I Guess

I guess Barbara Walters never interviewed Pelé. I guess she really would do anything to get an interview.

In 2022, from the world of sports, we lost baseball legends Eddie Basinski, Tommy Davis, Joe Horlen, Vin Scully, Lee Thomas, Maury Wills, Bruce Sutter, Gaylord Perry, Curt Simmons, Tom Browning and Denny Doyle; and former Yankees Bill Short, Gerald Williams, Ralph Terry, John Ellis, Gordie Windhorn, Bill Burbach, Héctor López, Jack Reed, and the aforementioned Gaylord Perry.

We lost pro football legends Erich Barnes, Marlin Briscoe, Ross Browner, Ken Burrough, Dave Butz, Gino Cappelletti, Len Dawson, Johnny Grier, Ray Guy, John Hadl, Franco Harris, Dave Herman, Lionel James, Charles Johnson, Gary Knafelc, Daryle Lamonica, Don Maynard, Hugh McElhenny, Gary Moeller, Brig Owens, Don Perkins, Marvin Powell, Dan Reeves, Tony Siragusa, Jim Sweeney, Bob Talamini, Charley Taylor, Charley Trippi, Jerry Vainisi, Clarence "Pooh Bear" Williams and Rayfield Wright.

We lost basketball legends Bill Russell, Joe B. Hall, Lusia Harris, Bill Fitch, Bill Lienhard, Jackie Robinson (not that one: This was the last surviving player from the 1948 U.S. Olympic Team), Tom Young (who coached Rutgers to its only Final Four season in 1976), Elnardo Webster, Gene Shue, John Drew, Bob Lanier, Lennie Rosenbluth, Pete Carril, Tiffany Jackson, Luke Jackson, Paul Silas, former team owner and Kentucky Governor John Y. Brown Jr., and broadcaster Fred Hickman.

We lost hockey legends Mike Bossy and Guy Lafleur. And we lost soccer legends Paco Gento, Wim Jansen, Uwe Seeler, Siniša Mihajlović, and, of course, Pelé. 

From show business, we lost actors Sidney Poitier, Monica Vitti, William Hurt, Ray Liotta, James Caan, Louise Fletcher, Angela Lansbury, Robbie Coltrane; directors Peter Bogdanovich, Ivan Reitman, Wolfgang Petersen and Jean-Luc Godard; singers Ronnie Spector of The Ronettes, Meat Loaf, Gary Brooker of Procol Harum, Judith Durham of The Seekers, Olivia Newton-John, Loretta Lynn, Jerry Lee Lewis, Irene Cara, Christine McVie of Fleetwood Mac; rapper Coolio; composer Vangelis; fashion designer Vivienne Westwood and fashion journalist André Leon Talley.

From statecraft, we lost Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Northern Irish peacemaker David Trimble, former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, Queen Elizabeth II of Britain, former Chinese Premier Jiang Zemin, and former Pope Benedect XVI.

And from other walks of life, we lost paleontologist Richard Leakey, sculptor Claes Oldenburg, astronaut James McDivitt, and, as said, journalist Barbara Walters.

At any rate, in the words of the immortal Colonel Sherman T. Potter: "Here's to the New Year: May she be a damn sight better than the old one, and may we all be home before she's over."

*

Days until the next Arsenal match: 0, as it's about to kick off, a Premier League match, away to Brighton & Hove Albion. The Arsenal remain top of the League, after resuming League play after the World Cup.

Days until the New Jersey Devils again play a local rival: 7, a week from today, at 1:00 PM, home to the New York Rangers.

Days until the next North London Derby: 15, on Sunday, January 15, 2023, at 11:30 AM New York time, at the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. As expected, this game was rescheduled, from the previous day, to fit the whims of the TV networks. 

Days until the next game of the U.S. National Soccer Team: 25, on January 25, at 10:00 PM New York time, an international friendly, home to Serbia, at Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles.

Days until the next New York Red Bulls game: 56, on Saturday, February 25, away to Orlando City. Under 2 months.

Days until the Yankees' Opening Day: 89, on Thursday, March 30, home to the San Francisco Giants. This will be the 1st Yankee game to be both an Opening Day and an Interleague game. Under 3 months.

Days until the Red Bulls again play a nearby rival: 126, on Saturday, May 6, home to the Philadelphia Union.

Days until the Yankees' next series against the Boston Red Sox begins: 160, on Friday, June 9, 2023, at Yankee Stadium II. Under 7 months.

Days until the next Women's World Cup opens: 191, on Friday, July 10, 2023, jointly held in the neighboring nations of Australia and New Zealand. A little over 6 months.

Days until the next East Brunswick High School football game: Unknown, since we won't know the 2023 schedule for months. It could be as soon as Friday, September 1, which would be 244 days. A shade over 8 months.

Days until the next East Brunswick-Old Bridge game: Also unknown. It could be the season opener. At least, after this year's game was at the purple shit pit on Route 9, next year's game will be at home.

Days until the next Rutgers University football game: 245, on Saturday, September 2, home to Northwestern. A little over 8 months.

Days until the next Rutgers-Penn State football game after this one: 322, on Saturday, November 18, 2023, at a time to be determined, at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania. Under 11 months.

Days until the next Summer Olympic Games: 573, on Friday, July 26, 2024, in Paris, France. A little over a year and a half, or a little under 19 months.

Days until the next Presidential election: 675, on Tuesday, November 5, 2024. Under 2 years, or a little over 22 months.

Days until the next elections for Governor of New Jersey and Mayor of New York City: 1,039, on Tuesday, November 4, 2025. Under 3 years.

Days until the next Winter Olympics open in Milan, Italy: 1,113, on Friday, February 6, 2026. A little over 3 years.

Days until the next World Cup opens: 1,255, on Monday, June 8, 2026. Under 3 1/2 years. 

Charley Trippi, 1921-2022

We lost a legend yesterday, and most of us are too young to have ever seen him play.

Charles Louis Trippi was born on December 14, 1921 in Pittston, in Northeastern Pennsylvania. You've heard of a "five-tool player" in baseball? Charley Trippi was a five-tool player in football: He could run, he could throw, he could catch, he could punt, and he could play defense.

Northeastern Pennsylvania is coal-mining country. Charley didn't want to be a coal miner. Fortunately, he had the talent to star in football at Pittston High School. He got a scholarship to the University of Georgia, and in 1942, as a sophomore, he played alongside Frank Sinkwich, who won the Heisman Trophy and led them to the National Championship. This included a 75-0 win over arch-rival Florida, in which Trippi contributed to 4 touchdowns: He ran for 2, threw for 1, and returned an interception for 1.

After missing the 1944 season and half of 1945 serving in the U.S. Army Air Force, he returned to Georgia, and helped them to an undefeated season in 1946. But they didn't win the National Championship, because that was the year that Army and Notre Dame played "The Game of the Century." And he didn't follow Sinkwich as a Heisman winner, because it was given to Glenn Davis of Army.

Trippi also played baseball, starring as a shortstop and outfielder at Georgia. In 1947, he played for the Atlanta Crackers of the Southern Association. But while there were a few men in the 1st half of the 20th Century to play in both Major League Baseball and the National Football League, he would not be one of them. In 1948 and 1949, he served as Georgia's head baseball coach.

Both the NFL and the All-America Football Conference wanted him. The Chicago Cardinals signed him on January 16, 1947, and team owner Charles Bidwill offered him a 4-year contract -- and then died on April 19, of pneumonia, only 51 years old.

Bidwill's timing was terrible, but Trippi's was perfect: Bidwill had assembled what became known as "The Dream Backfield": Quarterback Paul Christman of Missouri, halfbacks Trippi and Marshall "Biggie" Goldberg of the University of Pittsburgh, and fullback Pat Harder of Wisconsin. All 4 ended up in the College Football Hall of Fame.

There was no NFL Rookie of the Year award in 1947, but Trippi surely would have won it: 401 yards rushing, 23 receptions for 240 yards, a 43.4-yard punting average, 181 punt return yards, 321 kickoff return yards, and a 59-yard interception return for a touchdown.

On December 28, 1947, the Cardinals, Champions of the NFL's Western Division, met the Eastern Division Champions, the Philadelphia Eagles. The field at Comiskey Park in Chicago was frozen, so Trippi, remembering the 1934 title game, the "Sneaker Game" won the by New York Giants, wore sneakers (which would still be legal for a few years), and scored 2 touchdowns in a 28-21 Cardinal victory.

The Cardinals returned to the NFL Championship Game in 1948, but 15 inches of snow fell on Philadelphia, and no shoes were going to help the Cardinals that day. The Eagles got their revenge, 7-0. The Cardinals, who had also won the NFL Championship in a single-division league in 1925, have only been to an NFL Championship Game once since, losing Super Bowl XLIII in 2009.

Trippi led the NFL in all-purpose yards in 1948 and 1949, and made the Pro Bowl in 1952 and 1953. But his career came to an end in the 1955 preseason, when a tackle by John Henry Johnson of the San Francisco 49ers gave him a concussion, a broken nose, and a broken eye socket. It was a clean play, but it could have killed him.

He finished his career with 3,506 rushing yards, 2,547 passing yards, and 1,321 receiving yards, for a total of 6,053 offensive yards, the most of any player in NFL history to that point. Throw in his 895 yards returning punts and kickoffs, and his 7,148 all-purpose yards then ranked 4th all-time. He remains the only player to have at least 1,000 career yards rushing, passing and receiving.

He later served as an assistant coach with the Cardinals from 1957 to 1965, including their 1960 move to St. Louis, although not also their 1988 move to Arizona. He then became a successful real estate agent. He and his 1st wife, Virginia, had 3 children. 

Georgia retired his Number 62. He kept that number with the Cardinals until switching to 2 in 1952. The team has never retired either number. However, they did induct him into their Ring of Honor. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame, the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame, the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame, and the NFL 1940s All-Decade Team, even though he only played 3 seasons in that decade. Pittston Area High School, the successor to the high school he attended, named its football stadium after him.

On December 14, 2021, at his home in Athens, Georgia, with his family, including his 2nd wife, Peggy, and current Georgia football coach Kirby Smart as guests, Charley Trippi celebrated his 100th Birthday. He followedClarence "Ace" Parker (1912-2013), quarterback for the 1930s and '40s football team named the Brooklyn Dodgers, as the 2nd member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame to reach the age of 100.

He died yesterday, October 19, 2022, 56 days short of his 101st birthday, and 70 days short of the 75th Anniversary of the Cardinals' title. He was the last surviving member of that team, and the last from the 1940s All-Decade Team.

With his death, he has been succeeded as the oldest living former NFL player, and the earliest surviving member of an NFL Championship team, by William "Dub" Jones, a halfback with the Cleveland Browns' titlists of 1950, '54 and '55. At 97, Jones is also the last surviving player from the All-America Football Conference (1946-49). He is also the father of former Baltimore Colts All-Pro quarterback Bert Jones.

Arnie Ferrin, already the earliest surviving NCAA basketball champion (1944 University of Utah) and the earliest surviving NBA Champion (1949 Minneapolis Lakers), now becomes the earliest surviving player from a World Championship team in the "Big Four" North American sports. The earliest living Number 1 NFL Draft pick is Terry Baker, now 81, the 1962 Heisman Trophy winner from Oregon State, chosen 1st overall in 1963, albeit with a pro career that didn't work out. And Bud Grant, the 95-year-old former Minnesota Vikings head coach, is now the oldest living member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Happy 100th Birthday, Charley Trippi!

December 14, 1921, 100 years ago: Charles Louis Trippi is born in Pittston, in Northeastern Pennsylvania. You've heard of a "five-tool player" in baseball? Charley Trippi was a five-tool player in football: He could run, he could throw, he could catch, he could punt, and he could play defense.

Northeastern Pennsylvania is coal-mining country. Charley didn't want to be a coal miner. Fortunately, he had the talent to star in football at Pittston High School. He got a scholarship to the University of Georgia, and in 1942, as a sophomore, he played alongside Frank Sinkwich, who won the Heisman Trophy and led them to the National Championship. This included a 75-0 win over arch-rival Florida, in which Trippi contributed to 4 touchdowns: He ran for 2, threw for 1, and returned an interception for 1.

After missing the 1944 season and half of 1945 serving in the U.S. Army Air Force, he returned to Georgia, and helped them to an undefeated season in 1946. But they didn't win the National Championship, because that was the year that Army and Notre Dame played "The Game of the Century." And he didn't follow Sinkwich as a Heisman winner, because it was given to Glenn Davis of Army.

Trippi also played baseball, starring as a shortstop and outfielder at Georgia. In 1947, he played for the Atlanta Crackers of the Southern Association. But while there were a few men in the 1st half of the 20th Century to play in both Major League Baseball and the National Football League, he would not be one of them. In 1948 and 1949, he served as Georgia's head baseball coach.

Both the NFL and the All-America Football Conference wanted him. The Chicago Cardinals signed him on January 16, 1947, and team owner Charles Bidwill offered him a 4-year contract -- and then died on April 19, of pneumonia, only 51 years old.

Bidwill's timing was terrible, but Trippi's was perfect: Bidwill had assembled what became known as "The Dream Backfield": Quarterback Paul Christman of Missouri, halfbacks Trippi and Marshall "Biggie" Goldberg of the University of Pittsburgh, and fullback Pat Harder of Wisconsin. All 4 ended up in the College Football Hall of Fame.

There was no NFL Rookie of the Year award in 1947, but Trippi surely would have won it: 401 yards rushing, 23 receptions for 240 yards, a 43.4-yard punting average, 181 punt return yards, 321 kickoff return yards, and a 59-yard interception return for a touchdown.

On December 28, 1947, the Cardinals, Champions of the NFL's Western Division, met the Eastern Division Champions, the Philadelphia Eagles. The field at Comiskey Park in Chicago was frozen, so Trippi, remembering the 1934 title game, the "Sneaker Game" won the by New York Giants, wore sneakers (which would still be legal for a few years), and scored 2 touchdowns in a 28-21 Cardinal victory.

The Cardinals returned to the NFL Championship Game in 1948, but 15 inches of snow fell on Philadelphia, and no shoes were going to help the Cardinals that day. The Eagles got their revenge, 7-0. The Cardinals, who had also won the NFL Championship in a single-division league in 1925, have only been to an NFL Championship Game once since, losing Super Bowl XLIII in 2009.

Trippi led the NFL in all-purpose yards in 1948 and 1949, and made the Pro Bowl in 1952 and 1953. But his career came to an end in the 1955 preseason, when a tackle by John Henry Johnson of the San Francisco 49ers gave him a concussion, a broken nose, and a broken eye socket. It was a clean play, but it could have killed him. He finished his career with 3,506 rushing yards, 2,547 passing yards, and 1,321 receiving yards, for a total of 6,053 offensive yards, the most of any player in NFL history to that point. Throw in his 895 yards returning punts and kickoffs, and his 7,148 all-purpose yards then ranked 4th all-time. He remains the only player to have at least 1,000 career yards rushing, passing and receiving.

He later served as an assistant coach with the Cardinals from 1957 to 1965, including their 1960 move to St. Louis, although not also their 1988 move to Arizona. He then became a successful real estate agent. He and his 1st wife, Virginia, had 3 children. 

Georgia retired his Number 62. He kept that number with the Cardinals until switching to 2 in 1952. The team has never retired either number. However, they did induct him into their Ring of Honor. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame, the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame, the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame, and the NFL 1940s All-Decade Team, even though he only played 3 seasons in that decade. Pittston Area High School, the successor to the high school he attended, named its football stadium after him.

Today, December 14, 2021, at his home in Athens, Georgia, with his family, including his 2nd wife, Peggy, and current Georgia football coach Kirby Smart as guests, Charley Trippi celebrated his 100th Birthday. He follows Clarence "Ace" Parker (1912-2013), quarterback for the 1930s and '40s football team named the Brooklyn Dodgers, as the 2nd member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame to reach the age of 100.

He is the earliest surviving player from a World Championship team in the "Big Four" North American sports, the last surviving member of the last Cardinals team to win the NFL Championship, the last surviving member of the 1940s All-Decade Team, and the oldest living Number 1 NFL Draft pick.