TGIF everyone, here's my Top 5 for October 23, 2009 from
www.LenBermanSports.com.
1. Quick Hits
The Angels beat the Yankees 7-6 and force a 6th game tomorrow night
at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees still lead 3 games to 2.
Major League Baseball will reportedly only use the most experienced
umps for the World Series. What took them so long? This is in response
to all the blown calls.
Raiders coach Tom Cable will not face charges for a training camp
incident where he allegedly broke the jaw of one of his assistant
coaches. By they way, when I saw the headline "No Charge for Cable," I
knew the story wasn't about Cablevision.
2. A Second Guesser's Delight
Game 5 last night in Anaheim. More umpire blown calls. And managerial
questions galore. But forget the umps and the managers. It all comes
down to the players. The Angels wiggled out of a bases loaded jam in
the 9th and the series lives. One thought. If the Yankees have to play
a game 7, and should they win, they won't have CC Sabathia on regular
rest for game 1 of the World Series. Just a thought. Now you can go
back to bashing the managers.
3. Pie in the Sky
Long before A.J. Burnett started smashing pies in teammates' faces,
there was Soupy Sales. "Soup" made taking the pie in his own face an
art form. His kids TV show was just as much for adults, with his
"wink-wink" comments. I used to run into Soupy around the city. I got
a kick out of talking sports and stickball with one of the TV legends
of my youth. He loved the Sports Fantasy feature I used to do on
television. Soupy died yesterday at the age of 83. For those old
enough to remember him and his goofy puppets White Fang and Black
Tooth, memories of watching Soupy can only make you smile.
4. Friday Mailbag
As for Hiroshima and Nagasaki teaming up for an Olympic bid, the two
Japanese cities on which the U.S. dropped A-bombs, E.G. wrote: "Not
only would it be weird having "The Star-Spangled Banner" played over
the loudspeakers in those cities each time an American won a gold
medal, but maybe kind of inappropriate as we hit the part about "the
bombs bursting in air..."
As for the Steve Phillips affair: E.M. writes: "I understand that the
Mets are seriously thinking about rehiring Steve Phillips...they need
SOMEONE in the organization who can score!"
And B.M. added: "Steve broke a cardinal rule -- it's gospel -- never
fool around with someone who has less to lose than you."
When I wrote that Washington Nationals fan Stephen Krupin went to 19
Nats games, and they went 0-19, J.C. wrote: "I sure wouldn't want to
sit next to him on an airplane."
As for the Bosnia-Herzegovina soccer team that's doing better now
that the coach has his players kiss each other on the lips. D.P.
pointed out that kissing leads to more scoring.
Editor's Note: Scoring seems to be a big theme with Top 5
subscribers.
And A.A. wrote: "We watch baseball in HD. We can now see everything,
and I mean everything. My question is, is there a spitting school that
baseball players attend to learn how to spit? We're able to identify
different styles of spitting by different players: curve, sinker,
slider, fast ball, high inside, outside, etc."
Editor's Note: Yup, and a scratching school too!
5. Quote of the Week
A New York anchorman inadvertently called former New York City Police
Commissioner Bernard Kerik, "former top cock."
I can relate. When I worked with Chuck Scarborough and Sue Simmons I
rarely tossed it back to them by name. I was always afraid of screwing
it up and saying "now back to you, Suck and Chue."
Happy Birthday: The one and only, Brazilian soccer great Pele. 69.
Bonus Birthday: Talk about greatness. Johnny Carson would have been
84 today.
Today in Sports: The Brooklyn Dodgers sign Jackie Robinson to play
for their farm team in Montreal. He's on his way to breaking the Major
League color barrier. 1945.
Bonus Event: Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. The
first national horseshoe tossing championships are held in Kellerton,
Iowa. 1915.