It Doesn't Matter

I'm coming to grips that despite my neurosis, that my actions will not effect the outcome of the Celtics game tomorrow night.

It doesn't matter if I sit in seat 3 or seat 4.

It doesn't matter if I wear my Kevin Garnett jersey to the game.

It doesn't matter if I go to McGanns before the game.

It doesn't matter if I wear a Celtics cap.

It doesn't matter if my wife falls asleep during the game.

It doesn't matter if I pound my chest during the walk through the tunnel.

It doesnt matter if I get a Dunkin Donut's Ice Latte Lite during a timeout in the first quarter.

I realize that despite the fact that the Celtics win whenever I do the above, it is merely a coincidence. It doesnt matter what I do, it has no impact on the game whatsoever. I am however going to do the above, not because it matters, but because I want to.

Taking a Dive

Taking a dive is nothing new in the NBA although given the current sorry state of officiating it opens up opportunity for even worse refereeing. Given the NBA's inability to do something about the sorry state of officiating, it is trying to cut down on the number of dives players take on little or no contact. I hope this is done reviewing tapes after the game and not left for their pathetic Rumsfeldian incompetent referees to determine during the course of the game.

I found this brilliant nugget from the greatest coach and executive in the history of the league decrying the cheating done by players taking a dive. This guy was not above pushing the rules to the limit but understood how this could get out of control.

Without further ado, the legendary Arnold "Red" Auerbach.

Mike Riordan is a flopper!
by ob33

What a Difference a Freakishly Long, Ungodly Talented, Defensive Wizard of a Man Makes

I had a couple of thoughts on potential posts tonight but then when looking at the 48 news and political websites I look at every day, I ran across this article on the difference between last year and this year's Celtics team. The article is titled "What a Difference a Freakishly Long, Ungodly Talented, Defensive Wizard of a Man Makes".

They interviewed Rondo and Scalabrine to find out what the differences were between the two teams. The article is worth a read for any Celtic fan.

Now for a Little Fun

Additional note: I must have been in a cocoon for not having read this earlier. I read in the paper today that Matt White has accused the Patriots of filming the walk through before the Super Bowl. If this can be proved, this isn't something that can be dismissed as something that the whole league does. This is tantamount to gambling on professional sports. If found that the Patriots were involved in this there should be a lifetime ban on anyone that can be 100% proved to be involved. Filming a walk through is inexcusable, although I'm sure many NE fans will look the other way.

I'm sure some Patriot fans will not like this but it is pretty funny. Enjoy.

Slacker!

ESPN did a great feature on The Top 25 Seasons of All Time. While the lists like this can lead to great debates because it is very subjective and impossible to compare across sports, the selection of Wilt Chamberlain is pretty tough to argue. Read on:

1. Wilt Chamberlain, Philadelphia Warriors, 1961-62
Chamberlain averaged 50.4 points and 25.7 rebounds. He set the NBA record with 4,029 points -- Michael Jordan is the only other player in league history to crack even 3,000. Chamberlain scored 50-plus points 45 times. Just how impressive is that? Michael Jordan cracked 50 points 37 times in his entire career. Chamberlain's 100 points on March 2 against the Knicks is perhaps the most famous single-game performance in sports history. Chamberlain also logged 48.5 minutes per game, playing all but eight minutes the entire season. To put all this in perspective, take Tim Duncan's best scoring and rebounding season -- then double it.

"playing all but eight minutes the entire season" this statement alone maybe the most impressive comment of all. Think of that. Put that in perspective, Kevin Garnett left the Celtics left the game tonight with 3 minutes and 47 seconds left in the third and returned with 6 minutes and 33 seconds left in the fourth a span of 9 minutes and 14 seconds on the bench, one more than Wilt spent all season.


Here's a special done on Wilt at 17 years old.

Before They Were Stars - Kevin Garnett Edition

This is a great clip of teams discussing prior to th 1995 draft, the merits of drafting high school student Kevin Garnett. Isaiah's approach is pretty interesting, although I doubt he would have followed through on it.

Saturday Night Fights

Last night I went to the Celtics game with my two kids, on the way out the door I asked my wife to make dinner reservations for the two of us for the next night. As soon as I left the house I regretted that request. Thankfully, my wife forgot and I didn't have to weasel out to see three Saturday night fights I was looking forward to.

The first fight was between the Celtics and their 8 game winning streak playing the Detroit Pistons (who were the last team to beat the Celtics) who were on an 11 game winning streak of their own. It was a very tense battle for 48 minutes until the Celtics pulled away with a 7 point victory thanks to the surprising hero Glenn Big Baby Davis. The Celtics who are ranked number two in the Espn, SI and SportingNews polls to the Pistons can now be asurred of the top spot. No more complaints of a soft schedule, you don't go 29-3 by accident.

Fight two was the Republican Presidential Debate. Although I only got to watch during time outs of fight one, it was enough to see 5 guys pummel Slick Mitt. Politico has a great article discussing how much the other candidates dislike Mitt. It was nice to know that I am not alone. Mitt has about 4 more days before he is no longer considered a major candidate in the race. Sorry Mitt, $20 mil of your personal fortune down the drain. Picking a winner I would have to go with McCain.

Fight three was the Democrats squaring off, I got to see a little more of this than the republican debate because it lasted 45 minutes after the game. Although Hillary came out fighting, it was interesting to see Edwards insulate Obama from her attacks and not try to know him off the perch. It was essentially a tag team match. Clinton and Richardson against Obama and Edwards. Unfortunately for Clinton, her tag team partner didn't help her by saying he would meet with the Soviet Union. Clearly Stalin should be expecting his calls soon. Clinton lost her composure on one exchange but overall not as many haymakers as was thrown in the GOP debate. If I had to pick a winner I would say Obama just because he came in with momentum and got out unscathed.

So fight night was pretty good, all three fighters I was rooting for came out on top and my least favorite (slick Mitt) had a long night.

Happy New Year!!!

I've been very lax of late in updating my blog. It certainly isn't because I've been busy as I have taken 10 days off from work and done just about nothing for the first 7 of them.

Since it is the last day of 2007, there is no sense in looking back only forward. So I am going run off some predictions for 2008.

Politics
Let's start on the easy one. The Democratic Presidential Nominee will be Hillary Clinton. She will sweep through the primaries and coast to the nomination. Hillary will select John Edwards as her running mate. There weren't a lot of takers for the job since most feel that a VP in her administration will be even less influential than a normal VP since Bill would be very influential.

The Republican side will be a brokered convention. Rudy will win some big delegate rich states like NY, California, and Florida. Huckabee will win bible belt south, McCain and Romney will each win their share. The eventual nominee will be John McCain as the other nominees eventually concede, Romney will be the last holdout. McCain will select Huckabee as his runningmate to appease the Christian Right.

McCain and Clinton will not be alone in the race as Bloomberg Hagel run together as independents. The Bloomberg Hagel ticket makes it interesting by hurting Clinton in traditionally blue states leaving John McCain as the President of the United States.

The Democrats pick up 4 additional Senate seats but lose a few Congressional seats although not enough to lose the majority. The expanded majority in the Senate will be enough for the Dems to remove Lieberman from his committee roles which eventually nudges Lieberman into a role in the McCain administration.

Sports
The Patriots will not win the Superbowl. The Colts will repeat. The Patriots game against the Colts will go down as one of the classic sports games of all time.

Don't feel sad Boston fans because the Celtics will win the Championship and the Red Sox will repeat. I say this while watching them dismantling the previously hot Lakers to complete their road sweep. The Celtics will be given a boost by the late acquisition of Sam Cassell. The Sox will win out on the Santana sweepstakes.

World
George Bush completes his final year of his administration by accomplishing nothing to make it a perfect 8 for 8.

Pakistan will become even more unstable and will result in the US pulling troops from Iraq and stationing them in Afganistan at the ready in case Musharraf falls.

Business/Economy
Despite forecasts of an improvement in the economy, the US economy continues to sputter and slips into a recession.

Reigning Champs - no more

The injury bug dethroned the reigning champs this week. Hard to overcome the losses of Marvin Harrison, Roy Williams and Santonio Holmes.

Wait til next year.

Quick List

Today's list is my top ten list of best sports personalities (not to be confused with best players):

10 Mike Tyson
9 Dennis Eckersley
8 Oil Can Boyd
7 Micky Rivers
6 Bill Parcells
5 Charles Barkley
4 Ricky Henderson
3 Larry Bird
2 Red Auerbach
1 Muhammad Ali

I'm sure there are some hockey players that should be on this list but who cares.

6 down 76 to go

I gotta admit, I am very pumped up for this Celtics team. I have watched or attended all of the games this year so far and can not believe how good this team is. Last night they played their worst game of the season and won by 15.

This is the portion of Bill Simmons predictions for the east:



1. BOSTON CELTICS
Preseason prediction: 49 wins (third)
Revised prediction: 62 wins



We're not sure that KG couldn't match William Wallace in pure, unadulterated fury.
There's no comparable situation in sports history to Pierce, Allen and KG finding each other at the same exact, "I don't care about stats, I don't care about credit, I just want to win" point of their careers. These guys aren't just hungry, they're Fat Dickie's Hungry. (I'll explain in a second.) They've played six straight games like they were playoff games, and even when they were winning by 35 against Denver last week, none of those three guys wanted to let up. It's like they were avenging every blowout loss that happened to every crappy team they played on these last three years. Can they maintain that passion for nine straight months? Frankly, I don't know.

But here's what we do know: Defensively, they have a chance to become as good as San Antonio. Offensively, they have a big man who draws double-teams and two perimeter guys who can create quality shots whenever they want. And they're nearly impossible to beat at home because of the reborn crowd and KG's ongoing William Wallace impression. The first half of the Denver game was the single greatest display of basketball by a Celtics team since January 4, 1991, and that team could have won the title if Larry Bird's back never went out. For all the die-hard Celtics fans who spent the next 16 years wondering if their team would ever matter again, watching the Nuggets get eviscerated was like watching a beloved relative emerge from a coma or something. It's one thing to have a good team; it's another thing to have a great team. These guys didn't want to just beat Denver, they wanted to break the Nuggets' will. And they did. This team will win 60 games if it stays healthy. At least.

(As for the Fat Dickie's reference … when I was in college, every once in a while, my buddy House and I would get tired of campus food and drive to a barbecue place called Fat Dickie's. Then we'd order an obscene amount of food and chow down -- we wouldn't even talk; we'd just be intensely plowing through the barbecue and occasionally nodding at one another. That's what Pierce, Allen and KG have been like all season. They're Fat Dickie's Hungry. It's a whole other level.)

Reason No. 12,366 why I love the NBA: You can't even imagine KG's crazed demeanor during these home games in Boston with a great crowd pumping him up. He looks like Jonathan Papelbon coming out of the bullpen with a one-run lead, only he stays like that for two and a half solid hours. It's incredible. His teammates are alternately enthralled and terrified by him, and honestly, so are the fans. He's a man on a mission. He's possessed. He's a borderline lunatic. Remember when Ronnie Lott had half of a broken pinky amputated so he wouldn't miss the '85 playoffs? You get the feeling that KG would do the same so he wouldn't miss a mid-January home game against the Hornets. And after admiring him in person for five games, my delighted father (a 34-year season ticket holder) revised his "Favorite Celtics Ever" list, bumped Dave Cowens down a spot and named Kevin Garnett "1B" behind Larry Bird's "1A." Five games! That's all it took. I'm going out on a limb and saying this was a good trade.

Taking Prisoners

I attendemy first Celtic game of the new Kevin Garnett Era tonight. I was in a suite with several co workers who were given pregame instructions not to talk work with me because I was there for the game. Unfortunately, there was no game, only an exhibition. The Celtics scored 77 points by half time and at times were running over a 40 point lead. It wasn't even that close. This was against a very talented Denver Nugget team.

A few observations:

Kevin Garnett is very intense, but he makes every move look effortless if that is possible. He plays very well with Pierce.

Ray allen still looks like he is finding his role, and seems the most out of the flow of the players on the team, but he is still scoring points in bunches because of the sagging defense.

This was a very good test for Rondo facing Iverson after TJ Ford lit up the C's on Sunday. Not only did he pass, but he got an A. Great defense, solid offense, good floor general. He played well beyond his years tonight.

When Pierce came into the league, people forget how good defensively he was in his rookie season. As the team became solely dependent on him, he could ill afford to pick up cheap fouls so he backed off on defense. From what I have seen so far, he is back to his early defensive mindset. Offensively he is getting his points in the flow of the game. He also made the two best passes I have seen him make as a Celtic (and I have watched more games than most.

Other role players looking good are Eddie House, Kendrick Perkins and James Posey. These guys know their role and are not trying to do more than that. They are good pieces to the puzzle.

Doc Rivers may be the perfect coach for this team. He has them committing to defense and is playing th KC Jones coaching role on the team.

So what are these guys missing??? A back up point guard who is for emergency purposes only. A guy like David Wesley, Gary Payton, or even Dana Baros (fromer C's are always preferred for that championship ride)/

It is too early to make these guys front runners (although ESPN has them ranked @2 in their power ranking). It is a long season, but I thought this team would take longer to gel but they appear to have made a lot of progress from game 1 to game 3.

Fun stuff.

The Truth Has Been Set Free

Opening night for the Celtics was last night and they performed as advertised. Not all nights are going to be 20 point blowouts, but the team does look dominant. It is a far cry from the team that lost 18 straight last year,

Paul Pierce has endured many bad times in a Celtic uniform. He has had many opportunities to doubt the personnel, the owners and the GM. For the most part he has bitten his lip and kept his complaints out of the media. He has never asked to be traded publicly.

Now Pierce is rewarded by being on a team everyone wants to play on. Just today Sam Cassell and Juwan Howard have expressed interest in playing for the Celtics. All summer they had more interest in playing for the Celtics than in many many years. When Posey signed with the Celts, he said it was because it gave him the best chance to win a championship. Posey played with Shaq and Wade in Miami last year. Boston is not necessarily a destination location as lets say South Beach, or Phoenix, or LA for that matter.

Which brings me to Paul's polar opposite Kobe Bryant. Kobe is one of the best players in the league if not the best. He plays in a big desirable market for a coach with nine rings. He currently is sulking because the Lakers have not surrounded him with a good enough team. Maybe he should have thought of this before he drove Shaq out of town.

He had Shaq, Karl Malone and Gary Payton on his team before it imploded with infighting mostly caused by Kobe. Even with those guys gone, you would think that free agents would flock to play in LA with Kobe. Guess not. What star is willing to stand around while Kobe hoists up 45 shots?

Sometimes you get what you deserve. Paul is getting his first season with a dominant contender while Kobe sulks for a borderline playoff team.

Fever Subsiding

I am just starting to emerge from my Post- World Series Sleep Deprivation Induced Funk to make my first post in almost a week. It was a great World Series for the Red Sox but probably a lousy Series for baseball fans.

There wasn't anything particularly memorable about the series. I think the Sox only hit 3 home runs the whole series. Mike Lowell was the MVP with a solid, yet unremarkable series.

All of this makes the Red Sox performance more impressive and maybe even sustainable. No one player carried this team. Manny and Papi hit a combined "0" home runs. Everyone contributed. Ellsbury, Pedroia, and Youkillis are not household names, but these guys are going to be solid players on this team for years to come.

The pitching staff should only et better (although I do not discount the potential loss of a horse like Schilling). Dice is going to be better year 2, Beckett is only 27, Lester, Bucholtz and Papelbon give them youth and playoff experience that could make them a great team for years to come.

Lastly, there is the guy that gets no credit. Most people give the Sox management credit for being so good, but not nearly enough credit goes to Francona. Tito has done a fantastic job in winning two World Series with completely different teams. Think about how good of a job he did managing the series. Every pitcher came out at the right time, Ortiz at first worked better than expected, starting Ellsbury, etc. Every one of his moves were the right ones, plus he does a great job in keeping the "personalities" in check during a long season. On many teams "Manny being Manny" would be a distraction and a source of infighting, it is a credit to Tito that it has never been with the Sox.

With all that in mind, "I can't wait til next year".

Two Teams, Two Different Directions

I just watched Dustin Pedroia hit a bases emptying double to put the Sox up 9-2 on their way to the World Series (make that 11-2) I came across this article about the managerial change in the Bronx. Clearly these apples (Steinbrenner's sons) don't fall far from the tree.
It is bad enough these two geniuses gave Torre an insulting 1 year offer with incentives, but bad mouthing him on the way out the door is classless that King George might not have stooped to. I have no doubt that despite their huge roster of talent, the Yankees will self destruct for a few years and miss the playoffs.

Enjoy the WS on TV and get used to it.

Sunday, October 21, 2007
Report: Hank Steinbrenner fires back at Torre
ESPN.com news services

The apple apparently doesn't fall far from the tree.

Hank Steinbrenner, who has begun to take control over the New York Yankees with brother Hal from their fiery father George, shot back at former manager Joe Torre's comment about the team's contract offer being an "insult."

"Where was Joe's career in '95 when my dad hired him?" Hank Steinbrenner told The New York Post. "My dad was crucified for hiring him.

"Let's not forget what my dad did in giving him that opportunity -- and the great team he was handed," Steinbrenner told the paper.

On Friday, Torre explained his reasoning for turning down the Yankees contract offer. The deal called for a one-year contract that included $3 million in incentives if the Yankees were to reach the 2008 World Series. Plus, if New York advanced to the Fall Classic, a second year would be added to the contract worth $8 million.

"I just felt the contract offer, the terms of the contract, were probably the thing I had the toughest time with -- the one year for one thing, the incentives for another thing," Torre said Friday. "I've been there 12 years and I didn't think motivation was needed."

"We knew exactly what was expected here," Torre added. "So, I just didn't think it was the right thing for me, I just didn't think it was the right thing for my players."

Hank Steinbrenner believed the Yankees' offer was fair and that Torre needed to accept some of the blame for the team's zero championships since 2000.

"You can't take credit for success when you're going good, and then not take at least some of the blame when things change," Steinbrenner told the paper. "I'm sorry he feels insulted, but that was not the intent."

Hank Steinbrenner said he was hoping Torre would agree to manage the Yankees for a 13th season.

"I sincerely wanted Joe to accept that offer," said Steinbrenner. "We all wanted him to accept it, probably me more than anybody else."

"You don't make an offer bluffing. What if he says yes?" he added. "I was hoping he'd say yes."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Quick Links

First off is a Editorial from the New York Times singing the praises of Mike Huckabee and talks about his move towards the front of the pack. You heard it here first. Hmmmmm.......Another article on Huckabee fever. Go figure.

Electoral Vote does a nice summary on Presidential fund raising to date. Interesting that HRC has more cash on hand than all Republicans at this point. Then there is Mitt Romney who has "loaned" his campaign over $17 mil so far. He better keep going to the ATM because he is going to be beat in Iowa by the guy listed above.

Fantasy conspiracy. First an owner in my league traded Tomlinson and Welker for Parker and Boldin. Informed that he received the worse running back and worse receiver of the deal he responded "both of my players have byes this week and I want to beat Phil". If that isn't bad enough conspiring against me now I have to deal with this.

Nice Pumpkins. WSJ has a story about a town that turns giant pumpkins into boats.

Lastly WSJ has a Q&A with Steroid Nation author on the rampant steroid abuse in sports.

Quick Links

Every few weeks there is another tease about Al Gore running for President. Usually after I resign myself to it not happening. Now with speculation running rampant him winning the Nobel Peace Prize and using that as a springboard to run for President.

I used to like Rudy a lot. However, the more I see him these days the more he reminds me of GWB. This Slate article shows that he has a little aversion to the truth that sounds way too familiar. The fact that Joe Biden slammed him at a recent debate, saying he is "the most uninformed person on American foreign policy now running for president" only further confirms the comparison.

Sometimes people never learn. USFL, XFL, WLAF, etc have all failed. Yet for some reason two new leagues are begining with some potentially deep pocketed owners (Mark Cuban). The best part of the article shows Tim Crouch trying out. That will be good news for those that own Tim Crouch jerseys (there is an inside joke in this last comment).

One of the gazillion political newsletters I received this week contains an interesting study on what would happen if the Electoral College were changed from a winner take all to a District by District plan. Unfortunately, Al Gore still loses (and Nixon beats Kennedy in 1960).

For those of us with satellite radio, the merger in waiting of Xm and Sirius is confounding. Mobil and Exxon merged with no issues but two little satellite companies are taking months. Interesting status of the merger noting that Sirius has spent $1mil in copying alone for the 6 mil pages of legal documents submitted. (sounds like they are getting ripped off)

Ethically Challenged- UPDATED

I hate the Patriots. The Owner, his son, his cheatin coach, and just about everybody else. But this year I find myself in the ethically challenging position of cheering them on. I drafted Tom Brady. The move was a shrewd move because he was a relative bargain compared to some of his peers, but has outperformed them.



I rationalized drafting him because if he did well, I did well. If he did poorly, I would also be happy. At least that is what I said then. That was before Lamont Jordan got hurt and Shaun Alexander had virtually disappeared. Tom Brady is currently carrying my team and I am cheering his every touchdown pass. (good thing their running game sucks).

Anyways, Boston Globe magazine has an article how to balance this ethical dilemma. I think I am violating these rules. And since Jake Delhomme has gotten hurt I am even more dependant on Brady.

One thing for certain, when the Patriots are in the playoffs, I will be back to routing for him to tear his ACL (because I can't freeze him).

UPDATE: Last night I found myself down by 1.82 going into the last GB drive against Chicago. Thanks to Brett Favre throwing an interception with no time left, I won by .18. 65.4 to 65.22. Not a great win, but a win none the less. I like Brett, but bidness is bidness.

True Blue (With a Few Exceptions)
Sometimes, you have to choose: pull for your home team, or for your fantasy league team. An ethical guide.
By Shawn Peters | October 7, 2007

It's Sunday, and you're watching your beloved Patriots trounce the historically hapless Cleveland Browns. But strangely enough, with the Patriots up by three touchdowns, the Browns' quarterback fades back and delivers a downfield strike to a streaking wide receiver and you actually have the urge to . . . cheer.

Are you confused? Psychotic? A masochist? No. You're just someone who plays fantasy sports, and you've just run smack into the greatest conflict in your stat-spouting, spouse-alienating life: Do you root for your home team or your fantasy team?

For the uninitiated, fantasy sports, a largely online endeavor, invites fans to play the role of "owner/general manager," assembling a roster of real-world players and accumulating their game stats in an effort to outmanage other owners for a league title. It's the high-tech lovechild of Strat-o-Matic Baseball and Dungeons & Dragons. In August, the Fantasy Sports Trade Association's yearly report indicated there are nearly 18 million people playing fantasy sports in the United States. That means that unless you're reading this from a hermetically sealed bubble, you either play or know someone who does, and, thus, you have been touched by this ethical dilemma: When, exactly, is it OK to pull for your fantasy team at the expense of your hometown squad? Believe it or not, there are immutable, unambiguous rules, and failure to follow them can lead to mockery at the hands of other sports fans.

First and foremost, the overriding maxim is that you never, ever, root against your home team when it's playing its mortal rivals. Yankees vs. Red Sox. Cowboys vs. Redskins. Lakers vs. Celtics. You are issued one soul at birth, and regardless of what it says on the receipt, there are no returns or refunds given when you sell it.

With that in mind, here are the few circumstances when it is allowable to put your fantasy team before your real-world team. Study them. Know them. Tattoo them on a body part that's easily accessible.

When the game is out of reach If the announcers are discussing the quality of their hotel's room service and the network, which spent all that money promoting and televising the game, is considering switching to another contest, you're off the hook. Go ahead and cheer for the other team's banjo-hitting shortstop to crush a few fastballs or for a backup running back to sprint 99 yards if it helps your fantasy team. No harm, no foul, since the game is as over as Michael Vick's endorsement deals.

When it's a matter of money Some leagues play for pride, others play for a little cash, and, finally, some play for sums of money more often associated with buying a factory-certified pre-owned Lexus. If your league falls into that third group, and an extra touchdown pass could be the difference between going home to your condo or living in a cardboard box, feel free to root for the fantasy team. As much as you love the Pats, Bob Kraft isn't about to let you live rent-free at Gillette Stadium.

When there's instant taunting involved Maybe you're the type who can blithely smile, comforted by your hometown team's success, while your head-to-head fantasy opponent talks more trash than Oscar the Grouch. I'm not. When in the presence of the person you have to beat, your fantasy team becomes the "us" and the other guy's squad is the "them," regardless of what laundry they're wearing. Root for "us."

When you care more than the real players Whether your favorite team is firmly ensconced in the playoff picture or is hopelessly out of it, this rule applies. There are times when a hit or a field goal or a win means everything to your fantasy team and not so much for the actual athletes playing the game. Once the Patriots or Sox have secured the division title, you're absolutely allowed to pull for the other side if it will allow you to claim your own fantasy crown.

When you're all alone I'd wager a first-round pick that there are several things you do in the privacy of your own home that aren't for public consumption. So, unless you have a pet that frowns on fan disloyalty, file this one under the category of "It's OK as long as no one sees you do it."

Shawn Peters is a fantasy football, baseball, and golf columnist for ESPN.com. E-mail him at gtroto@comcast.net.

Primetime

These are some of the most electrifying athletes of my life time. Obviously this is a very subjective list, but my only criteria in coosing them is in order of who I would pay to see?

10. Michael Jordan. I know having HIM this far down the list is heresy to some. He is probably the most gifted athlete of all time. Even though he is widely considered the greatest player in history of his sport, he left in his wake an NBA that was less entertaining than he arrived. Too much isolation and individual play which he ushered in almost killed the NBA with it's fanbase. It is only now recovering. Still, as I said...the most gifted athlete of all time.




9. Wayne Gretzky. Back when hockey was a sport, the Great One was the best ever. Like Magic Johnson with skates.



8. Jimmy Conners. yes Jimmy Conners. Tennis was more entertaining when it wasn't all about a big power serve. Jimmy was all about hustle.



7. Magic Johnson. Good for several passes a game that leave you shaking your head.




6. Marvelous Marvin Hagler. Mike Tyson, Mohammad Ali, and Sugar Ray Leonard were probably better showmen, but to me Hagler was the best boxer I ever saw.



5. Pedro Martinez. I am a bigger Clemens fan than Martinez, but boy can he pitch. He changed himself from one of the greatest power pitchers to one of the greatest finesse pitchers.

sorry no Pedro videos.

4. Jerry Rice. Greatest football player ever(despite the fact I list someone higher). May not have been the most glamorous, but definitely the best. Incidentally was on Howard Stern's radio show and gave the most interesting interview I have ever heard him give.





3. Tiger Woods. maybe the most amazing shot I ever saw him hit was from the deep rough 191 yards out over a tree within 4 feet of the cup WITH A PITCHING WEDGE.



2. Larry Bird. I feel like I am cheating on him by listing THE GREATEST BASKETBALL PLAYER OF ALLTIME as #2. Do not dispute this. Larry was a better passer, rebounder, outside shooter than MJ. Not as good of an individual defender but played great team defense (didn't he Isiah?)




1 Barry Sanders. If you were a defender, at any moment of any game you could put your head down to make a tackle only to come up with air and have to relive your missed tackle on every highlight reel.

without further ado.....



Honorable mentions to Pete Rose Jack Nicklaus, Deion Sanders, Derek Jeter (yes Derek Jeter), Roger Clemens, Joe Montana, Shaq O'neil, and Carl Lewis.

Quick Links

Senator McCain is moving up in the latest polls and in some polls is only single digits from Giuliani. Article from Time.com asking if New Hampshire can revive him.

Salon has an article about the reasons behind the initial draw down of troops.

ESPN's John Clayon writes that the Patriots got off easy. Maybe they should have received this penalty.

Let's see if I have this right. Signed Randy Moss, Rodney Harrision gets busted for roids, Tom Brady is doing his Shawn Kemp impressions, Bill Belichick buying houses for his girlfriend, and now the organization is involved in cheating. Myra must be so proud.

Barack Obama outlines his plans for withdrawing from Iraq.