Happy Monday everyone, here's my Top 5 for February 25, 2013 from Len Berman at www.ThatsSports.com.
1. Quick Hits
- Jimmie Johnson wins his second Daytona 500. Danica Patrick finishes eighth, the highest finish for a woman at Daytona.
- Over 30 fans were injured, some remain hospitalized, as a result of Saturday's awful NASCAR accident at Daytona.
- Matt Kuchar wins golf's Match Play Championship over Hunter Mahan.
- Mike Eruzione's hockey gear from the "Miracle on Ice" game of 1980 fetches over 1.3 million at auction.
2. And the Oscar Goes to
The Top 5 hates to be left out when the Oscars come around. So congrats to Silver Linings Playbook for lots of stuff. 1) It has playbook in the title, a reference to football. 2) A big theme in the movie is the Philadelphia Eagles. And 3) It won an Oscar for best actress. Who says the Eagles don't win anything? And on a serious note, and having nothing to do with sports, do yourself a favor and check out the winner for best documentary Searching for Sugar Man. You'll thank me later.
3. Darth Vader Lives
Red Sox President Larry Lucchino took a swipe at the Yankees many years ago when he called them the "Evil Empire." Guess what? Now the Yankees legally are just that. An entrepreneur wanted to market stuff with the phrase "Baseball's Evil Empire," but trademark judges ruled that they can't do it, that the Yankees "own" the title. You gotta love pro sports. The goal is to make a buck off of everything including insults.
4. Battle Lines
And don't you love a great food fight in sports? Who'da thunk it would be over putting in golf? The PGA Tour says they oppose the ban on anchoring putters that's due to go into effect in 2016. Good for them. Suddenly anchoring is considered illegal? They've been doing it forever, but now that big events are being won by "anchorers," it's akin to cheating. The PGA says there's not enough evidence to prove it gives golfers an advantage. In truth, it wouldn't be fair to change the rules on golfers. It'll be interesting to see if the two big golfing bodies, the Royal and Ancient and the USGA now go ahead with the rule-change.
5. Instant Replay
You may have seen this candidate highlight for Spanning the Year. She's Ashley Arnau, a cheerleader for William Carey University in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. OK, she can do it once. But how about the next day fooling around with Firefly of the Harlem Globetrotters? Maybe she's also the athlete of the year?
Happy Birthday: Minnesota Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder. 25.
Bonus Birthday: Comedian Chelsea Handler. 38.
Today in Sports: Cassius Clay backs up his claims that he is indeed "the greatest." He beats Sonny Liston to capture the heavyweight title, featured in my newest book listed below. 1964.
Bonus Event: Sid Caesar's Your Show of Shows premieres on NBC. Writers include Mel Brooks, Neil Simon and Woody Allen. 1950.
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