A Grip on Sports: A farewell to a record holder and another major event lost to the pandemic

A GRIP ON SPORTS • One thing most of us do on Monday mornings, I’m sure, is take a quick look at the week ahead. Virtual meetings to avoid, tasks to finish, taxes to mail. All on the agenda. But, what’s that? Look at the weather forecast for the week. Sixty degrees? It’s about time.

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• OK, we’re stalling a bit. There’s not much on the sporting agenda after all. A little news, sure. But it’s sad. Tom Dempsey, the last of the straight-on NFL kickers and the guy who once nailed a field goal from 63-yards away, died Saturday.

Nowadays field goals from longer than 60 yards aren’t all that rare. But when Dempsey lined up for his record attempt in November of 1970, trying one from more than 60 yards seemed foolish.

Especially from a guy who looked more like the era’s offensive linemen than a kicker.

Sure, I remember it. I was young and impressionable. But what I really remember about it was a recollection from one of the opposition.

Alex Karras was a defensive lineman for the Lions. Detroit was having a good year that season, 5-2 entering the game at woeful New Orleans and challenging for the league lead. He was also a celebrity, made famous by George Plimpton in “Paper Lion,” a book and subsequent movie that would propel Karras into a Hollywood career.

Remember Mongo in “Blazing Saddles?” Ya, that was Karras.

Anyhow, Karras was also a writer, of sorts, as well. He wrote this description of Dempsey’s field goal, which lifted the Saints to a 19-17 upset victory, a year later for The Saturday Evening Post. The Lions’ star used exaggeration to make his points, but it’s fun anyway.

“New Orleans had the ball on their own 27-yard line, 27 seconds left to play in the game, fourth down, and called time out. We were waiting for the punting team to come out and the darndest thing happened.

“The only person to come on the field was a stubby looking fellow with an odd type helmet. I haven’t seen a helmet like this since the banana-peel helmet of the Knute Rockne days. I’m not quite sure, and I hate to say this if it isn’t true; but on top of the helmet was a beanie-shaped thing with a propeller on it, and the propeller was going in the opposite direction propellers should go. It was the darnedest thing I’ve ever seen. I asked the referee if this was the new punter. No, he was their field goal kicker.

“He was going to try and kick a 63-yard field goal. That was the funniest thing I’d heard in my life, and about five guys on our team who heard this went into convulsions laughing and had to leave the field as did three of theirs. I flipped with the fellow on the outside to see if I could play there, as I wanted to look over the little halfbacks who look like frogs on kicking teams. I wanted to watch this funny, funny sight a guy trying to kick a 63-yard field goal. It was the darnedest thing I’d ever heard.

“The only other guy who was serious at the time was their center. They can thank the Lord, for he did snap the ball correctly, and it did go into the quarterback’s hands, who placed it down.

“I never will forget the laugh. We laughed for about 62 yards. Then we got real serious about the whole thing. Tom Dempsey kicked a 63-yard field goal and beat us.”

• One other piece of news this morning. The British Open has been canceled. Not postponed. Canceled. There will be no Open in 2020.

It marks just the fourth time the Open hasn’t been played since 1860. It was stopped for World War I in 1915 and didn’t resume again until 1920. It was stopped in 1940 and didn’t resume again until 1946. And now for COVID-19.

The Open also wasn’t played in 1871. But that was because Young Tom Morris had won three consecutive titles and, under the event’s rules, that entitled him to keep the championship belt forever. Yep. Without a trophy, the event was canceled until the organizers could come up with another one. Now that’s funny. By the way, Young Tom won in 1872. His name was engraved on the new trophy, the Claret Jug, in 1873 when it was finally done. Sadly, he didn’t get to keep it.

• With the British Open off the schedule, the Masters quickly announced its new date. The tournament will go forward, if possible, Nov. 12-15 in Augusta. Instead of flowers blooming, we may see trees turning colors. But as long as the golf is played, who really cares?

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Gonzaga: You know what happened three years ago this week, right? Yep, Gonzaga played for the NCAA title in Arizona against North Carolina. Jim Meehan was there and covered the game. But Jim hasn’t finished writing about it. Today he takes you back to that Monday night in Glendale and recreates the Tar Heels’ 71-65 victory. Don’t miss it. … We watched from home that night and wrote this TV Take. I forgot much of it. … The Zags are seemingly always mentioned by players when they decide to transfer these days. Jim has the story of a Portland State transfer who says he’s considering GU. … Gonzaga is among Jon Wilner’s early top 25 for next year. Heck, the Zags are in his top five. … Elsewhere in the WCC, who is the greatest BYU basketball player of all time, Danny Ainge or Jimmer Fredette? I’m thinking most Zag fans would vote for the latter. …

WSU: Around the Pac-12, looking back to past NCAA Tournaments seems to be a big deal right now. Washington’s women made a surprising Final Four run four years ago. … Football last season meant something a bit different for The Oregonian’s John Canzano. … This is a fun exercise the Los Angeles Times is undertaking. Maybe it would translate to Spokane. In a more condensed form, of course.

CCS: The Sasquatch have filled a couple coaching positions, hiring volleyball and women’s basketball coaches. That news leads off our local briefs.

Seahawks: The defensive line is always a point of interest for Hawk fans.

Mariners: Catchers always know the good “workouts” to do when you are stuck at home. Wait, that’s not a euphemism for how to handle a handful of adult beverages? Oh, so Tom Murphy is actually proposing a real workout then.

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• What’s the first thing I’m going to do when the temperature hits 60 degrees? The same thing I do every year. Dig out my box of shorts, put them in my closet and wear them every day until Oct. 1. It’s a tradition in the Grippi household. And it assures we never have any houseguests. In this time of trial, that’s a good thing. Until later …