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08/07/2017

Gatlin Beats Bolt

[Posted Sunday p.m., prior to Mets-Dodgers.  Geezuz, I hate Sunday night baseball.  Now if you live on the west coast, you probably think it’s great.]

Texas Rangers Quiz (including Washington Senators, 1961-71): 1) In the Senators’ 11 seasons, only one pitcher won as many as 16 games in a season.  Name him.  2) Who are the only three in Rangers history to win 20 games?  3) Who was the first to hit .330 in a season? [Hint: 1980] 4) Who was single-season home run leader until A-Rod hit 52 in 2001?  5) Who are the only three to steal 50 bases?  [Hint: 1972, ’75, ‘95]  Answers below.

MLB

--After the Yankees’ 7-2 loss Friday night (Jaime Garcia’s debut...4 2/3, 5 earned), manager Joe Girardi, who seldom criticizes his players, like really seldom, lit into catcher Gary Sanchez, who was 2016’s Boy Wonder.

After Sanchez gave up his league-leading 12th passed ball and a pair of wild pitches (as the Yankees overall were beyond atrocious in the field), and going 0-for-4, Girardi said, “He needs to improve.  Bottom line, he needs to improve.”

Through Friday, the Yanks were 19-28 after starting out 38-23.

But Saturday they had a crisp 2-1 win, with some sparkling plays in the field and 4 innings of shutdown relief.

And then Sunday, the Yanks went with ace Luis Severino and he came through again, 6 2/3, 1 run, 2 hits, 9 Ks, as New York beat Cleveland 8-1. Severino is 9-4, 2.91 ERA, and the W/L record could be better.  Yankees fans are also breathing easier because the slumping Aaron Judge hit a 3-run homer, his 35th. 

[I should also note that since my last chat, Sonny Gray made his debut last Thursday in a 5-1 loss to Cleveland, but he pitched well, 6 innings, 2 earned, only to be let down by the defense.  The Indians’ Corey Kluber threw a complete game, with 11 strikeouts, to move to 9-3, 2.77.]

So after the past two days, have the Yankees’ righted the ship?  We need a few more games to say ‘yes’.

A.L. East

Boston 63-49...six-game winning streak
New York 59-51...3

What a pickup for Boston in obtaining Eduardo Nunez, who is hitting .417 in his first 35 at-bats, 3 homers, 11 RBIs.

--Gee, what can you say about the New York Metropolitans, otherwise known as the Metsies, the Mutts, err, Mets.  The Dodgers were in town this weekend, only the greatest team Major League Baseball has seen since the 1927 Yankees (110-44, sweep World Series 4-0, Gehrig 47 HR 173 RBI .373; Ruth 60-165, .356), or so it seems.

Friday, the Mets had to deal with the Dodgers’ Yu Darvish, making his debut in an L.A. uniform, and he threw seven shutout innings, 10 strikeouts, Dodgers win 6-0, besting our only pitcher worth a damn, Jacob deGrom, now 12-5.

L.A. then beat the Mets 7-4 on Saturday at Citi Field, making it 43 of their last 50...43-7...the best 50-game stretch in baseball history since the 1912 New York Giants!  As Ronald Reagan would have said, ‘Not bad, not bad at all.’  [When the Braves beat the Dodgers 5-3 on Wednesday, it ended another remarkable streak of 53 consecutive wins when leading at any point of a game.  The Dodgers led this one 1-0 and 3-2.  When I first heard of this streak I couldn’t even wrap my head around it.  It’s unfathomable.]

The Dodgers are to be celebrated, regardless of who you root for.  I now hope they win it all.

But you know what’s scary?  The Dodgers’ core...Bellinger, 22; Seager, 23; the emerging Chris Taylor, 26; the guy who seems to have finally found inner-peace, Yasiel Puig, 26; Joc Pederson, 25.  Good lord.  And the resources to always go after a Yu Darvish when most needed.

--Mets management has made no secret of the fact they gave Tim Tebow a contract for the “entertainment” value, as GM Sandy Alderson once put it, but it’s been nice Tebow has hit a few homeruns as an added attraction.  The guy puts fannies in the seats and his latest club, High-A St. Lucie, announced the other day they had already achieved a new single-season home attendance record of 108,057.

--Bartolo Colon at the age of 44 became the oldest A.L. pitcher since Nolan Ryan in 1992 to pitch a complete game victory, when he went the distance against the Texas Rangers on Friday in an 8-4 win, his first of the season for Minnesota.

--The Giants activated Pablo Sandoval, who hasn’t played for them since Game 7 of the 2014 World Series, after which he signed that disastrous free-agent contract with Boston (disastrous for the Red Sox, mucho dinero for Sandoval).

--One other note from Thursday.  Arizona’s Paul Goldschmidt had three home runs and six RBIs in a 10-8 win over the Cubs.  After Sunday’s play, he’s at 25 homers, 89 RBIs, to go with a .323 batting average.  He’s 29, and needs at least five more real solid seasons, but we could be watching a Hall of Famer.

--I’m trying to follow all the Wake Forest players in the minors these days, and one recent seventh-round pick of the Oakland A’s, pitcher Parker Dunshee, is off to a pretty good start.  Playing in the New York Penn League, Dunshee has thrown 24 innings, giving up just 11 hits and 0 runs.  I’d say he probably gets to stick around at least one more season.

Two second-rounders, Stuart Fairchild (Cincinnati) and Gavin Sheets (Chicago White Sox)  have done OK thus far.  Seventh-rounder Ben Breazeale (Baltimore) is batting around .370, which they say is decent.

Last year’s first-rounder, Wil Craig (Pittsburgh) is batting .280 at High-A.  He has yet to bust through on the power front, which he’s going to need to do at some point next year at Double-A, or the Pirates will begin to think this was a total bust.

NFL

--Seven were inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday: Kicker Morten Andersen (the purest placekicker of all time); running back Terrell Davis, safety Kenny Easley, owner Jerry Jones, defensive end Jason Taylor, running back LaDainian Tomlinson, and quarterback Kurt Warner.

Tomlinson stole the show with his speech calling for “Team America.”

“Football is a microcosm of America,” Tomlinson said.  “All races, religions and creeds, living, playing, competing side by side.  When you’re part of a team, you understand your teammates – their strengths and weaknesses – and work together toward the same goal, to win a championship.

“Let’s not choose to be against one another.  Let’s choose to be for one another. I pray we dedicate ourselves to being the best team we can be, working and living together, representing the highest ideals of mankind. Leading the way for all nations to follow.”

Andersen joined Jan Stenerud as the only placekickers in Canton and is the league’s career scoring leader after an incredible 25 seasons.

And Kurt Warner is one helluva story, from Arena Football and NFL Europe to the Hall of Fame.

--All-time great quarterback Jim Plunkett, now 69, gave an interview to the San Jose Mercury News on Friday in which he discusses being in constant pain, remembering 10 concussions suffered while assuming there were many more and saying: “My life sucks.  It’s no fun in this body right now. Everything hurts.”

Plunkett has undergone 18 surgeries and now suffers from Bell’s palsy, which a neurologist told him is the reason behind his vicious headaches.

He takes six pills in the morning, seven at night for his heart, blood pressure and other problems.

--Boy, I’m sick of hearing how various NFL teams are in the wrong for not wanting to take a look at quarterback Colin Kaepernick.  It is every team’s right not to want to take on a huge distraction, even if he might be more talented than what they already have on the roster.  Plus, it’s not as if Kaepernick has been playing great the past few years. 

--But among the teams that would be interested in Kaepernick are the Dolphins, who appear to have lost Ryan Tannehill to a season-ending knee injury, even though initial reports said there was no structural damage. Surgery still appears to be in the cards.  Owner Stephen Ross said he was open to Kaepernick being on the squad.

However, this just in...Jay Cutler has agreed to come out of retirement, signing a one-year, $10 million contract with Miami to play for his old offensive coordinator, Adam Gase, when he was with the Bears in 2015.  So much for that opportunity for Kaepernick.  On to the Ravens, the coaching staff wanting him, but apparently not the owner.

By the way, did you know Miami hasn’t had a Pro Bowl quarterback since Dan Marino in 1995?

College Football

It’s just around the corner, kids.

Preseason Coaches’ Poll

1. Alabama (49)
2. Ohio State (5)
3. Florida State (4)
4. Southern Cal
5. Clemson (7)
6. Penn State
7. Washington
8. Oklahoma
9. Michigan
10. Wisconsin
11. Oklahoma State

No Notre Dame in top 25.  Or Wake Forest.

Poor Wake...we have Florida State, Clemson and 17 Louisville on our schedule, plus we travel to South Bend for Notre Dame.

--So a few words on the passing of coaching legend Ara Parseghian, who died last week at the age of 94.

After starting out at Miami of Ohio and Northwestern, where he coached the latter from 1956 to 1963, Parseghian took over a struggling Notre Dame program that had finished 2-7 in 1963 and hadn’t been above .500 since a 6-4 season in 1958.  He promptly guided the Fighting Irish to an AP Top Ten finish each of his first seven seasons at the helm, including the national title in 1966, and then another in 1973.  Parseghian would retire after a 10-2 campaign in 1974 at the age of 51.

Overall, in 11 seasons in South Bend, Parseghian had a 95-17-4 record, including 1966’s “Game of the Century,” the 10-10 tie with Michigan State that is my first vivid memory of watching college football as an 8-year-old.

“We didn’t go for a tie; the game ended in a tie,” Parseghian would tell the Chicago Tribune in 2016 when reminded how often he was criticized for letting the clock run down.  “...Somebody ought to wake up to that.”

Ara Parseghian was known as a great communicator, “a beautiful football strategist...who didn’t resort to gimmicks,” as former Northwestern center Jay Robertson recalled.

“On Monday we’d go over the scouting reports and Ara had you sold,” Robertson said.  “His facts were straight and he had a machine-gun delivery: ‘Boys, they can’t cover this! And if they do, this will be open.’  You’d leave the room and say, ‘I don’t care who we’re playing, we’re gonna kick their butt!’”

Parseghian played his college ball at the University of Akron, but he left school to enlist in the Navy.  After his stint ended, he played for Miami University in Ohio.

He played briefly with the Cleveland Browns and began his coaching career at Miami in 1950, when Woody Hayes hired him to run the freshman team.  He then took over as head coach when Hayes left to go to Ohio State.  Then it was on to Northwestern, where he took over for Lou Saban.

After retiring from Notre Dame, Parseghian became a color analyst for ABC Sports’ regional and national college football broadcasts, a job he held until he began working for CBS in 1982.

Mark R. was a freshman at Notre Dame when the “Ara era” began in the fall of ’64.

“They beat Wisconsin 31-7 in Madison in the first game and when the team showed up afterwards the entire campus was going crazy.  Almost everyone met the two team buses as they approached Notre Dame Ave. and the buses were unable to move due to the crowds.

“The next week was the first Pep rally I attended and I don’t believe there was ever a better one than on that Friday night.  I had just returned from dinner and had no idea what was about to happen. Right outside my dorm, Cavanaugh Hall, was the entrance to the old field house where the marching band was gathering.  Five minutes later they started playing the ND Victory March while they went around the main quad and then back to the field house.  By that time there were at least 6,000 crazed students following the band and cramming into the building.  At the opposite end from the basketball court was a balcony where the football team sat while Ara addressed the masses.  He was unable to speak for at least 5 full minutes as the students chanted his name.  When he was finally able to he predicted that this was in fact a new time for ND football and that this year’s team was something very special.

“The next day they played Purdue, who had Bob Griese, and the Irish destroyed them 34-15. Seems Ara saw something in a second teamer by the name of John Huarte and made him the starting quarterback, throwing to some kid named Jack Snow.  He also saw something in a third string defensive end who was tall and skinny and didn’t show well in practice but Ara thought he had a special attitude in the games. His name was Alan Page.  He spent that game chasing Griese all around the stadium. Ara could judge talent.

“Ara Parseghian was special and it shocked the entire Irish world when he retired at 51.  He was a class act and Notre Dame was a better place with him.  I’m glad I was there!!”

The other day I was thinking about my childhood and growing up a big-time college football fan, 1968-76, ages 10 to 18.  This happened to be as good an era for college football as any in history.  Look at the major programs then and who was at the helm during this entire time.

Penn State...Joe Paterno
Ohio State...Woody Hayes
Michigan...Bo Schembechler
Nebraska...Bob Devaney, then Tom Osborne
Oklahoma...Chuck Fairbanks, then Barry Switzer
Alabama...Bear Bryant
USC...John McKay, then John Robinson (1976)
Texas...Darrell Royal
Arkansas...Frank Broyles
Notre Dame...Ara Parseghian (thru ’74), then Dan Devine

And there was Pitt, which I grew up a big fan of because my parents both went there.  We would go to one Army game a year up at West Point, and Pitt played there every other year, but boy did we suck.  The Panthers were 1-10 in 1972 under Carl DePasqua (heck, picture this...Pitt was 1-9 each of 1966, ’67 and ’68!).

But then Johnny Majors came along in 1973 and he brought some freshman sensation by the name of Tony Dorsett with him and the Panthers gradually got better each year, especially on defense, which is often forgotten...6-5-1, 7-4-1, 8-4 and then the national championship season of 1976, 12-0.  This was also a time when the Steelers were emerging and the city of Pittsburgh was going absolutely crazy with football.  [For new readers, I went to the Nov. 15, 1975, game against Notre Dame when Dorsett rushed for 303 yards.  No one had ever had 200 against ND.  The next day my uncle took me to Three Rivers Stadium to see the Steelers thrash the Chiefs 28-3, holding the Chiefs to 201 yards of total offense.  Now that was a helluva football weekend for the kid.]

Anyway, consider this about college football back in my prime era.  There were just 11 bowl games...Orange, Rose, Sugar, Cotton, Gator, Peach, Tangerine, Liberty, Sun and Bluebonnet Bowl (Astrodome), with the Fiesta Bowl having been added in 1971.  You had to watch every one of the 11. They were all important!

--We also note the passing of former Florida quarterback John Reaves, who at the time of his finishing his college career was the NCAA’s career passing leader.  Reaves was 67 and the cause was undetermined.

Reaves struggled with drug and alcohol addiction for most of his career as an NFL journeyman, after he was a first-round pick of the Philadelphia Eagles in 1972.  He went on to coach eight years in the SEC, at Florida and the University of South Carolina.

But it was as a college player where he made his mark, a time when 200 yards passing in a game was big stuff.  Reaves threw for a school-record 342 yards and five touchdowns in his first game at Florida, breaking the mark of the 1966 Heisman Trophy winner, Steve Spurrier.  He left Florida as the NCAA’s career passing leader, throwing for 7,581 yards and an SEC-record 54 touchdowns.

Reaves, receiver Carlos Alvarez and running back Tommy Durrance formed the heart of the so-called Super Sophs who finished 9-1-1 in 1969.

But his most memorable moment came in the 1971 season finale against Miami, the Gators leading 45-8, late in the fourth quarter, when the Florida defense fell to the turf, letting the Hurricanes score so Reaves could get the ball one more time and get the 15 yards he needed to break Jim Plunkett’s NCAA passing record.  After the game, Miami Coach Fran Curci refused to shake Florida Coach Doug Dickey’s hand.

In more recent years, John Reaves had some run-ins with the law.

Golf Balls

--At the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, Rory McIlroy had a new caddie, childhood buddy and best man at his recent wedding, Harry Diamond.  At a press conference before the tournament began, Rory said of his relationship with long-time caddie J.P. Fitzgerald:

“J.P. has been a huge part of my life for the last decade. A lot of great times on and off the golf course. I still consider J.P. one of my best friends, but sometimes to preserve a personal relationship you might have to sacrifice a professional one and that was sort of the decision that I came to in the end.”

McIlroy said he was taking out his frustrations for a bad shot or bad decision on Fitzgerald instead of himself. He also said, “There’s nothing to say that J.P. mightn’t work for me again at some point.”

Diamond has caddied for Rory before, and he was a very good amateur player, including being a member of the Irish amateur national team.

Rory did alright...finishing T-5 and certainly showing signs he is ready to return to Quail Hollow for the PGA next week.

But the winner, 25-year-old Hideki Matsuyama, shot an unreal final round 61, tying the all-time course record at Firestone.  Talk about a masterful performance. It is his third win of the year, fifth of his career, and against a field that had 49 of the top 50 in the world.  Like with Rory, on to the PGA, which is shaping up on paper to be potentially spectacular...Spieth, Rory back, Koepka, Matsuyama, and the grizzled veteran, Charley Hoffman.

Hoffman? He finished third (Zach Johnson was second); Hoffman’s fourth top 10 in six starts, 8 this year, but no wins.

Here’s one thing we can safely say today.  The sport of golf is truly loaded.  The majors should be awesome the next 10+ years.

--I had no problem with Steph Curry receiving a sponsor’s exemption to play in a Web.com Tour event this week, though some in the golfing community were bent out of shape in that this was taking a spot away from a struggling pro trying to make it in the sport.  But I have to admit, I, like a lot of people, was surprised that while he didn’t make the cut, he shot 74-74.  Hell, that’s pretty, pretty good. Curry said after he exceeded his own expectations.

Warriors fans needn’t worry, however.  Curry will show up first day of training camp.  He’s not pulling a Michael Jordan just yet.

World Track and Field Championships

--For those of us who follow the sport, we’ve known for a long time that Usain Bolt’s last performance was going to be the 100 in London at the World Championships this week.  Many questioned why he didn’t go out on top after winning another double, 100m/200m (and 4X100 relay) in Rio.  After all, it was his third straight Olympics accomplishing the feat (one year, 2008, the gold was later stripped in the 4X100 when a teammate tested positive).  He had a flawless record in the Worlds, too, save for the one time he false-started out of a 100 in 2011.  [It’s 8 Olympic golds and 11 world championship golds.]

But out of nowhere on Saturday, it wasn’t American upstart Christian Coleman who upset Bolt in the 100 in London Saturday night, though Coleman did beat Bolt, but veteran Justin Gatlin, who looked very mediocre in the qualifying heats, barely making the field for the final, yet there he was taking the gold.

Gatlin, 35, won the World Championships in the 100 twelve years ago!  Then he was in a steroids controversy wilderness, much of which I’ve captured in these pages through my attendance at the 2004, ‘08, and ‘12 U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials in Eugene.

But Saturday, running far outside of Bolt and Coleman in Lane 8, Gatlin sprung a surprise at the end in a photo finish with a terrific final 50; Bolt focused futilely on catching Coleman. Final...Gatlin, Coleman and Bolt.

Bolt was all class afterwards, saying, “I’m just sorry I couldn’t end it on a winning note.  It doesn’t change anything for me.  I think I lost the race to a great competitor.”

And referring to 21-year-old Coleman, the future of the sport (along with South Africa’s Wayne Van Niekerk), Bolt said: “I came in third to a young kid that is coming up.  He has a great talent and great future ahead of him.  So no regrets. I came out and did my best....I’ve done all I can do for the sport and for myself.  It’s time to go.”

Bolt is slated to run the 4X100 relay next weekend, but what an impact he had on the sport at a most troubled time, with the ongoing steroids issues that continue to strip past medalists, in both the Olympics and World Championships, many won long ago.

No one has been more popular, worldwide, than Bolt has and his absence will be sorely felt.  It wasn’t just that he dominated, it was his charisma, and openness with the press, and that “lovin’ life” attitude so often missing with world class athletes.

On steroids, Bolt told the BBC that “the sport will die” if athletes continue doping.  Bolt has probably been tested more than any athlete alive.

For his part, Gatlin said he hopes athletics can be proud of him as world champion and wants his shocking victory to inspire others to come back from mistakes.

Gatlin has been banned twice for doping and was booed throughout the event.  Kelly Sotherton, a three-time Olympic bronze medalist, told BBC Radio 5 that his win “made a mockery of the sport” for her personally.

“Some say he’s done his time and paid for his crime and should be able to compete, however I don’t feel that way.  Why should we celebrate Gatlin’s win? No one wants to see someone in their mid-thirties who has had two drugs bans win the 100m.”

Gatlin’s two failed tests were in 2001 and 2006. He avoided a lifetime ban after cooperating with the authorities, accepting an 8-year suspension that was then reduced to four on appeal.

The 35-year-old was gracious in praising Bolt.  “Tonight is Usain Bolt’s night....He’s pushed me and inspired me through the years.”

Bolt said of his fellow competitor, “You have to be at your best and I wasn’t and that’s what I respect about him because he competes and I really appreciate competing with him.  He’s an excellent person, as far as I’m concerned.”

--Great Britain’s Mo Farrah won his 10th consecutive global distance title in taking gold in the 10,000 meters, just as he had done in the London Olympics in 2012.

--I saw the entire women’s 10,000 on Saturday, won in spectacular fashion by Ethiopia’s Ayana, the world record holder, setting that in Rio.  Talk about spectacular, Ayana went off with a slow first 5,000, just 15:51, then ripped off an astounding final 5,000 of 14:25, which was better than her 14:30 pace in the second half of her world record performance in the Olympics.  I mean she won the thing by like 300 meters!  [Lapping my new favorite runner, non-American category, Camille Buscomb of New Zealand.  Cough cough....cough....]

--They ran the marathons today.  Geoffrey Kipkorir of Kenya won the men’s, while Rose Chelimo of Kenya, but running for Bahrain, won the women’s over Edna Kiplagat of Kenya.  Amy Cragg of the U.S., though, took the bronze, the first American woman on a marathon podium at the world’s since 1983!  You go, girl!

--And in the women’s 100m, America’s Torie Bowie won the gold in a phenomenal photo finish, much like Justin Gatlin’s, as somehow she leaned across (remember, body, not the feet), to take first over Marie-Josee Ta Lou of the Ivory Coast, with Dafne Schippers of the Netherlands third.  [You have to be a track junkie like moi to understand this bronze for Schippers is way cool.]  Elaine Thompson of Jamaica was fourth as the U.S. wins its first gold in the 100 in the world championships since 2011.  Love the women tracksters! 

NASCAR

Back in my youth, Dad chauffeured my racing fanatic brother and the rest of us up to Watkins Glen...and then out to Bridgehampton...to catch Can-Am races in their heyday.  Boy, Dad was a most patient sort, at least outwardly, because while I remember a little of the actual racing at these spots, I do remember the traffic jams on the rides home were horrific.

So I thought of this watching today’s NASCAR event at Watkins Glen, a most picturesque spot in upstate New York.  Martin Truex Jr. captured his fourth win of the year with a great run, fuel literally running out as he crossed the finish line.

But for those few of you who play Draft Kings for NASCAR, boy, my emotions were on a major rollercoaster the last six laps.  I went from winning major bucks, to not winning anything, to, out of nowhere, winning coin on the very last lap as guys ran out of fuel, or pitted to get fuel so they could finish, you name it.  I was stunned.  [It helps make up for the fact I’m on a seven-week losing streak in golf.]

Stuff

--25-year-old Brazilian sensation Neymar is now on PSG, Paris St-Germain, after PSG paid a record-breaking $263 million transfer fee.  In his first comments in Paris after leaving Barcelona, Neymar said he wasn’t motivated by any desire for riches, but, “What I think about is happiness.  If I was following the money I would maybe be in some other country.”

Instead, it was all about making PSG an elite European soccer team.

“I want to write history here.  This is the only reason,” Neymar said.  “Our biggest challenge is the Champions League, but there are other trophies too.”

PSG has earned top honors in France’s Ligue 1 four straight seasons, from 2012 to 2016 before getting bumped to second by Monaco last season.

But the real crown for European soccer is the Champions League title and PSG, while qualifying in the past five competitions, hasn’t gotten past the quarterfinals, including in an improbable loss to Barcelona this past season, Barca featuring Neymar.

Club President Nasser Al-Khelaifi said he estimates that PSG added $500 million to the value of the franchise by signing Neymar.  Fans are already gobbling up Neymar jerseys, and they aren’t cheap...like $185 a pop!

Great piece in the current issue of Sports Illustrated on the lad.  He sounds like a good kid.  And with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo rapidly nearing the end of their spectacular careers, Neymar becomes the face of world football.

He is committed to PSG until June 2022.  Media reports have him earning about 550,000 euros, or $650,000 per week.

--Ticket sales are not going well for the Conor McGregor-Floyd Mayweather novelty fight in Vegas in less than three weeks.  It’s about the prices.  According to the Irish Independent (which reported that Irish travel agents have reported a decrease in the amount of bookings they have taken vs. previous McGregor fights), “the cheapest tickets on Ticketmaster have a face value of $2,000 (1,693 euro at $1.18).”  Holy freakin’ Toledo!  This is beyond absurd.  [According to the same article from Saturday, so this isn’t old information, tickets in the “lower corner” are “133,916 euro”, or $158,000.  You can’t make this up.]

Why the heck would you even contemplate attending this fiasco?!  And there are stories out there that one of McGregor’s sparring partners quit because McGregor’s team was faking posts of pictures showing this guy on the canvas, when McGregor, according to the sparring partner, pushed him down.  In other words, McGregor, when boxing, isn’t worth a [darn].

I really, really want Mayweather to knock McGregor out of the ring...just send him flying into the $200,000 seats.  I mean it would suck having a sweaty, bloody body flying into your lap, know what I’m sayin’?

--Stan Wawrinka dropped out of the U.S. Open because of an injured knee and will sit out the rest of 2017, so he joins Novak Djokovic on the shelf ahead of tennis’ final major, which begins Aug. 28.

Wawrinka defeated Djokovic in the final of last year’s Open.

Andy Murray has also been struggling with injury issues, in his case a balky hip, and he withdrew from next week’s Rogers Cup in Montreal.

--Michael Jordan, during a Q&A with campers at his Flight School summer basketball camp, said Kawhi Leonard was “the best two-way player in the game right now.”  LeBron couldn’t have been happy to hear this.

--We note the passing of Dickie Hemric, the leading scorer and rebounder in Wake Forest hoops history.  He was 83.

Hemric scored 2,587 points, while pulling down an ACC record 1,802 rebounds while playing for the Deacs from 1952-55, winning back-to-back ACC player of the year awards.

He was selected 10th overall by the Celtics and won one NBA title with them before retiring in 1957.

--I watched the Whitney Stakes at Saratoga on Saturday and Gun Runner blew away the field, so he’s one of the definitive faves for the Breeders’ Cup Classic in the fall.  Arrogate runs again in two weeks and all eyes will be on him to see if he can recover from his dud last time out.

--The Washington Post’s Karin Brulliard had a story the other day on a momentous event in the history of the National Park Service and our relations with bears.

“Patrol ranger Bert Gildart was driving down the highest pass in Glacier National Park just after midnight on Aug. 13, 1967, when a woman’s voice suddenly crackled over his two-way radio. It was another ranger, and she had a horrifying message: A grizzly bear had mauled someone at the popular Granite Park guest chalet.

“Gildart called for help, setting in motion an urgent medical mission.  Hours later, as he slept in his apartment at park headquarters, a colleague knocked on his door.

“ ‘He said: Bert, you’ve got to get up. There’s been a grizzly bear mauling,’” recalled Gildart, now 77.  ‘I said, ‘I know.’  He said: ‘No: There’s been another one.’’

“The information, Gildart says today, was ‘mind-boggling,’ and for good reason.  The park, nearly 1,600 square miles of stunning peaks and valleys in northwest Montana, had recorded no grizzly-caused human fatalities since it was established in 1910.  Then, on one night, two bears in spots several miles apart killed two campers.  Both victims were 19-year-old women.”

The impact of these deaths has echoed through the years and can even be seen in the recent decision to remove Yellowstone-area grizzlies from the endangered species list. John Waller, Glacier’s bear biologist, said, “It was a watershed moment for bear management, not just in Glacier but the whole National Park Service.  It fundamentally changed how we view our relationship with bears.”

At the time, various wild theories were put forward for the twin killings, but in the end it came down to human food and garbage.

Glacier’s tourism had exploded in the 1960s, from about 100,000 visitors between 1910 and 1920, to nearly 1 million people a year, and more of them were heading into the backcountry.  Granite Park Chalet, for example, “had so many visitors in 1967 that its incinerator could not contain all their trash, and managers discarded the excess in a gully behind the facility.  Soon the grizzly bears’ nightly foraging there became a tourist attraction.”  [Karen Brulliard]  This was bound to end badly.  There simply was no wilderness ethic in those days.  Campers just left their trash all over the place, and it didn’t take long before the bears began to associate food with people.

But this also meant that with regards to the two killings, the immediate response was to kill the bears near the two sites. Within two days, rangers had fatally shot three bears.

By 1975, the policy of killing off the bears, or sending them to zoos, resulted in the grizzly’s inclusion on the endangered species list.

Since 1967, grizzlies have killed eight more people in Glacier.

--Goodness gracious.  I saw a picture in the local paper of a 926-pound mako shark caught in the waters off New Jersey the other day.  That would be a record for the state, 70 pounds heavier than the 856-pounder caught in 1994, but the 926-lb., 12-foot beast won’t be recognized as a record because multiple people hauled it in.

The international record for a mako is 1,221 pounds, caught off Massachusetts in 2001.

--Johnny Mac alerted me to a new product from the good folks at Krispy Kreme...Reese’s Peanut Butter Doughnut!  Talk about drooling.  According to Krispy Kreme’s release, they are “filled with a Reese’s Peanut Butter Kreme filling, dipped in chocolate icing and topped with a chocolate and peanut butter drizzle, and Reese’s Mini Peanut Butter chips and peanuts.”

Oh, baby.  Sadly, we’re also being told this is for a limited time only.  I think I’d have to buy 100 and freeze them.

Where’s my bib?!

Top 3 songs for the week 8/5/67: #1 “Light My Fire” (The Doors)  #2 “I Was Made To Love Her” (Stevie Wonder)  #3 “All You Need Is Love” (The Beatles)...and...#4 “Windy” (The Association)  #5 “A Whiter Shade Of Pale” (Procol Harum)  #6 “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” (Frankie Valli)  #7 “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy” (The Buckinghams)  #8 “White Rabbit” (Jefferson Airplane)  #9 “Pleasant Valley Sunday” (The Monkees) #10 “Little Bit O’ Soul” (The Music Explosion...awesome week...1967, all-around, with acts like The Doors moving in, probably the best year of the ‘60s...just sayin’....)

Texas Rangers Quiz Answers: 1) Only 16-game winner for Senators: Dick Bosman, 1970. 2) Only three to win 20 games: Fergie Jenkins, 25, 1974; Kevin Brown, 21, 1992; Rick Helling, 20, 1998.  [If you got Helling, you’re good.]  3) First to hit .330: Mickey Rivers, .333, 1980. 4) Frank Howard, 48, 1969, was single-season HR leader until A-Rod’s 52 in 2001. [Howard had 44, 48, and 44, 1968-70.]  5) Three to steal 50 bases: Bump Wills, 52, 1978; Dave Nelson, 51, 1972; Otis Nixon, 50, 1995.

Next Bar Chat, Thursday.



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Bar Chat

08/07/2017

Gatlin Beats Bolt

[Posted Sunday p.m., prior to Mets-Dodgers.  Geezuz, I hate Sunday night baseball.  Now if you live on the west coast, you probably think it’s great.]

Texas Rangers Quiz (including Washington Senators, 1961-71): 1) In the Senators’ 11 seasons, only one pitcher won as many as 16 games in a season.  Name him.  2) Who are the only three in Rangers history to win 20 games?  3) Who was the first to hit .330 in a season? [Hint: 1980] 4) Who was single-season home run leader until A-Rod hit 52 in 2001?  5) Who are the only three to steal 50 bases?  [Hint: 1972, ’75, ‘95]  Answers below.

MLB

--After the Yankees’ 7-2 loss Friday night (Jaime Garcia’s debut...4 2/3, 5 earned), manager Joe Girardi, who seldom criticizes his players, like really seldom, lit into catcher Gary Sanchez, who was 2016’s Boy Wonder.

After Sanchez gave up his league-leading 12th passed ball and a pair of wild pitches (as the Yankees overall were beyond atrocious in the field), and going 0-for-4, Girardi said, “He needs to improve.  Bottom line, he needs to improve.”

Through Friday, the Yanks were 19-28 after starting out 38-23.

But Saturday they had a crisp 2-1 win, with some sparkling plays in the field and 4 innings of shutdown relief.

And then Sunday, the Yanks went with ace Luis Severino and he came through again, 6 2/3, 1 run, 2 hits, 9 Ks, as New York beat Cleveland 8-1. Severino is 9-4, 2.91 ERA, and the W/L record could be better.  Yankees fans are also breathing easier because the slumping Aaron Judge hit a 3-run homer, his 35th. 

[I should also note that since my last chat, Sonny Gray made his debut last Thursday in a 5-1 loss to Cleveland, but he pitched well, 6 innings, 2 earned, only to be let down by the defense.  The Indians’ Corey Kluber threw a complete game, with 11 strikeouts, to move to 9-3, 2.77.]

So after the past two days, have the Yankees’ righted the ship?  We need a few more games to say ‘yes’.

A.L. East

Boston 63-49...six-game winning streak
New York 59-51...3

What a pickup for Boston in obtaining Eduardo Nunez, who is hitting .417 in his first 35 at-bats, 3 homers, 11 RBIs.

--Gee, what can you say about the New York Metropolitans, otherwise known as the Metsies, the Mutts, err, Mets.  The Dodgers were in town this weekend, only the greatest team Major League Baseball has seen since the 1927 Yankees (110-44, sweep World Series 4-0, Gehrig 47 HR 173 RBI .373; Ruth 60-165, .356), or so it seems.

Friday, the Mets had to deal with the Dodgers’ Yu Darvish, making his debut in an L.A. uniform, and he threw seven shutout innings, 10 strikeouts, Dodgers win 6-0, besting our only pitcher worth a damn, Jacob deGrom, now 12-5.

L.A. then beat the Mets 7-4 on Saturday at Citi Field, making it 43 of their last 50...43-7...the best 50-game stretch in baseball history since the 1912 New York Giants!  As Ronald Reagan would have said, ‘Not bad, not bad at all.’  [When the Braves beat the Dodgers 5-3 on Wednesday, it ended another remarkable streak of 53 consecutive wins when leading at any point of a game.  The Dodgers led this one 1-0 and 3-2.  When I first heard of this streak I couldn’t even wrap my head around it.  It’s unfathomable.]

The Dodgers are to be celebrated, regardless of who you root for.  I now hope they win it all.

But you know what’s scary?  The Dodgers’ core...Bellinger, 22; Seager, 23; the emerging Chris Taylor, 26; the guy who seems to have finally found inner-peace, Yasiel Puig, 26; Joc Pederson, 25.  Good lord.  And the resources to always go after a Yu Darvish when most needed.

--Mets management has made no secret of the fact they gave Tim Tebow a contract for the “entertainment” value, as GM Sandy Alderson once put it, but it’s been nice Tebow has hit a few homeruns as an added attraction.  The guy puts fannies in the seats and his latest club, High-A St. Lucie, announced the other day they had already achieved a new single-season home attendance record of 108,057.

--Bartolo Colon at the age of 44 became the oldest A.L. pitcher since Nolan Ryan in 1992 to pitch a complete game victory, when he went the distance against the Texas Rangers on Friday in an 8-4 win, his first of the season for Minnesota.

--The Giants activated Pablo Sandoval, who hasn’t played for them since Game 7 of the 2014 World Series, after which he signed that disastrous free-agent contract with Boston (disastrous for the Red Sox, mucho dinero for Sandoval).

--One other note from Thursday.  Arizona’s Paul Goldschmidt had three home runs and six RBIs in a 10-8 win over the Cubs.  After Sunday’s play, he’s at 25 homers, 89 RBIs, to go with a .323 batting average.  He’s 29, and needs at least five more real solid seasons, but we could be watching a Hall of Famer.

--I’m trying to follow all the Wake Forest players in the minors these days, and one recent seventh-round pick of the Oakland A’s, pitcher Parker Dunshee, is off to a pretty good start.  Playing in the New York Penn League, Dunshee has thrown 24 innings, giving up just 11 hits and 0 runs.  I’d say he probably gets to stick around at least one more season.

Two second-rounders, Stuart Fairchild (Cincinnati) and Gavin Sheets (Chicago White Sox)  have done OK thus far.  Seventh-rounder Ben Breazeale (Baltimore) is batting around .370, which they say is decent.

Last year’s first-rounder, Wil Craig (Pittsburgh) is batting .280 at High-A.  He has yet to bust through on the power front, which he’s going to need to do at some point next year at Double-A, or the Pirates will begin to think this was a total bust.

NFL

--Seven were inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday: Kicker Morten Andersen (the purest placekicker of all time); running back Terrell Davis, safety Kenny Easley, owner Jerry Jones, defensive end Jason Taylor, running back LaDainian Tomlinson, and quarterback Kurt Warner.

Tomlinson stole the show with his speech calling for “Team America.”

“Football is a microcosm of America,” Tomlinson said.  “All races, religions and creeds, living, playing, competing side by side.  When you’re part of a team, you understand your teammates – their strengths and weaknesses – and work together toward the same goal, to win a championship.

“Let’s not choose to be against one another.  Let’s choose to be for one another. I pray we dedicate ourselves to being the best team we can be, working and living together, representing the highest ideals of mankind. Leading the way for all nations to follow.”

Andersen joined Jan Stenerud as the only placekickers in Canton and is the league’s career scoring leader after an incredible 25 seasons.

And Kurt Warner is one helluva story, from Arena Football and NFL Europe to the Hall of Fame.

--All-time great quarterback Jim Plunkett, now 69, gave an interview to the San Jose Mercury News on Friday in which he discusses being in constant pain, remembering 10 concussions suffered while assuming there were many more and saying: “My life sucks.  It’s no fun in this body right now. Everything hurts.”

Plunkett has undergone 18 surgeries and now suffers from Bell’s palsy, which a neurologist told him is the reason behind his vicious headaches.

He takes six pills in the morning, seven at night for his heart, blood pressure and other problems.

--Boy, I’m sick of hearing how various NFL teams are in the wrong for not wanting to take a look at quarterback Colin Kaepernick.  It is every team’s right not to want to take on a huge distraction, even if he might be more talented than what they already have on the roster.  Plus, it’s not as if Kaepernick has been playing great the past few years. 

--But among the teams that would be interested in Kaepernick are the Dolphins, who appear to have lost Ryan Tannehill to a season-ending knee injury, even though initial reports said there was no structural damage. Surgery still appears to be in the cards.  Owner Stephen Ross said he was open to Kaepernick being on the squad.

However, this just in...Jay Cutler has agreed to come out of retirement, signing a one-year, $10 million contract with Miami to play for his old offensive coordinator, Adam Gase, when he was with the Bears in 2015.  So much for that opportunity for Kaepernick.  On to the Ravens, the coaching staff wanting him, but apparently not the owner.

By the way, did you know Miami hasn’t had a Pro Bowl quarterback since Dan Marino in 1995?

College Football

It’s just around the corner, kids.

Preseason Coaches’ Poll

1. Alabama (49)
2. Ohio State (5)
3. Florida State (4)
4. Southern Cal
5. Clemson (7)
6. Penn State
7. Washington
8. Oklahoma
9. Michigan
10. Wisconsin
11. Oklahoma State

No Notre Dame in top 25.  Or Wake Forest.

Poor Wake...we have Florida State, Clemson and 17 Louisville on our schedule, plus we travel to South Bend for Notre Dame.

--So a few words on the passing of coaching legend Ara Parseghian, who died last week at the age of 94.

After starting out at Miami of Ohio and Northwestern, where he coached the latter from 1956 to 1963, Parseghian took over a struggling Notre Dame program that had finished 2-7 in 1963 and hadn’t been above .500 since a 6-4 season in 1958.  He promptly guided the Fighting Irish to an AP Top Ten finish each of his first seven seasons at the helm, including the national title in 1966, and then another in 1973.  Parseghian would retire after a 10-2 campaign in 1974 at the age of 51.

Overall, in 11 seasons in South Bend, Parseghian had a 95-17-4 record, including 1966’s “Game of the Century,” the 10-10 tie with Michigan State that is my first vivid memory of watching college football as an 8-year-old.

“We didn’t go for a tie; the game ended in a tie,” Parseghian would tell the Chicago Tribune in 2016 when reminded how often he was criticized for letting the clock run down.  “...Somebody ought to wake up to that.”

Ara Parseghian was known as a great communicator, “a beautiful football strategist...who didn’t resort to gimmicks,” as former Northwestern center Jay Robertson recalled.

“On Monday we’d go over the scouting reports and Ara had you sold,” Robertson said.  “His facts were straight and he had a machine-gun delivery: ‘Boys, they can’t cover this! And if they do, this will be open.’  You’d leave the room and say, ‘I don’t care who we’re playing, we’re gonna kick their butt!’”

Parseghian played his college ball at the University of Akron, but he left school to enlist in the Navy.  After his stint ended, he played for Miami University in Ohio.

He played briefly with the Cleveland Browns and began his coaching career at Miami in 1950, when Woody Hayes hired him to run the freshman team.  He then took over as head coach when Hayes left to go to Ohio State.  Then it was on to Northwestern, where he took over for Lou Saban.

After retiring from Notre Dame, Parseghian became a color analyst for ABC Sports’ regional and national college football broadcasts, a job he held until he began working for CBS in 1982.

Mark R. was a freshman at Notre Dame when the “Ara era” began in the fall of ’64.

“They beat Wisconsin 31-7 in Madison in the first game and when the team showed up afterwards the entire campus was going crazy.  Almost everyone met the two team buses as they approached Notre Dame Ave. and the buses were unable to move due to the crowds.

“The next week was the first Pep rally I attended and I don’t believe there was ever a better one than on that Friday night.  I had just returned from dinner and had no idea what was about to happen. Right outside my dorm, Cavanaugh Hall, was the entrance to the old field house where the marching band was gathering.  Five minutes later they started playing the ND Victory March while they went around the main quad and then back to the field house.  By that time there were at least 6,000 crazed students following the band and cramming into the building.  At the opposite end from the basketball court was a balcony where the football team sat while Ara addressed the masses.  He was unable to speak for at least 5 full minutes as the students chanted his name.  When he was finally able to he predicted that this was in fact a new time for ND football and that this year’s team was something very special.

“The next day they played Purdue, who had Bob Griese, and the Irish destroyed them 34-15. Seems Ara saw something in a second teamer by the name of John Huarte and made him the starting quarterback, throwing to some kid named Jack Snow.  He also saw something in a third string defensive end who was tall and skinny and didn’t show well in practice but Ara thought he had a special attitude in the games. His name was Alan Page.  He spent that game chasing Griese all around the stadium. Ara could judge talent.

“Ara Parseghian was special and it shocked the entire Irish world when he retired at 51.  He was a class act and Notre Dame was a better place with him.  I’m glad I was there!!”

The other day I was thinking about my childhood and growing up a big-time college football fan, 1968-76, ages 10 to 18.  This happened to be as good an era for college football as any in history.  Look at the major programs then and who was at the helm during this entire time.

Penn State...Joe Paterno
Ohio State...Woody Hayes
Michigan...Bo Schembechler
Nebraska...Bob Devaney, then Tom Osborne
Oklahoma...Chuck Fairbanks, then Barry Switzer
Alabama...Bear Bryant
USC...John McKay, then John Robinson (1976)
Texas...Darrell Royal
Arkansas...Frank Broyles
Notre Dame...Ara Parseghian (thru ’74), then Dan Devine

And there was Pitt, which I grew up a big fan of because my parents both went there.  We would go to one Army game a year up at West Point, and Pitt played there every other year, but boy did we suck.  The Panthers were 1-10 in 1972 under Carl DePasqua (heck, picture this...Pitt was 1-9 each of 1966, ’67 and ’68!).

But then Johnny Majors came along in 1973 and he brought some freshman sensation by the name of Tony Dorsett with him and the Panthers gradually got better each year, especially on defense, which is often forgotten...6-5-1, 7-4-1, 8-4 and then the national championship season of 1976, 12-0.  This was also a time when the Steelers were emerging and the city of Pittsburgh was going absolutely crazy with football.  [For new readers, I went to the Nov. 15, 1975, game against Notre Dame when Dorsett rushed for 303 yards.  No one had ever had 200 against ND.  The next day my uncle took me to Three Rivers Stadium to see the Steelers thrash the Chiefs 28-3, holding the Chiefs to 201 yards of total offense.  Now that was a helluva football weekend for the kid.]

Anyway, consider this about college football back in my prime era.  There were just 11 bowl games...Orange, Rose, Sugar, Cotton, Gator, Peach, Tangerine, Liberty, Sun and Bluebonnet Bowl (Astrodome), with the Fiesta Bowl having been added in 1971.  You had to watch every one of the 11. They were all important!

--We also note the passing of former Florida quarterback John Reaves, who at the time of his finishing his college career was the NCAA’s career passing leader.  Reaves was 67 and the cause was undetermined.

Reaves struggled with drug and alcohol addiction for most of his career as an NFL journeyman, after he was a first-round pick of the Philadelphia Eagles in 1972.  He went on to coach eight years in the SEC, at Florida and the University of South Carolina.

But it was as a college player where he made his mark, a time when 200 yards passing in a game was big stuff.  Reaves threw for a school-record 342 yards and five touchdowns in his first game at Florida, breaking the mark of the 1966 Heisman Trophy winner, Steve Spurrier.  He left Florida as the NCAA’s career passing leader, throwing for 7,581 yards and an SEC-record 54 touchdowns.

Reaves, receiver Carlos Alvarez and running back Tommy Durrance formed the heart of the so-called Super Sophs who finished 9-1-1 in 1969.

But his most memorable moment came in the 1971 season finale against Miami, the Gators leading 45-8, late in the fourth quarter, when the Florida defense fell to the turf, letting the Hurricanes score so Reaves could get the ball one more time and get the 15 yards he needed to break Jim Plunkett’s NCAA passing record.  After the game, Miami Coach Fran Curci refused to shake Florida Coach Doug Dickey’s hand.

In more recent years, John Reaves had some run-ins with the law.

Golf Balls

--At the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, Rory McIlroy had a new caddie, childhood buddy and best man at his recent wedding, Harry Diamond.  At a press conference before the tournament began, Rory said of his relationship with long-time caddie J.P. Fitzgerald:

“J.P. has been a huge part of my life for the last decade. A lot of great times on and off the golf course. I still consider J.P. one of my best friends, but sometimes to preserve a personal relationship you might have to sacrifice a professional one and that was sort of the decision that I came to in the end.”

McIlroy said he was taking out his frustrations for a bad shot or bad decision on Fitzgerald instead of himself. He also said, “There’s nothing to say that J.P. mightn’t work for me again at some point.”

Diamond has caddied for Rory before, and he was a very good amateur player, including being a member of the Irish amateur national team.

Rory did alright...finishing T-5 and certainly showing signs he is ready to return to Quail Hollow for the PGA next week.

But the winner, 25-year-old Hideki Matsuyama, shot an unreal final round 61, tying the all-time course record at Firestone.  Talk about a masterful performance. It is his third win of the year, fifth of his career, and against a field that had 49 of the top 50 in the world.  Like with Rory, on to the PGA, which is shaping up on paper to be potentially spectacular...Spieth, Rory back, Koepka, Matsuyama, and the grizzled veteran, Charley Hoffman.

Hoffman? He finished third (Zach Johnson was second); Hoffman’s fourth top 10 in six starts, 8 this year, but no wins.

Here’s one thing we can safely say today.  The sport of golf is truly loaded.  The majors should be awesome the next 10+ years.

--I had no problem with Steph Curry receiving a sponsor’s exemption to play in a Web.com Tour event this week, though some in the golfing community were bent out of shape in that this was taking a spot away from a struggling pro trying to make it in the sport.  But I have to admit, I, like a lot of people, was surprised that while he didn’t make the cut, he shot 74-74.  Hell, that’s pretty, pretty good. Curry said after he exceeded his own expectations.

Warriors fans needn’t worry, however.  Curry will show up first day of training camp.  He’s not pulling a Michael Jordan just yet.

World Track and Field Championships

--For those of us who follow the sport, we’ve known for a long time that Usain Bolt’s last performance was going to be the 100 in London at the World Championships this week.  Many questioned why he didn’t go out on top after winning another double, 100m/200m (and 4X100 relay) in Rio.  After all, it was his third straight Olympics accomplishing the feat (one year, 2008, the gold was later stripped in the 4X100 when a teammate tested positive).  He had a flawless record in the Worlds, too, save for the one time he false-started out of a 100 in 2011.  [It’s 8 Olympic golds and 11 world championship golds.]

But out of nowhere on Saturday, it wasn’t American upstart Christian Coleman who upset Bolt in the 100 in London Saturday night, though Coleman did beat Bolt, but veteran Justin Gatlin, who looked very mediocre in the qualifying heats, barely making the field for the final, yet there he was taking the gold.

Gatlin, 35, won the World Championships in the 100 twelve years ago!  Then he was in a steroids controversy wilderness, much of which I’ve captured in these pages through my attendance at the 2004, ‘08, and ‘12 U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials in Eugene.

But Saturday, running far outside of Bolt and Coleman in Lane 8, Gatlin sprung a surprise at the end in a photo finish with a terrific final 50; Bolt focused futilely on catching Coleman. Final...Gatlin, Coleman and Bolt.

Bolt was all class afterwards, saying, “I’m just sorry I couldn’t end it on a winning note.  It doesn’t change anything for me.  I think I lost the race to a great competitor.”

And referring to 21-year-old Coleman, the future of the sport (along with South Africa’s Wayne Van Niekerk), Bolt said: “I came in third to a young kid that is coming up.  He has a great talent and great future ahead of him.  So no regrets. I came out and did my best....I’ve done all I can do for the sport and for myself.  It’s time to go.”

Bolt is slated to run the 4X100 relay next weekend, but what an impact he had on the sport at a most troubled time, with the ongoing steroids issues that continue to strip past medalists, in both the Olympics and World Championships, many won long ago.

No one has been more popular, worldwide, than Bolt has and his absence will be sorely felt.  It wasn’t just that he dominated, it was his charisma, and openness with the press, and that “lovin’ life” attitude so often missing with world class athletes.

On steroids, Bolt told the BBC that “the sport will die” if athletes continue doping.  Bolt has probably been tested more than any athlete alive.

For his part, Gatlin said he hopes athletics can be proud of him as world champion and wants his shocking victory to inspire others to come back from mistakes.

Gatlin has been banned twice for doping and was booed throughout the event.  Kelly Sotherton, a three-time Olympic bronze medalist, told BBC Radio 5 that his win “made a mockery of the sport” for her personally.

“Some say he’s done his time and paid for his crime and should be able to compete, however I don’t feel that way.  Why should we celebrate Gatlin’s win? No one wants to see someone in their mid-thirties who has had two drugs bans win the 100m.”

Gatlin’s two failed tests were in 2001 and 2006. He avoided a lifetime ban after cooperating with the authorities, accepting an 8-year suspension that was then reduced to four on appeal.

The 35-year-old was gracious in praising Bolt.  “Tonight is Usain Bolt’s night....He’s pushed me and inspired me through the years.”

Bolt said of his fellow competitor, “You have to be at your best and I wasn’t and that’s what I respect about him because he competes and I really appreciate competing with him.  He’s an excellent person, as far as I’m concerned.”

--Great Britain’s Mo Farrah won his 10th consecutive global distance title in taking gold in the 10,000 meters, just as he had done in the London Olympics in 2012.

--I saw the entire women’s 10,000 on Saturday, won in spectacular fashion by Ethiopia’s Ayana, the world record holder, setting that in Rio.  Talk about spectacular, Ayana went off with a slow first 5,000, just 15:51, then ripped off an astounding final 5,000 of 14:25, which was better than her 14:30 pace in the second half of her world record performance in the Olympics.  I mean she won the thing by like 300 meters!  [Lapping my new favorite runner, non-American category, Camille Buscomb of New Zealand.  Cough cough....cough....]

--They ran the marathons today.  Geoffrey Kipkorir of Kenya won the men’s, while Rose Chelimo of Kenya, but running for Bahrain, won the women’s over Edna Kiplagat of Kenya.  Amy Cragg of the U.S., though, took the bronze, the first American woman on a marathon podium at the world’s since 1983!  You go, girl!

--And in the women’s 100m, America’s Torie Bowie won the gold in a phenomenal photo finish, much like Justin Gatlin’s, as somehow she leaned across (remember, body, not the feet), to take first over Marie-Josee Ta Lou of the Ivory Coast, with Dafne Schippers of the Netherlands third.  [You have to be a track junkie like moi to understand this bronze for Schippers is way cool.]  Elaine Thompson of Jamaica was fourth as the U.S. wins its first gold in the 100 in the world championships since 2011.  Love the women tracksters! 

NASCAR

Back in my youth, Dad chauffeured my racing fanatic brother and the rest of us up to Watkins Glen...and then out to Bridgehampton...to catch Can-Am races in their heyday.  Boy, Dad was a most patient sort, at least outwardly, because while I remember a little of the actual racing at these spots, I do remember the traffic jams on the rides home were horrific.

So I thought of this watching today’s NASCAR event at Watkins Glen, a most picturesque spot in upstate New York.  Martin Truex Jr. captured his fourth win of the year with a great run, fuel literally running out as he crossed the finish line.

But for those few of you who play Draft Kings for NASCAR, boy, my emotions were on a major rollercoaster the last six laps.  I went from winning major bucks, to not winning anything, to, out of nowhere, winning coin on the very last lap as guys ran out of fuel, or pitted to get fuel so they could finish, you name it.  I was stunned.  [It helps make up for the fact I’m on a seven-week losing streak in golf.]

Stuff

--25-year-old Brazilian sensation Neymar is now on PSG, Paris St-Germain, after PSG paid a record-breaking $263 million transfer fee.  In his first comments in Paris after leaving Barcelona, Neymar said he wasn’t motivated by any desire for riches, but, “What I think about is happiness.  If I was following the money I would maybe be in some other country.”

Instead, it was all about making PSG an elite European soccer team.

“I want to write history here.  This is the only reason,” Neymar said.  “Our biggest challenge is the Champions League, but there are other trophies too.”

PSG has earned top honors in France’s Ligue 1 four straight seasons, from 2012 to 2016 before getting bumped to second by Monaco last season.

But the real crown for European soccer is the Champions League title and PSG, while qualifying in the past five competitions, hasn’t gotten past the quarterfinals, including in an improbable loss to Barcelona this past season, Barca featuring Neymar.

Club President Nasser Al-Khelaifi said he estimates that PSG added $500 million to the value of the franchise by signing Neymar.  Fans are already gobbling up Neymar jerseys, and they aren’t cheap...like $185 a pop!

Great piece in the current issue of Sports Illustrated on the lad.  He sounds like a good kid.  And with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo rapidly nearing the end of their spectacular careers, Neymar becomes the face of world football.

He is committed to PSG until June 2022.  Media reports have him earning about 550,000 euros, or $650,000 per week.

--Ticket sales are not going well for the Conor McGregor-Floyd Mayweather novelty fight in Vegas in less than three weeks.  It’s about the prices.  According to the Irish Independent (which reported that Irish travel agents have reported a decrease in the amount of bookings they have taken vs. previous McGregor fights), “the cheapest tickets on Ticketmaster have a face value of $2,000 (1,693 euro at $1.18).”  Holy freakin’ Toledo!  This is beyond absurd.  [According to the same article from Saturday, so this isn’t old information, tickets in the “lower corner” are “133,916 euro”, or $158,000.  You can’t make this up.]

Why the heck would you even contemplate attending this fiasco?!  And there are stories out there that one of McGregor’s sparring partners quit because McGregor’s team was faking posts of pictures showing this guy on the canvas, when McGregor, according to the sparring partner, pushed him down.  In other words, McGregor, when boxing, isn’t worth a [darn].

I really, really want Mayweather to knock McGregor out of the ring...just send him flying into the $200,000 seats.  I mean it would suck having a sweaty, bloody body flying into your lap, know what I’m sayin’?

--Stan Wawrinka dropped out of the U.S. Open because of an injured knee and will sit out the rest of 2017, so he joins Novak Djokovic on the shelf ahead of tennis’ final major, which begins Aug. 28.

Wawrinka defeated Djokovic in the final of last year’s Open.

Andy Murray has also been struggling with injury issues, in his case a balky hip, and he withdrew from next week’s Rogers Cup in Montreal.

--Michael Jordan, during a Q&A with campers at his Flight School summer basketball camp, said Kawhi Leonard was “the best two-way player in the game right now.”  LeBron couldn’t have been happy to hear this.

--We note the passing of Dickie Hemric, the leading scorer and rebounder in Wake Forest hoops history.  He was 83.

Hemric scored 2,587 points, while pulling down an ACC record 1,802 rebounds while playing for the Deacs from 1952-55, winning back-to-back ACC player of the year awards.

He was selected 10th overall by the Celtics and won one NBA title with them before retiring in 1957.

--I watched the Whitney Stakes at Saratoga on Saturday and Gun Runner blew away the field, so he’s one of the definitive faves for the Breeders’ Cup Classic in the fall.  Arrogate runs again in two weeks and all eyes will be on him to see if he can recover from his dud last time out.

--The Washington Post’s Karin Brulliard had a story the other day on a momentous event in the history of the National Park Service and our relations with bears.

“Patrol ranger Bert Gildart was driving down the highest pass in Glacier National Park just after midnight on Aug. 13, 1967, when a woman’s voice suddenly crackled over his two-way radio. It was another ranger, and she had a horrifying message: A grizzly bear had mauled someone at the popular Granite Park guest chalet.

“Gildart called for help, setting in motion an urgent medical mission.  Hours later, as he slept in his apartment at park headquarters, a colleague knocked on his door.

“ ‘He said: Bert, you’ve got to get up. There’s been a grizzly bear mauling,’” recalled Gildart, now 77.  ‘I said, ‘I know.’  He said: ‘No: There’s been another one.’’

“The information, Gildart says today, was ‘mind-boggling,’ and for good reason.  The park, nearly 1,600 square miles of stunning peaks and valleys in northwest Montana, had recorded no grizzly-caused human fatalities since it was established in 1910.  Then, on one night, two bears in spots several miles apart killed two campers.  Both victims were 19-year-old women.”

The impact of these deaths has echoed through the years and can even be seen in the recent decision to remove Yellowstone-area grizzlies from the endangered species list. John Waller, Glacier’s bear biologist, said, “It was a watershed moment for bear management, not just in Glacier but the whole National Park Service.  It fundamentally changed how we view our relationship with bears.”

At the time, various wild theories were put forward for the twin killings, but in the end it came down to human food and garbage.

Glacier’s tourism had exploded in the 1960s, from about 100,000 visitors between 1910 and 1920, to nearly 1 million people a year, and more of them were heading into the backcountry.  Granite Park Chalet, for example, “had so many visitors in 1967 that its incinerator could not contain all their trash, and managers discarded the excess in a gully behind the facility.  Soon the grizzly bears’ nightly foraging there became a tourist attraction.”  [Karen Brulliard]  This was bound to end badly.  There simply was no wilderness ethic in those days.  Campers just left their trash all over the place, and it didn’t take long before the bears began to associate food with people.

But this also meant that with regards to the two killings, the immediate response was to kill the bears near the two sites. Within two days, rangers had fatally shot three bears.

By 1975, the policy of killing off the bears, or sending them to zoos, resulted in the grizzly’s inclusion on the endangered species list.

Since 1967, grizzlies have killed eight more people in Glacier.

--Goodness gracious.  I saw a picture in the local paper of a 926-pound mako shark caught in the waters off New Jersey the other day.  That would be a record for the state, 70 pounds heavier than the 856-pounder caught in 1994, but the 926-lb., 12-foot beast won’t be recognized as a record because multiple people hauled it in.

The international record for a mako is 1,221 pounds, caught off Massachusetts in 2001.

--Johnny Mac alerted me to a new product from the good folks at Krispy Kreme...Reese’s Peanut Butter Doughnut!  Talk about drooling.  According to Krispy Kreme’s release, they are “filled with a Reese’s Peanut Butter Kreme filling, dipped in chocolate icing and topped with a chocolate and peanut butter drizzle, and Reese’s Mini Peanut Butter chips and peanuts.”

Oh, baby.  Sadly, we’re also being told this is for a limited time only.  I think I’d have to buy 100 and freeze them.

Where’s my bib?!

Top 3 songs for the week 8/5/67: #1 “Light My Fire” (The Doors)  #2 “I Was Made To Love Her” (Stevie Wonder)  #3 “All You Need Is Love” (The Beatles)...and...#4 “Windy” (The Association)  #5 “A Whiter Shade Of Pale” (Procol Harum)  #6 “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” (Frankie Valli)  #7 “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy” (The Buckinghams)  #8 “White Rabbit” (Jefferson Airplane)  #9 “Pleasant Valley Sunday” (The Monkees) #10 “Little Bit O’ Soul” (The Music Explosion...awesome week...1967, all-around, with acts like The Doors moving in, probably the best year of the ‘60s...just sayin’....)

Texas Rangers Quiz Answers: 1) Only 16-game winner for Senators: Dick Bosman, 1970. 2) Only three to win 20 games: Fergie Jenkins, 25, 1974; Kevin Brown, 21, 1992; Rick Helling, 20, 1998.  [If you got Helling, you’re good.]  3) First to hit .330: Mickey Rivers, .333, 1980. 4) Frank Howard, 48, 1969, was single-season HR leader until A-Rod’s 52 in 2001. [Howard had 44, 48, and 44, 1968-70.]  5) Three to steal 50 bases: Bump Wills, 52, 1978; Dave Nelson, 51, 1972; Otis Nixon, 50, 1995.

Next Bar Chat, Thursday.