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Bar Chat

10/09/2017

Talkin' Playoffs

[Posted Sunday p.m., before conclusion of Yanks-Indians]

Baseball Quiz: Four pitchers won 18 games in MLB this season: Clayton Kershaw, Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, and Jason Vargas. Bob Welch, 27 (1990), Steve Stone, 25 (1980) and Ron Guidry, 25 (1978) are the last to win 25 in the A.L.  Who is the last to win 25 in the National League? Answer below.

MLB

--After a terrific wild-card win on Tuesday against the Twins, the Yanks opened their division series with Cleveland Thursday and they were predictably flat, losing to surprise starter Trevor Bauer and the Indians 4-0; Bauer superb, throwing 6 2/3 of shutout ball.  Former Met (who should have been a Yankee) Jay Bruce homered and drove in three.

Disaster then struck in Game 2 Friday.

The Yankees had built up an 8-3 lead, knocking out likely Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber in the process, off home runs by Gary Sanchez, Aaron Hicks and Greg Bird.

Starter CC Sabathia was cruising after a shaky start, retiring 12 of 13, when with one out in the sixth, Manager Joe Girardi pulled him. Sabathia had thrown just 77 pitches.  That proved to be huge mistake number one for the skipper.  Then came this....

Steve Politi / NJ.com

“Joe Girardi did nothing. That, more than anything, is the hardest thing to reconcile.  He is a manager who never met a pitching change he didn’t love, the ultimate hands-on dugout presence who is supposed to have a move and countermove for every scenario.

“How could he do nothing?

“The Yankees suffered a crushing 9-8 defeat in Game 2 of the American League Division Series. They blew a five-run lead in unthinkable fashion, losing a five-hour game when Cleveland Indians catcher Yan Gomes drove in the winning run with an RBI single down the third-base line in the 13th inning.

“The Yankees now need to win three straight against a team that has won 35 of its last 39 games. Turn off the lights.

“But it should never have come to this. The series-changing moment, one that will haunt Girardi straight into this offseason if his team doesn’t pull off a miracle comeback, came in the sixth inning with the Yankees still ahead 8-3 and the Indians trying to mount a two-out rally.

“With runners on second and third, Yankees reliever Chad Green’s seventh pitch to Indians pinch hitter Lonnie Chisenhall broke inside too far and nicked the knob of the bat.

“Home plate umpire Dan Iassogna, however, saw it differently. Chisenhall didn’t even flinch, but Iassogna ruled the pitch brushed his hand and awarded him first base to load the bases.  Catcher Gary Sanchez – who obviously had the best view in the entire ballpark – immediately turned to the dugout and told his manager to review the call.

“Girardi did nothing.

“ ‘There was nothing that told us that he was not hit on the pitch,’ Girardi said, pointing to a rule that gives managers 30 seconds to decide whether or not to challenge.

“Except, well, there was plenty to tell him that. Again: Chisenhall didn’t react at all, but Sanchez did.  In a late-game situation that was clearly crucial, why not go off that?

“Probably being a catcher, my thought is I never want to break a pitcher’s rhythm,’ Girardi said. ‘I never want to...have them stand over there for two minutes to tell me it wasn’t a hit.”

Sanchez had caught the ball off the end of the bat, so it would’ve been foul-tip strike three.  Then, disaster: Francisco Lindor hit a long fly ball that bounced off the right-field foul pole for a grand slam that cut the lead to 8-7, reenergized a glum crowd, and turned what should have been the best victory for this franchise in five years into a crushing loss.

Politi:

“It did something else, too: It served up a full offseason of second guessing for the Yankees manager. Because two things are undeniably true:

“ 1. Girardi had absolutely nothing to lose by using one of his two replay challenges on the play. Worst-case scenario: The video is deemed inconclusive and the play stands. Best case?  It’s strike three on Chisenhall and the Yankees are out of the inning.

“ 2. Sanchez was pleading with Girardi to go to the replay.  The manager, a former catcher himself, had to trust his player in the scenario, and not doing so in the most crucial situation of the season sends an awful message to the young team that he is paid to lead.”

Joel Sherman / New York Post

“Joe Girardi luxuriated in champagne Tuesday night, a celebratory bath earned with a maestro performance in which he expertly read the moment and his players to piece together 26 winning outs from his bullpen.

“The good vibes and goodwill lasted three days – enough distance from wild-card euphoria against the Twins to Division Series anguish against the Indians; Joe McCarthy to Art Howe in a few easy lessons.

“Girardi did not have a good Game 2 on Friday night, but his sixth inning stands as the lowest moment in his 10 years as Yankees skipper. A Stump Merrill inning. A Bucky Dent inning....

“Girardi held up the game to wait for word from his replay crew to see if he should challenge.  But here is the thing – just challenge....

“Girardi said several times afterward that he did not want to ‘break a pitcher’s rhythm’ with a challenge. But that is ludicrous for a variety of reasons, including that perhaps no catchers go out to the mound more frequently than Yankees catchers.  They are breaking the rhythm of the pitchers all the time.”

Mike Lupica / New York Daily News

“You go all the way back to Earl Weaver as a way of framing what happened to the Yankees on Friday night and their manager and what would have given them a tremendous chance to knock off the best team in baseball.

“No one understood better than Weaver, one of the great managers, about the vagaries of his job and the way it so often feels like a high-stakes game of chance.  Earl only won one World Series with the Orioles even though he went to the Series with the best team more than that, including against the Mets in ’69....

“I was visiting him in retirement one day in Florida, and asked how many games he used to think he won for the Orioles in a given season.

“He held up his right fist, as a way of making a big, fat zero.

“ ‘None,’ he said.

“Then he grinned and said, ‘But I’d lose you five or six.’....

“What the manager of the Yankees, in what very well could turn out to be his Grady Little moment, discovered in Cleveland on Friday night is how quickly things can change.  He was called a genius after the Wild Card game, because just about every move he made with his relief pitchers, from the first inning on, worked.  By the end of Tuesday night he looked like Casey Stengel and Joe Torre combined.

“Then on Friday night...just about everything he did turned out wrong. He took CC Sabathia out too soon, with Sabathia rolling and having thrown just 77 pitches. He left (Chad) Green in there too long.  At the very end, he stayed with Dellin Betances too long in the 13th, after Betances had already thrown more pitches – 35 – in this game than anybody Girardi had used except Sabathia.

“Finally, on Saturday Girardi said what he should have said on Friday night.  ‘I screwed up,’ he said, sounding like Capt. Obvious....

“He really did sound like Grady Little explaining why he left Pedro Martinez in Game 7 in 2003. Last game Little ever managed for the Boston Red Sox.”

After such an excruciating loss for Yankees fans, Girardi was rightfully ripped the next day on sports radio.

But to finish it for the archives, Jay Bruce homered for a second straight game, this one off David Robertson, to tie it at 8-8.

Eventually the Yanks lost it in the 13th after Betances, starting his third inning of work, walked Austin Jackson to lead off the inning, Jackson stole second and scored on Gomes’ ground single inside the third base bag.

But the Yanks had had a lot of scoring opportunities after putting up six runs against Kluber in the first two innings, and they wasted them.  In the 11th, Todd Frazier reached second on third baseman Erik Gonzalez’s throwing error. Pinch-runner Ronald Torreyes came in to run for Frazier. The potential winning run on second, no outs, and Torreyes got picked off by catcher Gomes.  Inexcusable.

As for the damage former Met Jay Bruce is doing, the Yankees offered the Mets two middling prospects for him in August, but refused to pick up more than a small portion of the $3.7 remaining on his contract. The Mets balked.

Cleveland then swooped in, offered just a fringe prospect, a relief pitcher, but they said they would pick up the rest of the contract, and Bruce became an Indian.  The Yankees will long regret that one.

--The Nationals have lost in the Division Series three of the last five seasons, and Game 1 of the NLDS against the Cubs in Washington was more of the same, the Nats wasting a superb pitching performance from Stephen Strasburg, two unearned runs, on three hits in seven innings, 10 strikeouts, as Washington went down 3-0.

All-Star third baseman Anthony Rendon was the goat. It was no score, top of the sixth, when Javier Baez, leading off, hit a routine bouncer to Rendon. He caught it. And dropped it.

“It’s like a car accident,” Rendon said.  “You don’t hit the car on purpose. So it’s a mistake. It’s part of the game.”

Two batters later, it was Strasburg vs. Kris Bryant, Bryant lined a single to left, driving in Baez, reaching second base on Bryce Harper’s throw home. Anthony Rizzo followed with an RBI hit of his own, and it was 2-0.

Kyle Hendricks pitched a masterful seven innings of shutout ball for the Cubs, allowing just two hits, and Chicago goes on to take it.

But Saturday, in Game 2, Bryce Harper hit a dramatic game-tying two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth to make it 3-3, and then a few batters later, Ryan Zimmerman clouted a three-run shot for the 6-3 final score, Washington evening the series at 1-1.  A huge win in so many ways for this underachieving franchise.

--Boston traveled to Houston for their division series against the Astros, and the Red Sox promptly got shelled, 8-2, 8-2.

In the first game, A.L. MVP candidate Jose Altuve became the first Astro player to hit three home runs in a game since 2007 (Carlos Lee in the regular season), another amazing feat by the 5-foot-6 budding Hall of Famer.

For Boston, ace Chris Sale was shelled, 7 runs in five innings.  Remember when I said after Boston let Sale throw 111 pitches in his start on Sept. 20 that was a big mistake?  His last two outings, including Thursday’s, have been awful.  Meanwhile, Houston’s Justin Verlander gave the team what they needed, six innings of 2-run ball.

In Friday’s 8-2 defeat, Dallas Keuchel was solid for Houston, while for Boston, Drew Pomeranz was the loser, 2 innings, 4 earned.  Carlos Correa hit a home run and drove in 4.

But Sunday, the Sox won 10-3; Rafael Devers, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Hanley Ramirez with three RBI apiece, as David Price, who has been pitching out of the pen following his return from injury, had four scoreless in relief.  Huge for his confidence should out of nowhere Boston advance.

--And in Los Angeles, the Diamondbacks took on the Dodgers in the fourth of the Division Series, with L.A. taking the first, 9-5, Clayton Kershaw far from impressive, giving up four solo home runs in 6 1/3, but thanks to the Dodgers offense it was good enough.  Justin Turner had a homer and 5 RBIs.

Kershaw, despite becoming the first Dodgers pitcher to give up four homers in a postseason contest, is now 5-7. 4.63 ERA for his career in the playoffs.  He also has a seventh-inning playoff ERA of 25.50.  True.

The Dodgers then won Game 2 Saturday, 8-5, as L.A. manhandled Arizona starter Robbie Ray, roughing him up for 4 earned in four innings, after Ray was 3-0 with a 2.27 ERA in five starts against the Dodgers in the regular season, striking out 53 in 31 2/3.

--The Yankees have seen ticket and suite revenues decline every year since the new Yankee Stadium opened in 2009, but this year they rose slightly, $236 million over last year’s $231 million, according to Crain’s New York Business, though this figure remains 40% below the peak.

Ticket and suite sales are thought to make up half of the Yankees’ total revenue, with the bulk of the rest coming from its cut of MLB’s TV contracts with Fox, ESPN and Turner, and from its 20% stake in Fox-owned YES Network.  According to Forbes, annual revenue is $526 million.

So a deep playoff run would have been welcome.

--Johnny Mac asks, “How is it that the White Sox’ Adam Engel got 300 at bats this season, while hitting .166?!”  Man, I just looked myself.  301 ABs, .166 BA, 6 home runs, 117 strikeouts, 19 walks, .235 OBP.  And it’s not like he’s a catcher. He’s an outfielder.

I mean I’m sure he’s a nice young man and all, but, yes, Johnny.  How is it Adam Engel received so many at-bats?

College Football Review

[Written prior to release of new AP Poll]

It was a week of upsets, out of nowhere....

No. 1 Alabama wasn’t one of them, moving to 6-0 with a 27-19 road win over Texas A&M (4-2), hardly an impressive victory for ‘Bama (the line being 26), with Damien Harris the bright spot, rushing for 124 yards, including a 75-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. 

2 Clemson (6-0) hosted Wake Forest and us Demon Deacon fans were surprised to see that senior starting quarterback, John Wolford, was out with a shoulder injury.  Kendall Hinton, next year’s starter, was OK, but the Tigers built up a 28-0 lead and coasted 28-14, Wake (4-2) with two late touchdowns to beat the spread, which was 21/22.  And at the end of the day, boys and girls....

Kelly Bryant, Clemson’s QB, did go out in the third quarter with an ankle injury and it’s not known how long this will keep him on the sidelines.  [Late word is not long, if at all.]

I do have to say this...in no sport is momentum more important than college football and the Deacs killed themselves with a number of bad drops in the first half when they could have made a game of it.  You have to play a perfect game to pull off an upset and Wake’s performance was nowhere near that.

The big upset of the week was Iowa State beating 3 Oklahoma 38-31 in Norman.  The Cyclones (3-2) were 31-point underdogs, fell behind 24-10, and then proceeded to score on their last five possessions, the Sooners (4-1) just rolling over before a stunned home crowd.

What was truly amazing was during the week, Iowa State starting quarterback, Jacob Park, took an undisclosed medical leave of absence, so in stepped senior walk-on Kyle Kempt, who had thrown all of two passes in his career, and Kempt proceeded to go 18 of 24 for 343 yards and three touchdowns, without being picked off, while captain Joel Lanning contributed on both offense and defense.

For the Sooners, Baker Mayfield was 24/33, 306, 2-0, but certainly not a Heisman performance when it mattered most.

Lanning, who in past years played extensively at quarterback for ISU, started the game at middle linebacker and had eight tackles, a sack and a fumble recovery.  But he also played QB in the first quarter, and he rushed nine times for 35 yards.

Overall, Lanning played 13 snaps on offense, 57 on defense and eight on special teams. What a day.

And what a remarkable win for Cyclones Coach Matt Campbell, in his second season after solid success at Toledo.  Iowa State has had just one winning season in the last 11.

I’d say Oklahoma’s national title hopes are finis, even if they run the table.  They won’t make the playoffs.

4 Penn State once again looked mediocre on offense, defeating Northwestern (2-3) 24-10 to run their mark to 6-0, as running back Saquon Barkley, save for a 53-yard TD run, sucked for a second straight week, 16 carries, 75 yards, two TDs. No Heisman for him.

5 Georgia (6-0) is very much in the national title conversation, rushing for 423 yards, 7.8 per carry average, in defeating Vanderbilt (3-3) on the road, 45-14.  Sony Michel had 150 yards on 12 carries, and Nick Chubb 138 on 16.  And this program is just getting started, as the Bulldogs are pulling in top-shelf recruits.

6 Washington remained undefeated at 6-0 with a 33-10 win over Cal (3-3), though Jake Browning was middling, 27/40, 215, 2-0.  The Huskies defense was the story, holding the Golden Bears to just 93 yards of total offense.

In another big upset, though I’ve been saying 7 Michigan was overrated, Michigan State pulled off a 14-10 stunner in rainy Ann Arbor, Michigan with five turnovers, including three interceptions by QB John O’Korn. The Spartans, 4-1, tried to give it away late with big mistakes, but Michigan (4-1) made a few of its own.  Bye-bye any thoughts of a national title, Wolverines.

One school that suddenly harbors aspirations of a BCS berth is 8 TCU (5-0), which did enough in holding off 23 West Virginia (3-2), 31-23 in Fort Worth.  The Mountaineers had 28 first downs to the Horned Frogs’ 16, but they committed two turnovers that were costly.

For TCU, quarterback Kenny Hill became the first in the Big 12’s 22 seasons to run for a touchdown, pass for one, and pick up one receiving in the same game.

9 Wisconsin (5-0) will continue inching up in the polls, a 38-17 win at Nebraska (3-3).  Jonathan Taylor rushed for 249 yards on 25 carries, with two touchdowns, for the Badgers.  He’s a Jersey boy.

10 Ohio State (5-1) destroyed Maryland (3-2) 62-14 in a game that wasn’t even that close!  The Buckeyes outgained the Terrapins 584-66.  Goodness gracious!  It was 33-6 in first downs.  J.T. Barrett threw for 261 yards and three scores, before being pulled early in the second half.

The problem for the Buckeyes, however, is that while they could find their way into the BCS if they run the table, with games against Penn State, Michigan State and Michigan, their season-opening loss to Oklahoma now looks pretty crappy after the Sooners fell to Iowa State.

In other games....

11 Washington State stayed undefeated at 6-0 with a 33-10 win against Oregon (4-2) in Eugene, the Ducks without solid quarterback Justin Herbert due to a broken collarbone.  For the Cougars, Heisman hopeful Luke Falk threw for 282 yards and three touchdowns.

In a very exciting finish, 13 Miami (4-0) defeated Florida State (1-3) to break a seven-game losing streak against FSU, 24-20,  as Miami quarterback Malik Rosier, who had a very uneven game, 19/44, 254, 3-1, tossed a 23-yard TD score with seconds remaining to Darrell Langham, Langham just getting the ball across the goal line as his knee touched at the ½-yard line.

Florida State had taken a 20-17 lead with 1:24 left on a James Blackman touchdown pass before Rosier’s late heroics.

I was watching this one kind of scared that Summit’s Michael Badgley would be called on to kick a game-tying field goal for Miami but, alas, he wasn’t put under that kind of pressure.  [Badgley made his only field goal attempt of the game and is 5 of 6 on the season.]

So Miami could be on a collision course to face Clemson in the ACC title game, though first they have to beat a solid Georgia Tech squad and Virginia Tech.

14 USC is now 5-1 and headed to a good bowl game (but nothing more), 38-10 winners over Oregon State (1-5).  Sam Darnold was solid, 23/35, 315, 3-1, but every college football fan knows the Beavers blow.

19 San Diego State remained undefeated at 6-0 with a 41-10 against UNLV (2-3) in Las Vegas.

Surprising Virginia (4-1) beat Duke (4-2) 28-21.  The Cavs were 2-10 last season and haven’t had a winning campaign since 2011.

Navy is 5-0 after a 48-45 win over Air Force (1-4), as the Midshipmen rushed for 471 yards!

And Thursday night, 24 North Carolina State (5-1) had a nice 39-25 win over 17 Louisville (4-2) in Raleigh, the Wolfpack no doubt moving up a few more notches in the next poll.  Ryan Finley threw for 367 yards for N.C. State, while Nyheim Hines rushed for 102 and two scores.

Louisville’s Lamar Jackson was held in check, even with 427 yards total offense.

And one other from Friday night I can’t help note.  Memphis (4-1) defeated UConn (1-4) 70-31, which I bring up because Tigers quarterback Riley Ferguson, a potential first-round pick, threw for 431 yards and seven touchdowns.  He had six TD passes in the early-season win over UCLA when he outshined Josh Rosen.  [But in between, he’s been mediocre at best.]

--And now...the new AP Poll!

1. Alabama 6-0 (43...lost some votes)
2. Clemson 6-0 (18...Tigers’ gain)
3. Penn State 6-0...man, jury major league out on these boys
4. Georgia 6-0...very deserving...fans s/b pumped
5. Washington 5-0
6. TCU 5-0
7. Wisconsin 5-0...eh
8. Washington State 6-0...great for the sport
9. Ohio State 5-1
10. Auburn 5-1
11. Miami 4-0
12. Oklahoma 4-1...bye-bye
13. USC 5-1
16. Notre Dame 5-1
17. Michigan 4-1...deserved fall of 10 slots
18. South Florida 5-0...highly underrated cheerleaders
19. San Diego State 6-0
20. North Carolina State 5-1...sleeper
21. Michigan State 4-1
25. Navy 5-0...Army-Navy already lining up to be a classic. Army ain’t bad.

NFL

Here in the New York area, before the season, as I was writing, the Giants were legitimate Super Bowl contenders, and the Jets would be looking to tank-tank-tank in the Sam Darnold Sweepstakes.

My how things have changed. The surprising Jets are 3-2, the shocking Giants 0-5, the latter after a 27-22 loss at MetLife Stadium to San Diego (1-4), where they lost Odell Beckham Jr. to a season-ending broken ankle, with three other receivers (including Sterling Shepherd and Brandon Marshall) out indefinitely (the fourth being David Harris...out for the year with a broken foot).

I was flipping back and forth between this one and the Jets game, the NFL once again playing the role of a-holes for scheduling the two New York teams at the same time, and while I mostly watched the Jets, what I saw of the Chargers’ Philip Rivers was not good....he looked awful (21/44, 258, 3-1), but Rivers is a veteran and got it done in the end. Melvin Gordon’s 105 yards on the ground, with two touchdowns, helped.

So what will the Giants do at wide receiver the rest of the season.  You might want to try out and fulfill a fantasy.

As for the Jets, 17-14 winners over winless Cleveland (0-5), they were outgained 175-67 in the first half but led 3-0 on a Catanzaro 57-yard field goal as time expired.

Then early in the fourth quarter, the Jets stopped the Browns on a fourth and 2 inside the five, and that was your play of the game.

The Jets were outgained, overall, 419-212, but found a way to win, Josh McCown steady at QB, 23/30, 194, 2-1, 101.2.

For Cleveland, rookie quarterback DeShone Kizer was benched in favor of Kevin Hogan, but the Browns couldn’t overcome three turnovers.

Up next for the Jets, New England at home.  Ya never know.

Meanwhile, the Steelers, your Bar Chat “Pick to Click,” fell to 3-2 with an abysmal home loss to the 3-2 Jaguars, 30-9, Ben Roethlisberger having the worst day of his career, five interceptions, two of which were returned for scores.  [Jeff B. and other Steelers fans needn’t worry, though, unless Le’Veon Bell, who sucked anew, doesn’t get his act together.]

The Eagles are 4-1 after a 34-7 win over the Cardinals (2-3), Carson “Senor Wences” with four touchdown passes.

Buffalo fell to 3-2, losing 20-16 to the 2-3 Bengals.

Baltimore is 3-2 after a 30-17 win on the road at Oakland (2-3), the Raiders sans Derek Carr, out with his injury and EJ Manuel sucking wind as his replacement.

The Rams (3-2) got their comeuppance, losing to Seattle (3-2) 16-10, as Jared Goff fell to earth, 22/47, 288, 0-2, 48.9...your editor having previously anointed him as Comeback Player of the Year.

Green Bay is 4-1 after a 35-31 win at Jerry’s Place, the Cowboys now 2-3.  The Packers’ Aaron Jones had 125 yards on the ground, the rookie out of UTEP having his coming out party, not that I had ever anointed the guy.

Thursday night, the Patriots rebounded from their 33-30 loss to Carolina last Sunday to defeat Tampa Bay 19-14, with Tom Brady throwing for 303 yards and one touchdown.

But the story was the improved Patriots’ ‘D,’ which had heretofore been non-existent, yielding 32 points a game as New England was shockingly getting off to a 2-2 start.

The thing is, if Tampa Bay’s Nick Folk hadn’t missed all three field goal attempts, New England is 2-3, not 3-2.  What a disaster for the veteran kicker, who had also missed two field goals and an extra-point before beating the Giants last week on a last-second kick.

Separately, Brady recorded his 186th career regular-season win, tying Brett Favre and Peyton Manning for the most by a QB in NFL history.

--Wednesday, at the team’s weekly press conference, Carolina quarterback Cam Newton responded to a question by Charlotte Observer reporter Jourdan Rodrigue, who asked about the route running of receiver Devin Funchess. “It’s funny to hear a female talk about routes,” replied Newton in a most condescending tone.

Rodrigue tweeted about the event and noted that she had approached Newton after the press conference, but he did not offer an apology.

Yogurt brand Dannon cut ties with Newton, Newton becoming a spokesperson in 2015.  In a statement, Dannon said: “We are shocked and disheartened at the behavior and comments of Cam Newton towards Jourdan Rodrigue, which we perceive as sexist and disparaging to all women....It’s simply not OK to belittle anyone based on gender.”

Newton then apologized the next day amid the uproar: “After careful thought, I understand that my word choice was extremely degrading and disrespectful to women.  And to be honest, that was not my intention.”

So how would Newton respond on Sunday?  He had one of the best games of his career... 26/33, 355, 3-0, 141.8, in the Panthers’ (4-1) 27-24 win at Detroit (3-2).

--According to a Seton Hall Sports Poll, conducted by The Sharkey Institute, 30 percent of self-described “fans of the NFL” say they are watching less football this season, with 52 percent of these saying it was because of the players’ anthem protests.

Overall, for the first four weeks, NFL television ratings were down 7% over the same period in 2016, though they were down 9% during the period from 2015 to 2016, which was blamed in part on the election coverage.

I’ll be curious to see where we stand after just eight weeks. I think viewership will begin to pick up.

World Cup Qualifying Matches

--The U.S. won a huge one, 4-0 over Panama in Orlando on Friday night, as our 19-year-old budding superstar, Christian Pulisic (who had a glowing segment on “60 Minutes” the other day), took over early with a sweet goal and then an assist as Team USA jumped out to a 2-0 lead and never looked back.  {Jozy Altidore had two goals and Bobby Wood the fourth.]

So the U.S. just needs a draw in its match in Trinidad and Tobago on Tuesday to advance to an eighth straight WC.

--In college soccer, Friday night, No. 5 Wake Forest defeated No. 2 North Carolina, 2-1, so the Deacs will move up a notch or two.

Golf Balls

In the first event of the 2017-2018 wraparound season, FedEx points restarting at zero, and with virtually all top players bagging it, Brendan Steele won his third PGA Tour title, second at the Safeway Open in Napa.  Phil Mickelson finished T-3.

NASCAR

Martin Truex Jr. punched his ticket into the final eight of the Cup Series playoffs, winning his sixth of the year at Charlotte despite starting 17th.  You go, Jersey boy!

Yours truly won for a second consecutive week in DraftKings....very proud.

Stuff

--The NHL season is underway, and my Rangers have played two miserable games.

But while I normally don’t follow the league until December, and then just wait for the playoffs, I have to note the Washington Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin, who opened the season with consecutive hat tricks, seven goals in all, the first to do so in 100 years; three players having done it in the first NHL season.

So Ovechkin is on track for 287 goals, handily besting Wayne Gretzky’s single-season mark of 92, set back in 1981-82.

--We note the passing of New York playground hoops legend Connie Hawkins, 75.  His death was announced by the Phoenix Suns, the team with which he spent his most productive NBA seasons in a career delayed for years by a point-shaving scandal that led to the NBA blackballing him, even though he was never directly linked to the case.

Born in Brooklyn, July 17, 1941, “The Hawk” was known for his soaring repertoire.  He could dunk by age 11 and ruled the city’s playgrounds, tales of his feats spreading.

It was Hawkins who was really the first to play above the rim, setting the stage for Dr. J., Julius Erving.  Hawkins played with charisma, gripping the ball in one hard, blowing by defenders, and finishing with a thunderous slam.

Hawkins is in the Hall of Fame despite a fairly brief professional career because he truly helped revolutionize the game.

He played in the ABA for two seasons, and before that the Harlem Globetrotters, before the NBA let him in at age 27.  While a freshman at Iowa in 1961, he had been linked to a point-shaving scandal, but he was never directly associated with it. The NBA barred him nonetheless.

Hawkins eventually sued the league and won a reported $1 million settlement.  Phoenix selected Hawkins No. 2 overall in the draft, after losing a coin flip for the rights to then-Lew Alcindor.  Hawkins was an NBA All-Star for four straight seasons, averaging 24.6 points, 10.4 rebounds and 4.8 assists his first year, his best.

Connie Hawkins was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1992.  RIP.

--It seems that suspended Louisville basketball Rick Pitino received 98 percent of the cash Louisville received from an expiring deal with Adidas, like $1.5 million over five years.  Adidas signed a new deal with the school in July.

--Johnny Mac asks, “Who is Norman Powell?”  J. Mac having seen that Mr. Powell, who averaged all of 8 points a game last season for the Toronto Raptors, just signed a four-year contract extension for $42 million!  My word.  Or as my grandfather used to say, “Gee willikers!” 

--Congratulations to two athletes from the world of track and field I have long followed.  Americans Galen Rupp and Jordan Hasey.

Rupp became the first American since 2002 to win the Chicago Marathon in 2:09:20, besting two Kenyans, while Hasay, who I was writing about when she was a 16-year-old record-setting high school runner at the U.S. Olympic Trials in the 1500, finished third, breaking the American women’s record held by Joan Benoit Samuelson way back in 1985, Hasay running 2:20:58.

Rupp is a most intriguing guy.  He burst on the scene as America’s great distance running threat, but is now focusing on the marathon and performing brilliantly.  He’s also one of those in Alberto Salazar’s controversial stable.

Rupp won silver at the London Olympics in the 10,000, and then took bronze in the marathon in Rio.  He’s an Oregon Duck.

Hasay, also a Duck, where she met success in cross country, has yet to taste Olympic success, flaming out in the Trials.

But now she, like Rupp, is finding the marathon could be her ticket to stardom.

--A leopard found its way into a Suzuki manufacturing plant in India the other day, a town not far from Delhi.  The big cat was first spotted on CCTV, and the plant was shut down...for 36 hours, until they finally tracked it down and tranquilized it after a massive search.  The car plant is the largest in India.

When thousands of morning workers arrived, they were forced to wait outside.  And wait...and wait....

There are leopards that frequent Delhi itself, which is spooky, as they only operate at night and head to the restaurants to pick up food.

--Nate Blakeslee / Wall Street Journal

“What is the difference between a dog and a wolf?  From a biological perspective, the answer is simple: not much.  Just a few genes in two otherwise identical strands of DNA separate dogs from their ancestors.  But as an ethical question, the answer is less clear.  People have persecuted wolves throughout history, for as long as shepherds have had flocks to protect.  At the same time, we have venerated their direct descendants, domestic dogs, to such a degree that it is taboo to kill one in most Western societies.

“If you can’t shoot a dog, why is it OK to shoot a wolf?”

Great question.  Mr. Blakeslee brings it up in the context of the annual wolf-hunting season in Montana and Idaho. Only this year, Wyoming joined in, wolves losing the protection they had in Yellowstone National Park, where they were reintroduced in the mid-1990s.

The state game department’s goal is to reduce Wyoming’s wolf population from an estimated 269 (not counting the roughly 100 inside Yellowstone, where hunting is never allowed) down to 160, a number just above the bare minimum guaranteed to keep the wolf off the Endangered Species list.

Well this sucks.  Park wolves are always roaming outside the boundaries and now they’ll be fair game.  “In 2012, when all three states allowed wolf hunting, seven of Yellowstone’s 10 packs lost wolves, including some that had been followed for years not only by researchers but also by amateurs, for whom the park has become a wolf-watching Mecca.  Last spring, someone (illegally) shot Yellowstone’s celebrated white wolf, whose rare coloration made her easy to spot and a longtime favorite of park visitors.”

The topic is complicated.  Ranchers get compensated for livestock killed by wolves, a very generous compensation, but some Rocky Mountain ranchers summer their stock on national forest land, “at heavily discounted grazing rates.”  “Welfare ranching.”

But as Mr. Blakeslee notes: “Why would you invite ranchers to graze defenseless domestic livestock on the same landscape on which you have spent decades and millions of dollars restoring carnivores likely to kill them?”  [Including grizzlies.]

Well, you know whose side I’m on, ‘Wolf’ being No. 23 on the All-Species List; ‘Man’ at No. 370, which is generous after some recent events here at home and around the world, including the ongoing genocide involving the Rohingya in Myanmar....but I digress.

Nate Blakeslee:

“Every time a wolf is killed – whether in the tourist haven of Greater Yellowstone or deep in the anonymous forests of the northern Rockies – a great story comes to an end. Every wolf is White Fang, struggling for survival in a hostile world; every wolf is Old Yeller, fighting off enemies to save a loved one.

“Old Yeller’s death – at the hands of the boy who adored him before rabies could set in – was sad but necessary. You might be able to shoot an animal as extraordinary as he was, if circumstances forced you to do so.

“But if they didn’t, why would you?”

--We note the passing of Jack Good, 86.  You need to be of a certain age to have a shot at remembering the name.  After popularizing rock ‘n’ roll on British television in the 1950s, Good followed the British invasion to the United States, where he produced “Shindig,” a prime-time series with go-go dancers and super guests, including the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.

Long ago I purchased the full series of “Shindig” tapes and I used to watch them all the time.

Good was not a musician, a record executive or a disc jockey; but he was an Oxford-educated actor whose proper style was a counterpoint to rock’s brashness.  He appeared in commercials for “Shindig” wearing a bowler hat and three-piece suit and toting an umbrella.

David Mallet, who at 19 was hired to be Good’s assistant producer, said Good “was classically trained – and a complete maniac.”  Mallet recalled that on his first day of work, Good asked him to pin “I Dig Shindig” buttons on cardboard cutouts of one of ABC’s stars, Lawrence Welk, outside the network’s studios in Los Angeles.

Good actually went to Hollywood, hoping to be an actor, but he landed only bit parts in “Father Goose” (1964) and “Clambake” with Elvis Presley.

I’ll never forget “Father Goose.”  As a six-year-old, with a 12-year-old brother, in 1964 we were all fired up to see “Goldfinger” but it was playing at a theatre we needed a ride to.  My parents thought it was too risqué, so we had to go see Cary Grant in the other pic.  Funny what you remember from those early years.  My first vivid television memory was the fall before and the Kennedy assassination, and then The Beatles premiering on Ed Sullivan months later, an event our nation desperately needed. 

Anyway, if you have some spare cash and you’re a huge 60s fan, buy the DVD set of “Shindig.”  You won’t be disappointed.

--Finally, Jason Aldean’s opening on SNL last night was terrific; Aldean, the last act on stage before the Vegas shooting started, covering Tom Petty’s “Won’t Back Down,” in a most fitting dual tribute. 

[The O.J. Simpson skit was also very funny.]

Top 3 songs for the week 10/8/66: #1 “Cherish” (The Association)  #2 “Reach Out I’ll Be There” (Four Tops)  #3 “96 Tears” (? (Question Mark) & The Mysterians)...and...#4 “Black Is Black” (Los Bravos)  #5 “Beauty Is Only Skin Deep” (The Temptations)  #6 “Last Train To Clarksville” (The Monkees)  #7 “Cherry, Cherry” (Neil Diamond) #8 “You Can’t Hurry Love” (The Supremes)  #9 “Psychotic Reaction” (Count Five)  #10 “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” (The 4 Seasons...was just thinking the other day how this is becoming one of my top ten all time...but am shocked it peaked the following week at only #9...)

Baseball Quiz Answer: Steve Carlton is the last to win 25 in the N.L. when he went 27-10 for the 1972 Phillies, that phenomenal season where the Phillies were a horrendous 59-97 overall....or 32-87 without Lefty.  Ken Reynolds, who had the second-most starts on the team that year, was 2-15.  Bill Champion, third most, 4-14.

Next Bar Chat, Thursday.

 

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