5-at-10: Friday mail on SEC media days, Tiger, A-Rod, Willis vs. Stallone and women sports reporters

Great questions this week, and thanks for the kind words.

From the "Talks too much" studios, let's get the ragtop down so our hair can blow.

Paraphrased from a slew of you

"What's the biggest take from SEC media days?"

Parents of pre-kindergarten students at Gibbs Magnet School bid their children an emotional goodbye Monday, leaving them for the first time on the first day of school.

Parents say goodbye on first day of school

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Gang -

OK, we have spent a lot of time rehashing the Media Days here and debating the Media Daze on Press Row on ESPN 105.1 FM.

Here's what we take away from the three-day, Shoney's breakfast-bar style quote buffet that was the SEC Media Days - Not much. It's the preseason. Still, let's do a top-five of the things that caught our eye. Deal? Deal.

1) Alabama is riding the biggest talent wave since Miami in the early 2000s. The Crimson Tide had 16 players make either the All-SEC first-, second- or third-team in preseason polling, and 14 of those were position players. That means roughly two-thirds or Alabama's starters are deemed all-star worthy in the most talented conference in the country. Wow.

2) Johnny Manziel needs to lay low for the next six months.

3) These Vols love Butch Jones, who has found great success communicating with his new players and potential future players. That's an encouraging sign for Johnny Vols Fans everywhere.

4) Jadeveon Clowney expects to have a MONSTER year. And who are we to disagree, Mr. Clowney, sir.

5) College football in general and SEC football in particular has officially become the second most popular sport in the country. And it's so far ahead of baseball it's hard to fathom. If there were any lingering doubts, consider this: There were 1,200 credentialed media members there (and yes, some were media in name only), but do you remember more about the SEC media days or the MLB All-Star game? Thought so.

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From Bird

I agree with you about the British Open. It's awesome.

Sorry I missed your contest - not sure if I would have been in the mix - but my question is about this week and golf.

Can Tiger finish it this week? I like watching him play and want him to chase down Jack but I'm not sure he gets there.

Do you think he can get to 18 majors?

Thanks and I enjoy you on the radio.

Bird -

photo Tiger Woods

Thanks for the kind words and for reading and listening along. The contest is going to be interesting because of how some of the big names have spit the bit. (Hey Rory, wake up.)

We think Tiger is going to be in the mix this weekend. And if/when he is, it makes any tournament more enjoyable and every major championship becomes appointment TV. He's that guy - the generational lightning rod who individual sports crave and team sports love - that gives every viewer a rooting interest, for or against.

We think Tiger will win majors again - and he could be right there this week, his game looks controlled, his swing looks solid. We just no longer think he'll catch Jack, though.

What once appeared to be predestined has now become a long shot, the current five-year major-less gap seems to have left too big a hole as time and talent begin to converge.

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From LaughingBoy

You should have a top list of movies/scenes that left generations flabbergasted, like Phoebe Cates in Fast Times.

LB -

Great question.

Here are five, with a nod to a wide variety of reasons. And we will refrain from the days of trying to pirate the 'adult' stations through the squiggly lines on old-school cable. (Yeah, like you guys don't know what we're talking about.)

1) Phoebe Cates coming out of the pool in Fast Times was real-life and in living color. They were real and they were spectacular.

2) The end of Crying Game. "Hey, she's got boy parts."

3) The Alien coming out of the belly.

4) About the final 2/3s of The Exorcist.

5) Kathy Bates blocking Jimmy Caan's ankles in Misery. (For the younger generation it has the similarly, painful icky vibe as Ed Norton curbing that guy in American History X.)

Heck, we even have a second five.

6) The horse head scene in Godfather.

7) The final Russian roulette game in Deer Hunter

8) The shower scene in Pyscho

9) Too many in Star Wars to name, and we can even make an argument that the 'big reveal' in Empire Strikes Back - "Luke, I am your father" - from Vader was a) the jumpstart of the 'daddy issues' for a certain generation and b) a true testament to the media world before the interweb. In a million years how long does that Vader being Luke's daddy stay secret if that move was released in 2010 rather than 1980?

10) Toy Story - the grandfather of the current CGI full-length genre that has changed the game.

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From JT

I was talking with a buddy of mine and he and I were kind of perplexed by this, so we thought we'd get your view.

How will Alex Rodriguez be remembered?

Enjoy the radio show and love the 5-at-10.

photo New York Yankees' Alex Rodriguez is interviewed in this Sept. 24, 2012, file photo before batting practice prior to a game against the Minnesota Twins in Minneapolis. Rodriguez will make more this year than all the Houston Astros combined _ a lot more. A-Rod's $29 million salary tops the major leagues for the 13th straight season, according to a study of major league contracts by The Associated Press.

JT -

Excellent question, and we believe this is something that keeps A-Rod awake at night. He is so consumed with image and what people think about him, that we think that is the biggest reason he got hooked on the PEDs. His need for everyone to believe he was the best was even greater than his desire to be the best. (Which is unlike guys like Bonds or Clemens, who we believe cheated because they wanted to dominate and be embraced by history. Well, allegedly. {Cough, Cough.}) And of course, like any player linked to steroids in this generation, that will forever taint his resume for years down the road.

As for his lasting image as a player, history will not be kind.

A-Rod is the king of the three-run homer in an 8-1 game - whether his team is winning or losing. His postseason record is garbage, too.

In truth, if you take the PEDs out of the dicussion, A-Rod is what LeBron's career would look like if James and the Heatles had not won the last two titles. A-Rod's meandering career that has bounced from potential "All-timer" in Seattle to huge payday in Texas to huge headache in NYC could have been James' exact career arc, if the Heatles had failed, considering Miami likely would have blown up the Big Three by now and there's no telling how harshly LeBron would have been crucified or where he would have landed.

Our lasting thought about A-Rod is he wasted a chance to be one of the five greatest players ever. And that's sad.

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From Limited,

Hey, I listened to the radio show this week -- you guys are pretty good and I heard you reference this blog so I started reading this week.

I like it. I don't know how often I'll comment because I doubt I'll subscribe to your site but I still have a question for you.

You mentioned earlier this week that Die Hard turned 25. That's hard to believe.

Do you think Bruce Willis or Sly Stallone has had a better career? Each had a big time series -- Die Hard and Rocky -- so those kind of cancel each other out. Thoughts?

Keep up the good work.

Limited -

Thanks for the kind words and for listening and reading. The radio thing has been fun, and while we know we can get loads better at it, we hope it sounds pretty good.

This is a great question, and to do it justice we broke it down in few categories, tale of the tape style.

Hot Hollywood Wife: Willis - Demi Moore; Stallone - Bridgette Nielsen

Edge: Willis, but it's closer than you think when you look at old-school Nielsen.

TV time: Willis was a stud on Moonlighting, which was pretty excellent; Stallone, not much

Edge: Willis

Main movie series: Willis - Die Hard; Stallone - Rocky

Edge: Stallone, each original is amazing and a game changer, but Stallone gets the edge because he wrote the original and Rocky II is good and Rocky II is underrated. Rocky V never happened, however.

Real name: Walter Bruce Willis; Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone

Edge: Do you even have to ask? Gardenzio is on the short list with Jadeveon and Barkevious as one of our new favorite names. Well-played indeed.

Birthplace: Willis - West Germany; Stallone - New York City.

Edge: Stallone. U-S-A! U-S-A!

Going outside the comfort zone: Willis was great in Pulp Fiction and The Sixth Sense; Stallone likely deserved some award nominations for Cop Land.

Edge: Willis, because he also was the lead in Disney's The Kid, and underrated movie that has some real 'It's just dusty in here' moments. Shut up Spy.

What were you thinking career move: Willis in the most recent Die Hard and the bombs that were Death Becomes Her and Bonfire of the Vanities; Stallone did Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot and Oscar.

Edge: Feels like a push here, especially since Rocky V never happened.

In the end, Willis prevails, because looking at his resume you forget some of the excellent movies he was excellent in as a supporting actor. Nobody's Fool is great. The Last Boy Scout was enjoyable, as was the Whole Nine Yards.

Great question, and yes, we spend too much time on some of these.

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From Billy-In-Brainerd:

Jay-G,

I am guessing you missed the first hour of Tuesday's all-star game, because you and the Mrs. were watching ESPNs Nine for IX "Let Them Wear Towels." I would like to read your comments and her comments on the show, since both of you are journalists.

Currently at the Times-Free Press, there are many women in management, editor, and reporter positions...except Sports. The thought here is budget constraints may prohibit more staff in Sports. I think it would great to have a female reporter cover the Lady Mocs, the Lady Vols, and girls' high school sports, not that she should be slotted to cover just women's sports. Please share your thoughts on this also.

B-i-B -

Excellent question.

We did not watch "Let them wear towels," but we have heard good things and we know the entire 30-for-30 series has been by and large some of the best work ever done at ESPN.

There are a lot of talented women in the newsroom at the TFP. That's a good thing because they are talented, regardless of how many X chromosomes they have.

We actually have two women on our sports staff - Jamie Poole and Joanna Paschall are page designers, though, so you rarely see their by-lines.

And your assessment about budget is somewhat correct, we have not added staff in a while - we also have not had much turnover, which is CUH-razy considering the ogre that runs the TFP sports department. Still, we have one of the larger sports staffs for a paper our size anywhere and we believe it's the largest in Tennessee. A big reason for that is because of the resources we throw at high school sports. We have five full-time prep sports reporters, and a few other folks who cover high school sports on occasion, including the 5-at-10. That's a bunch.

As for more women sports reporters, we'd love to have more diversity on our staff to have as many different points of view as possible. We can't be all things to all people, but we know different perspectives can produce a variety of ideas and input that can make good great and great really special.

We also know that in more than 13 years of being a sports editor and looking at 100s of resumes, we have actually interviewed exactly one female sports reporter for a job opening. There are not that many in the job pool when compared to their male counterparts, and because lots of newspapers covet diversity, women sports reporters often start higher up the food chain. (Case in point: The one female we interviewed was at the MDJ in the early 2000s, she said no, started at a paper roughly the size of Chattanooga - we started our career at a 4,000-circulation daily and moved four times before landing here - and she is now an on-air personality for a sports TV show.)

That said, having a woman doing women's sports just because she's a woman seems a little pigeon-holed to us. If she is on staff, she should be viewed in the pecking order accordingly, regardless of her gender. That may mean it's on the Lady Mocs beat or it may mean she covers UT football. You don't have to be the best golfer to be the golf writer (hey, look at Uch) you know?

Again, thanks for the question, and for reading the 5-at-10.

And gang, feel free to discuss any of the above topics and listen to Press Row on 105.1 FM Mondays-Fridays from 1-3 p.m.

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