Happy Monday everyone, hope you had a great holiday. Here's my Top 5 for November 28, 2011 from Len Berman at www.ThatsSports.com.
- Syracuse fires assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine.
- NBA training camps are expected to open December 9th with a 66-game season beginning Christmas Day.
- Back to the future. Denver quarterback Tim Tebow had 22 carries, the most for a quarterback since 1950. The Broncos beat the Chargers in overtime 16-13. The unorthodox Tebow is now 5-1 as a starter.
- Monday Night Football tonight: Giants at New Orleans. Something to look for, the Saints are 0-11 in coin tosses this season.
2. Not so Fine?
Contrary to Jim Boeheim's original proclamations, I guess it's not all a "bunch of lies." Syracuse University has fired Bernie Fine as a third young man stepped forward saying that the Syracuse assistant basketball coach sexually abused him. And ESPN has a phone call between one of the ballboys who made the original claim and Fine's wife Laurie. In the 2002 call, provided by the ballboy, she said, "Bernie is also in denial. I think that he did the things he did, but he's somehow through his own mental telepathy has erased them out of his mind." Both of these "bombshells" come with baggage, yet Syracuse took action. Boeheim and the DA both support the move. That tells me they know more than they are letting on and there's more to come. And still it should be noted, no charges have been filed, yet.
Note: I'll be on the Dr. Drew Show tonight on HLN at 9 pm Eastern discussing the Bernie Fine story.
3. NBA
Try reading the details of the tentative agreement between the owners and the players. Your head will explode. Suffice to say, they whacked up the income somewhere in the vicinity of 50-50. It had been 57-50 in favor of the players. And while nobody is talking about it, the shorter season is better. Do any fans actually care that they are playing 16 less games? The regular season is way too long. As it stands, the NBA finals will likely end around the start of summer. At least they got rid of the fall portion. In the future, maybe a Christmas opening day makes perfect sense for a so-called "winter sport."
4. Leftovers
Prior to Thanksgiving, here's some of what you said you are thankful for in sports.
*L.S. I'm thankful for the Yankees decision to keep playing God Bless America going during the seventh inning stretch.
*B.G. Thankful for the PGA limiting commercials on the Masters broadcast, and would be really thankful if the NFL could follow suit.
*C.A. I am thankful Stanford plays football on and off the field the right way.
*J.G. I'm thankful for the Yankees NOT winning the World Series this year
5. Last Time Listener
It's official, they've run out of things to trash on all-sports radio. I actually heard a radio host say on Thursday that the "Thanksgiving feast is over-rated." I didn't stick around to hear his opinion on Santa pulling his weight or whether the Easter Bunny is in the twilight of his career.
Happy Birthday: Former Yankee no-hit pitcher Dave Righetti. 53.
Bonus Birthday: The Daily Show's Jon Stewart. 49.
Today in Sports: Baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn suspends George Steinbrenner for two years for making illegal contributions to the Nixon campaign. It's later reduced to 15 months. 1974.
Bonus Event: America's first car race, round trip from Chicago to Evanston. six cars. Average speed: 7 mph. 1895.