Happy Tuesday everyone, here's my Top 5 for September 7, 2010 from Len Berman at www.ThatsSports.com.
1. Quick Hits
* Maria Sharapova and Mardy Fish exit the U.S. Open.
* #3 Boise State beats #10 Virginia Tech 33-30.
* Charley Hoffman, who? He wins the Deutsche Bank Championship. Tiger Woods finishes 12 shots back but still, somehow, retains his #1 ranking.
* Quarterback Matt Leinart, cut by Arizona, signs with Texas.
* Location, location, location. The Red Sox, who are dead in the water, would be one game out of first in the National League West behind the Padres. San Diego broke its 10 game losing streak yesterday by beating the Dodgers.
2. Lets Make A Deal
I never thought Darrelle Revis of the Jets would miss a regular season game. He and the Jets need each other, so a deal was done. The bigger problem for the Jets and Giants mirrors the Yankees and Mets. Many of the best seats will be empty during games. They're just too pricey with PSL's and all. But how will that look on television? Maybe nobody will notice, not too many "foul balls" are hit into the stands in football. But that's what sports has come too. Maybe 100 years from now stadiums will be comprised of just luxury boxes and a few nose-bleed bleacher seats. The middle class sports fan will be squeezed out.
3. Listen Up
The captain of the U.S. Ryder Cup team, Corey Pavin, is officially announcing his selections today. Here's a little golf tournament held every two years, and fans actually care. Do sports fans get stoked up for tennis' Davis Cup team announcement? Are fans even aware they still compete for the Davis Cup? Credit Jack Nicklaus in part for the Ryder Cup being on the radar. With the U.S. beating England all the time, he suggested changing the format in 1979 to include all of Europe opposing the Americans. Bingo. Now it's a fair fight. I'm not sure if there's anything tennis can do to bring back the luster of the Davis Cup.
4. Scandalous
It was New Year's Eve and Christmas all rolled into one for the British tabloids over the weekend. They reported that their big soccer star, Wayne Rooney, was paying for a prostitute while his wife was pregnant. Turns out soccer players are pretty randy over there. Three other players have obtained injunctions to prevent stories in the media about their private lives. As for Rooney, the prostitute in question is accused of being a "Wannabe WAG." That's British tabloid talk for wanting to be a soccer player's wife and girlfriend. It seems some people wanna be a football hero. Others just wanna bed a football hero.
5. I Went To A Tennis Match And...
...a hockey game broke out. In case you missed it late last week, some tennis fans started acting like, well fans of any other sport. Some profanity, probably some alcohol, and fists flew. The trio has been banned from the U.S. for 3 years. Obviously they're much tougher on fans than players in this sport. Here are a couple of videos of the incident.
Or as Steve H. wrote at Facebook, at "Len Berman's Top 5," "I never realized Jersey Shore was filmed at Arthur Ashe Stadium."
Nice.
Happy Birthday: Hockey Hall of Fame player for the Montreal Canadiens in the '60s and '70s, Jacques Lemaire. 65.
Bonus Birthday: Marge Simpson, or at least her voice. Julie Kavner. 60.
Today in Sports: Bobby Riggs wins his 2nd U.S. Championship. Yes, that Bobby Riggs who lost to Billie Jean King 32 years later. 1941.
Bonus Event: I give it 13 weeks. A new cable channel debuted featuring 24 hours of sports. They called it ESPN. 1979.
Today's the release date for my brand new kids book, The 25 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time. Once again, the Top 5 is running a contest. Send us the email addresses of 3 new Top 5 subscribers and you'll be entered in a lottery to receive autographed copies. Send at least 5 new subscribers and be eligible to win autographed copies of both the new book and my New York Times bestseller, The Greatest Moments in Sports. Just click reply to this email to enter.