Questions to be answered by the next person to post in the thread

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Does ESPN realize they've strayed so far from what was their bread and butter and have become nothing more than a mockery?

 

Doubtful, because they realize what they are doing makes good business sense. If it was bad, why would they keep doing it?

 

To answer the drug question, I would put more stock in Darryl Strawberry than Dwight Gooden. Gooden could have easily been felled by overwork. Other good candidates might be Josh Hamilton, Jeff Allison, Ricky Williams, Lamarr Hoyt.

 

Which sports injury was most damaging to his team's success?

 

[Prophet of Mike Zagurski 0]

Off the top of my head cause I was thinking about this: Dwayne Roloson tearing his MCL or ACL during the Stanley Cup finals in 2004. If he was healthy, the Oilers would have had a better shot of winning Game 6 or 7.

 

Since I don't follow them, I was wondering why the Miami Heat have crashed this season.

[MFer 0]

For the injury question, the first one that comes to mine for me is the most recent case, Dennis Dixon. Oregon would've gotten to the BCS title game and maybe even won it if he hadn't messed up his knee. Oregon then proceeded to go into the tank until the Sun Bowl. Not sure what's specifically wrong with the Heat, other than Shaq looking nowhere close to the player he once was and Wade not looking 100%

 

Will Peyton Manning (who's started every game in his career to this point I believe) eventually pass Favre's consecutive starts streak?

[Guest Vitamin X]

Manning's streak is actually pretty impressive in and of itself as well, considering he's second on the all-time list and is ahead of Ron Jaworski. However, he's still nearly 100 games behind Brett Favre, and so eventually, the Colts' offensive line has to deteoriate. At that point, we'll see what happens when Manning starts getting hit all the time. The most impressive part of Favre's streak is more about the fact that the dude has taken a LOT of hits over his career, due to fluctuations on the line, in the offense, etc..

 

Is Eli Manning the next Joe Namath, especially if he beats the Patriots in the Super Bowl?

[Guest]

Since I don't follow them, I was wondering why the Miami Heat have crashed this season.

Age. Lack of depth. I think that's it.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

s Eli Manning the next Joe Namath, especially if he beats the Patriots in the Super Bowl?

 

No. Namath's win had both his guarantee and the backstory of the AFL establishing themselves as backstory. Eli would just be the QB of a team that scored a major upset.

 

Would you rather have upper level season tickets to a Major league club or closer season tickets to a minor league team?

 

 

[CanadianChris 0]

Upper-level major league tickets. I like sitting in the upper deck, especially if you're somewhere behind home plate.

 

What events would you add to or remove from NBA All-Star weekend?

[alfdogg 0]

I'd drop the Shooting Stars competition and go back to 8 contestants in the 3-point shootout and 6 in the dunk contest.

 

Let's say there's no strike in 1994, and the Expos go on to win the World Series. Would the current state of the franchise be any different, and if so, how?

Edited January 27, 2008 by alfdogg

[treble 0]

Probably. I think at least getting to the playoffs would have been enough to let them keep at least some of those players (maybe Larry Walker still leaves as a free agent, though). If they could have at least remained competitive for the next few years, they would have gotten a new stadium.

 

Say Drew Bledsoe doesn't get hurt. How different is the Tom Brady/Patriots story?

[KingPK 0]

I think Belichick still makes the switch by midseason and endures the shitstorm from media guys like Ron Borges. Bledsoe was most likely gone after the season regardless of what happened because of his contract and the fact that they were extremely high on Brady when they drafted him.

 

Is the fact that it is in Hawaii the only reason the NFL Pro Bowl still exists?

Edited January 27, 2008 by KingPK

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

Is the fact that it is in Hawaii the only reason the NFL Pro Bowl still exists?

 

 

Yes. I could not tell you who won it last year or who the MVP was. The scenic beauty of Hawaii makes for good television. The lack of interest is compounded by the Super Bowl being held prior, when football interest has peaked. Not that it'll happen, but it might be a different story if it were held before the Super Bowl instead.

 

Kevin Stevens was riding the gravy train before his rehab stints in 1992 - that was my first instinct, even if I ultimately think Dwight Gooden or Darryl Strawberry were more negatively effected.

 

Can anything other than a championship contribute to a dynasty? Should it? I say yes, but maybe on a different strata than say, the 98-00 Yankees or 91-93 Bulls. My first thought was the Detroit Red Wings 96-98. They won the Cup in the two latter years, and won an incredible 63 games in '96 before losing an insanely entertaining series to the eventual champion Avalanche. Would we forget a ball team who won 125 games? It's kind of a grey area, but I think there's definitely more, at least in theory, to a dynasty than just championships. I mean, what happens if the Giants win next weekend?

[alfdogg 0]

My only memory of the Pro Bowl is Peyton Manning dropping the famous "idiot kicker" quote.

[Guest]

My favorite memory of the Pro Bowl was when Sean Taylor hit Brian Moorman as hard as he possibly could have. That said, that's the only Pro Bowl I've ever watched.

[Vern Gagne 0]

What goes around comes around.

 

 

 

Who is the greatest defensive player in NFL history?

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

Although it's before my time, I want to say Lawrence Taylor. I don't think teams game-planned as much for any one player than they did LT.

 

Who, in their prime, was more dominant at their sport, MJ or Gretzky? I was arguing about this with someone else recently, and I was inclined to say MJ because of the fact that he was amazing defensively as well.

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

Just skimming through the thread, why the hell would anyone think Tyson was the best P4P boxer of all time? ESPN put him at #50 on their list, and that was bad enough. If we're talking boxing, I don't see how it can be anyone other than Sugar Ray Robinson. If by fighter you were talking about MMA, well I think it's too young a sport to really pick one, but at this point the safe answer is BJ Penn.

[Mike wanna be 0]

Just skimming through the thread, why the hell would anyone think Tyson was the best P4P boxer of all time? ESPN put him at #50 on their list, and that was bad enough. If we're talking boxing, I don't see how it can be anyone other than Sugar Ray Robinson. If by fighter you were talking about MMA, well I think it's too young a sport to really pick one, but at this point the safe answer is BJ Penn.

Tyson was undersized as a heavyweight, and still completely obliterated nearly everyone he stepped into the ring with, from his first amateur bout straight to the fight with Buster Douglas. After that fight he won his next two in the first round and proceeded to defeat the consensus #2 heavyweight in back-to-back fights, first by ref stoppage in R7 and then a twelve-round unanimous decision a few months later. Furthermore, he served three years in prison, comes out and within 18 months of his release had re-taken 2 of the 3 then-disputed heavyweight titles.

 

If he doesn't go to prison, he faces Holyfield in 91 rather than 96 and I've every reason to believe he could've taken Holyfield down and been a 2-time undisputed heavyweight champion. If my assumption there is correct and he does indeed take down Holyfield...who's left in the heavyweight division? According to this timeline Tyson would have been undisputed heavyweight champion twice, the sum of those title reigns lasting in excess of 4 years which puts him close, if not surpassing Ali for the longest undisputed title (both singular reign and cumulative) in the heavyweight division.

 

Granted, some of this 'greatness' is more the weakness of the heavyweight division than the pure dominance of Tyson, but if one thinks he could've taken Holyfield in 91, it leads to him being favored over Riddick Bowe in 92, Lewis in 92/93, and after that it's pretty much Tyson's division.

 

Best NFL defensive player ever: I'm tempted to say either Deacon Jones or Reggie White, but I'm going to look at Mike Singletary as a dominant, consensus "Best player on the team" on what many consider to be the best defense ever.

[CanadianChris 0]

Can anything other than a championship contribute to a dynasty? Should it? I say yes, but maybe on a different strata than say, the 98-00 Yankees or 91-93 Bulls. My first thought was the Detroit Red Wings 96-98. They won the Cup in the two latter years, and won an incredible 63 games in '96 before losing an insanely entertaining series to the eventual champion Avalanche. Would we forget a ball team who won 125 games? It's kind of a grey area, but I think there's definitely more, at least in theory, to a dynasty than just championships. I mean, what happens if the Giants win next weekend?

I say no. A dynasty means championships, period. The Braves of the 90s could never be considered a dynasty because they only won one title. The Colts have been the second-best team in football since realignment, but no one would ever think of them a dynasty, unless they could pull off another two or three titles in the next five years, which seems pretty unlikely. As for forgetting a team that wins a bunch of games, does anyone remember anything about the 2001 Mariners?

 

Who, in their prime, was more dominant at their sport, MJ or Gretzky? I was arguing about this with someone else recently, and I was inclined to say MJ because of the fact that he was amazing defensively as well.

Gretzky, just because he completely rewrote the record book and redefined hockey. There may well be another MJ, but there will never be another Wayne Gretzky.

 

What do you consider to be the most difficult feat in sports?

[Guest Tzar Lysergic]

There's a few ways to approach that question.

 

One would be to look at an unbreakable record, like Wilt scoring 100.

Another would be to name something that takes a certain degree of luck, as well as tons of skill, like hitting a hole in one.

All things considered, I'm honestly more impressed by eating over 60 hot dogs and buns in twelve minutes, because that's literally physically impossible to 99.99999% of the human race. I tenuously consider competitive eating a sport.

I looked it up when it happened, and 66 Nathan's hot dogs added up to something like 25 THOUSAND CALORIES, which is roughly what a healthy adult eats in TEN DAYS. In the span of twelve minutes. Now that's difficult.

 

Is hunting a sport?

[Gert T 0]

About the injury thing, the first one that popped into my head was Kenyon Martin blowing out his knee in the first round of the C-USA tourney in 1999. They were the #1 team in the nation at the time.

 

I think hunting should be classified as a sport. It takes hand-eye coordination, strategies and dealing with the elements. That being said I have never hunted.

 

NFL question, which day is more exciting to you, the Super Bowl or NFL Draft?

 

 

[MFer 0]

I'm probably not qualified to answer this, but as a Lions' fan, the NFL draft is my Super Bowl. Half the time, the real Super Bowl ends up being a dud anyways.

 

Who's the greatest female athlete in history?

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

I think Jackie-Joyner Kersee is as good an answer as any. Babe Didrickson might merit some consideration, but I'm wary of overrating athletes who dominated before competition was fully organized.

 

In regards to the dynasty question, I think a single championship at least places a team in the discussion. The 1990s Braves might only have one world title, but they have five pennants, 14 divisional crowns, and led their league in wins FIVE years in a row. Only one other team has ever done that.

 

Pound for pound boxing, it's either Sugar Ray Robinson or Muhammad Ali. A lot of old timers did not like Ali because of his boxing style (ask Bert Sugar sometime), but he got results. Before his exile due to the Vietnam issue, he was flat out untouchable.

 

Edit: Better question here.

 

I don't expect him to make the majors, or last long if he does, but damnit now I own (.000016% of) him!

 

Sillier purchase: Smues buying .000016% of Randy Newsom's MLB future, buying a Nationals jersey because it had an American League patch, or buying a modship at TSM?

[Mike wanna be 0]

TSM modship, by a mile. Newsom might turn out decent and if the Nats move to the AL he's already got the perfect outfit (at a big discount too, because you know they're going to hike the price on new Nats stuff if they move leagues). The modship...is just the modship, there's no "Well it could work out really well and he looks smart for making that purchase" option.

 

Draft or Super Bowl: Draft by a large portion. The SB isn't BAD, per se, it's just that the draft is a handful of hours of changing the face of every franchise in the league. The SB matters for 2 teams and the fans of the other 30 just pick a side based on which team they dislike less.

 

Question: Horsecollar tackles are illegal in the NFL, yet legal in the college game. Should college outlaw them as well, or should the NFL re-legalize them?

[Guest Tzar Lysergic]

The NFL should be very lenient when calling them. Pulling someone down by the pads or jersey is one thing, yanking their entire torso down and backwards while their legs are planted is another. College should have whatever retarded rules they want if it makes them feel better about attempting to be anything other than the NFL's minor league.

 

Injury question: Napleon McCallum's knee changing directions was worse than Theismann's snapped leg, I don't care what anyone says. That injury did so much damage it might as well have been amputated. Tore every ligament and tendon in his knee, his calf muscle, his quad, and an artery. That shit almost killed him.

 

Considering every injury I've ever seen or heard of, the worst has to be Malarchuk's skate to the jugular.

 

Why are the olympics full of sports that get absolutely no attention from the majority of the civilized world? Or: Who the fuck cares about rowing, really?

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

The olympics are a lot older and from a different time. The sports weren't organized mega-leagues with games that had a number of rules and skills to be implemented, say, football. They were very specific skills, very simple rules that involved feats of athleticism for bragging rights for the countries involved. Running, rowing, jumping will never be as popular as hockey or football, because why the fuck would I care to see someone run, jump or row? It's impressive, but from an entertainment aspect there's not much to it. At the same time, this country went pretty crazy after Bailey broke the world record about a decade ago.

 

Knowing what you know now, what is your top five for the 2006 NFL Draft?

[Guest Tzar Lysergic]

In terms of who I'd draft, regardless of need?

 

1. Joseph Addai

2. Devin Hester

3. Mario Williams

4. Jay Cutler

5. Antonio Cromartie

 

I'm sure I'm forgetting someone good.

 

Here's a fun one: Who is your favorite "hometown hero" athlete? I don't mean the most talented guy ever, just a player for whatever sport that's identified with your favorite team. The kind of guy your local diner names a sandwich after.

[Broward83 0]

Biggio.

 

If Lesnar is succesful and if/when Lashley steps in and is succesful, in what way would it effect pro wrestling?

[alfdogg 0]

In terms of who I'd draft, regardless of need?

 

1. Joseph Addai

2. Devin Hester

3. Mario Williams

4. Jay Cutler

5. Antonio Cromartie

 

I'm sure I'm forgetting someone good.

Did you forget Reggie Bush?

[Guest Vitamin X]

I don't think I'd count Bush in the top 5, personally.

[Maztinho 0]

Biggio.

 

If Lesnar is succesful and if/when Lashley steps in and is succesful, in what way would it effect pro wrestling?

 

I think you'd see more workedshoots like you do in Japan, and not much else.

 

If you could change one move your hometown team ever did (draft, trade, free agent signing) why would you do it that way?