5-at-10: Riverbend dream acts, Dale Jr.'s legacy, U.S. Open place and entries, more hate mail

From Rickie

Man, I listen to you on the radio. You are pretty funny most of the time.

Are you headed to Riverbend anytime this week? I am definitely going Friday. We have this conversation at work this time of year and wanted your take -- Who would be your Riverbend dream act? Thanks and keep up the good work.

Rickie -

Toby Keith in a lot of ways is the home run actual Riverbend act.

Tonight he will take the stage and his mix of drinking songs - is there a more Riverbend-perfect tune than "Red Solo Cup" with the possible exception of "Free Bird" for Pete's Sake? - and patriotic songs will dominate.

It also helps that it's country music. (Which reminds us of the great "Blues Brothers" line, which is fitting because that movie premiered today in 1980 in Chicago before nationwide on June 20: When asked what kind of music they like at Bob's Country Bunker, Bob sayd, "Both kinds. Country and Western.")

As for the dream list of acts with money not being a part of the equation, we'd start with Garth and have Jimmy Buffett a close 1B.

Sure, Bruce and U2 and the super groups would be interesting, but Garth would, in our view be the all-timer for Riverbend.

photo FILE - In this Feb. 20, 2016, file photo, Dale Earnhardt Jr looks from the garage before practice at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla. Hendrick Motorsports says Dale Earnhardt Jr. will retire at the end of this season. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)

From Spy

So I heard a radio spot for the upcoming Charlotte race and it's a chance for fans to celebrate Dale Jr's legacy. Which led me to think - just what is his legacy? Leaving a NASCAR that's sputtering like an engine with bad gasoline in it before it completely breaks down on the side of the road (ro ad)?

WW2 movie Rushmore. Far left is Saving Private Ryan. I'll go Kelly's Heroes and Patton to go with The Dirty Dozen, and that's leaving off A Bridge Too Far, The Sands of Iwo Jima, Where Eagles Dare, The Great Escape, Stalag 17 (which might be the best of the bunch) and Midway

Spy -

That's an interesting question and one that we'll spend some time on through the rest of the season.

As was mentioned around these parts by our resident NASCAR expert earlier this week, Dale Jr.'s farewell tour has been less than glorious. Now do we think he will 'find' a way to win a race and get into the Chase this fall? You bet.

Dale Jr.'s ultimate legacy will start with being the most popular driver of his generation and one of the most popular of all time. (He's certainly short-list, top-three in terms overall popularity.) He was a great ambassador in a lot of ways and moved a ton of product.

As a driver, though, you would have to look at his numbers - especially entering the top level off a couple of then-Nationwide titles - and results and say it was disappointing. Not sure if it was because his skills were overrated because of his last name or his internal motivation was forever changed after Daytona 2001, but we all expected much more. And that includes Dale Jr.

photo Rory Mcilroy, of Ireland, makes his way to the 12th hole during the first round of the U.S. Open golf tournament Thursday, June 15, 2017, at Erin Hills in Erin, Wis. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

From Mike

I love the U.S. Open, by far the best major because it makes the best look like everyday players.

Where do you rank the Open and what would be the coolest individual sports championship?

Thanks and keep up the good work here and on Press Row.

Mike -

We appreciate that point of view and there are a lot of people who share your view about the USGA holding par in great regard.

That's cool. There's also the openness of the U.S. Open and the potential for anyone with a sub-2 handicap having a shot at this. That's also cool.

But this tournament is not even in the same area code as the Masters in my view.

Not. Even. Close.

In fact, we'd rather watch the British Open than the U.S. Open.

As for individual sports titles, we'll forever start with the Masters, both in terms of coin and coolness.

Next would be the Heavyweight Champion of the World.

Next would, in terms of cool, would be the 100 meter Olympic champ. Being the world's fastest man would be cool. Somehow being the "World's Fastest Woman" does not have the same ring.

We know our Press Row co-host David Paschall would have Wimbledon up here somewhere, but we'd go Claret Jug next and then maybe the Indy 500.

Riding a Kentucky Derby winner would be pretty cool too, but we're thinking at 6-foot-4, 225 pounds, that our jockey days were abandoned somewhere around the fourth grade.

Here are all of the Open entries we saw, and a tough day for a lot of us who have DJ (+3), Rory (+6) and Day (+7).

  • 5-at-10: Day, DJ, Koepka, Matsuyama, Justin Thomas
  • Mrs. 5-at-10: D. Johnson, Day, Rory, Speith, Fowler (Yes, the Mrs. is out there on that limb with five of the top nine players in the world)
  • Todd C. - Spieth, Dustin Johnson, Zach Johnson, Fowler, Rahm
  • Spy - Rose, Rory, Charl, Lucas Glover, Rahm
  • Mark W. - Fowler Speith, D. Johnson, McIlroy, Rose.
  • War Eagle '17 - Dufner, DJ, Sergio, Rory, Day
  • Jason T. (wearing his green tank top not really, but next year we will get a traditional green tank top to be given to the winner of the Masters event) -Stenson, Rahm, Fowler, DJ, Sergio
  • Ted P. - DJ, Rory, Rickie, Jordan, Koooooochhhh
  • Mike R. -Cabrera Bello, Reed, Day, DJ, Rahm
  • Brent R. - Kuchar, DJ, Dufner, Rory, Spieth
  • Jason G. - DJ, Rahm, Sergio, Adam Scott, Sergio
  • scole023 - Day, Rory, Spieth, Oosthuizen, J. Thomas
  • Dan C. - Dustin Johnson, Jason Day, Adam Scott, Brooks Koepka, Jordan Spieth
  • Steve M. - Fowler, Sergio, Dustin Johnson, Justin Rose
  • Hangtime 14 - Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson, Rickey Fowler, Kevin Kisner, Jon Rahm
  • JonMac - D Johnson...Fowler....Scott...Stenson....Dufner
  • Uch - DJ, Day, McIlroy, Pieters, Casey
  • Andrew B - I'll take Rahm, fowler, dj, dufner, and Day
  • Mark N. - Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson, Steve Stricker, Charl Schwartzel, Daniel Berger
  • Dawg747 - Dustin Johnson, Justin rose, Matt Kuchar, Jordan Speith, Jon Rahm
  • Bill H. - Rickie Fowler, Brooks Koepka, Matt Kuchar, Gary Woodland, Sergio
  • Scott S. - DJ, Sergio, Fowler, Adam Scott, Patrick Reed
  • Todd G. - Speith, Fowler, Snedeker, and both Baylor grads - Jaeger and Harris English
  • Mark S. - Sergio, Sneds, Schwartzel, A. Scott, Steve Stricker

From Chas

Thanks to Jay and Weeds for thoughts on the Blackburn deal.

Only caught the last two minutes of Phil Steele on the show yesterday. Did he say anything about Kentucky?

David Kenyon at Bleacher Report predicts both UK and UT will go 7-5. Another list has The Cats over-under just a half game less than The Vols. Some have the spread higher, but all say

UK and UT are way closer than a year ago. Isn't this trouble for The Big Orange?

Chas -

Steele was great, as always, and like almost all the guests on Press Row, the replay of the interviews can be found at espnchattanooga.com.

Steele did not mention anything about UK, but we have heard similar predictions and reports as the one you referenced.

UT has the toughest cross-divisional draw in the SEC with Alabama and LSU this year. And Kentucky will be improved.

You can make a pretty big argument that UK-UT is the swing game for each team this season.

And yes, if UT and UK are consistently comparable in football, Johnny Vols Fan would have a similar look on his face as Johnny Wildcats Fan would if the two were consistently similar in hoops.

Rushmores and today in history

World War II movies: Saving Private Ryan (if for only the first 30 minutes alone), The Great Escape, Midway and Kelly's Heroes. That's a tough category people.

Individual rivalries in team sports: Bird/Magic, Russell/Chamberlain, Manning/Brady, and Woody Hayes/Bo Schembechler.

Twins: Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, the feature film with Devito and Schwarzenegger, Dolly Parton (think about it) and Hall of Famer Rod Carew.

Famous catch phrases from sports broadcasters: Keith Jackson's "Whoa Nelly," Harry Carey's "Holy Cow," Musberger's "You are looking live" and Dick Enberg's "Oh my." This one was also tough, and we excluded SportsCenter anchors and Michael Buffer and went with live game announcers. John Ward's "Give him 6" is iconic to Tennessee fans, but not as big to the others.

On June 16
In 1829, Geronimo was born;
In 1858, Abe Lincoln says "A house divided against itself cannot stand" and accepts a nomination to run for the Senate;
In 1893, Cracker Jacks are invented;
In 1903, Ford Motor Co. is incorporated and Pepsi Cola is formed;
In 1951, Roberto Duran was born;
In 1959, George Reeves (TV Superman) committed suicide;
In 1960, the Hitchcock classic "Pyscho" opened in New York City;
In 1970, Phil Mickelson was born and Brian Piccolo died;
In 1971, Tupac Shajur was born;
In 1975, Milwaukee traded Kareem to the Lakers for four other players;
In 1980, "Blue Brothers" premiered in Chicago;
In 1995, "Batman Forever" opened with a then-record $528 million opening weekend haul;
And, lastly, in 2008, Tiger Woods won his 18-hole playoff against Rocco Mediate for the U.S. Open title. It was Tiger's 14 - and quite possibly last - major championship.

And this week's fan mail (name with held and this was after Tuesday's column on the school board)

You need to shut up. You don't know what you are talking about.

You suck.

I hate you.

(So there's that. Good talk.)

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