World of Sports 2020

C.M.U.’s football coach Jim Mc Elwan was named MAC Coach of the Year. 12/08/2019: Jamies Winston of Tampa: 33/45, 456 yards, & 4 TD’s in a 38-35 win over the Colts.

Andy Brown was the last NHL goalie to play without a mask. Detroit Red Wing 50 Goal Scorers (ONLY 6): Sergei Federov 56; Danny Grant 50; John Ogrodnick 55; Ray Sheppard 52;  Mickey Redmond 52-51 & Steve Yzerman 50, 65, 62, 51, & 58.

L.S.U. QB Joe Burrow won the Heisman Trophy, 779 Completion record, & 48 T.D.’s. Jamies Winston, of the Tampa Bucs threw for 914 yards in two games (New N.F.L. record for back to back 450 yards plus, two games in a row) & going 61/87 with 8 T.D.’s. It’s his contract year in 2020, so he signed with New Orleans as a backup.

Passed: Bob Friend-Tigers-89;  Howard “Hopalong” Cassady - Lions, age 85; Mike Roarke  - Tiger catcher-88; Danny Grant (Scored 50 in Detroit), Wings -  73, Nick Polano, Wings Coach, (Got Federov out of Russia )-78; Alex Grammas - Tigers coach with Sparky - 93;  Bobby Dillion - Packers-89; Arnie Brown - Red Wings-77, & Don “Big Ears’ Mossi - Tigers-90. 

Junior Johnson passed at 88. He won 50 NASCAR races & won 132 as an owner. Cam Newton signed with the New England Patriots for $7 ½ Million. Dustin Johnson has won 21 P.G.A. events & one this year. He has now won a Tournament for 13 Straight years. Sierra Spraque (a pint sized cheerleader) was punched in the face by a heavyweight black girl at a cheer competition;  she in turn beat the hell out of her. The N.B.A will put slogans about social justice on the back of their uniforms. I watch sports for sports not politics - this is stupid. Dumber yet, the N.F.L. will have 2 anthems, again stupid.

Patrick Mahomes signed with K.C. Chiefs for $450 million (10 years), this kid is worth it. The N.F.L.’s De Sean Jackson praised Farrakhan & his anti-Semitic remarks. The N.F.L. was not happy. Julian Edelman (a Jew) offered to take him to a Holocaust Museum. The Shaq has a $22 Million Dollar house. In a Charity Golf match, Tiger Woods & Payton Manning beat Phil Mickelson & Tom Brady by one stroke. The match raised $20 million for the Virus. 6.3 million watched on T.V. Brady holed a 130 yard chip shot.

Beautiful wives: Tim Tebow married Leigh Nel-Peters (2017-Miss Universe) this year. Before, Tom Brady had married Gisele Bundchen (Victoria Secret Super Star). Derek Jeter married Hannah Davis (S.I. Super Model). One more WOW: Figure skater: Bradie Tennell (age 22)

Looking back: Goalie Terry Sawchuk went 8-0 in the nets for the Indianapolis Capitals as they won the 1949-50 Calder Cup. During the season he played 61 games with a 3.08 G.A.A. Lefty Wilson was his back-up. Both went on to the Red Wings. Lefty stayed with the Wings for 33 years as a trainer. On January 22, 1956 Lefty had to dress for the Maple Leaf’s goalie who got hurt. He shut out his Red Wings for 13 minutes. Detroit won 4-1. Another time Lefty had to dress for Boston’s Don Simmons & made some great saves in over 52 minutes of hockey & allowing only one goal (In a 2-2 tie). Wilson made Terry Sawchuk’s first ever mask.  Lefty passed away at age 83. The Kings of the NBA fired their announcer of 32 years for saying “All Lives Matter”: .O.M.G. Ridiculous. Passing: Tarvaris Jackson (N.F.L) QB died in a car crash at 36. Kurt Thomas (World Champ Gymnast) died at 64 from a stroke. Reche Caldwell, former N.F.L. player murdered in Tampa on June 7th.

Detroit Tigers drafted #1 in 2020. They took Spencer Torkelson, age 20. In two season’s: Hit .337, 33 Doubles, 54 HRS, 130 R.B.I.’s @ Arizona State. M.L.B. played a 60 game schedule because of COVID-19. Both leagues had a D.H. for the 1st time. M.L.B. put a stencil of B.L.M. on the pitching mound (Again politics in sports is “Bull Shit).

Daniel Bergers  won P.G.A.’s Schwab Challenge (With No Fans), in a playoff over Collin Morikawa. Looking back: The Red Wings had the #1 pick in the 1964 draft. They took Claude Gauthier, a right winger from the St .Jerome Alouettes (19 Games: 15-15-30 points). Claude never played a game in the N.H.L. Ken Dryden went to Montreal at #14. Ken went on & won 6 Stanley Cups & is in the H.O.F. Henri Richard passed at age 84 - he had won a record 11 Stanley Cups. The 1st M.L.B. all pro team was the Cincinnati Red Stockings in 1869. Peyton Manning was offered $ 20 Million to do N.F.L. T.V. All sports we’re canceled in March & April.

SPEED: Gordie Howe’s wrist shot was timed at 114.2 MPH. Zdeno Chara’s slap shot: 108.8 MPH. Bobby Hull’s slap shot: 118.3 MPH. In baseball: Fastest Ball: Bob Feller 107.6 MPH, Aroldis Chapman 105.1 & Nolan Ryan 108 MPH. Gordie Howe’s combined NHL & WHA Stats: 32 years: 975 Goals, 1383 A, & 2084 P.M. Terry Sawchuk in the 1951-52 playoffs won 8 straight: 4 shutouts, allowed only 5 goals, G.A.A. of 0.63 over Montreal & Toronto. Those numbers will never be passed. Fastest goal in N.H.L. history was 5 seconds: Bryan Trottier (Islanders) & Doug Small (Jets). Bill Mosienko scored 3 goals in 21 seconds (3/23/1952). Norm Ullman of the Red Wings scored two Stanley Cup goals in 5 seconds (4-11-1965), also had a hat trick.

2020 Stone Skipping Champion on Mackinac Island was Kurt “Mountain Man” Steiner with 20 skips. “Rock Bottom” won the year before w/ 30 skips. Passing: Al Kaline (Tiger Great) 4/6/2020 at age 85. Tom Dempsey (who kicked a 63 yard field goal against the Lions-saw it on T.V.) died at age 73 from COVID-19 (May-Be). Fred “Curly” Neal (Globetrotter-saw him play in Detroit) passed at age 77. N.H.L. Rookie of the Year in the NHL: Quinn Hughes (age 20): Defenseman with 8 G, 45 A, 53 Points.

LOOKING BACK: Herb Brooks (1980 Olympic Ice Hockey Coach), died in a car crash 8/11/2003, one week before a movie was made about him & his team. Aaron Rogers “God is unfair”. 1st T.V. hockey game: 10/11/1952: Montreal 2 Red Wings 1. Tony Fernandez died on 2/15/2020 from kidney failure. 17 year pro, .288 BA, .978 FA, won 4 straight gold gloves (H.O.F. for sure).

Cleveland Brown Greg Robinson was caught with 157 pounds of weed. (He may get 20 years). He makes $6.4 Million a year (What a dope). Carey Price (Montreal goalie), as a kid was driven to practice 3 times a week by his dad. It was an 8 hour round trip. His mother was a Chief of the Ulkatcho First Nation in B.C. The Piston’s traded away Andre Drummond (8 year Piston), He said “Cleveland sucks worse then the Piston’s.”  He makes $22.12 Million a year.

A Zamboni driver for the Toronto Marlies was forced to play in an NHL game in Toronto. Dave Ayres (age 42), played the 3rd period for the Canes when their 2 goalies went down. He stopped 8 out of 10 shots & beat the Leafs. BEST EVER GOALIE: Terry Sawchuk: won 447 Games, 2.52 G.A., won 54 playoff games, 103 Shutouts, 7 Time All-Star, Won 4 Cups, 4 Vezina Trophy’s, H.O.F. 1971, Won 8 str. Playoff games in (1951) which included 4 shut outs over Toronto & Montreal.

George Perles died (85), M.S.U. Coach. Won 2 Big 10 Titles, Won two Rose Bowls, 50 of his players went to the N.F.L., Defense coach w/Pittsburgh when they won 4 Super Bowls. David Stern, N.B.A. Commissioner died at age 77. Don Larsen (1956 Perfect W.S. Game) passed at age 90. Sam Wyche, Detroit Lion died at age 74. He threw one pass & it missed. Willie Wood - Packer great died at age 83. John Andretti died at age 56 from Cancer. He was in 393 races & won the 2010 Dayton 400. Wayne Gretzky played one game in Olympia on 11/7/1979, the Wings won 5-3.

Jamies Winston had Lasik eye surgery after throwing 30 Interceptions. Actress Irene Castle (Wife of Chicago Black Hawk owner Frederic Mc’Laughlin) designed the “Black Hawk” logo. The design was done after a Sac Indian Chief.  Vinne Johnson, famous Piston has a net worth one billion. Don Shula (14-0…1972 Dolphins) died at age 90.  Phillis George (Former Miss U.S.A) & NFL T.V. lady passed at age 70 from cancer. Jerry Sloan NBA star passed at 78. Patrick Ewing survived COVID-19. Shaq: “Dr J was better than Jordan or Le Bron James”.

Tom Brady donated 750,000 meals to Tampa. The Gronk signed for $10 Million with the Tampa Bucs. In the NFL draft Tampa moved up to #13 & took Tristan Wirfs from Iowa  - he was Big 10 Lineman of the Year. The 1st 3 NFL DRAFT picks all played for Ohio State in 2017. Flame throwing Steve Dalkowski died from COVID-19 at age 80. PRO NUMBERS: 1324 K’s, 1274 walks, 145 wild pitches, & threw the ball at over 105.1 MPH. In the 2020 NFL draft in the 1st two rounds, the SEC had 40 players. MSU QB Brian Lewerke signed with New England.

Saginaw’s Brian Cole II (from Miss. State) was drafted #250 by the Vikings. U.S.A. voted Barry Sanders the “Greatest Football Player of All-Time”. A surfer did an 80 foot face in Nazare on 12/23/2019. 14 Million People watched on T.V. as Alabama beat Michigan 35-16. Michigan was leading at half time 16-14 on a 57 yard field goal. 2020 Big Ten Bowl games: 4-5, not bad.

Tom Brady & his Pats lost to the Titans 20-13 in the payoffs.  Tom was not good 20/37. National College Football Championship: L.S.U. beat Clemson 42-25, ending Clemson’s 29 game win streak. L.S.U. QB Lawrence was 18/37, 234 yards, & no T.D.’s.  After the game the L.S.U. team went to the White House on Air Force One w/Trump.  Boston, New York, & Houston all stole signs in the Playoffs & World Series. Boston & Houston both fired their managers for stealing signs. This has been going on in baseball for the last 70 years. N.F.L. Playoffs: K.C. 35 Titans 24/49ers 37 Green Bay 20-Rogers was a sleep in the 1st half.

SUPER BOWL: One ticket in the 4th row: Cost $8295.00. An Ad: $5.6 Million per minute.  Patrick Mahomes II led K.C. to a 31-20 win over the 49ers. He was 26/42, 286 yards, 2 T.D.’s, 2 I.T.’s. (He was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in round 37 in 2014).  50 years ago K.C. beat the Vikings 23-7. Len Dawson was the M.V.P.  Marvin Miller & Ted Simmonds were voted into the Baseball H.O.F. along with Derek Jeter & Larry Walker. M.S.U.’s Mark Dantonio retired. Dave Keon said Terry Sawchuk is the best goalie who ever lived. Zac White Cloud was raised in the Sioux Valley Dakota Nation. He plays defense for the Vegas Knights. Novak Djokovic won his 8th Australian Open over Dominic Thiem: 6-4, 4-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 in 4 hours.

The New XFL has No - Zero Cheerleaders - Strange. Coach Bobby Knight was a reserve forward for the Ohio State National Champs in ’59 & 60. The team also had Jerry Lucas & John Havilcek. Greenville has a hockey team called the Greenville Swamp Rabbits. Sofia Kenin (age 21) an American won the Women’s Australian Open over Muguruza 4-6, 6-2, 6-2. Juan Soto of the Washington Nationals said “I don’t think I’m better than anybody, but nobody is better than me.” WOW.

The N.B.A. has been taking a knee all over the place, but not Orlando’s Jonathan Isaac “I stand for Jesus”. The next game he blew out his knee. Chris Chelios played in 266 playoff games (A Record). Chris Osgood should be in the Hockey H.O.F. 401 Wins (10th best), 3 Cups, 74 playoff wins (8th best), 15 playoff shutouts, 2.09 GAA in the playoffs, & in 2008 Cup final he had a .930 S.P.  Steve Wojciechowski is 97 years old. He was the rookie teammate of Ted Lindsay in 1944-45. As a 3rd line wing man, he outscored Ted Lindsay with 19 goals & 39 points. The next year he was replaced by Gordie Howe. Steve went on to star in the minors.

Babe Ruth is still the Home Run Champ in my mind. Babe played in in an era (1906 to 1930) (when you hit a Home Run out past the field of play - then it went foul - you had to come back & bat again). That cost Babe 90 Home Runs. That would have given him 804 & he would be up on Barry Bonds 762, Hank Aaron 755 & Babe Ruth 714 (But now 804). YES they will never change the numbers.

Collin Morikawa (23), won the PGA over Dustin Johnson & Paul Casey by 2 shots. He closed them out with an eagle on 16. He will be golf’s next Tiger Woods. The Detroit Red Wings got the 4th pick in the N.H.L. draft. The N.Y. Ranger’s got the 1st pick, even thou the won 20 more games the Wings. THIS FORMAT SUCKS. 8/2/2020: Tyler Alexander (Tiger Pitcher) (age 26), struck out 9 straight batters to set an all-time American League record. Tom Seaver has the all-time record with 10 straight.

The Big 10 decided not to play football, but the S.E.C. & the A.C.C. did - it will save the Big 10 from having Alabama & Clemson from kicking their ass again. & this year Michigan will not lose to Ohio State. Jim Herman (42), was  -21 in winning at the Wyndham. It was his 3rd PGA win.  Tuukka Rask (goalie) left the Boston Bruins in the playoffs to go home. First he said it’s no fun playing without fans & then said there was a family emergency. See Ya.

Kareem Abdul Jabbar’s son stabbed his neighbor 7 times. The Calgary Flames in the playoff’s blew a 3-0 lead & lost 7-3 to Dallas. In the 1966 M.S.U./Notre Dame 10-10 tie game: They had 8 College Football H.O.F.’ERS, 42 we’re drafted into the N.F.L., & 33 played in the N.F.L.    

The N.F.L. opened the season with two overpaid Quarterbacks:  Houston’s DeShaun Watson at $39 Million a year & K.C.’s Patrick Mahomes with $ 50.3 Million a year. In the season opener the Houston Texans cowered in the locker room for the National Anthem - nice one day before 9/11.

Bryce Harper signs his baseballs “Luke 1-37”  “For with God Nothing Shall be Impossible”.   A Kirk Gibson moment in hockey: Steven Stamkos in the third game of the Stanley Cup final scored the second goal of the game (after being off 7 months because of injury) for the Lightning (who went on to win 5-2).  Stammer only played 2:47 seconds & was never seen again.  Detroit Tigers season: 23-35. Willi Castro hit .349. Miguel Cabrera was at .250 with 10 homers. Pitcher Spencer Turnbull was 4-4 w/a 3.97 ERA.

2020 Hockey Awards: Hart Trophy: Leon Draisitl-Oilers, Calder: Cale Makar-Aves, Vezina: Connor Hellebuyck-Jets, Norris: Roman Josi-Nashville, Art Ross: Leon Draisitl-Oliers, Jack Adams: Bruce Cassidy-Bruins, Lindsay: Leon Draisitl-Oilers, Jennings: Rask & Halak-Bruins, Lady Byng: Nathan Mackinnon-Aves.

The Tampa Lightning won the 2020 Stanley Cup. They beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 4 games to 1, the first game went 5 O.T.’s. The year before the Blue Jackets beat Tampa in 4 straight after they had won 62 regular season games.  Boston (With the League’s best season record) fell 4 games to 1. Next up was the N.Y.lsIander’s (with the game’s best coach) who Tampa dispatched 4 games to 2. In the final it was the Dallas Stars, whose head coach was with Tampa as an assistant a few years before; the Bolts again won 4 games to 2 & took the Cup. Victor Hedman was the M.V.P.  (Scoring 10 goals from defense) Nikita Kucherov scored 34 points & was a plus +15. Brayden Point was my M.V.P., scoring huge goals, 14 in all with a total of 33 points & 3 shots every game. The team went back to Tampa & a boat parade, then to Raymond James to celebrate, which they did, nearly drinking themselves silly. 

Bobby Hull’s 1961 Stanley Cup ring sold for $83,810.00. Paul Henderson’s 1972 jersey in the Summit Series sold for S1,275,707.00. Wayne Gretzky’s rookie jersey sold for $221,110.00. I once owned his 2nd year jersey & only paid $500.00 for it (sold for $15,000.00 - bad idea). Mike “Doc” Emrick, the hockey voice of 47 years, retired. The Tampa Bucs beat Green Bay 38 to 10 & had zero penalties (THIS NEVER WILL HAPPEN AGAIN). The L.A. Lakers beat the Miami Heat (106-93) in 6 games for the NBA Title. T.V. had 13 million less fans then last year.

Hemlock High School was down 26-0 & came back to win 48-32. Whitey Ford, H.O.F. Yankee passed at 91. Boston’s Torey Krug left for St. Louis at $ 6 ½ Million a year for 7 years. Iga Swiatek (19 year old from Poland) won the French Open 6-4 6-1 over Sofia Kenin. Tom Brady beat the Chargers 38-31, going 30 for 46, 369 yards, & 5 T.D.’s, not bad for a 43 year old. The Saginaw Old Golds won the 2020 Michigan Cup beating Bay City 13-9. Faced Canton and won 17-11. Jon Smith, Toby Larkin, & Chad Short all had 4 hits. Old Old time hockey: The Saginaw Gears Mel “Mad Man” Hewitt in 1979-80 had 504 P.M. in 70 games. Andy Bezeau in ’95-’96 had 590 P.M. & In 246 IHL games he racked up 1728 minutes in penalties. Andy played with the Detroit Vipers in ’97 to ’99 chalked up 617 P.M. in just 98 games.

Tom Brady from the U of M was drafted by the Pats in the 1995 N.F.L. Draft at # 199. Q.B.’S who went before him: Chad Pennington (played 11 years), Giovanni Carmazzi (Never got in an N.F.L. game), Chris Redman (9 years in the N.F.L.), Tee Martin (4 years in the N.F.L.), Marc Bulger (8 years in the N.F.L.), & Spergon Wynn (16 N.F.L. Games). #199 won 6 Super Bowls.

Ladies golf has a girl named Sherman Santiwiwatthanaphong. For the first time in 33 years Indiana beat Michigan (38-21).  The Kentucky Derby was won by “Authentic” in a time of 2:00.61. Years back Secretariat did it in 1:59.4.

Dustin Johnson shot a -20 (A Record) to win the Masters. Cameron Smith & Im Sung-jae: were 5 back at -15. Short names in the Masters: Im, Pan, Na, & An. Titus Davis, a great C.M.U. football player died of cancer at age 27. Green Bay’s Paul Hornung passed at age 84. Vince Lombardi said he was the best he ever saw play football. First pick in the 2020 NBA Draft: Anthony Edwards, a shooting guard from Georgia. S. Young Kim from South Korea won the Pelican Club Championship in Clearwater, Florida & $225,000.00. She was -14, Kim is rated #2 in the World. There are Asian women for days in the L.P.G.A.  I photographed them in Clearwater (for 5 days) and those girls have talent for days and never stop working - they go right back to the driving range after playing 18 holes).

I met a nice kid, Sierra Brooks (University of Florida) making her 1st pro start, with her Dad as her caddy. She went plus 7 at 287, finished 53rd & won $4442.00.  NHL #1 Pick to the N.Y. Rangers: Alexis Lafreniere ,6’1” 192 pound left wing. The Red Wings picked 4th: Lucas Raymond, left wing from Frolunda, Sweden. He is 18, 5’10’- 183, plays right wing. This kid is super-fast.  

It is time for Jim Harbaugh at Michigan & Lion Coach Matt Patricia to move on.

At the Tampa Buc’s home Monday night T.V. game they introduced an all-black ref crew (Magic Johnson said ”I thought I would never see the day”). Burl Tover was the 1st  ever black official in the NFL -  it happened in 1965. In the Monday Night game Tom Brady threw 2 late interceptions. He looked like his wonderful career has come full circle. This could be Tom’s last year. He will go down as the NFL’s best -ever QB. Tom is a true gentleman. I go way back, I photographed him at the U of M. He has always been gracious.