TGIF everyone, here's my Top 5 for March 4, 2011 from Len Berman at ThatsSports.com.
1. Quick Hits
* NFL owners and players extend their contract to midnight tonight.
* President Obama said he won't get involved in the NFL labor dispute, saying, "I've got a lot of other stuff to do."
* The Miami Heat led Orlando by 24 points last night and blew it. Orlando won 99-96.
* A Florida high school baseball player named Austin Glorius had a glorious day at the plate yesterday. 5 homers and 17 RBIs -- both tied records. And yes, his team won.
2. On the Clock
Major League Baseball needs to take a hard look at what college baseball is doing. They're enforcing the rules. A limit on the time between innings, and more important, they're enforcing the 20-second rule between pitches when nobody is on base. So far this season, according to the Wall Street Journal, college games have been on average 17 minutes shorter. The Major League rule is 12 seconds to pitch, but it's never enforced. I'd love a "pitch clock" in the stadium. Fans can count down to rattle the opposing pitcher. It'll never happen. Too much fun, and it makes too much sense.
3. Yummy
The West Michigan Whitecaps baseball team has asked fans to come up with outrageous food items to serve at the ballpark. They've whittled the list down to 10. Among the finalists, a Bologna Lollipop, A Duck Frog Hog Dog (adding a little duck and frogs legs to your frank) and the Meat Man Parfait (nothing beats some mystery meat slopped together with mashed potatoes in a see-thru container). The voting ends today, so feel free to "weigh-in" even if you have no rooting interest in the Whitecaps.
4. Friday eMailbag
Responding to a Top 5 subscriber who criticized Derek Jeter for building his huge mansion, R.R. writes, "I'm no Jeter fanatic, but building mansions does more for the economy - a lot more - than hiring strippers (not that the two are mutually exclusive)."
M.B. was channeling his inner Dean Martin when he sang about the Knicks beating Miami last Sunday night thanks to a LeBron James shot getting blocked. "When your shot hits the floor like a B-54, that's Amar'e."
As for Iran threatening the boycott the 2012 London Olympics because they think the logo says "Zion," K.Y. writes, "It's a real stretch to say that it spells out 'Zion.' What it does spell out, though, is this: 'We spent a lot of money with a big-name agency to design this logo so we feel we have to use it, even though we can't even figure out what it says.'"
And in regards to the soccer player in Colombia who kicked an owl during the game, J.S. writes, "He can forget about ever getting endorsements from Hooters."
5. Spanning The World
This week's Spanning The World highlight was sent along by subscriber Michael A. on Facebook at "Len Berman's Top 5." The latest in trick shots.
He's a long snapper for Washington State, and he hopes the video gets him drafted. Why not?
Happy Birthday: Boxer Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini. 40.
Bonus Birthday: The Mayor of Sacramento. Former NBA all star guard Kevin Johnson. 45.
Today in Sports: Stan Musial ends his holdout with the Cards. After hitting .312 with 19 homers and 95 RBIs he gets $31,000. 1948.
Bonus Event: A pretty fair quote was uttered today. During his inaugural address, FDR said "we have nothing to fear, but fear itself. 1933.
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