5-at-10: Friday mailbag on International Beer Day

photo Beer tile

We are big believers in more national holidays, and if we can't celebrate International Beer Day, then the terrorists have won. What's our Rushmore of beers? We'll nominate Bud Light and Duff in honor of Homer Simpson.

From the "Talks too much" studios, lift a Co-Cola and enjoy friends.

From Sportsfan

Jay - The week after vacation is tough. No sand, no co-colas with lunch, gotta wear shoes all day. For the mailbag - Can the Broncos win a Superbowl before Peyton Manning retires?

Sportsfan -

The week after vacation can be tough. Very tough. In fact we are campaigning for a national program in which there is down time to recover from down time. Who's with us?

As for the Broncos, yes, they certainly can win a Super Bowl in the next couple of years for the following reasons:

photo Peyton Manning

1) Peyton Manning is still playing at an elite level. Heck, he was at an all-time level last year, re-writing the record books as the Broncos won the AFC.

2) The Broncos have embraced the moment. Sensing that Manning's window is closing, Denver pushed its chips in - Demarcus Ware and Aqib Talib are free agent acquisitions of a team looking to win today.

3) Two of their best linemen - tackle Ryan Clady and defensive end Von Miller - missed most of last season for a variety of reasons. They are back and they will help.

Of course, the beatdown Seattle levied offers a playbook of how to disrupt the Manning attack.

But if the question is can the Broncos and Manning win it all, you have to say absolutely.

----

From Stewwie

Jay, once the sale goes through, if Donald agrees to drop all lawsuits (present and future) against the league, do you think Adam Silver should lift the lifetime ban? (Mailbag this one if you want.)

Stewwie -

photo Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald T. Sterling, right, sits with his wife, Rochelle, during a Clippers NBA basketball game against the Detroit Pistons in Los Angeles in this 2010 file photo.

Great question and let us say on the front end that we have appreciated your views and discourse on this topic. We may not have agreed on every angle of this but the back-and-forth has forced us and allowed us to see the topic from a variety of sides. Thanks for that.

We could definitely see a measure in which the lifetime ban is lifted but with certain caveats, like The Don is not allowed to buy all or part of another team. (Dude is about to have an extra billion laying around so who's to say if he called the Maloofs and made them an offer they could not refuse...)

That said, if Silver does lift the ban, the tangible penalties that linger from this entire debacle would be that Sterling no longer owns a team and that he is allowed back into games and stuff. Which, when you think about it, Silver and Co. was able to force something that seemed impossible - forcing him to sell without voting him out - and then lifting the ban that they had complete control over.

Crazy huh?

----

From Braves Nut

How have you been w/o Uggla to kick around? You OK? You going through withdrawals?

Seriously, what did you think about the Braves moves this week and who had the best/worst trading deadline?

Thanks and keep up the good work at the TFP/ESPN (the radio show is the best)

B Nut -

photo Atlanta Braves' Evan Gattis, center, is congratulated by teammate Freddie Freeman after his solo home run against the San Diego Padres during the seventh inning of a baseball game Monday, July 28, 2014, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/David Tulis)

We've been getting by with Danny Struggla out west - hey Uggla just struck out again - but it's been tough. We've started to keep a close eye on Stinky Upton, but now it feels like piling on a little bit. Hey Uggla just booted a grounder.

But we'll survive. And thanks for caring.

As for the trading deadline, we like what the Braves did, as marginal as it seems. Atlanta acquired lefty reliever James Russell (3.51 ERA but opponents are hitting just .202 against him this year) and utility player Emilio Bonifacio (.279, 14 steals and has played second, third, short and in the outfield this year) and a $1 million for switch-hitting catching prospect Victor Caratini. Russell fills a major hole and Bonifacio is fast, plays multiple positions and could fill a variety of needs down the stretch, be it hitting lead-off or pinch running. As for Caratini, it's hard to part with switch-hitting catchers who have on-base percentages near .400, but catcher is a deep position in the Braves system.

As for around the league, well, we loved the major moves the A's and Tigers made to get front-line ace starting pitchers in Jon Lester and David Price and position themselves as the favorites in the American League.

On that same note, we're surprised the Dodgers did not get in the bidding. For a team with a World Series-or-bust attitude and payroll - and an overflow of outfield prospects - we're a little shocked that the Dodgers did not make every attempt to land Lester or Price. A Dodgers rotation of Kershaw-Grienke-Price/Lester would have been tough to handle in October.

----

From Terry

What are the over/under win totals for all of the SEC teams and what do you think? You wrote about this last year and I kept it to see how you did. Not bad.

What do you think about this year's totals?

Thanks and if you talk about this on the radio can you mention my name, that would be cool.

Terry

You bet. And thanks for keeping tabs on us. (Side note: We went 9-5 for the whole league, missing Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee Missouri and Vandy.)

Arkansas - Under 4.5

Alabama - Over 10.5

Auburn - Over 9

Florida - Under 7.5

Georgia - Over 9.5

Kentucky - Over 3.5

LSU - Under 9

Mississippi State - Over 7.5

Missouri - Under 7.5

Ole Miss - 7.5

South Carolina - Over 9.5

Tennessee - Over 5.5

Texas A&M - Under 7

Vandy - Under 6

----

From Joe B

I have been reading your blog from the very beginning and have always enjoyed it. I've written you before but not for the mailbag but I've been wondering something.

I listen to you and David almost every day and that's my question. You guys are amazing with how quick you are with answers and trivia and stuff. Some times I think you guys have to be looking stuff up but you say it so fast that there's no way.

My question is what's the funnest part of the radio show, because it is pretty clear you guys are having a good time?

Joe B -

Thanks for the kind words and for following along all this time. We appreciate the support.

As for the 5-at-10, we have just completed our 984th consecutive Monday-through-Friday family-oriented, interweb-based sports column. So there's that. Three weeks from now we'll be more than 1,000 straight work days, regardless of sickness, vacation or holiday. Wow.

As for the radio show, we have had a lot of fun. We can't speak for David, but the biggest kick for me is the back-and-forth with the callers and the feedback. As the TFP sports editor, most of the feedback we get is about something we did as a sports section that made people upset for one reasons or another, whether they thought we should have covered something we didn't or over-covered something they did not care about or for whatever reason.

On the radio, when we generate feedback it's generally for discussion or for interest or a variety of reasons that are most times good things.

That's been a lot of fun.

As for the recall, well, we know that Paschall knows more college football than three people we've ever met. As for us, well, we wasted a bunch of a really good memory cells on movie lines, baseball stats and TV characters. And a sports-talk radio show may be the one avenue that allows us to use those three things in a positive way.

Upcoming Events