It was an award-winning week in sports, highlighted by the handing out baseball’s postseason awards. It’s interesting to note that none of the winners for Rookie of the Year, Manager of the Year, Cy Young or MVP made it to the World Series. But there were several other stories of note, from the serious to the ridiculous. Here now, my Best of Sports Top 5 of the week:

1. Hoop$

So who's more important, the employer or the employee?


Without employers there's no business. Without employees, nothing gets done. Michele Roberts, the new head of the NBA Players Association, has fired a major warning shot across the bow of NBA owners. She told ESPN The Magazine "There would be no money if not for the players." She made it very clear that she's not in favor of salary caps and wants more, more and more money for the players. This comes as a result of the major TV deals that kick-in in 2016. The players can opt out of their contract in 2017. Is there any doubt what’s going to happen? Game on.

2. Numbers Game

So what's your number? Is pitching 75 percent of the game, 90? It's pretty high, right? So explain this one. Neither Cy Young winner won the World Series this year. You have to go back 13 years to Randy Johnson and Arizona in 2001 to find a Cy Young winner also winning the World Series. And in the American League, it's 29 years—Bret Saberhagen in Kansas City. Maybe it's a product of the playoff system. Perhaps it’s the onslaught of great relief pitching.

They started the award in 1956, and through 1966, there was only one Cy Young winner and no playoffs. And in six of those 11 seasons, the Cy Young winner also won the World Series.

3. Veterans Day

We celebrated Veterans Day this week. We don't mention it nearly enough, all the  great athletes who put their careers on hold to serve in the military. Ted Williams served for 5 1/2 years in two wars during the prime of his career. His stats are amazing. Just think how much more amazing they’d be if a couple of wars hadn’t “gotten in the way” of baseball. Bob Feller was the first to enlist after Pearl Harbor. The list is long and glorious including Yogi Berra who was part of the Normandy invasion. Then there's the sad tale of Pat Tillman who gave up a football career after 9/11 only to be killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan. This is not to say that athletes are more important than other veterans. All deserve to be saluted and honored.

4. Crime and Punishment

A couple of investigations to report: Florida State University has postponed its disciplinary hearing into quarterback Jameis Winston’s alleged sexual assault until Dec. 1. (Coincidentally, wink wink, the regular season will be over by then. And by extension there should be no resolution until after the National Championship has been played.) They take their sweet time at Florida State. The incident happened in 2012. Then there’s FIFA looking into the awarding of future World Cups to Russia and Qatar. Surprise, surprise. They didn’t find corruption. If I’m ever accused of wrongdoing, I want FIFA and Florida State to investigate.

5. On the Sideline

I’ve written before that I’m not young, female or blonde enough to be hired as a sideline reporter. Then there’s Serbian soccer reporter Katarina Sreckovic. She says she’s been ordered away from the team because her good looks are too distracting.

C’mon guys. Concentrate!