Happy Wednesday everyone, here's my Top 5 for May 25, 2011 from Len Berman at www.ThatsSports.com.
1. Quick Hits
- In the NBA playoffs, Miami is one game away from the NBA Finals after beating Chicago 101-93 in overtime in game four.
- Former Cleveland coach Mike Brown is considered the likely replacement for Phil Jackson as Lakers coach.
- In the NHL playoffs, Vancouver is heading to the Stanley Cup finals after beating San Jose 3-2 in double overtime in game five.
- At the French Open, John Isner led #1 Rafael Nadal two sets to one before losing in five sets in their first round match. It's the first time Nadal has ever played five sets in a French Open match.
- The family of the Giants fan, severely beaten on opening day, has sued the Dodgers alleging that cutbacks in security and antiquated light fixtures contributed to the brutal attack.
- A New York jury rules that the aircraft manufacturer was not at fault in the death of Yankees pitcher Corey Lidle.
- Former Kansas City pitching great Paul Splittorff has died from cancer at the age of 64.
- Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward wins Dancing With the Stars.
2. Owners Meeting
It's nice and all that NFL owners have adopted some new rules for player safety, but aren't their efforts misguided? Shouldn't they spend every waking moment negotiating with the players? Instead, they run drafts and meetings as if it's business as usual. Knock it off. Lock yourself in round the clock negotiations. It's the least you can do for your fans.
3. Private Matters
You have to be an international lawyer to understand Britain's privacy laws. A married soccer player, Ryan Giggs, allegedly had an affair. He went to court and got a "super injunction" preventing any news outlet from divulging his name. But he was mentioned about 75,000 times on Twitter. (Giggs is suing Twitter and those who outed him.) And then his name was spoken in Parliament, because members of Parliament aren't subject to the law. The news media then reported what was said in Parliament. This is serious stuff. Now let's see how serious my Top 5 subscribers are. Here's a link to the busty model, Imogen Thomas, who is the "other woman." And here's another link to an explanation of privacy in English law. I'll report back how many of you clicked each. I have my ways.
4. And the Winner is...
Here's an update on the Preakness, since you were too worried about the world ending to get all the results. It turns out, Kegasus won the day. The controversial half-man half-horse mascot helped draw a huge throng of 107,000 fans to the race. And with all those beer drinkers in the infield, police say there were 23 ejections, but no arrests. Sounds like a little fudging with the stats, but what the heck. And for the record, Julia Tirenna won the bikini contest. But unlike Shackleford, she won't be coming to Belmont for her next competition. She's headed to the bikini nationals in the Bahamas. It's my job to clean up these loose ends.
5. Swine
Last night was "Tribute to Bacon" night at the minor league Richmond Flying Squirrels game. Kevin Bacon threw out the first pitch. Actually, it wasn't that Kevin Bacon. It was a local police detective with the same name. One lucky fan won a year's supply of bacon. The president of the team said the whole idea of the night was to "ham it up." Oy.
Happy Birthday: Boston Celtics great K.C. Jones. 79.
Bonus Birthday: Austin Powers himself, Mike Myers. 48.
Today in Sports: Maybe the greatest 45 minutes in sports history. Ohio State's Jesse Owens tied the world record in the 100-yard dash, and then set world records in the long jump, the 220-yard dash and the 220 low hurdles. Featured in my New York Times best-selling book, The Greatest Moments in Sports. 1935.
Bonus Event: 50 years ago today. President Kennedy says, let's put a man on the moon by the end of the decade. 1961.
To sign up for Len's free daily Top 5 email click here.