Happy Monday everyone, here's my Top 5 for July 20, 2009 from LenBermanSports.com
1. Quick Hits
Stewart Cink wins his first major after beating Tom Watson in a 4-hole playoff at the British Open. Watson, at age 59, had a chance to win in regulation but missed an 8-foot putt on 18.
The Yankees sweep Detroit and close to within one game of Boston.
The Phillies are the hottest team in baseball. 8 straight wins, and a 7 game lead in the NL East.
The bloom is off the rose. David Beckham was booed by his hometown soccer fans. One fan had to be restrained from going after Beckham, who apparently motioned to the fan to "come on."
Don Zimmer came to Yankee Stadium yesterday for Old Timers' Day. Time heals all wounds. I once asked Zim what he would do if George Steinbrenner ever called him, he said: "Hang up!"
2. Oops!
I loved the New York Times piece last week that showed the 4 outfits Tiger Woods would be wearing at the British Open. Nike planned his wardrobe a year in advance. They didn't count on one small item, Tiger
not making the cut. So two of the outfits weren't needed. In our golf game we call what Nike did, poultry inventory. (Counting your chickens....)
3. Let's Go the to Videotape
NASA admits they erased their tape of man landing on the moon 40 years ago today. Actually, it's not that unusual. Remember all the early Johnny Carson shows that were lost? And then there was Super Bowl I. It was televised by both CBS and NBC. And none of those tapes exist either. You can land a man on the moon, but saving video tape?
4. Uncle Walter
We ate dinner, and then watched Walter Cronkite. That was the routine. When I wanted to go into broadcasting my dad thought it was a bad idea. He said "there's only one Walter Cronkite." I once met him
at a Giants game. I was taken with what a regular guy he was. Here was the "most trusted man in America," and he was just a guy, talking about guy stuff. It's true. There was only one Walter Cronkite, and it feels like we've lost a member of our family.
5. Cornering the Market
Great idea. Bet every combination at the dog track and get rich. Why didn't I think of it? They were offering a jackpot of around $180-thousand at the track in Sheffield England. So a couple bet every
combo of 6 dogs in 6 races....and it only cost... around $77-thousand. Bingo, an easy score of around a hundred grand. Except for one tiny glitch. Two others also had the winning combination, so the jackpot
got split 3 ways. The couple won $55-thousand, for a net loss of roughly $22-thousand. Hey they won some, they lost some.
Happy Birthday: Boston Celtic Ray Allen, 34.
Bonus Birthday: Mrs. Tom Brady, Gisele Bundchen, 29.
Today in Sports: First admission charged for a baseball game, The New York All Stars beat the Brooklyn All Stars in a game played on Long Island. Ticket price: 50-cents. 1858.
Bonus Event: Man walks on the moon for the first time. 1969. Conspiracy theorists claim it was all faked. Their top reason: When the astronauts are putting up the American flag it waves. There is no wind on the Moon. Check out NASA's tape.... no wait.