Happy Monday everyone, here's my Top 5 for November 7, 2011 from Len Berman at www.ThatsSports.com.
1. Quick Hits
- NBA owners made players an offer that comes with a Wednesday deadline.
- The Miami Dolphins will not go winless after beating Kansas City 31-3. That leaves the Indianapolis Colts at 0-9 as the only team without a win. Green Bay is still the only team without a loss.
- No touchdowns. #1 LSU beat #2 Alabama 9-6 in overtime.
- 67-year-old former heavyweight champ Joe Frazier is in hospice care with liver cancer. Was there a bigger New York sports moment than Ali-Frazier 1 at Madison Square Garden March 8, 1971?
- How many years before the first sub two-hour marathon? Kenya's Geoffrey Mutai set the NYC record yesterday at two hours, five minutes and six seconds.
- Sad to report that Lenny Dykstra never showed up to fight Jose Canseco in a celebrity boxing match Saturday night.
2. Higher Education
"Happy Valley" got rocked by a sex scandal this weekend. A former assistant coach, Jerry Sandusky, was arrested and charged with 40 counts of assaulting eight young boys over a 15-year period. Compounding the crime, Penn State athletic director Tim Curley and vice president for finance and business, Gary Schultz, have been indicted for perjury in the cover-up. They've both stepped down. Coach Joe Paterno was not charged even though he knew of one of the incidents. That's not good either. There are moments like this when you feel the entire big time college sports system should be blown up and they should start over, if at all.
3. NBA
If the NBA owners and players can't make a deal this week then they all deserve to go down in flames. The owners have made a noisy ultimatum. The players say they've moved on their number. It still looks like the final number is 51% for the players, but the owners still seem to have trouble getting there. If the darkest hour is truly just before dawn, then this is it. How about making a deal for the sake of the lowly paid employees and the fans? One percent here or there isn't going to change anyone else's lifestyle.
4. Halftime Show
There are issues, and there are issues. Some Detroit Lions fans are upset over the choice of halftime entertainment for their Thanksgiving Day game with Green Bay. The Canadian group Nickelback will perform. The fans point out there's one or two native Detroit singers that have gone on to stardom over the years. Stevie Wonder, Eminem, Aretha Franklin just to name three. So they've started an online petition. Someone named Eva said she signed it because "I'd rather drink bleach than listen to Nickelback."
It's not often I'm speechless.
5. Andy Rooney
1919-2011
Longtime Giants season ticket holder Andy Rooney died the other day at the age of 92. Before Super Bowl 42 he attended Tom Coughlin's final news conference before the game and asked a question.
Fitting that Andy's remark drew a laugh from Coughlin. That's what Andy did his entire career.
Happy Birthday: He's on the Hall of Fame ballot that will be voted December 4th. Former pitcher Jim Kaat. 73.
Bonus Birthday: Rev. Billy Graham. 93.
Today in Sports: 20 years ago today. Magic Johnson announces he has tested positive for HIV and is retiring from basketball. 1991.
Bonus Event: Richard Nixon wins the presidency in a landslide. He would later resign in disgrace. 1972.
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