Lists To Argue Over
I love sports lists. With just a few lines of print, you can launch dozens of heated arguments. Best player in Celtics' history? Bird or Russell. Greatest hitter in baseball history? Ruth, Williams, Mays, Aaron or Cobb. Best pitcher of the past 20-years? Clemens, Maddux or Martinez. You don't need to spend an hour reading. You glance, shake your head, call the writer a moron and immediately put together your own list.
Yankee Player I Would Most Like To See On The Sox
1. Mariano Rivera- I can already hear the frantic calls to WEEI. "But we have Papelbon. What are the Sox gonna do with Mariano Rivera?"
2. Gary Sheffield- Obviously, a healthy Gary Sheffield. Cannon arm in right, put him in the 5 hole behind Manny. A 3-4-5 of Ortiz, Ramirez and Sheffield would drive some pitchers to early retirement.
3. Hideki Matsui- Again, obviously healthy. Consummate professional and watching him interact with Manny and Ortiz in the dugout would be priceless.
4. Derek Jeter- Get ready to play some third base, Derek.
5. Alex Rodriguez- Get ready to come off the bench, Alex.
Best Athletes Of My Generation (1980-present)
1. Michael Jordan
2. Wayne Gretzky
3. Tiger Woods
4. Jerry Rice
5. Roger Clemens
6. Joe Montana
7. Larry Bird
8. Magic Johnson
9. Barry Sanders
10. Mario Lemieux
Five Teams Not Named The Patriots That Could Win The Super Bowl
1. Seattle Seahawks- Proverbial chip on the shoulder.
Young defense only getting stronger.
2. Indianapolis Colts- The operative word being "could." Don't confuse "could" with "will."
3. Carolina Panthers- Solid team on paper but they seem to self-destruct in key moments.
4. Dallas Cowboys- TO is going to have a huge year and Bill's defense is dangerous.
5. Denver Broncos- Their defense drives this ship.
One Reason That The Steelers Won't Repeat
1. Ben Roethlisberger isn't as good as the hype would have us believe. No NFL quarterback was asked to do less to win games than Big Ben the past few seasons.
Last season, Roethlisberger had a whopping 268-regular season pass attempts, good enough for dead last in the NFL among starters. He's going to be exposed this season.
Five Red Sox Numbers That Should Be Retired (Regardless Of The Sox's Stringent Policy On Retiring Numbers)
1. Roger Clemens
2. Pedro Martinez
3. Jim Rice
4. Luis Tiant
5. Dwight Evans
Five Colleges I Want My Future Division I Athlete Children To Attend So I Can Be A Dirty Old Man On Game Day
1. Arizona State
2. Georgia
3. Miami
4. LSU
5. Texas
Five College Basketball Players Who Are Overhyped
1. Tyler Hansbrough- He's a solid player but the Tar Heel propaganda machine pumps him up way too much.
2. Joakim Noah- Dumbest decision he made was not declaring for the draft this year. He's going to drop next year. NBA scouts will spend all season looking at the things he does wrong.
3. Glen Davis- Big Baby spent the summer getting all chiseled which now makes him a chiseled undersized power forward with no perimeter game.
4. Tyrese Rice- This is more of a local pick but BC fans seem hell-bent on believing that Rice is destined to become a lethal scorer capable to dropping 20 a night and dominating a game, a Juan Dixon-type. I'm not sold on that theory.
5. Greg Paulus- He bangs the floor with authority, has a solid chest bump and pulls together a great foul line huddle. But every other aspect of his game is suspect.
Seven Wrestlers I Still Can't Believe Were Once Employed As Professional Wrestlers
1. George "The Animal" Steele
2. Arn Anderson
3. Mae Young
4. Road Dogg
5. X-Pac
6. Rick Steiner
7. Kamala The Ugandan Giant
Ten Random Sporting Events (In No Particular Order) To Attend Before I Die
1. USA v. Australia Olympic swimming- This is one of my sneaky favorite rivalries in all of sports.
2. Little League World Series- I think I have to hope that one of my future kids makes it to Williamsport because I would feel a little creepy sitting in the stands watching a bunch of 12-year old boys play baseball if I had no real rooting interest.
3. Sumo Wrestling in Japan
4. UNC- Duke @ Cameron- Everyone I know who has been to Cameron says that it lives up to the hype.
5. Russia v. Canada National Team hockey- Maybe the Czechs or Fins or Swedes or whoever won the gold at the last Olympics but the Commies versus the Canucks is still the best matchup.
6. Pakistan v. India cricket- Cricket is an underrated drinking event. India versus Pakistan. There's some good, old-fashioned hatred there. That makes for a solid sporting event.
7. National Collegiate Cheerleading Competition- I wouldn't even pretend to be anything other than a complete perv at this event.
8. Kentucky Derby- Drinking and gambling. Sounds like a plan.
9. Tailgating in the South- I don't care if it's Georgia or Ole Miss or Bama or Florida. I want to experience tailgating as it's supposed to be.
10. Entertainer's League Championship at Rucker- I love the fact that rappers convince NBA players to risk their careers for a chance to compete for a plastic trophy and bragging rights.
Five Red Sox Players On Their Last Leg
1. Jason Varitek. Yikes.
2. Trot Nixon. But his hat is sweaty.
3. Doug Mirabelli. I love when people talk about getting Dougie more playing time. As bad as Varitek has played, Mirabelli is not an upgrade, not even close.
4. Mike Lowell. Let's not kid ourselves. Theo would love to move him. His value is never going to be this high.
5. Mike Timlin- He's still productive but couldn't the guy do with a day off every now and then.
Four Things Boston Could Do To Be An Even Better Sports City
1. Pay attention to national college sports. For a major city, Boston, in general, has very little interest in big-time college football and basketball.
2. Provide better public transportation to games.
Getting to and from the Garden and Fenway Park, not to mention BC for basketball and football games, is a fiasco. We've had about 100-years to perfect this.
Let's do something about it.
3. Pay attention more nationally. It's ironic that Boston is considered a great sports town but lots (not Barstool readers, though. They're all undisputed sports geniuses) of Boston sports fans don't have the first clue about other professional teams. Part of the reason is because Boston's teams have been successful so there was little reason to look outside of Massachusetts for a team to root for. But it would make sense for Boston's sports fans to learn up on how the other side lives. At least then Sox fans wouldn't be convinced that Mike Lowell for Jake Peavy made sense.
4. Get more serious about high school sports.
Massachusetts high school sports get no love from most Massachusetts sports fans. We don't have to be Texas and close down for Friday night football. But for all the sports fans who bemoan the sad state of their alma mater's athletics, few ever show up and watch a random game.