Bough doesn't break, Barry and Roger fall short of Hall

The basic idea is that a process is changed when we are able to see it. This comes into play next year when the secret balloting by members of the Baseball Writers Association of America for the Hall of Fame becomes public. On the next ballot, every voter's choices will be revealed and open to scrutiny. Out of 442 votes and with 332 (75 percent) needed, Clemens got 239 (54.1 percent) and Bonds got 238 (53.8 percent). Each, in his fifth year, is up almost 10 percent. Of 14 new voters we know about, 13 picked both.

Limping to the finish line in 1996, Boston Red Sox pitcher Roger Clemens compiled a 10 win 13 loss record. This was the fourth consecutive year that Clemens did not win more than 11 games. This followed seven years where he had averaged 19 wins per season. It was time to go see the doctor about that Vitamin B12 deficiency.

After seven years with the Pittsburgh Pirates, outfielder Barry Bonds joined the San Francisco Giants at age 29. With the Pirates, he had slugged 25 home runs per season. In the next 11 years with the Giants, Bonds hit 527 homers for an average of 48. In 2004, he received 232 bases on balls. "If they'd've pitched to him, he'd've hit a 100." - New York Yankees slugger, Reggie Jackson. A visit to Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative(BALCO) for: human growth hormone and testosterone cream was all it took.

Bernie Madoff managed to fly under the radar for so long because Madoff was a well-versed and active member of the financial industry. He started his own market maker firm in 1960 and helped launch the Nasdaq stock market. He sat on the board of National Association of Securities Dealers and advised the Securities and Exchange Commission on trading securities. It was easy to believe this 70-year-old industry veteran knew exactly what he was doing.

Madoff used a so-called Ponzi scheme, which lures investors in by guaranteeing unusually high returns. The name originated with Charles Ponzi, who promised 50% returns on investments in only 90 days.

Calia Kane did it for love and money, a former bank teller told a federal judge Monday before he sentenced her to seven years in prison for her role as the inside woman in a pair of Philadelphia-area bank robberies. She advised the robbers on the best ways to enter and exit the bank, and texted from her work station to let them know when the coast was clear. In their second robbery, she cased Wells Fargo branches and helped them pick their target. "I knew it was wrong," she told U.S. District Judge Legrome Davis at her sentencing hearing. "There's no amount of times I can apologize."

The two employees were model citizens before venturing to the dark side. The two ballplayers were Hall of Fame candidates before going to where "the grass is always greener."

The twelve-acre rocky island, one and a half miles from San Francisco, featured the most advanced security of the time. Some of the first metal detectors were used at Alcatraz. Strict rules were enforced against the unfortunate inmates who had to do their stretch. Nearly complete silence was mandated at all times. Bonds and Clemens have five more years on the ballot. Let us allow them the scenic view of the Bay Area.


Paul Murphy

Follow me on Twitter at @_prmurphy

Chargers find out they can't really go home again

The new logo for the Los Angeles Chargers took all of five minutes to design.

The Chargers had sought a new stadium in San Diego for the last decade, constantly looking for a place to move from the antiquated Qualcomm Stadium. The first home of the Chargers was Balboa Stadium, which was built in 1914. The 34,000-seat stadium was torn down in 1979 after being condemned for failure to meet modern earthquake standards.

The Chargers will play at the StubHub Center in Carson for the next two seasons, the home of the MLS’ Galaxy, while the Inglewood stadium is being completed. The stadium holds 27,000. The league average attendance is 69,000.

The first time the Chargers played in Los Angeles was in 1960-61. The team reached the American Football League title game both years, losing to the Houston Oilers 24-16, and 10-3 the next. The future looked bright when the Chargers moved to Balboa Stadium in San Diego in 1962.

The high powered Chargers' offense under Sid Gilman in 1963 led the AFL in scoring with 399 points. They also featured the top defensive unit, finishing first in fewest points allowed. San Diego crushed the Boston Patriots in the championship game, 51-10.

The Chargers are regarded as the top team in the AFL, appearing five times in the title game from 1960-69. Nine players and coaches are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame representing the San Diego Chargers. Five others were inducted as well, but only wore the lightning bolt for a brief period. They are: John Mackey, John Unitas, Fred Dean, Deacon Jones and Larry Little. The perennially powerful Patriots boast only two players in the HOF, John Hannah and Andre Tippett.

Barron Hilton owned the Chargers from its inception in 1960 until he sold the club to Gene Klein in 1966. The majority owner, Klein served as the team's president and head of operations. He established the Chargers' Hall of Fame in 1976, and the first inductee was not a star player, but his favorite. Ten year veteran, Jacque MacKinnon from Colgate University was posthumously inducted.

The last player selected in the 1961 NFL Draft, Jacque MacKinnon was designated Mr. Irrelevant. He was also the second to last selection of the rival AFL, and signed with the Chargers following an incident which happened during his senior year at Colgate University in Hamilton, NY. Jacque was arrested for public drunkenness and being naked in the downtown area while impeding traffic. Some states’ laws reflect the view that public intoxication, especially when it is chronic, is a medical condition or social ill that can be addressed through treatment or other non-punitive measures.

The long shot MacKinnon made the Chargers' roster, and was the AFL's lowest drafted player to be selected as an All-Star. Mr. Irrelevant was now relevant. Klein saw fit to include MacKinnon in the team's Ring of Honor.

Jacque was out of football in 1975 when he was killed. After fleeing the scene of a car accident in San Diego, MacKinnon jumped over a tail fence, not knowing about the construction site on the other side. He fell 30 feet and died of injuries from the fall.

Gene Klein sold the team to its current owner, Alex Spanos in 1984.

Irrelevant - immaterial, not pertinent, not germane, off the subject, unconnected, unrelated, peripheral, extraneous, inapposite, inapplicable. The journey took 55 years. A return to Los Angeles now makes the Chargers completely irrelevant.


Paul Murphy

Follow me on Twitter at @_prmurphy

Queen Elizabeth sure knows her hockey

The Monarchy of Canada is at the very core of both Canada's federal structure and Westminster-style of parliamentary and constitutional democracy. The monarchy is the foundation of the executive (Queen-in-Council), legislature (Queen-in-Parliament), and judiciary (Queen-on-the-Bench) in the federal and each provincial jurisdiction. The Canadian sovereign is the personification of the Canadian state and, as a matter of constitutional law, is Canada. The current Canadian monarch, since 6 February 1952, is Queen Elizabeth II.

Our conversation at our weekly Tuesday meeting was all about the fascinating College Football National Championship Game with Clemson knocking off Alabama, 35-31. Everybody had a thought about the thriller except Bob, our 85 year old Navy veteran. He told me he watched the NHL Network regular season game between the Washington Capitals and Montreal Canadiens, instead. His mother's brother had a son who played on the great Montreal teams of the 1940's and 50's. Although he never had the privilege of meeting his cousin Floyd Curry, he had spent countless hours following his favorite team.

On Oct. 29, 1951 -- with then Princess Elizabeth and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh in attendance -- Curry scored three goals in a 6-1 Habs' victory over the New York Rangers. The Princess, who'd be crowned queen the following year, was in the midst of her first royal tour and left The Forum under the impression "Busher" Curry was the best hockey player in the world.

Floyd Curry was a good role player who had the good fortune to play with the Montreal Canadiens during their golden age -- he earned four Stanley Cup rings with Les Glorieux from 1947 to 1958 -- but the numbers -- 105 goals, 99 assists in 601 games -- don't exactly announce stardom.

Queen Elizabeth paid no attention to Jean Beliveau, Maurice "Rocket" Richard, Henri Richard, Dickie Moore or Guy Lafleur. She didn't return to Canada to watch a hockey game until 2002 when the San Jose Sharks played the Vancouver Canucks. All the Queen could talk about was Floyd " Busher" Curry, and how those silly Montreal Canadiens' fans had thrown their hats on the ice.

Paul Murphy

Follow me on Twitter at @_prmurphy

Fat, drunk and stupid finishes off the season for the New York Giants

The Deltas lived by one rule. "We can do anything we want. We're college students."
"What we need right now," Otter tells his fraternity brothers, "is a stupid, futile gesture on someone's part."

The New York Giants wide receiving core of: Odell Beckam Jr., Sterling Shepard, Victor Cruz, and Roger Lewis spent their off day on Monday in Miami Beach. The four partied at a Miami nightclub and spent time on a boat with Justin Bieber. This was their preparation for the wildcard showdown with the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field.

The Giants took out their frustrations at blowing their ​first ​shot at the Super Bowl​ in five years by trashing the jumbo jet that carried them home — leaving it reeking of booze and forcing a major clean-up at Newark Airport, passengers who boarded the plane afterward told The New York Post on Monday. The Big Blue got trashed by the Packers, 38-13.

Mark Kropf said he was waiting to board United Airlines Flight 934 out of Newark when “the pilot came out and asked for everyone’s patience, and shared where the plane came from and that the plane needed extra help repairing and cleaning the interior.”

“Another 30 minutes passed and the gate agent told us it was the Giants that destroyed the biz class cabin, and we saw service personnel walking countless seat cushions off the plane. Flight 934 was scheduled to depart for London’s Heathrow Airport at 8:30 a.m., but didn’t take off until 11:47 a.m.

Seven years of college down the drain. Movie critic, Roger Ebert gave the movie four stars. Maybe the New York Giants can tell the FAA(Federal Aviation Administration) that it was just a college prank to delay the continuing flight. Season's over.


Paul Murphy

Follow me on Twitter at @_prmurphy

Big Ten makes sure all participants get a trophy

Penn State - choked away 14 point lead to USC, lost 52-49.
Ohio State - crushed by Clemson, 31-0
Michigan - lost to average ACC opponent Florida State, 33-32
Indiana - six win six loss team loses to Utah, 26-24
Maryland - six win six loss team loses to another six win six loss team Boston College, 36-30
Iowa - creamed by Florida, 30-3
Nebraska - bombed by Tennessee, 38-24
Illinois - three wins nine losses. No Bowl appearance.
Michigan State - three wins nine losses. No Bowl appearance.
Purdue - three wins nine losses. No Bowl appearance.
Rutgers - two wins 10 losses. No Bowl appearance.
Northwestern - six win six loss team beats uninspired Pittsburgh, 31-24.
Wisconsin - beats Mid-American conference champ Western Michigan, 24-16. Most famous alumnus of WMU is Sylvester Stallone.

Minnesota - The controversy began earlier this past fall, when several football players and one female student had a pervy sexual encounter the night after the Gophers beat Oregon State. Following the threatened bowl boycott in support of 'gang rape' teammates, Minnesota somehow beat Washington State in a very boring contest, 17-12.

All Big 10 schools meet the maximum allowed 85 scholarships for Men's Varsity Football. With 14 schools split into two seven team divisions, the conference pays for 1,190 players.

So what IS the difference between sprinkles and jimmies? Actually they’re the same thing, it just depends on where you’re from. If you’re a resident of Philadelphia, Boston and many parts of New England, you might ask for jimmies if you want those tiny cylindrical candies on your ice cream. New Yorkers and Midwesterners and a majority of other people just call them sprinkles.

All athletic offices in the Big 10 are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Just come in and and get your free ice cream cone. We don't care if your team lost its bowl game. We just want you to be happy.

This past week ESPN floated an idea of a segregated FBS Division that called for two play-offs. One play off that would feature teams from leagues with television contracts that produce a higher revenue stream and one for leagues with contracts that provide fewer dollars. Northern Illinois athletic director Sean Frazier argued that members of the lower revenue leagues didn’t have a chance to compete for a “National Championship”.

In 2017, there will be the two tier system. The University of Alabama will slaughter some chosen lamb from a substandard conference for one title. The other championship game will feature some mid-major program like Ball State, Kent State or Miami of Ohio against a collection of all stars from the Big Ten. All 14 schools will have at least one player on the team so all BIG TEN teams can say they won a bowl game.

Paul Murphy

Follow me on Twitter at @_prmurphy

Christmas cards are great in any form

One if by Land. Two if by Sea. Three if by Drone. Four if by Email. Nobody will remember how it got here, only that it did.

It all started so innocently. My sister Helen was in Las Vegas for a conference in February of 2012. In the lobby were a few men at a table talking baseball and signing autographs. The two former major leaguers were trying to generate some interest. They asked for questions from the relatively small audience. My sister called me and asked for some baseball trivia. Talking about baseball never goes out of season. The guy at the table closest to my sister asked for her phone. First, a question to me followed by a few jokes, and the two hours flew right by.

I knew the ending, but I had to look up the career for left handed pitcher, Dave Dravecky. 64 wins with 57 losses. Lifetime Earned Run Average - 3.13. Fewer hits than innings pitched. 0.60 postseason ERA. One National League Championship Series shutout. One lifetime home run. Spending eight years in the big leagues(The Show). We shared the same birthday (Valentine's Day). I was mesmerized as we spoke.

Dave Dravecky underwent his first operation Oct. 7, 1988, after a cancerous tumor was diagnosed in the primary throwing muscle of his left arm. Doctors conducted an eight-hour operation to remove a malignant tumor and nearly half the deltoid muscle, and told him he never would pitch again.

Ten months later, on Aug. 10, 1989, Dravecky pitched seven shutout innings for the San Francisco Giants in a 4-3 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.

But five days later, while pitching against the Montreal Expos, his left arm snapped and he collapsed on the mound in agony.

The bone healed and Dravecky was considering another comeback when the arm was broken again, this time during a freak on-field celebration with his teammates when the Giants clinched the 1989 National League pennant with a victory over the Chicago Cubs.

"As soon as the doctor told me the cancer had returned , I knew the score. He was my friend and it wasn't easy on him. I trusted him. I had faith in him. He did what was best for me and my family and I am grateful."

"In as much as there is a certain amount of fear involved in losing my arm, it is a sense of almost relief that I feel," Dravecky said. "The pain and discomfort of that time is now about to end and I look forward to once again doing the things I enjoy."

After recovering from the surgery, Dravecky went on to begin a new career as a motivational speaker. He has written two books about his battles with cancer and his comeback attempt: Comeback, published in 1990 and When You Can't Come Back, coauthored with wife Jan and Ken Gire in 1992.

Those are my stocking stuffers. Merry Christmas to all.

Paul Murphy

Follow me on Twitter at @_prmurphy

J-E-T-S are not even close to rockbottom

Imagine the reception awaiting the head coach of the New York Jets, a four-time champ for a franchise that, until he took over, hadn't won it all since LBJ was in the oval office. Imagine how Belichick would be celebrated in the big city after serving as an invaluable defensive coordinator for Bill Parcells' two title teams with the Giants and then taking the Jets places Parcells could not take them.

Bill poetically penned that he was quitting as “HC of the NYJ. "I resigned because I wasn't comfortable with the situation with the Jets."

On Thanksgiving Day November 22, 2012, QB Mark Sanchez had his infamous Jet moment, running into the backside of offensive lineman Brandon Moore and fumbling the football on national TV.

To add insult to injury, New England Patriots' safety Steve Gregory scooped up the fumble for a touchdown en route to a 49-19 rout over Gang Green.

"I want to kiss you."

The words spoken by Hall of Fame QB Joe Namath on the sidelines on December 20, 2003 to Suzy Kolber were taken from the single hit All the Young Dudes by Mott the Hoople. The song, written by David Bowie, was given to the struggling rockgroup. Bowie gave them the record in May of 1972 because he thought they were great, and didn't want them to breakup. Joe Namath was dealing with the breakup of his struggling marriage. "I couldn't care less about the team strug-gle-ling."

All the young dudes
Carry the news

The stars were aligned on January 12, 1969 when Joe Namath led the New York Jets to a 16-7 guaranteed victory over the Baltimore Colts. “That Super Bowl Game III, which we lost by nine points, was the critical year (for the AFL),” Colts defensive end Bubba Smith famously told Playboy. “The game just seemed odd to me. Everything was out of place. I tried to rationalize that our coach, Don Shula, got out-coached, but that wasn’t the case. I don’t know if any of my teammates were in on the fix.”

The lead guitarist for Mott the Hoople, Mick Ralphs left the group in 1974 to form the band Bad Company. He must be a J-E-T-S fan.

How poetic.

Paul Murphy

Follow me on Twitter at @_prmurphy