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Bar Chat

10/12/2017

MLB Playoffs...Giants vs. the Jets

[Posted Wednesday a.m.]

NFL Quiz: 1) Name the six Dallas quarterbacks to throw for 10,000 yards in their Cowboys’ careers.  2) Name the top three in wins as a starter. [Both questions regular season only.]   Answers below.

USA Soccer....what a disaster....

It is beyond pathetic, nay, catastrophic for USA soccer, that our men, needing just a draw to qualify for the World Cup in Moscow, lost Tuesday night to freakin’ Trinidad and Tobago, 2-1.  What an amazing disgrace to our country.  It is the first time since 1986 America isn’t playing in the Cup.

“It’s a blemish for us,” said coach Bruce Arena.  “We should not be staying at home for this World Cup. And I take responsibility.”

Frank Isola / New York Daily News

“(All) Bruce Arena’s team had to do was earn a tie against tiny Trinidad and Tobago to keep the USA’s World Cup dream alive.

“And we failed.  Spectacularly....

“No trip to Russia.  No grand stage for Christian Pulisic.  And no luck for Fox Sports, which paid a fortune for the television rights.

“It took 90-plus minutes for United States soccer to regress 30 years....

“The political backdrop was impossible to ignore. Mexico gave up an 88th minute goal and lost, 3-2, to Honduras.  A Mexico draw would have moved the U.S. into fourth place and a playoff with Australia. The United States needed help from Mexico. Imagine that.  We didn’t get it.”

These guys should have to do the “walk of shame.”  Isola is right.  It’s a massive setback for the sport in the U.S.  And aside from Fox, bar owners here just lost a ton of business as well.

Yankees vs. Indians

Down 2-0 and Yankees fans ready to jump off the George Washington Bridge, New York got a sterling 7-innings of shutout ball from Masahiro Tanaka after I last posted on Sunday night, the lone run in the 1-0 win a Greg Bird homer in the seventh off Andrew Miller, while Aroldis Chapman had a five-out save.

So on to Monday, Luis Severino on the mound for the Yanks, Game 1 starter Trevor Bauer for the Indians, and this time Bauer didn’t have it, yielding 4 runs in 1 2/3 on 4 hits and 2 walks (though none of the runs were earned owing to incredibly shoddy Cleveland fielding, 4 errors on the day, including two by supposed human vacuum Giovanny Urshela, solely in the game for his glove).

The Yanks scored the 4 unearned in the second, taking advantage of Urshela’s first error, the big blows Todd Frazier’s RBI-double, Aaron Hicks’ ribby single, and Aaron Judge’s clutch 2-run double; Judge entering the game 0-for-11 in the series with nine strikeouts.  Brett Gardner singled in a run in the fifth, Gary Sanchez homered in the sixth and the Yanks won 7-3.

Severino redeemed his awful wild-card appearance, going 7 strong, yielding just three runs on homers by Carlos Santana and Roberto Perez, and then after Dellin Betances stumbled in the eighth, walking his only two hitters, Tommy Kahnle closed the door with two dominant frames, fanning five.

Joel Sherman / New York Post

“Think all the way back to Saturday.  In the postseason – with how quickly momentum and narrative can change – that feels like ancient history.

“On Saturday, Joe Girardi was a combination of dunce and piñata, doing a public mea culpa on what felt like it was sure going to be the only off-day of this Yankees-Indians Division Series.  Terry Francona?  The Indians manager was a genius, what else would you call someone who started Trevor Bauer over Corey Kluber in the opener and had it work out perfectly?

“The Indians were dealing with distinction, the Yankees with extinction.  That was all the way back on Saturday.

“As it turns out there is a second off-day in this series – because the Yankees had a second life.  ‘When we left Cleveland, our goal was to find a way to get back to Cleveland for a Game 5,’ Brett Gardner said.

“That mission is accomplished. For the third time this postseason the Yankees won an elimination contest....

“Perhaps if Girardi had asked for that replay in the sixth inning of Game 2, the Yankees already would have won this best-of-five....

“But the way it has turned out is a pretty good tribute to this club anyway, to its ability to take a knockout punch and not be knocked out.  Because it is harder to be lower than the Yanks were after Game 2, down 0-2 and feeling like they had let the chance to tie it in Cleveland get away.  Meanwhile, their manager was at a microphone Saturday, owning his culpability for the loss, a target for every angry Yankee fan.

“At that moment, the Yankees had to win three straight against a team that had lost four times – and won 35 – since Aug. 24 and had not endured a three-game losing streak in nearly 10 weeks.  Somehow now, if they can pull off this three-game winning streak. Girardi’s blunder will go from permanent black mark to footnote on his ledger.

“That is why when I asked him to try to frame the past few days at a postgame press conference, Girardi choked up, saying, ‘It’s [Game 2] as difficult a loss as I’ve had as a manager. ...It’s difficult because I care so much. And it’s not just – it’s not caring about myself.  It’s caring about everyone else that is involved and that is wrapped up in Yankee baseball....

“Such is the nature of postseason and the job of manager that going into the second off-day of this series, Francona was facing the greater scrutiny – and he is probably the best at his job in the majors.”

Steve Politi / NJ.com

“His voice cracked with emotion as he remembered the scene from three nights earlier. The inexplicable snafu. The blown lead. The crushing loss that pushed the Yankees’ season toward extinction....the moment haunted him.

“How could it not?  The Yankees were ahead by five runs in the second game of this series in Cleveland when everything and anything that could go wrong did. When it ended, Girardi was practically walked to the unemployment line by a fan base that felt his managerial blunders were unforgivable.”

But now, just as Luis Severino shook off his dismal wild-card appearance to throw a terrific seven on Monday, Cleveland fans are hoping their ace, Corey Kluber, shakes off his Game 2 performance, 6 runs in 2 2/3 innings, to do what Severino did Monday.

Only nine prior teams out of 75 have come back from 0-2 in a best-of-five series to win it.  Yankees fans hope it’s 10-of-76.

As for the Indians, despite all their success, 35-4, including an A.L. record 22 in a row, hot play such as this means zippo when it comes to the postseason.

The 1935 Cubs had a 21-game run snapped two days before the season ended, then lost the Series in six.  The ’77 Royals won 24 of 25, including 16 in a row, the week before the campaign ended, and then lost to the Yankees in the ALCS.  And the 2002 Moneyball A’s with their then AL-record 20-game winning streak bowed out in the first round.

Oh, and Cleveland, including last year’s collapse from a 3-1 lead in the World Series, has lost five consecutive potential series-clinching games (including the 2013 wild card playoff). The Indians are 3-16 in games that should have closed out a playoff round.

Astros vs. Red Sox

Houston advances, 3-1, and awaits the winner of New York-Cleveland, as the Astros took the Red Sox 5-4 in Game 4 in Fenway in what was a fascinating game, albeit interminable in length at the same time.

After Houston starter Charlie Morton was nailed for two runs on 7 hits in 4 1/3, the Astros turned to Justin Verlander, the first relief appearance of his long career, and he promptly gave up a home run to Andrew Benintendi to make it 3-2 Boston, but then Verlander threw 2 2/3 of scoreless ball after.

Meanwhile, the Sox brought in ace Chris Sale, after Rick Porcello threw just three innings of 2-run ball. Sale shut the Astros out for four innings, then in the top of the eighth, he gave up a solo home run to Houston’s Alex Bregman to tie it at 3-3, and then later that inning, with Boston stud closer Craig Kimbrel in for Sale, he gave up a run-scoring hit to Josh Reddick to make it 4-3 (Sale charged with his second run), and in the top of the ninth, Carlos Beltran had a pinch-double for an RBI and the insurance run, now 5-3.

But Boston’s Rafael Devers led off the bottom of the ninth with a dramatic inside-the-park home run off Houston closer Ken Giles, only to have Giles close the door; game, set, match.

Nationals vs. Cubs

The series was 1-1 heading to Wrigley Field on Monday and Chicago took Game 3, 2-1, with once again, Nats manager Dusty Baker coming under the microscope.

Max Scherzer had thrown no-hit ball for six innings for Washington, but after he gave up a one-out double to Ben Zobrist on his 98th pitch, Baker pulled him for Sammy Solis, a guy who pitched to a 5.88 ERA this season, and Solis promptly gave up a hit to Albert Almora Jr. to tie it at 1-1, and then in the bottom of the eighth, Anthony Rizzo got an RBI bloop single off Ollie Perez for what proved to be the winning run, Dusty Baker having first base open but opting to pitch to Rizzo, one of the better clutch hitters in the game.

Speaking of Baker, this is his 22nd year as manager, including stints with the Giants, Cubs, and Reds before moving on to Washington.  22 years, often with no small amount of talent, and one pennant, the 2002 Giants, who promptly blew a 3-2 World Series lead, including a 5-0 lead in a Game Six that they then lost 6-5, with John Lackey shutting them down for the Angels in Game Seven.

As Johnny Mac commented, “Has anybody in baseball history managed to lose more big games than Dusty?  I mean, c’mon, this guy is just poison in a big spot.”  J. Mac says it must be that everyone likes his toothpick thing.

Alas, I was ready for Game 4 Tuesday night but it was rained out.

And now there is a controversy surrounding pitcher Stephen Strasburg and why he isn’t going in this critical contest, with ample rest, and Dusty is screwing up his answers.  It does seem that Strasburg is ill, but with the extra day a lot of things don’t add up.

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Talkin’ Football...Giants vs. Jets

It really is extraordinary.  While there were major concerns with the Giants’ offensive line, going back to last season, New York still had every reason to believe it was a Super Bowl contender.  Solid QB, a true game-changer at wide receiver, other solid skill players, and a stout defense.  They seemed like a lock for the playoffs at least.

At the same time, Jets fans had every reason to believe they were headed for a truly awful season.  I wasn’t kidding when I said 1-15.  Aside from getting the overall No. 1 pick in next spring’s NFL draft, and USC quarterback Sam Darnold (so the thinking went this past summer), us Jets fans just wanted some of our younger players, particularly on defense, to show positive signs of development.

But five weeks into the season, the script has been flipped.  Now it’s the 0-5 Giants looking at a potential No. 1 pick, certainly top three, and a shot at one of the college hotshots to replace Eli Manning in another year or two (though they seem to like Davis Webb, a third-round pick out of Cal last spring).

And the 3-2 Jets, well, I’ve been pointing out thus far when examining the supposed top college QBs in the land, your guess is as good as mine who is really leading the pack, and I’d argue I’m not overly impressed with any of them thus far.  Ergo, what’s the difference if the Jets are selecting with the first pick or the fifteenth?  If Darnold is still No. 1, what’s wrong with Luke Falk (Washington State) or Mason Rudolph (Oklahoma State) at 15?  You can’t tell me today that any of those three (of the eleven or so whose names have been bandied about as potential first-rounders) is going to have a better NFL career than the other.

So you get the point.  As a Jets fan, screw getting a great pick.  I’m all in.  I just want a competitive team to follow and we’ll roll the dice in the draft with everyone else.

But not for nothing, the Jets are indeed developing some talent on defense, with the top draft picks of the past two years showing real potential.  Good job, Jets.

But back to the Giants...ugh.  I know a few who are ready to commit hari-kari.

Steve Serby / New York Post

“It was with 4:07 remaining, at 4:09 on a gloomy and gray afternoon, when a hush fell over MetLife Stadium, which will be MetLife Morgue from here until next season.

“Eli Manning had thrown a slant and Odell Beckham Jr. jumped futilely for it and his left ankle bent in awkwardly under Casey Howard, and he was down.

“And he knew.  And he began crying. Soon came the dreaded cart, and teammates came over to console him, and a smattering of applause accompanied him as they gave him the ride off the field no one ever wants.

“Manning (five sacks) was strip-sacked by Melvin Ingram on the next play, and Philip Rivers found Melvin Gordon with a 10-yard touchdown pass against Kennan Robinson that made it Chargers 27, Giants 22, and Manning, playing with three tight ends in a desperate two-minute drill, wasn’t going to be magic, not with Sterling Shepard (ankle), Brandon Marshall (ankle) and Dwayne Harris (foot fracture) already lost, and certainly not with Beckham gone.

“From inside the bowels of a season gone all wrong, in every possible way, on every possible level, from the executive office to the sideline to the playing field, Beckham might have heard his 0-5 team booed off the field, even over his sobbing....

“Surgery will fix Beckham’s ankle.  It won’t fix this nightmare Giants season.”

Shepard is supposedly day-to-day, while Marshall’s season is over...ankle surgery.

It’s amazing to think New York lost three receivers for the season in one game.

San Francisco and Cleveland are the only other 0-5 teams.

NFL Bits

--The Bears (1-4) lost 20-17 to the Vikings (3-2) on Monday night, but coach John Fox said the team was pleased with the play of rookie Mitchell Trubisky at quarterback. Trubisky, the second pick overall in the 2017 draft, replaced Mike Glennon, who had been ineffective in the first four games.  Trubisky was just 12-of-25 for 128 yards, a touchdown and an interception, but Fox liked his mobility and the Bears believe they can do far more on offense with him as he improves.

“He’s got what it takes,” Fox said.  “There’s no doubt in my mind. For a first game, I go back to watching guys like Joe Montana in his (debut).  I’ve seen a few of them.  I’m not making comparisons at this point, but he will do nothing but get better.”

--J.J. Watt suffered another season-ending injury for a second year in a row, Houston’s star defensive end suffering a fracture in his tibia.

Last year it was multiple back surgeries that caused him to miss all but three games.  This is a guy who didn’t miss a game his first five seasons, racking up 74 ½ sacks in that time.

--After throwing a career high five interceptions in Pittsburgh’s 30-9 loss to the Jaguars, Ben Roethlisberger said after the game: “Maybe I don’t have it anymore.” To be fair, two of the picks were tipped, and on a third a defender hit his arm.

But what some of us don’t understand is how the high-powered quartet of Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown, Martavis Bryant and Le’Veon Bell are averaging less than 20 points a game.  [99 points in five games]

--Kansas City’s Alex Smith, Mr. Non-excitement throughout his career, has thrown for 11 touchdowns with zero interceptions as the Chiefs are the NFL’s last undefeated team at 5-0.

--Indianapolis kicker Adam Vinatieri, 45, nailed a game-winning field goal to beat San Francisco in overtime, 26-23, giving Vinatieri 10 overtime game-winners, the most in history, and 27 game-winners overall.

I mean this is amazing.  He has now been with Indianapolis 12 seasons, two more than his 10 with New England.  And the guy is truly kicking better than ever, including 9 of 11 from 50+ the past two seasons.

Vinatieri is now third all-time in points scored.

Morten Andersen 2,544
Gary Anderson 2,434
Vinatieri 2,413

--Adrian Peterson, who had all of 81 yards on 27 carries for New Orleans thus far, was traded to Arizona for a conditional draft pick, the Cardinals missing star David Johnson more than they thought they would.

--I am leaving the latest anthem controversy, Vice President Pence’s move to leave in Indianapolis, for that other column I do.

But I do have to note here the comments of Dallas owner Jerry Jones, who made the following threat.

“If there’s anything that is disrespectful to the flag, then we will not play,” he told reporters after the team’s loss to the Packers on Sunday.

“Understand? We will not. If we are disrespecting the flag, then we will not play.  Period...We’re going to respect the flag and I’m going to create the perception of it. And we have.”

While hundreds of NFL players have taken a knee during the national anthem in recent weeks, no Cowboys have taken part.  Two players raised their fists on Sunday as the song was ending, but they remained standing.

Related to the above, ESPN suspended anchor Jemele Hill for two weeks “for a second violation of our social media guidelines.”

Hill appeared to suggest fans boycott Cowboys advertisers if they were upset Jerry Jones told his players they would stand for the anthem or be benched.

“This play always works,” Hill tweeted.  “Change happens when advertisers are impacted.  If you feel strongly about JJ’s statement, boycott his advertisers.”

That was Sunday. Monday, her last tweet read: “Just so we’re clear: I’m not advocating a NFL boycott.  But an unfair burden has been put on players in Dallas & Miami w/anthem directives.”

Hill was previously in the middle of a firestorm at the network when she called President Trump a white supremacist.

But wait....there’s more....

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said on Tuesday, “everyone” should stand for the anthem, according to an internal league memo that also called the ongoing protest “divisive” and “a barrier to having honest conversations and making real progress on the underlying issues.”

Apparently, Goodell met with the NFL Players Association, where he claims the group decided the protests had to stop.

“Like many of our fans, we believe that everyone should stand for the National Anthem,” Goodell wrote, according to a copy of the letter posted to Facebook by ESPN insider Adam Schefter.

This is developing, because there are somewhat conflicting statements from NFLPA head DeMaurice Smith as to what really went down.

Next week the owners meet in New York and no doubt this issue will be front and center.  Currently, the NFL manual on game operations says players “should” stand during the anthem, not “must” stand.

But it was ten days ago, Sept. 30, that I happened to catch Bob Costas on Michael Smerconish’s Saturday morning CNN show, and I loved what Costas said about Colin Kaepernick, only it took forever for CNN to post the transcript and I wanted to be accurate.

Smerconish was asking Costas in general about the anthem controversy.

COSTAS: As we’ve talked before, Colin Kaepernick’s intentions were good, but when you say I do not vote because the oppressor will never allow you to vote your way out of your repression;  I guess it doesn’t matter to him that people, mostly black but some white, died for his predecessor’s right to vote or were beaten or mistreated in their efforts. And maybe it doesn’t matter to him that when he first took a knee, Barack Obama was President and now Donald Trump is President.  He later shows up at practice wearing socks that depict cops as pigs. He praises Fidel Castro when in Miami.  Maybe that’s why he’s not the quarterback of the Dolphins now and Jay Cutler is. Although, there may be other reasons.

“So you need to move beyond Colin Kaepernick whose intentions were good and has donated and raised millions of dollars, so his heart is in the right place but who sounds very politically naïve.”

Costas then praised Seattle’s Doug Baldwin as one who strikes the right tone while protesting.

--Miami offensive line coach Chris Foerster resigned after a video surfaced showing him snorting a white powdery substance.

Foerster can be seen snorting three lines of talc, or maybe something else.  The coach says in the video, “Hey babe, miss you, thinking about you.  How about me going to a meeting and doing this before I go?”

The tape gets worse.  It was released by Kijuana Nige, an associate of some kind of Foerster’s, who wrote, all spelling is correct: “The people mad at me like I forced blow down this mans nose and like I recorded it on tha low....So quick to make excuses for him but will roast a minority player over an athem, dog fights, weed, domestic issues etc.”

Boy, this gal is a real winner.

--Finally, we note the passing of former NFL great and Hall of Famer, Y.A. Tittle, at the age of 90.  Tittle is best known for an iconic photo, taken in 1964, Tittle’s last season and last game, by Morris Berman of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.  It came right after Tittle had thrown an interception and was hit hard on the play.  It became an image synonymous with the violence of football and the toughness of its players and as of a number of years ago, was one of only three pictures hanging in the lobby of the National Press Photographers Association headquarters in Durham, N.C., alongside Joe Rosenthal’s photograph of the flag-raising at Iwo Jima and the image of the fiery death of the Hindenburg dirigible at Lakehurst, N.J.  [Smithsonian.com]

In his later years, Tittle suffered from dementia.

He was born Yelberton Abraham Tittle Jr. on Oct. 24, 1926, in the East Texas town of Marshall and grew up there, the son of a postal worker.  As a youngster, he idolized Texas Christian’s star quarterback Sammy Baugh.  Tittle then went to LSU and was a two-time all-SEC QB.

Tittle had an outstanding NFL career, 17 seasons after starring at LSU, starting in 1948 and finishing up in ’64.  The thing is, he was best in his final seasons, leading the NFL in touchdown passes in 1962 and ’63, and named All-Pro each year at ages 36 and 37.

Starting his career with the Baltimore Colts and then San Francisco, Tittle’s last four seasons were with the Giants, after San Francisco dumped him because they said he was too old and slow, whereupon Y.A. led New York to the playoffs three straight seasons, 1961-63, but lost twice to Green Bay and once to Chicago for the NFL championship.  [To be accurate, Y.A. was dreadful in those three title games, one TD pass, 10 interceptions combined, though he played with a concussion in one.]

Tittle was super popular in Gotham with his trademark toughness.  As Frank Gifford recalled in his 1993 memoir, “The Whole Ten Yards,” Y.A. “was somebody who had come from somewhere else, who’d been gotten rid of, and a lot of New Yorkers can identify with that.”

When Tittle connected on long passes, Yankee Stadium reverberated to chants of “Y.A., Y.A.”

But in an era where a 50% completion percentage was outstanding, Tittle had a career mark of 55.2%, and twice led the league, 1957 at 63.1%, and 1963 at 60.2%.

For his career he had 242 touchdown passes (248 interceptions), throwing for 33,070 yards.  His career record as a starter was an outstanding 78-50-5, including 31-5-1 his first three seasons with the Giants, which is why he is in the Giants Hall of Fame despite playing there just four years overall, and his #14 is retired.

In 1962, he set an NFL record that has been tied but not broken with seven touchdown passes in a game.

Lastly, back to the final game of his career and that last vicious hit, Tittle suffered a concussion and a cracked sternum on the play. As said later in his memoir, “Nothing Comes Easy,” Y.A. said of the photo that became one of the most enduring images in sports history, “What a hell of a way to get famous.”

College Football

--Frankly, a real crappy week coming up, as in, seriously, the only game on paper worth watching is No. 11 Miami hosting a solid Georgia Tech squad.  But then no one saw Oklahoma losing to Iowa State at home last Saturday.

--But it’s not too soon to talk about the College Football Playoffs.  We are three weeks away from the first rankings, but here’s how it’s going to break down, says moi.  [Dr. W., you get equal time next BC.]

Four slots open....

Alabama-Georgia winner in SEC title game...If Georgia wins, they both get in, assuming ‘Bama was undefeated heading into it.

Clemson...regardless of how they do in the ACC title game against either Miami or Virginia Tech, assuming the Tigers are undefeated heading into it.

Winner of Penn State-Ohio State (Oct. 28) vs. Wisconsin in Big Ten title game...this one is complicated.  If Ohio State beats PSU in their head-to-head, Wisconsin needs to be undefeated heading into the title game for Ohio State to get into the CFP. 

Washington-Washington State winner (Nov. 25) is the Pac-12 representative in CFP, regardless of how they do in conference title game against USC.

So that’s five teams, including potentially Georgia.  The fourth pick then would be between Washington-Washington State, if they lost to USC in the Pac-12 championship, and Ohio State, as both would have one loss. If Penn State beats Ohio State, then Penn State is automatically one of the four if they then beat Wisconsin.

It’s much cleaner if Georgia loses to ‘Bama.

And who is the obvious team left out?  TCU.  Big 12 Conference will get screwed again, all because of Oklahoma’s awful loss to Iowa State.

Anyone telling you Oklahoma is still in the conversation is nuts.

And that’s a memo....

--Oregon State and coach Gary Andersen reached a mutual agreement that sees Andersen stepping down, effective immediately, with both sides agreeing to release each other from the remaining contractual obligations through the 2021 season; Anderson having just signed an extension last December that was to pay him more than $12.4 million the next 4 ½ seasons.

“After many discussions with [athletic director] Scott [Barnes], waiving my contract is the correct decision and enables the young men and the program to move forward and concentrate on the rest of the season,” Andersen said in a statement.  “Coaching is not about the mighty dollar.  It is about teaching and putting young men in a position to succeed on and off the field. Success comes when all parties involved are moving in the same direction.”

After two seasons at Wisconsin where he went 19-7, Andersen made the surprising jump to Oregon State prior to the 2015 season, replacing Mike Riley (now at Nebraska, where he is struggling mightily.).  Andersen inherited zero talent, but after a 2-10 first season, they were 4-8 last year and definitely improved.  But this year they have taken a big step backwards, are 1-5, with the lone victory against Portland State, and getting mauled.  Beaver faithful aren’t happy.

Stuff

--I have been closely following the tragic fires in Sonoma County / Napa, Calif., but for those of you who watched the PGA Tour event at Silverado, in Napa, on Sunday, understand that less than 12 hours after that event ended, parts of the course and surrounding housing developments were devoured by flames.

Can you imagine, if that fast-moving inferno had hit even 10 hours earlier what that might have resulted in in terms of lives lost?  Tens of thousands on the roads in that very area?  Some of the Tour’s golfers tweeted photos of them driving off, hours before the flames hit the immediate area, clearly showing the flames in the distance.

--NCAA Men’s Soccer / Coaches Poll

[I made a mistake last time...I gave you the RPI rankings.]

1. Indiana
2. Wake Forest
3. Maryland
4. North Carolina
5. Louisville
6. Michigan State
7. Notre Dame
8. Stanford
9. Georgetown
10. Virginia

The RPI has:

1. Michigan State
2. Wake Forest
3. North Carolina
10. Indiana

--Iceland became the only country to qualify for a World Cup berth with a population of fewer than one million (335,000).  They won seven of their Group I games to gain a spot in Russia in 2018.

And Argentina rode Lionel Messi’s hat trick to a spot in the WC, 3-1 winners over Ecuador Tuesday, but they needed help and Brazil supplied it, beating Chile 3-0, thus eliminating Chile.  Others to qualify from South America, aside from Brazil who was already in, are Uruguay and Colombia.  Peru goes for the fifth slot from the region when it faces off in a playoff against New Zealand.

--Before you know it, the NBA season will be underway and the Philadelphia 76ers sent a message to their fans, committing to injury-prone center Joel Embiid, signing him to a five-year, $148 million designated rookie scale max contract extension.  But if he makes the All-NBA team or is the league’s MVP, he would make even more.

But this is a guy who since he was the third pick overall in the 2014 draft, missed his first two seasons with foot injuries, and then played in just 31 games last year, averaging 20 points and 8 rebounds.  [Supposedly the contract does have injury clauses protecting the Sixers.]

--New Jersey’s bear-hunting season commenced on Monday, a reminder to the rest of the country just how many we have, for those of you whose only image of my state is a bunch of oil tanks and refineries along the New Jersey Turnpike.

The Department of Environmental Protection estimates that up to 2,800 bears live in just the northwest corner of the state.  Last year, 636 were killed.

But reports of aggressive bear behavior, defined by actions such as attempted home entry or attacking livestock, were down 64 percent this year through Sept. 20, according to DEP.

I mean you read this and you draw the conclusion that the only species in America that is calmer and less aggressive since the election of Donald Trump is the bear, which should be a lesson to all of us.

--Did you know there are a bunch of moose in Nevada?  I didn’t.  In the backcountry, according to the Nevada Department of Wildlife.  What was once a small group is growing rapidly and it seems they are putting down roots in the state, not just passing through from up north.

So if you see any there, just remember that hunting moose is illegal in Nevada.  They aren’t elk.  And a moose could kill you if you called it an elk.  Moose don’t like that.

--Speaking of elk....

--Brad K. passed along the following from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Eric Owens:

“Charging elk have gored two women in the last two weeks in St. Louis County, Missouri because the women have tried to get really close to the elk to take selfies.

“The scene of the carnage has been Lone Elk Park.

“Approaching the herd of elk living inside the 546-acre wildlife management area is an exceptionally dangerous move right now because it’s the middle of mating season (August to December).  Male elk are extremely aggressive during this time.

“Park managers have posted signs warning people not to approach the elk. Specifically, the signs say: ‘Absolutley do not approach the elk!’

“Others signs warn people to stay at least 100 feet from the elk.”

A witness saw two women and two men approaching a bull and the witness, a nature photographer, tried to warn them away. “I saw the dominant bull moving toward them” and then the “elk fiercely charged.  Its antlers made contact with a woman’s arm and, apparently, her face.”

“ ‘There was a lot of blood on her arm and on her face,’ the witness told the Post-Dispatch.”

The second incident occurred when a woman tried to get close and was gored in the back.

No word on the condition of either.

‘Elk’ is No. 56 on the All-Species List.  ‘Man’ drops one over this stupidity to 371.

--An animal keeper at a national park in southern India was attacked and killed by two rare white tigers, as reported by the BBC.

The keeper was mauled to death as he attempted to direct the tigers into their enclosure at the Bannerghatta Biological Park.

My, these are rebellious tigers.

The victim’s relatives are demanding compensation, accusing the park of negligence.

Top 3 songs for the week 10/14/67: #1 “The Letter” (The Box Tops)  #2 “Never My Love” (The Association)  #3 “To Sir With Love” (Lulu)...and...#4 “Little Ole Man (Uptight Everything’s Alright)” (Bill Cosby)  #5 “Ode To Billie Joe” (Bobbie Gentry)  #6 “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me (Higher And Higher” (Jackie Wilson)  #7 “Come Back When You Grow Up” (Bobby Vee)  #8 “How Can I Be Sure” (The Young Rascals)  #9 “Gimme Little Sign” (Brenton Wood)  #10 “Soul Man” (Sam & Dave)

NFL Quiz Answers: 1) 10,000 yards passing in a Dallas uniform....

Tony Romo 34,183
Troy Aikman 32,942
Roger Staubach 22,700
Danny White 21,959
Don Meredith 17,199
Craig Morton 10,279

2) Wins...

Aikman 94-71-0
Staubach 85-29-0
Romo 78-49-0

Next Bar Chat, Monday.

 

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