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Lazzari’s Sports Roundup – 10/15/09

Bob Lazzari — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:44:00 +0000

Congratulations go out to PGA golfer Kenny Perry–who recently was honored with the 2009 Payne Stewart Award. Celebrating its 10-year anniversary in 2009, the Payne Stewart Award is presented annually to a player sharing Stewart’s respect for the traditions of the game, his commitment to uphold the game’s heritage of charitable support, and his professional/meticulous presentation of himself and the sport through his dress and conduct. As noted in this column before, there is NO finer gentleman in golf–or ANY sport–than one Kenny Perry. Well done, Kenny; you’re truly deserving of such recognition………..TRIVIA QUESTION: The 1995 AFC Champion Pittsburgh Steelers had two players who rushed for more than 500 yards that season. Can you name these two running backs? Answer to follow……….Do you ever wonder why the Yale Precision Marching Band is not quite like your “ordinary” college marching band? For starters, how ’bout some of the unit’s song selections from the first couple of home games this season: “Rock You Like A Hurricane” (Scorpions), “Anyway You Want It” (Journey), and “Paradise City” (Guns N’ Roses)……….This week in sports history, October 12, 1967: The great Bob Gibson ends the Red Sox’ “Impossible Dream” season–pitching a complete-game three-hitter in Game 7 of the World Series at Fenway Park. The 7-2 St. Louis victory was Gibson’s THIRD win of the ‘67 Fall Classic–easily earning him the Series MVP Award. Altogether, Gibson hurled 27 innings vs. Boston–giving up just 14 hits and striking out 26; he also homered to help his own cause during the Game 7 clinching victory………I used to think that watching Gale Sayers carry the football was a true thing of beauty–that is, until I recently visited the “Gallery” section of Carmen Electra’s website………While watching the Yale/Lafayette football game last weekend at the Yale Bowl, I noticed that the visiting team had a starting tight end on its roster named Michael Bolton. I was almost hoping that the guy would get tackled by a Yale player, stand up immediately, then break into a few lines of “Back On My Feet Again.”……….Dick Graham, a true walking baseball “encyclopedia” from West Haven, recently shared the following story with the “Silver Sluggers” weekly baseball discussion group–which holds its meetings in Derby. As Graham is almost ALWAYS serious whenever he speaks, this truly caught EVERYONE off guard: “One time when Joe Torre was catching, he got hit in the mask by a backswing and broke his nose. While recuperating, he became a third baseman. When his nose had healed, he began catching again but the pitchers noticed that he was squatting two feet back farther than normal. When people asked Torre WHY he was doing that, he simply stated that he was scared of getting hit again. This is when Torre earned his nickname. WHAT nickname is that–you may ask? Chicken Catcher Torre”……….O.K.–picture the scenario: Tennis great Virginia Wade marries Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana, divorces, marries former MLB player U L Washington–divorces again–then marries N.Y. Mets pitcher John Maine. Geography lovers everywhere would surely delight in her full married name of Virginia Montana Washington Maine……….Lazzari’s “Lopsided Score of the Week”: In a college football game played last weekend in the Midwest, Minnesota-Duluth demolished MSU-Moorhead 76-7; the winning squad held a 41-0 lead after ONE QUARTER and led 55-0 at halftime. Seriously, I don’t think I’ve seen anything THAT ugly since the purple leisure suit one of my friends owned back in the 1970’s……….Answer to trivia question: ERRIC PEGRAM (813 yards) and BAM MORRIS (559)……….Happy birthday wishes go out to former major league pitcher Andy Beene–who blows out 53 candles on October 13th. Don’t get Andy confused with former pitcher Fred Beene; Fred had much more major league success. Andy appeared in just six big league games in 1983 and ‘84 with the Milwaukee Brewers–pitching only 20.2 career innings. And over that span, Beene gave up a total of 24 earned runs, folks–rendering him with a lifetime ERA of 10.45. Hey–he CAN tell his grandchildren that he DID make the “bigs” and strike out 11 batters during his playing days, right? Best wishes, Andy……….Finally, condolences go out to the family of former NFL coach Monte Clark–who died recently in Detroit from a bone marrow malignancy associated with lung and liver disease; he was 72. Clark was the offensive line coach for the famed 1972 Miami Dolphins–a team that went 17-0. He went on to be the head coach of the Detroit Lions from 1978-1984–leading the team to back-to-back playoff appearances in ‘82 and ‘83. Clark also did some college coaching at Stanford and Cal-Berkeley during the 90’s; he became a broadcaster in Michigan when his coaching days came to a close. He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Charlotte, three sons, and eight grandchildren; may Monte Clark rest in peace.

Getting Old Isn’t That Bad

Bob Lazzari — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 16:00:44 +0000

I was just thinking that aging DOES have its benefits. Though the sports world we experience on a daily basis still attracts great interest from people of ALL ages, I DO feel sorry for those sports aficionados born within the past three decades or so. Why? Because if you were born after 1980……..

* you didn’t get to see the great Walter Payton carry the football in his prime–”Sweetness” personified
* you missed out on seeing MLB pitchers like Bob Gibson, Jim Palmer, Tom Seaver and Steve Carlton perform magic WITHOUT pitch counts
* you didn’t get to see Rick Barry and Calvin Murphy shoot free throws
* you know nothing about the intensity of one Dick Butkus
* you missed seeing Dwight Gooden dazzle hitters in his rookie year of 1984–and follow that up with a “year for the ages” in 1985
* you have no recollection of the “No-Name Defense” and the “Purple People Eaters”
* you never got to read a Dick Young sports column
* you never heard Howard Cosell and “Dandy” Don Meredith together on “Monday Night Football”
* you missed out on seeing an NL player like George Foster hit 50 HRs with NO questions asked
* you didn’t see Roberto Duran fight as a lightweight during his prime
* you don’t recall an era when most sports autographs were FREE
* you probably didn’t see Wayne Gretzky play for the Edmonton Oilers
* you weren’t able to see “Pistol” Pete Maravich dribble a basketball, shoot a basketball, or do ANYTHING with a basketball
* you didn’t see Johnny Bench catch a baseball game
* you never saw a football player like George Blanda
* you never got to see WHY Pete Rose became known as “Charlie Hustle”
* you grew up in an era when the “police blotter” was (still is!) a regular feature of the sports page
* you missed seeing the aforementioned “Pistol Pete” score 68 points vs. the Knicks and defensive whiz Walt Frazier back in ‘77–BEFORE there was a three-point line
* you didn’t experience the “Miracle on Ice” in 1980
* you’ve probably paid more for a current Yankees yearbook than yours truly paid for a week’s worth of Yankee Stadium bleacher seats in the early 80’s
* a good part of your following of baseball has been in the “Steroid Era”–giving you a false sense of player accomplishments
* you haven’t seen a perfect football season–i.e. the 1972 Miami Dolphins
* you never saw guys like McEnroe and Borg play tennis in their primes–or play EACH OTHER
* you weren’t able to see a young Steve Busby pitch in the 1970’s–before an injury cut short one of the promising careers of all-time
* you missed out on a time when “Fan Appreciation Nights” had meaning
* you’ve never seen regular three-inning saves
* you didn’t get a chance to see the 1985 Chicago Bears play defense
* you didn’t see George Brett flirt with .400 in 1980
* you grew up in an era where greed was commonplace (still is!), acceptable, and EVERYWHERE
* you didn’t see Vida Blue pitch in 1971
* you didn’t see Mark “The Bird” Fidrych pitch in 1976
* you’ve become used to an era where staying up past 11:30 PM to watch an east coast game is commonplace
* the “Thrilla in Manila” has little meaning to you
* you can’t relate to why people were glued to their sets while watching “Wide World of Sports” during the 70’s
* you have no recollection of the “pine tar incident”
* you didn’t see the “Big Red Machine”
* you couldn’t enjoy nicknames like “Blue Moon”, “Catfish”, “Sparky”, or “Tug”
* you never saw Joe Namath throw a football–bad knees or NOT
* you never saw an old ABA game
* you–perhaps as a young parent–have been faced with the decision of attending a professional sporting event IN LIEU OF going on a family vacation
* you might have to Google the name “Bruce Jenner”
* you don’t recall a coherent Muhammad Ali
* you don’t know who “Wild” Bill Hagy is
* you didn’t see stars such as Julius Erving, George Gervin, George McGinnis, and Nate “Tiny” Archibald play basketball
* you missed out on “The Mad Hungarian’s” antics
* you never witnessed Ray Guy punting a football
* you’ve witnessed “shock sports journalism” to the max–and very few legitimate sports JOURNALISTS
* you weren’t privy to the speed and power of one RB named Earl Campbell
* you can’t relate to bringing $10 to a Yankee game and having the time of your life
* you never saw Pele play soccer
* you’ve attended very few–if ANY–MLB doubleheaders that WEREN’T day/night ones
* the song “We Are Family” has no sports-connection to you
* two-hour baseball games are foreign to you
* you’ve never seen a Bert Blyleven curveball

Yeah–maybe getting older isn’t that bad after all.