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The Daily Dose/November 24, 2007
By Gaylon Kent
The Writer's Shack
   
Notes from around the human experience, including holiday cheer from Lebanon, an NBA record that may never be broken and a case that may never be solved in On This Date, plus, it's a Rachel Ray weekend at The Column Four Foto!
GOOD THING LEBANON IS IN A HISTORICALLY TRANQUIL REGION: Lebanon is near complete chaos as its presidency has been left vacant. Former President Emile Lahoud left office late Friday. This wasn't a case of Lahoud throwing his hands up and saying "screw it", though. He left office because his term had expired and those rascals in parliament had yet to name a successor.
What Lebanon Really Needs Is A Good Dictator, Like Pakistan Has: No one's expecting one anytime soon, either since the two main factions in parliament, the supporters of Prime Minister Fuad Saniora and those moderate, peace loving Muslims from Hezbollah cannot even form a quorum, much less elect a successor, as Hezbollah and other opposition groups have been boycotting sessions of parliament, preventing a president from being elected
Incoming!: Lahoud tried to soothe matters in his final statement, reassuringly stating that a "state of emergency exists" in Lebanon and instructing the army to "preserve security" in the country.
ON THIS DATE: In 1960, Wilt Chamberlain established an NBA record by grabbing 55 rebounds in a game.
Stirring The Pot: You know, it's fun to talk about records that will never be broken. For a long time it was thought that Lou Gehrig's record of 2,130 consecutive major league baseball games played would never be broken, which was funny because not only was it broken, it was obliterated by Cal Ripken, Jr., who played in 2,632.
Official Policy: The official Writer's Shack position is that if someone did it once, someone can do it twice. Now, there are some exceptions to this, particularly in baseball, because the game is played differently today than it was then. For example, all three records for Most Games Won In A Season by a pitcher, Hoss Radbourn's all-time National League record of 60, Jack Chesbro's American League record of 41 and Christy Matthewson's modern NL record of 37 are probably safe, simply because starting pitchers today do not throw as many innings or complete games as they used to.
Cy Young's all-time loss record of 313 is safe, too, simply because no one will be kept around that long to lose that many. His all-time win record of 511 is probably safe, but we are not ready to say it's completely safe. 25 wins for 20 years, plus eleven odd wins picked up here and there, will do it, and pitchers are pitching well into their 40's now and 30 or 40 years from it is entirely possible Cy Young could be number two on the career wins list. It's not likely, but it is not completely out of the question.
In basketball the record that comes immediately to mind as being unbreakable is Chamberlin's 100 points in a game. But, here to, I think this record can be broken. I'd feel better about the chances if the second-highest point total was in the 90's instead of Kobe Bryant's 81, and it would have to be someone who can make his free throws, which is asking a lot in today's NBA, but still, I think 100 points in a game is doable.
Write This Down: But I do think 55 rebounds in a game just might stand forever. It's an awful lot of rebounds, particularly in an era that is not all that conducive to rebounding. Sure, there are rebounds to be had, because today's NBA players still brick shots left and right, especially with the tempting three-point line right there, but individuals simply are not pulling down rebounds like they used to.
Consider This: There have been 105 times in NBA history when someone has gotten at least 35 rebounds in a game. Of those times only four have come since 1970. Four! Tom Boerwinkle in 1970, Elvin Hayes in 1971, Moses Malone in 1979, and the last man to do it, Charles Oakley in 1988, and none of them got more than 37 in a game. This means it's been almost 20 years since anyone has even gotten two-thirds of Wilt's record. Even Dennis Rodman, who, when he felt like it, could go get the basketball as well as anyone of our generation, could only muster a single game best of 34.
55 rebounds in a game is a lot of rebounds. It's a rebound a minute, plus two extra in the first three quarters and one extra in the fourth. To make Chamberlain's feat even more astounding, he did it against the man whose record he broke, Bill Russell of the Boston Celtics, who, the previous February had broken his own record of 49 by grabbing 51 rebounds against the Syracuse Nationals.
Okay, Here's Another One: Were pretty sure Walt Bellamy's record of 88 games played (for two teams) in 1968-69 is safe, too.
Cold Case File: On this date in 1971, a man identifying himself as Dan Cooper, and known to history as D.B. Cooper, parachuted over Washington state from the Northwest Orient flight he had hijacked with $200,000. Cooper is never found. Cooper hijacked the plane in Portland, Oregon, where he had handed a note to a stewardess advising he had a bomb and was hijacking the plane, but the stewardess thought he was giving her his phone number and didn't immediately read it. After making his point, Cooper allowed the plane to land in Seattle once his demands had been met, and they took off from Seattle, with Cooper having released all passengers except four crew members. It's thought Cooper exited the plane about 8:15 or so, but visibility was so poor that Air Force planes tracking the plane never saw Cooper. The plane would eventually land in Reno.
Just The Facts, Ma'am: Over the years authorities have found only three clues of substance: in 1978 authorities found a placard near Cooper's projected drop zone outlining how to lower the aft stairs of a 727 jet, which was the type of jet Cooper hijacked. In 1980 about $5,800 in decaying $20 bills from the hijacking were found on the banks of the Columbia River, the only part of the ransom money ever found. And in October of this year it was announced that partial DNA match was made from a tie Cooper left on the plane. Earlier this month authorities, trying to drum up interest in the case, displayed some items from the case for the first time, including Cooper's airline ticket and a parachute he left on the plane.
Cooper was either psycho, or he had some guts. He was wearing a business suit and a raincoat and had two parachutes and $200,000 strapped to his body. As he stood on the edge of the aft stairs he was 10,000 feet above the ground in temperatures that were probably below zero.
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