Happy Groundhog Day everyone, here's my Top 5 for February 2, 2010 from Len Berman at www.ThatsSports.com.
1. Quick Hits
* The two Super Bowl teams arrived yesterday in Miami.
* Whoop de doo! It's media day today at the Super Bowl. (Indoors because of all the rain.) Let the dopey questions (and answers) commence.
* According to the NY Daily News, Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez will undergo left knee surgery.
* Kobe Bryant surpassed Jerry West as the all time leading scorer in Lakers history, in a loss to Memphis.
2. Leadership
I have this crazy notion that leaders are supposed to act like leaders. Perhaps Louisville coach Rick Pitino learned his lesson after his tawdry sex scandal. So too, Jets coach Rex Ryan after flipping the bird to a fan in Miami. Just as disconcerting was Ryan boasting to Miami fans that the Jets are going to beat them twice next year. You would expect your coach to sound more like a commander, and less like some yahoo calling an all sports radio station.
3. The Fur Flies
Is it still a sport if you wear costumes? Yes, if it's male figure skating. Animal rights groups are the early winners at the Vancouver Olympics. They've been "hounding" Johnny Weir because he has some real fox on his costume. He even got death threats, so he's replacing the fox with faux fur. Of course, the eye makeup and sequins will remain. I'm guessing these animal rights groups would have had their knickers in a twist at the 1900 Olympics in Paris. One of the events was live pigeon shooting!
4. The Mick
It's time for a break from winter. Count me as one of the zillions who love sports because of Mickey Mantle. As a kid, about the only thing I cared about was whether or not The Mick hit one. As I've mentioned before, Mickey's son David is a Top 5 subscriber. This video was posted on Twitter yesterday from NY Baseball Digest. It's Mickey appearing on David Letterman's show in 1987. You gotta hear his story at the end of the interview. All I can say is, "My Hero!"