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Mike Souchak won 15 tour events in a career that lasted over a decade. He was an accomplished college football player and shot the lowest score ever in PGA history for 72 holes at the 1955 Texas Open. That record stood for over four decades. RIP.
DURHAM, N.C. (AP)—Former PGA Tour professional and Duke Sports Hall of Fame member Mike Souchak has died.
The school said the 81-year-old died Thursday in Belleair, Fla.
Souchak won 15 events on the PGA Tour from 1955-66 and had 11 top-10 finishes in major championships. He finished third at the U.S. Open in 1959 and 1960, and played on the winning U.S. Ryder Cup teams in ‘59 and ‘61.
He set a tour record for four-round low score at the 1955 Texas Open, opening with a 60 and finishing a 257. That record stood until Mark Calcavecchia’s 256 at the 2001 Phoenix Open.
At Duke, Souchak lettered three seasons in football and four in golf, helping the Blue Devils win two Southern Conference golf titles.
Louisville sued Duke for pulling out of a four game football contract after only one game and demanded $450,000 in damages. Duke claimed that, because their team is so bad (13-90 since 1999) any Division I team would meet the contract’s “team of similar stature” clause.
Judge Phillip J. Shepherd of the Franklin County (Ky.) Circuit Court agreed, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal.
“At oral argument, Duke [with a candor perhaps more attributable to good legal strategy than to institutional modesty] persuasively asserted that this is a threshold that could not be any lower,” Shepherd wrote in a summary judgment issued Thursday, according to the paper. “Duke’s argument on this point cannot be reasonably disputed by Louisville.”
You almost hate to win with that kind of argument.
The Blue Devils went 1-11 last season. From AP-
DURHAM, N.C. – Duke fired Ted Roof on Monday, two days after the Blue Devils concluded a 1-11 season with their ninth straight loss.
A news conference was scheduled for Monday afternoon to discuss the program. A person close to the Duke program, speaking on condition of anonymity because an announcement had not been made, said athletic director Joe Alleva would announce Roof’s dismissal.
The coach’s career record dipped to 6-45 after a 20-14 overtime loss to North Carolina, the Blue Devils’ fourth straight to their main rival. Duke has lost at least 10 games in three straight seasons, including a winless 2006.
After snapping a 22-game losing streak with a victory at Northwestern, the Blue Devils lost nine straight to end this season.
Duke has had exactly one coach with a winning record while at the school since 1966. That was Steve Spurrier, who coached the Blue Devils from 1987-89. Coaching Duke Football is a thankless job. You would think someone would have to be a masochist to take a job in Durham.(No I’m not applying.)
It breaks a 13-year-old NCAA record.
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – Duke’s Michael Schachner broke the NCAA tournament record with a 10-under 60 on Friday, and Stanford took a two-stroke lead over Coastal Carolina with one round left.
Schachner, 120th after opening rounds of 79 and 69, matched the NCAA tournament record for lowest score in relation to par, former Stanford star Notah Begay’s 10-under 62 in 1994. Schachner jumped to 14th, four strokes behind the third-round leaders.
Schachner was 11 under after 14 holes, bogeyed No. 15 and closed with three pars. He missed a 15-foot birdie putt on 18 that would have given him a 59.
“I was excited and I really thought I was going to make it,” Schachner said. “I’d been putting really well obviously. I had the line and just gave it a little too much speed. It hit the top edge and went by a little farther than I wanted. I think if I hit it a little softer it goes in. It would have been fun. I’m not complaining.”
The professional US record(let’s not get started on Kim-Il Jong) is 59, first set by Al Geiberger in 1977. David Duval, Chip Beck and I believe one other equaled that score(on one of the mini-tours) but I’m not certain. I’m sure Michael Schachner would like to have a Geiberger like career.
In the past week or so, two men commenting on sporting events got themselves into hot water. Their divergent fates says something about their releative sins as well as about how they’ve handled them. In the more celebrated case (enough to knock the paternity of Anna Nicole Smith’s baby down a few notches) Don Imus referred to Rutgers women’s basketball team in a derogatory fashion. No one defends Imus, though there doesn’t seem to be a concensus what a fitting punishment would be. Baseball Crank though criticizes Rutgers for making the championship team into a bunch of wimps.
Somebody gave these young women the message – or at least failed to disabuse them of the notion – that they should take Imus’ words seriously, take them to heart. This press conference was a show of the coach and the players wallowing in Imus’ words, embracing them, and thus elevating them as if any serious person would think less of them – rather than of Imus – for what Imus said. This story should never have been about the players, because Imus’ words were generic (indeed, that’s precisely why they were offensive). It’s the Culture of Victimology at its most destructive, teaching these young women that they should consider themselves to have been genuinely maligned by an aging boor and to seek out the status and posture of one to whom a deep wrong has been done and who is owed.
To have had the team come out and say, “Nothing a declining two bit hack says can take away our triumph” would have put Imus in his place quite nicely.
On the other hand Billy Packer stood his ground, SarcastiPundit agues, as he should have.
“I said he fagged out on me and it had nothing to do with sexual connotation,” Packer told the Philadelphia Inquirer. I got to know Charlie a number of years ago and have great admiration for his program and intellect. He is a big Dukie, and he has been talking a number of years about coming to the Final Four to be a runner.” Packer explained that he was using the word in the wholly legitimate form of an adjective meaning to exhaust or tire out. I’m certainly no fan of Packer; he’s (for lack of a better term) a college basketball supremacist and generally a blowhard. But I have to give him props here for refusing to be bullied in a situation where he has done nothing wrong. Anybody so ignorant as to be offended by such a thing should spend more time educating himself or herself and less time trying to impose speech codes on others.
And SarcastiPundit remembers a time when an inoffensive word led to a resignation due to mass ignorance.
Crossposted on SoccerDad.
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ABC News is reporting that, thirteen months into one of the most notorious criminal prosecutions in memory, all charges will be dropped against three players from the Duke Lacrosse team.
 The office of North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper will announce that he is dismissing all charges against three Duke Lacrosse players, ABC News has learned from sources close to the case. The three players, Reade Seligmann, David Evans and Collin Finnerty, were facing charges of first degree kidnapping and first degree forcible sexual offense. The charges stem from an off-campus party on the night of March 13, 2006.
In the hours after the party, one of two dancers hired to perform for the players claimed she had been violently raped in a bathroom by members of the lacrosse team. The players had also been indicted for first degree rape, but that charge was dismissed on Dec. 22, 2006.
Special prosecutors from the Attorney General’s office took over the case after Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong recused himself in January, citing charges of unethical conduct filed against him by the North Carolina Bar. Since then, Jim Coman and Mary Winstead have examined the case from scratch, interviewing key witnesses and working through reams of evidence.
The reasons that will be cited for the dismissal are not yet known, though the case has been riddled with criticism and colored by controversy since its early months. Defense attorneys released documents showing the accuser changed key details of her story in the weeks and months after the alleged assault.
Legal analysts and forensic experts have criticized what they call a critically flawed photo identification lineup — a lineup that led to the identification and indictment of Evans, Finnerty, Seligmann. No DNA evidence was found matching any lacrosse players with samples from the rape kit, while DNA from unidentified men was found on the accuser’s body and clothing.
The complete lack of evidence, prosecutorial misconduct, and lack of witness credibility might have has something to do with this. One hopes Nifong and the accusers wind up in prison.
It seems clear from this an a few other high profile cases involving athletes and other celebrities that the penalties for bringing fraudulent criminal charges are far, far too low. Were the penalties commensurate with those the falsely accused party would face, these incidents would drop precipitously.
The beginning of February brings the last gasps of winter’s chills, or so the frozen masses hope. With it comes the realization that March Madness approaches. The groundhog emerges and begins to contemplate what team he thinks will go all the way this season. He too needs to get his brackets in on time. Some years the groundhog hits the snooze and slumbers through the final weeks before the NCAAs. Not this year. You know he was watching last night as the Battle of Tobacco Road was again joined at Cameron Indoor Stadium. A night that had promise early ended in disappointment for the Devils as the Tar Heels battled back from double digit deficits to win 79-73.
Freshman Brandan Wright scored 19 points while Tyler Hansbrough added 16 to lead the fifth-ranked Tar Heels past No. 16 Duke 79-73, earning their second straight win in Cameron Indoor Stadium and handing the Blue Devils their first three-game losing streak in nearly eight years.
Rookie Ty Lawson added 15 points for the Tar Heels (21-3, 7-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), who trailed by 10 points early in the second half before finally going ahead to stay in the final minutes.
Last year, Hansbrough led a youth-laden group into Cameron to close the regular season and spoil All-American J.J. Redick’s final home game in an 83-76 win. And once again, the Tar Heels rallied from a double-digit deficit and came up with the game’s big baskets in the final minutes.
This time, however, the Tar Heels hung around while constantly subbing in an endless stream of fresh bodies while pressuring Duke’s ballhandlers the entire way. By the time the game was entering its final minutes, North Carolina looked fresher and found ways to knock down the critical shots against the fast-starting Blue Devils (18-6, 5-5).
North Carolina didn’t take its first lead until there were about 5 minutes left, but shot 59 percent after halftime and hit 7 of 8 free throws in the final 31 seconds to seal it.
The regular season for both teams wraps up in Chapel Hill in less than four weeks. The Tar Heels record and big wins against Ohio State and Tennessee have made up for a pair of in conference disappointments (at NC State and at Virginia Tech) and an early season loss to Gonzaga. They play four of their last seven games at home, and are poised to contend for a number one seed in the NCAA tournament.
Duke meanwhile is riding a three game losing streak, and has to travel for five of their remaining seven games. Despite the 26 points from Freshman Jon Scheyer, the Devils were unable to hold off the Heels. This is a young Duke team. The sole Senior has logged one minute of playing time this season. How they respond to this adversity will define them and give some indication of how far they can and will go in the tournament. By the time the Devils get to Carolina they could be a broken team, or they could be riding high winners of six straight and looking to avenge last night’s loss.
Neither team faces a ranked opponent until that game. When the rivalry picks up where it left off. Five weeks from today the big dance kicks off with its sixty four entrants. The groundhog is awake and he will be watching.
I attended last night’s Blue Devils’ matchup against Temple at Cameron Indoor. To be honest, it was the least enthusiastic I have ever experienced a Crazies’ crowd. Of course, it should be noted that Duke is still on Winter Break, and the student section was filled largely by an older crowd not familiar with the student fans’ numerous rituals. Regardless, the Devils overcame a dreadful start (going down to the Owls 16-4 about 5 minutes into the first half) to pull out a convincing win against Bill Cosby’s alma mater, 73-55.
The most impressive performance of the night belonged to Duke G/F/C Josh McRoberts. Though criticized extensively earlier in the season, McBob is growing into his role as the Devils’ “play-everywhere, do-everything” potential All-American. Over the last four games, McBob is averaging 16.5 PPG, 10.8 RPG, 4.5 APG, and 4 BPG. He also has 7 steals and just 5 turnovers during the same span. That is a stat-line unlike any other forward in the sport today. Without getting too enthusiastic, Duke’s former 6′10″ monster, Shelden Williams, never put together a four game stretch like that, and Williams was certainly never trusted with the job of bringing up the ball. McRoberts’ passing and ballhandling ability is so phenomenal that he would have PG Greg Paulus’ job if McBob weren’t so essential on the interior. Duke’s schedule will be brutal from here on out (they open ACC play against Virginia Tech on Saturday); McRoberts, who is getting better with every possession, will be a household name by the time March rolls around.
As for the rest of the squad, G Demarcus Nelson had a solid game despite missing some layins early. He set a career-high in rebounds with 11, bringing his season average to 5.6 per game. For a 6′4″ shooting guard, Nelson has an uncanny ability to set himself up in the paint and outmuscle much larger players for the boards. Hopefully, he will stay healthy this season; his stellar on-ball defense is going to be essential against the likes of Georgia Tech’s Javaris Crittenton and UVA’s tough guard combo of J.R. Reynolds and Sean Singletary. G/F Dave McClure was solid as usual. The red-shirt sophomore had 12 boards to go with 6 points and a couple blocks. He looks recovered and confident following his serious knee injury and subsequent surgery. McClure is the prototype of Coach K’s new recruiting style. The coach is no longer looking to sign the top high-school talent that intends to use his program as a bed-and-breakfast walkthrough before jumping to the pros. Players such as McClure, Paulus, Nelson, G Jon Scheyer, and C Brian Zoubek are all four-year players who will grow with the program. Even McRoberts isn’t a lock to leave (though it is, unfortunately, highly probable). Put it all together (the junior Nelson is the oldest contributor on the squad), and this team, with or without McBob, is going to be a force next season. Stay tuned this year and watch them make that leap.
For the last two years at my regular blog, I’ve made predictions for the coming year. I thought I would do that here but concentrating on sports only.
Here we go-
1- The Miami Dolphins have a losing season
2- The Florida Marlins have a winning season
3- Tiger Woods wins at least one major on the way to being Player of the Year again.
4- Ernie Els returns to form.
5- Se Ri Pak completes the women’s Grand Slam by taking the Kraft Nabisco
6- Bobby Bowden retires.
7- Roger Clemens retires but this time for good.
8- Charges are totally dropped in the Duke Lacrosse case.
9- Nick Saban leaves the Miami Dolphins to be the head coach at Alabama.
10- The Miami Heat and Florida Panthers both miss the 06-07 season playoffs.
11- Chicago defeats New England in the Super Bowl.
12- Michelle Wie wins an LPGA tournament.
13- Mike Tyson gets arrested.
14- 2007 is Joe Torre’s last season as manager of the Yankees.
15- Bill Cowher quits coaching the Pittsburgh Steelers
16- The Buffalo Sabres win the Stanley Cup
17- Bill Parcells, Marty Schottenheimer and Joe Gibbs all retire or are fired from their present coaching jobs.
18- Bret Favre retires.
19- The Chicago White Sox win the World Series
20- More than half the above predictions are wrong.
We’ll check back at the end of 2007 and see how I did.
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The Duke rape case is no longer a rape case.
Prosecutors dropped rape charges Friday against three Duke University lacrosse players accused of attacking a stripper at a team party, but the three still face kidnapping and sexual offense charges, a defense attorney said.
Joseph Cheshire and attorneys for the other players have said for months the woman told several different versions of the alleged assault. Cheshire said Friday that the accuser now says she does not know if she was penetrated, which he said led District Attorney Mike Nifong to dismiss the rape charges.
So, these players have been dragged through the mud for months and their entire season was canceled on the word of a woman too stupid to know whether she was penetrated?! Unbelievable.
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