2, a far cry from his 90, which included a 15! on his final hole, the par-5 18th.
–In a recent piece for Golf World, Jaime Diaz was musing about the now nine sub-60 rounds in tour history, Adam Hadwin and Justin Thomas firing two of them this year. It’s actually six of the nine since 2010, three in six months, including Jim Furyk’s record 58 last August at the Travelers Championship.
“So the question arises: Is professional golf, what many pro athletes consider the most difficult sport, getting too easy?
“The answer lies in balance. In any sport, there is danger when the exceptional starts becoming too commonplace. Baseball faced this with too many home runs, tennis with too many aces. Tennis rulers slowed down the ball. Baseball did the same and moved back some fences, as well as began to enforce prohibitions on PEDs.”
But then you have the NFL, which fashioned its rules to encourage more passing.
“In golf,” Diaz writes, “power is crowd-pleasing, but for the game to be truly compelling, it still must be accompanied by a pro’s mesmerizing quality: skill. Ironically, when birdies are too plentiful, it can work against the most skilled player asserting his advantage. That’s mainly why Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods avoided tournaments considered ‘birdie fests.’”
Also the courses the golfers play on these days are in incredible condition, with impeccable putting surfaces. And we all know about the equipment and the ball.
That said we’re still just talking six 59s since 2010. I was thinking maybe 59 will become as commonplace as the no-hitter in baseball.
Diaz knows what the solution is if we begin talking like three or four 59s a year. It’s easy to simply set up the tournament courses harder. For now, though, just enjoy them.
–Martin Kaufmann / Golfweek
Will FedEx renew its Tour playoff sponsorship?
“Yes, almost certainly. There’s a lot not to like about the FedEx Cup, which has stumbled through several iterations (cuts, no cuts, resets, the tedious weekly updates, a points system a Ph.D. couldn’t fathom). All those issues have, at times, made one wonder why a great American company would associate its brand with this glorified cash grab. And FedEx hasn’t helped matters with a dismal marketing campaign around the sponsorship.
“Still, the costly sponsorship gives FedEx ownership over a major sports league, with an affluent viewer demographic, for the entire season. For $35 million annually, give or take a million, that’s a pretty valuable commodity. Which is why new commish Jay Monahan should be able to claim credit for bringing FedEx back into the fold with a new contract starting in 2018.
“Now, can we talk about those dreadful in-game promotions?”
College Football
–This is encouraging…San Diego’s Bowl Game Association is opting to shelve the Poinsettia Bowl to focus on its other postseason game, the Holiday Bowl.
Average attendance for the Pointsettia Bowl through the years was 32,264, although the game’s four smallest crowds were in the past six years. It is one of six postseason games the Mountain West conference has been a part of creating during its 18-year history.
There were 28 bowl games when the Pointsettia debuted in 2005. This year there were 41.
It’s not just securing tickets, it’s the fight for sponsors, and San Diego has been doing two games within a week.
Is this the start of a trend to cut back? Some of us hope so.
–A federal lawsuit filed Friday alleged that at least 31 football players at Baylor University were involved in at least 52 “acts of rape” over four year – including five gang rapes, two of which involved 10 or more players.
The lawsuit was filed by a Virginia woman who alleges she was gang-raped by two Baylor players in 2013.
An investigation by the school resulted in the school’s president, athletic director and head football coach all losing their jobs after the inquiry found that the athletic department discouraged victims from reporting assaults, while attempting to keep accusations against Bears players quiet.
This issue has been in the news for a long time, and some of us are always reminded of the Duke and Virginia situations where athletes and students were falsely accused…as in the stories were totally fabricated.
But undoubtedly in the case of Baylor, much of what has been reported over the years did indeed take place.
What I don’t understand is why former Temple head coach Matt Ruhle recently took the vacant job at Waco. Baylor could easily be headed to the death penalty, with the program suspended for a good period of time. At best, it will be under severe sanctions for years.
–The rich get richer…following is from Josh Barnett, USA TODAY Sports, on Alabama’s potential recruiting class, with national signing day coming up, Feb. 1.
“Alabama will win another national recruiting title. The only question is whether the Crimson Tide might have assembled the best recruiting class ever.
“Alabama has 25 commitments, including five, five-star recruits who are early enrollees and 16 four-stars. The group includes running back Najee Harris from Antioch (Calif.), who is ranked No. 1 overall by Rivals.com and Scout.com; No. 1 linebacker Dylan Moses from IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.); No. 1 offensive tackle Alex Leatherwood from Booker T. Washington (Pensacola, Fla.); and No. 1 dual-threat quarterback Tua Tagovailoa from St. Louis (Honolulu). It also features the top-ranked junior college linemen – offensive tackle Elliot Baker and defensive tackle Isaiah Buggs.”
It actually goes on and on…with ‘Bama still likely to land the top-ranked player in Alabama, LaBryan Ray, a linebacker, and the third-ranked receiver in the state, Henry Ruggs. [Yes, Ruggs and Buggs.]
Ergo, looks like we’ll continue to see the Tide in the next few playoffs.
Stuff
–In the $12 million Pegasus World Cup, we knew operating from the 12 post position was going to be a tough go for California Chrome, as it was a short trip into the first turn with this being only a 1 1/8-mile race at Gulfstream Park. Arrogate was breaking off the 1 position.
Since 2006, horses breaking from the No. 12 post in 1 1/8-mile races at Gulfstream were 1 for 18 from post Nos. 10 through 12. Make that 1 for 19.
Melissa Hoppert / New York Times
“In the end, it was Arrogate who turned in the kind of performance that California Chrome had become known for during his storybook career.
“Arrogate…won by four and three-quarters lengths to earn a $7 million first-place check and deny his rival, the retiring California Chrome, in his bid to go out on top as the highest-earning thoroughbred in history.
“With the Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith aboard, Arrogate broke from the rail and quickly settled in while California Chrome broke from the outside post and immediately had to head inside to make up ground. Soon they were neck and neck, stalking the leaders and the showdown that everyone had been expecting appeared to be on as they came around the far turn.”
But it wasn’t to be. Arrogate pulled away and Chrome was eased in the stretch by longtime jockey, Victor Espinoza, and finished ninth. Chrome nonetheless ended his remarkable career as the highest-earning thoroughbred in North American history, with $14,752,650 in winnings.
Arrogate’s trainer, Bob Baffert, was elated but he had hoped to see a duel with Chrome.
Chrome’s 80-year-old trainer, Art Sherman, was at a loss. “This is the first bad race he’s ever run for us,” he said.
Espinoza said, “There wasn’t enough gas in there. He was empty.”
I didn’t realize that the $12 million purse was solely made up of owners shelling out $1 million for a spot at the starting gate.
Meanwhile, as Chrome heads to the breeding shed, at a reported $40,000 a pop, Arrogate is preparing for his 4-year-old campaign, with the 2017 Breeders’ Cup Classic as his main target, so that’s good news. This is now hands down the best horse in the world, after its stunning performance in the Travers Stakes, its thrilling stretch run victory over California Chrome in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, and now this.
[There was a report Chrome may have a knee issue and X-rays were going to be taken.]
–It was kind of a shock the other day to see the headline that Usain Bolt would have to give up one of his nine Olympic gold medals after Jamaican teammate Nesta Carter tested positive for a banned substance, Carter being part of the Jamaican 4X100m team in Beijing in 2008.
Carter was one of 454 selected doping samples retested by the International Olympic Committee last year, and it was found to contain the banned stimulant methylhexaneamine.
Carter, 31, was also part of the squad that won the event in London five years ago.
Trinidad & Tobago have now been awarded the 2008 relay gold, with Japan upgraded to silver and Brazil given bronze.
Christine Brennan / USA TODAY Sports
“The focus of the latest Olympic doping scandal is on Usain Bolt. Of course it is. He’s the rock star in the story, the first sprinter in history to win three gold medals at three consecutive Olympic Games, only to learn after the fact that he has done it only twice.
“Because his Jamaican relay teammate, Nesta Carter, was found to have cheated…
“Because Bolt is so famous, the sports world’s knee-jerk reaction probably is to feel a little sorry for him. He wasn’t caught cheating. His teammate was. Yet he loses one of his Olympic gold medals anyway. Those are the rules; if one teammate cheats, he or she takes the whole relay down with them.
“You can feel a touch of sympathy for Bolt if you’d like, but I won’t. Rather, I’d like to know if Bolt knew Carter was cheating.
“Performance-enhancing drugs have ravaged our faith and trust in Olympic sports for more than 40 years now. While that assuredly bothers spectators, organizers and sponsors, it really irks the athletes who are competing clean and must go up against those who are not.
“Those clean athletes know. They know who’s cheating. Sometimes the suspicions become so obvious that they can’t help themselves from talking about it in public. Those athletes, people like swimmers Shirley Babashoff, Janet Evans and Lilly King, are the true heroes of sports’ Steroids Era.
“So, if Bolt knew Carter was doping, why didn’t he speak up?”
–We did it! An American male won a race in a World Cup ski event this season! Travis Ganong won the men’s downhill Friday in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, after his American teammate Steven Nyman and the French skier Valentin Giraud Moine were airlifted to hospitals with serious injuries on the dangerous course.
Giraud Moine dislocated both knees in a crash (yikes), while Nyman sustained a serious knee injury.
Ganong’s win was his second. [Hannes Reichelt of Austria won a downhill at Garmisch the next day as they made up for an earlier cancellation in the season.]
But Lindsey Vonn fell and hit the safety net during her World Cup downhill race at Cortina, Italy, this weekend, though she walked away, thankfully, without injury. “I’m too old to be hitting the fence that hard,” said the 32-year-old. Lara Gut won her first downhill of the season.
Gut now trails Mikael Shiffrin for the overall World Cup title by just 80 points, 1103 to 1023.
—Evgenia Medvedeva, a Russian teenager, won gold at the European figure skating championships in Ostrava, Czech Republic. I’m part Czech and never heard of Ostrava. Have you, Bro?
Medvedeva, 17, is the 2016 World Champion and now two-time European champ. [I’m doing my bit for NBC to promote the 2018 Games for the network.]
–The NHL is still against having its top players participate in the Pyeongchang Olympics next year because it doesn’t want to shut down the league, which would be like for three weeks (including travel and an exhibition game or two prior). The decision will be made late in the spring. This is a tough one. The Olympic hockey tournament is terrific, and everyone wants to play for their country, but that would be a huge break in the NHL’s season.
–This was a weekend for FA Cup play so no Premier League matches. The season resumes on Tuesday.
But in the FA Cup, Liverpool’s rough stretch continued as it was defeated, 2-1, by second-tier Wolverhampton. This is after Liverpool lost in the Premier League last weekend to lowly Swansea. Plus its League Cup run ended in a semifinal loss to Southampton.
–Former San Diego All-Star pitcher Randy Jones is battling throat cancer. Jones turned 67 this month and was diagnosed in November. He told the San Diego Union-Tribune’s Dennis Lin he’s “feeling really good. They caught it early, and it hasn’t spread.”
Physicians linked the cancer directly to tobacco use, Jones said. Jones used chewing tobacco as a player and has smoked cigars throughout his adult life. Another Padres great, the late Tony Gwynn, believed his salivary gland cancer was related to using tobacco during his playing career.
If you have kids who use it, get them to stop.
—A slew of deaths in Hollywood the past few days.
Actress Mary Tyler Moore died at the age of 80. She was a true cultural and feminist icon with her work on “The Dick Van Dyke Show” and “Mary Tyler Moore” in the 1960s and 70s. She won both Emmys and a Tony Award, plus an Oscar nomination for “Ordinary People,” Robert Redford’s directorial debut in 1980.
Ms. Moore received two Emmy Awards for her role as Laura Petrie, the comely and slightly scatterbrained wife of a TV comedy writer, on “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” which aired on CBS from 1961 to 1966.
Carl Reiner, one of the show’s creative forces, once said of Moore that “she had a ping in her voice that got to me the first time I heard her.”
As Lauren Wiseman wrote in the Washington Post: “The sexual spark she generated with her TV husband was a novel twist on previous TV homemakers, who were generally portrayed in maternal ways, gowned in skirts and pearls.”
“The Dick Van Dyke Show” ended at a peak moment in its popularity, and Ms. Moore did some movies, including “Change of Habit” (1969) with Elvis Presley, and then she reemerged on the small screen with “Mary Tyler Moore,” which aired on CBS from 1970 to 1977.
“Mary Tyler Moore” was one of the first sitcoms to have a single working woman as the lead character.
Lauren Wiseman: “Its appeal was often attributed to its feminist consciousness, with Ms. Moore playing a fictional Minneapolis assistant TV news producer named Mary Richards who navigates a career, friendships and single life.
“The show was lauded for its realistic portrayal of the modern woman – one whose life focused on work, not family, and one in which men were colleagues, not husbands or love interests.”
It certainly was a staple with my family. Just a terrific show, with an awesome cast: Ed Asner, Ted Knight, Gavin MacLeod, Cloris Leachman, and Valier Harper, plus you had legendary writers James L. Brooks and Allan Burns.
But when the series ended in 1977, Mary Richards’ life was unresolved. She did not get married and had no prospects for a husband.
During this time, off screen, Ms. Moore was with her production company, which she had formed in 1969 with then-husband Grant Tinker. ‘MTM’ went on to produce “The Bob Newhart Show,” “WKRP in Cincinnati,” “Remington Steele,” “Hill Street Blues,” “St. Elsewhere” and the three “Mary Tyler Moore” spinoffs.
Moore’s personal life wasn’t an easy one. Her second marriage to Tinker crumbled soon after her only child, from her first marriage, Richard Meeker Jr., accidentally shot and killed himself in 1980. Her younger sister, Elizabeth, had died of a drug overdose in 1978. Grant Tinker died in 2016.
Ms. Moore was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in 1969 and later served as the international chairman of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. She fought the disease heroically.
In 1983, Moore married Robert Levine, a cardiologist, and he was at her bedside in Connecticut when she passed away.
There isn’t a person in America who didn’t love this woman.
Actor John Hurt – best known for his roles in “The Elephant Man,” “Alien” and the “Harry Potter” series – died Friday. He was 77.
He was revealed to have pancreatic cancer in June 2015, and in his very last interview before his death, Hurt contemplated his demise.
“I can’t say I worry about mortality, but it’s impossible to get to my age and not have a little contemplation of it,” Hurt told the UK’s Radio Times in August 2015.
“We’re all just passing time, and occupy our chair very briefly,” he said. “But my treatment is going terrifically well, so I’m optimistic.”
Hurt was twice nominated for an Oscar, with his first nomination in 1978 for Best Supporting Actor as a drug addict in “Midnight Express,” one of the more intense flicks of all time, while his second was for Best Actor in 1981 for “The Elephant Man.”
In Elephant Man, director David Lynch famously had Hurt spend seven to eight hours in the makeup chair – applying pounds and pounds of latex to his face and body daily as he morphed into the role of Joseph Merrick.
Hurt also had a tendency to die on screen in his many roles.
“I think I’ve got the record,” he once said in an British interview. “It got to a point where my children wouldn’t ask me if I died, but rather how do you die?” [BBC News]
Barbara Hale, best known for her Emmy Award-winning role as Perry Mason’s loyal secretary Della Street on the long-running 1950s and ‘60s TV series starring Raymond Burr, has died. She was 94.
“Perry Mason” ran for nine seasons on CBS, from 1957 to 1966. I have to admit I wasn’t a big fan when the reruns were on.
Barbara Hale was a former RKO and Columbia Pictures contract player with a string of movie and TV series behind her when she got the role of Della.
After “Perry Mason,” I remember her as a spokeswoman for the Amana Corp., and she played Dean Martin’s wife in the movie “Airport.”
And one of my favorites from way back, Mike Connors, died at the age of 91. Connors played a hard-hitting private eye on the long-running TV series “Mannix,” another staple of mine from my youth.
Eric Grode / New York Times
“In the series, which had its premiere in 1967, Mr. Connors played the darkly handsome Joe Mannix, a Korean War veteran of (like Mr. Connors) Armenian descent who sleuthed his way around Los Angeles with flashy cars and a penchant for citing Armenian proverbs.
“Unlike many a smooth TV private eye, Mannix took his lumps. The Washington Post, tabulating the wear and tear the character withstood over eight seasons, found that he had endured 17 gunshot wounds and 55 beatings that left him unconscious.
“The violence drew criticism in some quarters, but ‘Mannix’ became the most popular crime series on television in an era punctuated by comedies like ‘All in the Family’ and ‘Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In.’ For several years it shared CBS’ Saturday night lineup with ‘The Mary Tyler Moore Show.’
“ ‘Mannix’ made Mr. Connors one of the highest-paid television actors of the 1970s; by the end of its run he was earning $40,000 an episode (almost $180,000 in today’s dollars). The role brought him four Emmy Award nominations and a Golden Globe Award.
“ ‘Mannix’ was also notable as one of the first regular series to provide a leading role to an African-American: Gail Fisher joined the show in its second season as Mannix’s secretary, frequent damsel in distress and occasional potential love interest. She died at 65 in 2000.”
Connors was born Krekor Ohanian on Aug. 15, 1925, in Fresno, Calif. After serving in the Air Force during World War II, he enrolled at UCLA, where he played basketball on a scholarship, and he was planning to attend law school when the director William A. Wellman saw him on the court and encouraged him to try acting.
Connors was mostly in B-movies, though he had one enduring film: “The Ten Commandments” (1956), before eventually getting his big break.
He is survived by Mary Lou Wells, his wife of 67 years; a daughter and a granddaughter.
I didn’t know that factoid about his marriage. I like the man even more after seeing this. RIP.
–The brutal winter in the western states has been tough on animals. As in this tale from the Associated Press:
“In southern Idaho, about 500 pronghorn antelope tried to cross the frozen Snake River earlier this month at Lake Walcott, but part of the herd spooked and ran onto a slick spot where they slipped and fell. Idaho Fish and Game workers rescued six of the stranded pronghorn, but 10 were killed by coyotes and 20 had to be euthanized because of injuries suffered when they fell down.
“Another 50 pronghorn were found dead in the small western Idaho city of Payette after they nibbled on Japanese yew, a landscaping shrub that’s toxic. Tough winter conditions have forced some wildlife to feed on the plant in urban areas.”
Did you know about this shrub? I sure didn’t.
Officials in Idaho and parts of Oregon have begun emergency feeding of big game animals. Elk have been feeding on haystacks ranchers have left for their cattle and they’ve been congregating in low-elevation areas. Cars have been hitting elk on Interstate 84 in northeastern Oregon, which normally doesn’t happen.
Meanwhile, as noted above, coyotes, and some wolves, are having a field day.
And cougars, threatened by the deep snow, have been finding their way into the community of La Pine, Oregon, where they’ve been preying on pets and chickens. Sadly, five cougars have been shot! Needless to say, conservationists are outraged, as is your editor.
But one beneficiary of the heaviest snow and rain in decades is the salmon, whose numbers have been dropping due to the drought. Flooding has greatly expanded the bug-rich wetlands where young salmon can eat and grow strong on their way to the ocean, said an official with one fishing-industry group.
“They eat like little pigs, and they love it,” said John McManus. “It’s a little smorgasbord for them.”
–From the South China Morning Post:
“Tourists were evacuated from a zoo in eastern China following a fatal tiger attack on Sunday afternoon, local media reported.
“The victim, a young man, was snatched by the big cat in the Ningbo Youngor Zoo in Zhejiang province and dragged away under trees.
“The rescue took more than an hour and the victim was pronounced dead at hospital.
“Zoo visitors raised the alarm that a tourist had been hauled away at around 2:30 p.m., Sunday, after teasing a tiger….
“The reports did not say how the victim ended up inside the tiger’s enclosure.
“Zoo staff had tried to drive the tiger away with firecrackers.
“One witness described the terrifying scene: ‘I saw the tiger mauling the person, whose face was covered with blood. Every time he sat up, the tiger pushed him down again.’”
‘Tiger’ remains No. 3 on the All-Species List. ‘Man,’ being the idiot that he is, falls back to 340.
–Researchers at Glasgow University and the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals played a variety of musical styles for dogs, then studied their physiological responses and behavioral changes. They concluded that reggae and soft-rock are likely to be the favorites of Fido.
“Overall, the response to different genres was mixed, highlighting the possibility that, like humans, our canine friends have their own individual musical preferences,” said Neil Evans, professor at the Univ. of Glasgow.
“That being said, reggae music and soft rock showed the highest positive changes in behavior.” [George Varga / San Diego Union-Tribune]
—Brent Musburger is stepping away from broadcasting on Tuesday. At age 77 and after nearly 50 years, he will call his last game – Kentucky and Georgia – for ESPN.
“What a wonderful journey I have traveled with CBS and the Disney company,” Musburger said in a statement. “A love of sports allows me to live a life of endless pleasure. And make no mistake, I will miss the arenas and stadiums dearly. Most of all, I will miss the folks I have met along the trail.
“But the next rodeo for me is in Las Vegas. Stop by and we’ll share a cold one and some good stories. I may even buy!”
Musburger plans on starting a sports-handicapping business there with his family.
The man loves his beer, and he made more than his share of controversial comments, but for years, especially during his time at CBS, he was an institution. If it was a big event, Brent was doing it.
In recent times (I’m not getting into the Sugar Bowl / Joe Mixon remarks), perhaps Musburger’s most famous controversial comment (in certain circles) was in 2013, when during the Bowl Championship Series championship game, he was confronted with the loveliness of Alabama quarterback A.J. McCarron’s girlfriend.
With ‘Bama asserting itself against Notre Dame, Musburger noted Katherine Webb, a former Miss Alabama, in the stands. “You quarterbacks, you get all the good-looking women,” Musburger, then-73, said. “What a beautiful woman.” “Wow!” his partner, Kirk Herbstreit, chimed in.
—Powerful story on “60 Minutes” tonight on cycling, the Tour de France, and hidden motors. Somewhat related, I’m going to be making a major announcement next time regarding my annual half-marathon in Kiawah in December.
—Congratulations to reader Mark R. for skiing at June Mountain (Lake) in California the other day and not falling (being in his 70s, he was rightfully proud of this).
And my thoughts have been with one of the great friends of StocksandNews, Jeff B., as he recovers from an issue. Hopefully he is back kicking butt in the Old Man Tennis League soon.
And to Johnny Mac…who is struggling.
Yes, it sucks getting old, sports fans.
–Lastly, we note the passing of Butch Trucks, drummer and one of the founding members of the seminal Southern rock group the Allman Brothers. He was 69. Suicide.
The Allman Brothers was formed by Trucks, a second drummer, Jai Johanny Johanson (‘Jaimoe’), Duane Allman and Gregg Allman, as well as Dickey Betts and Berry Oakley, in Jacksonville, Fla., 1969. They then moved to Macon, Ga., in 1970 to cut their first album for Capricorn Records and the rest is history.
Their breakthrough came in 1971 with the live album “At Fillmore East,” featuring an extended version of one of the band’s signature songs, ‘Whipping Post.’ They then cemented their status as one of the leading bands of the 1970s with the albums “Eat a Peach” in 1972 and the album “Brothers and Sisters” the next year.
Both Duane Allman and Berry Oakley died of injuries sustained in motorcycle accidents in Macon – Mr. Allman at 24 in 1971, and Mr. Oakley, also at 24, in 1972.
The Allman Brothers Band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995.
Top 3 songs for the week 1/31/76: #1 “Love Rollercoaster” (Ohio Players…say what?…) #2 “I Write The Songs” (Barry Manilow) #3 “Love To Love You Baby” (Donna Summers… ahhh… ahhh…)…#4 “You Sexy Thing” (Hot Chocolate…blows…) #5 “I Love Music” (The O’Jays… not bad after four beers and Marie Osmond by your side…that’s for old guys like myself…you girls have to come up with your own alternative…or you can stick with Marie…) #6 “Convoy” (C.W. McCall…looking back, this was a really crappy ditty…) #7 “Sing A Song” (Earth, Wind & Fire….didn’t like this one when it first came out but has aged pretty well…) #8 “Times Of Your Life” (Paul Anka…terrific tune…you young folk will understand this when you get old and gray like moi…) #9 “Walk Away From Love” (David Ruffin…easily in my Top 40 all time…) #10 “50 Ways To Leave Your Lover” (Paul Simon…for a lousy year…this top ten has some darn good tunes…)
New England Patriots Quiz Answers: 2001 Champs… 1) Antowain Smith rushed for 1,157 yards that season (no one else had 200). 2) Troy Brown had 101 receptions for 1,199 yards and 5 touchdowns, while David Patten had 51-749-4.
The Super Bowl itself was won by the Pats, 20-17, on an Adam Vinatieri 48-yard field goal at the buzzer.
Next Bar Chat, Thursday.
