5-at-10: Happy Fourth of July and God Bless America

Happy Fourth of July friends.

Like many of you, I am with family celebrating the great country we have and trying to contemplate ways to continue to help our country improve.

Still, for all our issues, is there anywhere else in the world you would rather live? And if so, then make it happen.

We are going to move quickly today with our three favorite patriotic sports moments/thoughts. Deal? Deal.

Jesse! Jesse!

Hard to imagine what Jesse Owens was facing in the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

Harder still is to imagine the holy Furor whipping Owens put on Hitler and the Nazis.

He won four golds, set a slew of records and stood in front of the most unspeakable hate imaginable with the fortitude of a champion and the grace of a patient parent.

Hard to argue with this being the greatest patriotic moment in American history.

Do you believe in miracles?

This one is tops on my list of things I watched with my own eyes.

I almost said watched ‘live’ but unless you were in Lake Placid, N.Y. that afternoon you did not see the U.S. hockey team toppling the mighty USSR crew 4-3 in the game that made Al Michaels a legend.

What a moment, and maybe the first real “Do you remember where you were” sports moment of my life.

Pat Tillman answers the call

Not sure what else you can really say, but a Pro Bowl NFL player leaving a seven-figure gig to head to war after 9/11 is enough to get you choked up whether it’s July 4th or October 4th, you know?

What are yours?

This and that

— The next on my patriotic list is the sacrifice of all the MLB stars of the 1940s — guys like Teddy Ballgame, Joe D, Bob Feller, et al. — who picked up and went to WWII. Similar sacrifice as Tillman but a different time.

— Braves played. Braves won. So it goes because that’s how they roll.

— The ESPN purge continues and it landed on two more names I will assuredly miss. Betting expert Doug Kezirian and College GameDay storyteller Gene Wojciechowski are not having their contracts renewed, according to Athlon Sports.

— Not a shocker, but the ratings for The Match between the Chiefs and the Warriors were bad. Like really bad.

— The CDC says that nearly 1 in 4 American adults and older teens still have not had the COVID. I haven’t.

Today’s questions

True or false, it’s Tuesday. Morning Ernie.

True or false, there would be fewer than 10 sports superstars volunteering to fight for America if we declared war on someone. True or false, fewer than five superstars.

True or false, this is the best Braves team since the 1990s.

True or false, you have had COVID.

True or false, you will watch fireworks.

As for today, well, you know.

Happy birthday to America.

Rushmore of ‘America’ (or American) in movie or song titles. Go.