Happy Thursday everyone, here's my Top 5 for March 4, 2010 from Len Berman at www.ThatsSports.com.
1. Quick Hits
* Colts quarterback Peyton Manning underwent successful neck surgery for a pinched nerve.
* Jack Nicklaus thinks Tiger Woods will play in the Masters.
* Nets fans booed LeBron James last night because some of his dunks weren't fancy enough. Of course, Cleveland won, 111-92.
* The head of the Russian Olympic Committee has walked the plank after his country's dismal showing. Only 3 golds. He would have been fired anyway.
2. Cyber Revenge
It's a new world out there. In the past, if you got rapped in the newspaper, you had to sit back and take it. Not anymore. Golfer John Daly got pissed at a Florida sportswriter who wrote about all the stuff in Daly's PGA file. The alcoholism, the suspensions. So Daly tweeted that the guy is a "jerk" and he gave out the writer's personal phone number, asking his fans to call and tell him how they feel. Ouch. Perhaps I'm going to have to watch what I say about people in the Top 5? Nah.
3. Calling All Collectors
Some important hockey equipment has gone missing. The stick and gloves used by Sidney Crosby when he scored the gold medal winning goal in Vancouver. Somehow, in all the celebrating, the stuff got misplaced. And now the Hockey Hall of Fame has come calling for it. I'm sure it was an honest mistake... that'll show up on eBay any second.
4. The Reclusive One
Sandy Koufax rarely appears on television, but he did the other night in LA to benefit Joe Torre's Safe At Home Foundation. Maybe Koufax's shyness stems from his early days on NBC's Game of the Week. Koufax admitted that on Fridays he'd pray for rain the next day to spare him from going on the air. On the TV show he called his grandfather amazing, and said about his grandfather's advice. "Don't waste your time, don't be frivolous with your time. As you get older, I've developed an attitude, spend your money foolishly and your time wisely. It's a lot easier to know what's in the bank than [the time] you have left."
And I thought time was money. Wrong!
We need more Koufax on television.
5. This Tape Will Self-Destruct
Many of you have expressed the feeling that you're tired of hearing about Tiger Woods. Sorry. He will continue to be compelling as he makes his return to golf. I've always thought he'd be back for the Masters. Anyway, you can now buy an app for your iPhone and iPod Touch which puts a timer on text messages. The messages disappear forever on the sending device, the receiver and the server. It's called Tiger Text. The perfect gift for that cheating spouse in your life.
Happy Birthday: Boxer Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini. 49.
Bonus Birthday: Sonny and Cher's daughter Chastity, now a man known as Chaz. 41.
Today in Sports: The Yankees become the first team to train outside the U.S. (Bermuda) 1913.
Bonus Event: In order to have a location for a TV sitcom, Samuel Cole opens the first tavern in Boston. 1634.