Bottom of the Bird Cage 5/13

It’s the 133rd day of the year.

On May 13, 1914, future heavyweight boxing champion and American icon Joe Louis was born. On this day in 1939 the first commercial FM radio station launched in Bloomfield, CT. It was called W1XPW but eventually and still goes by the call letters WDRC. In 1950 on this day, Stevie Wonder was born.

On May 13, 1958 a trademark for Velcro was registered. On this day in 1961 the actor Gary Cooper died and basketball player-personality Dennis Rodman was born; now there’s a textbook definition of juxaposition!  On May 13, 1994, Johnny Carson made his final appearance on television, as he made a short visit to Late Night with David Letterman that was filming that week in Los Angeles.

And on May 13, 1999 Gene Sarazen passed away in Naples, Florida at the age of 97. Born Eugenio Saraceni, the man who would acquire the nickname The Squire was one of the greatest golfers in the history of the pro game. He’s one of only a handful who won all four major championships in their lifetime and back in 1932, he was named the Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year. This was at the end of the golden era of American sports and Sarazen was one of the most recognizable names in the world.

He made sure of that during the 1935 Masters when on the par-5, No. 15, he hit a four-wood on his second shot that went 235 yards and into the hole for what in golf is called an albatross. Three shots behind at the time, he made them all up on one hole and went on to win a playoff for the championship.

I never saw Gene Sarazen play, but he’s always been one of my favorites for this one statement:

“I don’t care what you say about me, just spell the name right.”

Amen.

From the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram:
Dallas Cowboys legends Troy Aikman and Emmitt Smith disagree on wide receiver Terrell Owens. While Aikman believes the Cowboys’ decision to release Owens in March was best for the franchise, a sort of addition by subtraction, Smith said it was a mistake. Both were in Arlington on Tuesday as special guests at a news conference announcing Super Bowl XLV venues.

“Addition by subtraction?” Smith said. “Put it this way: I don’t know the nuances of the locker room and all those kind of things, but I just know that guy is a player, and there are ways that they could have worked together.

“I don’t know if he was a scapegoat or whatever it was, but I tell you what, he was a talent. He was a talent, and he didn’t get in any trouble, didn’t create any issues. Whenever he had the opportunity to make plays, he pretty much made them. He may have said some things at times that were kind of stupid, but we all do that.

“Bottom line is, I’m not sure [if cutting Owens makes the Cowboys better]. Who do they have who is going to be that explosive? That’s the question. Who do you have that’s going to be that explosive? I don’t see it.”

A guy like T.O. was perfect for the Cowboys because he was just like the owner, Jerry Jones. Nobody knows whether to love or hate the guy, but they always talk about him. I think that’s why Jones put up with Owens as long as he did and I bet over a scotch or two right now he’d tell you he wishes T.O. was still wearing a star on his helmet, especially with his new reality show starting.

From SI.com columnist Austin Muprhy:
Oakland Raiders fans have undergone an interesting evolution since last weekend’s draft, by which I do not mean to imply that they’ve only just begun walking upright. It seemed a majority of the Silver and Black’s most ardent supporters were confused/nauseated/driven to despair by the team’s first- and second-round picks. But when the rest of the world joined them in piling on Al Davis, they didn’t appreciate it. They reacted the way Otter does when he sees Niedermeyer abusing Kent Dorfman at the beginning of Animal House. “Hey,” he objects. “He can’t do that to our pledges!”

Agrees Boon, “Only we can do that to our pledges.”

As a result, Raiders fans have closed ranks around Big Al, like Spartans forming their “phalanx” in the movie 300. “After some reflection — and listening to the national experts bash their beloved Raiders,” observes David White, the San Francisco Chronicle’s Raiders beat guy, “many of you have circled the wagons to defend Al Davis while trusting this will work out for the best.”

Their team having lost 72 of its 96 games since appearing in the ‘03 Super Bowl, Raider Nation can now safely be described as “long-suffering.” Under the face paint and the foil-covered spikes and the metal-studded clothing, they have a pretty good idea of what they saw over the weekend: another subpar draft, courtesy of the guy who’s presided over some of the most disastrous drafts of the past two decades.

Defenders of Davis — who will turn 80 in two months — say he’s crazy like a fox.

MORE

This column is a lead piece to one of those compilations of the best and worst owners in professional sports. Davis is rated as the NFL’s worst owner and I would disagree. I think the folks across the Bay in the DeBartolo-York ownership group have been worse in the last few years. Same for the Brown family with the Bengals and the Ford family with the Lions. All of those owners get mentioned, but finished behind Davis in the rankings. Among baseball owners, Royals lead dog David Glass is rated the third worst. Take it for what it is: something to generate discussion.

From the Associated Press out of San Jose, CA:
An office worker cleaning a fridge full of rotten food created a smell so noxious that it sent seven co-workers to the hospital and made many others ill.

Firefighters had to evacuate the AT&T building in downtown San Jose on Tuesday, after the flagrant fumes prompted someone to call 911. A hazmat team was called in.

What they found was an unplugged refrigerator that had been crammed with moldy food.

Authorities say an enterprising office worker had decided to clean it out, placing the food in a conference room while using two cleaning chemicals to scrub down the mess. The mixture of old lunches and disinfectant caused 28 people to need treatment for vomiting and nausea.

Authorities say the worker who cleaned the fridge didn’t need treatment - she can’t smell because of allergies.

There was a time when I worked in radio where the station had two refrigerators in the breakroom and both were filled with the rotting carcases of somebody’s forgotten lunch or take-out food. Not one but two … that’s how lazy people in radio are when it comes to cleaning up their mess. I wasn’t there when the refrigerators were put in, but I always imagined that when the first one was full, they went off and bought another one, rather than empty the first one.

Can you top the frig in San Jose? Let me know.