Happy Monday everyone, here's my Top 5 for November 2, 2009 from
www.LenBermanSports.com
1. Quick Hits
The Yankees have taken a 3 games to 1 World Series stranglehold with a 7-4 win over the Phillies in game 4. They can wrap up their 27th World Championship tonight in Philadelphia. 7:57pm ET FOX.
Brett Favre returns to boos in Green Bay. He has the last laugh as Minnesota beat the Packers 38-26. St. Louis and Tennessee won their first games, Denver lost its first. The Giants 3 game losing streak drops them out of first place.
More trouble for Raiders coach Tom Cable. His ex-wife and a former girlfriend accuse him of violent behavior. Last August an assistant coach accused Cable of breaking his jaw. No charges were filed.
Meb Keflezighi is the first American man to win the New York City Marathon since Alberto Salazar in 1982. Keflezighi, born in Eritrea, became a U.S. citizen in 1998.
2. Game 4
Last night was the second time in sports history that a November World Series game was played the same day as the New York City Marathon. The last time, 2001, Arizona won a 7th game thriller against the Yankees in the 9th inning. Quite a different 9th inning story last night. Alex Rodriguez with the game winning RBI, as the dopiest statistic in sports reared its ugly head. All Joba Chamberlain did was blow the lead, and thus he became the winning pitcher. He was rewarded for failing. But that's immaterial as the Yankees, down to their last strike of the inning with nobody on base, scored three 9th inning runs to salt it away. Barring a monumental collapse it's high time for a parade up lower Broadway.
3. A Celebration of Mediocrity
I received an email from a Top 5 subscriber who went to yesterday's Jets/Dolphins game. He, as I, despise the throwback jerseys which they wore again yesterday. Subscriber Russell S. writes: "They are ugly, but it's more than that. I'm 46. They've pretty much been crappy or mediocre my whole life except for one year. I wish they'd just stop celebrating it and move on. Today it's Winston Hill Day at the Meadowlands. How is that different from Horace Clark Day? Enough already. It's supposed to be different this season. Not the same Jets."
Another tough loss yesterday to Miami ... same old, same old.
4. Marathon Men
Here's the stunning part about the New York City Marathon: not that an American won, but that American runners dominated the field. Six of the top 10 finishers were American. In fact of the top 32 finishers, only 12 weren't from the U.S. What's going on here? Conventional wisdom had the African runners so dominant because the prize money represents a small fortune back home. But what's the American's motivation? Maybe economics makes it easier for them to compete in New York. But the results seem to indicate a resurgence in American
marathoning. Who would have thunk it?
5. Upon Further Review
Is he the "Lightning-Rod" or what? Alex Rodriguez, in addition to last night's huge hit, was involved in the first ever use of instant replay in World Series history on Saturday. He was also involved in the first ever regular season use. Both times homers were confirmed. Then there's an ex-girlfriend who claimed he had two portraits of himself over his bed. He was portrayed as half-man, half-horse. Or as the New York Post daintily headlined, "A-Rod Art Hung Like a Horse." Or, just call him Neigh-Rod.
Happy Birthday: Eight time tennis grand slam champion Ken Rosewall. 75.
Bonus Birthday: And for all you history buffs, Daniel Boone was born on this date in 1734. (I was more of a Davy Crockett fan myself.)
Today in Sports: With chants of "Ed-die Ed-die" ringing through Madison Square Garden, former Rangers goaltender Eddie Giacomin returns as a member of the Detroit Red Wings and beats the Rangers 6-4. 1975.
Bonus Event: The Spruce Goose. Howard Hughes' humongous airplane made its one and only flight, for about a minute, over Long Beach Harbor. 1947.