Happy Wednesday everyone, here's my Top 5 for June 1, 2011 from Len Berman at www.ThatsSports.com.
1. Quick Hits
- Miami beat Dallas 92-84 in game one of the NBA Finals. Dallas star Dirk Nowitzki suffered a torn tendon on the middle finger of his non-shooting hand.
- The Stanley Cup finals begin tonight when Boston visits Vancouver.
- The NHL Atlanta Thrashers have been sold. The deal will move them to Winnipeg.
- Undefeated in 2011, Novak Djokovic, will face Roger Federer in the French Open semis.
- Former Giants defensive end, Hall of Famer Andy Robustelli, has died at the age of 85.
2. Moneyball
You've got to love modern day reporting. David Einhorn's deal to buy a portion of the Mets isn't done, yet all the details are out there. Yup, the reporters have it nailed. The same reporters who had all sorts of names buying a piece of the Mets, but not one of them had mentioned David Einhorn. Anyway, even though my co-major in college was economics, I don't have the foggiest what's going on with this sale. According to the "reporters," Einhorn could get all his money back down the road and still own a piece of the team. Talk about voodoo economics. I'm guessing Mets fans aren't giving up the back pages, to gobble up all the financial data in the Wall Street Journal. Mets fans only care about one thing. Winning. Hopefully, whatever the deal turns out to be, Einhorn will help.
3. Medical Update
A Top 5 subscriber, Dr. Bruce S. has this to pass along about Gary Carter's malignant brain tumor.
"I am extremely familiar, unfortunately, with malignant brain tumors. Gary was treated at Duke Medical Center by two of the greatest doctors in the world for this disease. (Same two doctors who just treated Ted Kennedy, and a few years ago Robert Tisch.) There are some remarkable results and patients have been known to live for years with this type of treatment. Let's not write Gary Carter off yet. The slogan for the hospital is, at Duke there is hope. Let's keep our fingers crossed and hope that Gary responds to the treatment."
Thanks Doc. We needed that!
4. Quote of the Day
It comes from Michigan political science prof Andrei Markovits. He was commenting to the New York Times about the FIFA soccer bribery scandal. You know the drill, these soccer poobahs vote on which country gets the World Cup, and cash mysteriously winds up their pockets. Markovits says, "Even if these guys were child molesters and mass murderers, people aren't going to stop watching soccer." Ain't that the truth in all sports?
5. Boo Yay
I guess it's love hate with Chone Figgins, the Seattle Mariners third baseman. Mariners fans would like him to do well, but every time he fails, it's time to celebrate. At Norm's Eatery & Ale House in Seattle, the price of a pint of draft beer is based on Figgins' batting average. As he continues to struggle, the cost of a cold wet one continues to plummet. It's now $1.90. So if you live in Seattle, it's, "Let's go Mariners, except for you, Chone Figgins." "Oh, another strikeout? I'll drink to that."
Happy Birthday: Four-time Stanley Cup champ (three with Edmonton, one with Pittsburgh) and a great scoring defenseman Paul Coffey. 50.
Bonus Birthday: Marilyn Monroe would have been 85 today.
Today in Sports: Lou Gehrig enters a game as a pinch hitter, and the rest they say, is history. 2130 straight games. 1925.
Bonus Event: It's a bird, it's a plane. Superman appeared for the first time in the first edition of Action Comics. 1938.
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