Happy Wednesday everyone, here's my Top 5 for October 19, 2011 from Len Berman at www.ThatsSports.com.
1. Quick Hits
- The World Series begins tonight, Game 1, Texas at St. Louis, 8:05 pm Eastern FOX.
- Red Sox pitchers deny a Boston TV report that they were drinking beer in the dugout during games. What next, on the mound?
- A group of U.S. Senators is urging the baseball players union to ban chewing tobacco at games. It's actually not a bad idea.
- NBA owners and players met for 16 hours with a federal mediator yesterday and will continue talking today.
- Cincinnati traded quarterback Carson Palmer to Oakland for a couple of draft picks, at least one of them is a number one pick. The 31-year old Palmer had been sitting around doing nothing this season having vowed never to play for the Bengals again.
2. Home Field Advantage
So St. Louis has the home field for the 2011 World Series. That was determined by the National League winning that glorified exhibition called the All Star Game. Subscriber C.G. vents:
"I find it appalling that St. Louis, who made the post season on a consolation prize bid (as a wild card) on the last day of the regular season, has home field advantage over Texas who won their division outright by 10 games and was six games better than the Cardinals in the win column, just because their league won an exhibition game. None of this has anything to do with competition and winning anymore. It smacks of dollars and lining owners pockets with cash!!!! Also can you tell I won't be watching?"
Well said C.G. I'm with you, except for the not watching part.
3. Under New Management
The new owners of the Philadelphia 76ers took center stage yesterday. They immediately announced they're slashing ticket prices. They also set up a virtual suggestion box www.newsixersowner.com, and the best 1,776 suggestions get a free ticket to a game. Cool stuff. Now all they need is a season. By the way, if the NBA is such a losing proposition, how come smart businessmen are always trying to buy their way in?
4. Mamie for Commissioner
Actress Mamie Van Doren appeared in dozens of movies starting in the 50s. She's also a Top 5 subscriber. Here is Mamie's take on the NBA lockout.
"Fewer people every day give a rat's ass about the NBA, but I've got to say it: this greed fest is just too much. No one can take it seriously when a gaggle of multimillionaires and a handful of billionaires whine about how much money they are losing. I'm sick of it!!! Take a look at the real world where people are losing their jobs or scrambling to fill the tank to get to work on Monday. Make an agreement and play some basketball--it's just a f***ing kids game anyway."
You go girl!
5. Die-Hard Golfers
It had to come to this. A final resting place for golfers. A cemetery in Bellevue Washington now has a golf-themed memorial park. It's complete with a putting green and sand traps. Your remains can be buried under the green, or your urn can be buried in the sand trap. According to the cemetery director, for golfers who spent a lot of time in the trap, they can now spend an eternity. They've even got what looks like a leaderboard, with the names of those buried in the golf cemetery. It's the only leaderboard you can buy or die your way onto. There's only room for 1,281 golfers, so reserve your tee times early.
Happy Birthday: Former heavyweight champ Evander Holyfield. 49.
Bonus Birthday: First daughter Amy Carter. 44.
Today in Sports: Billy Martin IS named manager of the Yankees for the fifth time. 1987.
Bonus Event: Same day. Black Monday. The Dow Jones Average plummets 508 points. 1987.
I'll go Spanning the World tomorrow morning on NBC's Today Show in the 8:30am half hour.
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