Merry Christmas folks.
This is the last 5-at-10 before Santa comes calling.
In that honor we have kind of a mixed bag. We have three questions from you folks - including one that was reposted and repeated a view times on various platforms - and two questions we'll ask back to you guys.
We are excited that former Baylor School star Ryan Parker will be on Pres Row today. Great kid and one of the toughest high school athletes we've seen in our almost 15 years of paying attention to that kind of thing in the Chattanooga area. (Sadly, the taped interview comes at a time that I already had something scheduled, so Paschall and Wells will carry the questioning banner with Mr. Parker, a freshman linebacker at Army. Alas, but we know our Press Row cohorts will deliver the goods.)
As an aside, thanks to everyone this year. For playing along and making the all the professional projects we're involved in - the 5-at-10, the A2 column and Press Row - way more fun by being engaged. The feedback makes a fun job even more enjoyable and meaningful. Merry Christmas.
(And excuse us for getting a little sappy - and just wait till next week, because 2016 has been a monster for a lot of us - but Christmas and the holiday season get the emotions flowing. So it goes.)
From the "Talks too much" studios, release the hounds.
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From a lot of you
Dude, are you ever going to post the bowl contests scores or are we supposed to just guess?
- Gang
Fair question. Here they are. Couple of things. If you have a score discrepancy please let me know. Lots of papers to grade you know, and there may have been a Co-Cola or three by the computer during the process.
Second, thanks so much for the interest guys, this is a great showing with 52 entries and had people from eight different states, including our Maine transplant, Mark Noonan.
Everyone say hi to Mark, and remind him to stay warm.
Finally, mad props to Mark S, a regular contest player if not a regular in the comments who started out a house of fire, hitting the seven 1-point games and Western Kentucky to get to 9 points. His streak of eight straight was snapped last night when the powerful Idaho Petrinos (no the other one) mashed the CSU Bobos.
On to the results:
Mark S - 9
Tex - 8
Jason T - 8
Fat Vader - 7
JonMac - 7
Brandon E - 7
Runner-up of Life - 7
Ted P - 7
Jefe - 7
Norman R - 7
Scole023 - 7
VFL - 7
Bo G. - 7
5-at-10 - 6
Jomo - 6
JBell - 6
Jack D - 6
Scott H - 6
Michael P - 6
Patty H - 6
Money - 6
War Eagle - 6
Tom P - 6
Alabama Mike - 5
Skipper - 5
Terry - 5
Shelly - 5
Buzz B - 5
Lefty - 5
Justin C - 5
Ryan C - 5
Frank C - 5
Mark P - 5
Bill M - 5
Uch - 5
Sportsfan - 5
Hal M - 5
Todd C - 4
Billy Ho - 4
Chris J - 4
Mrs. 5-at-10 - 4
Mark W - 3
Chris B - 3
Ronnie H - 3
Kyle O - 3
Andrew O - 3
TFP transplant in Maine (Mark N) - 2
Dawg 747 - 2
DC22 - 2
Butter - 2
Charles G - 2
Todd G - 1
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For the group on this special pre-Christmas mailbag:
Who were your favorite high school athletes to watch play? Not family members, mind you, but the kids who you enjoyed watching compete. We ask this looking for a Rushmore, but will be hard-pressed to find four we enjoyed watching them compete in the last 15 years more than Ryan Parker at Baylor School.
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From Mark
Did you see the story about Curt Schilling and the Hall of Fame voters who are choosing not to vote for him because of his views and Twitter?
If you had a vote, would you vote for Schilling? Why or why not?
- Mark
Yes, Mark, I did see those stories, and the next story that comes out painting the baseball Hall of Fame voters in a positive light will be the first.
And in a lot of ways, those voters bring this on themselves.
Schilling is out-spoken, but the fact that he is outspoken on the right side of the aisle has rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. Yes, Schilling has crossed the line at times.
The latest one jumpstarted this mini-revolt from some writers after a column from Dan Shuaghnessy after Schilling's social media comments of "Awesome" on a T-Shirt that read: "Rope. Tree. Journalist. Some assembly required." was less than tasteful. Gang, know this: There are a couple of things that are simply not funny. Hitler and Nazis are on that list. Lynchings and all references there in also are on the list.
So Schilling is a jack wagon in some people's eyes. There are a lot of known jack wagon's in the Hall of Fame.
We would not vote for Schilling because we think the Hall is already watered down and we do not thing he was a Hall of Fame player. He was a very good player who had some great postseason moments, but not an all-timer.
Dude is 216-146 career as a pitcher and never led the league in ERA. Heck, since becoming a full-time starting pitcher midway through the1992 season, Schilling never had an ERA lower than 2.95 and had an ERA lower than 3.00 only three times from 1993-2007.
He never won a Cy Young and never finished inside the top-10 in an MVP voting.
In fact, it's a pretty fair question to ask if Schilling had been pitching for Detroit and helped the Tigers win the 2004 series rather than the Red (Bloody) Sox, this conversation does not exists.
Yes, he was very good in the playoffs, going 11-2 with a career 2.23 ERA, but the body of work for me does not equal Hall of Fame status.
But we do not have a ballot, which makes perfect sense,, because we would judge a player's, you know, playing career, more than his Twitter rants about whether he deserves to be in the Hall or not.
And here are a few other things about the baseball Hall of Fame process we'd change:
Make the ballots completely transparent. Now. They are making the switch I think for the 2018 class, but why this wasn't done long ago is puzzling.
Cut the number of eligible years on the ballot to no more than five. What did Mike Piazza do in the space between years three and six to get in? So the power of the class and the rest of the names there matter? They shouldn't a player's career should dictate placement in Cooperstown, not the other choices of that particular cycle. In fact we could make an argument that three is enough. First-ballot Hall of Famers are special and we think that designation is cool. If you think someone is a bona fide first-ballot, great. And a lot of folks may want to wait on second-year guys, and we get that. But the popularity contest and the years-long momentum are tiring.
As for the PED-era guys, baseball has to take a stand. Either put them on the ballot or take them off. And if guys like Bonds and Clemens and Sosa are on the ballot, how can you not vote for those guys.
When Derek Jeter comes on the ballot in the new era of transparent, anyone who does not vote for him has their ballots removed. This whole, "Babe Ruth was not unanimous, so no one should be unanimous" mumbo jumbo is ridiculous. You know what that is, that's the medical equivalent of saying, well, my father's father used leeches to treat blood issues, so that's good enough for my kids too. We are compounding the sins of our predecessors by making them over and over again.
As for Schilling, in a lot of ways he's been his own worst enemy at times, fairly or unfairly.
You can look at a lot of people at ESPN who have said things just as politically charged but on the left-side of matters and even at times blasting Donald Trump who have not gotten the same treatment.
As for the writers, well, we're certain they would wrap their view points in the off-the-field conditions of the Hall of Fame qualifications and guidelines.
And that's fine.
But the funny thing about bias is that no matter what technicality you wrap it in, it's still comes across as bias.
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For the group on this special pre-Christmas mailbag:
We have two more Rushmores for your consideration. First, on this day in 1779 Benedict Arnold was court-martialed. If there was a Rushmore of the four people who became universally known for something that they eventual became so synonymous with that term it's accepted everywhere, is Arnold far left? Who else makes it, because Benedict Arnold = traitor is there. Does Napolean = short person get there? Wally Pipp, or is that too vague? Thoughts?
Secondly, Corey Haim would have been 45 today. Does Corey make the Rushmore of 80s kids stars? (The Brat Pack, other than Michael Anthony Hall were all in their 20s even if they were playing high school kids. Emilio Estevez was 23 when Breakfast Club came out in 1985. Judd Nelson was 26 for Pete's sake. Man he failed a lot of grades.) For comparison, Haim was all of 15 when "Lucas" was released in 1986.
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From Steven B.
Man, the Christmas shopping has left me broke. Do you spend more at Christmas than you expect?
Also, I have really appreciated the extra holiday entertainment your NFL picks have provided. Got any this weekend?
- Steven B.
New York Giants' Odell Beckham (13) is sent flying after a hit by Philadelphia Eagles' Leodis McKelvin (21) during the second half of an NFL football game, Thursday, Dec. 22, 2016, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Michael Perez) Great question, and yes, we always, Always, ALWAYS overspend at Christmas. In fact, we have been blessed beyond measure, and we think it's pretty fair to say the 5-at-10 can be described as pretty generous.
So whenever and wherever we stop, we're always looking to buy or add or get one more thing.
The only sure way to stop it is for us simply not to stop. Plain and simple.
As for the NFL picks, well, know that past performance is not a guarantee of future entertainment. Heck, that is officially known as the "Will Smith Rule" around these parts. (Dude, Smith's filmography is filled with more bombs than an Air Force weapons cache. Oh my.)
With that, our Frisky 4 picks are 6-2 in the last two weeks, so let's find four more we like for Steven B. and the folks who embrace the giving (read: spending) spirit that is Christmas.
Atlanta minus-2.5 over Carolina. Ah, bet a lot of folks before the season would have guessed if one of these teams was going to clinch the NFC South this weekend, it would not have been the Falcons. Atlanta has the most productive offense in the NFL, and the Panthers are ranked No. 22 defensively. Yes, we'll give less than a field goal, even outside and on the road on Christmas Eve.
Tennessee minus-5 over Jacksonville. Another flipped identity game, considering that before the season the Jags were a trendy pick in the AFC South. Now, the Jags have fired their coach, have not won since Week 6 and are wondering if Blake Bortles is a quarterback for the future. Not good times. The Titans just keep churning along and, whether you want to believe this or not, Tennessee quarterback Marcus Mariota has quietly improved to a place where he looks like a guy who can lead a team to the playoffs.
Kansas City minus-3 over Denver. The line here suggests the home-standing Chiefs and the Broncos are equally matched in Vegas' eyes. And considering the Titans just beat each by a field goal or less in the last two weeks, that makes some sense. But the difference here is offensive balance. The Broncos simply can't run the football. The Chiefs have become the league's best team at winning games like this, and if you buy the half, this feels like an entertaining if not an aesthetically pleasing game.
Green Bay minus-6.5 over Minnesota. The Vikings are arguably the worst offense in the league because they average 3.0 yards a carry in the running game. How bad is that? Well, it's almost a full half a yard behind 31st L.A. (3.4 per rush) in the 32-team NFL. The Packers have a lot at stake, they are at home, and Aaron Rodgers is playing his way back into the NFL MVP race. Less than a TD is a generous price.