Happy Wednesday everyone, here's my Top 5 for November 3, 2010 from Len Berman at www.ThatsSports.com.
1. Quick Hits
* It's parade day in San Francisco for the champion Giants. Why do I think there will be more costumes than usual at a sports parade?
* World Series TV ratings match 2008. That's the all time low.
* Bobby Valentine is not the new Milwaukee manager. Word is the Brewers hire Angels coach Ron Roenicke.
* Par for the course that Madison Square Garden canceled last night's game with Orlando because of asbestos issues. The Knicks have been toxic for years.
2. Election Results
It was a mixed election day for former NBA centers. 7'6" Shawn Bradley lost his bid for the Utah State legislature. But 6'11" Chris Dudley had a slight lead late last night in his race to become the governor of Oregon. The biggest sports loser was Linda McMahon, the former wrestling CEO, who supposedly spent over $40 million in her failed bid to become a U.S. Senator from Connecticut.
By the way, when I wrote yesterday about the stuff I'd really like to vote on, like Knicks owner, some of you had suggestions.
*Paul S. "Whether to ban the eardrum-splitting, mindless, idiotic noise in baseball stadiums between innings, between pitches, during pitching changes, while a player scratches himself..."
*Jim S. "I'd like to vote for using singers who understand that the National Anthem is not a love song, and that their personal warbling style is not appropriate at any tempo."
3. Social Media
It was only a matter of time. The use of Twitter to riot. That's what happened in San Francisco the other night. Hey, Tweet all your friends, "C'mon down to Mission and 22nd and set fire to stuff." It's a good thing they didn't have Twitter back in the day. The Old North Church and Paul Revere would have been rendered useless.
4. Enough Already
I propose a ban on all stories involving Jenn Sterger, her lawyer, and what she might or might not do concerning Brett Favre. It's simple. Either tell the NFL that Favre's a creep, or sue the Jets. Leave us out of it.
5. Me, Myself and I
When will athletes learn? We recently showed a soccer goalie celebrating a big save. One problem, while he was preening, the ball was going into the net for a goal. You remember Lindsey Jacobellis at the 2006 Winter Olympics? She was showboating in the snowboardcross while in the lead. She tumbled and it cost her a gold medal. Now you can add Alex Cujavante to the knucklehead hall of fame. At the Roller Speed Skating World Championships in Colombia he snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Take a look:
The replay itself is a candidate for the Spanning the World hall of fame!
Happy Birthday: Hall of Fame pitcher, and featured in my book, The 25 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time. Bob Feller. 92.
Bonus Birthday: National Anthem mangler Roseanne Barr. 58.
Today in Sports: Sweet Lou Piniella is named manager of the Cincinnati Reds replacing the banned Pete Rose. The next year the Reds sweep the heavily favored A's in the World Series. 1989.
Bonus Event: The advent of sexy models standing next to cars. The first auto show is held at Madison Square Garden. 1900.
Thanks to all of you who tipped me that "Sportscaster Berman" was a clue in the LA Times, NY Post and Florida Sun Sentinel crossword puzzles yesterday. Wondering how many people tried to squeeze the name Chris into the 3 boxes?