Happy Monday everyone, here's my Top 5 for June 29, 2009, from www.LenBermanSports.com.
1. Quick Hits
Poor Met fans. The Yankees sweep the Subway Series 4-2 as Mariano Rivera not only notches his 500th career save, but he gets his first career RBI when Francisco Rodriguez walks him with the bases loaded!
Poor Cub fans. They lose 2 of 3 to the White Sox. Yesterday, Chris Getz of the White Sox stole home. The Cubs are closer to last place than first.
City of Champions? First the Lakers, now the Dodgers and Angels are
both in first place. Are we heading for the first ever Freeway Series?
By the way, Gary Matthews, Jr. of the Angels also stole home yesterday
against Arizona.
The U.S. led Brazil 2-0 at halftime, but lost 3-2 in the Confederations Cup final. A U.S. win would have been one of the biggest soccer shockers of all time.
Wimbledon resumes today. The biggest story so far hasn't been Roger Federer's quest for a record 15th Grand Slam title. It's the new expensive Centre Court roof. Will be ever get used? What an upset, no rain yet at Wimbledon.
2. A Tale of One City
I went to Friday nights Yankees/Mets game at Citi Field. The first time A-Rod came to bat he received a sitting boo. When he homered in the 8th, he got a standing O from the big number of Yankee fans at the game including A-Rod's friend Kate Hudson sitting near the Mets dugout. She was shown repeatedly on the Mets telecast. Didn't get to see the Yankee broadcast. I'm guessing they didn't show her, but if they had, what would they have said about her? Just wonderin'.
3. More Roid Rage
The steroid discussions from last week spill over into this week. One reader pointed out a fact that always gnawed at me. He wondered why the clean baseball players aren't fighting harder to expose the cheats? That way a guy who plays by the rules, who has a breakout season, isn't always under a cloud of suspicion. And lest you think they only cheat in baseball, an Upstate New York horse owner tells me a harness Racing driver once put bear grease on the harness of his racehorse while he was stabled at Monticello Raceway. None of the other horses in the race would go anywhere NEAR his! He won by miles. He was ousted from Monticello and he went on to become a Hall of Famer! So there you go. In sports, crime pays.
4. Sportsmanship
Suddenly LeBron James doesn't look so bad. The NBA superstar didn't bother shaking hands after his team got eliminated by Orlando. At least he didn't get arrested. In Ballston Spa, New York, after a baseball game, a 16-year old kid got punched in the stomach in the handshake line, and he's the one who got arrested. Turns out the opposing coach is a sheriff's deputy. The head of the league's disciplinary committee said, "sportsmanship is definitely lacking." Was he referring to the kids, the coaches or all of the above?
5. If You're Scoring at.....
Over the objections of the Seattle Mariners, a judge has cleared the way for a strip club to open close to their ballpark. Statisticians are scurrying to determine if that sets the record for nearest businesses featuring artificially enhanced performers.