Happy Thursday everyone, here's my Top 5 for September 3, 2009 from www.LenBermanSports.com.
1. Quick Hits
Senator Schilling. Former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling has some interest in Teddy Kennedy's Senate seat. So do I.
Who knew the Canadian Football League had standards? Winnipeg says they are not pursuing Pacman Jones. They want good athletes "on and off the field."
The big names all cruised at the U.S. Open. Next up for Roger Federer, Lleyton Hewitt in the third round.
Jason Giambi's first hit as a Colorado Rockie, a pinch hit two run single, is the game winner against the Mets. The Rockies lead the Giants by one game for the National League wild card.
Welcome to fall. College football season begins tonight.
2. Joe Fan
If the average fan wants to go to the World Series at Yankee Stadium he can kiss his wallet goodbye. Only 735 tickets out of 50,000 will be available to the "general public" per game. Season ticket holders and Major League Baseball get the rest. So you wanna take Johnnie to his first World Series game? Get ready to pay the scalper. Hey, you think they made the World Series and Super Bowl for regular people?
3. Thursday Night Football
The final pre-season games are tonight and tomorrow. They get them out of the way early so the teams can heal up for the regular season next week. While many eyes and ears will be on Michael Vick in the Meadowlands facing the Jets, I'll be thinking of a player who won't see action. Giants wide receiver David Tyree won't play with a hamstring injury. 19 months ago he made arguably the greatest catch in Super Bowl History. The helmet catch. Without it, the Giants don't upset the Patriots. That is the last catch he made in a Giants uniform. He'll likely be cut. What have you done for me lately?
4. Turf Toe
The 0-16 Detroit Lions have a little quarterback competition going. But one of the contenders, Daunte Culpepper, injured his toe requiring stitches. He stubbed it on his carpet at home. Is that what they mean by piling on?
5. Descend it like Beckham
A California sperm bank is setting up shop in New York. They feature samples of famous lookalikes. Do you want your offspring to look like David Beckham or Manny Ramirez? They can help. Of course they don't guarantee that traits will be passed on. And I'm thinking given the vagaries of conception, do you really want your daughter looking like Manny Ramirez?
Happy Birthday to a couple of Olympians. The Flying Tomato, snowboarder Shaun White. 23. And softball pitcher Jennie Finch. 29. Bonus Birthday: Actor Charlie Sheen. 44.
Today in Sports: Ty Cobb gets his 4,191st and last career hit. His record would be eventually eclipsed by Pete Rose. 1928.
Bonus Event: The Yankees stall at Fenway Park hoping that a Sunday curfew will end the game. Fans become irate and litter the field with garbage. The Red Sox forfeit the game. The Commissioner later overrules the forfeit and fines the Yankees for their tactics. 1939.
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Barbara J. Nelson: Ted Kennedy and Susan B. Anthony: The Curtain Falls Before the Play is Finished
Few would think to compare him to Susan B. Anthony, the great pioneer for votes for women, but their lives paralleled each others', a century apart, in startling ways.
Jim Wallis: Faith Is About Redemption: The Life of Ted Kennedy
As many remarked over the course of last weekend, Ted Kennedy was the classic American success story who, though sorely tested by adversity and plagued by his own moral short-comings, found a way to overcome his personal flaws and pain to achieve extraordinary things. I have never really trusted those who are intolerant and condemning of other people's shortcomings. It makes me suspect that they are likely hiding their own.
