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Bar Chat

10/02/2017

Baseball's Playoffs Are Set

[Posted Sunday p.m. After receiving some bad news late today, related to a friend of the site, and a great friend personally, I wasn’t in the mood to proof the following that well.]

NFL Quiz: Who is the last quarterback to lead the Buffalo Bills to the playoffs in 1999?  Answer below.

MLB

--The Dodgers wrapped up the best record in baseball Saturday with a 5-3 win over Colorado, moving to 104-58, the best since the franchise moved to Los Angeles.

--The Red Sox clinched their second straight A.L. East crown in defeating the Astros 6-3 on Saturday.  These two now open the A.L. Division Series on Thursday in Houston.

Boston’s win insured that the Indians have home-field advantage throughout the ALCS, and take on the winner of the Yankees-Twins wild card game on Tuesday...Luis Severino vs. Ervin Santana.

Wednesday, it’s Colorado at Arizona in the WC, the Rockies’ Jon Gray vs. the Diamondbacks’ Zack Greinke. The winner will then go up against the Dodgers, Chicago at Washington the other NLDS matchup.

--The Yankees had a shot to take the A.L. East race to Sunday, but Thursday, they blew a 4-1 lead to the Rays and lost 9-6. The game was noteworthy in part because catcher Gary Sanchez committed his major-league leading 16th passed ball, something Yankees fans will be nervous about in the wild card game, and hopefully beyond.

Friday, the Yankees beat the Blue Jays 4-0 behind Masahiro Tanaka’s career best 15 strikeouts in seven innings.

What a strange season he has had as he moved to 13-12, but a 4.74 ERA.  He had some incredibly dominating performances, but he was shelled so often his ERA never dropped below 4.20 all season.

--The Yankees’ Aaron Judge hit his 52nd home run Saturday at Yankee Stadium, another moonshot, 484 feet, his second-longest of the year (495 being tops), in the Bombers’ 2-1 win over Toronto.

In doing so, Judge broke a tie with Babe Ruth, hitting his 33rd at Yankee Stadium in 2017, a new single-season mark.

Judge had 15 homers and 32 RBI in September.

--Miami’s Giancarlo Stanton became just the sixth player in baseball history to reach 59 home runs in a season on Thursday night when he hit two in a 7-1 win over Atlanta; the others being Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, Roger Maris and Babe Ruth.  Pretty impressive, especially since the first three were ‘roided up.

 But then Stanton failed to reach 60 in his final 14 at bats over the weekend, though he had five hits and ended up leading the majors with 59 HR, 132 RBI.

--For all the talk of the homers this year, however, nothing really cartoonish; Judge and Stanton the only two to hit 50 and 132 RBIs as an MLB-leading figure very average in the history of the game.

And no 20-game winners.

--As a baseball fan, it was too bad Mike Trout didn’t finish with 100 runs for his baseball card; Trout ending up with 92 in 114 games due to the big injury he suffered mid-season.

Trout still hit 33 homers and drove in 72, while batting .306.

--The Mets’ miserable season is over, finishing 70-92 after an 11-0 loss to the Phils today, with anonymous players and team officials bashing manager Terry Collins on his way out the door after seven seasons at the helm, the longest-serving Mets manager in history.  He did the best he could with, most of the time, limited resources.  And he had to deal with the disastrous injury issue.

So when comments appeared in New York’s Newsday, questioning Collins’ handling of the clubhouse, team captain David Wright came to the defense of his skipper.

“Players are supposed to be accountable.  To me, being accountable is putting a name on a quote and looking in the mirror instead of pointing fingers.  Seems like an easy way out to blame someone else. Just my opinion.”

Wright showed in his text that he has what it takes to be a manager, except the Mets are going to be looking outside, though for someone with a past connection to the organization.

Emblematic of the Mets’ lousy season is Matt Harvey, who finished the season 5-7, but with a 6.70 ERA, the highest single-season ERA in Mets history for any pitcher who made at least 15 starts.

--I’ll go through some final stats next chat, but for now we acknowledge the amazing season Colorado outfielder and leadoff batter Charlie Blackmon had.

In Friday’s 9-1 win against the Dodgers, Blackmon hit a two-run homer, giving him 101 RBI from the top spot in the lineup, with another RBI batting third.

The 101 is a new major league record for a leadoff hitter, topping Darin Erstad’s 100 in 2000 for the Angels.  He picked up another RBI in the Friday contest, and one Saturday, so 103 (104 overall).

Blackmon’s 37 homers rank third by a leadoff hitter, behind Alfonso Soriano’s 38 in 2002 for the Yankees and 39 while with the Nationals in 2006. 

But for those who say of Blackmon’s season, yeah, but he’s playing in Coors Field, you have a point.  Entering the final game, he was .391 at home, with 24 of his 37 homers there, and .276 on the road, as big a disparity as I can ever recall at Coors. 

[Actually, Dante Bichette had some interesting seasons when he played in Colorado, like 1996, when he had 22 home runs and 99 RBIs at home, while batting .366; and 9-42, .253 on the road.  The year before, he was 31-83, .377 at Coors Field; 9-45, .300 away.]

--The Phillies surprisingly fired manager Pete Mackanin after 2 ½ seasons with the team seemingly on the verge of turning things around next year.  What was particularly surprising is Mackanin was offered a job as special assistant to the general manager.

While the Phillies finished 66-96, and haven’t been to the playoffs since 2011, they were 37-38 since the All-Star break.

College Football Review

The following was written prior to release of the new AP Top 25.  I have to admit I didn’t watch as much CFB this weekend, catching a lot of Saturday’s Yankee game and Premier League action (Man City-Chelsea), as well as golf, before being glued solely to Wake Forest-Florida State, and then Clemson-Virginia Tech after.  Not a lot of channel surfing compared to most college football Saturdays.

--A look at the top ten....

1 Alabama is 5-0 after a 66-3 demolition of Ole Miss (2-2), outgaining the Rebels 613-253; Jalen Hurts with two touchdowns passing, one rushing, along with 101 yards on the ground.

The 66 points were the most in Nick Saban’s 11 seasons at the helm, the most since 1979, and it marked the first time the Tide has scored 50-plus in consecutive SEC games since 1945.

2 Clemson is 5-0 after whipping 12 Virginia Tech (4-1) in Blacksburg, 31-17.  It was 24-3 after three, a highly disappointing contest from a spectator standpoint, with the Hokies killing themselves with three turnovers.  Kelly Bryant was again solid at quarterback for the Tigers.

Just play the national championship game tomorrow and finish out the schedule later.

3 Oklahoma was idle.

4 Penn State is 5-0 after a solid 45-14 win over a respectable Indiana (2-2) squad.  The Nittany Lions built up a quick 28-0 lead, the Hoosiers cut it to 28-14, but got no closer. 

Indiana held Heisman hopeful Saquon Barkley to just 56 yards on 20 carries, but he had a 98-yard opening kickoff return for a touchdown.  Penn State also recovered a fumble for a score.

Friday night In Pullman, 16 Washington State moved to 5-0 and certainly proved they are for real with a 30-27 upset of 5 USC (4-1), in all likelihood finishing the Trojans’ national title hopes.  Erik Powell hit a 32-yard field goal with 3:21 to play for the win.

Washington State outgained USC 462-327.

And so once again, Sam Darnold was very unimpressive for the Trojans, just 15/29, 164, 0-1, plus he lost a fumble.  No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft?  I don’t think so...at least not this week.

Meanwhile, the Cougars’ Luke Falk was 34 of 51 for 340 yards and two touchdowns.  He moved up on the short list of QBs for the draft.

6 Washington blitzed the moribund Beavers of Oregon State (1-4), with the Huskies’ Jake Browning throwing for three touchdowns, Washington now 5-0 and very much in the title conversation.

Washington and Washington State don’t square off until Nov. 25, and the Cougars travel to Eugene to face a decent Oregon squad in two weeks.

7 Georgia will keep moving up as they destroyed Tennessee (3-2) in Knoxville, 41-0, the Bulldogs now 5-0.  Georgia held the Vols to 142 yards of offense as Tennessee turned it over four times.

Georgia doesn’t play Alabama in the regular season, but the two are on a collision course for the SEC title.

8 Michigan and 9 TCU were idle.

10 Wisconsin is 4-0 after a 33-24 win over Northwestern (2-2). There were five turnovers in this one. Not a work of art.

In other games....

11 Ohio State traveled to New Jersey and came away with a 56-0 win at Rutgers (1-4), the Buckeyes moving to 4-1 and still kind of in the conversation.  OSU outgained the Scarlet Knights 628-209.  I’ve had my frustrations as a Wake Forest fan, but boy, am I glad I don’t have to follow the Rutgers program as an alum.  Reading about it in the local papers is bad enough.

Speaking of Wake Forest, yes, I was depressed Saturday night.  The Deacons (4-1) had their shot at a 5-0 start and a signature win at home, in front of a rare sellout crowd, but they fell to struggling Florida State (1-2) 26-19.

This game was Wake Forest’s all the way, but we kept shooting ourselves in the foot.  A needless roughing the passer call, a gigantic missed extra point from our normally reliable kicker that would have made it 13-3. Instead, FSU got some momentum out of it and led 13-12 at the half.  A punt that easily should have been downed at the 1-yard line, but was botched.  A key defensive holding call.  A huge interception where our receiver muffed it and tipped the ball in the air for the FSU defense to pick off...you name it...the Deacs committed it.  Just a massive failure to execute.

I mean the Deacs outgained the Seminoles 181-108 in the first half, 367-270 for the game.

In defeat, our quarterback, John Wolford was solid; 24/34, 271, 0-1 (the tip), plus 63 yards rushing and a touchdown on the ground.  Tight end Cam Serigne also proved he has NFL game.

But what a titanic disappointment for the fans.  Now we travel to Clemson next Saturday.  We should have been sky high heading into Death Valley.  Now it will likely be, err, death.

[I should note that freshman QB James Blackman of Florida State may have had an underwhelming game, under non-stop pressure from the terrific Deacon defense, but he came through in the end with a perfect 40-yard scoring strike to Auden Tate for the deciding touchdown, breaking the 19-19 tie late.]

Continuing....

14 Miami is 3-0 with a nice 31-6 win at Duke (4-1) on Friday, holding the Blue Devils to two field goals, while the Hurricanes’ Malik Rosier looked good, 15/26, 270, 2-1.  Alas, Summit’s Michael Badgley missed his first field goal attempt of the season for Miami, a 53-yarder.

19 San Diego State is 5-0 after a solid home win against Northern Illinois (2-2), 34-28.

22 Notre Dame is trying to bounce back and is now 4-1 after a 52-17 thrashing of Miami (Ohio) (2-3).

One of the big stories in college football early on is the play of Stanford running back Bryce Love, who is off to the one of the best starts in history, rushing for a school-record 301 yards on 25 carries against Arizona State (2-3) in Stanford’s 34-24 win on Saturday, the Cardinal now 3-2.

Love, out of Wake Forest, N.C., ironically, has 1,088 yards on the ground in his first five games and is averaging a Pop Warnerish 11.1 yards per carry!  As Ronald Reagan would have said, “Not bad, not bad at all.”

UCLA’s Josh Rosen was 28/45, 372, 1-1, as the Bruins (3-2) defeated a decent Colorado (3-2) team, 27-23.

Rosen and Darnold have been, eh, thus far in 2017.

In fact, I don’t think there is a single NFL GM who could tell you who the definitive No. 1 quarterback in the land is, in terms of the draft, thus far.

And now the new AP Poll!

1. Alabama 5-0 (58)
2. Clemson 5-0 (6)
3. Oklahoma 4-0
4. Penn State 5-0
5. Washington 5-0
6. Georgia 5-0
7. Michigan 4-0
8. Wisconsin 4-0
9. Ohio State 4-1
10. TCU 4-0
11. Washington State 5-0
12. Miami 3-0
15. USC 4-1
16. South Florida 5-0
21. SDSU 5-0

--The other day I was talking about scholarships and how I just thought colleges should up the new allowances that came into play two years ago, “cost of attendance” stipends; money paid over and above the full scholarship.  I was writing off the top of my head and I think I gave a figure of $4,000 on average.

Anyway, Sports Illustrated has a piece on the topic in the current issue and here are some examples they gave, the stipend varying between $1,500 and $6,000, which isn’t inconsequential and allows a kid to get home now and then...or play DraftKings.  [Just kidding on DraftKings!!!]

Penn State: $4,788 for in-state and out-of-state students

Boise State: $3,542 for out-of-state students; $3,320 for in-state

Florida State: $6,218 for out-of-state; $4,860 for in-state

Colorado: $3,956 for out-of-state; $3,294 for in-state

NFL

--Before play this weekend, we had five teams start the season 0-3...Cleveland, Cincinnati, L.A. Chargers, Giants and San Francisco.

Since the NFL playoffs were revamped to the current 12-team format in 1990, only three teams began the season 0-3 and made the playoffs...the 1992 Chargers, the 1995 Lions, and the 1998 Bills.  That ’92 Chargers team started 0-4, then won 11 of 12.

--Mike Lupica / New York Daily News

“The reaction this week to Odell Beckham Jr. was basically that he’d exhibited all of the qualities of a dog except loyalty, at least to his own team.  The attendant reaction, with both predictable and perfectly justified outrage, was that he had disgraced everything sacred to the Giants by acting like this kind of talented chowderhead. Who does he think he is, Lawrence Taylor?

“Beckham truly is a thrilling talent.  Just not the greatest talent the Giants have ever had, because Lawrence was. And Lawrence Taylor got away with so much of what he got away with across his extraordinary career because he did something that Beckham hasn’t done and might not ever do, and that means help win it all for his team.

“Winning has always provided the greatest cover in the world for sketchy and downright bad behavior, especially around here, in all the sports, all the way back to Babe Ruth. The Babe won, too, won big, and in a different world the Yankees didn’t particularly care about his off-the-field excesses. And, let’s face it, nobody ever cared much about those things with Mickey Mantle, either.

“Joe Namath, in so many ways, has the thinnest resume of any quarterback in the Hall of Fame, someone who in another time in pro football retired with more interceptions than touchdown passes. Doesn’t matter. He was the quarterback of the Jets team that won one of the most famous Super Bowls ever played....

“There is no question that Beckham acted like a self-absorbed idiot by lifting a leg in the end zone in Philly.  But what was just as thrilling was his continued lack of self-awareness about himself and his circumstances, no matter how many one-handed catches he makes....One of these days Beckham will stop admiring himself in the mirror and figure that out.”

No he won’t.

[Beckham was fined $12,154 by the NFL for his touchdown celebration.  Owner John Mara expressed that he was “very unhappy” with OBJ.]

So how did the Giants do Sunday against Tampa Bay?  They fell to 0-4, 25-23, on a last-second Nick Folk field goal, Folk the former Jet.

Eli Manning was 30/49, 288, 2-0, 91.2, with a 14-yard TD run, but his counterpart, Jameis Winston, was better, 22/38, 332, 3-0, 113.0.

As for Odell he had seven receptions for 90 yards, zero touchdowns, and he dropped a number of Eli’s throws.  A lot of players in the NFL can produce what he did today.  He was far from special and he continues to be a loser.

--Out of nowhere, my Jets are 2-2.  I’m no longer in the tank-tank-tank camp.  The last two weeks they’ve been fun...and while thoughts of a miracle season that has them in the playoffs is beyond ridiculous, what the hell?  I’m all in now.

The Jets beat Jacksonville (2-2) 23-20 in overtime on a Chandler Catanzaro 41-yard field goal.

New York rushed for 256 yards, Bilal Powell 21-163, rookie Elijah McGuire 10-93; the duo gaining an astounding 208 yards on just 13 carries in the first half!

The Jets blew a 20-10 late lead on two fluke plays, allowing the Jags to get the 10 for overtime, but they won it nonetheless.

Next up, the 0-4 Browns in Cleveland.  Could they be 3-2?!  Holy cow.

--And who wudda thunk the Jets would be tied with New England at 2-2, the Patriots 33-30 losers at home to Carolina (3-1), as Cam Newton led the way with 316 yards and three touchdowns through the air, and another TD rushing.

Tom Brady was solid, 32/45, 307, 2-0, 104.5, but it wasn’t enough.

--So it’s Buffalo that is 3-1 in the AFC East, after a 23-17 road win in Atlanta against the now 3-1 Falcons, Matt Ryan having a poor effort, picked off twice and fumbling for a Bills touchdown.

--Detroit is 3-1 after a 14-7 win over Minnesota (2-2).  Yawn.

--The surprising Rams are 3-1, Jared Goff once again leading the way, as they dumped Dallas to 2-2, following a 35-30 win at Jerry’s Place.

Goff, 21/36, 255, 2-0, isn’t the only story for L.A.  Todd Gurley, after a huge sophomore slump in 2016, is back, rushing for 121 yards and catching seven passes for another 94 and a touchdown.

--Back to the 0-4 Browns, that was the result of a 31-7 whupping by Cincinnati, with “Good Andy” showing up; Andy Dalton 25/30, 286, 4-0, 146.0; the Bengals now 1-3.

--Deshaun Watson. Texans rookie QB out of Clemson, is in our December file for all the right reasons, Watson donating his first game check, $27,353, to three cafeteria workers working in the NRG Stadium dining hall, all impacted by the flooding from Hurricane Harvey.

Watson walked into the cafeteria with envelopes wrapped in ribbon.  Total class.

He has been on the receiving end of generosity in the past, as he and his family were once recipients of a house built by Habitat for Humanity.

So it only seems appropriate that Watson had an outstanding game on Sunday for Houston, as the Texans scored a team-record 57 points in annihilating Tennessee 57-14, both teams now 2-2; Watson going 25/34, 283, 4-1, 125.0, while rushing for a touchdown.

Tennessee committed five turnovers and was outgained 445-195.

--Your Bar Chat “Pick to Click” Pittsburgh Steelers are 3-1 after a 26-9 win over division rival Baltimore (2-2), Le’Veon Bell rounding back into form after zero training camp, rushing for 144 yards and two scores.

--Denver beat the Raiders (2-2) 16-10 to move to 3-1, as Oakland awaits the extent of quarterback Derek Carr’s back injury.

--We note the passing of Red Miller, 89.  Miller turned the Denver Broncos into a defensive powerhouse and guided them to its first Super Bowl in 1978, in his first season as a head coach.

Denver made the playoffs in the first three of his four seasons at the helm, Miller going 40-22.

When Miller took over for John Ralston in 1977, Denver hadn’t made it to the playoffs since its first season, in 1960.

Miller’s defense was anchored by the likes of linebackers Randy Gradishar and Tom Jackson, and the lineman Lyle Alzado.

They had a superb 12-2 season that first year, beating the Steelers, 34-21, and the Raiders, 20-17, to advance to Super Bowl XII in New Orleans, where they faced Dallas and its so-called Doomsday Defense, and Denver proceeded to turn it over eight times, seven in the first half alone, Dallas eventually prevailing 27-10.

Despite his success in his four seasons, Miller was fired when Edgar F. Kaiser Jr. bought the team and replaced him with Dan Reeves, the Cowboys’ offensive coordinator.

College Basketball Scandal

Hours after I posted last time, Louisville coach Rick Pitino was effectively fired, placed on administrative leave, ditto athletic director Tom Jurich.

Joe Nocera / Bloomberg...via Ken P.

“When exactly did the Federal Bureau of Investigation decide that NCAA regulations were the law of the land?  When did it conclude that, in addition to hunting down terrorists and investigating insider trading, its mandate also included protecting amateurism in college sports?

“For years, athletic shoe companies like Nike and Adidas paid coaches to have their team wear their brand of sneaker.  Were coaches like Rick Pitino, John Thompson and Jim Valvano being bribed by the shoe company representatives?  You certainly could frame it that way. But nobody did.  Neither law enforcement nor the NCAA ever protested.

“In 2006 – to pick just one among the many, many NCAA scandals over the years – two less-than-reputable agents gave the family of the University of Southern California’s star running back, Reggie Bush, gifts and benefits, including the free use of a house, worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. They did so in the expectation that Bush would sign with them when he decided to turn pro.  (He didn’t.)  Although the university was severely punished by the NCAA, the FBI chose not to look into the matter. Why would it?  Giving a star athlete’s family the use of a house may be unseemly, and it may violate NCAA’s rules regarding amateurism, but it doesn’t violate the laws of the United States.  Not even close.

“And yet on Tuesday, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York...announced with great fanfare that it had cracked a college basketball bribery scandal.”

Four assistant coaches at major programs are alleged to have accepted bribes to steer top prospects to certain agents and financial adviser, while the head of global marketing for Adidas Basketball was also charged with bribing top high school players and their families.

Nocera: “I ask again: What law is being violated?...Last month, Adidas agreed to pay $160 million over 10 years for the University of Louisville to wear its apparel. That’s called a ‘deal.’  But if the company then pays a high school athlete to attend the school, that’s called a ‘bribe’?

“If that’s really the criteria, why isn’t a college scholarship a bribe?  The college is trying to lure a student by offering money.  Is it all that much different from what Adidas’ executive is charged with doing? The only ‘wrongdoing,’ if you can call it that, is that the athlete has violated the NCAA’s amateurism rules.”

Tim Dahlberg / AP...via Bob S.

“Rick Pitino accomplished at least one thing before being unceremoniously dumped by the University of Louisville.

“He set the going market rate for five-star prospects in college basketball.

“Turns out it’s a cool $100,000, doled out through your favorite shoe company in four convenient payments. A bargain, really, considering an entire starting five would come in at a cool $500,000 – coincidentally, the same figure that Pitino would get as a bonus if his team won a national championship.

“Pitino, of course, knows nothing about that.  He’s shocked that someone in the program was paying for top recruits, just like he was shocked a rogue assistant turned a dorm at Louisville into a brothel – missing only the red lights and satin sheets – for players and visiting recruits....

“The FBI is deep into a probe of bribery and payoffs that investigators say likely will go much deeper.  Already, 10 people – Pitino is not one of them – have been charged with various crimes after being caught on wiretaps scheming of ways cash can be used to get top prospects to commit to the best schools and the worst agents.

“The pickings should be relatively easy for investigators armed with subpoenas and great powers of persuasion. This is a sport that insiders have long known as a sordid cesspool inhabited by greedy adults looking to get rich off the talents of teenagers who are skilled at getting the ball in the basket.”

Friday, Louisville named assistant coach David Padgett as Pitino’s interim replacement.  Padgett played at Louisville from 2005-08, becoming an assistant after two years as Louisville’s director of basketball operations.

“It’s not going to be easy,” Padgett said.

Players had previously backed Padgett as Pitino’s replacement when they met Wednesday.  An interim athletic director is to be named this week, and Padgett said he’ll wait for this before filling out his staff.

ABC News, by the way, confirmed Pitino is the “Coach-2” mentioned in the FBI documents as the coach who spoke to Adidas executive Jim Gatto multiple times and “requested” the transaction that allegedly sealed the commitment of five-star recruit Brian Bowen.

Pitino said in response to the investigation, he had “no knowledge of any payments to any recruit or their family.”

As for where the investigation goes from here, and how many other schools will be implicated, it largely depends on how much the 10 men arrested on Monday and Tuesday, and their lawyers, decide to talk over the coming months; prosecutors obviously applying pressure in return for some leniency.

But I just have to note this anecdote from Will Hobson this week in the Washington Post:

“When I was at Indiana in the mid-1980s spending a season with Bob Knight, his academic adviser was under orders to come and tell him – not an assistant coach – if a player missed a class, missed a study hall or was struggling with a class.  When Steve Alford, IU’s best player, posed for a charity calendar, the program’s compliance director brought Knight the calendar and told him he believed Alford posing – even though he wasn’t paid anything – was an NCAA violation. Knight called the NCAA that day, and Alford had to sit out that weekend’s game against Kentucky.”

Having been an admirer of Knight, despite his many faults, I was glad to see this.

Separately, as Hobson writes, we all know that the scandal is nothing new, and he reminds us that 35 years ago, Digger Phelps, then the coach at Notre Dame, told a New York Times reporter during the Final Four in New Orleans that the going rate for big-time recruits was about $10,000 a year in basketball and $20,000 a year in football.  The Times put the story on the front page and Phelps was pilloried by his fellow coaches for breaking the code of silence among them. 

NBA

--Oklahoma City convinced All-Star and reigning MVP Russell Westbrook to accept a new five-year, $205 million extension that had been sitting on the table, quieting all the rumors that had him headed to Los Angeles at season’s end.  Westbrook has thus sent a message to Paul George and Carmelo Anthony that they should stay too.

The new contract is the largest in NBA history.

--Changes to the NBA Draft lottery were approved by the NBA Board of Governors, but to go into effect before the 2019 draft, that would give the NBA teams with the three worst records an equal chance at securing the top pick. As it stands now, the league’s worst team has a 25 percent chance of getting the No. 1 pick, while the next-worst team’s chance drops to 19.9 percent.

The move is supposed to lessen a team’s incentive to tank.

Presidents Cup

There is literally nothing to say, except that, for the record, the United States defeated the International squad for a tenth time in 12 matches (10-1-1), blitzing them 19-11, after it was 14 ½-3 ½ heading into Sunday’s 12 singles matches. [So the Internationals deserve some credit for waxing the U.S. 7 ½-4 ½ in the singles.] It was 8-2 after the first two days. 

Two years ago it was U.S. 15 ½-14 ½. 

When Jason Day goes 0-3-1 over the first three days (before winning his singles match), you know if you were a fan of the Internationals that it was hopeless.

The message has been sent to the European Ryder Cup team for next year in France, for sure.

Through Saturday, for example, Jordan Spieth, Patrick Reed, Rickie Fowler and Justin Thomas, a pretty good core four, had a combined record of 30-17-13 for Ryder and Presidents Cups.

And then throw in Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson and others and it’s pretty intimidating.

I was watching Saturday when NBC’s Johnny Miller, who never misses an opportunity to remind viewers how great his generation was, said this 2017 squad was in the category of “best ever.”

[More next chat.]

--Earlier in the week, Tiger Woods said when asked if he would return to competing on Tour, “I don’t know what my future holds.”  That’s as honest a response as he’s given.  No one knows, including him.

The Anthem Controversy

*I hope this is the last time I have to address it in this space, but I need to get some things down for the archives.

--President Trump set the theme for Sunday, tweeting Saturday night: “Very important that NFL players STAND tomorrow, and always, for the playing of our National Anthem.  Respect ou Flag and our Country!”

And then it continued Sunday morning....

--Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr / Sports Illustrated

“The fact is, we live in an amazing nation, but it’s a flawed one. I consider myself unbelievably lucky to live here, so please spare me the ‘If you don’t like it you can get out’ argument.  I love living here. I love my country.  I just think it’s important to recognize that we as a nation are far from perfect, and it’s our responsibility to try to make it better. And one of the ways to do that is to promote awareness and understanding and acceptance.  Not just acceptance, but embracing our diversity – which, when you get down to it, is not only who we are but truly what makes us great.  And it’s not happening.

“Remember, the president works for us, not vice versa.  We elected him.  He doesn’t just work for his constituents and his base. He works for every citizen. Once you take that office, you have to do what’s best for the entire country. Sure, you’re going to have policies that align with your party, but that’s not the point.  Respectfully, Mr. Trump, the point is this: You’re the president.  You represent all of us.  Don’t divide us.

“Bring us together.”

--NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said he expected players would stand for the anthem, and then a memo went out to teams on Friday, reminding them of the rule that players must stand.

Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum suggests teams use their opening games “to demonstrate your commitment to the NBA’s core values of equality, diversity, inclusion and serve as a unifying force in the community.”

Saturday evening, Golden State’s Draymond Green said the team didn’t have a discussion about whether peacefully protesting during the national anthem was the right call, as the team stood for the anthem.

“We said what we had to say,” Green said, referring to the team’s earlier condemnation of President Trump’s rhetoric.  “Everyone knows where we stand.  We don’t need to do anything else to show where we stand.”

Andre Iguodala told ESPN: “I think we’ve done enough.”

Golden State’s opponents in the preseason opener Saturday, Denver, locked arms.

--Golfing legend Gary Player of South Africa said the other day in Manhattan, “The rest of the world is laughing at you,” Player having just sat alongside former presidents Clinton, George W. Bush and Obama at the Presidents Cup.

“I pass by the great Statue of Liberty in a ferry today, and I say, ‘The French gave it to you for a reason: freedom of speech and respect,’” he said.  “And I see that dying. I see it dying.”

But Player added: “I hear from people all the time who can’t believe what they see on television. They can’t believe that Americans are condemning their own country. Anybody who lives in this country should kiss the ground every day.”  [Brian Costa / Wall Street Journal]

--Dr. W. passed along some letters Sports Illustrated’s Peter King received after all the controversy. 

From Kevin W.

“As a 24-year veteran, I took an oath to support and defend the Constitution.  When American citizens exercise their Constitutional rights, it lets me know I did my job whether I agree with them or not.  While I don’t think the flag or national anthem should be used in protests, I support anyone’s right to do so.

“However, I hate politics.  It’s all over social media, television...I can’t even go out anymore without overhearing people having heated political discussion.  Football used to provide me an escape from all that crap.  Now politics has infiltrated something I used to love.  I have been an NFL fan since 1978. I spent every Sunday watching the games. I knew this past Sunday was going to suck, so I went sailing instead.  It was nice.  Out on the water alone with my thoughts. I think I may have watched my last NFL game.” 

From Michael P.

“Sports are supposed to be about competition (and beer!), entertainment (and beer!) and a few hours of being occupied by something else besides how polarized we all are. In my case, that is why the ratings are down, why the sports stations are declining in viewership, etc.  NFL, please get back to football... The fishing shows are just boring!”

Today, there were just a handful of NFL players disrespecting the anthem in one form or another. 

NASCAR

They had the first cutoff race for the Cup playoffs today at Dover International Speedway in Delaware and Kyle Busch won his fourth of the year, passing Chase Elliott with two laps to go, Elliott (son of Bill) now without a win in 70 career Cup starts.

Ryan Newman, Kurt Busch, Austin Dillon and Kasey Kahne were eliminated as the field has been reduced to 12 from 16, seven races to go.

Premier League

Saturday, Tottenham defeated Huddersfield 4-0 as Harry Kane had another two goals, giving him 13 in September, equaling the best efforts of Barcelona’s Lionel Messi (13 in May 2012) and Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo (13 in October 2010).  Amazing stuff.

Manchester United whipped Crystal Palace 4-0, CP still without a goal this season!

Manchester City defeated Chelsea 1-0 in a huge early-season tussle, City’s Kevin De Bruyne with a spectacular strike for the win in the 67th minute. De Bruyne is my favorite player outside of anyone on Tottenham.  City weathered playing without star Sergio Aguero, out with broken ribs suffered in an auto accident in Amsterdam (he was in a cab).

Sunday, Arsenal beat Brighton 2-0.

But Liverpool had a disappointing 1-1 draw with Newcastle.

So the standings after 7 of 38 matches...ties broken by goal differential....

1. Manchester City...19 points
2. Manchester United...19
3. Tottenham...14
4. Chelsea...13
5. Arsenal...13
6. Burnley...12
7. Liverpool...12
8. Watford...12

20. Crystal Palace...0...imagine being a fan.

So the Big Six has settled into the positions everyone expects them to be in.

Stuff

--A pair of figure skaters from North Korea, Ryom Taw-ok, 18, and Kim Ju-sik, 25, became the first athletes from their country to qualify for the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea at an international competition in Oberstdorf, Germany, Friday night.

Is this significant, in terms of peace between North and South Korea...reconciliation?  At least a peaceful Games?

Certainly hopes for the latter increase.  But Pyongyang doesn’t have to allow the two to go, or any others who may qualify before the Games begin in February in Pyeongchang.

North Korea boycotted the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul.

When the two performers were asked minutes after their performance if they hoped to compete at the Games, their coach, Kim Hyon-son, stepped in and said, “It is up to the North Korean Olympic Committee to decide whether they will participate or not.”  [Jere Longman / New York Times]

--We note the passing of the great Monty Hall, co-creator and host of the game show “Let’s Make A Deal” for nearly 40 years.  He was 96.

“Let’s Make A Deal” premiered in 1963 and has been a staple ever since.  The show was legendary for encouraging audience members to dress up in outlandish costumes to get Monty to call on them and gain a chance to win big. And then at the end of the show, contestants went for the “Big Deal” behind “Door No. 1, Door No. 2 or Door No. 3,” with the great Carrol Merrill helping out.  I always went, vicariously, for the package that started with the box of Good Humor Whammy Sticks (a year’s supply).

Yes, this was one of my faves growing up, along with “Match Game,” “Dating Game,” “Newlywed Game” and the ultra-serious “Concentration.”  And, of course, “Hollywood Squares,” where you knew all the celebs were just sloshed.  [They were sloshed in “Match Game” too.]

--Larry David was asked for Parade magazine why he decided to come back to do “Curb Your Enthusiasm” after a six-year hiatus?

“Why not? I don’t really miss things or people that much. But I was missing it.  And I got tired of people asking me, ‘Is the show coming back?’  I couldn’t face that question anymore.”

Why did you stop doing the show initially?

“I like to quit things.  It’s a very satisfying thing, quitting.  Did you ever go up to a boss and say, ‘I’m done.  I’ve had it.  Go to hell’?  It’s fun.”

--Some quotes from Hugh Hefner, who died the other day at age 91.  [I have stuff as well in that other column I do, the one I sign.]

“I am a kid in a candy store.  I dreamed impossible dreams, and the dreams turned out beyond anything I could possibly imagine.  I’m the luckiest cat on the planet.”

Hef claimed to have slept with more than 1,000 women, and credited Viagra with maintaining his libido.

“I’ve never thought of Playboy quite frankly as a sex magazine,” Hefner said in 2002.  “I always thought of it as a lifestyle magazine in which sex was one important ingredient.”

“The best time of my life before Playboy was my last two years (in high school).  It was a coming-of-age time. It was the first time I went steady.  I was a class leader, writing and performing in plays and shows, working on the paper. The things I enjoyed were the things between classes.”

“For me, journalism isn’t just one more profession. It is one that goes to the heart of democracy.”

Hefner said of Playboy when it first came out in December 1953 that the magazine was to be “devoted to subjects I was interested in – contemporary equivalents of wine, women and song, though not necessarily in that order.”

Playboy was originally to be called Stag Party, with a stag as its image, but that ran into copyright problems.  So Hefner settled on Playboy, and the first employee, local artist Art Paul, took only about an hour to sketch the famous rabbit head.

--The Wall Street Journal’s Mike Cherney had a piece the other day about drones in the Australian outback, which are becoming the victims of the wedge-tailed eagle!

The largest drones the eagle has attacked have a wingspan of 7 feet.

“Swooping down from above, the eagle used its talons to punch a hole in the carbon fiber and Kevlar fuselage of Mr. (Daniel) Parfitt’s drone, which lost control and plummeted to the ground.”

“I had 15 minutes to go on my last flight on my last day, and one of these wedge-tailed eagles just dive-bombed the drone and punched it out of the sky,” said Mr. Parfitt, who believed the drone was too big for a bird to damage.  “It ended up being a pile of splinters.”

Heh, heh.

Weighing up to nine pounds with a wingspan that can approach eight feet, the wedge-tailed eagle is Australia’s largest bird of prey.  “Once vilified for killing sheep and targeted by bounty hunters, it is now legally protected. Though a subspecies is still endangered in Tasmania, it is again dominating the skies across much of the continent.”  [Cherney]

Hell, these Nazgul eat kangaroos!

Kind of makes you want to treat the wedge-tailed eagle with more respect. 

Yes, this definitely has All-Species List implications.

--Speaking of the ASL, Dog of course remains No. 1, and Gregory Berns of Emory University has just released studies his team did for the book “What’s It’s Like To Be a Dog,” where Berns, a neuroscientist, concludes dogs genuinely love their owners, not just because they’re holding their favorite treat or chew toy.

In an interview with the New York Times, Berns found when researchers looked at the rewards centers of dogs’ brains, they responded equally to food and praise.

“About 20 percent had stronger responses to praise than to food,” Berns told the Times.  “From that, we conclude that the vast majority of dogs love us at least as much as food.”

Berns’ research also uncovered dogs are wired to process human faces, not just learning to process faces because they’re around humans.

So, yes, when our dogs bounce around when we return home, it’s not just because they need to go to the bathroom.

--It seems the NFL wanted Jay-Z to be its Super Bowl halftime performer, partnering with Justin Timberlake, but the latest is Jay-Z won’t participate and it’s J.T., for now.

Top 3 songs for the week of 10/3/64:  #1 “Oh, Pretty Woman” (Roy Orbison)  #2 “Do Wah Diddy Diddy” (Manfred Mann)  #3 “Bread And Butter” (The Newbeats)...and...#4 “Dancing In The Street” (Martha & The Vandellas...timeless...sounds as good today as it did then...)  #5 “Remember (Walkin’ in the Sand)” (The Shangri-Las...nice sweaters...)  #6 “G.T.O.” (Ronny & The Daytonas)  #7 “It Hurts To Be In Love” (Gene Pitney...great tune...)  #8 “The House Of The Rising Sun” (The Animals...song about a home with an eastern exposure...)  #9 “We’ll Sing In The Sunshine” (Gale Garnett...realized a few years ago, after actually listening to the full lyrics, that this one is incredibly depressing...)  #10 “Save It For Me” (The 4 Seasons)

NFL Quiz Answer: Doug Flutie last led the Bills to the playoffs, in both 1998 and ’99, age 36 and 37.  But he was hurt and didn’t play in the ’99 wild-card game, Rob Johnson starting in defeat.

For his career, Flutie was 38-28 as a starter in the NFL, 21-9 in 30 starts with the Bills, 1998-00.

Next Bar Chat, Thursday.

*Phil W., you are in my thoughts and prayers.

 

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