Happy Thursday everyone, here's my Top 5 for June 10, 2010 from Len Berman at www.ThatsSports.com.
1. Quick Hits
* The Chicago Blackhawks hoist the Stanley Cup for the first time since 1961 after their 4-3 overtime win in Game 6 in Philadelphia.
* Game 4 of the NBA Finals is tonight in Boston with the Lakers leading the Celtics two games to one.
* Former Dallas coach Avery Johnson will coach the New Jersey Nets. He's got the highest winning percentage of any coach in NBA history. The Nets had the worst winning percentage of any team this season.
2. Upon Further Review
Apparently they're floating the idea of one replay challenge per team, per game in Major League Baseball. I have one word for that. No, no and no. OK, 4 words. So you challenge a call with the bases loaded in the first inning and then an egregious call decides the game in the 9th. What do you do then? Determining home runs with replay is fine. If they want to extend that to fair or foul on batted balls, that's OK too. Anything more, no thanks. The other night in Boston it seemed every possession went to replay to decide who touched it last. Yeah, the last two minutes of a basketball game don't take long enough, let's slow it down even more.
3. Stay Classy, Chicago
It's bad enough that any idiot can spew venom on the radio unchecked, and don't ever start about the Internet. But I thought that newspapers might be the last bastion of civility? Forget it. The Chicago Tribune doctored a picture of the Flyers Chris Pronger to show him wearing a skirt. The headline, Chrissy Pronger: Looks like Tarzan, skates like Jane. Here's the picture. Deserving of the Pew-Litzer Prize.
4. U-S-C U-Later
Reports are that USC football has been banned from bowl games for two seasons. They may also lose scholarships and forfeit games for illegal benefits received by star running back Reggie Bush. It's possible USC could be stripped of its 2004 National Championship. I'm thinking Bush won't have to give back his Heisman Trophy. Hell, O.J. Simpson didn't have to. This all means coach Pete Carroll ran off to the Seattle Seahawks ahead of the posse and escapes any sanctions. That's the way it works in college sports. Schools and kids suffer, holier than thou coaches skate free.
5. Road Trip
A recent New York Times story talked about home field advantage in sports. Then it mentioned Baltimore's Melvin Mora. His wife gave birth to quints, and for the next season and a half Mora batted just .205 at home but .254 on the road. Ah, the sleep factor. Maybe that explains home field advantage. Visiting team players are too busy screwing around.
Happy Birthday: Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Fouts. 59.
Bonus Birthday: Sasha Obama. 9.
Today in Sports: At the age of 15, pitcher Joe Nuxhall becomes the youngest player in major league history with the Cincinnati Reds. 1944.
Bonus Event: The Candy Man can. Sammy Davis, Jr. hit #1 on the charts for the first time with "Candy Man." 1972.
By the way, this was my presentation Tuesday at the Mashable Media Summit. It deals with my transition from "old media to new media."