LAKE MARTIN, Ala. -- Happy Birthday, America. And Happy Birthday partying, fellow Americans.
Borrowing GratefulDawg's inspired wisdom from Wednesday -- hope you enjoy the Fourth with a fifth (and who knew GD was Pluto meets Newton meets Twain with that kind of insightful brilliance; well-played indeed, sir).
Also, in honor of the Vols getting much-needed four-star linebacker Dillon Bates and in protest of the four inches of rain headed our way, let's also celebrate the Fourth with a top-five 5-at-10 of the best 4s in sports.
1) Lou Gehrig -- His numbers are brutually impressive, but know this. When you die, if you are such a stud duck that they name the disease after you, well, that's rocking. To quote Henry Hill, "One day some of the kids from the neighborhood carried Lou's mother's groceries all the way home. You know why? It was outta respect
2) Bobby Orr -- Best hockey defender ever, and the subject of one of the most iconic photos in sports.
3) Mel Ott -- If you had an all-time underrated superstars baseball team, the outfield would be Musial, Aaron and Ott. Dude was so money -- hitting .304 for his career with 511 homers in 22 years. Plus, he was light years ahead of his time considering he was a rock star in the on-base/power combination sabermatrics with a .414 OBP and a .947 OPS.
Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre speaks to the media after their NFL football game against the New York Giants at Ford Field in Detroit, Monday, Dec. 13, 2010. The Giants won 21-3. (AP)4) Brett Favre -- His career stats are eye-popping; so too are his cell photo photos.
5) Joe Dumars -- Great career as a player. As a GM, well GMs do not wear jersey numbers and GMs like Dumars who draft Darko Milicic over Wade, Bosh and Carmelo do not make best of lists.
And that's leaving players like Duke Snider, Paul Molitor, Adrian Dantley and Chris Webber off the list and omitting famous sports 4s like the Final Four, the four corners, and the Four Horseman (Whooooooaaaaaaaa). Wow, 4 is a sneaky great number.
Discuss and have a happy and safe 4th (with a fifth).
PS -- does anyone else think Todd may get this tattooed somewhere on his person today, with a nice flag waving in the back ground. You stay classy Chattanooga.