The Top 5 Sports Stories

1. Quick Hits

Y.E. Yang outduels Tiger Woods to win the PGA Championship by 3 strokes.

Double ouch. David Wright of the Mets and Dodger pitcher Hiroki Kuroda both suffered concussions Saturday. Wright was beaned and has landed on the disabled list. Kuroda was nailed in the head by a line drive.

How low can you go? Jamaica's Usain Bolt set a new world record in the 100 meters in Berlin. 9.58 seconds.

Hockey great Mark Messier is taking a front office job with the Rangers. Messier breeds success wherever he's been.

After going 0-16 last season, the Detroit Lions won their first exhibition game with a field goal as time expired. Cool.

2. Y.E. Who?

Y.E. Yang did the unthinkable, he took down the great Tiger Woods to win the PGA Championship. Was it the equivalent of the Jets beating the Colts in Super Bowl III? Villanova beating Georgetown in 1985? How about the U.S. hockey team beating the Russians in 1980? In South Korea it certainly was. Slight nitpick. Tiger could have been a tad more gracious to Yang in his news conference. His theme, I played well enough to win, I just didn't putt well enough. Maybe, but I got the feeling he was playing "not to lose" on Saturday, and it cost him.

3. Moneyball

Now that the Yankees have the best record in baseball and have blown away the AL East, the inevitable carping will start over money. The Yankees have by far the most bloated payroll in baseball, so the critics will say "sure, they bought success." Not so fast. What did they exactly buy the last 8 years? Their spending spree for years looked like "cash for clunkers." Suddenly the model works? Maybe, but buyer beware. Of the top 7 payrolls in baseball one does have a losing record. Yup, #2 in salary, #2 in New York, #4 in the NL East. (The Mets.)

4. Big Man on Campus

The Rick Pitino story gets wackier by the minute. So far, if you're scoring at home (or in a restaurant) we've had extortion, abortion and sex on a table. Throw into the mix that the woman claims Pitino paid his equipment manager to marry her to keep the whole thing hush hush. Through it all Louisville "stands by" their man. They used to call college "higher education," can it get any more low brow than at Louisville?

5. Monday Musings

Are we going to have to hear from PETA every time Michael Vick makes a move? He's back, he's acting contrite. Deal. The first snap in his very first pre-season game, Jets rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez completed a 48-yard pass. What next, a Knicks point guard completing passes too? I wonder how book sales are coming along for Rick Pitino's "Lead to Succeed: 10 Traits of Great Leadership in Business and Life?"

Happy Birthday: 4 time tennis Grand Slam champion Jim Courier. 39.

Bonus Birthday: You looking at me? Actor Robert De Niro. 66.

Today in Sports: Michael Phelps wins his record 8th gold medal at the same Olympics. That was so last year. 2008.

Bonus Event: Not a bad career move. Ringo Starr replaces Pete Best as Beatles drummer. 1962.

Follow Len Berman on Twitter: www.twitter.com/lenbermansports

Comments

[RobinSeattle]

Here is the problem with any carping that may ensue over what appears to be a Yankee club headed to the World Series:

Hideki Matsui: knees could go any minute and is basically a DH.
Jorge Posada: aging catcher.
A.J. Burnett: injury factory who has a current WHIP of 1.37, which is uber average.
Chien-ming Wang: is he done or just having a year from hell?
Johnny Damon: 36 years old and can't throw.
Mariano Rivera: 40 years old
Nick Swisher: .242 batting average (.375 OBP, though)
Andy Pettite: 37 years old.
A-Rod: .258 BA, bad hip and they are paying $25 million for a guy with an OPS of less than .900.
Derek Jeter is 35.
Joba Chamberlain: who knows what you will get with him when he takes the hill? He is still inconsistent.

Yeah, they have Texiera and Sabbathia, too, and Mark is having a heck of a year, but this is a team that can also hit the wall at any minute because they are so old and have injury issues.

In other words, the Yankees are taking a series of big risks, which is the nature of capitalism. So the toing and froing about the club's wealth is just stupid. I hate the Yankees myself, but I would say to other teams to build value in your teams like Steinbrenner did and you will be one of the haves, too.

[danwebber]

No kidding - the Bolt story is significant

[oldschoololdsoul]

Naw, Yang is the man. Major championship golf's giant killer of 2009. Tiger may never be the same again and an Asian explosion in golf may insure that he has to struggle to break the Golden Bear's records.

[Winning09]

Usain Bolt is THE story.

The rest is conversation.