Happy Wednesday everyone, here's my Top 5 for November 24, 2010 from Len Berman at www.ThatsSports.com.
1. Quick Hits
* The overwhelming American League MVP is Texas outfielder Josh Hamilton.
* Red Sox catcher Victor Martinez jumps to the Detroit Tigers.
* New Mets manager Terry Collins says the Mets have the talent to win.
* You go Joe! 83-year old Penn State coach Joe Paterno has no plans to retire.
* Skidmore beat Southern Vermont 128-123 in 7 overtimes. The longest men's basketball game in Division III history.
2. Hardball
Here's a warm and fuzzy holiday story. The Yankees have told Derek Jeter to go ahead and test the market if he doesn't like their offer. Nice. Talk about throwing a high hard one at the head of your legendary shortstop. The Yankees aren't entirely wrong, but they're not entirely right either. Jeter's agent started this by saying he was "baffled" by the Yankees offer. The Yanks let Babe Ruth walk and more recently Bernie Williams. For Jeter, it's a cold sports world out there, but $45 million over 3 years should warm you up, for starters.
3. Bye Bye
They took the wrecking ball to the Spectrum in Philadelphia yesterday. From the Broad Street Bullies, to Dr. J. to Rocky Balboa to Christian Laettner's shot for Duke that beat Kentucky, that place has seen a great chunk of sports history. Unfortunately, the wrecking ball had early problems taking chunks out of the building. The second swing even drew boos. Check it out.
But hey, it's Philadelphia!
4. Holiday eMailbag
C.A. didn't like me casting my Heisman ballot for Cam Newton. He writes, "The BEST college football player is Andrew Luck of Stanford. First, he is a true STUDENT-ATHLETE. Second, he is a far better QB than Newton."
When I mentioned the NFL not canceling their games after JFK's assassination in 1963, B.P. pointed out, "To be completely accurate, the NFL didn't postpone their games, but the AFL did."
And subscriber R.B. has this to say about the new Mets manager, "Collins is the perfect name ...the fans will be drinking Tom Collins after many Mets games."
5. Spanning The World
Here's this week's Spanning the World highlight. A parrot named Pigeon, who lives in Capetown South Africa, is all the rage. He can say the names of the players and coach of Manchester United.
But my favorite parrot was named Baby, in Cleveland, who could sing Take Me Out of the Ballgame. Sadly, Baby never made it to YouTube, so here is a poor substitute.
Trust me, Baby sang circles around this bird.
Happy Birthday: One of the smoothest basketball players you'll ever see, who just happened to go to Syracuse. He's the Mayor of Detroit. Dave Bing. 67.
Bonus Birthday: Actress Katherine Heigl. 32.
Today In Sports: Wilt Chamberlain pulls down an astounding 55 rebounds in one game against Boston, an NBA record that still stands. 50 years ago today. 1960.
Bonus Event: I Got the Horse Right Here.... Guys and Dolls opens on Broadway. 1950.
Have a great Thanksgiving holiday everyone. The Top 5 resumes Monday.