Jay GreesonFrom a few of you
What will you remember most about these Olympics?
Gang -
There are three main story lines we think that will resonate from these Games.
First, is the 'all-time' achievements of some of the best ever in their sports.
Michael Phelps just completed the greatest Olympic career of any athlete ever.
Usain Bolt just completed the golden three-peat in the 100 and 200.
Simone Biles being called the best gymnast ever.
That's an overwhelming collection of super-talent and that's not even bringing in names like Ledecky or Walsh-Jennings or any of the others.
Secondly, right behind the individual excellence has been the waves of controversy in Rio. The facilities to the poop water to the crime to the entire Ryan Lochte debacle to everything in between, even though it feels like it has been under-covered by NBC for a slew of reasons, that will forever be a part of these Games. In fact, the poop water and the Lochte lying mess will be punchlines for many Olympics to come.
Finally, and this could certainly happen again, but these were the Games that reminded me personally of how much we love the Games.
And that's cool.
In this Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2016, file photo, United States' Ryan Lochte checks his time in a men's 4x200-meter freestyle heat during the swimming competitions at the 2016 Summer Olympics, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn, File)From Steve
What do you think is really behind the whole Ryan Lochte mess?
Steve -
We'll go with the three A's - Alcohol, Arrogance and A-hole-a-ness.
Lochte is a tool bag by all accounts - he even tweeted out his outfit that night and referenced that his attire was "$6,000 deep" so there's that - and the whole crew was nine-eyed.
That's OK, we know a lot of tool bags and a lot of folks that occasionally get over-served.
As for how this thing got so far down the rabbit hole. well, we like the theory that Lochte and the boys got hammered. (Side question: What's the best euphemisms for getting drunk? Nine-eyed is good. Sideways/crooked is certainly usable. What else?)
The did something stupid, and then got caught by authorities and the video.
As for the lie, well, either Lochte is a witless wonder - and that's possible - who was looking for another round of hero worship or this was a story that got of control.
The former is certainly possible, but let's explore the latter a bit.
Let's say Lochte ran out of money and called home after the crazy night out and coughing up some dough to the security guards. So he calls home and mom wants to know what happened to his money, and he comes up with this robbery story.
Remember Momma Lochte is the one who first told the media about this.
And then the entire ordeal came off the rails from there.
What a mess.
FILE - In this Nov. 21, 2015, file photo, Mississippi quarterback Chad Kelly looks to throw a pass against LSU in the first half of an NCAA college football game in Oxford, Miss. After throwing for more than 4,000 yards last season, Kelly is back as a senior, and regarded as one of the teams leaders as the Rebels begin spring practice. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File0From Jeff P.
Dude, I read the 5@10 every chance I can and I have a questions for you. My friends and I have an SEC football fantasy league. There are six of us and it's normal scoring. Who is the No. 1 overall pick and who would you consider sleepers?
Jeff -
Interesting question on a lot of fronts, and well, we love the draft. You know this.
Without knowing the exact scoring system - and gang the most preeminent fantasy sports tip we can offer is know the scoring system of your league back and forward - here's where we'd start.
First pick - Chad Kelly, Ole Miss quarterback.
Yes, Leonard Forunette is an absolute stud, but with the shortage of QBs in this SEC and the combination of Fournette's potential of injury, we'd go Kelly first.
Before we go sleeper, here's our top few at each position (and remember these are fantasy rankings not actual value or overall excellence, as an example we'd take Bo Scarborough over Jalen Hurd because Scarbrough will be the feature back at Alabama while Hurd will share a ton of stats with Alvin Kamara and even Josh Dobbs):
QB - Kelly; Trevor Knight, Texas A&M, Josh Dobbs, Austin Allen, Arkansas. Sleeper: Drew Barker, Kentucky.
RB - Fournette; Scarbrough; Nick Chubb, Georgia; Hurd. Sleeper: Rawleigh Williams, Arkansas.
WR - Christian Kirk, Texas A&M Calvin Ridley, Alabama; Fred Ross, Mississippi State; Antonio Calloway. Sleeper: Damore'ea Stringfellow, Ole Miss. (Great name by the way.)
TE - Evan Engram, Ole Miss.
Defense - Alabama
Kickers - The kid from Ole Miss and Aaron Medley, Tennessee.
One more question? Do you guys need a seventh. What a great idea.
Tennessee running back Jalen Hurd runs for yardage as Florida linebacker Jarrad Davis (40) and Florida defensive lineman Jordan Sherit (17) try to stop him during the second half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2015, in Gainesville, Fla. Florida won 28-27. (AP Photo/John Raoux)From Pete
OK, I'm already tired of all the Tennessee talk. Am I the only one that will believe it when I actually see Little Orange beat Florida?
Pete -
Fair criticism, Pete.
It's hard to remember a game in the SEC that means more to one team in the grand scheme of things than what the Florida game means to Tennessee.
And especially what it means to the UT fans.
And to be fair, a loss to the Gators would be amazingly huge. It would feel like two losses in the standings considering the need it represents in the SEC East.
It would feel like about five losses to a fan base that has not tasted victory over Florida since the first Bush administration.
The NBC peacock logo.
From Chas -
In fact, for the Friday bag, who were the four worst Olympics common taters?
Chas -
OK we have to start with the Al Trautwig gaff about Simone Biles' parents, who adopted her. Not a good look.
We are not a fan of the delicate sensibilities that our society wears on its collective social media sleeve like a faux badge of indignation, but there have been several comments from NBC personnel that cross the line into sexism.
First, Dan Hicks when calling the swimming - and Hicks is really good at a variety of sports - said a female swimmer's husband and coach was the man responsible for her success. Uh, the responsibility actually is the swimmer's.
And taking it a step further, John Miller, NBC's chief marketing officer for the Olympics said: "The people who watch the Olympics are not particularly sports fans. More women watch the [Olympic] games than men, and for the women, they're less interested in the result and more interested in the journey. It's sort of like the ultimate reality show and mini-series wrapped into one."
No, John, women can be sports fans too and want results and action in real-time.
Let me think on this for actual bad taters.
Atlanta Braves' Freddie Freeman runs the bases after hitting a solo home run during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Saturday, July 9, 2016, in Chicago.From Todd C -
Mailbag questions - Braves 2017 opening day manager, is it Snitker? Opening day 1st baseman, is it Freeman? Opening day starting pitcher, is it Tehran? And finally, will season tickets be a sellout?
Todd -
Great question.
We still think Brain Snitker will not be the guy moving forward, although he's gotten more out of this collection of stiffs than we could have believed back in May.
We'll lean toward Bud Black being the guy.
Yes, Freddie will be the guy in the No. 3 hole and at first base.
We think Tehran will be the guy, but we also believe a free agent move could be in the works to make an open in day splash.
Season tickets selling out seems like a stretch, but that first game will be an amazingly hot ticket.
And lead to an amazingly suffocating traffic nightmare in Cobb County.