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Bar Chat

03/23/2017

In Defense of the ACC...it's a stretch...

[Posted Wed. a.m.]

NCAA Basketball Quiz: Name the six primary players in the rotation for the 1994-95 UCLA national championship team (defeating Arkansas).  Bonus: Name the player who wasn’t part of the rotation, but ended up playing 36 minutes in the title game due to an early injury in the starting lineup.  Answers below.

Sweet Sixteen

Thursday

Midwest

7 Michigan
3 Oregon...7:09 pm ET

4 Purdue
1 Kansas...9:39

West

4 West Virginia
1 Gonzaga...7:39

11 Xavier
2 Arizona...10:09

Friday

South

4 Butler
1 North Carolina...7:09

3 UCLA
2 Kentucky...9:39

East

7 South Carolina
3 Baylor...7:29

8 Wisconsin
4 Florida...9:59

Bottom line, a great Sweet 16.  Personally, I want Michigan-Kansas; Gonzaga-Arizona; North Carolina-and either; and Wisconsin-South Carolina in the regional finals.

But I do have a soft spot for West Virginia because of Bob Huggins.  Just always liked the gruff guy, who reminds me a lot of Bob Knight; two coaches a lot of people don’t/didn’t like, but my takeaway was always about their relationships with their players once they left school.  If you played hard for Huggins, or Knight, and took the grief from time to time, you would have no one more loyal to you the rest of your days.

Conference Breakdown

ACC (nine): 7-8
Big 12 (six): 8-3
Big Ten (seven): 8-4
Big East (five): 5-5
Pac-12 (four): 8-1
SEC (four): 7-2

So the ACC has just one remaining, the Big Ten, Big 12, SEC, and Pac-12 all have three, Big East two.

Yes, the ACC’s performance has been embarrassing and us fans and alum of the conference have to take our lumps.  So I thought I’d start with a Midwestern perspective.

Shannon Ryan / Chicago Tribune

“The Atlantic Coast Conference started the NCAA tournament as the most rewarded league by the selection committee with nine teams in the field.

“It was no surprise as the conference was frequently called the best in the nation this season.

“But one by one, ACC teams have been plucked out of the tournament.  From Wake Forest’s loss to Kansas State in the First Four to No. 2 seeds Louisville and Duke exiting in the second round Sunday.  Louisville was upset by seventh-seeded Michigan, and the Blue Devils – a team many argued should have been a No. 1 seed – lost in a stunner to South Carolina.

“Only No. 1 seed North Carolina is left to represent the ACC.  The Tar Heels winning a national championship might take some of the sting out of the ACC’s flop, but it’s hard to imagine Duke fans getting over this.

“The Blue Devils blew a 10-point second half lead and lost to the No. 7 Gamecocks, who had never reached a Sweet 16 before.

“The fashion in which other ACC teams fell is also notable.

“No. 5 seed Virginia couldn’t get to 40 on the scoreboard in a 26-point, second-round loss to No. 4 Florida.  Third-seeded Florida State was embarrassed in a 25-point second-round loss to No. 11 Xavier. Eighth-seeded Miami was knocked out in a 20-point loss to Michigan State in the first round.

“Fifth-seeded Notre Dame was nearly bumped off in the first round by Princeton but managed to survive only to get booted in the second round by No. 4 West Virginia.  No. 9 Virginia Tech was dismissed in the first round by a blistering No. 8 Wisconsin.

“That brings us to the Big Ten.  The anti-ACC, if you will.

“After being derided for much of the season, as its parity was equated with weakness, the league has found its rhythm in March.

“With no dominant team and rosters filled with youth, the Big Ten went into the tournament No. 4 in conference RPI behind the ACC, Big 12 and Big East.  No Big Ten team was seeded higher than No. 4 Purdue, yet three of the conference’s seven tournament teams advanced to the Sweet 16, matching last year’s total.

“The Boilermakers knocked off No. 13 Vermont and No. 5 Iowa State, a popular pick to advance.  Wisconsin stunned the top-seeded defending national champion, Villanova, in the second round.  No. 7 Michigan took down second-seeded Louisville on Sunday.

“Michigan coach John Beilein wasn’t entirely surprised. And he said he saw this March emergence coming.

“ ‘We’re all going to be judged a lot on what happens in November, December,’ he said.  ‘We had a tremendous league last year with a lot of turnover, guys going pro, great seniors in the league.  We had some injuries to some players as well.  So you get judged by that.  I thought we had a pretty good record, actually, as a league, but it didn’t measure up. There’s always going to be a lot of hype about what teams are getting most hype early, and it just doesn’t go away.  And so as a result, I told everybody, ‘Just wait.’’

“Michigan has won seven straight games to rewrite its season – and it’s helping the Big Ten do the same.

“ ‘The level of coaching in this league, the resources in this league, the level of talent in this league, it will come to the top at the end of the year,’ Beilein.

“The real question is which league will be at the top on April 3 in Phoenix?”

Separately, Purdue coach Matt Painter said after reaching the Sweet 16 on Saturday night, “Our league is very good.

“Tell (critics) to go play Michigan.  People that don’t think our league is any good, tell them to go play Wisconsin. They’re not an eighth seed. I don’t understand that,” Painter said, his voice rising with irritation.  “You don’t understand basketball if you put Wisconsin as the eighth seed. Wisconsin is one of the toughest teams in the country, period.”         

Jeff Goodman / ESPN Insider

“There were those who deemed it in a class of its own, capable of breaking the Big East record of 11 teams that earned invites to the 2011 NCAA tournament.  There was a loaded Duke team, and several others that were considered capable of reaching the sport’s pinnacle – the Final Four.

“Power at the top, depth in the middle and even the bottom had improved.  There was oodles and oodles of talent, highlighted by a trio of guys – Duke’s Jayson Tatum, NC State’s Dennis Smith and Florida State’s Jonathan Isaac – pegged to be taken in the top 10 of June’s NBA draft.

“Now North Carolina stands all alone, and the Tar Heels should count themselves fortunate after nearly bowing out against Arkansas in the second round.

“This was the Year of the ACC.  Well, that was supposed to be the case.

“Now, it’s the Season of Disappointment for the league that was billed as all-powerful....

“ ‘The league isn’t very tough,’ one ACC assistant said.  ‘Too much finesse.  You have to be tough to win in the NCAA tourney.’

“ ‘It was overrated,’ another ACC coach added.  ‘I’ll admit it. We won games in November and December, but most of our teams weren’t that much better than teams in the other leagues.  But we had a ton of resume wins on the board because of Duke, North Carolina, Louisville and even Virginia – and that allows the other teams to become overrated.’

“ ‘Miami was a fringe tourney team,’ he added.  ‘Same for Virginia Tech, Wake and even Notre Dame.  We had a lot of good teams but really no great ones.’

“That’s because Duke just never lived up to the hype. The Blue Devils were the near-unanimous preseason No. 1 but struggled with chemistry, consistency and health.  Giles was never himself after a third knee surgery just before the season, and Mike Krzyzewski couldn’t find a point guard on the roster.

“This wasn’t just the issue in Durham, either.  It’s tough to win in March without a quality point guard, and that was something that ultimately bit a bunch of the ACC’s teams when it mattered.  Duke didn’t have one, Florida State didn’t either and Louisville’s Quentin Snider was inconsistent and struggled in the loss to Michigan.

“The Sweet 16 is now set.  The Pac-12 has its power trio of Oregon, Arizona and UCLA.  The Big 12 has its top three in Kansas, West Virginia and Baylor.  A down year in the Big Ten has produced three with Purdue, Wisconsin and Michigan.  The Big East has Butler and Xavier, and even the SEC, which has been a national laughingstock for years now, claims three with Kentucky, South Carolina and Florida.

“Then there’s the ACC and North Carolina flying solo through the first week.

“Maybe we were right about the league after all.  Maybe it was in a class of its own, the most overrated in America.”

OK, ACC fans...we’ve taken our lumps, and the comment the assistant coach made about the league not being tough enough this season is accurate.  For those of us who watched a lot of games in the conference, there was very little defense, save for Virginia, and it’s clear some of the teams simply weren’t prepared for some of the styles, and defense, they faced in the NCAAs.

That said, let me remind you, since no one else I’ve read in tens of columns has done it, just how well the ACC did in the two previous tournaments.

How many you get in the Sweet 16 is the true test.

2016...teams in Sweet 16

ACC 6
Big 12 3
Big Ten 3
SEC 1
Pac-12 1
Big East 1

Final: Villanova over UNC

2015

ACC 6
Pac-12 3
Big Ten 2
Big 12 2
SEC 1
Big East 1

Final: Duke over Wisconsin

So we’ve been dominant...bigly...but we just had a very poor year.

It’s time to buck up, ACC fans!  I’m reminded of Bluto Butarsky, when things seemed the bleakest at Delta House.

Over?  Did you say “over”?  Nothing is over until we decide it is!  Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?  Hell no!

Well, maybe that wasn’t the best example.  What we do know is that there is some major soul-searching going on in the conference today.  For starters, you can be sure defense is going to be more of a factor in league games next season.

--I posted Sunday night before the end of the UCLA-Cincinnati contest and I have to note that after being down 33-30 at the half, the Bruins pulled away 79-67, as Lonzo Ball had a spectacular ballgame, 19 points on 7 of 10 shooting (4 of 7 from behind the arc), 8 assists, 7 rebounds and 2 steals.  Off this one performance, he may have sewn up the No. 1 overall pick, if it isn’t Markelle Fultz of Washington.

But funny how the tournament can make all the difference in the world as to your standing in the draft.  Villanova’s Josh Hart did himself no favors with his awful down the stretch performance in ‘Nova’s loss to Wisconsin.  Ditto Luke Kennard should he opt to go out, after the Duke star was just 4 of 18 from the field in his two tourney games.

--For the archives I do have to note that Duke, playing in hostile Greenville, South Carolina for its game against the Gamecocks Sunday night, has only one person to blame.  Former North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory, who put into law House Bill 2; the bathroom bill that forced the NCAA to protest by moving the 2017 tourney out of Greensboro, N.C.

South Carolina deserved the win, no doubt, but you’d have to be an idiot not to understand it could have been a totally different outcome in far friendlier G’boro.

--So I didn’t even know where the regionals were being held until a week ago, but while officials in Kansas City must be thrilled at their regional four, which includes Kansas, Purdue and Michigan (plus Oregon), and Memphis loves having North Carolina, Kentucky and UCLA (plus Butler), and San Jose won’t be unhappy if it gets a Gonzaga-Arizona final next weekend, the folks at Madison Square Garden are crying...literally.

What would have been sweeter than a Villanova-Duke East Regional final, but noooo.  Wisconsin, Florida, Baylor and South Carolina.  That would be a classic NIT Final Four (the NIT not having a lot of luck with locals advancing this far over the years). 

--Television ratings for the first four days of the NCAA tournament were the best for the first two rounds of the tourney since 1993.  An average of 9.3 million viewers watched coverage across all the networks, a 10 percent increase over last year.

Live coverage of Sunday’s eight second-round games averaged 11.9 million viewers, a 34 percent increase over last year.  It helped that the likes of Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan State, North Carolina and UCLA were all in action that day.

Live streams on NCAA March Madness Live were also up 24 percent.

I’m pleasantly surprised by the TV numbers, and this without any early buzzer beaters that normally juice ratings for the games that follow.

--VCU hired Rice coach Mike Rhoades, a former assistant at VCU, to replace Will Wade, who left to take the coaching job at LSU.

Rhoades was 47-52 at Rice in his three seasons, including a 23-12 mark this season.

--In the NIT, in second-round games of note, Illinois State lost to UCF 63-62 at home; UT- Arlington defeated Akron 85-69; and CSU Bakersfield beat Colorado State 81-63.

Then in a quarterfinal on Tuesday, Georgia Tech had a nice win at Ole Miss, 74-66.

--In the Women’s NCAA Tournament, the Lady Huskies stretched their winning streak to 109 with a 94-64 win over Syracuse, moving UConn into the Sweet 16, where they will face off against UCLA.

NBA

--Commissioner Adam Silver sent a memo to all the teams on Monday, calling the topic of players resting “an extremely significant issue for our league” and said teams will face “significant penalties” if they don’t follow league rules for reporting player injuries and illnesses.

Silver also implored owners to take an active role in managing rosters and making sure basketball operations staffers understood the business ramifications of sitting players.

“Decisions of this kind do not merely implicate issues of player health and team performance on the court; they also can affect fans and business partners, impact our reputation, and damage the perception of our game,” Silver states in the memo.  “With so much at stake, it is simply not acceptable for Governors to be uninvolved or to defer decision-making authority on these matters to others in their organizations.”

ESPN then released a statement regarding teams’ decision to rest players, saying it was “working closely with the NBA to best address it going forward from a media partnership standpoint.”

Yes, the fans are upset, and the league’s TV partners are as well, and for good reason.

Tuesday, Golden State coach Steve Kerr said he’d be willing to cut his own salary if the NBA shortened the season, say to 75 games.

“I think even just going down to 75 games, I think that would make a dramatic difference in schedule.  Now I don’t see that happening because there is money at stake for everybody.”

The NBA is looking to extend next season by 7-10 days in order to avoid as many back-to-back situations as possible.

--The amazing Miami Heat are now 35-36, after an 11-30 start, and are right in the thick of the playoff hunt following a 112-97 win over Phoenix on Tuesday.

--Jerry Krause died, age 77. Krause was the architect of the Chicago Bulls dynasty of the 1990s.

After taking over as Bulls general manager in 1985, Krause brought together the pieces around Michael Jordan that led to six championships.  First he hired Phil Jackson as an assistant coach to Doug Collins out of the CBA, then fired Collins in favor of Jackson.

Krause then maneuvered a 1987 draft day trade to get Scottie Pippen out of Central Arkansas and drafted Horace Grant.  The Grant pick then gave the Bulls the ability to trade forward Charles Oakley to the Knicks for center Bill Cartwright in 1988.  This ended up being the core for the first three titles, 1991-93.  [To be accurate, Cartwright played far more in the playoffs than in the regular season.]

Jordan then retired in 1993 and returned in 1995, and Krause signed guard Ron Harper, acquired Dennis Rodman to replace Grant, who bolted in free agency.  Toni Kukoc had been drafted out of Croatia earlier and, with Pippen still there, formed the core for the second three-peat from 1996-98.

But after Jordan retired in 1999, Pippen having been traded, the Bulls collapsed and Krause took the blame.  He would retire in 2003.

MLB

--In Los Angeles, Eddie Rosario’s sacrifice fly in the 11th inning gave Puerto Rico a 4-3 victory over the Netherlands in the semifinals of the World Baseball Classic.

Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen needed just nine pitches to complete his inning in the ninth and called the Dodgers’ brass to ask if he could pitch one more inning, in front of his home fans, for his homeland, but he was denied, the deal being with the parent club he couldn’t pitch more than one inning.

Then, after a  normal 10th inning, in the 11th, international rules take over.  You start with runners on first and second and no outs.  So the Netherlands sacrificed the runners to second and third, there was an intentional walk, and then Curt Smith grounded into a bases-loaded double play.

In the bottom of the inning, Puerto Rico got its runners to second and third on a Yadier Molina bunt, an intentional walk followed, and then Rosario got his sac fly off 7-foot-1, minor-league journeyman Loek van Mil.  As Bill Shaikin wrote for the Los Angeles Times, bedlam ensued and for the second consecutive W.B.C., Puerto Rico is in the title game.

So Tuesday, the United States faced off against Japan, the winner advancing to the championship on Wednesday.

And Team USA prevailed, 2-1, as Brandon Crawford scored the tiebreaking run when Nobuhiro Matsuda bobbled Adam Jones’ grounder to third in the eighth inning, thus sending the United States to the championship game of the W.B.C. for the first time.

--Meanwhile, the fear of every team was realized, in this case by the Yankees, as they lost shortstop Didi Gregorius, playing for the Netherlands, to an injury to his throwing shoulder.  Tuesday, it was diagnosed as a strain and he’s out until May.

The Yankees are under some pressure to make 20-year-old top prospect Gleyber Torres the Opening Day shortstop, but they’ll keep him in the minors, at least for now.  22-year-old Tyler Wade could get the shot instead, Wade not having played above Double-A to date.  Second baseman Starlin Castro, who played shortstop for years, is another option.

--The Mets announced that Tim Tebow would spend the year at their low Class-A affiliate in Columbia, S.C.  Tebow did OK in his little stints with the Mets in spring training, but he hasn’t really verbalized what his goal is.  He did say he doesn’t need to make it to the major leagues, but he wants to learn every day and improve.

“I’m still too young and too new at the process,” Tebow said.  “I’ll get there, check it out, see my environment, feel it out and play a few before I set goals.”

The South Atlantic League is brutal for travel, with bus rides regularly lasting 10 or more hours.  Paying his dues without the frills of NFL travel is one way to gain respect, but I’m still saying he walks away at mid-season, unless he’s hitting, say, .260+ with power.

NFL

--Jets fans have seen the future at quarterback and it’s 37-year-old (38 in July) Josh McCown!

Well, maybe not, but the Jets signed him to a fully guaranteed one-year deal for $6 million, with further incentives.  In two years at Cleveland, he was 1-10 as a starter so he’ll fit right in!

But it’s actually not a bad move.  The Jets are going to be worse than their 5-11 of last season as we intentionally/unintentionally tank in order to be in the Sam Darnold chase next year (he being the star QB at USC).

So for a year, McCown, who will probably start at least in the beginning, can mentor Bryce Petty and Christian Hackenberg.

--The NFL’s competition committee is expected to propose a ban on a defensive player leaping over the line of scrimmage on field goal and extra point attempts.

The committee also is making plans to suggest automatic suspensions for players guilty of egregious hits, while softening the rules regarding illegal celebrations.

The owners of the 32 NFL teams meet next in Phoenix and will consider such proposals.  You need 24 for approval

--What a dirtball...Martin Mauricio Ortega, that is.  Ortega, the editor of La Prensa, a daily in Mexico City, who had media credentials for the Super Bowl, is the culprit in the case of Tom Brady’s missing Super Bowl jersey.  When confronted by the FBI in Mexico, he also turned over a Brady jersey from the 2015 Super Bowl and a helmet thought to belong to Denver’s Vonn Miller from last year’s Super Bowl.

According to a statement from the NFL: “Through the cooperation of the NFL and New England Patriots’ security teams, the FBI and other law enforcement authorities, the Super Bowl LI jersey worn last month by MVP Tom Brady has been recovered. Also retrieved during the ongoing investigation was the jersey Brady wore in the Patriots’ victory in Super Bowl XLIX against the Seattle Seahawks in 2015.

“The items were found in the possession of a credentialed member of the international media.”

And a video emerged of Ortega stealing the jersey in the locker room.  We also learned he spent his time as a “working journalist” collecting selfies and autographs from football greats and boasting to colleagues that he was there as a fan.

One sports editor of the newspaper 24 Horas told the Associated Press that Ortega showed him a signed Kurt Warner jersey, Warner having been named MVP of the 2000 Super Bowl, and that Ortega told him he was going to try to sell it to Warner for $8,000.

Ortega’s publishing company said they had no idea he was even at the game.  He resigned from the daily two days after the jerseys were recovered.

Mexican media has reported Ortega’s basement was full of NFL and other sports memorabilia.  During Super Bowl week he was seen at numerous auctions.

Men’s Division I Hockey Tournament

The four regions are set, play March 24-26, with the winners of each region going to the Frozen Four for the national championship.

Midwest Region

1 Denver v. Michigan Tech
Penn State v. Union

Northeast Region

Massachusetts-Lowell v. Cornell
Notre Dame v. Minnesota

West Region

2 Minnesota-Duluth v. Ohio State
North Dakota v. Boston University

East Region

Western Michigan v. Air Force
Providence v. Harvard

Golf Balls

--I didn’t note last time that Steve Stricker, who turned 50 last month, made his Champions Tour debut in Tucson, but blew a two-shot lead with three holes to play as 58-year-old Tom Lehman picked up his 10th Champions Tour title, Stricker finishing second by a stroke.

--This week has dual events, the WGC Match Play tourney in Austin, Texas, and the Puerto Rico Open.  Because The Masters...a tradition unlike any other...on CBS....is only two weeks away, as of Thursday, a number of top golfers are opting out of the Match Play tourney, including Justin Rose, Henrik Stenson, Adam Scott and Rickie Fowler.

They shouldn’t be criticized.  Preparation for a major title takes precedence when it comes to this group.  It’s that simple.  As Alex Miceli of Morning Read (formerly of Golfweek) notes: “Remember that Rose, Stenson and Fowler shrugged off the Zika virus fears and went to Rio de Janeiro for the return of golf to the Olympics, for the good of the game.  Rose won gold, and Stenson claimed silver.”

So you’re not going to get me to blame these guys.

--Yes, we’re all weary of this topic, but I have to report it.  Appearing on “Good Morning America” as part of his book tour for “The 1997 Masters: My Story,” Tiger Woods said he is “trying every day to get back and play” the Masters, but from every other indication there’s no way.

Separately, Woods told USA TODAY, “The mind is sharp; I just need to get the body willing to do it,” he said.  “That’s the hard part. Getting the prep time.  I haven’t been able to get much prep time in.  Train like I used to....

‘It’s building, but I still have a little ways to go.”

Woods did say that regardless of whether he can play or not, he’ll attend the Champions Dinner that week at Augusta.

College Baseball...Baseball America’s latest poll....

[Records thru March 19]

1. Louisville 19-0
2. Oregon State 17-1
3. Texas Christian 14-5
4. Louisiana State 17-5
5. Cal State Fullerton 14-5
6. Clemson 16-4
7. South Carolina 14-5
8. Texas Tech 17-4
9. Arizona 15-4
10. North Carolina 15-5
16. St. John’s 14-2

Stuff

--From the Irish Independent:

“An Australian teenager suffered serious injuries to his arm when he was attacked by a crocodile after jumping into a river infested by the reptiles for a dare.

“Paramedics said he was lucky to escape with his life in the incident, which emerged as the authorities recovered the body of another man who also may have been attacked by a crocodile in nearby waters.

“British backpacker Sophie Paterson told how Lee de Paaux had started bragging that he could swim in the river, a known habitat for aggressive saltwater crocodiles....

“Ms. Paterson said she and several others egged him on, though none of them thought he would actually get in the water.

“But he did get in the water, and seconds later, a crocodile latched onto him.

“ ‘It all happened very fast.  Pretty much as soon as he jumped in, there was splashing and screaming,’ Ms. Paterson told Queensland’s Courier-Mail newspaper.

“ ‘There was blood everywhere and he just wouldn’t stop screaming.’”

De Paauw someone managed to pull himself out of the water before the croc could drown him.

Meanwhile, “Queensland authorities on Monday recovered a body believed to be that of a man who vanished on Saturday while spearfishing alone in waters just north of Innisfail....

“An initial investigation suggests the man may have been taken by a crocodile, police said.

“Wildlife officers were hunting for the animal, believed to be around 13 feet long.”

Remember, crocodiles are protected species in Australia since the 1970s, which has allowed their population to explode in the tropical north.

Also, “Because saltwater crocodiles can live up to 70 years and grow throughout their lives – reaching up to 23 feet in length – the proportion of large crocodiles is also rising.”

So lots of future Bar Chat, boys and girls.

But wait...there’s more!

From AFP (and Brad K.):

“Estevao Alberto Gino was dragged into (a river in Mozambique) by a 16-foot crocodile after putting his hands into the water after jogging.”  He disappeared.

Gino, 19, was a football player for a club in Mozambique’s second division.

“He was not with his teammates at the time but two neighbors who witnessed the attack estimated the crocodile to have been about 16-foot long and said ‘they could not do anything’ to save him.

The player’s body has yet to be found.  Croc attacks are common along the Zambezi river.

‘Crocodile’ is threatening to enter the All-Species List’s Top Ten.  Furious debate over who would be relegated in that case.  ‘Beaver’?

--Of course No. 1 on the ASL is ‘Dog,’ who burnished his reputation with the following tale, courtesy of Travis Fedschun of the New York Post.

“An Oregon police K9 proved his worth to the force this past weekend, catching three suspects all within the span of 90 minutes.

“The Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release that Spencer’s ‘rare K9 hat-trick’ began around 10:20 a.m. local time Sunday, when he was on patrol with his handler Sgt. Don Boone, and the pair tracked down and captured 21-year-old Austin Kollas after he allegedly stole a vehicle in Clackamas, located southwest of Portland.

“The 9-year-old Dutch Shepherd captured Kollas after he fled from the car in a parking lot, police said.

“Just over an hour later, at 11:35 a.m. local time, Spencer took down Timothy Elmore, 41, who was wanted on parole violation charges, hiding from Gladstone Police Officers a few miles away. Spencer found the suspect hiding inside a trailer.

“Then just nine minutes later, at 11:44 a.m., Spencer captured Lonnette Denison, 36, after police said she attempted to hide from deputies in a holly bush outside her Gladstone apartment.

“Dennison had warrants out for her arrest on multiple charges.”

Spencer has been serving with the force for six years.

--Lastly, “Chuck” Barris, creator of “The Gong Show” and “The Dating Game,” died Monday night at home in Palisades, New York. He was 87 and died of natural causes.

It was in 1965 that Barris launched “The Dating Game,” an instant hit, and then he introduced “The Newlywed Game,” another huge success.

But in 1976, he debuted “The Gong Show,” with Barris hosting while celebrities like David Letterman and Jaye P. Morgan served as judges.  Despite its popularity, though, critics ravaged it as demeaning.

At one point, Barris was supplying the television networks with 27 hours of entertainment a week, mostly in five-days-a-week daytime game shows.

“The Gong Show” ran from 1976 to 1980, and as the series slipped, along with his other staples, he sold his company for a reported $100 million in 1980 and decided to go into films.

He directed and starred in “The Gong Show Movie,” a huge flop, and after this he wrote “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind,” his autobiography which included the claim, later by his own admission false, that he was a CIA assassin.  A 2002 film based on it was directed by George Clooney.

Back in 1962, Barris wrote the 1962 hit record “Palisades Park,” which was recorded by Freddy Cannon and became a staple of the New York airwaves for years after.

Top 3 songs of 3/25/67: #1 “Happy Together” (The Turtles)  #2 “Dedicated To The One I Love” (The Mamas & The Papas)  #3 “Penny Lane” (The Beatles)...and...#4 “There’s A Kind Of Hush” (Herman’s Hermits)  #5 “Baby I Need Your Lovin’” (Johnny Rivers)  #6 “Sock It To Me-Baby!” (Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels)  #7 “For What It’s Worth (Stop, Hey What’s That Sound)” (The Buffalo Springfield)  #8 “My Cup Runneth Over” (Ed Ames)  #9 “Love Is Here And Now You’re Gone” (The Supremes)  #10 “Ruby Tuesday” (The Rolling Stones)

NCAA Basketball Quiz Answers: 1994-95 UCLA Bruins...Ed O’Bannon, 20.4 ppg; Tyus Edney 14.3; Charles O’Bannon 13.6; George Zidek 10.6; Toby Bailey 10.5; J.R. Henderson 9.2. 

In the national title game, an 89-78 win over Arkansas, Ed O’Bannon was MVP with 30 points and 17 rebounds.  But Tyus Edney was hurt in the third minute of the game and was unable to play the rest of the way.  Cameron Dollar came in and had eight assists and 4 steals.

The Bruins were coached by Jim Harrick.

Next Bar Chat, Monday.

 

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