5-at-10: Friday mailbag, NBA players we don’t want to fight, what’s next for Urban Liar, defending our picks and Hate Mail

We will start today with a Tweet from the Dalai Lama himself. Big hitter the Lama. Long.

“I don’t think of myself just as a Tibetan or a Buddhist, but as a human being. We have to think of the whole of humanity. Being human is the common ground in our efforts to create a better world. Remember, we all survive in dependence on others.”

Hey Lama, hey, how about a little something for the effort? Which is nice.

From Lefty

Big J

Saw your thing about Halloween. Man 40 years is crazy.

This is one of our fav debates when we get together for, as you call them, CoColas and we would love your take.

In the horror series, who makes the Rushmore of the all-time scary movie characters? (And the ‘Devil’ is not an option.)

Lefty –

Excellent question and the perfect time to discuss it.

And thanks for the clarification because the Devil himself would assuredly make ours. Exorcist 1 and III are legit. Also of not here is that we are pretty lacking on current scary movies, but most of those things are paranormal and not the old-school creepy dude in the woods.

And this one gets personal quickly because, being terrified of clowns, Pennywise the Clown is a definite for me. (Side note: Enjoy Diddy talking about not being scared of clowns on Ellen.)

We always found Michael Myers > Jason Voorhies, but you could make a case for each. We will rule out Hannibal Lecter and Freddie Kruger because at some point you find yourself rooting for those dudes. Charles Lee Ray (aka Chucky) is out because he’s a bleepin’ doll. Seriously. (That said, the clown on the floor in the kid’s room in Poltergeist is crazy creepy. Toy or not.)

Leatherface is a sneaky contender and Of the modern scare-fests (which have become insanely popular because a) people love a good scare and b) these movies are wicked cheap to make because other than Silence of the Lambs and maybe Scream, name a scary movie that feature an established A-list star. Exactly.)

Pinhead, in Hellraiser was pretty stout too. And we are not going the old-old-school options like Dracula and Frankenstein. There are a couple of scary kids – the Pet Cemetery kid as well as Satan’s spawn Damien in The Omen films. (We would lean toward Damien making it, but we ruled him out on the Devil clause.)

We’ll go Pennywise, Mike Myers, Samara Morgan from the Ring films (that’s some scary stuff), Ghostface from Scream.

Let’s get right to this week’s Rushmores.

Rushmore of ESPN folks you’d like to have a beer with. SVP is there. Bilas is there. Michael Collins, the golf caddie-turned-analyst is there. McShay is there. (We love the draft. You know this.) Now, kudos to Spy from referencing Sam Ponder or any of the other folks who are assuredly easy on the eyes that work at the Worldwide Leader. (And we referenced Bristol and TV folks, so that DQed the LeBatard Show crew. But if they are in the mix, then that cast of characters would dominate this discussion.)

Rushmore of Kevins: Costner, Durant, McAllister (Home Alone kid), Bacon. Yes, Kevin Arnold of the criminally underrated The Wonder Years made a strong push.

Rushmore of Canadians: John Candy (and this one is non-neogiable friends he’s Uncle Buck for Pete’s sake, and if you are going to drop starring turns or memorable rules in comedies, Candy’s run of Uncle Buck, Vacation – “Moose out front should’a told ya” – Planes, Trains and Automobiles and Stripes is a pretty strong four gang); Wayne Gretzky; Phil Hartmann; William Shatner. (This one was sneaky tough.)

Rushmore of modern-era child (pre-teen) movie performances (Remember gang, this was listed as since 1990): Caulkin in Home Alone. Simply amazing. The “I see dead people” kid in Sixth Sense. Whoseherpants in Little Miss Sunshine. The little British kid in “Finding Neverland.” Side note: That Finding Neverland can make it dusty wherever you may be watching, so know that going in gang.

From Jeff

I’m tired you you bagging on and/or ignoring Georgia Tech.

Did you know that Tech is the closest Power 5 program to Chattanooga? Not only do you never write about Tech, when you do it’s to pick against them.

How’d you like that butt-kicking they gave to your Hokies tonight? That’s right.

From Matthew

I call that dude an idiot. (Editor’s note: This was in reference to a different dude – not Jeff – from last week’s hate mail segment of Press Row.)

Y’all are awesome radio and are far from just straight up trump lovers. I like the balance and Hell, I live in Bristol and tune in daily… your gambling picks have sucked, but they aren’t as dreadful as liberals.

Guys –

Yes, Matthew’s was not a question. And yes we have a couple of hate mails to get to.

The main response we wanted to have here is my picks have not sucked. (Side note: The Tech-on-Tech crime was not an official pick. Side note to the side note: Did you get on West Virginia, which was as stress-free a Fab 4 we’ve had in a long, Long, LONG time? Side note to the side note to the side note: Has Bud Foster’s time passed in Blacksburg? Seriously. Tech whipped Va. Tech without completing a pass. Read that again.)

As for ‘MY’ Hokies – and that’s a first. Hey, we are an Auburn grad, a Dodgers homer, an unabashed Tiger follower who has abnormal man-crushes on LeBron and Aaron Rodgers. Our perspective on any of those can be questioned and/or debated.

But for the most part we believe to be pretty impartial almost all of the time. Are we pointed? Sure. Opinionated? You betcha. Emotional? At times.

The picks, though, have never wavered by preference or passion. The only color we see on the Fab 4 is green as in green for entertainment.

As for ‘sucking’ last night moved us to 32-21-1 on the year. (The Georgia Southern talk – which covered – and the Va. Tech suggestion – which did not – were a potential small three-team parlay that may or may not got called down the line. But rest easy, the Mountaineers of “Almost Heaven” West Virginia, made Thursday night a very ENTER-taining start to the weekend.)

Now the picks could go off the rails at anytime. Remember last year’s NFL picks which posted a record string number of 2-2 showings? But a career 60-percent hitter would make even the wise guys smile.

Excuse me, I’m gonna get the papers get the papers.

Side idea: What about anew game on Fridays…. Drum roll please… The mailbag multiple choice?

Best Goodfellas scene?

a) The Introduction scene that includes Pete the Killer, who was Sally Balls brother and Jimmy Two Times.

b) “I’m a clown I amuse you? No he’s a big boy he knows what he said.”

c) Now go home and get your (bleepin’) shinebox.

d) You know why? It was outta respect.

e) Other please provide your thoughts.



From Steve

So J, if THE Urban Liar was sent packing at OSU, where would his next gig be? We know he’s not coming back to the SEC, at least not as long as Nick is there, but somebody would pay up in a heartbeat right? And anywhere else would be a step down from Florida and tOSU wouldn’t it?

Stevie McB –

OK, we do not think THE Ohio State can sent THE Urban Liar (nice addition there my man) packing.

As bad as THE Ohio State has looked through this whole thing, imagine how bad they would look if they kept Coach Liar through this nightmare and then ran him because Purdue had the game of their life. Wowser.

Now, that said, we think there’s a very real chance that Coach Liar walks away citing stress, family concerns, who knows what else.

And, given a year or three, there’s no doubt that when the smoke clears Coach Liar will want to get back into the dance that is the Saturday circus of college football. And there’s no doubt that some major player would be looking for Coach Liar’s questionable morals and unquestioned credentials.

As for places it would play? Let’s review.

You are right, the SEC pressure cooker no thanks.

Coach Liar’s dream job – right there with the one he currently has – is Notre Dame, but his tarnish would not look real good under the Golden Dome currently.

Landing spot No. 1. The USC Trojans. USC is falling behind the curve in LA-LA land. Dodgers are big-time. It’s always a Lakers town and with LeBron in town, forget about it. The Rams are legit. UCLA has a bigger rock star coach than the Trojans. That’s unacceptable for the Men of Troy.

No. 2: Any mid-level program looking to jump start. And what happens if Lane Kiffin leaves FAU in a year or three? Could they woo Coach Liar?

No 3: And this is off the board but what about Oklahoma. Yes Lincoln Riley is the farthest thing from being in trouble, but here’s a hunch that sooner rather than later, Riley will be wooed by the NFL monster dollars.

Thoughts?



From Alejandro

Rushmore of NBA you would not want to scrap with? Current? Past?

Big Al –

First all off them. Most point guards are roughly my size – I’m 6-foot-4 – minus a few dozen pounds here or there. All those dudes are huge. (Side note: In Hollywood, guys like Cruise and Rocky blend because they are all 5-7-or-shorter. Guys in the NBA are the same way only reverse because everyone in the NBA is huge. HUGE. Chris Paul look like a midget out there sometimes because he’s only 6-0 or 6-1, but he’d be a thick dude in normal walks of life.)

OK, we’re going to need some help on this one from the audience.

We will offer two starting points. First there’s the physically overwhelming NBA player.

The Mailman was freakishly monstrous. Wilt Chamberlain was unbelievably strong for his height. Shaq is a bleepin’ mountain. Seriously. A mountain. How could you hurt him? And of course these four words: Charles Mother Bleepin’ Oakley. In fact, without looking at his driver’s license, we’re willing to bet that Mr. Oakley’s middle name is “Mother Bleepin'” that was given to him by his parents – Mother Oakley and Bleepin’ Oakley. Heck I even forgot Xaiver McDaniel. Buckets.

The entire 1989 Pistons. There are a lot of them.

Then there are the crew of the Mugsy Bogus-ilk guys who are stronger and light-years quicker. Could you imagine trying to hit Mugsy or Nate Robinson or even someone like Westbrook, who is way bigger than you realize? Never mind the reach edge so many of those dudes would have, you know?

But the main list is the “Oh my God he’s so crazy that other NBA dudes do not want any of those guys.”

That list starts with Stephen Jackson and has to include Gilbert Arenas who pulled a gun over a card game. We’ll add Metta World Peace and Matt ‘Bleeping’ Barnes, who is a mad man.

James Johnson of the Miami Heat is a professional kick boxer who is something like 23-1, so he makes the list for sure. Wow the choices.

OK to meet your current and past ask, we’ll go here:

Current NBA player I least want to fight: All of them other than Trae Young and JJ Berea. Kidding. We’ll go James Johnson, David West, Steven Adams and Marcin Gortat, who was raised by a dad who won a Bronze in Olympic boxing. (And yes, Steven Adams looks the part of a key cog in the Mother of Dragons army in GoT.)

All-time is tough: Stephen Jackson is the last dude anyone from his era wanted to mess with. Trust me on that. Mr. Oakley if your nasty. Shaq because he’s a mountain. The last spot, we’ll go with Anthony Mason.

Great question.

Not exactly fan mail

“I thought you were one of us, but then you are so quick to jump in and take shots at Ms. Kelly like the rest of the MSM and Fake News prophets. I am done with you.”

Good start

“Do you even think before you write your (another word for POOP, and yes it was in all caps)?”

Getting close

“I know you hate soccer so do those of us who love it a favor and please NEVER write about it again. Ever. You are pathetic and you continue to still suck.”

Good talk gang.