Happy Tuesday everyone, here's my Top 5 for August 18, 2009 from
www.LenBermanSports.com
1. Quick Hits
Upholding its reputation as perhaps the most dysfunctional team in the NFL, Oakland Raiders coach Tom Cable reportedly punched assistant coach Randy Hanson earlier this month, injuring his jaw. Who said the Raiders aren't a hard hitting team?
Be still my heart. FOXSports.com says Brett Favre could still wind up with Minnesota.
The Washington Nationals try to prove they matter. Just before the deadline they sign their top draft pick for a record $15-million. He's pitcher Stephen Strasburg from San Diego St. University.
Just so you know lotsa sports people are in the next Dancing With The Stars. Former Cowboys wide receiver Michael Irvin, mixed martial artist Chuck Liddell, swimmer Natalie Coughlin and snowboarder Louie Vito. Not to mention former Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Kathy Ireland.
2. Weed-Bury
This one's a layup. Stephon Marbury didn't exactly burnish his NBA resume by smoking a joint on camera and boasting about his marijuana use. I'll go out on a limb and say his career is over. And while the cynics will say he's puffing all the way to the bank, I can't help but think of all that talent that went up in smoke, and his epitaph. Addition by subtraction. When he left a team, it got better.
3. Follow the Money
So if you played golf for 4 days and pocketed $810-thousand would you be happy? Not if you're Tiger Woods. That's what he got for finishing 2nd at the PGA Championship. The happiest guy at the tournament had to be the clubhouse attendant. When Phil Mickelson asked him where the bathroom was, Phil tipped the guy a hundred bucks. Btw, for finishing 73rd out of 79 on Sunday, Mickelson took home $13,700 (minus tips.)
4. The Way the Ball Bounces
Quick, name a sport where they change the brand of the ball at each event. Right, tennis. No other sport does it. NBA players went nuts when they tried to change the basketball. Standardization is the key in sports. Golfers, since they play alone, can choose any ball they want. But not tennis. The brand changes at each tournament. Kaching. And yes, the balls are not consistent. Andy Roddick calls it the "height of not using common sense." Tough to argue.
5. Called for Traveling
I love my subscribers. C.M. writes that she loves the new Jet Blue promotion to fly anywhere, anytime for the next month for one low price. She thinks "any number of NBA players can take advantage of that deal to go visit all their kids across the country before the season gets underway." What a cheap shot! I love it.
Happy Birthday: 1960 Olympic decathlon champ, Rafer Johnson. 74.
Bonus Birthday: The Sundance Kid, actor Robert Redford. 73.
Today in Sports: The young star of the Red Sox, Tony Conigliaro is beaned by the Angels Jack Hamilton at Fenway Park. Tony C. would never be the same. 1967.
Bonus Event: Peter Paul and Mary release their first hit, "If I Had Hammer." 1962. And a shoutout to Mary Travers who I met at a charity golf tournament a few years back. Nice lady.