It's an Outrage!

Wrap your mind around this foolishness:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/preview04/news/story?id=1868175# (SR sez: Those who can, do. Those who could, but can’t anymore make lists about those who did it better than them.)

If you ever wanted proof that NFL analysts are almost all blowhards, this is it. Who the fuck cares what Sean Salsibury has to say about Jerry Rice when he ranked Rice 6th?

If Jim Brown is so great for having compiled huge numbers for so short a career, why isn't Jerry Rice acknowledged as better for having shattered all meaningful records for receiving in a career that has lasted twice as long? Why is career longevity penalized, but walking away from the game at an early age is rewarded? Why is it assumed that Brown would have automatically had better stats if he had continued his career? Let's face it, if you come down on Jim's side of the debate, you should admit to yourself that it's at least partially based on the assumption that Brown's numbers would have been even gaudier if he had a longer career. If that's possible, what's stopping me from using Ricky Williams' college career stats to claim that he was capable of a career comeback that would have catapulted him past Brown if he hadn't retired? (SR sez: Ricky could come back. Right? Please say yes.)

If Jim Brown is so great, why did Barry Sanders get only 5 points, collectively, from these knuckleheads? I'm not saying that Sanders should have been voted #1 over Brown, but if we're accepting the "what a career he could have had if he hadn't walked away" argument is fair game, why the disparity between the two? Let's see--Barry had 3,000 more career yards, was All-NFL all 10 years of his career, missed leading the league in rushing his rookie year by only 10 yards, led it two other times, and gained 2,058 yards in the 1997 season. And again, before you bring your tired generational arguments, let's remember that Barry played in the era of 350-pound defensive tackles who could run a sub-5 second 40 and bench press 450 pounds.

I'm tired of hearing arguments about older players playing in a 12-game season. As far as I'm concerned, the shortening of the average players' productive years caused by the wear and tear of four extra weeks of play, coupled with the huge gap in athleticism between the "old" game and today's, are more than enough to make up for the career difference in stats.

(SR sez: Not only that, but no one seems to factor injuries or bad teams into the equation. A lot is made of the fact that Brown never missed game. Brown played for nine years at a time when a season lasted 12 games. That’s 108 games without getting hurt. Yahoo. Rice didn’t miss a game until 1997 at a time when the season was expanded to 16 games. Rice was drafted in 1985, which means he played 209 games without missing one. Rice beat Brown in that regard by 101 games. This may seem to hurt my argument but here’s the point, Rice got hurt, twice. He missed time, it could happen to anyone at any time (ask Gayle Sayers). Brown may have come back the next year and tore an ACL, which was a career ending injury back then. If that had happened would he still be surrounded by the same aura? I doubt it. Also, what if the Browns had started to suck like the post Young pre mature-Garcia 49ers did? How many more catches would Rice have had if he didn’t go through the Garcia-learning-on-the-job years? Brown was a great player, but the fact that he quit on his own has inflated his legend. Jerry beats Brown across the board in terms of career achievement.)

Joe Theismann's ballot should have been thrown out--he didn't even vote for LT, fer chrissake. Joe--in addition to totally redefining his position and being the best ever at it, he KNOCKED YOUR ASS OUT OF THE GAME FOREVER! You don't have to like it, you pussy, but you have to respect it!

Mark Schlereth made Elway #1 and didn't include Montana! Uh--Montana led 3 different groups of men to 4 Super Bowls and won them all, taking two MVPs in the process, whereas Elway, after a career of getting close but never there, rode Terrell Davis all the way to the Big Game (and an MVP trophy that will always look to me like a sympathy vote) and got his vibrating musical lollipop and heartburn medication ad deals. (SR sez: I’m also sick of hearing about Unitas. How many titles did he win? Was he really better than Jim Otto or Sammy Baugh? Yeah? Prove it! Well he has more passing yards than yer mom too!)

That is all.

(Unforgettable…)

Greatest Ever? No Way.

OK, I’ve been hearing too much over the past 12 hours about how Super Bowl XXXVIII was the greatest ever played and how the Pats are the greatest team ever. Hold on here folks. Yes, the Super Bowl was exciting. Yes, the Pats are good. Yes Bill Belichick is the best coach in the league right now surpassing The Tuna, Gruden, and even Dennis Erickson. But lets gain some perspective here, the Pats of this season have a long way to go before getting into that “Best Ever” discussion and the game itself, while entertaining pales in comparison to some others.

First the team issue. Start by looking how the Pats compare to some of the other great single season teams in NFL history. The 1972 Dolphins still have to be considered the best team of all time. Sorry, but going undefeated gets you that cred. Next there were two 49er teams that were better one season teams than this year’s Pats. The first was the 1984 team that only lost one game, and that one was on a bogus pass interference call at the end of the game. Bill Walsh says the 1984 team was the best one he ever coached. The ’84 Niners went on to crush Miami in the Super Bowl.

The second 49er team that aces the current Pats is the 1994 team. The ’94 squad split their first four games, losing to the Montana led Chiefs and the famous 40-8 pasting by the Eagles. After that SF played only a few close games blowing out most teams they faced (42-3 at ATL, 41-16 vs. TB, 35-14 at NO, 50-14 vs. ATL, 38-15 at SD, 42-19 vs. DEN). The Niners lost the regular season finale 21-14 at Minnesota in a game where the leading passer for SF was Elvis Grbac and the leading rusher was the man all true Niner fans still despise, one Adam Walker. The point is the Niners rested their starters that day because, unlike this year’s Pats, SF had already clinched home field throughout the playoffs. The 1994 Niners went on to crush Chicago in their first playoff game 44-15, beat the two-time defending champion Cowboys in the NFC Championship game, and demolish the Chargers 49-20 in Super Bowl XXIX.

As far as looking at teams over a longer period I don’t think the current Pats can yet be compared to the Steelers teams of the 1970’s, the 49ers of the 1980’s, or the Cowboys teams of the 1990’s. The closest team to compare them to would be the 97-98 Broncos, and I would give those teams an edge given that they won their titles back to back. Also, the teams mentioned above were perennial playoff teams. The Pats missed the tournament last year.

So, while winning fifteen in a row is impressive it isn’t enough to get the Pats the moniker of best ever; now on to the game itself. It was thriller, no doubt about it. But the first 27 minutes were a bore. The only saving grace in that opening was that it allowed time for people to show up at the party and get to know the people they hadn’t met. From a football standpoint it was awful. After three minutes of excitement we were treated to a scoreless third quarter whose only redeeming value is that it allowed me to win the scoring pool for a second consecutive quarter. The fourth quarter had everything you want in a Super Bowl, lead changes, turnovers, big plays, scoring, suspense, dubious coaching choices, and a game winning kick. But there have been better games.

For one, the 2001 Super Bowl where these same Pats beat the Rams in a game that had all the same drama and a higher level of overall play. Also, the 2001 game had the added fun of seeing the plucky underdog backup QB and his band of B level free-agent castoffs defeat the big bad “Greatest Show on Turf.” Of course we all have our favorite Super Bowl moments, but bar none, the greatest game ever played on the last Sunday of the season was the 1988 game between the Niners and the Bengals. The game included goal line stands, and of course the 92 yard game winning “John Candy” drive which culminated in a TD pass to John Taylor.

Notes:

-It seems to be vogue to compare Tom Brady to Joe Montana. Sure, there are some similarities; and Brady is now a two time Super Bowl MVP, but lets settle down for a few years on this one. I for one am still feeling burned after anointing Terrell Davis the best ever after the 1997 campaign. Brady is good, maybe even great, but remember when everyone wanted to send Kurt Warner to Canton in 1999. Where is he now? Where will he be next year? How much does he have left?

-Why was Dr. Who singing about astronauts before kickoff?

-Was it just me, or is Janet Jackson’s nipple pierced? Vibe eat your heart out.