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Bar Chat

08/14/2017

It's JT at Quail Hollow

Note: Posted Sunday evening before Yankees-Red Sox.

There was a ton going on today and some events are getting short shrift (like the World Track and Field Championships), but I am not missing “Game of Thrones.”  As always, I’ll fill in the blanks next time.

Baseball Quiz: Short-term memory recall time.  Adrian Beltre recently got his 3,000th hit, joining Ichiro as the only two active players at this level.  Name the other eight active players with more than 2,000.  Answer below.

PGA Championship

--What a deserving champion of a major, Justin Thomas, 24, member of the Spieth, Fowler posse (all golf fans now hope Rickie is next at Augusta in the spring).  Thomas, like the others in his group, is pure class...frankly, the Best of America, on this otherwise really lousy weekend for our country.

Thomas, with a final round 68, 3-under, was a two-stroke winner over Francesco Molinari, Louis Oosthuizen, and Patrick Reed.  It was JT’s fourth win of the year. 

What a great job by Charlotte in its support of the tournament, and what a great venue Quail Hollow is.  Here’s hoping it gets a PGA every ten years (and that I see two of them before I leap over the Cliffs of Moher).

There were so many key shots in the final round, but you have to forgive me for begging off trying to retell them all.  StocksandNews, in the end, is about the archives.  It’s not always “live” and instant reactions.  It’s about building the definitive history of our times, both news and sports, so I will fill in next BC what others observed.  My motto is ‘wait 24 hours,’ after all.

But you love Nick Faldo and his observation on Patrick Reed’s final approach shot. Dumb selection.

And JT’s birdie off the green on the par-3 13th that gave him a 2-shot lead.

Sadly, Kevin Kisner’s water balls on a few holes, and Thomas catching a massive break on No. 10 when his tee shot hit the tree and bounded back into the fairway, after which his putt lingered on the edge of the cup for about 10 seconds before falling in.

Chris Stroud’s 240-yard 4-iron at 9!

Hideki Matsuyama’s putt on 10.  [I really like this guy, who finished T-5, and want him to win a biggie next year, while it’s great to see America begin to embrace him.]

--You know whose analysis, albeit biting, was good?  Dottie Pepper’s.

--Just a ton of big names didn’t make the cut, beginning with Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia, Jim Furyk, Ernie Els, Jimmy Walker, Bubba Watson, Rafa Cabrera Bello, Daniel Berger and Justin Rose.

But then there’s 50-year-old Steve Stricker, who made another cut in a major, making it 26 in a row!  The last major he failed to make the cut in was the 2009 PGA at Hazeltine. [Some of the years he didn’t play all four majors, but he made the cut in all four this year.]

Back to Mickelson, he’s had an OK year, with 11 Top 25s and 4 Top 10s, but no Top 3s and he was never really right there with just a few holes to go.

And then the two times he failed to make the cut were the last two majors, this weekend and at Royal Birkdale.

He’s 47.  It would be one helluva story if he wins another PGA Tour event of any kind, frankly.

Phil told reporters after the second round on Friday that he’s hitting the ball fine, and it has nothing to do with Jim McKay not being on the bag anymore, but rather his focus just isn’t there.

“I’m having a tough time visualizing the shot. I’m having a tough time controlling my thoughts.”

He’s comfortably in for the FedEx Cup Playoffs and he said that’s where his focus will be.

Meanwhile, the PGA was the 100th career major for both Mickelson and Ernie Els (also age 47), which was special, though would have been a lot more so had they made it to the weekend.

By the way, Stricker is captain of the Presidents Cup team and he met with Mickelson this week.  Phil has been on the last 22 U.S. teams for the Presidents Cup or Ryder Cup.  He obviously should not be on the team this year as it stands. But he’ll have two tournaments to prove to Stricker he is worthy before the captain makes his two final picks.  Mickelson is 17th in the points standings; the top 10 automatically making the team.  [The 17 position is before this week.]

--Jordan Spieth, in his quest for the career grand slam, finished T-28.

It’s not fair to bring up that Arnold Palmer and Tom Watson are two giants in the sport who also failed to win the PGA, with Palmer runner-up twice, and Watson losing a playoff one time to John Mahaffey, while the two had a combined 12 other top-10s, but with Spieth’s honesty, it will now hang out there...until next year!

After taking a week off, Spieth plans on playing all four FedEx Cup Playoff events and then the Presidents Cup.

--Both Dustin Johnson and Danny Willett got major props for how they handled the end of Friday’s second round.  With the weather delay, the players were rushing to finish when play restarted before it got too dark and these two, after completing their 17th holes, raced ahead to hit tee shots off 18, even though their playing partners were still on the 17th green.

That wasn’t rude.  The other four golfers involved were extremely happy.

You see, once DJ and Willett hit their shots that meant the rest of the guys could finish the hole, even after the horn went off suspending play due to the lack of light.

And that meant they all didn’t have to come back to the course at the crack of dawn to finish their rounds.

Jason Day was playing with DJ and he said after, “That’s the biggest, or most clutch thing I’ve ever seen anyone do for me.”

Think of this...Dustin is No. 1 in the world and he was rushing to help Day. Only in golf.

As for Willett, who has struggled mightily since his 2016 Masters win, he wasn’t making the cut, but his two playing partners, Louis Oosthuizen and J.B. Holmes, were, and still with work on 17, as Willett raced ahead and literally bumped an iron about 200 yards, leaving himself 280+ for his second shot on the par 4.  Immediately after Willett hit his shot, the horn sounded, but the other two of  course opted to finish as well.  Cool story, and you can imagine one that will last for years when the players are gossiping amongst themselves.  [Normally they chat about who has the hottest wife, or so I presume.]

--My good friend Dr. W., who hails from Greenville, S.C., attended a practice round and then on Friday and I loved his comments on player comportment. Bubba Watson, for one, loser.

Actually, Dr. W. said that on Wednesday, only the non-Americans were stopping to sign autographs and pose for pictures.  “We stood next to a severely affected, wheelchair bound young man with cerebral palsy, and all he wanted was a fist bump from the players on the way to the next tee (he couldn’t speak intelligible English, so his father made the request for him) and we wanted to see who would pay attention to him.  Every Asian made it a point to do the fist-bump (including Matsuyama) and every other good non-American player we saw (Schwartzel, Els, Grace, Bello, Garcia, Westwood, Stenson, McIlroy, Fleetwood) did the same thing.  Padraig Harrington (my new hero) even gave him a hug.  Only Jordan Spieth, among the Americans, really acknowledged him.”

Yes, as Dr. W. said after, the Americans like to have their autograph sessions’ post-rounds, but the kids can’t begin to compete with the professional hounds then, like they can during a practice round.

And one last mention of the good doctor (premier baby doc, by the way....not to be confused with Baby Doc Duvalier...).  He told me before the tournament started that after his Wednesday observations, the winning score would be -8.  As Ronald Reagan would have said, ‘Not bad, not bad at all.’

MLB

--No one likes to see the superstars go down with injuries, and so even I had my fingers crossed on seeing that the Nationals’ Bryce Harper injured his knee, Harper slipping on a wet first base as he ran down the line running out a ball in the first inning of Saturday night’s rain-delayed contest with the Giants in Washington.

His left foot slipped on the bag as he avoided contact with first baseman Ryder Jones and his leg buckled, sending him airborne.

Harper clutched at his left knee after going down and was attended to by trainers.  He put no weight on his leg as he left the field. 

But an MRI taken today revealed no structural damage, though he’ll probably be out until season’s end.  As of tonight, the team is optimistic, however, he’ll be ready for the playoffs.

Harper is hitting .327 with 29 home runs and 87 RBIs this season.

The Nats have been without outfielder Adam Eaton since late April after he tore an ACL in his left knee.  Outfielders Jayson Werth and Michael Taylor have also been out for a long time with various injuries, Taylor now replacing Harper on the active roster as Harper is DL’d.

And they’ve had injuries to starters Stephen Strasburg and Joe Ross, but the loss of Harper for the playoffs would be the biggest blow.

He also becomes a free agent after the 2018 season, and the drumbeat has begun by Yankees fans, who just assume they’ll be the ones to gain his services come 2019.

--Saturday, the Yankees lost to the Red Sox 10-5 as ace Luis Severino gave up all 10 runs, 8 earned, in 4 1/3, falling to 9-5, 3.32 ERA.  Boston’s Andrew Benintendi hit two three-run homers (I have to note, one an amazing cheapie in the Bandbox that Ruth Didn’t Build).

The rookie now has 16 homers on the season, to go along with 65 RBIs and a .280 batting average; 15-for-31 in August.

The Yanks placed Masahiro Tanaka on the disabled list Saturday; inflammation in his pitching shoulder.  Sounds like he’ll miss two starts, as manager Joe Girardi said, “We decided he needs a break.”

Friday night, the Yankees staged a terrific rally, coming from down 3-0 to score five in the bottom of the eighth, then hanging on for a 5-4 win, Aaron Hicks with a two-run homer to get things started off Boston reliever Addison Reed, who got shelled and took the loss, and then Hicks threw out a baserunner in the ninth to bail out reliever Aroldis Chapman.

Meanwhile, Aaron Judge is 15-89, 5 home runs in 26 games since the All-Star break, heading into Sunday night’s game. 

Sunday night, however, it’s really about Boston ace Chris Sale, who aside from his 14-4, 2.57 record, has 15 games with 10 strikeouts or more this year, with only Randy Johnson and Nolan Ryan having more double-digit strikeout efforts than Sale at this point in the season.

--It’s terrific to see Miami’s Giancarlo Stanton fulfill his true potential, and stay on the field an entire season, thus far, as he homered again in the Marlins’ 4-3 win over Colorado on Saturday, Stanton’s 8th in 9 games, 20 in 32; the latter the first time since the Dodgers’ Shawn Green* in 2002.

But wait...there’s more!  Stanton hit another today in the Marlins’ 5-3 win over the Rockies.  So make it 9 in 10 games, 21 in 33, 42 on the year (90 RBIs), with 16 homers since the All-Star break (vs. Judge’s 5).  [Stanton DID perform in the Home Run Derby at the All-Star Game, so no jinx for him.]

Stanton finally has that 40-homer season we’ve long thought would be automatic. 

*It’s easy to forget the massive #s Green posted, 1998-2002, but then this was at the height of the, err, err, you know.

--Speaking of Miami, Derek Jeter and his group won the bidding war to buy the Marlins.  Billionaire money manager Bruce Sherman will be the controlling owner, while Jeter will be the franchise’s CEO.  Sherman is investing several hundred million and Jeter $30 million, sources said.  Michael Jordan is also a co-investor.

Sherman, 69 and from Naples, Fla., said he plans on maintaining his ownership for many years, then turn it over to his kids.  He made his big money when he sold his firm, Private Capital Management, to Legg Mason for $1.4 billion in 2001.

Mike Lupica / New York Daily News

“The captain of the most famous team in American professional sports now gets his chance to run a team of his own in South Florida. Once he worked for Boss Steinbrenner, the most famous boss in the history of baseball.  Now, pending approval from Major League Baseball, he becomes one himself.

“All Steinbrenner did back in the ‘70s was put some of his shipbuilding money on the line when he got the Yankees from CBS, before he set about getting the Yankees back on top in baseball, and redefining an owner’s role in the modern world of sports.  Jerry Jones came later.  Mark Cuban came later. Steinbrenner did it all first.

“Now Jeter, if this deal goes through, will be the baseball boss in Miami, and put more than some of his money on the line. He will lay down his brand as one of the great winners of his time, the player who became even more the face of the Yankees than Steinbrenner was. The Captain moves upstairs now.  And now we will see if he can make the transition from great player to great executive that only a handful of sports legends have ever successfully made.”

This ain’t going to be easy. As the Mets announcers were commenting Friday, regarding the Jeter news, aside from the fact the Marlins lose money and Bruce Sherman I can’t imagine wants to just throw his own away, there is one very simple issue that won’t magically disappear with new ownership.

There is virtually zero parking, nor the prospects for more, at Marlins Park.  If you build the parking they will come.  If not, they won’t.  [No mass transit either.]  The site planning was horrid.

--As the Mets play out the string, they traded off another veteran, Neil Walker, to Milwaukee for a player to be named later; Walker joining Jay Bruce*, Addison Reed, and Lucas Duda in the late-season salary dump for prospects and cash, all of them free agents at the end of the year.

*I was kind of shocked the Mets couldn’t get more from the Indians in the Bruce trade than a very low-level prospect, Ryder Ryan.  I would have thought they’d get a solid Double-A prospect, at least.  But the kid apparently is a power arm and the Mets need those in the pen.  Ryan was an infielder at North Carolina and is in Class A.

Bruce had an RBI double today in the Indians’ 4-3 win over the Rays, so it’s 3 RBIs in his first four games in Cleveland, just what they got him for.

On the field, Philadelphia’s Aaron Nola continued his superb stretch of pitching in shutting down the Metsies 3-1 at Citizens Bank Park on Saturday.  Nola now has a 1.72 ERA in his last eight starts.  It is also now 10 consecutive starts of at least six innings pitched and two runs allowed, the first Phillies pitcher to do this since 1900, which is hard to believe.

--Great story Saturday as first lieutenant in the United States Army, Chris Rowley, pitched 5 1/3 innings to win his major league debut as the Blue Jays beat the Pirates 7-2 in Toronto.

Rowley is the first graduate of the U.S. Military Academy in West Point to reach the majors.  He missed all of the 2014 and 2015 minor league seasons while on active service, including a stint in Europe.

[West Pointer Walt French played six seasons for the Philadelphia Athletics in the 1920s, but he did not graduate and had also previously played at Rutgers.]

--Clayton Kershaw pronounced himself fit and after a rehab start or two, it looks like he’ll be back on the mound by end of Aug., which would be perfect timing to get back to speed before the playoffs.

--We note the passing of former major league umpire Ken Kaiser, who had a colorful 23-year career, Kaiser known for a short fuse and ejecting some 75 players or managers in his career.

As Richard Sandomir of the New York Times wrote, Kaiser detested manager Earl Weaver and Eddie Murray.

“Near the end of his career, Murray protested a strike-two call by Kaiser.

“In his memoir, Kaiser recalled his response: ‘We ain’t talked in 15 years. Don’t start now.’

“When Murray tossed his bat in the air after Kaiser had called him out on the third strike, Kaiser ejected him.  Murray, a future Hall of Famer, challenged him to a fight.  Kaiser (6’2”, 300 lbs.) agreed, telling him, ‘Eddie, you can even bring your bat with you because the way you’re swinging this year, you couldn’t hit me with it anyway.’”

Kaiser lost his job in 1999 as part of the umpires’ decision to submit letters of resignation in an attempt to force MLB to negotiate a better labor agreement.  More than 50 walked out, egged on by union leader Richie Phillips.  It proved to be one of the stupider decisions in such matters ever.  While MLB rehired some of them, 22 of the resignations were accepted, including Kaiser’s.  He was not rehired.

Ted Barrett, an umpire and friend, told Richard Sandomir, “He never really got over that.  He and the others didn’t get to go out on their own terms.  He resented baseball for the way he was treated.”  Kaiser should have been more miffed at Phillips.

World Track and Field Championships

--What a horrible way for Usain Bolt to go out, first, failing to take gold in his final 100-meter final, losing to America’s Justin Gatlin last week, and then going down in pain in the 4X100 relay for Team Jamaica Saturday, apparently with a leg cramp, that led to Great Britain holding off the Americans for the gold.

Bolt teammate Yohan Blake was furious afterwards, blaming race organizers for “holding us too long in the call room.  The walk was too long.  Usain was really cold. In fact Usain said to me, ‘Yohan, I think this is crazy.’

“It was 40 minutes and two medal presentations before our run. We keep warming up and waiting, then warming up and waiting. I think it got the better of us.”

This may sound like sour grapes, but I understand where Blake is coming from.

Bolt’s teammates were terrific afterwards in consoling him, and you have to imagine how upset they were they couldn’t help Usain go off in style.

It was the first time since 2008 that a team other than Jamaica won the event at a major track meet.

But Team USA continued its string of disappointment in the men’s event, though the U.S. women (Aaliyah Brown, Allyson Felix, Morolake Akinosun and Tori Bowie) won gold in their 4X100 over Great Britain.

Back to Bolt, will he ever attempt a comeback?  Boy, I don’t see it.  He would be a terrific announcer (and should replace Ato Boldon at NBC; I like Boldon, but if you could get Bolt, you grab him...the BBC has been employing Michael Johnson for years...).

--Today, in the closing 4X400 relays, the American women came through again (Quanera Hayes, Allyson Felix, Shakima Wimbley and Phyllis Francis) in taking the gold.

But the men finished second to, now get this, Trinidad and Tobago!  I watched both races (PGA, NASCAR...flipping all around...).  I kept thinking T&T was going to fold the last two legs and damned if they didn’t.  Can you imagine the party there tonight?  This is massive!

--Kudos to Emma Coburn, who won the steeplechase the other day, the first American woman to win a global steeplechase of any kind!  And to make it better, teammate Courtney Frerichs came in second.  Not a single expert forecast this one.

--There is so much more I need to get down for the record next time.

Remember, I have long advocated, screw the Olympics.  Just hold the World Championships in all sports every year and the sports themselves will benefit far more.

NFL

--I don’t follow training camps at all, though in the case of my Jets, there is mild interest to see who starts the season at quarterback.  In the first exhibition game Saturday night, veteran Josh McCown had a great lone series, throwing for 72 yards and a touchdown, while Christian Hackenberg was OK and didn’t implode.

Otherwise, the only real story until the season starts is if any teams suffer a devastating injury at QB, a la Miami and Ryan Tannehill.  [Tannehill decided on Friday, according to multiple reports, to have surgery to repair the torn ACL in his left knee. He had originally hurt it in a December game, but opted for stem-cell therapy and rehab.  Then he went down, untouched, in practice last week, forcing the Dolphins to look for an experienced QB, aside from Matt Moore, and opting to go with Jay Cutler, luring him out of retirement for a cool $10 million.]

--The big story this week was the six-game suspension handed down to Dallas Cowboys star running back Ezekiel Elliott for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy.  It is assumed Elliott will appeal, and he has until Tuesday to do so.

Such an appeal hearing, which would be heard by Commissioner Roger Goodell or a league official, would be held quickly, and then it would go before an arbitrator.  If Elliott lost that, he could seek judicial review.

Otherwise, if the suspension held up his first game back would be Oct. 29 against the Redskins.  Elliott is not allowed into the Cowboys’ training complex from whenever the suspension begins until it ends.  He would also lose out on his base salary for the time missed – about $240,000 per game, and will have to pay back some of the $16.35 million signing bonus he has received since joining the Cowboys in 2016.

The NFL has been investigating Elliott for more than a year, with his ex-girlfriend having accused him of five incidents of domestic violence over a six-day period in July 2016, though prosecutors in Columbus, Ohio, declined to press charges because of “conflicting and inconsistent information” from witnesses. The woman, Tiffany Thompson, also accused Elliott of pushing her against a wall in Florida in Feb. 2016, and no charges were filed in that one.

The NFL’s special counsel for conduct, Todd Jones, wrote in a letter to Elliott advising him of the league’s decision, “There is substantial and persuasive evidence supporting a finding that you engaged in physical violence against Ms. Thompson on multiple occasions.”

A member of the investigating team for the NFL, former New Jersey attorney general Peter Harvey, said on a conference call with reporters Friday that Elliott’s representatives weren’t exactly forthcoming.

I believe the NFL did the right thing in this one, though maybe the suspension gets reduced a game or two because no formal charges were ever filed in the two cases.

--Thousands of football fans have been signing a petition threatening to boycott the NFL this season if Colin Kaepernick doesn’t end up on someone’s roster, the petition on Change.org.

“We understand the NFL is very important to you. We also understand the purpose of Colin Kaepernick’s protest is FAR more important than any games you will ever watch.  [Ed. No it isn’t!]  Simply put, if things stay the same for the way America – where ‘all men are created equal’ – treats people of color, then your loved one, friends, and children will eventually be affected as well.”

Despite the fact that teams have been passing over Kaepernick for lesser quarterbacks, Roger Goodell has insisted that Kaepernick’s not being blackballed.  Even if he’s not technically being blackballed, though, some owners have said they take into account their fans opinion when it comes to the lightning rod.

It also needs to be pointed out that any observer of the NFL knows that Kaepernick has regressed and here’s my bottom line.  His last two seasons with San Francisco, he was 3-16 as a starter.

Could he be a decent 2nd or 3rd QB on a good team with an established guy at the helm?  Yeah, sure.

But for him to be a No. 2 on a lousy team, is he going to make that team better if No. 1 goes down?  Is putting Kaepernick in there going to turn a probable 5-11 team into 9-7 and the playoffs?  No.  The guy was 3-16 for a reason.

And that’s before the intangibles, which are important.  He’s disruptive; chemistry being a big part of NFL success or failure.   

College Football

Sports Illustrated’s Preseason Top Ten

1. Alabama
2. Florida State
3. Ohio State
4. Oklahoma State
5. USC
6. Oklahoma
7. Clemson
8. Penn State
9. Washington
10. Auburn

I will be releasing my official “Pick to Click” in another week or so.  Success rate in over 18 years of picking ‘winners’ is a solid 2%.

--Sports Illustrated had an interesting piece on the problems of the Big 12 Conference, which boils down to one thing...not enough talent.

Like in the 2017 NFL Draft, 53 players were selected from the SEC, 43 from the ACC, 36 from the Pac-12, 35 out of the Big Ten, and just 14 from the Big 12, one behind the AAC’s 15.  Yikes.

In the past five years, the score is:

SEC... 272
ACC... 194
Big Ten... 178
Pac-12... 170
Big 12... 103

[But according to SI, they have two of the top six!]

--We note the passing of former Syracuse football coach, Dick MacPherson, at the age of 86.  MacPherson compiled a record of 66-46-4 in ten seasons at the ‘Cuse, including 1987, when the Orange went 11-0-1 and AP No. 4, and 10-2-0 the next season, final AP rank of 13.  Overall, MacPherson had a 3-1-1 record in bowl games, the tie in the Sugar Bowl in ’87 against Auburn.

Premier League

Some wild action opening weekend.  Ordinarily, I would wait until about October to begin to get interested, save for how my Tottenham Spurs are doing, but I caught quite a bit of the action the last few days, including a thrilling 4-3 opener, Arsenal over Leicester; Arsenal scoring two late ones for the comeback win.

Leicester’s Jamie Vardy, who was the star in their out-of-this-world championship run in 2015-16, but had just a so-so season as a follow-up, opened with two goals.

Saturday, defending champion Chelsea suffered a nightmare start, losing to lowly Burnley (16 in the PL last season) 3-2 at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea finishing two men down after red cards took out captain Gary Cahill, and then Fabregas late, after Chelsea fought back to cut a 3-0 deficit to one.

The team that finished 17 in the PL last season behind Burnley, Watford, gained a 3-3 draw at home against Liverpool, tying it late in another choke job by the Reds.

Manchester City held off Brighton 2-0, in the Seagulls’ first top flight game after a 34-year absence.  City didn’t score its two until late.

In a dramatic return home to Everton after 13 years at Manchester United, Wayne Rooney scored the winning goal in a 1-0 Toffees victory at home vs. Stoke.

“I’ve felt at home since I first stepped on the training ground.  I’ve been looking forward to this moment for a long time.”

Rooney, 31, is well past his prime, but I’ll be one following his campaign closely.  Everton was a solid 7th-place finisher last season and they shook things up in the offseason.  Rooney can be quite a leader for them if he can summon up a season-long effort.

And Huddersfield upset Crystal Palace 3-0 in its first Premier League game since 1972. Striker Steve Mounie, who scored twice, said “A start like this is amazing,” as he took a picture of ‘the table’ showing Huddersfield on top.

Sunday, Tottenham defeated Newcastle on the road, 2-0, after a scoreless first half. It helped in the second when a Newcastle player committed a dirty play on Dele Alli, who got his revenge later by scoring a sweet goal.

Manchester United whipped West Ham 4-0, with Lukaku, a significant signing from Everton in the offseason, scoring two in his debut.

--Joshua Robinson of the Wall Street Journal had a piece on the managers of the Premier League, with the average one lasting less than 18 months.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is an exception, having been manager for 21 years.  by comparison, the second longest tenure in the league is Bournemouth’s Eddie Howe, appointed in 2012.  Another 12 of the 20 coaches beginning this campaign have been in their current jobs less than two years.

--In France’s Ligue 1, Neymar, making his debut for PSG, scored and had an assist in a 3-0 win over Guingamp.

NASCAR

--Kyle Larson won at Michigan International Speedway today on a restart, with teammates Martin Truex Jr. second and Erik Jones third.  It was Larson’s third win of the season and third straight win at a Cup race at MIS.  [I lost in DraftKings, as I did in golf...again!]

--Dale Earnhardt Jr. was rightfully a bit upset with Kevin Harvick’s comments the other day on his SiriusXM radio show, when he said it’s confusing that Earnhardt is the sport’s 14-time most popular driver when he hasn’t won a title, compared to Jimmy Johnson, who has won seven.

“For me, I believe that Dale Jr. has had a big part in kind of stunting the growth of NASCAR because he’s got these legions of fans and this huge outreach of being able to reach different places that none of us have the possibility to reach, but he’s won nine races in 10 years at Hendrick Motorsports and hasn’t been able to reach outside of that,” Harvick said.

Harvick theorized other sports are successful because their most popular athletes – citing LeBron, Steph Curry and Peyton Manning – are also among the most successful.

“The growth in the  sport has not reached the levels that it should have because our most popular driver has not been our most successful driver,” Harvick said.

Earnhardt responded, “I have an incredible amount of respect for him. I found some of those comments hurtful.  I still respect him as a champion and ambassador for the sport.

“That’s just the way it is, I guess.  I hate that’s how he feels.”

I’m one of those in Junior’s legions of fans.  I witnessed his first win in the Daytona 500.  I loved his father.  But I can see the jealousy.

Stuff

--Best wishes to former NHL forward, coach, and current broadcaster Eddie Olczyk, who revealed the other day that he has colon cancer and underwent surgery.  Olczyk was also a key member of the 1994 Stanley Cup New York Rangers. He expects to return to the broadcast booth after treatment.  [He’s also a helluva horse handicapper!]

--And a few words about the passing of Glen Campbell since I first learned of this right before I posted last time.  Who didn’t love the guy?

He was born in Delight, Arkansas, the seventh son of a seventh son in a farming family.  Life was tough...there is no doubt they were living in extreme poverty.

But each member of Campbell’s family played guitar, and Glen received his $5 Sears & Roebuck model when he was 4.  By the time he was 6, he was a prodigy.

Campbell dropped out of school in the 10th grade, left Arkansas, and played in  a New Mexico-based band led by his uncle, Dick Bills.  He also married his first wife, though it lasted less than three years.

He would meet his second wife, Billie Nunley, at a club in Albuquerque. The newlyweds left for California in 1960, riding to Los Angeles with a small-trailer attached and $300.

Campbell was so good on guitar that he quickly became an essential session artist, recording with the likes of Frank Sinatra (as on “Strangers in the Night”), Dean Martin, the Righteous Brothers’ (on “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’”) and The Mamas and The Papas.

[He also famously contributed guitar to the Beach Boys’ “Pet Sounds” classic, and briefly stepped in for Brian Wilson during one of his absences on tour in 1965.]

Campbell signed with Capitol Records in late 1962, and his early albums received little attention until he broke into the mainstream in 1967, first with a Top 20 Billboard country hit, “Burning Bridges,” and then with his friend John Hartford’s masterpiece, “Gentle On My Mind.”

This one didn’t hit the top of the country charts, but it became one of the most played songs of 1969 and 1970, according to performing rights organization BMI.  In 1999, BMI ranked “Gentle” as the second-most-played country song of the century.

Campbell was affable, had good looks, and he seemed destined for television in an era of tons of variety shows.  Tommy Smothers saw Campbell on a late-night show and in early 1968, the Smothers Brothers announced that Campbell would host his own television show, a summer replacement for “The Smothers Brothers.”  It ran as a weekly variety show from 1969 to 1972.  Each time, Campbell would sing the opening lines of “Gentle On My Mind” and announce to viewers that they were watching “The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour.”

“Gentle On My Mind” actually peaked at only #39 on the Billboard pop charts, if you can imagine that (#26 “By the Time I Get To Phoenix”* really came first) but then he followed with #3 “Wichita Lineman,”* #4 “Galveston”* and #10 “It’s Only Make Believe,” before he went dark in 1970 for a long spell in terms of the hits. CBS would cancel his show, as Campbell’s marriage was going under and he developed an over-fondness for scotch.

*All of these were with the brilliant songwriter Jimmy Webb.

Then in 1975, Campbell staged a comeback with the #1 “Rhinestone Cowboy,” which topped both the country and pop charts, and then the #1 “Southern Nights” in 1977, but his behavior was increasingly erratic and in 1980 he almost overdosed on cocaine. [During this time he had a tumultuous relationship with singer Tanya Tucker, who was half his age.]

His life was saved, though, when he married a Radio City Music Hall Rockette, Kimberley Woolen*, who helped change his direction.  He stopped using cocaine and eventually alcohol.

*She was number four.  Campbell was also married to Sarah Barg Davis, who was the former wife of Mac Davis...another of my favorites.

Glen Campbell was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2005, at which time he was showing signs of dementia, appearing shaky in interviews, and in 2011, Campbell and his wife announced he had Alzheimer’s disease.  Yet he kept performing and making music.  His last album titled “Adios” was released in June.

So my friend Brad K. has one of the great autograph collections I’ve seen anywhere, which is why his home is protected by a moat with crocodiles, and he told me he has some great Glen Campbell memorabilia.  I know ol’ buddy Jeff B. does, too, from his backstage passes, right Jeff?

Everyone says the same thing.  Glen Campbell was a class act.  He will be deeply missed, but never forgotten.

[By the way, YouTube “Dreams of the Everyday Housewife,” one of his 1968 hits that doesn’t get mentioned as much as it should.  It’s the tune I’ve most had in my brain the past few days, which is OK.]

Top 3 songs for the week 8/16/69: #1 “In The Year 2525” (Zager & Evans...just shoot me!)  #2 “Honky Tonk Women” (The Rolling Stones)  #3 “Crystal Blue Persuasion” (Tommy James & The Shondells...one of my top 3 all time...)...and...#4 “Sweet Caroline” (Neil Diamond) #5 “A Boy Named Sue” (Johnny Cash)  #6 “Put A Little Love In Your Heart” (Jackie DeShannon)  #7 “Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love To Town” (Kenny Rogers and The First Edition)  #8 “My Cherie Amour” (Stevie Wonder...brilliant tune...)  #9 “What Does It Take” (Jr. Walker & The All Stars...greatest beginning to a Rock / R&B song ever...)  #10 “Baby, I Love You” (Andy Kim...New York Mets were 63-51, 9 games back of the Cubs...they would go 37-11 the rest of the way and run away with it, winning by 8....)

Baseball Quiz Answer: Active players with 2,000+ plus hits...totals as of Saturday.

Ichiro 3,064
Adrian Beltre 3,013
Albert Pujols 2,924
Carlos Beltran 2,708
Miguel Cabrera 2,613
Robinson Cano 2,326
Matt Holliday 2,067
Jose Reyes 2,054
Victor Martinez 2,025
Nick Markakis 2,005

Adrian Gonzalez 1,996

Next Bar Chat, Thursday.

 

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