Happy Thursday everyone, here's my Top 5 for August 16, 2012 from Len Berman at www.ThatsSports.com.
1. Quick Hits
- Seattle's Felix Hernandez pitches a perfect game against Tampa Bay winning 1-0. It's the third perfect game in 2012, the most in any single season in baseball history. When he recorded the last out, Seattle's minor league team in Jackson, Tenn. was taking batting practice. Their reaction is cool.
- Giants outfielder Melky Cabrera is suspended 50 games after testing positive for a performance enhancing substance.
- The U.S. soccer team wins on Mexican soil for the first time ever (a stretch of 75 years), 1-0.
- Oh joy. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman says "The sides are far apart and have different views of the world." The league's deal with the players runs out September 15.
- Tough blow for the U.S. Open later this month. Rafael Nadal tweeted: "I am very sad to announce that I am not ready to play the U.S. Open in N.Y. Thanks to my fans for their support and specially, the New Yorkers." The 2010 champ has knee problems.
2. Cheater
What a nice story. Melky Cabrera was having a breakout season. He was the All-Star Game MVP and second in the National League in batting average at .346. Cabrera was heading to free agency, so it's not a stretch to assume he wanted to get "a little help" in his salary drive. Instead, he becomes just another drug cheat who screwed his teammates. When will they ever learn?
3. C-H-E-A-T-E-R
So what would you do to win a $10,000 Scrabble tournament? Would you cheat? One young man would and did. A big tournament is going on in Orlando, and one player was caught red-handed. It turns out he palmed a couple of blanks and got the boot. I guess that goes under the heading of "performance enhancing." It seems that some players do use minerals that supposedly boost brain power, but while this was the first incident of a cheat getting caught in a national tourney, the director quipped, "no steroids so far."
4. Location, Location, Location
It matters where you come from when you win an Olympics medal. As you know American gold medalists get $25,000, and some will make millions in endorsements. And it isn't too shabby for Keshorn Walcott the first gold medalist in track from Trinidad and Tobago. He won gold in the javelin and his take will be around $155,000, and a new home, along with about 20,000 acres of land. Then there are the Tunisian medalists. Habiba Ghribi is the first Tunisian woman to win an Olympic medal. She won silver in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Male swimmer Oussama Mellouli won gold in the 10-kilometer marathon and bronze in the 1,500-meter freestyle. But Islamic extremists want both of them stripped of their medals. They said Ghiribi's running outfit was too revealing and Mellouli drank orange juice before his race during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. I'm guessing they won't be getting new luxury homes and lots of acreage either.
5. Location, Location, Location II
Alex Rodriguez has listed his Miami house for $38 million. He bought it two years ago for $24 million. Maybe he hasn't heard the real estate market is a bit dicey. If he doesn't make a profit, he's going to have to muddle by on his $29 million Yankees salary. Tough times.
Happy Birthday: The great Frank Gifford. 82.
Bonus Birthday: The great Frank Gifford's wife, Kathie Lee. 59.
Today in Sports: Usain Bolt wins the 100 meters in Bejing in 9.69 seconds setting a world record. 2008. He broke it one year later in Berlin, also on this date, running 9.58 seconds. 2009.
Bonus Event: 50 years ago today, drummer Pete Best is given the heave-ho as drummer for the Beatles. He's replaced by Ringo Starr. 1962.
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