Happy Tuesday everyone, here's my Top 5 for May 25, 2010 from Len Berman at www.ThatsSports.com.
1. Quick Hits
* Orlando stays alive by beating Boston in overtime 96-92. The Celtics still lead 3 games to 1.
* Mike Brown is fired as Cleveland Cavaliers coach.
* In hockey, it'll be a Philadelphia/Chicago Stanley Cup final.
* Roger Federer and Serena Williams, both seeded #1, advance to the second round of the French Open.
* According to the Golf Channel, Tiger Woods will return from his neck injury next week at the Memorial. He's the defending champ.
* They'll announce the site of the 2014 Super Bowl this afternoon.
2. Winning Isn't Everything
So what's the quote, winning isn't everything, it's the only thing? Here's another question. What does winning coach of the year honors one season and having the best record in the NBA the next, get you? If you're Cleveland coach Mike Brown, it gets you fired. That's because he didn't win a championship with LeBron James. So change the quote. Winning means squat, da ring's da thing.
3. Who Cares?
John Gambling asked me a great question on his radio show the other morning. (I appear with John on WOR Mondays and Fridays.) He wondered if anyone cares about doping in bicycle racing? I guess not. And taking it one step further, how about all of sports? Are we so numb to the news reports that we just don't care anymore? Maybe. When I was a kid, all I wanted was for Mickey Mantle to hit a homer. I could care less that he might have been drunk doing it. I'm guessing most sports fans now feel the same way. Are the cheers at Yankee Stadium for an A-Rod homer any less now that he admitted to being a steroid user? You be the judge.
4. Oh Brother
I got a great email from a former basketball scout. It was in response to a recent study showing that older brothers (Hank Aaron vs Tommie Aaron) have better major league careers. C.G. writes, "If you're talking comparable athletic ability, I've found that younger siblings outpace the older ones. It makes sense. Younger brother tags along with older brother. Plays with him and his friends. Gets toughened up and benefits from it in athletics. The key is not to compare brothers who both made pro, but to look at birth order in family."
It makes perfect sense to me! Anyone have a case study for sisters?
5. Super Duper
The NFL Network will air a 90-minute special this afternoon starting at 3pm ET, to announce the winning location for the 2014 Super Bowl. What, only 90 minutes? It's assumed that the New Jersey Meadowlands will be the lucky winner. But other than local hotel and restaurant owners, lucky for who? Super Bowl games last forever, and you really want to be in your seats long before the game begins for all the festivities. Then you have the post-game trophy presentation. Who wouldn't want to sit outdoors in New Jersey all day and night in early February? By the way, the pregame show for Super Bowl III, when Joe Namath made his famous prediction, was 60 minutes long, or 30 minutes shorter than today's Super Bowl announcement program.
Happy Birthday: Basketball Hall of Famer as a player and coach, Bill Sharman. 84.
Bonus Birthday: Austin Powers himself, Mike Myers. 47.
Today in Sports: Babe Ruth hit his 714th and final home run. 1935.
Bonus Event: Perhaps the greatest single day for an athlete in sports history. Jesse Owens of Ohio State set 3 world records in track and field and tied a 4th. All in a span of 45 minutes. One of many stories in The Greatest Moments in Sports. (See below.) 1935.
Need the perfect Father's Day or birthday gift? How about a personally inscribed copy of my New York Times best selling book, The Greatest Moments in Sports, with a free audio CD of some of the great moments. Just contact Dolphin Books at 516-767-2650.