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Bar Chat

07/05/2018

England Moves On....

[Posted Wed. early pm]

Wimbledon Women’s Quiz: Name the six to win at least three singles titles in the Open Era (1968). Answer below.

***As I prepare to take over Black Bear hot dogs to my parents’ place, to celebrate the Fourth, we honor now 11-time Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest champion, Joey Chestnut! As I go to post, Chestnut set an unofficial world, and event, record at 74 hot dogs and buns in ten minutes, on hot and muggy Coney Island.  Having exercised in the weather this morning, I admire the feat even more.

Chestnut thus equals Bill Russell’s 11 NBA titles.  As emcee George Shea put it, “Chestnut is a defender of freedom...he will fight for its cause.”

Rich Shea added: “What Joey has done for digestion...blockchain has done for computing.”

Miki Sudo won the women’s championship, Sudo’s fourth consecutive Mustard Belt, with 37 hot dogs and buns.

I’m going to eat three, myself...washed down by refreshing Coors Light.

World Cup

Monday, in the last 16, Brazil prevailed over Mexico 2-0, and it was clear who the better team was.

But the story was Neymar. Thank god he doesn’t play in the Premier League.  I’d bust a blood vessel in my brain if I had to watch him all the time.

Yes, he’s one of the top five in the world, but then there is the other side.  His behavior, as Mexico’s coach Carlos Osorio said after the match, was “shameful.”

Having already given Brazil a 1-0 lead, Neymar was sitting on the pitch after chasing the ball out of play in the 72nd minute.  Mexico’s Miguel Layun approached to grab the ball and, in the process, stood on Neymar’s ankle.

Neymar’s reaction drew criticism as he squirmed on the ground for minutes afterward, a total act, only to then jog back into action when play resumed.

Osorio said the incident halted Mexico’s momentum as they were chasing an equalizer, and he’s right.

In an earlier group-stage draw with Switzerland, Neymar was mocked for rolling over an excessive number of times after being fouled.

Layun said after the match that he didn’t intentionally step on Neymar, and, “In the end, it’s football.  If he doesn’t want to be touched then he should do something else. If he wants to be on the floor he should go lie down in his house.”

Martin Rogers / USA TODAY

“Neymar is the most expensive player in soccer history, one of the finest players in the world, a national hero, a cultural icon, a potential World Cup champion and an absolute embarrassment.

“You can read every single statement about the Brazilian superstar with a giant ‘BUT.’

“That’s right, capital letters, underlined, even throw in a couple of exclamation points if you like.

“He is supremely gifted at the game of soccer and, if he hits top form over the next couple of weeks, he’s good enough to lead Brazil to its sixth World Cup title. BUT...

“He is a magician with the ball at his feet and his runs at a defense are worthy of a highlight reel of their own.  BUT...

“The ‘but’ is the thing that make Neymar, for all his brilliance, a giant pain in the butt. That’ s real pain, by the way, not the kind of imagined agony that he oh-so-bravely battles through several times each game.

“You know the ones, where he gives a bloodcurdling shriek that points to mortal peril. Or writhes on the ground, squirming as if his organs are shutting down and his capacity for normal function has left him. Only to find himself, moments later, back on his feet and sprinting at full tilt. A newcomer to the sport must marvel that he has remarkable powers of recovery.

“He doesn’t, of course.  He’s just a faker, a diver, a simulator, a play-actor, or any of the other words soccer uses to gloss over the fact that someone is trying to blatantly and shamelessly cheat by conning the referee into punishing an opponent.”

Personally, I hate the guy.  I want Belgium to kick Brazil’s ass as a result. Give them a schooling. And leave Neymar crying, for real, for his mother when it’s over.

Thankfully, after watching Neymar be such a jerk, the next game, Belgium-Japan, was a pure classic, the best of the World Cup thus far.

After a scoreless first half, Japan playing well to stay even with one of the favorites, Belgium, suddenly scored twice on terrific kicks from Haraguchi and Inui at the 48’ and 52’ marks. It was stunning. Could Japan pull off the huge upset?

No.  Belgium roared back to tie on goals by Vertonghen at 69’, and the substitute Marouane Fellaini at 74’ on a header, and now it seemed headed to extra time and possible penalty kicks.

Only it ended cruelly for Japan and its supporters, Japan’s heart broken on a goal by Belgium’s Nacer Chadli with seconds of stoppage time remaining to complete the thrilling comeback.  Japan got caught in Belgium’s end with few of its players back and the brilliant Kevin de Bruyne led a field-length charge that culminated in Chadli’s decider.

So it’s Brazil and Belgium on Friday in what should be one of the better quarterfinals in Cup history. Two true heavyweights with lots of scoring power.

The other quarterfinal on Friday is equally good...France and Uruguay.

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As for Tuesday’s action, to finalize Saturday’s quarterfinals, Sweden defeated Switzerland 1-0, for their first final eight berth since 1994; Emil Forsberg with the winner at 66’ on a shot that deflected off the leg of a Swiss defender and past keeper Yann Sommer.  It wasn’t a classic ‘own-goal,’ just a bad break like you often see in the sport.

But then we had the nightcap and England won a World Cup penalty shootout for the first time in dramatic fashion, 4-3, after a 1-1 regulation affair against Colombia.

This was a helluva contest.  Up-and-down action virtually throughout, though Colombia had just 4 shots on target and England only 2.

Colombia, though, committed 23 fouls to England’s 13, and by the end, Colombia was on the verge of losing half their roster it seemed to red card, though managed to avoid that.

And so it came down to Tottenham’s Eric Dier, who scored the winning kick after Jordan Pickford’s (Everton) brilliant save from Carlos Bacca.

Harry Kane had scored the initial tally of the game on a penalty, his fourth such kick of the World Cup (six goals overall), and it seemed like that would hold up, but then in the 93rd minute, Colombia’s Yerry Mina equalized in stoppage time in dramatic fashion.

So after 30 minutes of extra time, we had another nerve-shredding finale, only this time England finally got the monkey off its back.

The crowd, as the announcers said, was 99% behind Colombia, but manager Gareth Southgate and the boys were able to celebrate their first win at the knockout stage of a major tournament since 2006.

So it’s England and Sweden in Samara on Saturday, host Russia and Croatia in the other quarterfinal.  I don’t want to jump ahead, but if England and Russia prevail, oh baby...think geopolitics.

LeBron Is A Laker

--Literally an hour after I posted Sunday evening, we learned LeBron James was signing a four-year, $153.3 million contract to play with the Lakers.

The key was Magic Johnson, who under cover of darkness arrived by himself to LeBron’s Brentwood, California, home on Saturday night, and the two talked about basketball and what the Lakers’ future could be, as sources told the Los Angeles Times.  James apparently didn’t mind the Lakers weren’t a ready-made championship team; he could help build that.  But the two bonded as men who grew up in the Midwest, both superstars, who used basketball as an entrance to the business world and effecting social change...so the story goes.

Of course LeBron would respect the heck out of Magic.  Everyone does.  And Magic controls the Lakers (GM Rob Pelinka his deputy).

James joins a team that hasn’t made the playoffs in five seasons, finishing with a 35-47 record last season, 12 wins away from the Timberwolves, the eight-seed in the conference.  The Lakers do have Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma, Josh Hart, Ivica Zubac, and newcomers Lance Stephenson, JaVale McGee and Rajon Rondo.  I’m not mentioning Lonzo Ball, per the discussion below.

And there’s the issue of Kawhi Leonard, and whether L.A. has enough to offer San Antonio in a trade. The Spurs aren’t going to just give the disgruntled Leonard away when he is still under contract for another season.

--Meanwhile, L.A. signed point guard Rondo to a one-year, $9 million deal, having renounced their rights to forward Julius Randle, who then agreed to a 2-year, $18 million deal with the Pelicans, thus freeing up the cap space for the Lakers to sign Rondo, the former Pelicans point guard.

--Sally Jenkins / Washington Post

“The arrival of LeBron James with the Los Angeles Lakers means the exit of LaVar Ball. Count on it. Big Daddy’s time as a Kardashian is up. For months he’s been fighting the inevitable tow toward obscurity, but now the shadow of the greatest player of a generation has moved over him like one of those Star Destroyers blotting out the light, and the future will be nothing but poorly lit gyms and homemade podcasts from here.

“James isn’t going to put up with that mess. You think the 33-year-old who remains in ring-seeking ‘championship mode’ agreed to sign with the Lakers so he can warmup to the courtside music of LaVar Ball’s toxic armchair braying?

“You notice I have yet to mention the name of Lonzo Ball. That’s because he’s not the real player on that team; his pappy is. But now that the kid has come up, you think LeBron is going to spend a lot of time on the floor with a guard whose shot looks like a bent wire hanger, who misses more than half of his free throws and whom everyone in the league knows you can sit on? LeBron James is not going to carry that kid. He’s done hauling the heavy sled of rosters with liabilities and chemistry problems – that’s clear.

“James left his home town and his heart and the team that he intended to retire with in Cleveland. He has left about $54 million on the table with the Cavaliers, because they had their locker-room problems.  He left the Eastern Conference, where he reached the NBA Finals for eight straight seasons.  He left all of that to commit to the Lakers for four years, despite the fact that they haven’t made the playoffs since 2013.  He didn’t do it without a guarantee of some sort from Lakers management that the organization will make a clean start and give him what he needs to build a great team. And you don’t build a championship around the corroding dysfunction of the Ball family. What has anyone in that clan ever won?

“So get ready for a power move from James. Get ready for a display of muscle that is going to make all of LaVar Ball’s talk look like soap bubbles.  It’s going to be interesting to see James, the real thing, bully Ball out of the way. And one of the things his presence is going to do is remind everyone of just how hijacked the Lakers have been by Ball, who has never been just a harmless huckster. He has taken his family hostage, and teams along with them, from Chino Hills to Lithuania.

“Unlike most, I never laughed at LaVar Ball, because his act is not just hype or marketing or posturing. It’s the uncontrolled power surge of a man who needs to matter so badly that he will turn a basketball court into a coal mine and his kids into the family factory.  When children become the breadwinners so a parent can live on the payroll, things get weird and unhealthy, and there is no unspooling that tangle. You hate to say it, but the Balls are already damaged goods. They will be dealing with the difficulties created by their father for the rest of their (short) careers, and so will every coach who touches them....

“Why on earth would LeBron James want anything to do with all that? Especially given that LaVar Ball has shown absolutely no ability to tame his psychosis for the good of his kids, much less a team, even when he knew the chances were strong that James would be a Laker. On the Big Boy’s Neighborhood radio show, LaVar Ball was asked what his son could learn from being teammates with LeBron. His response: ‘Can LeBron teach him what?  No, he can’t teach him nothing. I already taught him everything.’

“The best thing the Lakers could do for themselves, and LeBron James, is jettison Lonzo Ball and his dead-weight daddy, and go looking for a healthy, mature partner for James.”

So L.A. then got Rondo, and Kemba Walker is a free agent next year and the Lakers will have the money.

One more.  LaVar said in a video posted by Overtime: “Lonzo ain’t going to play off the ball. How’s LeBron going to play point? Lonzo will be pushing and he’ll get it out of his hands too quick.”

According to Ball, all James has “got to do is run the lane and the pass [from Lonzo] is going to be right on the money.” The four-time MVP “ain’t gotta worry about dribbling the ball 42 times, coming down there and making a play. We’re going to play so fast, he’ll throw [James] touchdown passes and he’ll be scoring all day.”

Yes, Lonzo and daddy aren’t long for L.A.

MLB

Some of the races have certainly tightened up. After Tuesday’s play....

AL East

Boston 58-29
New York 55-28 ... 1

AL West

Houston 56-31
Seattle 55-31 ... 0.5

NL East

Atlanta 49-35
Philadelphia 46-37 ... 2.5

NL Central

Milwaukee 50-35
Chicago 48-35 ... 1

NL West

Arizona 38-38
Los Angeles 46-39 ... 1.5

--But what’s the deal with Washington? 42-42, 7 games back of the Braves?!  Bryce Harper hitting .218!  [Yeah, 21 homers, 50 RBIs, but his OPS of .851 is well below his career mark, and he entered the season with a .285 career batting average, now down to .278.]

--Shohei Ohtani returned to the lineup for the Angels after being out a month, in terms of his plate appearances.  Ohtani went 0-for-4 as a DH in Tuesday’s 4-1 loss to the Mariners that dropped Los Angeles back to .500, 43-43.

Ohtani received stem cell therapy and a platelet-rich plasma injection to help heal the Grade 2 sprain of his ulnar collateral ligament suffered more than three weeks ago. 

At the plate he’s been slumping after his fast start, and his average is down to .280, with an .878 OPS.

As for getting back on the mound, once again the Angels said he’ll be re-evaluated in three weeks, but surgery is still a distinct possibility.  The question then would be, can he help you make the playoffs this season and then undergo the surgery after, knowing he’s out all of 2019 anyway, whether he has the surgery today or October.

--I posted Sunday prior to Red Sox-Yankees and just have to note that with the Yanks winning 11-1, they pummeled David Price in the process.

Price, he of the seven-year, $217 million contract, is now 2-6, 8.43 ERA, against the Yankees since joining Boston; 0-5, 10.44 ERA at Yankee Stadium.  He entered Sunday’s contest 9-5, 3.66, on the year, and exited 9-6, 4.28, after giving up eight earned in 3 1/3.

[Meanwhile, his mound opponent Sunday, Luis Severino, threw 6 2/3 of shutout ball and is now a spectacular 13-2, 1.98.]

Separately, the Yanks finished up play Sunday at the halfway mark, 54-27, with 137 homers, putting them on a pace to break the major league record of 264 held by the 1997 Mariners. The Yanks then hit four more on Monday and Tuesday in splitting their first two contests against Atlanta this week.

--I mentioned Reds pitcher Mike Lorenzen and his grand slam the other day, and missed that on Sunday, in the Reds’ 8-2 win over Milwaukee, the day after Lorenzen’s feat, Jose Peraza, the shortstop, also hit a grand slam, the team’s major league-leading ninth slam this year, which also tied the single-season franchise record set in 2002, and at the halfway point of the season.

The beneficiary was Reds pitcher Matt Harvey, who threw 5 2/3 of shutout ball, striking out six, walking none, before he had to leave due to a 54-minute rain delay.

So the ex-Met won his third straight and after the Mets traded him for Devin Mesoraco, Harvey, 0-2 with a 7.00 ERA this season for New York, is now 4-3, 3.86, for Cincy.  If he pitches well in the second-half, he’ll warrant a mid-level, free-agent deal.

--I took an informal poll of some fellow hard-core Mets fans and it was 5-1 for trading Jacob deGrom for prospects.  I’m in the majority.  His value will never be higher.  [Of course none of us trust the current ‘brain trust’ to be able to get the appropriate return...and it doesn’t really appear that the Mets will do it.]

Golf Balls

--Joel Dahmen made a name for himself in the final round of the Quicken Loans National on Sunday, calling out his playing partner, Sung Kang, for cheating.  On the 10th hole at TPC Potomac, Kang’s second shot found the hazard.

Kang believed his ball crossed the hazard, giving him a drop on the side of the hazard closer to the hole. Dahmen disagreed, asserting Kang’s ball failed to cross. 

The argument then went on for 25 minutes, with the group behind the duo playing through.

A rules official eventually sided with Kang, who saved par on the hole and went on shoot a 64, good for a T-3 finish that earned him an invite to The Open Championship at Carnoustie.

But well into Sunday night, Dahmen, and his caddie, maintained he was right.  “Kang cheated,” Dahmen tweeted.   “He took a bad drop from  a hazard. I argued until I was blue. I lost.”

Dahmen, though, in the end had to sign the card because, “At that point there is nothing I can do.  If I don’t sign the card, a rules official will.”

I’ve told this story before, but a long time ago, when I went to the six-round PGA Tour Qualifying School, in the first two rounds Bill Haas was teamed with Jerry Smith (who is having solid success on the Champions Tour these days) and this third guy who was playing the mini-tours (I won’t divulge his name).  I literally was the only spectator, walking alongside Bill’s mom and Jerry Smith’s wife, and the third player clearly cheated in a crossing the hazard situation. Bill and Jerry probably didn’t see it, and were more concerned with their own play, but I saw the guy take an illegal drop.

So a few rounds later, I was chatting with one of Bill’s uncles and told him what I had witnessed, and it turns out the guy had a real reputation as a cheater.  [He never got his Tour card in ensuing years, best I remember.]

It does happen.

--And this also happens...a tour player not receiving his clubs on time for an event.  Such was the case with Graeme McDowell, who had played in the French Open last weekend and had a 36-hole qualifier for The Open on Tuesday, only his clubs were hopelessly lost somewhere in the bowels of Charles de Gaulle Airport.

So on Twitter, some were suggesting Graeme just rent some clubs, but as he pointed out, there were 3 spots out of 72 decent players.  No way a pro can play well in a stiff competition with rental clubs.

--A note from last weekend’s European Tour event, the French Open. Alex Noren, the Swede known as the hardest worker in his sport (marathon practice sessions), came from seven shots behind 54-hole leader and countryman Marcus Kinhult to earn his 10th European Tour victory.  He would make for a solid pick for The Open at Carnoustie.  In fact I’ll say right here and now...it’s Alex Noren by three!

--I didn’t have a chance last time to note that David Toms won the U.S. Senior Open at Colorado Springs, his first Champions Tour win and first since the 2011 Crowne Place Invitational at Colonia in 2011, the last of his 13 PGA Tour titles.

Toms beat out Miguel Angel Jimenz, Tim Petrovic and Jerry Kelly (who had led after each of the first three rounds) by one stroke.

With the win, Toms gets a berth at the 2019 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.

[Baseball Hall of Famer John Smoltz, a surprise qualifier, shot 85-77 to miss the cut by 13 strokes.]

--Nearby Baltusrol Golf Club was just awarded the 2029 PGA Championship (the 2023 Women’s PGA will also being held there).

I can assure you if I’m still alive in 2029, I’ll probably be watching the action at home.  Much more comfortable. 

Phil Mickelson and Jimmy Walker won the two PGA championships held at Baltusrol, 2005 and 2016. The course had been deemed too easy for the U.S. Open, the last one at B’Rol in 1993, but the PGA Tour folks have no problem with a few birdies, unlike the USGA.

NASCAR

I missed the wild ending for last Sunday’s event at Chicagoland Speedway, Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson racing all over the track on the final lap.

Busch outdueled Larson in an old-fashioned showdown worth looking up on tape.  Larson bumped into the back of Busch’s car and moved into the lead. Busch then raced into the back of Larson’s car and sped ahead for the victory.  And in the end, Larson gave Busch a thumbs up.  It was totally legal and what you’d expect from two guys desperate to close the deal.

Busch said after: “It was a good day, a great finish, an exciting one for that, especially at a mile-and-a-half.  People don’t necessarily see those very much anymore. Man, you just got to be pumped for that. It’s cool.”

Busch, who isn’t popular among the fans, was booed by the crowd as he got out of his car, playfully rubbing his eye in a crying motion and waved off the jeering fans.

Larson, though, said: “I roughed him up. He roughed me up. That’s racing.”

For Busch it was his 48th career Cup Series win, moving him into a tie with Herb Thomas for 14th all time. 

And Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick now have five wins apiece this season; just the fourth time in series history that two drivers won at least five times in the first 17 races of the season, joining Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson in 2010 and Richard Petty and Cale Yarborough in 1974 and 1977.

This Saturday night is one of my favorites...racing at Daytona under the lights.

NFL

--While the suicide of Washington State quarterback Tyler Hilinski will have long-reaching consequences, in terms of more parents preventing their kids from playing football, it doesn’t help the sport that NFL star safety Kam Chancellor, a four-time Pro Bowler and Super Bowl champion for Seattle, announced his retirement over health concerns at the age of 30.

Chancellor played in just nine games last season before seriously injuring his neck trying to make a tackle. While both he and the team have been vague about the extent of it, in a Twitter statement, Chancellor referenced the many injuries he’s played through, but said this one he can’t ignore. He suggested he would risk being paralyzed if he tried to play through it.

“When the doctors told me what was going on in Nov., I could feel my heart drop to my stomach,” Chancellor wrote.  “The stiffness in my neck and the images that I saw had me at one of my lowest points as a Man, because football is all I knew outside of serving the Lord. To walk away from the game by choice is one thing, to walk away from the game because of the risk of paralysis is another.

“My final test showed no healing. I put all my blood, sweat, and tears into this game.”

“P.S. Pray for your boy,” he wrote. “I have no clue how these head injuries will go after the game. What I do know is that my God is stronger. Peace and Love.”

Chancellor retires with 12 career interceptions and 434 tackles.  One of the best safeties I ever saw.  We wish him well...and a full recovery.

NHL

The following is a big story locally.

The Islanders lost their star, John Tavares, to free agency, Tavares choosing to head ‘home’ to Toronto, seven years, $11 million per, but Islanders ownership deserves to take a hit. They’ve done everything right recently in bringing back Lou Lamoriello to run the operation, and then hiring Capitals coach Barry Trotz, but they received nothing for Tavares when in hindsight they should have anticipated he might go home when he was eligible to.

Larry Brooks / New York Post

“Scott Malkin takes the hit for the franchise’s latest debacle. For it was the principal owner who allowed John Tavares to hold the Islanders hostage throughout a season in which No. 91 refused to commit to an extension even while the clock mercilessly ticked off the final year of his contract.

“Whether a representation of ownership naivete, arrogance or foolhardiness, the organization got suckered after Malkin forbade then-general manager Garth Snow to shop Tavares as a trade-deadline rental following months in which the captain and his agent whispered sweet words of nothing into the owner’s ears.

“And now he is gone, gone for nothing in return, off to Toronto, where he can establish his legacy as an all-time Maple Leaf if he can help his hometown team end a Stanley Cup drought that reaches back 51 years to 1967, the last year of the Original Six....

“(Once) they won the Belmont (new future arena) bid on Dec. 20, the Islanders not only had every right to apply some pressure on Tavares, they had an obligation to do so.  From that moment on, ownership and management were in a need-to-know situation.  If he wouldn’t sign, they needed to trade him. This, by the way, is not a second-guess. I wrote as much numerous times throughout the season.

“But no....

“There apparently was nothing Lamoriello could do about this, either, even though he spent countless hours attempting to recruit Tavares, an effort that began before the executive  was officially hired by the Islanders. Nothing Lamoriello could do to paste over the weaknesses of the team that had been assembled by Snow over the previous decade. No move over the last week or two that might have changed the course of this decision, not even the hiring of Barry Trotz to replace Doug Weight behind the bench.

“Boy, was the perception of Tavares – with whom, by the way, the Islanders won one playoff round – off, wasn’t it? This was allegedly the guy who luxuriated in life on the small pond and would never want the fishbowl experience in Toronto. If he was going to leave, well, he’d go to San Jose, where he could blend in and hide in plain sight, just like he had on the island. Well, apparently not....

“There will be anger directed at Tavares from the fan base. There will be a perception he  misled the team. The anger is misdirected. The mistake was made at the top, and it was ongoing. Ownership blew it.”

Stuff

--A Florida deputy was able to rescue a teenage girl who had been cornered in a tree by a large alligator by shooting it with an AR-15 rifle.

The girl (whose name isn’t important), 15, “was stuck in a tree in Lake County for nearly an hour because a 10-foot alligator sat on the ground below, hissing at her, the Sun-Sentinel reported, citing a sheriff’s office report.

“ ‘My daughter’s stuck in a frickin’ tree and there’s gators surrounding her!’ the girl’s mother reportedly told a 911 dispatcher.  ‘Oh my God!  Please hurry!  Please hurry!’

“Deputy Mitch Blackmon responded to the scene, where he found the teen – who had been swimming in a creek in Ocala National Forest – yelling that she was tired from hanging onto a tree branch for so long.”

Blackmon said the alligator wasn’t scared away by his presence, and when it began approaching him, he killed it with a single shot.

Top 3 songs for the week 7/5/69:  #1 “Love Theme From Romeo & Juliet” (Henry Mancini) #2 “Spinning Wheel” (Blood, Sweat & Tears)  #3 “Bad Moon Rising” (Creedence Clearwater Revival)...and...#4 “Good Morning Starshine” (Oliver) #5 “One” (Three Dog Night) #6 “Get Back” (The Beatles with Billy Preston)  #7 “Crystal Blue Persuasion” (Tommy James & The Shondells...in my top three all time...moved up to #2 on the chart for three weeks behind the next tune...which was #1 for six freakin’ weeks! What were we thinking, people!...)  #8 “In The Year 2525” (Zager & Evans...yeah, this one...six weeks, #1...bleh...) #9 “Color Him Father” (The Winstons) #10 “Too Busy Thinking About My Baby” (Marvin Gaye)

Wimbledon Women’s Quiz Answer: Six to win at the least three singles titles in the Open Era (1968): Martina Navratilova 9; Steffi Graf 7; Serena Williams 7; Venus Williams 5; Billie Jean King 4*; Chris Evert 3.

*Billie Jean also won in 1966 and ’67 in what was called the ‘Amateur Era.’

In this year’s event...No. 2-seed Carolina Wozniacki was just upset by Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova, making it five of the top eight women to go down before the third round!  Serena Williams, on the other hand, is cruising thus far.

Next Bar Chat, Monday.

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