From Jack
Hey man, love the 5-at-10 and have been listening to your Press Row show.
Heard you talking about Brockmire (Thursday) and you are so right. That show is great. What are the best TV shows based on sports (and if you feel like doing a Rushmore, well it's your FOIB sports column)?
Jack -
Thanks for listening and playing along.
We have been pleasantly surprised by how funny Brockmire with Hank Azaria is. The first episode made us laugh out loud four times, which is a bunch for a 30-minute TV sitcom.
Now do not watch it with the kids in the room, because you will have some difficult questions to field. But we're in for season one for sure.
Sports-related TV shows, huh? Wow, that's a great question, and Brockmire will have to bring it for more than one season.
We'll go far left with Friday Night Lights, the TV show with Coach Eric Taylor. Other than the murder storyline in season two, Friday Night Lights was amazing from to start to finish and is one of our top 10 TV shows of all time.
We'll add Eastbound and Down. Kenny Powers is an amazing character for a lot of reasons. Coach and an old-school shout out to The White Shadow would be my four.
Minnesota Lynx forward Maya Moore, left, reaches in on Los Angeles Sparks forward Candace Parker during the first half in Game 4 of the WNBA basketball finals, Sunday, Oct. 16, 2016, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) From Cheryl
Hey Jay, did you see that the WNBA is now doing fantasy league? You didn't mention it in your writings this week or on Press Row. Do you think that could help them?
Cheryl -
Yes, and yes.
Anything that creates extra connection and reason to follow is a grand idea. And if gamblers and daily fantasy players connect to the WNBA fantasy leagues, then that's an excellent move. Your question has us thinking, which is always a scary proposition. What sports could a fantasy league not help?
We know the NFL has maximized its gambling connection, and the monster number of fantasy-league players has even changed how Sundays are covered. (Hello, Red Zone.)
There are fantasy leagues for golf and NASCAR and of course the big four of football, basketball, baseball and hockey. What other ones would work?
Would fantasy tennis work? Seems like a stretch. Is there a fantasy soccer out there? Not that we are aware of a big reason is gambling is league throughout most of Europe and they just wager on the teams directly. Fantasy track and field seems like a stretch and pretty difficult to score.
But who knows, right?
Either way, we think it's a pretty slick move for the WNBA folks. Whether it lifts the game to a bigger audience or not will remain to be seen, but it's far better than doing nothing or trying the same thing and expecting bigger results.
Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) slam dunks the ball past Toronto Raptors forward Serge Ibaka (9) during first half eastern conference semi-final NBA basketball action in Toronto on Sunday, May 7, 2017. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP) From Nick
Are you just offering up NBA takes to get people angry?
LeBron better than Michael? Russell Westbrook over James Harden as the MVP, eventhough The Beard shot better and led the league in assists? Do a little research before just offering the same stuff the national talking heads are saying.
Nick -
Dial it back big fella.
First, we said it's a fair discussion to talk about LeBron and MJ in the same discussion. We think MJ is still the best, but we think LeBron is No. 2 of the modern era. (We can't speak intelligently about the packing habits of William Santiago or the merits of Bill Russell or Wilt comparatively beyond numbers from a long-ago era and a completely different style.)
LeBron simply is God's perfect basketball creation physically. Jordan was God's perfect competitive creation in terms of team sports. Each deserve tremendous credit for watch, and Jordan gets the edge for us because of his mid-range deadliness and his ability to recreate a dominant offensive accessory later in his career.
But what LeBron did with some of those dreadful Cavs teams is staggering, and this statement really works in LeBron's favor:
When LeBron left for Miami, Cleveland went from the best record in the NBA to the worst. When Jordan left for the minor leagues, Chicago went from defending NBA champ, to finishing 55-27 (second in the Central) and lost to the Knicks in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference playoffs. That speaks volumes about what each had around them at those points.
As for the MVP, we have two points: We actually think LeBron deserves more consideration than he's getting, and his playoff performance screams to that. (Look at the four top candidates, and Russell is done, Harden is done, Kawhi's team played their best game of the playoffs with him on the bench and LeBron is killing it.)
As for Harden's line: 29.1 points 11.2 assists, 8.1 rebounds per game while shooting 44, 34.7 and 84.7 from the field, 3 and the foul line. Now here's Westbrook's line: 31.6, 10.4, 10.7 per while shooting 42.5, 34.3 and 84.5 in the same categories above.
The appearance of a monster difference in efficiency simply is not there, even though Harden is like a Texas Tech quarterback throwing for 5,000 yards as the point guard in Mike D'Antoni' point-guard friendly system that made Steve Nash for crying out loud a two-time MVP.
If we had a ballot, we'd likely go LeBron, Russell, Kawhi and then Harden.
We have no problem with Russell winning it because of the filth muck he carried to the playoffs in OKC and the fact he averaged a triple double for the season. Harden? A great year, but not the best year and certainly not the most valuable in our eyes.
But, you know us talking heads.
From Big Mo
A friend here at work got me reading the 5-at-10. It's pretty clever.
I like the stuff outside of sports more than the actual sports. In that, I have two questions for you if you will allow it from a first-time emailer and a kind of mid-level reader.
First, what summer blockbuster are you most eager to see?
Next, if you had to spend a "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" type of cross country road trip with one college football coach, who are you picking and why?
Thanks.
Big Mo -
Welcome to the festivities and thanks for playing along.
We enjoy doing the outside-of-sports topics, too. In fact, the moving balance around these parts - and on Press Row - really help the mix in our view.
As for movies, well, it's been a long time since we watched a blockbuster in the theater that was not animated or Star Wars-related. With kids at 9 and 6, it's part of the deal. Plus, this summer has a huge roll out of animated or kid-related movies that already have the interest of the 5-at-10 tots. Check this lineup, courtesy of firstshowing.net:
- May 19 - Diary of a Wimpy Kid
- June 2 - Captain Underpants
- June 16 - Cars 3
- June 30 - Despicable Me 3 (Which looks hilarious in the previews)
That's some well-spaces kid movie hooks.
There look to be a lot of movies that are intriguing.
There are several horror movies, including some remakes that make your eyes roll. (Another Amityville Horror, It, another Alien chapter.)
There are some blockbusters with familiar titles. Pirates of the Caribbean. Baywatch. The next Mission Impossible movie. A Transformers movie.
As for the cross country trip, we'd have to go Bielema. (Although the calorie in take in that car would be through the roof since, we go 6-4, 230 and we'd be the lightweight of the two.) And it's pretty clear choice to be honest. I mean who else even comes close?
Today in history
On this day in 1875, the first recorded shutout in professional baseball history. Surprisingly the Braves were not involved as Chicago beat St. Louis 1-0. Not sure if Bartolo Colon was on either of those teams or still working his way through the minor leagues.
On this day in 1982, the USFL was formed.
On this day in 1994, "Pulp Fiction" premiered. Man that movies really catapulted the "separate scenes/storylines meeting at the end" genre. And that movies has held up amazingly well. And it includes one of the great scene-stealing moments of all-times with Chris Walken, who was in that movie for about five minutes and was unforgettable.
Yogi Berra would have been 92 today, and when we had the Rushmore of sports stars known almost exclusively by a nickname, Yogi should have gotten more consideration.
Speaking of funny folks, George Carlin would have been 80 today.
According to folks who keep up with this stuff, Homer J. Simpson was born on this day in 1956 in Springfield. Emilio Estevez is 55 today. Former Masters champ Mike Weir is 47 today. The real life Mike Brady - aka Robert Reed - died on this day in 1992.
This week's Rushmores:
Rushmore of golf courses: We'll go Augusta, Pebble, St. Andrew's and Oakmont
Rushmore of former NFL players who became the best broadcasters: (Remember Madden never played in the NFL; he was drafted by the Eagles in '58 but never played) Summerall, Dandy Don, Gifford, Collinsworth.
Rushmore of Billy Joel songs: Piano Man, Goodnight Saigon, New York State of Mind and She's Always a Woman. (Side note: The Stranger album in 1977 contained Only the Good Die Young, She's Always a Woman, Just the Way You Are and Scenes from an Italian Restaurant. That's pretty strong. Side note, part II: Here's Joel's listing of his top five Joel tunes.)
Rushmore of singing fathers and sons: The Hank Williams, Bob and Ziggy Marley, Enrique and Julio Iglesias, Julian and John Lennon.