TGIF everyone, here's my Top 5 for April 22, 2011 from Len Berman at www.ThatsSports.com.
1. Quick Hits
* In the NBA playoffs, Miami and Chicago take three games to zero leads over Philadelphia and Indianapolis.
* Road ice advantage? In the NHL playoffs, Boston and Montreal are now tied two games apiece. The home team has lost every game.
* Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig expects the number of playoff teams to go from eight to 10 in 2012.
* Sorry ladies, A-Rod may be off the market. Reports say he's been shopping for engagement rings for Cameron Diaz.
2. The Other Shoe
Lots of you have suggested that after Major League Baseball took over the Dodgers, the Mets are next. I don't think it's going to happen. It appears that Mets ownership, unlike the Dodgers, has apprised Bud Selig of their financial situation every step of the way. Plus, if the Mets come up with a deep-pocketed minority partner, there would be no need for baseball to step in. Now about that worst-in-the-majors record...
3. Is it a Sport?
The other day, I talked about the #2 sportsman in the U.K. being a dart thrower. Is dart throwing a sport? Is chess? Are those who do these things athletes? On Facebook at "Len Berman's Top 5," Peter L. wondered the same thing about bowling, while Marilyn P. had similar thoughts about curling. And Stan I. emailed to say that the late sportswriter Jimmy Cannon had a litmus test for whether an activity was a sport. He said of golf, "It's not a sport if you can do it while smoking a cigar."
But what if you can hold a beer in the other hand?
4. Friday eMailbag
S. S. has a good argument why the late Shoeless Joe Jackson should be in the Hall of Fame. "He has fully served his lifetime suspension!"
Editor's Note: Can't argue with that.
M.W. had this to say about the late great marathon champion Grete Waitz. "Loved your tribute to Grete. I love that she ran the marathon with Fred Lebow while he was stricken with cancer. I never heard of any other sport superstar doing something like that."
Editor's Note: She was a true champion in every sense of the word.
And under the heading of equal time, when I mentioned that a Kansas City Chiefs fan was going to schedule his vasectomy during the Chiefs bye week, R.B. wrote, "An unknown female Chiefs fans will use the bye week to have her tubes tied."
5. Spanning The World
This week's Spanning the World highlight comes from one of the lower British soccer leagues. The guy scores a gorgeous goal on the run.
Unfortunately, it was into his own net. Oops.
Happy Birthday: He quarterbacked the Giants to their famous Super Bowl XXV win over Buffalo in 1991, Jeff Hostetler. 50.
Bonus Birthday: You can't handle the truth that actor Jack Nicholson is 74 today.
Today in Sports: Let's speed things up. The NBA adopts the 24 second clock. 1954.
Bonus Event: Two cents plain. Congress authorizes a 2-cent coin. It was minted for 9 years. 1864.
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