From A guy
My friend and I have a regular disagreement on who gets more chicks -- star athletes or star musicians.
What do you think and who would be on the Rushmore of each group in terms of getting some (action)?
A Guy -
Great question A Guy. Inspired even. (That said, let's remember the Family-oriented, Interweb-based, mantra of the 5-at-10 and try to keep the language kid-friendly. And no, suggesting that was a cat reference simply does not work.)
As for the question, wow, we've spent a lot of time on this one, and it's amazingly close.
Each is filled with groupies and a collection of 'shoppers' looking for everything from a good time to a good living with a famous and wealthy significant other.
We're going to lean to athletes, and the ones that put it over the edge is the golfing world.
By comparison, golfers are to high-profile professional athletes what classical musicians are in the high-profile performance world. (Yes, the occasional transformative star like Tiger or Yo-Yo Ma may appear, but to most they are known only in their relatively small, wealthy and older circles.)
And while we do not know what the big time No. 2-chair violin players at the Boston Philharmonic are looking toward after the show, we know that Jason Dufner married a smoke show. So there's that.
As for the tops all time, wow, that's almost impossible right? But we'll give it a go.
Athletes: Wilt, Jeter, Tiger and Namath. Wilt's numbers are staggering. Jeter's collection of all-star talent was overwhelming. Tiger had 20 mistresses that we know of, which means there's no telling how many we didn't. And Broadway Joe in NYC during the sexual revolution? Fuhgettaboutit.
Muscians. We think Elvis and Sinatra are no-brainers. Those dudes were rolling back when most everyone else was looking to hold hands and pitch woo. The next two are pretty tough - and we are looking for feedback here friends - but we'll start with Bowie and Prince and go from there.
Excellent question, A Guy. Top Shelf.
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From Mike
I was watching TV and Planes Trains and Automobiles came on. In your opinion is movie the Michael Jordan of Thanksgiving movies?
Also, I love John Candy. If he had not died, what movies do you think he could have been and made them better?
Mike -
Between you and A Guy, this week's questions are aces. Aces, we say.
To the first part, there is no doubt that P,T & A is the Jordan/Tiger/Tyson of the modern-day Thanksgiving film genre. There is no close second in the current climate and it deserves regular holiday viewing as much as Christmas Vacation and It's a Wonderful Life do next month.
(And does any one else kind of wish it had not been so sad at the end? Yes, we get the message - thankful for family - but that movies was so funny in the first 90 minutes that the abrupt turn to teary eyes is stark. Sorry, spoiler alert. Also, the exchange in the car when Candy and Martin are on the wrong side of the highway - dang it, spoiler alert - and they yell "You're going the wrong way!" and Candy says, "How do they know where we're going? He must be drunk," is a quote that is frequently used in the 5-at-10 lexicon.)
And we love Candy, too. Love his work. From supporting roles in Stripes and Vacation to all-time underrated vehicles like Uncle Buck and Great Outdoors.
As for roles that Candy would have been slam dunk, first-thought before his death in 1994, well we'd bet that a sequel could have been crafted from either Uncle Buck or P,T & A.
Also we imagine he would have been a high-draft pick in the influx of voice animated comedies that appeal to kids and their parents.
As for specifics, it's hard to know, but we do believe Candy's career would have had a similar arc as maybe Bill Murray's as a guy that could transition between comedy and satire and even dramas. I miss Uncle Buck.
Rushmore of Thanksgiving food - Turkey is a dunk. We'll go with dressing, the best casserole of the house (important to find out the key ingredients here if you are particular and the speciality of the cooks) and pie. Always room for pie. (That said, we're not gaga over pumpkin pie or all the avalanche of pumpkin spice stuff. Disucss.)
Rushmore of double number all-timers - We'll go 99 (Gretzky) and 44 (Aaron) as no-doubters. We'll add 33 (Jabbar), and the final spot goes to 66 (Mario Lemieux). Yes, Emmitt and Larry Joe Bird were in the discussion, but ask yourself this: How far down the "Greatest of all-time" in their sport do you have to go before you get to Emmitt and Bird? Lemieux is much higher.
Rushmore of NFL players and after-career Hollywood success - Those that suggested O.J., well, he's on there, murder rap or no. Carl Weathers, from Apollo Creed to Predator to Chub in Happy Gilmore, the former defensive back has range. Alex Karras and Merlin Olson round it out.
Rushmore of crazy college football plays - Cal-Stanford. The Kick Six. The 1950s dude who came off the sideline to tackle the opposing player. The Miami-Duke lateral end.
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From Tike
OK, I know ATL won't be in your top 5. That's cool, I agree that they've been inconsistent.... but where would you rank them?
Tike -
Yes, the Falcons have been entirely too inconsistent to be a top-five team.
That inconsistency ranges from the play to the play-calling, as well. But just putting this entirely on new offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian is not entirely fair either.
Julio Jones has battled some uncharacteristic drops. That offense needs more production from its tight end. Before the concussion, Devonta Freeman was struggling to find his place.
Defensively, the emergence of Adrian Clayborn gives this crew a chance to create pressure without blitzing, which is the key to success in today's pass-happy NFL.
Heading into the week, we had Eagles, Pats, Saints, Steelers and Vikings as our top five.
As to where the Falcons slot, well, we think the Panthers are more complete (and beat the Falcons earlier this year), the Rams are more explosive, and the Jags defense is so good that we'd give them a slight edge.
So that's eight teams ahead of the Falcons, who would be grouped with the Titans (not as good as Atlanta), the Chiefs (who I think are a touch better than Atlanta primarily because of Andy Reid and the playmakers on the perimeter), the Lions (behind Atlanta) and the Seahawks (who are so injured they also are behind the Falcons, but man Russell Wilson is killing folks).
So that has Atlanta 10th in my rankings, behind Philly, New England, New Orleans, Pittsburgh, Minnesota, Carolina, Los Angeles Rams, Jacksonville and Kansas City.
Thanks for the question.
It also gets us to out NFL picks, which went 2-2 last week and are a very craptastic half-and-half of 17-18-1.
We'll take Titans minus-3 (buy the half) at Indy, Seattle minus-6.5 at San Francisco, Saints plus-3 (buy the half) at Los Angeles, and Jacksonville minus-4.5 at Arizona.
So there's that. Hello, .500.
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From Stewwie
True or False:
If Auburn wins the Iron Bowl, they will beat Georgia again and make the CFBSP.
If Auburn loses the Iron Bowl, Malzahn will be Arkansas' coach in 2018.
Tennessee's next coach is currently a head coach.
There will be at least 4 SEC coaching jobs to fill this offseason.
Stewwie -
We meant to get to this earlier this in the True and False part of the show, but wanted to cover it here today.
We think false. In fact, we believe Georgia needs Auburn to beat Alabama. Georgia - and especially Jake Fromm - is not ready for Alabama in a real pressure cooker, in my view. The rematch against Auburn will be about revenge for the Bulldogs players more than about the stakes and that will be a much easier realm in which to function.
We think false, but we also understand the rumors and the whispers. And we also believe this, even with the AU AD job in a state of flux, if Malzahn flirts for more than a moment with that job, tell him to take it. Arkansas is a no-win scenario, and if that's what he wants, bye. And then the first call needs to be to Lane Kiffin. Can you think of a guy without a direct tie to Auburn who wants to beat Saban more than Kiffin? It would be amazing. (Until he gets AU on probation or leaves for the NFL in 13 months.)
True on the Tennessee head coach, and we are starting to buy the Dan Mullen whispers to be honest.
True. We know UT, Florida and Ole Miss are there. We think Texas A&M and Arkansas are going to be open. And if Malzahn heads home and Mullen does go to Knoxville, that leaves those jobs open too. That's half the flipping' league without Odom being in the group.
CUH-razy.
Which leads us to the following collection of queries...
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From several folks
Who will be the next UT coach and when will it be announced?
Gang -
We think the Gruden ship has sailed, and we're not overly sure how close that ever came to docking in K-Town.
That said, we think John Currie has handled that part of this search very well. More on that in a moment.
We think Sunday could be the day. (We do think Sunday will be the day for Chip Kelly, who will pick between UCLA and the Gators, and we'd be surprised if he did not go back to the Pac-12.)
We think it will be done no later than Tuesday.
Here's the names, in order, that vegasbettinglines.com listed as the favorite earlier this week:
Jon Gruden +150
Dan Mullen +200
Mike Norvell +425
Bobby Petrino +1200
Chip Kelly +1500
Matt Campbell +1500
Scott Frost +1500
Chad Morris +1500
Jeff Brohm +1500
We think Mullen and Frost should be the first two calls if/when the S.S. Gruden has truly sailed. We think Norvell (who also would be a top candidate for the Arkansas gig), Campbell and Brohm are possibilities, but we think that will leave the fan base exceedingly flaccid. Yes, they may be excellent coaches, but man it will feel like settling, you know?
We're starting to think the Mullen stuff may be legit, but in truth, we think Frost may be the best bet on that board.
Giddy-up
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From Vivatones
Question for your Friday mailbag. Why is the University of Tennessee athletic administration / fanbase / whomever seemingly pursuing a football coach who is not even on the list of any other Power 5 school in the same position?
Vivatones -
Star power. Plain and simple.
We talk about how head coaches have to be able to deal in hope. For recruits, for the fan base, for the players and assists.
There has to be a level of belief that carries teams to new heights and through bad times.
Jones had lost every semblance of hope.
Gruden brings it by the 18-wheeler load for UT fans.
As for the rest of the college football world, maybe they realize that if Gruden is going to come back to coaching, that move almost assuredly will be to the NFL.
And the rest of college football could very well be right.
But all the "Gruden's wife was a UT cheerleader" and "He started as a GA there" may have convinced the fans and even the administration that there is a chance. Because we feel pretty sure if Arkansas thought there was a chance - or UCLA or fill in the power five school X - thought there was a chance those schools would surely explore bringing in a guy with a Super Bowl ring who is also one of the 10 most recognizable people in the sport.
Whether the college game is right for Gruden, we do not know. Heck, we bet he does not know the answer to that.
But we do believe he would be a rock star hire and it would energize a fan base starved for energy and reasons to believe.
And hope.
Would it be a good hire? Heck, it would be impossible to know if Gruden - like very other new hire - was a good hire for a couple of years.
But man, it would be a shot of adrenaline Johnny Vols Fans have not experienced in quite a while.
Great job as always gang.
Enjoy the weekend.
