Happy Monday everyone, here's my Top 5 for March 4, 2013 from Len Berman at www.ThatsSports.com.
1. Quick Hits
- Who's the boss? The Miami Heat made it a franchise-tying 14th straight win with a 99-93 win over the Knicks in New York.
- Gonzaga is expected to be voted the #1 team in college basketball today for the first time in school history.
- Thanks a lot. Despite the sensational rookie season of outfielder Mike Trout, the Angels renewed his contract for $510,000 just $20,000 above the Major League minimum.
- Danica Patrick survives a crash at the Phoenix International Speedway.
- Lauren Silberman, a field goal kicker, became the first woman to audition for NFL scouts yesterday. She injured her leg on her first kick. USA Today reports it might have been a promotional stunt for her business interests.
2. No Ordinary Joe
So where does Baltimore's Joe Flacco, the Super Bowl MVP, rank in your pantheon of quarterbacks? OK, then just among quarterbacks named Joe? Behind Montana and Namath? Theismann won as many Super Bowls as Flacco. Yet Flacco is now the highest paid player in NFL history. Timing is everything.
3. Growing Pains
Hold off on that pedestal for golfer Rory McIlroy. He may be #1 in the world, but that's just a number. He walked off the course the other day during a miserable round. He said he wasn't in a great place mentally. We shouldn't judge until we walk in people's spikes, but the kid is making zillions by doing something he's pretty good at. Later on his "people" said he had a wisdom tooth problem. My guess is if he were seven-under par instead of seven-over he would have sucked it in.
4. American Statesman
Which American would you think has had the most contact with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un? Right. Dennis Rodman. It's a wacky world, right? Rodman just got back from a basketball trip to North Korea, and now he's the foremost American expert on the 28-year-old boy dictator. I don't know what's more bizarre, Rodman representing the U.S. or appearing on ABC News to seriously discuss world politics. As a side note, Rodman probably set a Sunday news division record for facial piercings.
5. March Madness
We still have a couple of weeks before the NCAA basketball tournament begins, but there's tons of wild stuff in the high school ranks to keep us entertained. Check out how this New York State High School championship game ended the other day. Mount Vernon thought they had the game won and just tossed the ball away. New Rochelle's Khalil Edney had other ideas. And if you can't get enough, here's a ground-level angle. Video proof that it truly ain't over until it is.
Happy Birthday: San Francisco Giants fan-favorite reliever Sergio Romo. 30.
Bonus Birthday: The Mayor of Sacramento who is trying to save the NBA Kings from moving to Seattle, three-time NBA All-Star Kevin Johnson. 47.
Today in Sports: A group led by Bob Lurie buys the San Francisco Giants from Horace Stoneham for $8 million. (Four Giants players will make more than that this year.) 1976.
Bonus Event: Before today everything was "Un-Constitutional." The U.S. Constitution goes into effect. 1789.
Monday kvetch: The Top 5 was read over the weekend in Russia, Bangladesh and Chile but not in South Dakota, New Mexico or Mississippi.
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