Top 5 Sports Stories

Happy Monday everyone, here's my Top 5 for October 5, 2009 from www.LenBermanSports.com.

1. Quick Hits

Minnesota and Detroit finish the regular season tied for first in the AL Central. They will have a one game playoff tomorrow night in Minnesota. The winner will face the Yankees Wednesday in the playoffs.

Only four NFL teams are 4-0. The Colts, Giants, Saints and who would have thunk it, the Broncos?

Brett Favre faces his old Green Bay team tonight in Minnesota. If he wins the Vikings will also be 4-0.

2. What "A-Year"

So the baseball season began with Alex Rodriguez concocting a steroid story. He then missed the first month with hip surgery, and still finished the season with 30 homers and 100 RBIs. He got to 100 by hitting a 3 run homer in the 6th inning yesterday against Tampa Bay, and then hitting a grand slam in the same inning. He thus set an American League record for RBIs in an inning (7). I had a "blue ribbon panel" vote for the "25 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time." It's my kids book coming next October. Only one active player made it. Yup, A-Rod. Love him, or hate him. You can't ignore him. Not to mention Kate Hudson.

3. The Road To Rio

I always thought Rio should get the 2016 Olympics. South America has never hosted the games and fans there are sports-crazy. But I can't help but feel the early exit for Chicago was a tad political. I know this is a sports column, but America isn't exactly the most popular country in the world. As Kevin R. wrote to me on Facebook, Tony Blair says the way you judge America is how many people want to get in versus how many want to leave. Having said that, we've had our share of Olympics. The opening ceremony in Brazil should to be the most colorful and lively on record.

4. Hail to the Chief

Many viewed this as a "failure" for President Obama. If you want to get really serious about this issue, you could make the case that George W. Bush had something to do with it as well. But lets take the high road. I salute the President for making the effort. If he had sat in the Oval Office and not gone to Copenhagen, the same critics who claimed he "failed," would be trashing him for staying home.

5. Monday Musings

Cheer up Mets fans, your long national nightmare is over. And look at the bright side. No heartbreaking last day elimination, and there were some real positives at Citi Field. For two, Shake Shack burgers and Paul McCartney.

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How sick is the Ted Williams story? Workers at a cryogenics lab in Phoenix treated his frozen head like a pinata? Shut down that place!

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They finally caught that creep who shot the peep-hole video of an ESPN sportscaster. Thank God the world is safe again. Now about that Bin Laden guy...

Happy Birthday: Hockey great Mario Lemieux. 44. Bonus Birthday: Oscar winning actress Kate Winslet. 34.

Today in Sports: Brooklyn's Al Gionfriddo robs Joe DiMaggio in deep left field at Yankee Stadium in game 6 of the World Series. Joe kicks the dirt near second base, a complete meltdown in DiMaggio terms. 1947.

Bonus Event: The first radio broadcast of a World Series game from the Polo Grounds between the Giants and Yankees. The announcer wasn't actually at the game. He took accounts from a newspaper guy over the phone and then recreated the game. 1921.

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