Happy Wednesday everyone, here's my Top 5 for March 31, 2010 from Len Berman at www.ThatsSports.com.
1. Quick Hits
* Former UCLA basketball coach Steve Lavin gets the St. John's job.
* No wonder Al Skinner was interested in St. John's. He is being dumped by Boston College after 13 years.
* U-Conn and Oklahoma join Stanford and Baylor in the Women's Final Four.
* Yankee "switch-pitcher" Pat Venditte faced seven Atlanta Braves yesterday, he pitched to four of them righty and three lefty. He was charged with one earned run on a sacrifice fly.
2. The Johnnies
I think St. John's basketball made a good hire with Steve Lavin. St. John's desperately needs to rebuild. It's not easy keeping the New York City area kids home. Those big slick programs look awfully appealing around the country. What does St. John's have to offer? More games in Madison Square Garden. It's all about show biz these days in college basketball. Look good, talk smart, play the media. Lavin can do all that. Maybe this is the Johnnies' last best shot at a comeback. I hope it succeeds.
3. The Countdown
In 3 months NBA superstar LeBron James will become a free agent. A worried Cleveland Cavaliers fan named Brandon George created a website called inlebronwetrust.com. He has come up with a list of 23 stunts he'll perform to keep James in Cleveland. He already did the first, hot waxing his chest to remove all of his chest hair. Other things he'll do is spend a day dressed as a zombie, and live in a tent for a week. It's not clear how any of this will keep James in Cleveland, or even if James knows what this guy is doing. One incredibly painful stunt he left off his list. Being a life-long Knicks fan.
4. Just Another Day in Sports
In no particular order, a Miami Heat player, Dorell Wright, apologized for a nude picture of himself on the Internet. An anonymous NBA player suggests that 50 per cent of NBA wives started out as groupies. And country singer Mindy McCready says that when it comes to the bedroom, the Rocket Man (pitcher Roger Clemens), doesn't measure up to Superman (actor Dean Cain), so to speak.
And they say there are no heroes any more.
5. You Betcha
In Britain, you can bet on everything Tiger Woods and Masters related.
Some examples:
*Odds of winning the Masters. 4-1
*Odds of hitting a tree with his opening drive. 5-1.
*Odds of his getting booed at the first tee. 5-1.
*Odds of his kissing an anonymous blonde before teeing off. 25-1.
*Odds of getting into a fight with a fan. 500-1.
*Odds that you are sick of hearing about Tiger Woods. Even money.
Happy Birthday: Washington Nationals pitcher Chien-Ming Wang. 30.
Bonus Birthday: More Cowbell! Actor Christopher Walken. 67.
Today in Sports: Play Ball! Current Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, then a federal judge, issued an injunction against the owners thus ending the baseball strike, which had wiped out the 1994 World Series. 1995.
Bonus Event: Tennessee Williams' play The Glass Menagerie opened on Broadway. Not to be confused with The Grass Menagerie which will play out next week when Tiger Woods arrives at the Masters.