Top 5 Sports Stories

TGIF everyone, here's my Top 5 for November 13, 2009 from www.ThatsSports.com.

1. Quick Hits

That didn't take long. The first NBA coach gets fired, Byron Scott in New Orleans. The Hornets are 3 and 6.

In Thursday night football, The 49ers beat the Bears 10-6.

If you're wondering why in the world Tiger Woods is playing a golf tournament in Australia this week (he leads by 3 shots after 2 rounds), he's getting a $3-million appearance fee.

Tommy can you hear me? Word is The Who will perform at halftime of the Super Bowl.

2. Glimmer of Hope

I was at a sports/business conference yesterday and shared a panel with MSG President Scott O'Neil. The audience didn't care about the business of sports, they wanted to know if the Knicks will sign LeBron James. O'Neill couldn't comment specifically for fear of tampering. But he emphatically said Knick fans are going to be very very happy for the next decade. Take from that, what you will. Here's another tidbit to make Knick fans drool. The other night in Orlando, James wore Nike basketball shoes with "New York" stitched on one, and "27" on the other. To commemorate the Yankees 27th world championship.

3. Helmet Heads

The Wall Street Journal ran an interesting article the other day. It suggested one way to cut down on head injuries in football is to do away with helmets. Counter-intuitive eh? The theory is without helmets, the players aren't so reckless. And the helmets don't do much to protect the brain in the first place Phil Esposito once told me, the way to eliminate stick swinging in hockey is to get rid of hockey helmets. Same theory. Players will make nice without all that protective gear. But football without helmets? They wouldn't all appear to be gladiators. We would be able to tell the players apart. They'd actually look human. Is that what we really want?

4. Friday Mailbag

When I suggested by altering the color of his skin, Sammy Sosa, who also doctored his bat and flunked a drug test might have won the "alteration triple crown" B.B. wrote: "I think he actually got a "golden sombrero".... isn't he the same guy who somehow forgot how to speak/understand English during the 2 1/2 hour flight from Miami to D.C. for the congressional hearings on steroids?"

M.P. is really annoyed by the Giants losing streak. She writes " The Giants are so predictable in their play calling it's as if they are telegraphing their plays. I have season tickets to the Giants for over 35 years and the disappointments far outweigh their three Super Bowl wins."

Editor's Note: Wow M.P. Be glad you're not a Jets fan.

From New York sports fan J.W. "The Giants suck, the Jets suck, the Knicks suck , the Nets suck and I cannot watch hockey." Editor's Note: I'm guessing you're kinda looking ahead to the next baseball season.

And when I mentioned a certain man on the flying trapeze from 1859, D.P. wrote: "Jules Leotard? What's next, Jacques Strapp?"

5. Line of the Week

The Bonus event the other day was the 40th anniversary of Sesame Street. Sportswriter Dwight Perry in the Seattle Times noted the occasion with: "Today's sports column is brought to you by the letters P-E-D (performance enhancing drugs) and the symbol $."

Happy Birthday: Former Yankee pitcher and pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre. 68. Bonus Birthday: Comedian/Actress Whoopi Goldberg. 54.

Today in Sports: Harvard and Yale play the first college football game wearing uniforms. I guess before that they didn't wear anything. 1875.

Bonus Event: A guy named Benjamin Franklin wrote a letter that said, "In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes." 1789.

I'll have a book signing tonight in Clinton, New Jersey. Clinton Book Shop. 6:30pm.

 

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