5-at-10: Friday mailbag

Form the “Talks too much” studios, we are speeding toward a full weekend. Are you buckled up?

From JordanRules

You are at least consistent Mr. Greeson.

Your Lebron love seems to know no end.

So I’ll ask you straight out would you draft LeBron or Jordan?

JordanRules –

Wow, you hit us where we live. We love the draft. You know this.

We are wee bit impressed with Mr. James and his skills.

So here we go.

If you are asking who has had the better career, we’d take Jordan’s obviously. If you are asking who we would have drafted if MJ from 1984 and LeBron from 2004 were on the same draft board the answer is easy.

LeBron. Every single time.

LeBron is on the Rushmore of the greatest overall athletes of our lifetime. He is a once-in-a-generation specimen.

Jordan became a six-time champion because of he was arguably the greatest competitor ever. That’s a tribute to him and his ability to reinvent his game – the Bulls didn’t become champions until Jordan got comfortable from 18 feet; they became unstoppable when he got great from 18 feet.

But LeBron’s combination of size and potential and versatility is unmatched. Even as a high school senior, LeBron has always had the ceiling of a supremely talented Magic Johnson.

The draft more than anything is about pegging potential and lifting ceilings.

And please don’t even get us started about the 34 percent of people who think Jordan would beat LeBron in one-on-one today. At 52.

That’s simply a combination of emotions, whether it’s pro-Jordan or anti-LeBron.

It will be interesting to see how the LeBron narrative changes if the beat-up Cavs find a way to win it this year.

Great question.

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From Billy in Brainerd

Jay-G:

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men’s basketball team received a commitment for the 2015-16 season Tuesday evening when 6-foot-9 forward Jackson White committed to the program.

Please summarize who is coming back, who is not coming back [other than the 3 seniors], the new players: # of freshmen, # of transfers [w/ yrs of remaining eligibility]and are there any scholarships still available?

Thanks.

B-i-B –

Thanks, and let me say we had to reach out for a little help on this one.

But before we get to the breakdown, we have to say that Matt McCall was a great call. We were very high on Wes Long and understood the thinking about his candidacy, and he would have been a fine choice.

Matt McCall is a star on the rise. Period. We have huge expectations for the next few seasons of UTC hoops.

There are no more scholarships available, and the Jackson White addition is pretty impressive close to the recruiting cycle – especially for a staff that got in here a little late and filled needs with some nice pieces.

We forwarded your query to UTC beat ace Mean Gene Henley, and here’s his response in italics:

This roster has 5 freshmen (2 walk-ons), 2 sophomores (1 walk-on, and Traevis Graham can’t play this season, 3 years left starting in 16-17), 5 juniors and 5 seniors (1 walk-on).

Johnathan Burroughs-Cook has 2 years left, transfer from CofC and Southwest JuCo.

No schollys left.

Hope this helps.

So there you go on the numbers. As for the detailed analysis, we’ll roll that over a week. We need to do some more research on that. Deal? Deal.

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From Joe

So you have been bagging on Tom Brady all week?

What about Goodell and the joke that the NFL is becoming?

I’m a Pats fan and I don’t think Brady will miss a game and that Belichick and the team are going to be out for blood next year.

Joe –

The Patriots and Brady have appealed and some of their response has merit. The differing gauges that were used, the scientific arguments, even the timing of events.

But they lose almost all credibility across the board when they tried to explain away the texts of dude calling himself the “Deflator” because he was trying to lose weight. PUH-lease.

Not to mention the fact that a big part of the team’s and Brady’s appeal is stating the NFL never proved Brady prefers soften footballs, when he has said that exact fact multiple times in multiple interviews, including a 2011 discussion on a Boston radio show.

Add to that the simple fact of the team’s and Brady’s lack of complete cooperation, and we have simply moved into the semantics part of this.

Those semantics, however, do not seem all that cute any more. Especially since Goodell is going to be the one who hears the appeal.

While you can question the fairness of that, know that it was part of the collective bargaining agreement and something the league – i.e. the owners, like New England’s Bob Kraft – were very particular about in the labor debates.

Is Goodell a goof? More times than not, yes, he comes across as a stuffed shirt that is hollowed out in the leadership pocket.

But in this instance, he is not the one that created this whirlwind. He’s the one trying to fix it.

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From Sal

I saw last week where you wrote about Letterman leaving and I agree with your choices on his regular gags.

Of the TV changes announced recently, what will be missed more Letterman or American Idol?

Sal –

Great question, and Dave Letterman is the last of the great talk show hosts. He will be forever missed by people our age and older after his final show next week.

The next wave is fine and very funny, but they are about the social media buzz and youtube replay. That’s fine, because what made Dave great for a lot of us was he embraced new and different back when everyone was doing a poor Carson impression.

In the end, Dave outlasted them all because he was more like Carson in his approach that he would try anything for the cause of the show.

Plus, his connection to regulars made him a must see whenever people like Julia Roberts or Bill Murray were on. Here’s Julia’s last appearance this week.

As for American Idol, well, it won;t be missed that much because there are still a number of imitations that have in some ways passed the original.

Make no mistake Idol changed TV. We’ve always said that sports were the first reality TV program, and it took them half a century before replicating that in other manners.

Idol did it better than anyone before it and became a phenomenon. And a cash cow.

It also magnified the in show sponsor moment that will become a bigger deal in TV circles moving forward as more of us DVR our shows and fast-forward through the commercials.

Great question Sal.

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From Joel

Hey man, why don’t you reply to readers anymore? That was one of my favorite parts of your column and I always appreciated how you handled the complaints as well as the positives.

(And I wanted to see some of your Rushmore picks, especially TV/movie lawyers this week.)

Love the radio show by the way.

Thanks —

Joel –

We are committed to being better at feedback, but we have been busy adjusting to our new gig.

We write 10 columns a week now – five here each morning; three on A2 (Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays); two in sports (Tuesdays, Fridays) – and then do the radio show every afternoon from 3-6 p.m.

It’s the adjustments that have cost us time in the conversation.

That will end now. We will update around noon for sure and post whatever Rushmore/question we have tossed out and feedback.

Great point Joel; thanks for that.

As for our Rushmore of TV/movie lawyers, we are going to break it into two. Our favorite TV lawyers are Jack McCoy, Matlock, Saul Goodman and Jackie Chiles. Our movie lawyers are Atticus Finch, Tom Hagen, Vinny Gambini and Andrew Beckett.