by John Walters

Starting Five

1. One World Trade Center

a.k.a., The Freedom Tower. Here’s a terrific piece on the tallest building in the western hemisphere* by Scott Raab in Esquire.

*Granted, only because the antennae stick up so high. I don’t like this rule. It should be the last spot on the building someone can actually stand.

Here’s one of the ways I choose to remember this date, annually.

2. New England ‘Beats’ Pittsburgh

Tom Brady threw four touchdowns, three of them to Rob Gronkowski, as the Patriots beat the Steelers, 28-21, in the season opener in rainy conditions at Foxborough.

The story, however, was headsets, or how Pittsburgh’s coaching staff getting interference on theirs and hearing the voices of the Patriot Radio Network during the game. Here’s the allegation, which will probably once and for all send Roger Goodell to check in to Bellevue.

3. Follow You, Follow Me

In case you were wondering, the most followed person on Twitter remains Katy Perry: 75 million-plus. She is “followed” in the rankings by Justin Bieber and Barack Obama, both of whose accounts list them as following hundreds of thousands of accounts themselves. Katy follows just 156 people. No. 4 on the list is Katy’s not-even-frenemy, Taylor Swift, with 63 million-plus follows.

However, Taylor is now the most followed person on Instagram, with 45.9 million followers. Kim Kardashian has thus fallen…behind.

Cristiano Ronaldo (13th) is the most followed jock, with 37 million followers. LeBron is the most followed American jock (29th, 23 million).

4. The Class of ’88: Most Likely To…

Three people who were in my graduating class at Notre Dame: Heisman Trophy  winner Tim Brown. International best-selling author Nicholas Sparks. And skinny suit designer Thom Browne. Here’s a Fashion Week piece on the latter (lattest?) from a cute little daily we get here called The New York Times.

Also, not: all three earned a varsity letter or four: Tim for football, Nicholas for track and cross-country, and Thom for swimming.

5. Surfers Are Insane (Part 45)

As you know, I am perpetually in awe of surfers. They ride the backhand of God every chance they get, unfazed by the laws of physics and, also, the chance of lurking sharks.

On Monday Shawn Dollar, who holds the Guinness World Record for the largest wave ever paddled into and surfed (big wave surfers need the assistance of wave runners to catch a wave), broke his neck in four places when he was tossed into a car-sized boulder in Big Sur. He also suffered a concussion.

Dollar was lucky to not have been paralyzed, and he was also very fortunate that he was not surfing alone.

Music 101

My City of Ruins

Bruce was less than two weeks away from turning 52 when he opened the WTC benefit just four nights after the attacks of 9/11. As you know, he’d written the song before the event, about Asbury Park, but the somber tone fit almost too well. It was eerie. It’s a short list, songs better than this written by artists over the age of 50. This performance gave me goosebumps.

Remote Patrol

No. 7 Oregon at No. 5 Michigan State

Saturday ABC 8 p.m.

Duck season arrives early in East Lansing. Based on their Week 1 performances, both of these programs are overrated at this point (the Ducks allowed 42 to Eastern Washington with a quarterback making his first start; how are they going to do against Connor Cook?), but I like Mark Dantonio and his grim visage to prevail. Reece Davis takes over for Chris Fowler, who will be in Flushing to cover the U.S. Open (would he be here if Serena’s slam was not at stake?)