An interesting article in Wednesday’s New York Times about lower ranked colleges playing the big boys for cash, especially now that they’ve added a 12th game to the college season. “Troy State of Alabama will receive $750,000 from Nebraska to play in Lincoln this season. Louisiana-Lafayette will get the same amount from Tennessee next year.”
Category: Sports
Commentary and news about sports and sports teams — and media coverage of them.
Trivia time
When Tiger Woods needs to enter “race” or “ethnicity” on a form (such as for the census), what does he put?
(According to reports. NewMexiKen hasn’t actually seen any of Woods’s documents.) The answer is in comments.
First and Tundra
A good article about high school football in Alaska in the Los Angeles Times. It includes this:
This year, the Barrow High Whalers are fielding a team believed to be the first U.S. high school football team north of the Arctic Circle.
Barrow, Alaska’s northernmost village, is more than 500 miles away from its nearest gridiron foe.
On Saturday, the visiting Delta Junction High Huskies, from the Fairbanks area, played the Whalers just yards from the Arctic Ocean, amid snow flurries and temperatures in the 30s.
Barrow school officials had told the visitors the district would place a sentry in a wooden lookout tower to keep an eye out for wandering polar bears.
Pressed for details, Barrow High’s assistant principal, Mike Wetherbee, let out a laugh over the phone, and conceded there may have been an intimidation factor behind that announcement.
“The truth is, polar bears at this point in the year really aren’t all that much of a problem,” Wetherbee said. Alas, Barrow lost, 34-0.
An all-time scorer
Wilt Chamberlain was born in Philadelphia 70 years ago today. Usually called “The Stilt” because it rhymed with Wilt, Chamberlain actually preferred the nickname “The Big Dipper.”
- Scored 800 points in first 16 high school games.
- Unanimous All-American at Kansas 1957, 1958, averaging nearly 30 points per game.
- Four-time NBA MVP.
- Scored 31,419 points (30.1 ppg) in 1,045 pro games, including 100 in one game against the Knicks.
- All-time scoring leader when he retired, since surpassed by Abdul-Jabbar, Malone and Jordan.
Chamberlain died in 1999.
Best line of yesterday, so far
“These events are the most fun events to play in, the major championships. I just thoroughly enjoy coming down the stretch on the back nine with a chance to win it. That’s why I practice as hard as I do and what I live for.”
Tiger Woods, quoted in a column by Michael Wilbon.
Analyzing faces II
That’s Phil that Tiger is staring at. Take a look then go here to help analyze Tiger’s feelings.
There’s little doubt in my mind.
Four American Immortals
… died young on this date.
Robert Johnson in 1938 at age 27.
Babe Ruth in 1948 at age 53.
Margaret Mitchell in 1949 at age 48.
Elvis Presley in 1977 at age 42.
Four from before
Detailed travel info for 11 road trips. Well done.
Besides, any web site that says this is OK with me: “Though it’s less than half the size of Phoenix, Tucson is at least twice as nice a place to visit. With a lively university community, and some of the most beautiful desert landscapes anywhere on earth, and more palpable history than anywhere in the Southwest outside New Mexico, Tucson is well worth taking the time to get to know.”
SI’s Top 20 Venues of the 20th Century
1. Yankee Stadium
2. Augusta National
3. Michie Stadium (West Point)
4. Cameron Indoor Stadium
5. Bislett Stadium (Oslo)
6. Wrigley Field
7. Roland Garros
8. Lambeau Field
9. Fenway Park
10. Saratoga Race Course
11. Pebble Beach
12. Wembley Stadium
13. The Pit
14. Boston Marathon Course
15. Camden Yards
16. Lamade Stadium (Williamsport, PA)
17. Daytona International Speedway
18. Notre Dame Stadium
19. St. Andrews
20. Rose Bowl
Kansas Is Flatter Than a Pancake
Ben Hogan
… was born on this date in 1912. Hogan was the great golfer of mid-century, overcoming injuries from a severe, near-fatal auto accident. Hogan won four U.S. Opens, two Masters, two PGAs and one British Open between 1946-53.
At some point NewMexiKen read a story about Hogan playing in a pro-am. The duffer with him kept asking how he, Hogan, did this and how he did that, as if the amateur could match Hogan’s skills if only he used the right club.
Finally, after a wonderful chip shot, the amateur asked Hogan which club he had used. That was too much. Hogan proceeded to pull out every club in his bag and make perfect chip shots onto the green with each.
James Dodson’s is a good biography of Hogan.
Terry Gene Bollea
… was born on this date in 1953. Who’s that, you ask?
Does 6’8″ (2.03m) help?
How about 275 pounds (124.7kg)?
Long blond hair, but balding? Fu Man Chu mustache?
Twenty years ago NewMexiKen saw this man in the St. Louis Airport. I had no idea who he was, but knew he had to be somebody. He was huge. His shirt was artistically slit. Twelve-year-old boys were all a twitter.
I finally asked one of the boys, “So, who is that?”
He looked at me like I had just arrived from Mars.
“Hulk Hogan, of course!”
It’s just a game
So it appears that Floyd Landis is guilty of doping — and remember he was put in contention in the Tour de France largely by the suspension of so many of the top cyclists. Then there’s Zidane’s head butt, the Major League steroid scandal, John Daley’s excesses, Kobe Bryant’s recklessness, Oklahoma University’s quarterback taking money without work in his summer job, and on and on.
Do you think maybe we’ve made the rewards and deferential treatment too great for athletes? Have we placed on them both an excessive need to excel and a feeling of personal invulnerability — I’m so special that I don’t have to play by all your rules? I can get away with murder.
It’s too bad. Athletes at the highest levels deserve our admiration. Their success from god-given ability, learned skill, hard work and determination really do make them special. But maybe, just maybe, we need for the cameras to turn away a little more often, the money to be a little less, the penalties for cheating a little more.
We need for our champions to be heroes, not chumps.
Learning Experience
Michelle Wie continues to become very famous without actually achieving anything in the world of golf. This week she competes in the Women’s British Open at Royal Lytham & St. Anne’s. She must win the tournament if she wants to become the youngest person ever to win a major championship in golf.
Today, Wie hit a piece of moss in her backswing in the greenside bunker at the 14th hole. She found out after her round that she had broken rule 13-4c, and had to take two-stroke penalty. She now stands at ten strokes behind leader Juli Inkster.
In her first pro tournament last October, Wie took a penalty drop for an unplayable lie during her third round. At the end of the tournament, officials ruled she made her drop at the wrong place, should have taken a two-shot penalty and disqualified her for signing an incorrect card. Maybe she should spend a few hours curled up with the Rules of Golf.
By the way, the current youngest major-championship winner is the famous Scotsman “Young” Tom Morris. He won four British Opens, the first coming when he was just 17 years, five months and three days. He died at the age of 24 in 1875. Morris’ birth certificate was found just this week, and showed that he was 20 days older than previously thought when he won that first British Open. That won’t help Michelle though.
[Post by reader Byron, one of two official sons-in-law of NewMexiKen. I agree, she needs some coaching on the game, but she has had a number of finishes recently near the top. Once she learns how to win, good-bye everyone else.]
From the folks that thought up the BCS
Apparently the nation’s Division I-AA football programs are tired of being the little brothers of college football.
Division I-AA is made up of schools who offer a total of 63 full football scholarships per year. Division I-A schools are allowed 85 scholarships. Because of this (and other factors), Division I-AA schools have a harder time recruiting many great high school players. The level of football is good, but not as great as at most Division I-A schools.
So, it seems to me that calling the divisions I-A and I-AA makes sense. But apparently it offended some of the schools in question. They asked the NCAA to change the names of the two divisions. Yesterday, the panel voted to change the terminology. The former I-A classification will be the “Football Bowl Subdivision,” and I-AA will be the “NCAA Football Championship Subdivision.”
Sounds to me like a typically bureaucratic bungling — taking something straightforward and making into something that’s going to be eternally confusing.
[Post by reader Jill. They could have named Division I-A “The Only NCAA Division That Decides Its Champion Off the Field,” but that would have been a little wordy I guess.]
NCAA — Never Correct Always Asinine
In other news about how stupid the NCAA is, it denied appeals by McMurry University (Division III) and by the College of William and Mary (Division I-AA) to be removed from a list of schools subject to restrictions on the use of Indian mascots, names and imagery at NCAA championships. This also means those schools will not be allowed to host NCAA championship events.
But Florida State is still allowed to have a “Seminole” in full costume ride his horse on the field and for the band to play songs called “War Chant” and “Seminole Uprising” during games.
I’m sure revenue had nothing to do with this decision.
[Post by NewMexiKen reader, and official daughter, Jill. The McMurry mascot is Indians; William and Mary is The Tribe.]
Stuff from reading the Times
Trash talking isn’t so bad in American sports, just gay-baiting.
McRae said that when he was playing, much of the trash talk he heard was about sexual orientation.
“There were probably more comments about that than anything else because of just the way it is in our society,” he said. “If you knew or suspected a guy was gay, you would try to get under his skin.”
The IRS is firing the tax attorneys but cheating is out of control.
[Interesting that this article is by the same reporter as the one about firing half the tax attorneys, but no mention of it.]
So many superrich Americans evade taxes using offshore accounts that law enforcement cannot control the growing misconduct, according to a Senate report that provides the most detailed look ever at high-level tax schemes.
…Cheating now equals about 7 cents out of each dollar paid by honest taxpayers, as much as $70 billion a year, the report estimated.
Japanese manufacturers now make more cars in the U.S. than they do in Asia.
Since then, Japanese production has expanded on every major continent. According to 2005 figures, the most recent breakdown from the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association has 4.08 million vehicles made in the United States, 3.96 million in Asia, 1.55 million in Europe, 645,000 in Latin America, 226,000 in Africa, 135,000 in Australia and 10,500 in the Middle East.
[Update: Later Tuesday it was announced that Toyota had passed Ford in July to become the second largest carmaker in the U.S., after G.M. Honda could pass Daimler-Chrysler for fourth place soon.]
Best line of the day, so far
“[University of Miami football coach Larry] Coker says he especially doesn’t want his players to have firearms on campus. To which several players asked, ‘Campus?'”
Scott Ostler
Tiger Island
Scott Ostler on Tiger’s importance to golf:
A fast look at the men’s world Top 10 list: Tiger is way on top, and he’s 30. That’s his age, but it may also be his waist measurement, after a big meal.
The four guys closest to Woods are 36, 43, 36 and 37. The only kids on the list are Adam Scott (26), Geoff Ogilvy (29) and Sergio Garcia (26). Pick out the one who most frightens Tiger.
Now look at the women’s Top 10. Annika (age 35) is No. 1, followed by Michelle Wie (16) and Lorena Ochoa (24). Sorenstam is at least four years older than everyone on the list except Julie Inkster (46).
There are three teenagers in that Top 10.
The next teenager in the men’s Top 10 will probably be named Jack Arnold Earl Woods.
Birthday boys and girls
Edd “Kookie Kookie lend me your comb” Byrnes is 73.
Oscar nominee (direction and co-writer, The Last Picture Show) Peter Bogdanovich is 67.
Paul Anka is 65. Anka is not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
The Governator, Arnold Schwarzenegger, is 59.
Actress Delta Burke and blues guitarist Buddy Guy are 50. I like the thought of them partying together today.
Lisa Kudrow is 43.
Two-time Oscar winner Hilary Swank is 32.
The Hall of Fame manager Casey Stengel was born on this date in 1890.
MANAGED NEW YORK YANKEES 1949-1960.
WON 10 PENNANTS AND 7 WORLD SERIES WITH
NEW YORK YANKEES. ONLY MANAGER TO WIN
5 CONSECUTIVE WORLD SERIES 1949-1953.
PLAYED OUTFIELD 1912-1925 WITH BROOKLYN,
PITTSBURGH, PHILADELPHIA, NEW YORK AND
BOSTON N.L. TEAMS. MANAGED BROOKLYN
1934-1936, BOSTON BRAVES 1938-1943,
NEW YORK METS 1962-1965.
A few Casey-isms:
“Can’t anybody here play this game?”
“Don’t cut my throat, I may want to do that later myself.”
“Don’t drink in the hotel bar, that’s where I do my drinking.”
“Good pitching will always stop good hitting and vice-versa.”
“He’d (Yogi Berra) fall in a sewer and come up with a gold watch.”
Best reply of the day, so far
“I said I heard the bookies offered 25-1 that he’d swing and punch me on the third tee,” [Faldo] said. “And [Woods] said, ‘I’ll put $2 million on it.'”
Nick Faldo, quoted in A Pity About Faldo and Azinger.
Long Tall Abe
NewMexiKen ran across this photo of Lincoln at Antietam taken just days after the battle in 1862. Look at those arms. If Lincoln lived in the late 20th century, he wouldn’t have been president, but he would have been a great rebounder.
That’s Allan Pinkerton and General John McClernand with Lincoln, October 3, 1862.
Click photo to view a larger version.
Lost Balls
Tiger plays golf and then Tom plays golf.
The Open Championship
While I’ve always enjoyed sports for the well thrown pass, the perfect pitch, the incredible chip shot, it really is the genuine human drama that makes it worth watching.
Paired With Faldo, Woods Seeks the Last Word (and gets it)
When Woods steps on to the first tee of the 135th British Open at Royal Liverpool Golf Club on Thursday, he will stand next to Nick Faldo, who was among a chorus of golf commentators who criticized him as he adapted to a swing change last year. Once word got back to Woods, a distant relationship grew even less amicable.
Perhaps Faldo should shut up and work on his swing. Woods beat him by 10 strokes Thursday (5-under vs. 5-over).
[Woods shot 7-under Friday, to go 12-under for the first two rounds.]
Soccer championship
And you thought the World Cup was it for high-level soccer. No, indeed not. The Albuquerque Asylum FC (I have no idea why they thought Asylum* was a good name) will play the Sacramento Knights this Saturday evening in Albuquerque for the Western Division championship of the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL). The winner advances to the national championship.
The NPSL is an 18 team league — eight franchises are in California (from Chico to San Diego), but other locations include Las Vegas, Phoenix, Denver, Milwaukee, St. Paul, Minneota, Grand Rapids, Detroit, Princeton and, obviously, Albuquerque. The rosters include current and former college players, some I’m told as old as, gasp, 30.
NewMexiKen knows a few of the players and has attended three or four matches including last Saturday’s semi-final 1-0 win over San Diego Fusion. It was a hard-played, aggressive, exciting contest before 4,000 equally aggressive fans.
This week’s championship took on a new cast during the week when the Sacramento team asked that the match be rescheduled to Sacramento, as they were, they said, the better team and they didn’t want to play at Albuquerque’s altitude. Fortunately, the league stood by its schedule. Come on up Sacramento. Bring oxygen.
Saturday, 7:30 at Menaul School, tickets $5. Come early, it was packed last week.
* Asylum = A place offering protection and safety; a shelter.
Take me out to the ballgame
NewMexiKen watched the Albuquerque Isotopes hold on to beat the New Orleans Zephyrs 3-2 last night in the second game of a doubleheader (New Orleans won the first game—a make-up of Tuesday’s rainout—7-6).
It was a beautiful evening at the ballpark, if a touch warm with the temperature in the high 80s and the humidity up. Other than a few stand out plays (the ‘Topes had two triples and an unassisted double play), the highlight for the crowd of 8,400 was singing “Y-M-C-A” after “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” during the fifth inning stretch (they play 7-inning games in the PCL when they play two). For the many, many little people, the highlight seemed to be singing the “Sponge Bob Square Pants” theme when, for some reason, it was played.
And, as the Isotopes were named by Homer Simpson, we also have: Da-da-ta-da, ta-da, Marge!
NewMexiKen has been to many major league games in 14 big league parks, and there is nothing quite like it. But for pure recreational value, I’ll take the ‘Topes. Parking was free, for $11 each at the ticket window we got seats in the tenth row behind the first base dugout, food and drinks were good if just a little pricey, and we got to see the taco beat the red chile and the green chile in the race around the infield.