Happy Monday everyone, here's my Top 5 for June 27, 2011 from Len Berman at www.ThatsSports.com.
1. Quick Hits
- 1986 Mets World Series skipper Davey Johnson is getting another shot. He was named manager of the Washington Nationals. Cool. Is Bobby Valentine on deck?
- Week 2 of Wimbledon is underway. The lone American man left standing is Mardy Fish.
- If you don't know Yani Tseng, you will. She won the LPGA Championship yesterday by a whopping 10 shots. The 22-year old from Taiwan is the youngest golfer since the 1800s, man or woman, to win four major championships.
- Argentina's famed River Plate soccer team is demoted to the second division for the first time in its 110-year history. It sparked rioting in the streets.
- At Yankee Old-Timers' Day, according to subscriber Mort F., restaurateur Elaine Kaufman was mentioned during the moment of silence for those who passed during the last year, but not Duke Snider.
2. A Dying Franchise
Please Bud Selig, figure out this Dodgers mess, now! This is one of your great franchises and it's going down the tubes. Fans are staying away in droves. They didn't exactly storm the gates for the Freeway Series this weekend with the Angels. Fans want no part of the bickering McCourts, and after a Giants fan nearly got bludgeoned to death opening day, it helped foster the notion that the ballpark isn't safe. In addition, Dodger Stadium is now like the New York ballparks: the most expensive seats are often empty. Los Angeles doesn't have pro football; is baseball (In L.A. proper) an endangered species as well?
3. What's Fair is Fair
Subscriber Thomas S. takes me to task. He asks, "What's going on here? Edwin Rodriguez quit as Marlins manager. Then Jim Riggleman walks out on his Washington Nationals. If they were players, we probably would have read some snarky comments from you about players quitting on their teammates, fans and employers. But for managers...nothing. Why do they get a free pass?"
Excellent point. I'm guessing when a coach normally quits, he's either doing it for more money elsewhere, or leaving a collegiate mess behind. And 99.9% of all managers get fired. So I guess for those reasons, the bells didn't go off in my mind. Sorry about that, Thomas.
4. Home Field?
You would think that the U.S. had the home-field advantage when they played Mexico in the Gold Cup final Saturday at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. Over 93,000 saw Mexico win 4-2, and overwhelmingly, the fans' team of choice was Mexico. To make matters worse, almost all of the post-game ceremony was conducted in Spanish! Next time you start to ask "when will soccer make it big in this country?" save your breath.
5. Nick Charles
1946-2011
There's nothing positive you can say about a sportscaster dying way too young of cancer at the age of 64. But I'll give it a try. He and Fred Hickman were the "go to" team when CNN had a late night sports show. Nick battled his dreaded disease with a passion. He was as upbeat as possible until the end, and was grateful to everyone who reached out to him. Kudos to HBO for allowing him to call one last fight in March; boxing was his great love. And one final note. Despite his high profile position for so many years, I never heard a bad word about him from anyone in the business. Isn't that a wonderful tribute?
Happy Birthday: Former Red Sox third baseman Rico Petrocelli. 68.
Bonus Birthday: The wife of Lakers forward Lamar Odom, Khloe Kardashian. 27.
Today in Sports: Congratulations are in order for Mets pitcher Anthony Young as he loses a record 24th consecutive game. He went on to make it 27. 1993.
Bonus Event: I don't got you babe, anymore. Sonny and Cher call it quits. 1975.
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