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Bar Chat

09/11/2017

Football Talk

[Posted early Sunday evening before Giants-Cowboys, and Indians-Orioles.]

*Note: I was largely off the grid all weekend, out on Long Island for a function with old friends, and spent little time watching sports until this afternoon.  So I’m just catching up.

NFL Quiz: Entering this season, since 2012, who has the most game-winning drives at quarterback?  Answer below.

College Football

--No. 1 Alabama whipped Fresno State 41-10.

--Huge win for 5 Oklahoma over 2 Ohio State in Columbus, 31-16, as Heisman candidate Baker Mayfield was 27/35, 386 yards, and 3 touchdown passes.  For the Buckeyes, J.T. Barrett was mediocre at best, 19/35, 183, 0-1.

--3 Clemson held visiting 13 Auburn to just 117 yards of total offense as the Tigers won a slugfest, 14-6, with quarterback Kelly Bryant scoring twice on the ground.

--Last season, a loss to Pitt most likely kept  4 Penn State out of the college football playoff, so the Nittany Lions at least exacted some revenge with a 33-14 win over the Panthers on Saturday, though Penn State only had 312 yards of offense. The defense, on the other hand, forced three Pitt turnovers.

--Quarterback Sam Darnold is back. After a lousy performance in the opener against Western Michigan, USC’s preseason Heisman favorite was super, 21/26, 316, 4 touchdowns, as the No. 6 Trojans beat 14 Stanford, 42-24.

--8 Michigan beat Cincinnati 36-14.

--15 Georgia had a huge win on the road at 19 Notre Dame in South Bend, 20-19.

--Lamar Jackson of 17 Louisville torched North Carolina for 393 passing yards and 132 rushing, accounting for six touchdowns (3 passing, 3 rushing) in a 47-35 victory. Coupled with his performance the first week against Purdue, Jackson became only the second FBS player to pass for 300 and rush for 100 in back-to-back contests.  [Chase Clement of Rice being the other in 2007.]

But next week, Jackson and the Cardinals face off against Clemson’s ‘D’.

--UCLA’s star QB, Josh Rosen, had another big game, 22/25, 329, 5 touchdowns, in the Bruins’ 56-23 win Hawaii.

With Darnold’s performance for USC, the comparison between Rosen and his rival will be fun for Los Angeles-area fans the entire season.

--Duke had an impressive win against Northwestern, 41-17, holding the Wildcats to just 191 yards of total offense, while quarterback Daniel Jones threw for 305 yards and rushed for 108 for the Blue Devils.

--Pathetic Rutgers lost at home to Eastern Michigan 16-13.

--And in the Ferraro’s Lunch Bowl (Westfield, N.J.) with B.C. alum Steve D., Wake Forest whipped Boston College 34-10, taking advantage of four Eagles turnovers (to zero for the Deacs).

This was indeed a critical test for Wake and now I’m confident they will go 6-6, at worst, after starting out 2-0.

--And now your new AP Poll....

1. Alabama (58) 2-0
2. Oklahoma (2) 2-0
3. Clemson (1) 2-0
4. USC 2-0
5. Penn State 2-0
6. Washington 2-0
7. Michigan 2-0
8. Ohio State 1-1
9. Oklahoma State 2-0
10. Wisconsin 2-0
13. Georgia 2-0

NFL

--Yippee!  My Jets lost their opener up in Buffalo, 21-12, as the supposedly decent defensive line gave up 190 yards on the ground, while the Jets had only 38 rushing themselves.  New York started 38-year-old journeyman quarterback Josh McCown, whose win-loss record since 2014 is now 2-21.

Tank, tank, tank!  1-15, here we come!

--“Bad Andy” Dalton showed up in Baltimore today, the Bengals shut out by the Ravens 20-0, as Dalton was 16/31, 170, 4 interceptions for a passer rating of 28.4.

--Antonio Brown had 11 receptions for 182 of Ben Roethlisberger’s 263 yards passing as the Steelers held off the Browns, 21-18, in Cleveland.  For the Browns, rookie DeShone Kizer’s debut was OK, 20/30, 222, 1-1.

I forgot to pick a team for the Super Bowl last time...it’s the Steelers!  Your Bar Chat Guarantee!

--Detroit is a sleeper pick for 2017, according to some experts, and the Lions got off to a solid start, beating Arizona at home, 35-23, as Matthew Stafford threw for 4 touchdowns, while the Lions ‘D’ held star David Johnson of the Cardinals to just 91 yards from scrimmage.

--The Eagles beat the Redskins in Washington, 30-17.

--We’ve been hearing that second-year QB Jared Goff is greatly improved and at least for one week it appears this might be the case as Goff led the Rams to a 46-9 victory over San Francisco.  Goff, much-maligned his rookie season, was 21/29, 306, 1-0, 117.9 rating.

--Green Bay beat Seattle 17-9 at Lambeau Field.

--In a shocker on Thursday, Kansas City thumped New England, 42-27, at Foxborough.

After holding a pre-game celebration to unveil their fifth Super Bowl banner, the Chiefs racked up the most points and yards (537) allowed in a single game during the Bill Belichick era.

Quarterback Tom Brady was none too pleased after.

“We just didn’t make a lot of plays tonight, actually,” he said.  “So we just have to be better in a lot of areas, starting with our attitude and our competitiveness.”

Bill Belichick said, “Bad defense. Bad coaching. Bad playing. Bad football.”

Kansas City had scoring drives of 90, 92, 75, 90 (again), 60 and 75.

Two of the scores came on passing plays of 75 yards to Tyreek Hill and 78 yards to running back Kareem Hunt.  Quarterback Alex Smith was 28/35, 368, 4-0, passer rating of 148.6.

Hunt, a rookie running back out of Toledo, fumbled his first carry, then proceeded to have 148 yards on the ground, 98 receiving...246 total yards from scrimmage, the most by any player making his debut since the 1970 merger.

Brady was just 16/36, 267, 0-0, passer rating of 70.0.

--The NFL was dealt a defeat when a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction on the league’s six-game suspension of Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott over domestic-violence allegations.

So Elliott will stay on the field for the foreseeable future, while a major legal battle ensues with the NFL looking to enforce its discipline.  The problem is the NFL has been seeking to find the right balance between holding players accountable for off-the-field behavior and abusing their control.

In his decision, U.S. District Judge Amos Mazzant wrote that “Elliott did not receive a fundamentally fair hearing.”

A key was the NFL Players Association contention that the testimony of Kia Roberts, the NFL’s director of investigations, raised questions about the credibility of Elliott’s accuser but was withheld at points during the process.

It is now expected that Elliott will play the entire season.

--The NFL says there is “no basis” for a personal conduct investigation against Seattle defensive end Michael Bennett after the head of the union that represents Las Vegas police officers wrote NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and urged him to investigate and ‘take appropriate action’ against the star for alleging officers racially profiled him in an incident after the Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor fight on Aug. 26.

The letter followed Bennett’s claim he was detained “for doing nothing more than simply being a black man in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Steve Grammas, president of the Las Vegas Police Protective Association, said in his letter: “We don’t like players from the National Football League making false allegations, which, I feel, is a violation of the NFL’s personal conduct policy.”

A league spokesman told USA TODAY Sports, “There is no allegation of a violation of the league’s personal conduct policy and therefore there is no basis for an NFL investigation.”

The officers, who were investigating an active shooter situation that proved to be false, said they acted properly in taking in Bennett because he acted suspiciously.

Prior to Grammas’ letter, Commissioner Roger Goodell said, “Michael Bennett represents the best of the NFL – a leader on his team and in his community.”

--As the NFL opened a new season, a nationwide poll conducted by the Washington Post and the University of Massachusetts Lowell found that six in 10 Americans say they are fans of professional football, roughly similar to polls in 2012 and up from 50 percent in a 2008 Post poll.

Fandom for professional football far outpaces professional baseball at 45 percent of Americans and professional basketball at 39 percent.

Asked which sport is their favorite to watch, 37 percent say football, little changed from 35 percent in a 2012 Post poll and more than triple the percentage who pick baseball or basketball.

61 percent of those between 18 and 29 also say they are football fans, so younger fans have not been turned off by the dangers and drawbacks of the sport.

At the same time, 83 percent of Americans believe it is either certainly true or probably true that playing football causes brain injuries.  But 74 percent of those who say head injuries are an issue say they are fans.

MLB

--The startling Cleveland Indians won their 17th game in a row on Saturday, 4-2 over the Orioles.  It is the longest streak in baseball since Oakland’s 20-game streak in 2002.

Over the course of the streak, Cleveland has outscored its opponents 118-30!

The all-time winning streak is 26, set by the New York Giants in 1916.

--The Yankees beat Texas in Arlington today, 16-7, as Aaron Judge hit home runs number 40 and 41, Judge becoming the second rookie aside from Mark McGwire to hit 40.

Coupled with Boston’s 4-1 loss to Tampa Bay, the Red Sox’ lead is back down to 3 ½ in the A.L. East.

--Incredibly, the Dodgers lost their ninth in a row on Saturday to the Rockies in Los Angeles, 6-5, the longest such streak for the franchise in 25 years, and they’ve now lost nine straight at home for the first time in 30 years.

The Dodgers have now lost 14 of 15.  A team that seemed predestined to win it all when they were 91-36 is reeling.  Even Clayton Kershaw couldn’t stop the bleeding, getting hit hard in a 9-1 loss to Colorado on Thursday.

Sunday, the Rockies defeated L.A. again, 8-1, so it’s 10 in a row, 15 of 16...10 straight losses at home.

--Giancarlo Stanton hit No. 54 in Saturday’s 6-5 Marlins loss to the Braves, in Atlanta.  Miami doesn’t have immediate issues with Hurricane Irma in Miami as it next plays in Philadelphia.

--Tampa Bay, on the other hand, was forced to reschedule its upcoming series at home against the Yankees and will now play them at the Mets’ Citi Field for three games starting Monday.

--Gene Michael, a Yankee for nearly half a century, died Thursday at the age of 79.  Nicknamed Stick for his slender frame, as a player he anchored the Yankees infield for seven seasons in the late 1960s and early 70s, mostly at shortstop, and then after his playing career ended in 1976, owner George Steinbrenner gave Michael an opportunity in the organization, including two stints as the Yankees’ manager and another as general manager in the early 1980s, after which he managed the Cubs.

But Michael was brought back to be Yankee GM again from late in the 1990 season through 1995, and it was then he assembled the core of the teams that won four World Series titles under Joe Torre (1996, 1998-2000).

Acquiring Paul O’Neill for Roberto Kelly in November 1992 was the first big move of Michael’s tenure, and then he drafted, and kept, Bernie Williams, Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte, Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada.  As Ronald Reagan would have said, ‘Not bad, not bad at all.’

In his later years, Michael was a senior adviser in the front office.

--In an interview for Sports Illustrated, Mets broadcaster Keith Hernandez said that when he retires, he will never watch another baseball game.

“I don’t like a lot of things that are changed in the game,” Hernandez said.  “I don’t like the length of the game. I don’t like the challenges.  I don’t like the direction the game is going with the home runs.  It’s just too many teams. The four-team expansion, there’s just not enough talent to go around.  Just the reliance on bullpens now, protecting the starting pitchers.”

When asked if he ever had thoughts of being a manager, Hernandez said he didn’t think he’d communicate well with today’s players, and would lack patience for some of the poor play he sees.

Hernandez is also working on his memoirs, which I imagine will be terrific, as he vows to not hold anything back.

“I had great moments.  I had not-great moments. I was part of the Pittsburgh drug trials.  You do a book like this and you have to be willing to put it all out there.”

U.S. Open

--Sloane Stephens routed Madison Keys, 6-3, 6-0, in 61 minutes Saturday for her first Grand Slam title.  For her efforts she earned $3.7 million.  Pretty, pretty good.  [For Keys, like Stephens, it was her first Grand Slam final.]

Stephens and Keys had advanced with semifinal wins over Venus Williams and CoCo Vandeweghe in the first all-American final four since 1981.

--On the men’s side, the hoped for semifinal between 1 Rafael Nadal and 3 Roger Federer never materialized, as Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro, the 24th-seeded Argentine, upset Federer in a quarterfinal last Wednesday night.

Nadal then beat del Potro on Friday in one of the semis, with 28-seed South African Kevin Anderson defeating 12-seed Pablo Carreno Busta in the other, thus setting up a real yawner of a final.

Nadal, as expected, won in straight sets for his 16th Grand Slam title, 3rd U.S. Open crown.

NASCAR

Kyle Larson picked up a win in overtime Saturday night at Richmond, as leader Martin Truex Jr. was victimized by a slow car, that of Derrick Cope, who was down 15 laps and then with under four laps remaining, was given a caution flag, thus sending the race into OT and giving Larson a chance to pick up his fourth win of the season, tying Truex for the most this year.

Truex wrecked in overtime while racing Denny Hamlin for position, but he was most upset that Cope had been allowed to keep running despite not being competitive in the least.

Meanwhile, this was the final event before the 10-race playoff stretch and Dale Earnhardt Jr. didn’t make the field in this his final campaign.  16 drivers begin the playoffs next weekend at Chicagoland Speedway, and the field is cut by four after the third race of the series.

It’s been a poor season for Junior, with just one top-five finish.  While he won’t be contending for the championship, he does still have 10 more races before his Cup career comes to an end.

One other...Joey Logano also didn’t make the field.

Golf Balls

--The FedEx Cup Playoffs resume this week at the BMW Championship in Lake Forest, Illinois, the field having been pared to 70.

And, as expected, Phil Mickelson did well enough at the Dell technologies Championship last week, a tie for sixth, to convince U.S. Presidents Cup Captain Steve Stricker to make him one of his two picks on Wednesday.  Also, as expected, Charley Hoffman, who was edged out of the 10-slot in the points standings by Kevin Chappell, is the other captain’s pick.  Play begins Thursday, Sept. 28, at Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey City, N.J.

So this is Mickelson’s 12th Presidents Cup, every one that’s been held, plus he has played on the last 11 Ryder Cup teams.

--Colin Montgomerie won the Champions Tour’s Japan Airlines Championship this weekend in Chiba, Japan.

Premier League...World Cup

--In PL games of import this weekend, Manchester City destroyed Liverpool 5-0, Arsenal shut out Bournemouth 3-0, Chelsea edged Leicester City 2-1, Manchester United and Stoke City played to a 2-2 draw, and Tottenham beat Everton 3-0, as Harry Kane got his first two goals of the season, numbers 100 and 101 in his Tottenham career.

--After my last posting, the U.S. secured a tie in Honduras in World Cup qualifying, 1-1, on a late equalizer by Bobby Wood, so with two matches left in the CONCACAF region, the U.S. needs October 6 and 10 victories against Panama and Trinidad & Tobago to clinch a spot.

Stuff

--Houston businessman Tilman Fertitta is buying the Houston Rockets for a record-breaking $2.2 billion.  Yes, that’s a high price, but the Rockets are ready to win now and it’s a healthy market.  Plus other attractive franchises, such as the Lakers, Bulls, Spurs and Celtics aren’t expected to be available anytime soon.

[Mikhail Prokhorov, owner of the Brooklyn Nets, wants to sell a controlling stake in the team, perhaps starting with  a minority interest in a three-year process, though he is not selling the separately owned Barclays Center...and the Nets are hardly an attractive franchise.]

--We note the passing of Jim McDaniels, the star center for Western Kentucky University that led his school to the Final Four in 1971.  He was 69.

A 6-foot-11 center, he averaged 29.3 points per game his senior year in that magical ’71 campaign.  The Hilltoppers lost to Villanova in a semifinal match, and then beat Kansas in the consolation game.  

McDaniels was a consensus all-American that year, but the next season, as he started to play professionally for the Carolina Cougars of the ABA, the NCAA found that he had violated college rules by signing professional contracts (with an agent, the team and the league) before the start of his senior season.

So the NCAA vacated Western Kentucky’s third-place finish and required the school to return its share of tournament proceeds.

McDaniels then left the Cougars that first season for the Seattle SuperSonics of the NBA after a disagreement over the terms of his Carolina contract.

But his career in both the NBA and ABA never amounted to much and he retired in 1978 with a career average of 10 points per game, but only 5 points per in the NBA.

McDaniels still holds the Western Kentucky career record for total points (2,238) and scoring average (27.6 points).

--One of the real jerks in America, WFAN host Craig Carton of “Boomer and Carton” fame, was arrested Wednesday for creating a sham ticket-reselling operation to help Carton pay off around $3 million in gambling debts.

Part of the scheme allegedly involved the use of documents detailing an agreement for Carton to purchase $2 million worth of seats to shows by Barbra Streisand and Metallica at face value, directly from the venue at which both acts were scheduled to perform.

Carton then didn’t use any of the $2 million to buy tickets.

WFAN suspended Carton, who faces substantial prison time, as a first step in firing the guy.

Many of us have wondered for years how Carton achieved the level of success he attained.

--The country music world had a bad day, Friday, with the passing of Don Williams, 78, and the tragic death of Troy Gentry, half of the duo Montgomery Gentry.

Williams, “the Gentle Giant,” had 17 No. 1 country hits, including “I Believe In You,” “Back In My Younger Days,” and one of my favorite tunes of any genre, “Some Broken Hearts Never Mend.”

Williams also won the Country Music Assn. awards for best male vocalist and best single for “Tulsa Time” in 1978.

Williams seldom toured and did few media interviews, preferring to spend his time on his farm west of Nashville.

In a 1994 interview, Williams said, “It’s one of those blessings and curses kind of things.  If you have the talent, it’s a blessing.  But there’s times that...a lot of the prices that you have to pay to be a part of it is a curse.  But as far as...the way people have responded to what I’ve done, there’s very few things in my life that I’ve done that come anywhere close to making you feel exhilarated and humbled and fulfilled and challenged and all that, all at the same time.”

Don Williams was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2010.

Troy Gentry died in tragic circumstances Friday in a helicopter crash in Medford, N.J., where he was to perform with Eddie Montgomery at a concert that evening.  He was just 50.  [The pilot also died.]

Gentry formed the duo Montgomery Gentry with Eddie, whom he met while performing in bands with Montgomery’s brother, the country star John Michael Montgomery.

These guys are among my all-time favorites and it was in February 2012 that I just had to see them in concert, so I flew out to Minneapolis to do so and they were terrific.

Montgomery Gentry’s 2002 hit “My Town” is one of the great songs of all time, and they scored other hits, such as “Tattoos & Scars” and “You Do Your Thing.” “My Town” went to No. 1 on the Billboard country charts, as did their military-themed personal-pride anthem “Something To Be Proud Of.”

The duo liked to describe themselves as “a representative of the workingman” that had released “blue-collar anthems” for what Mr. Montgomery called “the good, the bad, the ugly and the party on the weekend.”

Top 3 songs for the week 9/11/76:  #1 “(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty” (KC & The Sunshine Band)  #2 “You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine” (Lou Rawls) #3 “Play That Funky Music” (Wild Cherry)...and...#4 “I’d Really Love To See You Tonight” (England Dan & John Ford Coley)  #5 “A Fifth Of Beethoven” (Walter Murphy & The Big Apple Band... atrocious...)  #6 “You Should Be Dancing” (Bee Gees)  #7 “Lowdown” (Boz Scaggs)  #8 “Let ‘Em In” (Wings)  #9 “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” (Elton John & Kiki Dee)  #10 “Summer” (War)

NFL Quiz Answer: Most game-winning drives since 2012 is 22 by Detroit’s Matthew Stafford.  Russell Wilson is next at 21.  [ESPN The Magazine]

Next Bar Chat, Thursday.

 

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