Happy Tuesday everyone, here's my Top 5 for July 27, 2010 from Len Berman at www.ThatsSports.com.
1. Quick Hits
* Tampa Bay's Matt Garza pitches a no-hitter against Detroit, the first no-hitter in Tampa Bay history. It's the 5th no-hitter this season. It leaves San Diego and the Mets as the only franchises without a no-hitter.
* Cincinnati is interested in wide receiver Terrell Owens.
* The Tennessee Titans have sued both USC and football coach Lane Kiffin for luring away the Titans running backs coach.
* The London Olympics begin two years from today.
2. Lemme in Coach
Quick, who was the Yankees hitting coach in 1961? While you ponder, back in the day, teams had 3 coaches in addition to a manager. First base, third base, and pitching. Nowadays, they have 6. Bullpen, hitting, and bench round out the half dozen.
So, is Howard Johnson, the Mets batting coach, the reason the Mets are slumping? If so, let's give credit to the THREE M&M boys in 1961. The Mick and Roger hit all those homers thanks to hitting coach Wally Moses!
3. Reign Drops
In response to yesterday's item about Spain racking up all the wins in sports, giving new meaning to "The Reign in Spain" -- the World Cup, Tour de France, Wimbledon, even the German Formula One Grand Prix -- subscriber Steve F. points out "don't forget about Pau Gasol winning the NBA championship with the Lakers." But John in North Carolina points out the Grand Prix win was fixed. Ferrari gave a Brazilian team member orders to slow down, so the Spanish driver could win. Ferrari was fined the max, $10,000. Does everything is sports have to contain an asterisk?
4. Higher Education
At some point you just want to throw up your hands. A college football coach calls agents pimps. Agents ask who is calling the kettle black? Coaches land their schools in hot water, and then race out of town barely ahead of the posse, landing more lucrative jobs. Then you have coach Rick Pitino, he of the sex on a table in a restaurant, setting a fine example for his institution. No problem, as long as he wins. And the players aren't exactly in college for an education. In basketball, it's one and done. It's been suggested that if you legalize drugs in sports, you save a lot of time, effort, and money trying to catch the cheats. If they want to put poison in their bodies, let them. Using the same argument, get rid of all the NCAA rules. Pay everyone. They're all going to cheat anyway, what's the point?
5. No Pie For You
Celebrations have become dangerous. Earlier this season, Kendry Morales hit a game-winning grand slam for the Angels and broke his leg jumping on home plate. The other day, Marlins outfielder Chris Coghlan went to shove a pie in the face of teammate West Helms after his game-winning hit, and Coghlan tore up his knee. Teams have been known to ban players from skiing and riding motorcycles. The Florida Marlins are the first to ban the use of pie.
Happy Birthday: A-Rod. 35.
Bonus Birthday: There's got to be a morning after. (Can you picture Shelley Winters swimming for her life in The Poseidon Adventure?) Singer Maureen McGovern. 61.
Today in Sports: I actually heard it from my hotel room. A pipe bomb explodes in Centennial Park at the Atlanta Olympics. 1996.
Bonus Event: John Lennon gets his green card. 1977.