5-at-10: Friday mailbag on KD and newfound dynasty hatred, Stoops' return, punching a 68-year-old and hatemail


              Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant speaks after Game 3 of basketball's NBA Finals between the Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers in Cleveland, early Thursday, June 8, 2017. (AP Photo/Ron Schwane)
Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant speaks after Game 3 of basketball's NBA Finals between the Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers in Cleveland, early Thursday, June 8, 2017. (AP Photo/Ron Schwane)

From Bill

Do you think KD is running a close parallel to what happened to Lebron after he left CLE?

Bill -

At first, Bill, I would have said no.

But now, with the dominance that KD has shown - and the fact that KD credited LeBron for paving the way for his move to Golden State - we think that assertion has more credibility now than it did before the season.

With the way KD has played, especially with that Game 3 dagger that ended any hope in Cleveland, it is clear that Golden State needed Durant as much as he needed Golden State.

Take KD out of this, and there's a real chance the Warriors are down 2-1 staring a must-win in the face tonight. He's been that much of a difference-maker. So we can absolutely see KD winning a title or three and then looking around for his next move. Could he go back to OKC? Maybe. Could he return to his home area of Washington, D.C.? Maybe.

Who knows, but KD had far and away the most pressure on him in this series - even if he played great and the Warriors did not bring home the title, he would have heard about it from everywhere - and he has delivered with monster game after monster game. He has kind of changed the narrative.

Which brings us to this question: When did we start hating dynasties?

Look back through time, and dynasties garnered our respect, even if we hated them.

The Yankees always spent more and made great teams. We celebrated the 1980s NBA when really there were only three title contenders until the Pistons broke through. The NFL cycle of dynasties - and dynasty-leading QBs - has been well-celebrated.

But now, we are ticked because the Warriors are great?

Here's an idea: Other teams get better. Draft better. Improve your team better. Spend more. Don't like getting whipped, well, fix your end of it and quit the "Oh, it's not fair, they have a super team" crap.

Where were we?

photo FILE - This Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2017, file photo, shows Netflix on a tablet, in North Andover, Mass. Netflix is about to hit 100 million subscribers for the first time, hitting a major milestone that underscores how much its video streaming service has changed the entertainment landscape since its debut a decade ago. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola, File)

From Steve

I read on the 5@10 and heard you guys talking on your show about the VCR and Blockbuster. You were so right going to rent a movie was as big a part as watching the movie growing up. That got my buddy and me talking about a couple of things.

If you go back in time and invent something like a VCR or Blockbuster, what would you pick? Also what business or thing around us will our kids try to explain to their kids and get that "You did what?" look like if we tried to explained it to them like going to the movie rental store?

Thanks and love your show. We listen every day.

Steve -

Such a great question, and yes, the process of picking out the video and the anticipation of what would be in stock on the ride over there was an excellent experience. Alas.

Try explaining that to the NetFlix generation.

Don't get me wrong that technology is excellent and better, but it does not have the romance and mystique that going to the movie rental place did.

As for an invention, well, we're going to take the obvious answer - computers and all the stuff with it - off the board. We heard this stat this week, if Bill Gates spent $1 million a day, he'd have to live the next 212 years to spend all his money. Chew on that.

As for an invention, the dude that came up with the zipper developed some technology that has really stood the test of time. Same with whomever developed those little plastic tips on the end of your shoe laces. And finally, the woman who invented the clip that keeps a baby's pacifier snapped on to their shirt so it does not fall to the ground is brilliant. Brilliant.

I think when we try to explain to our kids' kids that granddaddy worked for a newspaper and that we drove around throwing said newspaper in your bushes so you got the day's top stories they are going to think we are cracked. (That said, amid all the reports on the demise of newspapers, ask Blockbuster or Turtles' Records and Tapes stores or K-Mart about the industry-changing affects of the interweb.)

The other one that may elicit blank stares a generation or two from now is try telling those tots of the future that you had an entire litany of cable channels that you never used and you paid for them. When al a carte cable pricing comes, the 'bundle' of channels we have now will go the way of the VCR.

From Tike

Sure y'all touched on it. This Bob Stoops decision feels a lot like CMR at UGA. Where/When Stoops coach again?

Tike -

We did discuss Bob Stoops a fair amount this week on Press Row.

Count us in the camp of folks that can see him coming back.

His sons are seniors in high school, and with his staff in place and with reports that the current administration may get rolled over, the cosmic tumblers clicked. But we did hear Paul Finebaum say on ESPN Radio that a) Stoops loves the city of Chicago; b) Stoops loves Notre Dame; c) Stoops has a home in Chicago.

Let's remember that while Stoops is a special administrator to the Oklahoma athletic department and understandably wants to watch his sons in their final year of high school, next year they will be going off to college.

Let the Stoops boys get into Notre Dame and let Brian Kelly go .500 again and let those rumors start swirling.

photo Ric Flair

From Hangtime

To expand on that discussion, which former WWE Super Star would you be most proud to beat up? Flair, Hulk Hogan, Sting, Lex Lugar...? This could get interesting real quick.

Hangtime -

Excellent question.

Now this is not say we're ready for any of these fellows, mind you. But this discussion started this week with the social media post that Ric Flair slugged a Warriors fan and broke his hand. Flair is 68 years old.

If you knocked Flair out, telling your buddies that you whipped a 68-year-old man is not that cool. Telling your buddies that you toppled the Nature Boy, well, that has a lot more panache.

We think far left has to be Hulk Hogan. The name. The shadow he cast over all of wrestling as it was making its ascent from circuit events to national megashows. We'll put Stone Cold Steve there, as well as The Rock. (Again, these are monster humans, regardless of age.)

And he is no longer with us, but maybe the coolest one of them all would have been Andre the Giant, but that dude was a mountain of a man.

Or maybe the Iron Sheik. U-S-A! U-S-A!

photo Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw throws to the plate during the second inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Wednesday, June 7, 2017, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Rushmores and this day in history

We only had three Rushmores this week.

Rushmore of left-handed pitchers: Johnson, Koufax, Carlton and Kershaw. Yes, Warren Spahn is a tough one to leave off and his 363 career wins are the most ever for a lefty, but his stats are more cumulative than conquering. All of the dudes on this Rushmore have/had electric stuff. Spahn was a workhorse for sure. He averaged more than 250 innings per season in his 21-year career. He led the league in complete games a staggering nine times and from '57 to 63 he had more than 18 complete games each season, including a mind-blowing 22 complete games and seven shutouts at the tender age of 42 in 1963. But analytics and stuff lean more to the Big Unit, who despite pitching with contemporaries Maddux and Clemens, won five Cy

Youngs in his career.
Rushmore of infamous athletes (known more for something else than their sports accomplishments): Kournikova is an easy one. We'll go Tommy John two, considering his surgery will live long after his playing days are forgotten. Then Shoeless Joe Jackson. And O.J., who was great but will always be.

Rushmore of younger sibling becoming more famous: Like the Serena Williams call. We'll add Julia Roberts, Michael Jackson and Eddie Van Halen, edging Mark Wahlberg and the Funky Bunch.

As for June 9 - that's 6/9, which some folks are calling "Rob Gronkowski Day" because, well, you know - here are some interesting things that happened on this day through history.

In 1934, the first Donald Duck cartoon was released. In 1958, Sheb Wooley's "Purple People Eater" hits No. 1 on the U.S. charts. In 1960, ABC and the AFL sign a five-year deal.

Two amazing sports oddities happened on this day. In 1991, Jim Courier beat Andre Agassi in the French Open Final and in 1993 the Montreal Canadiens beat the L.A. Kings to with the Stanley Cup. That was the last hockey team from Canada to win the Stanley Cup. As for the tennis, I believe that is the last all-American major final that did not include Pete Sampras. (And sweet buckets, who in a million years is ready to predict when the next all-American male final will be in tennis?)

As for sports moments, on this day, Magic hit his game-winning 'baby hook' in '87, Bobby Valentine returned to the dugout in glass and a fake mustache after being ejected in '99 and Ken Griffey Jr. hit home run No. 600 in 2008.

In 2013, Edward Snowden publicly makes his identity known as the leaker of the NSA information. Seems like it was not that long ago, right?

As for birthdays, Dick Vitale is 77 today. The Cobra, Dave Parker is 66 today. That's a boss nickname. Michael J. Fox is 56 today. Dude has had a strong career from Family Ties to Teen Wolf to the Back to the Future franchise. Kudos. Johnny Depp is 54 today. Dude spends money like few others. Natalie Portman is 36 today. (If we told you those last three actors were born in Israel, Alberta and Kentucky, could you name which was from where?)

Finally, Charles Dickens died on this day in 1870. That, for the famed author, was probably the worst of times.

And finally, this week's non-fan club member.

From unsigned

I read your A2 crap but I don't know why. Each week you write something that makes me madder and madder. You owe Dr. Kelly an apology. He has worked hard and the school board picks him then he deserves it.

He's a lot smarter than you are I can tell you that. He's a doctor.

What are you? Some opinionated jerk. That's what.

Your the reason newspapers are dying.

Unsigned -

Well, all righty then. So there's that.

Feel like I need to apologize since I'm the one that's killing newspapers. Sorry.

Good talk.

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