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Bar Chat

10/13/2008

Potpourri for $400

NFL Hall of Fame Quiz: Name the first four in the Hall, alphabetically, one being a coach. Answer below. 

--Quick, cute debate story. But first, I think we’d all agree the first three this year, including Biden-Palin, were awful. I can guarantee that the last one, Wednesday, though, will be good as CBS’ Bob Schieffer has learned from the dreadful job the first three moderators did. 

Stuart Spencer was a top aide to Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan. Here’s Spencer on Reagan’s poor performance in the 1984 Louisville debate against Walter Mondale: 

“Reagan didn’t do his homework for that debate…I went to Camp David with the Reagans the weekend before…He had the [briefing] books. We went in the cottage where he stayed, the books went on the credenza. 

“We spent the next eight hours watching old movies. Most of them were his movies. The next day, I come over, the books are still sitting there. I look at them. I said something off the cuff to him. He didn’t react. He was supposed to do his homework at Camp David. He didn’t do his homework. He goes out, and he got killed. He knows it. 

“We walked out together back to the hotel. He looked at me and said, ‘God, I was awful.’ I said, ‘Yes. You didn’t do your homework.’ He didn’t answer me…It was one of the few times I saw him really lack discipline. Maybe he thought, I’m going to wing it, and I’m going to do all right….[In the] next debate [he] did fine. He did his homework, and he was ready. His adrenalin was up, and his competitive nature was up. His humor was up, which is very important with Reagan…” [Washington Post] 

For starters, I wrote last time “I can’t stand (the weekend’s) games and will be happy going 1-2.” Instead, my bubble, just like the tech and housing varieties, popped in going 0-3, thus dropping my record to 8-4 this season. 

I had Cincinnati, giving 7 ½ to Rutgers and lost, as Cincy won by only 13-10. [Rutgers is now a disgraceful 1-5]
I had Buffalo, giving 1 to Western Michigan and lost, as W. Michigan came from down 21-6 in the fourth to win 34-28 in overtime. What a disaster.
And I had Missouri, my selection to go all the way, giving 14 to undefeated and 17th-ranked Oklahoma State, and Mizzou was upset 28-23. Good god. I also had Missouri QB Chase Daniel winning the Heisman and all he did was throw three interceptions. Nice performance, Chase. A-B-C you later, dude. 

But what a weekend. #1 Oklahoma lost to #5 Texas, 45-35, with both QBs, Texas’ Colt McCoy and OU’s Sam Bradford, performing superbly. For the game, Texas outgained OU, 438-435. 

But other undefeateds came through. #6 Penn State destroyed a decent Wisconsin squad, 48-7, and #7 Texas Tech held on in overtime to beat Nebraska, 37-31. 

Meanwhile, reader Shu and other Tar Heel fans are rejoicing over their 29-24 victory over Notre Dame, an entertaining contest, though with some dreadful officiating. One thing about the Irish, though. If you’re a fan you can take heart in the fact there are some terrific skill players on offense and I’ll predict they crack the top ten next year, despite coach Charlie Weis. 

[As an aside, personally, it’s good to have North Carolina in the picture because we get to see the Carolina cheerleaders; a most winsome and lithe group that I always enjoyed following as a student at Wake Forest…ahem….] 

Moving right along, talk about a “pretender,” look no further than #13 and heretofore undefeated Vanderbilt, which lost to lowly Mississippi State, 17-14. 

And what the hell happened to East Carolina? Thankfully, I jumped off that bus after their first loss, but following Virginia’s 35-20 thumping of ECU on Saturday, dropping the Pirates to 3-3 after being ranked as high as #14, there were still two people on the bus yet there is nothing left to eat or drink. 

Then there is Michigan and new coach Rich Rodriguez. The Wolverines lost to Toledo…Toledo, for crissakes…13-10, dropping Michigan to 2-4, the school’s worst start in 41 years. 

Lastly, does ABC/ESPN sideline reporter Erin Andrews have hair extensions? Just curious. 

Detroit was robbed by the officials and remains winless after losing to Minnesota 12-10 on a disputed interference call. 

Rookie Matt Ryan has Atlanta 4-2 in what is potentially the story of the year. 

For my Jets, a win is a win, even if it was Cincinnati in unimpressive fashion. I do have to admit, however, I’m slowly getting used to Brett Favre…. 

But I still wish we had Chad Pennington! Sadly for Chad, though, his Dolphins, with a chance to win their third in a row, lost to Houston on a last second quarterback draw. 

But good for Arizona, which beat the Cowboys in OT. 

--I haven’t been watching much of the baseball, I have to admit, but geezuz, the A.L. games are ending at freakin’ 1:30 in the morning! If you think I’m staying up when I’m a fan of neither, you’re nuts. [Sorry to take my Wall Street crash aggressions out on you.] 

But Pete M. did point out to me that Boston hurler Dice-K has not given up a hit with the bases loaded in fifteen tries this season, pretty awesome, while reminding me (from a Bob Ryan column) that the Hall of Famer Jim Palmer never gave up a grand slam, which is one of the great stats of all time. 

--Tim McCarver on L.A.’s Manny Ramirez: 

“It’s extraordinary – the dichotomy between what he was in Boston and what he is in Los Angeles. I mean, talk about wearing out your welcome in a town, and it was a long welcome with the Red Sox. But some of the things he did were simply despicable, despicable – like not playing, refusing to play. Forgetting what knee to limp on. And now it’s washed, it’s gone.” 

There is a ton of talk in New York about the Mets or Yankees going for Manny this offseason. From a Mets’ fan standpoint, don’t do it! 

--There is sad news concerning the health of golfing legend Seve Ballesteros. The rumors are true…he has a brain tumor, as Seve himself released a statement to this effect on Sunday. The five-time major champion (3 British Opens and 2 Masters) and Ryder Cup mainstay will have a biopsy on Tuesday. He is just 51. 

--Bar Chat West Coast shark hunter Bob S. (even though he hails from the East Coast) first passed along the story of the great white shark wannabe dolphin. From WFTV in Florida: 

“Four people were riding in a boat off the coast of Volusia County on Thursday when a dolphin jumped out of the water and hit two of them in the chest. One woman had to be rushed to a local hospital with a possible broken collarbone. 

“Norman Howard came out of the hospital cut up, bandaged and bruised, but otherwise in remarkably good shape considering that his morning outing on a small 17-foot boat ended with a 9-foot, 400-pound dolphin in his lap. 

“ ‘It was slapping me pretty hard. It was throwing some good punches,’ Howard said. 

“The group of four had just picked up bait for fishing and was cruising in the intracoastal Waterway when the dolphin jumped, with no warning, and there was nothing they could do to avoid it. The mammal landed across the bow, right on top of the couple sitting in the front of the boat. 

“ ‘I was just trying to get it off my wife. I knew she was underneath all of it,’ Howard said. 

“Montie Henderson saw the dolphin jump, tried to stop the boat, but then had to run to get the 400-pound animal off his girlfriend’s parents.” 

“ ‘I turned immediately to my wife, took my shirt off, tucked it under her head, and there was blood everywhere. I didn’t even notice that I was bleeding,’ Howard said.” 

All the appropriate agencies were contacted by WFTV Eyewitness News and no one can ever remember a report of a dolphin doing this. 

Of course as I reported last spring, a woman in the Keys was killed when she was hit in the face by a flying stingray, and I’ve written of flying sturgeon along the Suwannee River in north Florida and Georgia. But as Bob S. notes, this latest incident is a highly worrisome development, reminding us all that if just one megaladon is out there and, err, has an affair with a dolphin, well, you get the picture. Massive death and destruction in our waterways. 

Brad K., Senior Vice President of the Unusual, observes, “Whom can you trust these days?” Personally, you see the rage at some of the McCain/Palin rallies and this dolphin attack can only be viewed as a direct extension of it. All mammals are fighting mad. 

“Even the mob is doing credit checks now, that’s how bad it is.” 

--Alex Rodriguez has put his South Florida mansion up for sale. The 8,300-square foot waterfront home in Coral Gables has six bedrooms, five full baths, three half baths (when a full one isn’t necessary), a swimming pool and three-car garage, all sitting on more than one acre in a gated community, can be yours for $15 million. Soon to be ex- C-Rod has agreed to the sale. [New York Post] 

--The Mets announced they have sold out all their luxury suites for their new ballpark. 39 Empire Suites went for $275,000 a pop and 10 Sterling Suites fetched $500,000 each. I forgot what the annual rent is, but there’s $15.725 million for starters. 

However, in light of the chaos in the financial markets, many of us are thinking, just how ironclad are these agreements? Did the Mets get all the cash up front or just a deposit? You can’t tell me there are 49 entities or very wealthy individuals who are not reconsidering their commitments, let alone the fact that when employees of said corporation find out where their company dollars are being spent, to watch a bunch of chokers no less, you’d think there would be a revolt and the bosses tossed out of their 40th story offices. [Except it’s not too easy to break the glass these days. So maybe the boss is just put on the rack, know what I’m sayin’?] 

--The sport of Formula One racing is in serious trouble. FIA president Max Mosley warns that with the withdrawal of one team, there are only 20 cars left “and if we lost two more teams we’d have 16 and then it would cease to be a credible grid.”

The sport is incredibly expensive and with the crash in global markets can no longer count on billionaires to finance it. For example, “The engine and gearbox costs about $44 million a year,” if you can imagine that. Of course you can significantly lower the costs and not impact the product that much, which is what Formula One will have to do. 

But then there is the situation in Montreal. In setting the F1 schedule for ‘09, Montreal was excluded and race officials there were blindsided as Montreal was replaced with Abu Dhabi. Montreal will lose about $75 million in tourism and other revenue. 

--And during these troubled times, a lot of us are curious to see what happens in the golf industry, especially when it comes to the high-end courses, both private and daily-fee venues. Here in New Jersey, some of the daily-fee tracks are already in deep trouble and one, two-course complex I’m familiar with was forced to sell off one of them for an alternative development. Frankly, I have to rethink my own priorities. I only golf about ten rounds a year at my club, plus my annual trip to Ireland. It’s nuts, and I imagine about 30% of the members where I play are thinking the same thing. 

The Wall Street Journal’s John Paul Newport had a piece the other day on a new Tiger Woods development planned for the Mexican coast, to be called Punta Brava, where one-acre lots will sell for $3 million and condos for $3.5 million. Newport: 

“As a reporter for a financial newspaper, I recognize that there are more than enough extremely rich people in the world to sell out Punta Brava, which, after all, is projected to accommodate only 40 homes and 80 condos. Mr. Woods’ name guarantees cachet and, judging by the layout shown at PuntaBrava.com, it’s possible that the course will break into the world’s top 20 rankings on the day it opens…. 

“But it’s hard not to wonder how a development like this fits into golf’s new economic landscape.” 

--Sports Illustrated is picking the Red Wings to defeat the Penguins in the Stanley Cup Finals next spring. But the New York Rangers are already off to a 4-0 start. Is it time for me to follow the sport again, and my favorite team, after about a 20-year timeout since I had season tickets? Not so fast. 

“An Elgin, Ill., high school student was forced to remove a Cubs jersey she wore to school because a staffer thought FUKUDOME was a curse word.” 

“How do you wipe out millions of dollars spent on an advertising and promotion campaign? Utter three small words: ‘Bring your waterproofs.’ That was the three-word sentence Nick Faldo used to sign off his official duties as Ryder Cup captain of Valhalla, his way of looking forward to the 2010 match at Celtic Manor, Wales. Those three words still echo, leaving Welsh government officials in despair. Welsh First Minister Rhodri Morgan had spent part of the closing ceremony at Valhalla encouraging Americans to visit Wales. Faldo undid all that work with a throwaway line. Ever thought about going into public relations, Nick?” 

--Former pitcher Bruce Dal Canton died. He was 66. Dal Canton was 51-49 with a 3.67 ERA from 1967 to 1977 while pitching with Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Atlanta and the Chicago White Sox. He went on to spend 25 years in the Braves system as a pitching coach. 

Dal Canton was born and grew up near Pittsburgh, attending California University of Pennsylvania. But big-league scouts were unimpressed, so Bruce became a high school teacher. 

Then in the mid-60s, he went to a Pirates training camp, they signed him, and he made his major league debut in 1967 at age 25. His best season was ‘69, when he went 8-2 with five saves in relief for the Bucs. But in checking out his stats on baseballreference.com, Bruce wasn’t exactly a great hitter; .113 in 150 at bats with just two extra base hits. 

1. Boston [for obvious reasons these days]
2. Detroit [Darren McCarthy, Red Wings forward: “As much as Detroit is a hockey town, if the Lions ever do anything – if they ever do anything – you’ll see exactly how sick this place can be…You have to remember, too, the economy here sucks and it’s sucked for a while.”]
3. Dallas-Fort Worth [at first a surprise, but then you have the Cowboys and terrific fan support for the Mavericks and Stars.]
4. New York
5. Philadelphia
6. Phoenix & Tempe [huh?]
7. Denver & Boulder
8. Los Angeles
9. Chicago & Evanston
10. Washington

--Hugh Hefner certainly has been in the news a lot recently, and when it comes to the 82-year-old, some of us can’t get enough. [Better than talking about the market, after all.] 

“Maybe Hugh Hefner needs to slow down a little when it comes to picking a new girlfriend – or two. 

“The day after he admitted he’s considering making 19-year-old twins Kristina and Karissa Shannon official girlfriends, news reports revealed that the potential new ‘Girls Next Door’ have arrest records. 

“According to TMZ.com, the two were charged in St. Petersburg last January with felony aggravated assault. They reportedly got into a fight with two other people at a house party…. 

“Karissa was also arrested on a misdemeanor battery charge last November. 

“The twins, who partied with Hefner on Oct. 4 wearing little more than body paint and briefs, ‘very much want to be girlfriends,’ Hefner told E! ‘Now under the present circumstance, they probably will become my girlfriends.’” 

And I love this bit on the twins’ MySpace pages, as reported by Korin Miller. 

“ ‘Obstacles r put into your life to see if wut u want is worth fighting for!!!’ Karissa, who appears in a skimpy bikini alongside her sis in her profile picture, wrote on her page. [Editor note: I refuse to check this out personally, in case you were wondering.] 

“Twin Kristin’s lingerie shot contrasts sharply with her romantic quote: ‘Love me without fear. Trust me without wondering. Love me without restrictions. Want me without demands. Accept me how I am. A love like that will be ETERNAL!’” Good gawd. 

--But wait…there’s more! Of course the Shannon twins probably wouldn’t be in the news were it not for Hefner’s breakup with Holly Madison. One of the three “Girls Next Door,” along with Kendra Wilkinson and Bridget Marquardt, Madison and Hefner are no longer dating. As reported by Derrik J. Lang of the AP: 

“Hefner said Madison learned the pair would never have children or get married six months ago.” 

Goodness gracious, he’s freakin’ 82! But Hef said he may again seek out seven – or more – girlfriends. 

--NASCAR wives/girlfriends are pretty cute, don’t you think, guys! 

--Esquire has named Halle Berry the Sexiest Woman Alive. Excellent choice. 

[The last few items were added because it’s Web “Sweeps Week.” I should have mentioned that upfront.] 

Top 3 songs for the week 10/11/69: #1 “Sugar, Sugar” (The Archies) #2 “Jean” (Oliver) #3 “Little Woman” (Bobby Sherman…since I typed this, can’t get it out of my head)…and…#4 “I Can’t Get Next To You” (The Temptations) #5 “Hot Fun In The Summertime” (Sly & The Family Stone…on editor’s all-time top 20 list) #6 “Everybody’s Talkin’” (Nilsson) #7 “Easy To Be Hard” (Three Dog Night…another great one) #8 “Honky Tonk Women” (The Rolling Stones) #9 “This Girl Is A Woman Now” (Gary Puckett and The Union Gap…oh, the drama…) #10 “Green River” (Creedence Clearwater Revival) 

NFL Hall of Fame Quiz Answer: First four in the Hall, alphabetically. 

Herb Adderley, Troy Aikman, George Allen, and Marcus Allen. 

*HBO is premiering a documentary titled “Section 60,” Monday, Oct. 13, at 9 p.m. This is about the part of Arlington National Cemetery that is reserved for our heroes from Iraq and Afghanistan. I was there last spring, as some of you might recall. It’s important for everyone to see this. 

Next Bar Chat, Thursday. “Woodstock,” as your editor travels to the new museum in Bethel, New York.

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