Happy Flag Day everyone, here's my Top 5 for Monday June 14, 2010 from Len Berman at www.ThatsSports.com.
1. Quick Hits
* The Boston Celtics now lead the L.A. Lakers 3 games to 2 in the NBA Finals after last night's 92-86 win in Boston.
* After tying England 1-1 on a gift goal, the U.S. next plays Slovenia Friday in the World Cup.
* Washington pitcher Stephen Strasburg is now 2-0 after the Nats beat Cleveland 9-4.
* On a night when they celebrated the Blackhawks Stanley Cup win at Wrigley Field, Cubs pitcher Ted Lilly took a ho-hitter into the 9th against the White Sox. Of course he didn't get it. We're talking about the Cubs here.
* Not a bad debut. Red Sox rookie Daniel Nava hit a grand slam Saturday against Philadelphia on the first very pitch he ever saw in the Major Leagues.
* Tennessee quarterback Vince Young is issued a misdemeanor assault citation after an incident with a man at a Dallas area strip club.
2. Soccer Mania
Has soccer finally turned-on America? New York tabloids had the soccer tie on the front page. TV ratings were very solid, (yes the constant blowing of vuvuzelas is annoying) and if you passed bars when America tied the game, you heard chants of U-S-A, U-S-A. Of course if England blew out the U.S. none of the above would have happened. So it's unclear if soccer is now cool, or if we're just a nation of front-runners.
3. Pseudo-Intellectuals
During the NBA Finals games in Boston, Celtic fans were chanting "Kobe Sucks" in unison at Lakers star Kobe Bryant. Red Sox fans repeatedly chant "Yankees Suck" at Fenway Park, in fact they even chanted "Yankees Suck" at the first Patriots Super Bowl parade. Might it be time for fans from the land of Harvard and the Kennedys to show a tad more originality?
4. And Now This Word....
Here's a leftover beef from last week. They had ads burned onto the ice for the Stanley Cup Finals. Hockey's biggest event, and they had commercials sharing the ice with the players. Is that the future? Are we going to see billboards on the outfield grass in baseball? How about the 30-yard line is brought to you by? The entire sports world will one day look like NASCAR.
5. You Betcha
Richard Enticott is a British citizen who works as a tea-taster in New York. Hey, everybody's gotta do something. Anyway, his son was recently born and Richard has bet 100 pounds that the kid will score a goal for England in the World Cup in 2034. He got 10,000-1 odds from a British bookmaker. So check back in 24 years, he just might quit his tea-tasting job when he wins 1-million pounds.
Happy Birthday: One of the all time greats, tennis star and Mrs. Andre Agassi, Steffi Graf. 41.
Bonus Birthday: The Donald's hair was born on this date, and so was Donald Trump. 64.
Today in Sports: Duke Snider hits his 400th career home run. He did it as a New York Met. He would only hit 7 more in his career. 1963.
Bonus Event: All hail the red, white and blue. The Stars and Stripes are adopted as America's Flag by the Second Continental Congress. 1777.