We grew up playing these games but who is best? Best Damner Bernie is back to give his Top 10.

OK, I know I said I'd pick the greatest video game players ever, but I can't say that I've played every video game so my vision is skewed.  I'm going to go with the only three games that matter to me: Tecmo Super Bowl, RBI Baseball, and NHL Hockey '94 (EA Sports) for the Sega Genesis. I think it's safe to say that these are the most popular classic games of all time, so that's what the list is based on. So here we go with the Top 10:

10. Tony Armas

He has 4 million home runs and he's on the bench? Why? I have no idea, but you have to put him in because he pounds the ball.

9. Lawrence Taylor

If this was based on the original Tecmo, LT would rank #1.  In the original, LT was the fastest in the game and could block field goals.  In Tecmo Super, he's still great, just not as dominant.

8. David Fulcher

You may be asking yourself: who is David Fulcher? Well he's a safety on the Bengals and he is nasty.  He is the best at picking off passes and makes big plays when it matters.

7. Will Clark

Always gets good wood on the ball. Every time he's up in a clutch situation, he delivers.

6.  Tim Raines

This will cause a debate but it shouldn't. He's got great speed, can hit for average, and hits for power too.  There isn't a player as well-rounded as Raines in the game.  

5. Howie Long/Reggie White

These guys are pretty much interchangeable. You can stuff every play action pass with a dive and easily notch 50 sacks in a season.

4. Steve Yzerman

My favorite player to use in NHL '94.  He's fast, accurate and has a hard shot.  Great player to use on the break and easy to maneuver on the ice.

3. Bo Jackson

I think I'm the only person in the world that thinks Bo isn't the greatest video game player ever.  Here's my reason: when you are playing the computer late in the playoffs you pretty much have to abandon the running game.  I wanted to test this theory so I played a full season with the Raiders.  Bo racked up 2200+ yards in the regular season.   But when I got to the AFC championship, Bo had 23 yards and fumbled. I won the game with a punt return by Nick Bell and some savvy passing.  In the Super Bowl, Bo had 28 yards and a fumble.  I still won but Bo was a non-factor and he was in average health.  For this reason, I can't say he's the best video game player ever or even the best in the game.

2. Joe Montana

He completes every pass, never throws picks and his condition is irrelevant. I've had him at bad all season and he still dominates.  He's pretty much the only QB in the game that can complete the fly pattern when the receiver is in the back of the end zone for more than 4 seconds. Hardcore Tecmo Super Bowl players know what I mean. If you let the receiver run the fly pattern and he hits the back of the end zone, most QBs with airmail the pass. Not Montana.  He completes it every time.  Montana is the best in the game, hands down.  It pains me to say it because I love Bo so much, but it's a fact.

1.  Jeremy Roenick

He is Steve Yzerman with a harder slap shot and can check players like a defenseman.  I don't like using the Blackhawks because Roenick is unfair.  I believe Trent said it best: It's not so much me as it is Roenick, he's good.

So that's the list. Remember it's based on three games, but I think after years and years of playing these games, the list is pretty accurate. Let the debate begin!

I have a feeling there's gonna be some hate mail over this. Good luck, Bernie.

Another great week at Best Damn.  We aired our Top 50 Fantastic Finishes and had some great guests like Falcons coach Jim Mora and Nate Newton.  Best Damn Staffer Bernie is back to break it down.

We've been airing a lot of our Top 50 shows over the past few weeks.  These lists have been pretty fun to put together, been well received, but have also caused a bit of controversy.  It's hard to please everyone.  When you're trying to whittle down sports history into 50 plays, some plays will get left out.  We felt that the plays we chose resonated with a broad audience more that the ones that didn't make it.

Seeing that I answer the viewer email, I know how passionate a lot of you are about your favorite plays.  If you have an emotional attachment to a sport/team/player you'll want to see your play on the list, so I understand why many of you were passionate about your favorites, but we couldn't accommodate everyone, including myself.

The greatest finish to a game that I ever saw was between my alma mater Syracuse and Virginia Tech at the Carrier Dome in 1998.  Tech was beating Syracuse all game. Donovan McNabb marches the Orange(men) down the field, converts a 4th and long with a QB keeper, then after a wild scramble in the backfield, somehow finds Stephen Brominski in the end zone for the winning score.  The place erupts and everyone storms the field.  The season was on the line, backs against the wall, and then a miracle touchdown with no time remaining to win it.  That's a great finish and it didn't even sniff the top 50. In fact, I bet if we had a top 200 show, I wouldn't be able to convince the producers to put it in the show.  But oh well, I don't need a list to validate how great a finish that was.

Here are some other random thoughts from the week:

Listening to Nate Newton talk this week leads me to believe he's genuinely remorseful for the mistakes that he made with drugs.  His time in prison seemed like a true rehabilitation for him.  I hope he can stay out of trouble; he seems like a real fun guy to be around.

Falcons Coach Jim Mora had some biting things to say about the media's treatment of Michael Vick's playing style.  He said if Vick were "blonde-haired and blue-eyed" then people wouldn't be as critical.  I don't think a lot of other white coaches would have the courage to say that on national TV.  I was very impressed.

Chris Rose will be hosting the BCS show for Fox.  He absolutely deserves the job and will be great at it. I've worked with him for around 3 years and he's as professional as they come and has very sharp insights into sports. 

Ok that felt a little gushy.  Sorry.

I've started to play Madden NFL 07 for Xbox 360.  Reggie Bush is already ridiculous.  I don't know where he's going to rank in the annals of great video game players but, man he's insane in this one.  But I almost threw the game out the window.  I'm playing with the Ravens and I'm up 28-16 on the Raiders with about 2 minutes left.  All I need to do is run out the clock.  I hand off  to Jamal Lewis... fumble. Raiders score.  I get the ball back, hand off to Jamal Lewis... fumble. Raiders score. I lose.  I swear the game cheats.

Speaking of games, in the next blog, I'll rank my top 10 video game players of all time.  In a shocker, Bo Jackson will NOT, I repeat, will not be #1.  He is one of my favorite athletes of all time.  His posters wallpapered my bedroom growing up, but alas, he doesn't top my list.

Check back next week to see the gamer list!

Last week the lucky Best Damn crew aired an entire week's worth of shows from Sin City ... the one and only Las Vegas. One weary staffer, segment producer Matt, shares some of his few remaining memories ...

Miss Alba would have fit well in hot Vegas last week.

How do you justify spending five hours in 110 degree heat for three consecutive days? Two words ... VEGAS BABY!

Best Damn packed up and hit the road, shooting a week's worth of shows at the Hooters Casino Hotel.  

Did I mention Vegas was hot? Jessica Alba "Into the Blue" hot.

Here are a few highlights:

LeBron James and Dwyane Wade dropped by to talk Team USA hoops and their future as NBA's royalty. This is the first time I had the chance to see King James up close and I'm now even more convinced he's pulling a Danny Almonte. The birth certificate allegedly reads 21, but nobody's buying it.

The appearance sparked another debate in our production office. Who currently gets recognized more often walking down the Vegas Strip in street clothes; LeBron or DWade?

Each and every member of the staff other than me voted for 'Bron in a landslide. Apparently winning the NBA Finals MVP award doesn't carry the weight it used to?

Speaking of recognizability, we had a solid guest list over the course of the week ... the aforementioned LeBron James & Dwyane Wade, Evander Holyfield, Clinton Portis, Gilbert Arenas, Chris Paul, Tubby Smith, Jennifer Tilly, Phil Hellmuth, Mike Matusow & Daniel Negreanu. They all played second fiddle to the new King of Sin City ... Artie Lange.

Why Artie Lange? Because he represents the common man. Howard Stern's sidekick. A self-proclaimed slob. The guy brings it each and every time the camera turns on.

He was in rare form last week, sipping "Vegas Iced Teas" (otherwise known as Jack and Water) throughout the interview. We decided to let him host "What Can You Do?" our version of "Stupid Human Tricks." One idiotic fan was so hyped to meet Artie that he agreed to lick hot sauce off the crusty toes of his 70-year-old father. I would post a picture of it, but that would qualify as cruel and unusual punishment. On a scale of 1 to 100; 100 being the Chestburster from "Alien", I'd give it an 85.

Overall the week was a success, and a big reason why the fans stayed around to watch it all were the lovely Hooters Swimsuit Pageant Contestants.

Thirty ladies joined us on the set every day keeping the crowd in good spirits. Keep up the good work and congratulations to Michelle Nunes, Miss Hooters International 2006. Best Damn salutes you.

Viva Las Vegas!

Stay tuned as the show returns with new shows on Monday, August 7 -- and yes, we all needed a vacation from Vegas.

We get a lot of e-mails here at Best Damn, so Bernie the Best Damn Blogger addresses a few of them here.

1. Who do you think would win in a fight Rob or John?

Matt A.

Let's see. Salley is 7 feet tall, Dibble has more of a brawler's mentality... I'd say they go 30 seconds then Rodney comes out of nowhere with a steel chair and knocks them both out.

2. How did you decide the order of the most outrageous moments?

G. Money

We are the show for talking sports, so recently we've been ranking some of sports' coolest Top 50 Rankings. Check some of our rankings below to see where you stand. PROGRAMMING ALERT — FRI., JULY 21: Top 50 Unforgettable Plays in Sports BEST DAMN BASEBALL PLAYS Some of baseball's most memorable moments include Kirk Gibson, Pete Rose, the "Say Hey Kid" and some unfortunate fellow named Bartman. BEST DAMN BLOWUPS There are moments of serenity and purity in athletics, and these moments are not them. Just ask the man dubbed "Sweet Lou." BEST DAMN BEATDOWNS Enjoy the most exciting beatdowns ever captured on FSN and Fox Sports, going inside the squared circle, the Octagon and the PRIDE Fighting ring. BEST DAMN NBA FINISHES This past 2005-06 regular season registered an unbelievable array of killer endings and fantastic finishes. Here are the season's best.

It's funny how you'll be sitting in your living room with friends and arguing over why Jeffrey Maier's robbery had a bigger impact than Steve Bartman just because it's fun; then you come to work and are getting paid to do the same thing.  It makes me wonder why everyone doesn't want to do this?!?

3. How does Scott Rolen make the All-Star team, AGAIN? I mean he is a great player, but other third basemen are having better years, this is just a popularity contest and the MLB should revoke the voting privileges from the fans.

Steve E.

Ummm Steve, have you been paying attention at all?? He made the All-Star team because he's batting .331 with 57 RBI and he's the best defensive third baseman in the NL, maybe in the league.  And he's not there because of the fans. He's there because he was put on the team.

But you do bring up a good point.  Now that the game "counts" and determines home-field advantage, the All-Star starters should be taken out of the fans hands.  I wouldn't say totally out, but it should be similar to the NFL's policy: 1/3 fan, 1/3 player, 1/3 coach votes.  

4. John Salley would win easily in a 40-yard dash between the four hosts. That was an easy question I don't even know why it was asked.

Tony

I'm not so sure that he would "easily" win.  Actually, I'd say Rodney would win pretty easily.  He's only a few years removed from playing in the NFL.  Salley does have the long stride thing working for him though, so I think the race would be between those two.  Although, don't sleep on Rose... it ain't like watching poetry in motion, but when he gets his legs moving, he can motor. 

5. It's a shame that the Best Damn BadAss tournament was fixed. I've been voting all along, and it pisses me off that it gets this far and is rigged. There is no way that Mirko Cro Cop (Who?) could have killed Tyson like that if the voting wasn't fixed.

Mike

There have been a few grievances over the outcome of the BadAss tournament but I know for a fact that fan voting decided the winners and Cro Cop won fair and square.  The MMA guys have an insane following that I had no idea about until I started looking around the Internet. 

In all honesty I think Jim Brown should have won.  Who's more BadAss than him?  Which brings me to a quasi-related story...

Arguably Jim Brown's best work in Mars Attacks

Well, my friend Jeff went another route. Upon meeting the greatest athlete to ever come out of Syracuse and the most dominant running back in NFL history, Jeff goes up and says (without sarcasm): "Wow, Jim Brown... you were great in Mars Attacks!"

What was Jim's reaction? Surprisingly, he was pretty happy to hear that. I guess after decades of people talking sports to you, he wanted some compliments on his acting skills. 

 If you have something you want to ask the show, send an email to bestdamn@foxsports.net

There's nothing like being in an awkward moment. I loathe them and yet I find myself in awkward situations too often. This week's awkward moment was bumped up to new levels being that it happened in the bathroom.

We had Hall of Famer Jim Palmer in studio this week. He was on to talk about high cholesterol ... for the record, he's against it.

After segments, it's routine for the segment producer to bring the guest into the control room to say hello. Jim stopped by and a talent booker specifically called me out to meet him because I'm a Baltimore native and die-hard Orioles fan. Well, I didn't really want to meet him but I went down to shake his hand to be polite. In fact, the only thing I wanted to say was that I used to work at the golf course in college where he played a few times. Well he paid very little attention to my existence and went on his way.

Shortly after that totally forgettable moment, I went to the bathroom. I open the door and who's in there wiping off makeup at the mirror? You guessed it, Jim Palmer. I think to myself, "Oh god, he thinks I'm following him."

To make matters worse we are the only two people in there. So I promptly put my head down and just hope he doesn't notice me, but I know he does. This was the most awkward 25 seconds of 2006. I wait until he walks out until I approach the sink.

In conclusion: Jim Palmer thinks I'm a stalker.

Other Thoughts From the Week

LeBron James is the most physically gifted player in the NBA, we know that. But after his appearance on the show this week, we saw a different side of him that we don't normally see. It's good to see that he's really humble and has a good head on his shoulders. A lot of kids his age would crumble if they had to grow up under the microscope. I mean did you see Britney Spears on Dateline??? What happened to her????

LEFT: Ken Griffey Jr on Nerve Tonic; RIGHT: Shelden Williams on Tuesday

Ken Griffey Jr. made an appearance on the show, but who could forget his appearance on the Simpsons. In the episode he threw down a nerve tonic that gave him "gigantism." But if you ask me, it made him look like Duke's Shelden Williams. You be the judge.

Tough call, Bern ... Not quite Robert Horry and Will Smith, but i think you're on to something ...