Happy Tuesday everyone, here's my Top 5 for September 14, 2010 from Len Berman at www.ThatsSports.com.
1. Quick Hits
* Rafael Nadal wins his first U.S. Open.
* The Jets have more penalties than first downs in losing to Baltimore 10-9.
* Tampa Bay beats the Yankees 1-0 in 11 innings to take over first place.
* With no NBA team showing interest, former star Allen Iverson is considering playing in China. Another former guard, Stephon Marbury, is thriving in China. (Not to mention selling shoes.)
2. Rafa
As you probably heard, Rafael Nadal is just the 7th man in tennis history to win all 4 major tennis tournaments. Think about that. John McEnroe never did it. He never won in Paris or Melbourne. Pete Sampras never did either. He couldn't win the French. Ivan Lendl didn't. Wimbledon did him in. And Bjorn Borg? Couldn't win on the hard stuff, neither the U.S. nor the Australian.
Oh, did I mention Nadal is only 24? Care to start the discussion on where he ranks in the pantheon of all time greats?
3. It's Not Easy Being Green
Sure, shoot your mouth off and talk about the Super Bowl. Go on HBO. Call lots of attention to yourself. Especially when you've accomplished nothing. I hate the cliche about "talking the talk and walking the walk." But after their pathetic offensive show last night, at least the Jets have the talking part down pat.
4. Listen Up!
There's a saying in real estate for home sellers. "The market will tell us what your house is really worth." Same goes for tickets to football games. It's a crying shame that there were 5,000 empty seats for the Giants on Sunday when they opened their new stadium. The Jets had about 4,000 open last night. Of course they're the expensive seats with pricey PSL's. The Giants had a waiting list that never ended. People were dying to go to their games. Others had to die for them to get tickets. No more. The waiting list has gone poof. The Giants and Jets have priced themselves too high. That's not my opinion. It's what the "market is telling us."
5. Sainz Of The Times
We've lived with this "women in the locker room" story forever. But as long as there are pretty women, and healthy football players, it won't go away. The Jets are accused of being sexist toward Mexican TV reporter Ines Sainz, a former Miss Universe contestant from Spain. Hey, I'm in favor of equality of the sexes, then again, if she wants to be considered a serious journalist, Ms. Sainz might try to dressing the part.
And she's wondering why balls were heading in her direction at practice? Please.
Happy Birthday: Former Yankees second baseman and Padres announcer Jerry Coleman. 86.
Bonus Birthday: Father of the Bride actress Kimberly Williams. 39.
Today in Sports: Free drinks! The first recorded hole-in-one by Tom Morris, Jr. at the British Open. 1868.
Bonus Event: Oh, say can you write a song? Francis Scott Key pens The Star-Spangled Banner. 1814.
My first book signing is tomorrow night on Staten Island, 7pm at the Barnes and Noble on Richmond Avenue.
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