TOP TEN- 8-7-06

Everybody has a Top 10. NS is no different. But rather than focus just on college football or Major League Baseball, we’ve decided to throw every sport –yachting, table tennis, tobacco-spitting- into the same pool and simply fish out the best athletes/teams each Monday. Let the debating commence…

1. David Ortiz- Papi’s 40 homers for three consecutive years are impressive. The look of opposing relief pitchers facing him in the ninth inning is priceless.
2. Tiger Woods- The Golden Bear was 33 when he earned his 50^th Tour victory. The Buick Open-winning Woods will have 60 by then.
3. Jimmie Johnson- He’s finished in the Top 5 on the NASCAR points leaderboard four times in his career. Sunday’s win at Indy might help him get over two humps: 1) History 2) Matt Kenseth.
4. New York Baseball- The Mets are cruising and the Yanks are bruising teams lately. Both face playoff contenders (Mets/San Diego, Yanks/Chicago) this week.
5. Detroit Tigers- They’re winning the 10-2 blowouts and the 1-0 nail-biters; that’s the sign of a really good team.
6. Soccer- There’s the stunning 1-0 shutout for the MLS All-Stars against visiting Chelsea FC last Saturday. The Chivas USA/New England match-up in L.A. had 92,516 in the stands on Sunday. Oh, and the new soccer movie Once in a Lifetime is really good.
7. USA Basketball- Alas, a team America has no problem with showing off to the world. Who cares there’s not a pure shooter in the bunch?
8. Football H.O.F.- Though overshadowed (deservedly) by the late Reggie White’s induction, Warren Moon’s “I hope I represented”-themed speech was equally moving.
9. Minnesota- The Twins take an eight-game road winning streak into the place where they could really use a few road wins: Detroit.
10. Chicago White Sox- We know about Jim Thome (33 HR, 84 RBI) and Paul Konerko (26, 80), but has anyone else noticed how much damage Jermaine Dye (.319, 30, 83) is doing to the baseball?

Almost Made The Cut: Greg Maddox (six no-hit innings in LA debut), Sheri Steinhauer (won Women’s British Open), Maria Sharapova (won the Acura Classic)

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Three WORST: Floyd Landis (failed second drug test), Braves GM John Schuerholz (put Andruw Jones on waiver wire), San Francisco Giants (2-8 over last 10)