Happy Wednesday everyone, here's my Top 5 for November 28, 2012 from Len Berman at www.ThatsSports.com.
1. Quick Hits
- Never can say goodbye. Forty-year-old Andy Pettitte will return to pitch for the Yankees for a reported $10-11 million.
- Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz has been suspended 25 games after testing positive for amphetamines.
- Cold ticket. According to StubHub there are 7,770 tickets available for Sunday's Jets/Cardinals game in the Meadowlands. They start at $18!
2. Marvin Miller
1917-2012
To baseball owners, Marvin Miller was public enemy #1. That explains why he's not in the Hall of Fame. But to baseball players, Marvin is God. Every Major Leaguer who laces up cleats has Miller to thank for his good fortune. Sure the players make obscene amounts of money, but before Marvin Miller came along the owners unfairly ruled the roost. Miller helped set the players free. How can he not be in Cooperstown?
3. We the People
Under the heading of "Too Much Time on One's Hands," a Georgia man petitioned the White House to have Jerry Jones removed as owner of the Dallas Cowboys. The petition in part read "His incompetence (Jones) and ego have not only been an extreme disappointment for way too long, but moreover, it has caused extreme mental and emotional duress." The petitioner sought 25,000 names and had about 4,000 when the White House removed the petition from its website. I'm guessing the president doesn't have jurisdiction.
4. Map Drawing
Tulane is joining the Big East. Maybe they thought the conference was called Big Easy? Syracuse basketball coach Jim Boeheim had some of the best quotes the other day about college teams jumping all over the map. He said rivalries are a thing of the past. In the old world fans could drive to all of the conference games. The regional intensity of the fans is what fueled heated rivalries. Not anymore. You think Nebraska football fans can't wait for Maryland to come visit when the Terrapins join the Big Ten (14)? Boeheim knows all about regional rivalries. He is the last of the original Big East coaches dating back to 1979. Syracuse is jumping to the ACC next year and I'm sure it wasn't Jim's idea. Here's his money quote. "If these guys (the conference commissioners) were running the United States in colonial times, Brazil and Argentina would be states."
5. The Gambler
Leave it to a New York City doctor. For poker players it's the latest in "performance enhancing drugs." It's "Pokertox" Don't want an involuntary twitch in your forehead when you look at your lousy hand? Just inject a little botox and for three or four months you can have a real poker face. It costs between 600 and 800 dollars. Obviously "Pokertox" is for big money poker games. How else to recoup your investment?
Happy Birthday: The Colorado Rockies new manager Walt Weiss. 49.
Bonus Birthday: Bandleader Paul Shaffer. 63.
Today in Sports: The first American car race in Chicago. Average speed: 7 MPH. 1895.
Bonus Event: Look up in the sky. The first skywriting appeared over New York City with the words "Hello U-S-A." 1922.
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