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.
-----
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!
-----
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.
Follow me on Facebook (Len Berman's Top 5) and at Twitter
@lenbermansports