Happy Tuesday everyone, here's my Top 5 for December 8, 2009 from Len Berman at www.ThatsSports.com.
1. Quick Hits
* The Winter Baseball Meetings are underway in Indianapolis. Who did pitcher Brian Bruney piss off? In a heartbeat he went from the penthouse to the outhouse. The Yankees traded him to Washington.
* There are two new baseball Hall of Famers. Manager Whitey Herzog and umpire Doug Harvey.
* The Pittsburgh Pirates always stink, but look at the bright side. They just announced they won't raise ticket prices for a record 8th straight season.
* Maybe the Knicks were right not to sign Allen Iverson who made his Philly debut last night. The Knicks won their 3rd straight game without him last night while the 76ers were losing their 10th straight.
* A whole lotta nothin'. NJ Devils goalie Martin Brodeur registers his 103rd career shutout in last night's 3-0 win in Buffalo. That ties Terry Sawchuk's record.
2. Get Out of Jail Card
Former wide receiver Plaxico Burress isn't crazy about being in jail. He's two months into his two year sentence after shooting himself in the leg. And he's applied for a work furlough. If he gets it, he can sleep at home anywhere from 1 to 7 nights a week and he can personally look for NFL jobs rather than tying up the prison phone line. I'm thinking maybe the prison system should supply a limo for him to travel back and forth. We don't want this to be too uncomfortable for him.
3. Party Crasher
Maybe this is even more shocking than the White House reality show goofballs. A defensive tackle made the Heisman cut. What in the world is going on here? Don't they know only running backs and quarterbacks almost always win? Of the final 5 Heisman candidates, two are quarterbacks, two are running backs, and then there's Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh. The last defensive tackle to win the Heisman? Uh, that would be never. Damn, I wish I had voted for the guy.
4. The Natural
I'm going to miss running into Tony Ferrara. He was one of those baseball guys you always saw at the ballpark. One day he'd be pitching batting practice for the Yankees, the next day for the Mets. He was a fixture at Yankees Fantasy Camp and even advised Robert Redford on the movie "The Natural." It earned him a cameo in the movie as the third base coach. Tony Ferrara passed away last week. He always had a smile on his face, and when you saw him at the ballpark you couldn't help but feel happy too. R.I.P. Tony.
5. Programming Note
The Vatican announced that the Pope will deliver his midnight Christmas mass at 10pm this year. Who's in charge of scheduling over there, NBC?
Happy Birthday: Former Yankee pitcher Mike Mussina. 41.
Bonus Birthday: Actress Kim Basinger. 56.
Today in Sports: To paraphrase my friend Warner Wolf, if you had Washington and 72 points you lost! The Bears beat the Redskins 73-0 for the NFL Championship. 1940.
Bonus Event: John Lennon is shot to death outside The Dakota in New York City. 1980.
I'll be signing copies of my best selling kids book The Greatest Moments in Sports tomorrow at the Barnes and Noble in Princeton, N.J. 5p.m.