Happy Groundhog Day everyone, here's my Top 5 for February 2, 2012 from Len Berman at www.ThatsSports.com.
1. Quick Hits
- The great Angelo Dundee has died at the age of 90. He was Muhammad Ali's trainer and also trained Sugar Ray Leonard.
- A soccer riot has left 74 dead in Cairo.
- Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora was fined $20,000 by the NFL for missing a mandatory Super Bowl media session.
2. Angelo Dundee
1921-2012
They say behind every great man is a great woman. Not in Muhammad Ali's case. He had a great man behind him in Angelo Dundee. He was there for all of it, and the stories he must know. When I met him on the boxing trail he was always affable and humble and he will be missed. We've lost a large part of boxing history with the passing of Angelo Dundee.
3. Trivial Pursuit
I think we take this Internet thing for granted. Subscriber A.K. asked a simple question, "Has a Football team (Giants) ever been swept by the worst-team-in-their-division-by-record (Skins) and made the Super Bowl in the same year before this year?"
In the "old days" you'd have to pore through books or make tons of phone calls. Not anymore. Within minutes "Trivia King" Henry Hascup had the answer. He says no. Teams have come from third place but not last place.
Amaze your friends and neighbors.
4. A-Rah
So they asked Alex Rodriguez who he was pulling for in the Super Bowl and he took a pass. He said he has friends on both teams. Fine. But fans look at things differently. They pour their hearts out for their favorite teams, and they might like to see the guys who play in their city show some love for the hometown teams. But I guess LeBron James set the standard when he played in Cleveland wearing his Yankees cap.
5. It Never Gets Old
What do you get when you cross the groundhog with the Knicks? Six more weeks of bad basketball.
Happy Birthday: Baseball Hall of Famer Red Schoendienst. 89.
Bonus Birthday: Christie Brinkley. 58.
Today in Sports: Red white and blue balls. The American Basketball Association is founded. 1967.
Bonus Event: They did something goofy with a groundhog for the first time in Punxsutawney, PA. 1887.
In case you missed my Super Bowl party conversation tips on the Today Show this morning: here it is!
To sign up for Len's free daily Top 5 email click here.