Happy Tuesday everyone, here's my Top 5 for November 1, 2011 from Len Berman at www.ThatsSports.com.
1. Quick Hits
- Cards manager Tony La Russa retires.
- The Yankees and CC Sabathia have a new deal to keep him in pinstripes for at least five more years.
- In Monday Night Football, Kansas City beat San Diego 23-20 in overtime.
- West Virginia wants out now. They're suing the Big East to leave for the Big 12 in time for next season rather than wait 27 months as required by Big East rules.
- After 72 days the Kim Kardashian marriage to Kris Humphries of the New Jersey Nets is kaput. I think the over/under was two months.
2. Occupy Yankee Stadium
I wonder about all the free agent/contract talk. How will the country react to talk of all those millions while Wall Street protests continue? There certainly wasn't any fan empathy for the NFL lockout. Same goes for the NBA. CC Sabathia's new deal gets him at least one more season, in 2016, and will net him an extra $30 million minimum. Yankee fans are happy. The other big name free agents include Albert Pujols, Prince Fielder and Jose Reyes. I think baseball would be better served if all three signed new healthy contracts and remained with their current teams, as CC did. But that's just me.
3. Hangin' Em Up
As I mentioned yesterday, there's a fine line between genius and dope. In Tony La Russa's case it was a fly ball to right in the bottom of the 9th inning in game 6. But no matter what you think, you can't take away his three World Series titles. And almost nobody gets to do what he did, walk away on top. As they say, "managers are hired to be fired." Not always.
4. Tebowing
This fad may be short lived. When Denver beat Miami, Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow dropped to his knee in prayer. That's now called Tebowing. A web site immediately sprouted up www.Tebowing.com. They define Tebowing as a verb, "to get down on a knee and start praying, even if everyone else around you is doing something completely different." They've posted pictures of people all over the country doing it. And they're only too happy to sell you Tebowing tee shirts and bibs for your toddler. Well on Sunday, Tim Tebow and the Broncos got pasted at home by Detroit 45-10. Tebow was dreadful, and after getting sacked, the Lions didn't do sack dances, they were Tebowing. Ouch.
5. Swingin' for the Fences
So when the Mets go deep next season, they won't have to go as deep. It's official, they're bringing in the fences up to 12 feet and lowering them to eight feet. Citi Field, in its first three seasons, was last in the majors in home runs. So the Mets should hit more homers next season. Then again, so should the opposition. But all is not lost low-E.R.A. fans. By shortening the field, they're extending the stands. Good seats now available, an extra 140 per game. Hey, you might even catch a home run ball.
Happy Birthday: Golfing great Gary Player. 76.
Bonus Birthday: Actress/model Jenny McCarthy. 39.
Today in Sports: The start of something big. Montreal goalie Jacques Plante wears a face mask. 1959.
Bonus Event: Seabiscuit wins the "Match of the Century" against War Admiral at Pimlico. As a result, Seabiscuit is named newsmaker of the year. 1938.
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