Happy Thursday everyone, here's my Top 5 for December 17, 2009 from Len Berman at www.ThatsSports.com.
1. Quick Hits
* Tiger Woods is selected "Athlete of the Decade" by U.S. sports editors. The ballots have yet to be counted for "Husband of the Year."
* Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry was seriously injured when he fell off the back of a pickup truck during a domestic dispute with his fiancee in Charlotte. [Editor's Note: Henry has died as a result of his injuries].
* Thursday night football. The 13-0 Indianapolis Colts visit Jacksonville tonight.
* Ho hum. Kobe Bryant, broken finger and all, hits a jumper at the buzzer to beat Milwaukee in overtime 107-106.
2. Words of Encouragement
Ron Artest of the Lakers has posted an open letter on his web site for Tiger Woods to "keep his chin up." Artest feels the media has been unfair to Tiger and that Woods is a "perfect role model." Of course this comes from a guy who admittedly fathered a child with another woman, while having two kids with his girlfriend (later his wife.) Artest is also the player who went into the stands to fight with fans in Detroit. He also fessed up to drinking booze at halftime of games in Chicago. I think Artest is the perfect individual to be writing an advice column, don't you?
3. Rules of Engagement
My thoughts yesterday about speeding up baseball games certainly got your juices flowing.
D.A. wrote that they should shorten the time between half innings. That would also cut down on the "inane scoreboard games and distractions."
V.I. says "every pitcher should be required to watch a video of Whitey Ford once a year."
But J.M. makes an interesting point: " If you make players step out of the batter's box, how would they rip open their batting gloves 15 times, spit 12 times or grab their crotches 16 times?
And not everyone is in favor of quicker games. J.R. writes: "For what we pay for Yankees tickets, I want the game to last as long as it can. I don't hear anyone saying they should speed up golf."
4. The "Nays of Texas" are Upon You
Some college professors at the University of Texas think that football coach Mack Brown makes too much money. In this era of belt tightening, the Texas Faculty Council passed an unofficial resolution calling Brown's 5 million dollar pay package "unseemly and inappropriate." The flip side is all the money that the Texas football program brings to the school. Lets hope that some of that cash finds its way into academia.
5. Out to Sea
The Persian Gulf has been ruled out as a potential site to hold the America's Cup race. The Persian Gulf? Why not off North Korea? Better yet Somalia. I think having moving targets would make this race infinitely more interesting.
Happy Birthday: The golfer who lost to Tiger Woods in a playoff at the 2008 U.S. Open, Rocco Mediate. 47.
Bonus Birthday: Penthouse founder Bob Guccione. 79.
Today in Sports: Going, going, gone! The Yankees fire one of my heroes, announcer Mel Allen. 1964.
Bonus Event: "But I'm only going one way officer." The NYC traffic department creates the first one-way street. 1791.
I'll be on the Hannity Show tonight on Fox News Channel at 9pm Eastern.