Happy Wednesday everyone, here's my Top 5 for October 28, 2009 from
www.LenBermanSports.com.
1. Quick Hits
Game 1 of the World Series is tonight, Phillies @ Yankees, 7:57pm ET,
FOX
The NBA season begins with the Lakers getting their championship
rings and beating the Clippers. While LeBron, Shaq and the Cavaliers
lose at home to Boston.
Hearings begin in Washington today dealing with head injuries and
the long term effects among NFL players. This bears watching.
The IOC will convene a medical conference to deal with the thorny
issue of gender identification.
In a new autobiography, Andre Agassi admits to using crystal meth
while he was on tour in 1997. Not surprisingly, he didn't win a major
that year.
Here's how not to make friends and influence people. Do what Kansas
City running back Larry Johnson did. He criticized his coach on
twitter and used gay slurs. Needless to say he's been barred from the
team.
2. The Fall Classic
Bunting in the Bronx. George Steinbrenner in the house. Here we go
with the World Series. If you think this is rough for Mets fans,
subscriber Pete E. wrote, "How do you think Indians fans feel about
the series? CC for the Yankees and Cliff Lee for the Phillies.
(Tonight's starting pitchers.) The Indians had both and now one of
them is going to win the World Series." And Pete says Indians
prospects stink because of the economic nature of things. The Yanks
are #1 in payroll, the Phillies #7. The only "low rent" team to make
the postseason in 2009 was the Twins. The money gap continues to be a
major flaw in baseball.
3. Belt Tightening
As I mentioned yesterday the new NBA season arrives without being
recession proof. Many NBA teams are not hiring the maximum 15 players
for their roster. Several teams have cut the number of assistant
coaches. Now bah, humbug. The Wall Street Journal reports that the
Cleveland Cavaliers are sending Christmas cards by email. They'll save
$40,000. Or the amount of money LeBron James makes playing 10
minutes of any single game.
4. Welcome Back Brett
This Sunday, long time Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre will return
to town to face his old team as a member of the Minnesota Vikings. The
Mayor of Green Bay is asking for "tasteful" suggestions on how to
welcome him back. Since Favre can never make up his mind, suggestions
have ranged from making the world's largest waffle with the No. 4 on
it, to total silence when he comes onto the field. I thought the
suggestion of wearing flip flops was pretty cool. Especially if it's
as cold as that Packer/Giant game a couple of years back. (The coldest
I've ever been in my life.)
5. Happily Wedded Bli$$
Thank you TMZ. I can now sleep at night knowing that Lamar Odom of
the Lakers and Khloe Kardashian have a prenup. Odom's $33 million from
the Lakers is "out of bounds." And Khloe won't be getting Lakers
tickets from her husband. Sounds like this marriage is off to a solid
start.
Happy Birthday: 1976 Olympic Decathlon winner Bruce Jenner. 60.
Bonus Birthday: Pretty Woman. Actress Julia Roberts. 42.
Today in Sports: The Atlanta Braves win their first and only World
Series. 1995.
Bonus Event: Ground is broken for the new Flushing Meadow Park
Municipal Stadium. It could have been called "The Flush" but they
liked the name Shea Stadium better. 1961.