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Bar Chat

09/04/2017

Baseball and College Football's Opening Week

[Posted Monday night....as they say, I’ve got to move on....no mid-week chat this week.]

NFL Quiz: While career numbers in football aren’t always a true reflection of a player’s greatness, whereas in baseball, 3,000 hits is, nonetheless, the numbers are what they are, and with active players always moving up the lists, it’s still important.  So, name the top ten career in passing yards. Four are still active. Answer below.

MLB

--Going back to Wednesday, after I last posted, the Yankees lost a critical doubleheader at the Stadium to the Indians, 2-1, 9-4.

Coupled with a Boston win that night, New York was suddenly 5 ½ back as they prepared to battle the Red Sox in a four-game series.

But Thursday, CC Sabathia did it again, as the Yanks won 6-2, his fourth win in four starts against the BoSox this season, a 1.04 ERA in 26 innings.

Then New York lost 4-1 on Friday, back to 5 ½ out, as Boston’s Doug Fister outdueled Sonny Gray. Gray is 2-4 since his acquisition from Oakland, but the guy has a 3.16 ERA.  The Yanks have given him zero run support.

On to Saturday, and the Yankees won 5-1, behind Masahiro Tanaka’s 7 strong, down to 4 ½, with Matt Holliday hitting a dramatic 3-run homer in his return to the lineup after being out a month.

Then Sunday, in the Yankees’ biggest win of the year, they beat Chris Sale, again, 9-2 to pull to within 3 ½ with 26 games to go.  They are also back to 2-up in the wild card race.

Sale, now 15-7, 2.85, is 1-3, 6.88, his last four starts and 0-3 in five starts against the Yankees this season.

Matt Holliday homered again, and Aaron Judge capped a six-run sixth with his first home run since Aug. 16, number 38 on the season off Addison Reed.

And today, Monday, the Yanks beat the Orioles in Baltimore, 7-4.

--For the record, Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez had quite the month of August, 12 home runs and 26 RBIs.

Sanchez began serving his reduced three-game suspension (from four) today for his role in the Yankee-Tiger tussle from about a week ago.

--The Houston Astros came home this weekend and they were granted a day off, Friday, to take care of their families and help the community.  The Astros and Mets then played a day-night doubleheader, Saturday, and Houston swept the pathetic Metropolitans, 12-8 and 4-1.

But in the first game, Wilmer Flores at least hit a grand slam for the Mets, then in the nightcap, Saturday being a day of the week ending in ‘Y,’ as Mets fans have come to understand, that meant we had to suffer another injury, so Flores fouled one directly off his face, breaking his nose, and, well, let’s just say he was a bloody mess.

The poor guy.  Earlier, he was showing reporters videos of his day in Houston, Friday, and the stories he heard from Harvey survivors.

Sunday, the Mets lost 8-6 to fall to 58-78.  [But they won today, 11-7 over Philadelphia, to move seven games over Mark R.’s Phils!!!]

Meanwhile, the Astros acquired the Tigers’ Justin Verlander at the Aug. 31 deadline, so he’s eligible for the playoff roster.  Verlander had a big bounceback season last year, and is a solid 10-8, 3.82 this campaign with 176 strikeouts in 172 innings.  Great pickup.  At 34, he is still a top three rotation guy. Plus he brings fiancée Kate Upton into the picture...the television pictures of her in the stands, which is always a pick-me-up in these days of Kim Jong Un and his Orcs.

--The Los Angeles Angels, still very much in the wild card hunt, acquired Tigers outfielder Justin Upton and Braves second baseman Brandon Phillips at the deadline.

Upton had 28 home runs and 94 RBIs for Detroit, but, witness the Verlander move, the Tigers are in total reboot mood and would have owed Upton $88.5 million the next four seasons.

Phillips, 36, is hitting .291 and is in the final season of his contract.

Gotta admire the Angels for going for it as they’ve shocked the baseball world with their performance to date, especially considering they were playing without Mike Trout for so long.

Trout snapped a rare 0-for-17 slump on Wed., going 4-for-4 in a 10-8 win over Oakland, and before today had another three straight two-hit games.

--The Texas Rangers are in the wild card hunt, but future Hall of Famer Adrian Beltre is out for the rest of the regular season with a hamstring injury.

Beltre, who had his 3,000th hit earlier this year, was batting .315 with 66 RBIs in 80 games, still playing great at age 38.

--Other games of note the past few days...Wednesday, Stephen Strasburg tossed a shutout, 4-0 over Miami, fanning 8, to move to 11-4, 2.90.  No worries over his health.

--Friday, Clayton Kershaw returned for the Dodgers, throwing six scoreless, allowing two hits, striking out 7, in a 1-0 win over the Padres, Kershaw now 16-2, 1.95, and very much back at the top of the Cy Young race.

But prior to Monday night’s contest against the Diamondbacks, the Dodgers have suddenly lost 7 of 8, Kershaw’s outing being the exception, to fall to 92-44, .676.  So much for finishing with a historic record, re winning percentage.  They just stopped hitting and the bullpen is apparently exhausted.

But they were still up by nine games over Houston and 10 over Washington for home-field advantage in the postseason (and 13 ½ over Arizona in the N.L. West).

--After seeing his batting average hit .214, Tim Tebow went on a five-game hitting streak, 9 for 20 for High-A St. Lucie, raising it to .235.  [Oops, now .231 after an 0-for-3.]

And yet another example of the impact Tebow has had on attendance.  St. Lucie bested its home mark of 105,379, set in 2011, on Aug. 4 and is up to 124,712.

College Football

--College Football’s Daytona 500, 3 Florida State vs. 1 Alabama, lived up to the hype for about 40 minutes, but ‘Bama took advantage of numerous mistakes on special teams by the Seminoles, and some ill-advised throws from FSU quarterback Deondre Francois, to win 24-7.

It was a slugfest on the offensive and defensive lines, with Alabama outgaining Florida State just 269-250.  For the Crimson Tide, quarterback Jalen Hurts was only 10/18, 96, 1-0, while FSU’s Francois was 19/33, 210, 1-2...the Seminoles with just 40 yards on the ground.

Overall, it was about turnovers.  3 for Florida State, 0 for Alabama.

The score was 13-7, ‘Bama, with about two minutes left in the third, but the Crimson Tide scored the final 11 as the defense clamped down on any final FSU attempt to climb back in it.

And at the end, Francois hobbled off, his left leg placed in a brace following a devastating fourth-quarter hit.

Then FSU fans (and college football fans in general) learned the worst. Francois is out for the season with a patella tendon injury. The Seminoles have no depth at quarterback.  Their national title hopes are shattered and the door is wide open for Clemson to walk through to the ACC title and the CFP.

But the crushing injury aside, it was a great matchup for college football and it’s also clear with the College Football Playoffs that if you want to make the final four, you need to schedule up.  You just have to feel for Florida State at the outcome.

--Defending national champion Clemson felt a bit dissed at preseason No. 5, but they showed they could be playoff bound again in unveiling the successor to Deshaun Watson, Kelly Bryant, who was 16/22, 236, with 77 yards rushing and touchdowns both through the air and on the ground in the Tigers’ 56-3 thumping of Kent State.

--6 Penn State blasted Akron 52-0, behind Saquon Barkley’s 172 yards rushing and quarterback Trace McSorley’s 280 passing with two scores.  These two need to carry the Nittany Lions all season if they are to make the playoffs.

--7 Oklahoma slammed UTEP 56-7, with Heisman candidate Baker Mayfield having virtually a perfect day...19/20, 329 yards, 3 touchdowns (while his two backups were 13 of 16...32 of 36 overall for the Sooner passing game).

--11 Michigan got its act together after a shaky first half that saw 17 Florida return two interceptions for touchdowns and a 17-13 lead at the break.  The Wolverines then dismantled the Gators, 33-17 for a final, outgaining Florida 433-192...with the Gators gaining just 11 yards on 27 carries, while being sacked six times.

--Last year Western Michigan went 13-1, the only loss in the Cotton Bowl, so it shouldn’t have been too much of a shock that they played No. 4 USC tough in Los Angeles.  But at 14-14 at the half, and 21-21 after three, no doubt the Trojans were sweating as consensus All-American quarterback Sam Darnold was just 11/19, 115, and an interception.

Well, USC pulled away, 49-31, but Darnold was only 23/33, 289, 0-2.  The Trojans instead were led by running back Ronald Jones II, 18 carries for 159 yards and three scores.

The game was also marked by this great moment.

Bill Plaschke / Los Angeles Times

“Jake Olson will never behold his perfect snap, the wondrous kick, that glorious final point of USC’s opening-day victory.

“But he felt it in the hugs, heard it in the roars and basked in its triumph as he trotted from the Coliseum field into the arms of his Trojans teammates.

“Turns out, USC’s blind long snapper saw it better than anyone.

“ ‘There’s a beauty in it,’ Olson said, still sweating through his uniform early Saturday evening.  ‘If you can’t see how God works things out, then I think you’re the blind one.’

“The beauty washed over the overheated Coliseum with barely three minutes left Saturday in USC’s 49-31 victory over Western Michigan. Eight years after the USC football program adopted him after he lost both of his eyes to retinoblastoma, a rare form of cancer, and three years after he joined the team as a walk-on, Olson snapped the ball in an official game for the first time.

“This was not practice. This was not an exhibition. This was real, and the 20-year-old junior from Huntington Beach nailed it.

“After Marvell Tell III returned an interception for the game’s final touchdown, Olson jogged onto the field with one hand on the shoulder pads of holder Wyatt Schmidt.  Olson crouched into position, then quickly hiked the ball to Schmidt, who put it in place for the kick by Chase McGrath. When the ball sailed through the uprights, the USC sideline erupted in dancing and cheering, fans hugged and high-fived, and Trojans coach Clay Helton simply marveled.

“ ‘What a pressure player,’ he said.  “ ‘Is that not a perfect snap at that moment?  It’s beyond words.’....

“This was one of those things, a moment during which all the statistics and expectations and hype around this Trojans football team were whittled into one small play for one giant of a kid.”

There are many people responsible for this moment, going back to Pete Carroll taking Olson under his wing in his final season at USC.

And now coach Clay Helton for granting Olson the opportunity.  Helton thought he might have the chance to use Olson in this game, so he alerted Western Michigan coach Tim Lester beforehand so that Lester could make sure his players understood they may be facing a blind center.

Thursday, Helton called Lester and cut a deal.  The Trojans would not rush the Broncos first extra-point attempt, if WMU didn’t rush an extra-point attempt involving Olson.

But you have to picture, after USC indeed didn’t rush the first extra-point attempt by Western Michigan, which tied the score at 7-7, Coach Lester gathered his defense together, after what had to be a terrible moment, this last, dagger in the heart touchdown on an interception, and gave them a speech.

“I told them the entire situation and said, ‘You can’t touch him, you can’t yell at him, everybody get down so it looks like a football play but nobody move,” Lester recalled after. “I told them, ‘What we’re about to do is bigger than the game. This is about what kind of people we want to be, what we represent; this is bigger than us.’”

And what did they say?

“They said, ‘Yes, sir.’”

Great moment, and makes you want to root for USC...and Western Michigan.

Brian Olson, Jake’s father, said: “To have a situation where a 12-year-old kid is losing his sight, to take a situation that ugly and fast forward eight years and be able to snap on the football field for a team that really helped him get through that time is beautiful and special.”

--Sunday night we had two interesting matchups, with 21 Virginia Tech defeating 22 West Virginia 31-24, while the stunner was UCLA’s 45-44 victory over Texas A&M.  Down 44-10, the Bruins staged the biggest comeback in their history.

With four minutes left in the third quarter, down 34, the Bruins proceeded to score on five straight drives, the last with 0:43 left for the win behind one of the presumed first-round quarterbacks in the 2018 NFL Draft, Josh Rosen.

I have to admit, I’ve been underwhelmed, like a lot of folks, with Rosen, but now in Los Angeles, the Rosen-Sam Darnold battle is on in earnest.

Rosen finished the night 35/59, 491, 4-0, but that’s only part of the story.  [I should note receivers Caleb Wilson (15-208) and Darren Andrews (12-142-2) played a key role too.]

Rosen threw for 292 of his career-high 491 yards in the fourth quarter, along with four touchdowns.

Bill Plaschke / Los Angeles Times

“The game was over.  The coach was cooked. The team was in tatters. The season was finished almost before it started.

“With two minutes left in the third quarter of the season opener at a boo-wracked Rose Bowl on Sunday night, UCLA trailed Texas A&M by 34 points.

“Thirty-four points.

“It was a humiliation, everything everyone feared about the Bruins, their most dreaded flaws, their most ominous mistakes, their worst nightmare.

“Then, with the flick and flick and flick and flick of a Josh Rosen wrist, it became their wildest dream.

“UCLA won.  The Bruins really won. Honestly, they won.  No, seriously, they won....

“It was the greatest comeback in UCLA history and the second-biggest comeback in FBS history....

“A night previously dominated by dazed stares ended with Bruins dancing everywhere.”

--Thursday night in Bloomington, Ind., No. 2 Ohio State pulled away to beat Indiana 49-21 as J.K. Dobbins broke Ohio State’s freshman record by rushing for 181 yards in his debut, while quarterback J./T. Barrett threw three touchdown passes.

It was a huge game for Indiana and they held a 14-13 lead at the half before the Buckeyes got things moving.  Hoosiers QB Richard Lagow had an outstanding game, 40 of 65, 410 yards and three touchdowns, but also two interceptions.

Also Thursday, No. 10 Oklahoma State blitzed Tulsa 59-24, with Mason Rudolph throwing for 303 yards and three TDs, while rushing for a score.  Rudolph was 20 of 24, as he joined Brandon Weeden as the only Cowboys quarterbacks to surpass 9,000 yards in career passing.  Preseason All-American receiver James Washington caught six passes for 145 yards, including touchdowns of 77 and 40 yards.

Minnesota defeated Buffalo 17-7, which I only bring up because former Western Michigan coach P.J. Fleck made his debut as the Gophers’ head coach.  Witness the WMU-USC score on Saturday, Fleck obviously left the Broncos in good shape.

And Wake Forest whipped Presbyterian 51-7.  The Demon Deacons held the FCS Blue Hose to 41 yards passing.

--So there were some shocking results this weekend.  FCS-member Howard pulled one off, one of the biggest upsets in college football history, defeating UNLV in Las Vegas 43-40, after being a 45-point underdog.  That is the biggest upset in history based on the point spread, the previous record being Stanford’s 2007 win over USC when it was a 40-point underdog.

The winning coach, Mike London, is the former Virginia coach, and he inherited a team that was 3-19 in the last two seasons, including losses to Maryland 52-13, and Rutgers 52-14, and in 2015, losses of 49-0 to Appalachian State and 76-0 at the hands of Boston College.

--The other big upset was FCS-member Liberty defeating Baylor in Waco, 48-45, only the second loss ever for the Bears to a lower-division opponent.

Baylor coach Matt Rhule, the former Temple coach, has his hands full with a squad that was rocked by a sexual assault scandal that roiled the entire university.

For Liberty, Stephen Calvert threw for 447 yards and three touchdowns.

It was Baylor’s seventh straight regular season loss, after starting out 6-0 last season.

--Elsewhere...Maryland registered its first win over a ranked team since 2010, 51-41 at 23 Texas, as Tom Herman’s coaching debut at Texas was a bust, especially since it was at home.

But talk about a tough schedule, Maryland plays Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State and Wisconsin the rest of the way.

--Iowa beat Wyoming 24-3, manhandling Wyoming star QB Josh Allen in the process, holding the potential first-rounder to just 23/40, 174, 0-2.

Iowa is boring as hell to watch, but you always know their defense will be tough and they will no doubt pull off an upset this season in playing Ohio State, Penn State and Wisconsin, among others.

--18 Miami beat Bethune Cookman 41-13, which I only mention because Summit, N.J.’s own, Michael Badgley, started off his senior season with a perfect 5 for 5 extra points, and 2 for 2 field goals, including a 50-yarder.  He has an NFL-leg, no doubt. 

--Hawaii defeated Western Carolina, 41-18.  I had noted last week that Hawaii traveled all the way out to UMass the week before, and now Western Carolina was heading out to Hawaii.

So Johnny Mac, who hails from Asheville, N.C., told me the local press was talking about how so many of the WCU Catamounts had never been on an airplane and here they were flying nine hours to Honolulu.

After the loss, they are also 0-53 lifetime against Div. I-A schools.

--It was not a good opening weekend for the ACC, after their super, best in the land 2016.

Aside from the Florida State loss, North Carolina lost to visiting California 35-30, and South Carolina defeated a highly-touted North Carolina State squad, 35-28; the Wolfpack losing despite outgaining the Gamecocks 504-246.

At least Boston College had a decent road win at normally tough Northern Illinois, 23-20.  Next up for the Eagles, Wake Forest, in the game of the year for both in terms of setting the tone for the entire season.

NFL

--Sports Illustrated released its 2017 projections, so for the record, in the AFC, the six making the playoffs are the Ravens, Raiders, Chiefs, Titans, Steelers and Patriots, New England over Pittsburgh in the AFC Championship, while in the NFC, SI projects the Seahawks, Bucs, Packers, Giants, Falcons and Vikings make the postseason, with the Packers over the Vikings in the NFC title game.

In the Super Bowl, it’s New England over Green Bay.

SI has the Jets at 3-13, worst record in football.  Tank, tank, tank!

--Actually, us Jets fans eagerly await our 1-15 season, not 3-13,  to secure the No. 1 pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, and the team took another big step towards that goal, getting rid of All-Pro defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson, shipping him to Seattle for veteran receiver Jermaine Kearse and Seattle’s second-round pick next year.  It’s a great deal for New York, who also clears out a ton of cap space, while it controls Kearse, a solid 2 or 3 on most teams (but a 1 on the Jets), for 2018.

It’s also a good trade for Seattle, looking to win now, as they pick up a real force, albeit Richardson is a true asshole.

--New York football fans had to be amused by what the Bears did on cut down Saturday.  They released former Giants receiver Victor Cruz, and kept former Jets QB Mark Sanchez.

--I swear to god, I started three separate pieces over the weekend on quarterback Brock Osweiler. The first was about him getting cut by the Brown.  Then I saw he made the team as the fourth quarterback, so I was going to go with that.  Then the Browns released him and Osweiler signed with the Broncos, yes, Denver, for the veteran minimum while Cleveland picks up $15 million+, the amount leftover from Osweiler’s four-year, $72 million deal he had signed with Houston following Denver’s 2015 Super Bowl season.

Confused?  You should be.

[Osweiler got the opportunity because backup Patrick Lynch is hurt.]

--Dallas star running back Ezekiel Elliott, in appealing his six-game suspension, spoke about a pattern of poor behavior, including his excuse for exposing a woman’s breast in public...they had sex later that day, and again on a later date.

TMZ reported that Elliott testified he didn’t receive explicit permission from the woman before pulling down her shirt, but he learned later that day she did not have a problem with it.

Good lord.

In a video, the woman is clearly surprised at the move and quickly tries to cover herself up.

The thing is what happens after has no bearing on Elliott’s appeal.

The NFL Players Association is attempting to “block” the league’s move, saying there is a “league-orchestrated conspiracy” to “hide critical information – which would completely exonerate Elliott.”

According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Kia Roberts, the NFL’s lead investigator, recommended to the league that Elliott not be suspended, and this recommendation was missing from the league’s report.

Roberts was not allowed to meet with Commissioner Roger Goodell, a source told the Star-Telegram.

Back in July when ex-girlfriend Tiffany Thompson first came forward on social media, Columbus, Ohio police did not press charges due to “conflicting and inconsistent” information.

So it was up to arbitrator Harold Henderson, and as I go to post, I still haven’t seen a ruling with the opener against the Giants coming up.

Speaking of which, there is uncertainty over Odell Beckham Jr.’s ankle and his availability for Week One.  As of today, he hadn’t done anything more than ride an exercise bike a few minutes.

--George Will / Washington Post...on football’s murky future in light of the latest CTE study.

“Football’s kinetic energy – a function of the masses and velocities of the hurtling bodies – has increased dramatically in 50 years.  On Alabama’s undefeated 1966 team, only 21 percent of the players weighed more than 200 pounds.  The heaviest weighed 223; the linemen averaged 194. The quarterback, who weighed 177, was Ken Stabler, who went on to a Hall of Fame career – and to ‘moderately severe’ CTE before death from cancer. Today, many high school teams are much beefier than the 1966 Crimson Tide. Of the 114 members of Alabama’s 2016 squad, just 25 weighed less than 200 and 20 weighed more than 300.  In 1980, only three NFL players weighed 300 or more pounds.  Last season, 390 weighed 300 pounds or more, and six topped 350.

“Players love football, and a small minority will have lucrative post-college NFL careers.  Many will make increasingly informed choices to accept the risk-reward calculus. But because today’s risk-averse middle-class parents put crash helmets on their tykes riding tricycles, football participation will skew to the uninformed and economically desperate.  But will informed spectators become queasy about deriving pleasure from an entertainment with such human costs?

“No. They will say: Players know the risks that they, unlike the baited bears, voluntarily embrace, just as smokers do.  Notice, however, that smoking, which is increasingly a choice of those least receptive to public health information, is banned in all NFL stadiums and is severely discouraged on all college campuses, including those that are football factories. And football fans will say: Better equipment will solve the problem of body parts, particularly the one in the skull’s brain pan, that are unsuited to the game.

“Perhaps evolving standards of decency will reduce football to a marginalized spectacle, like boxing.  But the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s burgeoning popularity is (redundant) evidence that ‘evolving’ is not a synonym for ‘improving.’

“Besides, as disturbing scientific evidence accumulates, NFL franchise values soar (Forbes says the most valuable is the Dallas Cowboys at $4.2 billion and the least valuable is the $1.5bn Buffalo Bills) and annual revenues reach $14 billion. The league distributes $244 million to each team - $77 million more than each team’s salary cap.  Local revenues are gravy.  The appendage of higher education that is called college football also is a big business: The Southeastern Conference’s cable television channel is valued at almost $5 billion....

“It has been said...that the Puritans banned bear baiting – unleashing fierce dogs on a bear chained in a pit – not because it gave pain to bears but because it gave pleasure to Puritans.  But whatever the Puritans’ motives, they understood that there are degrading enjoyments. Football is becoming one, even though Michigan’s $9 million coach has called it ‘the last bastion of hope for toughness in America in men.’  That thought must amuse the Marines patrolling Afghanistan’s Helmand Province.”

Golf Balls

--In the second of the four FedEx Cup Playoff events at TPC Boston, Justin Thomas picked up his fifth win of the wraparound season, number six for his career, in besting Jordan Spieth by three.  The third tournament is in two weeks.

--But the plot thickened, or maybe not, in terms of the Presidents Cup standings as this was the last event to determine the participants.  Coming into the week, Charley Hoffman was ahead of Kevin Chappell for the tenth and final automatic spot, but Chappell barely took it back when he defeated Hoffman by two strokes.  However, there is zero doubt both are making captain Steve Stricker’s team.

So this leaves one captain’s pick, Stricker making the announcement Wednesday, and we know that Phil Mickelson desperately wants it.  But he needed to perform this week and he did...all four rouunds in the 60s for a T-6.  That will be enough.  He’s in.

After Friday’s first round 69, Mickelson said he has been struggling with his focus and energy, but after missing the cut at last month’s PGA Championship, Phil met with the same doctor who helped get him through his psoriatic arthritis diagnosis in 2010 and Mickelson said he had the best energy and focus he’s had in a long time.  Not sure what the doctor did, but I hope he shares it with all of us.

--Rory McIlroy missed another cut but still moves on to the BMW Championship, but Adam Scott, who also didn’t make it, finishes out of the top 70.

--And kudos to Michael Dell, the Boston event being the Dell Technologies Championship, for donating $36 million out of his foundation for Hurricane Harvey relief efforts. 

I have probably had 9 or 10 Dell computers over the years and never had a serious problem.

--Speaking of golf and generosity, Stacy Lewis won this week’s LPGA Tour event, her 12th career title but first since 2014, and the Houston native donated the full $195,000 first prize money to relief efforts, while sponsors KPMG and Marathon Oil kicked in substantial amounts as well.

--On the Champions Tour, Scott McCarron won his fourth of the year at the Shaw Charity Classic in Calgary, so that means the two at the forefront of the putter-anchoring controversy, the other being Bernhard Langer, are 1-2 on Tour this year.  How conveeeenient!

U.S. Open

--Friday, Maria Sharapova rolled through the third round over American wild-card Sofia Kenin, 7-5, 6-2.

9-seed Venus Williams also won her third-round match.

Saturday, No. 1-seed Karolina Pliskova, who has never won a Grand Slam event, barely survived her third-round match with Zhang Shuai of China, 3-6, 7-5, 6-4.

So it was on to Sunday’s fourth round....and Sharapova was defeated by 16-seed Anastasiya Sevastova of Latvia, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2.  Bye-bye, Maria...and a blow to the Open in terms of buzz.

But American Sloane Stephens made her first Open quarterfinals with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 over 30-seed Julia Goerges of Germany.

And in the night session, in a matchup between two-time Grand Slam champions, 13-seed Petra Kvitova defeated 3-seed Garbine Muguruza 7-6 (3), 6-3 to advance to the quarters.

Kvitova will face 9-seed Venus Williams, who defeated Carla Suarez Navarro 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.

--On the men’s side, both 1-seed Rafael Nadal and 3-seed Roger Federer advanced to the fourth round; Nadal taking out Leonardo Mayer in four sets, while Federer had a three-set victory over 31-seed Feliciano Lopez.

Sunday, 17-seed Sam Querrey took on 23-seed Mischa Zverez and Querrey prevailed, 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 in just 77 minutes, Querrey thus making his first quarterfinal in the Open.  Querrey is the only American standing and he will be the highest-ranked American when the new world rankings are released Monday, Sept. 11.

Querrey is the first American man to reach the U.S. Open quarterfinals since John Isner and Andy Roddick in 2011.

--Monday, on the women’s side, No. 1 Karolina Pliskova dispatched with American Jennifer Brady in something like four minutes, 6-1, 6-0...far easier than her prior match against China’s Shuai.

And American Coco Vandeweghe advanced to the quarters for a first time.

On the men’s side, No. 1 Rafael Nadal had no problems with Ukraine’s Alexander Dolgopolov, winning in three sets, ditto Russia’s Andrey Rublev, who upset 9-seed David Goffin in three.

[I’m posting prior to Federer’s match, and the titanic conclusion of Del Potro / Thiem.]

NBA

--Neither LeBron James, nor Cleveland Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue, are very happy about the timetable for Isaiah Thomas’ recovery from a hip injury.  It seems the thrill of the acquisition for Kyrie Irving, which was indeed finalized the other day (Boston throwing in an extra 2020 second-round pick via Miami), is gone.

It is now pretty clear Thomas isn’t returning until mid-season, or thereabouts.

--Thursday, the NBA announced it was fining the Los Angeles Lakers $500,000 for tampering in communications centering around their interest in star forward Paul George.  Teams are not allowed to reach out to or discuss players under contract with other teams and George was with the Indiana Pacers, until being traded to Oklahoma City.

Initially it was thought Lakers President Magic Johnson was primarily at fault, but the NBA called out new GM Rob Pelinka.

George had previously expressed his interest in playing for the Lakers after his contract expired after the 2017-18 season, which got the Pacers to trade him to OKC in order to get something in return and not just see him walk in a year.  At the same time, Magic Johnson expressed his admiration for George and his stance, tweeting: “God is so good!”

And Johnson appeared on Jimmy Kimmel in April, saying he’d like to get George, but he told Kimmel, “You can’t tamper with somebody else’s player,” wink-wink.

--Switching to college basketball, we note the passing of Villanova coaching legend Rollie Massimino, 82.

Massimino is forever known for leading an eight-seeded ‘Nova team to a national title in 1985, a 66-64 victory against No. 1 seed Georgetown and Patrick Ewing.

Overall, Massimino was 355-241 in 19 seasons at Villanova, before leaving for UNLV, where he had some issues, and then finishing up his career at Cleveland State.

Rollie Massimino grew up in New Jersey and began his coaching career as an assistant at nearby Cranford High.  His first head coaching job was at Hillside High, also in my area, and then he moved to Lexington High in Massachusetts, before being hired by Stony Brook in 1969.

He then joined Chuck Daly’s staff at Penn, before becoming head coach at Villanova in 1973.

But it was that NCAA title game, April 1, in Lexington, Kentucky, where the Wildcats pitched a virtually perfect game, going 22 of 28 from the field, 22 of 27 from the line, for the 66-64 triumph, stunning the nation.  Those of us from a certain era will always vividly remember this contest, while the starters – Dwayne McClain, Harold Pressley, Gary McLain, Ed Pinckney and Harold Jensen – are forever part of school and hoops lore.

NASCAR

Denny Hamlin won the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway on Sunday night in a most entertaining race.  Hamlin overcame a terrible mistake, missing the pit road entrance with 54 laps left and fell behind leader Martin Truex Jr. by 20 seconds. 

But Hamlin slowly reeled him in, while Truex opted to stay out on well-worn tires, and then in the final two laps, Truex brushed the wall, got a flat tire, and Hamlin swept by to win his 31st career race, second of the season.

If Truex hadn’t suffered the flat, he was preparing to block the faster Hamlin the final lap. Truex finished eighth.

On to Richmond, and the final regular-season event to determine the finalists for the 10-race playoffs.

Truex, in defeat, did clinch the regular-season championship, which gives him a big edge down the road in terms of the points system.

I also want to once again thank the Monster Energy Girls for their ongoing professionalism in rocking their leather outfits.

Soccer

--What a disaster.  Team USA lost to Costa Rica in World Cup qualifying 2-0 on Friday night in New Jersey at Red Bull Arena.  It was the first loss in a home qualifier with Costa Rica in 32 years, and is on top of CR’s 4-0 win over the visiting U.S. way back in a November qualifier.  It’s also the first time the U.S. has been swept in two qualifiers since Mexico did it in 1972.

As coach Bruce Arena said, “We’ve got to put this past us real quick.”

And how.  The U.S. travels to play Honduras – a 2-1 winner over Trinidad and Tobago on Friday – in San Pedro Sula, Tuesday. With three games left in the CONCACAF tournament the U.S. is tied with Honduras for third place, trailing both Mexico and Costa Rica and leading Panama by a point.

Only the top three teams qualify automatically for next summer’s World Cup in Russia.

The pressure Tuesday will be unreal.

--Dr. W. said that after watching France play Netherlands, France blitzing them 4-0 (it didn’t help the Dutch squad that they were playing in wooden shoes), the good doctor is declaring it will be France and Germany in the World Cup final.

Stuff

--The pay-per-view tally for the Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Conor McGregor fight is still being worked on, with Showtime execs telling USA TODAY that it is in the “mid to high” four-million range for purchases in the U.S. and Canada.  The PPV record is 4.6 million purchases, Mayweather-Pacquiao in 2015.

I can understand why it would take a while to get all the figures from all the distributors collecting, plus you have givebacks (refunds) for technical issues and false charges.

But at $100, yes, the 4m+ figure is still impressive.

--Sean Gregory had a piece in the Sept. 4 issue of TIME on the soaring costs of youth sports, travel leagues and such.  Yes, the days of a Willie Wilson being the best football player in my state (New Jersey), signing for a scholarship to play at Maryland, but then opting for baseball and a career that saw him win a batting  title and pick up a World Series ring, while also being an outstanding basketball player, are long over.  [Gotta work Willie in a couple times a year.]

Not being a parent, I don’t get it.  But I try to understand.

So the article has the odds of playing competitively after being on your high school team:

Basketball: 1 in 99 go on to play Division I hoops; 1 in 1,860 go on to play in the NBA

Soccer: 1 in 73 play Division I; 1 in 835 will play MLS

Baseball: 1 in 47 will play Division I; 1 in 764 will play MLB

Football: 1 in 41 will play Division I; 1 in 603 will play in the NFL

The cost to families, by sport (avg. annual spending with children ages 8 to 18).

Lacrosse: $7,956...Hockey: $7,013...Baseball/Softball: $4,044...Football: $2,739...Soccer: $1,472...Basketball: $1,143.

Overall, spending on youth sports, including team fees, apparel and travel, is up to $15 billion a year from $8 billion in 2005.

I mean how many families can really afford all this?

--A popular Florida manatee, “Snooty,” the world’s oldest known manatee at 69, died as a result of a “preventable accident” at his long-time aquarium, the South Florida Museum in Bradenton, where he lived for 68 years after being bred in captivity in Miami.

The manatee drown after a panel leading to a maintenance area, that was known to be loose and had screws missing a week before his death, broke off, and the 1,000 lb. animal swam through, getting trapped in a 30-inch tube where he drowned.

There are three younger manatee still there and the official in charge has been dismissed.

‘Man’ drops to No. 368 on the All-Species List, temporarily, but could be move up to 366 based on ongoing ‘save the animals’ operations in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.

--We note the passing of comedian Shelley Berman, age 92.  I can’t say I was a real fan of the guy, versus others of that era, like Milton Berle, Jack Benny, Shecky Greene and Alan King, for example (I could go on and on...the Ed Sullivan era), though Berman’s brand of humor and routines influenced the likes of Woody Allen, Jerry Seinfeld and Bob Newhart, comics who, as Berman did, built their acts around the frustrations with everyday life.

I did enjoy Berman playing Larry David’s father on “Curb Your Enthusiasm” years ago.

--In catching up on some reading this weekend, I came across another story on minor-league ballpark fare and the new park for the Hartford (Ct.) Yard Goats, Dunkin’ Donuts Park, apparently has excellent barbecue (Bear’s Smokehouse BBQ), but also a BLTDD... “a bacon-lettuce-tomato sandwich with two glazed donuts acting as the bun.”

Huh.  Seeing as I have a Dunkin’ Donuts downstairs, this is one I could try at home!

On the second thought....

The “Yard Goat,” by the way, is a work train.

--Angelina Jolie told the U.K.’s Sunday Telegraph, “I don’t enjoy being single. There’s nothing nice about it.  It’s just hard.”

Stay away, guys.  She’s dangerous.

--Jeff B. alerted me to a Guns N’ Roses tribute to Glen Campbell at a recent concert, “Wichita Lineman,” which you can see online.  The version I saw was clearly shot by a younger woman who is heard going, about a minute into it, “I have no idea what this song is.”

As I commented to Jeff after, her parents must have sucked, and she sucks more.

[It’s not a bad version, by the way.]

--Lastly, we note the passing of Steely Dan co-founder Walter Becker.  He was 67.

Becker and longtime musical partner Donald Fagen were responsible for numerous hit songs and flat-out great albums, particularly in the band’s 1970s heyday. Their music, influenced by jazz and R&B, was truly unique.  No cause of death was given.

Fagen, in a statement, pledged to keep Steely Dan’s music alive.

“He was cynical about human nature, including his own, and hysterically funny,” Fagen wrote. “Like a lot of kids from fractured families, he had the knack of creative mimicry, reading people’s hidden psychology and transforming what he saw into bubbly, incisive art.”

Becker had missed the band’s recent performances in Los Angeles and it appears he’s been sick since early July.

Steely Dan was named after a William Burroughs term for a marital aid in his book “Naked Lunch.”  The band formed after Becker and Fagen met at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y.  Their albums, such as “Pretzel Logic” and “Aja” were “painstakingly produced,” as the Los Angeles Times’ Todd Martens so rightly put it.

Walter Becker will be missed, but what a legacy he leaves.

Top 3 songs for the week 9/6/75: #1 “Rhinestone Cowboy” (Glen Campbell)  #2 “Fallin’ In Love” (Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds)  #3 “Get Down Tonight” (K.C. & The Sunshine Band)...and...#4 “At Seventeen” (Janis Ian)  #5 “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)” (James Taylor)  #6 “Jive Talkin’” (Bee Gees)  #7 “Fame” (David Bowie)  #8 “Fight The Power, Part I” (The Isley Brothers)  #9 “Could It Be Magic” (Barry Manilow)  #10 “One Of These Nights” (Eagles)

NFL Quiz Answer: Top ten passing yards, career.

1. Peyton Manning 71,940
2. Brett Favre 71,838
3. Drew Brees 66,111*
4. Tom Brady 61,582*
5. Dan Marino 61,361
6. John Elway 51,475
7. Warren Moon 49,325
8. Eli Manning 48,218*
9. Fran Tarkenton 47,003
10. Ben Roethlisberger 46,814*

11. Vinny Testaverde 46,233
12. Philip Rivers 45,833*

*active

Next Bar Chat, Mon. Sept.11.

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