Happy Wednesday everyone, here's my Top 5 for January 18, 2012 from Len Berman at www.ThatsSports.com.
1. Quick Hits
- The 2-14 Indianapolis Colts fired coach Jim Caldwell.
- Tim Tebow has turned down an offer from CBS to join their pregame show this Sunday.
- The Detroit Tigers All-Star designated hitter Victor Martinez tore his ACL while working out. He's likely lost for the 2012 season.
- Talk about a win-win situation. Giants star pitcher Tim Lincecum asked for $21.5 million for next season in arbitration. The Giants offered $17.
- The highest seeded American at the Australian Open, #8 Mardy Fish, was ousted in the second round by #71 in the world Alejandro Falla of Colombia.
- Rangers hockey fans should be alarmed. Owner James Dolan who never speaks to the media, spoke last night and said the team is "pretty close" to winning the Stanley Cup. Has he ever been right?
2. The Apple Doesn't Fall Far...
Way to go Indianapolis Colts. They dumped their coach Jim Caldwell and they just threw it out there on Twitter. Forget for a moment that their 2-14 record is more about Peyton Manning's neck injury. But a sneak attack from owner Jim Irsay? Why not? His father Robert is the one who pirated the Colts out of Baltimore in the middle of the night taking their cherished history and logos with him. Way to stay classy Indianapolis.
3. Upon Further Review
You guys have lots of say on the NFL replay system which clearly doesn't work.
* From subscriber B.O. The refs should absolutely NOT be involved because they have a vested interest in upholding their own call AND it takes way too long AND there is no way a ref on the field can look at a monitor under the stupid curtain and see as well as a high tech set up in a replay booth.
*M.M. If Gary Bettman and the NHL can get it right, why can't the NFL?
*D.S., a Giants fan, hints at a "conspiracy." Personally I doubt there was any conscious bias by the refs, but the calls in both Giants/Packers games were sufficiently and consistently lopsided that it raises an integrity issue.
Editor's Note: Since the NFL can't fix a broken system, and because they continue to put out nonsense press releases in defense of indefensible calls, you can't blame fans who think there's more to this than meets the eye.
4. Swing and a Miss
Maybe these White House visits for championship teams need to be reworked. The champion St. Louis Cardinals made the annual trek yesterday. When you think Cardinals, you think Tony La Russa and Albert Pujols. Neither are Cards anymore, so neither showed up. Then there was the president calling the Cardinals championship "greatest comeback team in the history of baseball." Stop right there. Nice late-season comeback. Nice game six survival. But the 1951 New York Giants own the title. And the 2004 Red Sox are in second place. But hey, if it gets him a few more votes this time in Missouri, go for it.
5. A B-a-a-d Idea
A group of New Zealand sheep shearers think that sheep-shearing might make a good Olympic sport. After all, it's an official sport in New Zealand. Here's what they think: The "time has come to elevate shearing's sporting status to the ultimate world stage... athletes who take it to another level." Yeah, down to the skin. Anyway, if you want to watch some dynamite New Zealand sheep shearing, here you go. After watching the video I'm thinking some Kansas wheat farmers might want to consider wheat growing as an Olympic sport too. Or is that also shear folly?
Happy Birthday: The Captain, Mark Messier. 51.
Bonus Birthday: Kevin Costner. 57.
Today in Sports: The Pittsburgh Steelers win their second straight Super Bowl beating Dallas 21-17 in Super Bowl X. 1976.
Bonus Event: Something new, the X-Ray machine is exhibited for the first time. 1896.
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