Jay GreesonFrom a lot of you
What in sports have you missed the most?
Gang
It's hard to put a finger on just one because of how glorious this time is.
In truth, I'd love to hear everyone's answer to the question of which sport or event you miss the most.
My first instinct - and my answer - almost assuredly is March Madness. The brackets. The chatter - be it bragging about that 12 seed you correctly have heading to the second weekend or the hacking you get because your runner-up was one-and-done - around the office.
The drama and the finality. That first weekend of March Madness is a treasure, and I truly was somewhat depressed last Thursday about it.
When Easter weekend comes and goes and we go without the Masters, that will be as bad if not worse for me.
I missed Opening Day for a lot of the reasons I shared earlier this week, too, but the first two days of March Madness and the Masters are in a different category, at least for me.
But it also points us to the growing chatter about the corona threatening college football season.
ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit sounded off on it and Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly is putting deadline dates on it.
And know this, while the leagues will explore getting their products and the games on TV and playing without fans to return as soon as possible, you can't have college football without fans, can you?
It would look surreal, and the power programs - as well as the towns that host them - depend too much on the revenue from the 80,000-plus tickets, never mind the concessions, the parking, the souvenirs, et al., and would be hard-pressed to survive with that monster source of income.
Which leads me to this: If there's a limited college football season, how many shops and small businesses in Auburn, Athens, South Bend, Tuscaloosa, Norman, Okla., and around the country will go under?
Egad. Damn you, corona.
From Mike T.
I watched the NASCAR video race and enjoyed it. What video game competitions would you watch?
Mike T.
I would watch - and have watched at times - Madden competitions.
I will watch the next running of the NASCAR simulator this weekend. It's set for early Sunday afternoon (check local listings) and will be broadcast on multiple Fox outlets.
I also said earlier this week, they should get as many star-power recognizable names as they can that have access to this kind of equipment. Not sure how many do have that access, but find a way to get Richard Petty in one of these puppies and have the stars of today race against the legends of yesteryear.
In fact, you have to believe (or at least hope) that the sports not named football are using this time to reshape or fine tune their events in ways to make them more appealing to new fans and welcoming to wider audiences.
There also has to be more than a little trepidation among the bigwigs that run these power programs about the lasting changes that inevitably will come from this forced separation of sports.
Think of the folks who will not return to sports betting. Think of the folks who may not miss their season tickets as much as they would have expected. Think of the folks who have found other hobbies and interests.
It's a crazy time.
As for the fine points of your question, Mike, I would not be that interested in those shoot 'em games or Minecraft or the rest.
And beyond Madden, I'm not overly sure how many others. But know this: If they issued a new round of EA Sports College Football, well, the Greeson clan will risk a trip to the GameStop as soon as it hits the shelf.
From Ben
Did you see the story about Peyton Manning and his video message to UT students? It was really awesome. It also made me wonder something that I wanted your thoughts on.
If Peyton is the most recognized athlete associated with UT, who are the athlete faces of the rest of the schools in the SEC?
Ben
Interesting question, and I think we can all agree that in terms of former athletes, Manning's the face of the UT athletic program across the country. (I know Fulmer is Fulmer, and he is the AD, but Manning is such a class act and a near-perfect brand ambassador, never mind he's a one-name superstar across all of sports. Fulmer is a last-name coach known around the South.)
As for the rest of the SEC, and we'll ask for some input from a) you regulars who follow other SEC schools and b) Paschall on Press Row, since he's got an SEC knowledge that knows few bounds. Deal? Deal.
It's also a little strange in that some schools have multiple options from which to choose and some SEC schools don't have any that really jump out to me.
For example, who is South Carolina's famous athletic face? We'll wait.
Then there's Auburn, which has Bo and Barkley.
Let's give this a whirl.
Alabama - this one is tough because most of the Bama superstars are football players and few of them are QBs. Tua could be that guy in the years to come, but right now I'd lean Julio Jones slightly over Derrick Henry. But I could easily be pointed in another direction.
Arkansas - I think John Daly.
Auburn - Barkley narrowly over Bo, and in large part because of Barkley's over-the-top lovefest during Auburn's Final Four run last spring.
Florida - Tebow has replaced Spurrier.
Georgia - Herschel. Always Herschel.
Kentucky - Dang, too many to name, really.
LSU - Shaq.
Ole Miss - Is it still Archie?
Mississippi State - Dak Prescott. Again, that feels more like it should have a question mark more than an exclamation point.
Missouri - Who knows?
South Carolina - Read above.
Tennessee - Peyton.
Texas A&M - The first one that jumped into my head, believe it or not, was Chuck Knoblauch, who was introduced during a World Series game in the early 1990s and had A&M written on his batting gloves. In terms of recognizeability, it's Manziel, right?
Vanderbilt - Before he got stinky I think it was David Price.
Great question. Thoughts? (And yes, Peyton is awesome in his awesomeness, and his video message of encouragement was wicked cool.)
From Chas
The Wildcats, Blue Devils, Jayhawks and Zags are co-favorites at 10-1 to cut down the final nets in 2021. Florida is 40-1, Tennessee 50-1, LSU 60-1, and Auburn 75-1. Question for the bag: Is UK five times as likely as UT to win it all?
Kyle Boone has Okoro as #4 on the draft list, Wiseman #6, and Maxey #10. I love that Okoro is higher than Wiseman. LaMelo is #1, but I'd rather have Okoro. You?
Chas
No, I do not think UK is five times more likely to win it all next year than UT, especially if all of the Vols come back and Barnes pairs the nucleus from this year's erratic bunch with the best recruiting class in UT history. (Yes, your Cats are No. 1 with six 2020 recruits and three five-stars, but UT is fifth in the country and has two five stars coming aboard.)
And while we're here, do not sleep on Bruce Pearl landing Jalen Green, the nation's No. 2 prep player, and that addition would make AU at 75-to-1 a steal.
As for the NBA draft list, that's an interesting list. (Here's CBSSports.com Kyle Boone's ranking of the top prospects for the upcoming 2020 NBA draft.)
You know I love Okoro. Kid was a gamer and an elite competitor. He is a top-tier NBA defender right now and could be one of those true lockdown guys for a decade. His perimeter limitations from 3 raise questions, though, and I am pretty sure LaMelo is already a plus 3-point shooter. (That said, you draft him 1, you get the dad, too.)
And I concur about Wiseman, who a generation ago - a 7-1 athlete who can run and jump like he can - would have been a slam dunk No. 1 overall pick.
But the game no longer centers around centers.
As for Boone's top 10, I'd be tempted in today's NBA to take either Tyrese Maxey (10) and Cole Anthony (9) over Obi Toppin. But maybe that's just me.
This week's Rushmores
Rushmore of superstar duets: (This one was so tough, and I went with star power over everything else.) McCartney-Jackson, Kenny and Dolly, Diana Ross and Lionel Ritchie, Streisand and Neil Diamond (narrowly edging Alicia Keys and Jay-Z) (Side note: my favorite duets of course are Willie and Waylon (all of them) and include Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty (Stop Draggin my Heart Around) and so many others. And no, Brandy and Monica did not make my list.)
Rushmore of Atlanta Braves: And we decided to go with two because of public demand. Players - Aaron, Chipper, Smoltz and Murphy (yes, I changed my mind on this one a few times, and leaving Niekro, Glavine and Maddox off were extremely difficult, but there you go); Non-players - Bobby Cox, John Schuerholz, Ted Turner (who saved the franchise, kept it in The ATL, birthed TBS and introduced the Braves to America) and Chief Noc-a-Homa. (If it is not P.C. to have the Chief, then we'll go Skip Carey, who famously told his 12 viewers in the terrible days of the late 1970s, early 1980s Braves, "The bases are loaded, and so am I.")
Rushmore of rewatchable World War II movies: "The Great Escape," "Casablanca," "The Dirty Dozen," "The Bridge on the River Kwai."
Rushmore of NBA point guards: Magic, Stockton, Oscar Robertson, Isiah Thomas (but Steph Curry and some others in the game today may come calling for Zeke's spot).