TGIF everyone here's my Top 5 for September 14, 2012 from Len Berman at www.ThatsSports.com.
1. Quick Hits
- The Red Sox are not for sale. So says ownership in denying a Fox Business report that the team is being shopped around.
- The Orioles roll on beating Tampa Bay in 14 innings to remain tied for first with the Yankees. Baltimore has won 13 straight extra inning games.
- Derek Jeter ties Willie Mays for 10th place on the all-time hit list.
- Green Bay beat Chicago 23-10 in Thursday night football. The Packers faked a field goal and scored a touchdown in the second quarter.
- The NHL plans to lockout its players tomorrow night at midnight.
2. Jim Dandy
As the original TV voice of the Big East it pains me to say this, but R.I.P. Big East basketball as we knew it. Syracuse and Pittsburgh are heading to the ACC, and so is Notre Dame. And now Jim Calhoun has packed it in. Big East players have come and gone, but the coaches have always remained. Until now. Lou Carnesecca, Jim Boeheim, John Thompson and Jim Calhoun are all gone from the Big East and they take 2630 wins from their 4 schools, 11 Final Four appearances and 5 national titles with them. That's a void that will never be filled.
3. Song and Dance Man
Mike Tyson has show biz in his blood. After performing in Las Vegas and on Broadway he says he now wants to sing and dance. Well we have heard him sing. Remember his crooning "The Girl From Ipanema" on Brazilian TV? Tyson said he wants to dance like Billy Madison. Hmm. A cross between Billy Elliot (a kid who goes from boxing to ballet) and an Adam Sandler movie. Mike will look cute in ballet shoes.
4. Friday eMailbag
As for Mike Piazza's game winning homer when baseball returned 10 days after 9/11, C.M. writes: "Cheered and wept at the same time. One of the greatest moments in sports history as far as I'm concerned."
In regards to the Harvard cheating scandal which affects the basketball team, A.T. writes, "I heard someone on NPR this morning say 'there's a fine line between cheating and collaborating.' Yeah, it's called morals."
When former Browns and Ravens owner Art Modell passed away, I mentioned that Cleveland got another team but Brooklyn is still waiting for the return of Major League Baseball. J.M. quipped, "So's Queens."
And when I boasted that the Top 5 was read the other day in India, F.C. brought me back to earth, "One out of 1.2 billion ain't bad!"
5. Spanning the World
This week's Spanning the World highlight comes from a soccer game in Poland. Some of the best moo-ves are turned in by a cow! Although I really think she milked her part.
Spanning the World airs monthly on NBC's Today Show. Next up: Thursday, September 27 in the 8:30 a.m. half hour.
Happy Birthday: Peripatetic basketball coach Larry Brown. 72.
Bonus Birthday: Actor/Director Tyler Perry. 43.
Today in Sports: No Joy in Mudville, the baseball season and World Series are canceled. 1994.
Bonus Event: Francis Scott Key penned a poem which would become our National Anthem. 1814.
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