For those wondering where i've been (all 3 of my fans), the Saint has been on the road again and this time has landed in the Greensboro NC area (Dudski all the way! I saw that on the back of a car yesterday, it was probably Dudski himself).  Well, it's time again to test my sporting aliegences pitting my orginal hometown teams against my new hometown teams.

Sixers vs Bobcats - There aren't many teams the Sixers are better than these days, the Bobcats however are one of them.  In fact the Bobcats remind me of the post Barkley teams of the Sixers that made me swear off basketball for years after.

The Sixers take this easy.

Flyers vs Hurricanes - Ouch, toughie here.  The 'Canes have three of my all-time favorite Flyers in recent history, Brind'amore, Williams and Recchi.  The 'Canes have always been my number 2 team, and will stay that way.  But their enjoyable brand of hockey will be watched often for sure.

Cards vs. Panthers - Many will criticize this, but It's the Cards for me.  As you may remember the Cards won me over as my only Arizona flip-flop.  This is another easy call for me.  I hate the Panthers.  I generally dislike any one player overhyped team.  That was the Panthers to a tea last year.  It might be rough come football season around here, but to escape too much persecution, i might just claim to be one of the leftover skins fans around here when asked at the sports bars.

Phillies vs. Braves - HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA right, like any diehard Phillies fan is ever going to route for the Braves, ever.

No other draft pick in sports has been seconded guessed more than that of the Trailblazers selection of Sam Bowie at number 2 over Michael Jordan.  We’ve all lamented over this seemingly bonehead move, hindsight is always 20/20 of course.  But, let’s look at things from a different prospective.  What if the Blazers actually did select Michael Jordan?  How would the Bulls, Trailblazers, NBA and the world be different is they did pick him?

 

            Scenario 1 – Jordan and the Trailblazers win 6 NBA titles.  This isn’t a real stretch.  The Trailblazers were a competitive team even playing against Jordan’s Bulls in the NBA finals.  So how would things be different?  Obvious but important statement alert!  Portland is not Chicago.  Gee thanks, we didn’t need to be told that, but it is important to the over-all scheme of things.  Name some Trailblazers?  Walton, Drexler…… Pippen, problem is that are these guys really remembered as members of the Portland Trailblazers?  Pippen was and always will be remembered as a Bull.  Drexler comes close to being remembered as a Trailblazer but he won his rings in Houston thus wiping out the average fans recollection of him as a Trailblazer.  Walton is maybe the most recognizable player as a Trailblazer. That is if you conveniently forget that he also won a championship with the Celtics or could even remember him as a player and not a loud-mouth announcer. 

 

            Playing in the West those days meant almost anonymity unless you were playing for the Lakers.  Sure, there are always exceptions to the rule, but overall it was a sea into which many players would get lost.  Having said that, in all likelihood Jordan and the Trailblazers could have won more than 6 championships.  If not they would have been to more NBA finals playing in a then weaker conference.  But, let’s get back Portland is not Chicago.  One of Jordan’s lasting memories apart from basketball is his endorsement deals. 

 

            Back then Nike signed Jordan to an endorsement deal and the rest is history.  Nike has become the most popular brand of shoes and their Jordan line a smashing success.  Even after his playing days customers still shell out $125 + for his line of shoes, classic Jordan’s and even new ones each year.  He’s spawned his own Brand Jordan line-up which currently includes Carmelo Anthony and Derek Jeter.  The big question is would this have happened if Jordan played for the Trailblazers? 

 

            Jordan signing with Nike while playing for the Trailblazers most definitely could have happened.  Nike got started in Oregon, seems like a perfect fit right?  At first thought, yes.  But, let’s look at this from a marketing prospective.  Portland is not Chicago.  I really can’t say that enough.  What would be more appealing to a company looking to further its influence across the nation.  Signing a local NBA player to a deal or choosing a player from one of the top markets in the country.  Nike would have been looking to do just that, Jordan might have been on their list, but they wanted to broaden appeal and escape a regional market in the Pacific Northwest.  Taking this into consideration Jordan most likely would not have been their target for an endorsement deal.  So who would they have targeted for their poster boy? 

 

A New York player, how about the nations 4^th largest market, Philadelphia, Charles Barkley entered the draft the same year.  L.A. would be of interest but, being on the west coast would not have expanded Nike’s market as much as a large eastern city would.  Barkley does indeed have a deal with Nike, but instead of being second fiddle to Jordan the roles easily could have been reversed. 

 

Nike opened up further endorsement deals for Jordan.  Would we be saturated with a plethora of sports drinks today if it wasn’t for Jordan and Gatorade.  Gatorade wasn’t new to the market by a long shot when Jordan signed on as an endorser.  However he brought it to the mainstream.  What catchy song would be singing if Jordan didn’t take place with Gatorade, “Like Dominique, if I could be like Dominique….” (or insert other fun names like Chuck, Larry or Ervin).  The world would definitely be a much different place.  (However I believe that people would still buy Haines endorsement deal or no endorsement deal). 

 

Scenario 2 – Jordan and the Trailblazers flop.  This doesn’t seem as unlikely as it sounds.  The Trailblazers were a consistently good team (give or take a few years) over Jordan’s time.  However, sometimes it’s a matter of right player, in the right place, at the right time.  Maybe Jordan doesn’t get to see the playing time he did in Chicago as a rookie.  Endorsement deals wouldn’t be coming his way or for any player coming off the bench.  

 

Maybe Sam Perkins career, or lack of, is a direct result of playing for the Trailblazers.  Jordan could have just been remembered as a great college player and nothing more.  He might have only enjoyed moderate success in the NBA.  Sure we could scoff at that statement knowing what we know now, but it could have happened. 

 

Although the use of athletes for marketing of products was not a new invention, it seems to have helped spawn a multi media marketing frenzy across sports as we know it.  Athletes and company’s seem to go hand in hand these days.  Jordan’s success as a spokesman has played an integral role in that.  All I know is this, had the Trailblazers selected Jordan with the 2^nd pick in the draft that year the world as we know it would be a much different place. 

     So you've finally decided to do it.  You packed up all your things, made arrangements, house, job, moving vehicle.  You're on your way to a new life in a new place.  You'll miss friends and family, but you knew that.  One thing you probablly didn't count on however is missing seeing your favorite sports teams in action.  Do you struggle, sometimes in vain to keep update with your old hometown teams or do you embrace your new local teams?

     It has been about a year now since I moved out to the desert and I'm still dealing with that dilema.  I grew up a Philadelphia sports fan.  It was easy to follow all the stories and the games, they were always readily available to watch.  Now 2,000 plus miles away from Philadelphia those games are few and far between on the television.  To make matters worse, it is hard to even catch the games on tv when they are on due to the time difference.  I'll always be a loyal Philly fan, but is it really ok to cheer for the teams in Arizona as well?  Let's compair the choices.

Flyers vs. Coyotes : This decision is actually a bit tougher than I ever had imagined.  Back east I could watch every single Flyers game and knew every player on the team as well as 90% of the players with their AHL team the Philadelphia Phantoms.  People can say all they want about Philadelphia being a football town and how the Eagles are the cities top team.  I wouldn't go that far.  The Flyers are always exceedingly popular in Philly, partly due to the fact that they have been consistent winners through their existence.  Especially come playoff time Philadelphia bleeds Orange and Black giving the guys in Green a real run for their money as the top bill in Philly.

     Now on the other hand we have the Phoenix Coyotes.  The 'yotes haven't put together too many winning teams since moving to the desert from Winnipeg.  There is also the obvious drawback of not many people being hockey fans out here.  It's the desert, in fact Glendale Arena during hockey season is the only place in Phoenix where you'll even be able to see Ice.  The Coyotes do hold one major attraction for me though.  The team does hold a large number of former Flyers on it's roster.  So cheering for the Yotes isn't the worst thing in the world.  In a way it is like cheering for your old hometown players who made the move to the desert just like you did.  (It is no wonder why the team has so many former Flyers, the staff is litered with former Flyers/Sixers personel)

Decision time : I'll always be a Flyers fan.  Maybe if the Coyotes were on TV more than 25 times a season it might be a harder decision.  But, I can also cheer for the Yotes, which I will do, since the teams play in different conferences and only meet 1-2 times per year.

Phillies vs. D-Backs: Another one I thought would be a no brainer.  Of all teams I've liked, the Phillies have always been number one and have never waivered.  (ok, I'll admit, they shared the title for a brief period of time with the Dodgers due to Gary Sheffield being one of my favorite players.  He reminds me a lot of my all-time favorite player Reggie Jackson).  But with the exception of about a year, there never has been anyone else I've cheered for.  I love all things Phillie. 

The D-Backs: No real love for the D-Backs here.  The only real positive they have going for them in my mind is they play in the National League (American League baseball are  dirty words to me).  They do have the added bonus of being on TV nearly every night.

Decision time:  Phillies still win out. The D-Backs can actually be enjoyable to watch on TV though.  Phillies come first, I'll cheer for the D-Backs except for when the Phils are in town, at which time I will be seated firmly in Chase Field wearing my Phillies gear.

Sixers vs. Suns:  By all accounts this would be one place where I switch my alligences.  The Suns are great, the Sixers are terrible.  In fact the Sixers of the post Barkely era are the reason why I don't watch or follow basketball closely.  They were hard to watch, with their best player being "The Other Shaq" Charles Shackleford.  Being in different conferences could give me the option to cheer for both.  But realistically I don't watch Basketball until the NBA finals.  

Decision time: Neither, I have no real attachment to basketball and I shouldn't even pretend anymore that I do actually have a favorite team.

Eagles vs. Cardinals:  The battle of the Birds.  I like the Eagles but am not the typical Iggle fanatic from Philadelphia.  I'd watch all their games, cheer for them to win, but they were never my top team  (Long time Bronco fan actually).  The Cards are well, the Cards.  They remind me a lot of my beloved Phillies, around forever and just one championship to their credit.  The Cards look to have an exciting team and even through this past season found myself more engorged in Cards games than I ever thought I would be.  

Decision time:  Well, I think I'm actually going to make a bit of a switch here.  I'll still watch and follow the Eagles, but since they were never my top NFL team, They get dropped down to second billing and the Cards will get the majority of my attention as my top NFC team. 

     Moving is tough on sports fans.  After a year I still don't have it completely figured out and looking at the posiblities of changing zip codes again sometime in the next year, it could just get that much worse.  But, for better or worse, I'm still sticking with the teams I've always loved, even if I do feel guilty cheering at games for Arizona teams.  I don't like feeling like a traitor, but if I don't start taking more of an interest in some of these teams the games I do get to see would be pretty boring. 

     Well, I've had some mixed emotions ever since Ty let the cat out of the bag about the impending NGS 2 contest.  Am I happy?  Am I sad?  Maybe, I'm just a little bit indiferent about the whole thing.  I remember back to the day when I came across Foxsports.com's blog section.  I noticed that they were having a contest where one blogger would get a writing gig and $5,000.  I've always hated writing, in fact I was a straight D- student in english classes all the way through college.  I was never really interested in what they wanted me to write about.

     But, this was different.  I could write about whatever I felt like writing and about sports.  It's right up my alley.  From my earliest days I played at least 3 sports a year (growing up it was football, wrestling and baseball).  It seemed like a natural fit.  Besides, I spent all that time writing countless Philosophy papers in college, I kinda liked it.  In my circle of friends my opinion on sports was generally well respected.  I lived and breathed sports since my earliest days (Here's the list of sports I've played in my 26 years of life, Football, wrestling, Baseball, Soccer, Swimming, Track and Field, Hockey, Cross-Country, Water Polo and Rugby, did I miss any?).  So I thought I would reasonably be able to bring that experience to the table as well as adding in some of that Philosophy knowledge I paid so much for.

     I didn't make it as a finalist in the competition, I was a little bit disappointed.  But, I realized that having only found out about it a week or so before, I wasn't too disappointed.  It did however do something I never expected.  I actually liked writing about sports.  As I said before, I never liked writing about anything in the past (except for Philosophy for awhile).  This sportswriting thing was pretty cool, and I would check my email quite often to wait and see if anyone commented on my posts.  I was excited about it.

     One thing that those who know me find interesting is the fact that at no point in my life did I ever want to be anything particular in my life.  I never dreamt of being a Fireman, Police officer or Doctor.  College didn't steer me in any direction either, I majored in Philosophy and Economics both due to the fact that by the time I got to my 3rd college I didn't want to spend anymore time there than I had to and I was "closest" to getting degrees in those two fields.  But, this whole thing set something in motion.  I found myself actually wanting to be a sportswriter and something even more uncharacteristic of me, actually working hard to try and make it happen.

     There for some time I wrote and wrote and wrote some more.  The best advice I got was to write as much as possible to really hone my skills.  I was actually serious about it, so I did.  I thought that my writing was improving and more and more comments were being left about what I wrote.  It made me happy.  But, writing has also been a humbling experience for me.  I really wanted to be mentioned with some of the "big boys/girls" of this blogging community, but I never do get those mentions.  It's ok with me that I don't get mentioned with the likes of TSI, Dudski, Norcal, Socal and the likes.  In a way I'm still happy just to get those emails saying someone posted a comment on my blog.

     The past month or so I have been slipping.  "Paying the bills" work has taken more and more time than "fun" work.  I've made several attempts to take my writing outside this medium.  However, columnist here in Tucson don't seem to change, ever and I'm lucky if I even get an email returned in response to any freelance opportunities.  So I've really been down about writing as of late and a bit over extended (I started writing another blog on MLB.com and have a column on Feature Presentation).  I would write things here just to make sure those who read and write here remembered my name. 

     I really was ready to call it quits here.  My two paragraph posts weren't up to par with what I expected out of my writing.  I was striking out left and right trying to find a paying gig.  I did find one, but I haven't yet decided if that's where I really want to write.  $10 an article isn't a lot and I think it's worth not getting paid to keep my own works.  Besides, it was for a betting website, I had an upcoming interview with a Pro Sports team and didn't want to jepoardize anything by writing for a betting site.   So now comes the word of NGS 2.  I am a little bit hesistant because, I know that this time around, if I don't make it as a finalist I personally would be disappointed.  I know I shouldn't be, but I know that I would be.

     I'm not sure how I would fare.  I don't do pictures in my articles.  I don't write riddiculous things just to stir the pot and get more attention to myself.  I want to be a writer but on my own terms.  I want people to appreciate well thought out arguements.  I want people to appreciate hearing something different on a subject and not the same recycled arguements about the same recycled topics.  I want to be able to be one of those writers who's opinions are respected and acts in an appropriate manner.  However I fear that going that route means not as much attention.

     I had been a bit drained, but now I feel that I have my chance to do the first thing I've ever really wanted to do.  If my best isn't good enough, so be it.  But, I will give it my all and even if the pieces don't fall the way I would like them to, I will continue on.  This is my dream.  I will do everything I can to get there and I won't comprise things along the way.  Good luck to everyone here. 

Skip Bayless - Although the normal garbage that spews out of his mouth on a daily basis is enough to win him a Bonehead Life-time achievement award, he will just have to settle for this weeks award for now.  During this mornings Cold Pizza show, Skip went on a rant about 'roids.  In this rant, he proclaimed that the 'roids are an epidemic at all levels of baseball and that the reason Little Leaguers were hitting 300 ft. homeruns was because they are juicing!  Seriously, he really said that and meant it to.  Congrats Skip you are the Bonehead of the week.

If the Dallas Cowboys are America's Team then who is Mexico's team?  Actually that would also be the Dallas Cowboys.

Can you still be America's Team if you're also Mexico's team?

Do the New York Yankees know about this?

If the Cowboys are America's Team why do we bother having any other teams?  I know the Yankees feel that way.

Throughout my years of watching ESPN I've come to realize that they think the Packers are the greatest team in history and that the 49ers are also great, but destin for second billing.  The Beatles are considered the greatest band of all time, the Rolling Stones always seem to get second billing.  So does this make the Packers the Beatles of the NFL and the 49ers the Rolling Stones?

Was the orginal "Home Plate" an actual plate someone used from their home?

If you get hit with a baseball shouldn't you automatically be out?  For some reason if I just got hit with a baseball I wouldn't feel too safe at first.

If you throw a football forward behind the line of scrimmage it is called a pass.  If you throw a football forward beyond the line of scrimmage it's called a forward lateral.  Shouldn't it just be an illegal pass, or legal forward lateral?

How come tackles are always the ones blocking?

If a Wide Reciever drops the ball shouldn't he be called a blocker?  If so, why isn't Todd Pinkston considered the greatest blocker of all-time.

The Super Bowl got it's name from someone in the NFL who was watching his kid play with a Super Ball.  Shouldn't league officials be able to afford better toys for their kids?

If a baseball player hits a hard grounder through the infield on Astro turf can the annoucers still call it a Worm Burner?

How come no sports of American origin have goalies? 

Do males who want to play High School field hockey have to wear skirts?

How in the world does anyone play sports in a skirt?

What exactly does Utah Jazz sound like?

Does anyone in Montreal know the Expo's left town?

If a tree fell in the stands during a Cardinals game would it make a sound?

Why is it that at one point there were 4 out of 5 Canadian NHL teams named after the residents of Canada (Canadians, Canucks, Nordiques and Maple Leafs (bit of a stretch, but heard used as a slang term) but not one team named after Americans?

If the New York Knicks were named today would they be called the New York Pants?

  

     The heck with the blurb this week onto the Bonehead....

Bob Davidson (WBC Umpire) - For those of you following (this award blog and the WBC) you'll know that Bob, made dishonorable mention last week for his bad call in the Japan/USA game.  Well this time, he was at it again.  He showed us that it's not only little league outfielders that get caught not paying attention to the game.  Davidson blew a homerun call in the US/Mexico game.  The ball clearly hit the foul pole, the only way he and the rest of the umpire crew could have missed it was to not be paying any attention, or needing glasses.  Well this congrats, you've finally done it.  Your our bonehead of the week.

Dishonorable mention - Jerry Jones (Owner Dallas Cowboys) - Anyone who signed TO was going to get at least a dishonorable mention.  It may be a smart move on the field, but has proven to be a team killer on both of his previous teams.  Drew Bledsoe,  I hope you have ear plugs.

www.featurepresentationonline.com

Sorry guys, wanted to get some more attention out there for the site

 

We as sports fans don't just settle for watching sports on tv, or even writting about them in blogs, we also spend/have spent a decent amount of time playing them on various gaming systems.  But what's the best of the best in sports gaming?  Here's a list of games/game franchises for each sport vote for which you deem to be top dog in each catagory.

Football -

Madden - If you haven't owned or at least played on version of Madden football you are most likely in the minority of sports gaming or even general gaming.  I don't think I even need to explain about this one.

Tecmo Bowl - A revolutionary football game in it's time, easy and fun to play and the first (that I know of) to have actual NFL teams and actual NFL players.  Even between the Tecmo Bowlers there is a lot of division between Tecmo Bowl and Tecmo Super Bowl, heck  even between the two versions of Tecmo Bowl (one has eric dickerson running for the Colts, the other version has Albert Bentley).  Not wanting to split any votes all versions of Tecmo Bowl will be included, we can argue over which version of Tecmo Football was better at a later date.

Joe Montana Football - I really can't recall too much on this one at the moment, other than it was a flagship game for orginal Sega, do you remember even what the orginal Sega looks like, hard to remember isn't it.  This was the Madden before there was Madden.

Play-action Football - A very underrated game in my opinion, didn't spend much time on the NES version but the SNES version was outstanding, first time I could recall fatigue being a factor in a game, also that version boasted the first time we could play as our favorite colleges, sorta (they were given slightly askew names, some rather humorous like smartmouth instead of darthmouth).

Hockey -

Blades of Steel - What hockey fan doesn't remember this classic, not much in the way of hockey strategy, or player names, this game was just full out fun.  Three checks and a fight breaks out, now that's what hockey (gaming) is all about.

NHL Hockey - Probably the best known hockey game around this game has seen annual editions from back to the very early 90's with the orginal NHLPA hockey, some versions better than others of course.  Some memorable versions included NHLPA, NHL 93, NHL 97 to name a few. 

ESPN hockey - I'll try to be nice but having played several of these they just don't cut the mustard for this gamer.  Sometimes akward to play, sometimes impossible to score, minor things that bug me, near NHL license.  Unless you've worked in licensing or for a company that made sports clothing (I worked for Majestic for a semester while in college) you might not notice this, but the jersey's where nearly authentic, with one minor detail being different, sorry but I just couldn't take looking at those Black Flyers jersey's with the cuff's of the sleeves being entirely orange, minor peeve but if you want to hang with the big boys....

Ice Hockey - I'm sure that there are plenty of fans of this classic NES game.  It was fun, not too realistic, but a good time, the kind of games Nintendo is known for producing.

Baseball -

RBI baseball - This was another classic NES game.  Skinny guys, extremely fat guys.  Spawned several sequals.  Not much to say on this other than if you didn't play it back in it's day you were missing out.

MVP/Triple Play - EA sports entry into baseball games.  The game went through several name changes (I think it was called something else before Triple play).  EA is always a front runner in the sports gaming landscape.  A standard of all baseball games.

ESPN/SEGA - I'm currently a little peeved since they now are the only licsenced MLB game.  I never played it, hear it is good though.

Baseball Stars - Another classic NES game, this added a new dimension of earning money for victories.  This game was fun, although for many of us it just meant playing game after game against the Lovely Ladies

Bases Loaded - The most comprehensive game of it's time, quality baseball gaming well ahead of it's time.  These games never got the credit they deserved, but let me put it this way, These games were solid way back to their days on the Commodore 64.  If you don't know what that is, it's ok, it was back in the days when floppy disks were still floppy and before they became user friendly *,8,1

Basketball - 

Disagree with me if you'd like but there is only really one great basketball game.

NBA Jam - I refuse to even discuss this anymore, hands down best basketball game ever.

Others of note if you want, NBA Live, Tecmo Basketball, 2K..., Jordan vs Bird (which for us older gamers didn't star Jordan, it starred Dr. J)

Let the debate begin

 

 

With the Second pick in the 1984 NBA draft, the Portland Trailblazers select Michael Jordan. 

            No other draft pick in sports has been seconded guessed more than that of the Trailblazers selection of Sam Bowie at number 2 over Michael Jordan.  We’ve all lamented over this seemingly bonehead move, hindsight is always 20/20 of course.  But, let’s look at things from a different prospective.  What if the Blazers actually did select Michael Jordan?  How would the Bulls, Trailblazers, NBA and the world be different is they did pick him?

            Scenario 1 – Jordan and the Trailblazers win 6 NBA titles.  This isn’t a real stretch.  The Trailblazers were a competitive team even playing against Jordan’s Bulls in the NBA finals.  So how would things be different?  Obvious but important statement alert!  Portland is not Chicago.  Gee thanks, we didn’t need to be told that, but it is important to the over-all scheme of things.  Name some Trailblazers?  Walton, Drexler…… Pippen, problem is that are these guys really remembered as members of the Portland Trailblazers?  Pippen was and always will be remembered as a Bull.  Drexler comes close to being remembered as a Trailblazer but he won his rings in Houston thus wiping out the average fans recollection of him as a Trailblazer.  Walton is maybe the most recognizable player as a Trailblazer. That is if you conveniently forget that he also won a championship with the Celtics or could even remember him as a player and not a loud-mouth announcer. 

            Playing in the West those days meant almost anonymity unless you were playing for the Lakers.  Sure, there are always exceptions to the rule, but overall it was a sea into which many players would get lost.  Having said that, in all likelihood Jordan and the Trailblazers could have won more than 6 championships.  If not they would have been to more NBA finals playing in a then weaker conference.  But, let’s get back Portland is not Chicago.  One of Jordan’s lasting memories apart from basketball is his endorsement deals. 

            Back then Nike signed Jordan to an endorsement deal and the rest is history.  Nike has become the most popular brand of shoes and their Jordan line a smashing success.  Even after his playing days customers still shell out $125 + for his line of shoes, classic Jordan’s and even new ones each year.  He’s spawned his own Brand Jordan line-up which currently includes Carmelo Anthony and Derek Jeter.  The big question is would this have happened if Jordan played for the Trailblazers? 

            Jordan signing with Nike while playing for the Trailblazers most definitely could have happened.  Nike got started in Oregon, seems like a perfect fit right?  At first thought, yes.  But, let’s look at this from a marketing prospective.  Portland is not Chicago.  I really can’t say that enough.  What would be more appealing to a company looking to further its influence across the nation.  Signing a local NBA player to a deal or choosing a player from one of the top markets in the country.  Nike would have been looking to do just that, Jordan might have been on their list, but they wanted to broaden appeal and escape a regional market in the Pacific Northwest.  Taking this into consideration Jordan most likely would not have been their target for an endorsement deal.  So who would they have targeted for their poster boy? 

            A New York player, how about the nations 4^th largest market, Philadelphia, Charles Barkley entered the draft the same year.  L.A. would be of interest but, being on the west coast would not have expanded Nike’s market as much as a large eastern city would.  Barkley does indeed have a deal with Nike, but instead of being second fiddle to Jordan the roles easily could have been reversed. 

Nike opened up further endorsement deals for Jordan.  Would we be saturated with a plethora of sports drinks today if it wasn’t for Jordan and Gatorade.  Gatorade wasn’t new to the market by a long shot when Jordan signed on as an endorser.  However he brought it to the mainstream.  What catchy song would be singing if Jordan didn’t take place with Gatorade, “Like Dominique, if I could be like Dominique….” (or insert other fun names like Chuck, Larry or Ervin).  The world would definitely be a much different place.  (However I believe that people would still buy Haines endorsement deal or no endorsement deal). 

Scenario 2 – Jordan and the Trailblazers flop.  This doesn’t seem as unlikely as it sounds.  The Trailblazers were a consistently good team (give or take a few years) over Jordan’s time.  However, sometimes it’s a matter of right player, in the right place, at the right time.  Maybe Jordan doesn’t get to see the playing time he did in Chicago as a rookie.  Endorsement deals wouldn’t be coming his way or for any player coming off the bench.  

Maybe Sam Perkins career, or lack of, is a direct result of playing for the Trailblazers.  Jordan could have just been remembered as a great college player and nothing more.  He might have only enjoyed moderate success in the NBA.  Sure we could scoff at that statement knowing what we know now, but it could have happened. 

Although the use of athletes for marketing of products was not a new invention, it seems to have helped spawn a multi media marketing frenzy across sports as we know it.  Athletes and company’s seem to go hand in hand these days.  Jordan’s success as a spokesman has played an integral role in that.  All I know is this, had the Trailblazers selected Jordan with the 2^nd pick in the draft that year the world as we know it would be a much different place.

     At some point in time the folks at Foxsports.com just may actually have a 2nd NGS contest.  So who you got as you're top 16 for it? 

Heck maybe we could have our own unoffical contest, the 17th Best Next Great Sportswriter (the name needs some work).  Let's hear it, give some dap to who you think should be in it.

     The mere mention of the name Frank Bialowas brings fear into the hearts of many former and even current hockey players.  Never heard of him?  If you are soley an NHL hockey fan than I send my condolences.  He is truely a legend of the game, even if he only had a total of 4 NHL games under his belt.  His is undoubtly one the greatest enforcers of the game. 

     "The Animal" spent the majority of his career playing in the AHL with Saint John's Maple Leafs and the Philadelphia Phantoms.  Frank's other stops included the Portland Pirates, twice, the Hershey Bears, Indianapolis Ice (IHL) to name a few.  I think any Phantoms fan remembers Frank well.  So well in fact that he was part of the inagural class inducted into the Phantoms Hall of Fame.  He won the teams first fan's choice award in 96-97, and helped provide the muscle in a Calder Cup championship season in 97-98.  Frank also was named first team Left Winger on the Phantoms all decade team, ahead of former Calder Cup playoff MVP Mike Maneluk.  All this in just two seasons and 156 career games with the team.

     What made Frank special to watch?  It wasn't his goal scoring ability.  Frank totaled 25 career goals in the AHL.  It was his uncontested presence as the greatest enforcer of his time.   In his 156 games with the Phantoms he racked 555 penalty minutes.  For his career had well over 2000 penalty minutes.  That number could have been much higher had he not been ejected from countless games, sometimes on reputation alone. 

     "The Animal" had a cult following where ever he played.  His pugalistic abilities were the stuff of legend.  Let me now recall the first time that I had witnessed Frank play.  The Phantoms were playing the then hated Hershey Bears (fresh off of being the flyers AHL afflilate and then part of the Avs farm system).  These two teams loathed each other (it went far beyond hatred).  No less than 2 minutes into the opening period a Phantoms player wrapped future NHLer Marc Denis' head of the goal post as he peeked behind the net, the rest shall we say, was history.  It was the first of countless fights and one of no less than 4 bench clearing brawls. 

     The Spectrum was in a frenzy, FRANK, FRANK, FRANK!!! The Animal didn't even make it out of the first period that night.  He quickly disposed of the poor Hershey Bear who dared oppose him that fight.  After serving his time in the sin bin, he was back on the ice and back to the fist-a-cuffs.  Another contestant tried his luck, another bloodied face.  After this penalty expired he managed to spend a clean shift or two on the ice.  But, trouble was not far behind.  For his finale that night, "The Animal" ever so kindly beat the snot out of not one, but two Bears players at the same time. 

     I've seen countless fights in hockey at all levels, heck I've even seen players on the same team beat each other senseless during games, but never in my life have I witnessed one player easily take care of two opposing players at the same time.  Unfortunately that was to be the last fight of the night to involve Bialowas as he was tossed from the game.  Although not all nights equaled that nights events, most were not that far off.  Fans from all around could be heard screaming his name, everyone wanted to see him on the ice. 

     His popularity grew so large that season that there was much talk in Philly of the Flyers bringing up "The Animal" for their playoff run.  Chants of "We Want FRANK!" no longer just echoed in the Spectrum, the could be heard loud and clear across the street during Flyers games.  Unfortunately those calls were not obliged by Bobby Clarke and the man they called "The Animal" never made it on the Flyers roster.

     This one's for you Frank Bialowas, we salute you!!!

            So you’re probably wondering how on earth it is that one game of basketball back in 1972 could possibly have anything to do with the Winter Olympics.  Well, follow with me here.  We all remember, or at least know of the happenings of that Gold Medal game between the Soviets and the USA (for those of you who don’t know, the ref’s basically kept the game going until the Soviet team scored the winning basket).  USA Basketball was never the same. 

 

            Tired of losing with amateur athletes USA Basketball decided it was time to level the playing field (which is actually laughable considering until that point the USA had only lost 2 times in Olympic action, the gold medal game in 72 to the Russians and again in 88 to the Russians).  They assembled the greatest basketball team to ever grace the court, The Dream Team.  USA basketball dominated the Barcelona games of 1992 and ever since has been using pro players. 

 

            Not wanting to fall behind the curve Hockey latched onto this idea.  I would suspect that fans disappointed in a lack of success since the Miracle on Ice made this move.  We wanted to see our boys win again.  Sure hockey is Canada’s game, but the game vs. the Soviets was huge for Americans of so many levels.  So finally in 1998 the NHL decided to close operations while the games were going on so their players could participate.  It was a smashing success.

 

            It was a success not just with fans here in North America, but all major Hockey areas around the world.  However, its’ success seems to have surpassed the overall Winter Olympic games themselves.  This edition of the Winter Olympics seems to be suffering.  No longer do we watch events that we at least feigned interest in before, just because an American had a chance of winning a gold medal.  Now we turn on the Olympic coverage and wonder, when is the Hockey coming on?  The tournament has taken on a life of its own and eclipsed the games. 

 

            A world class Hockey tournament with some skiing and ice skating thrown as filler is what the games amount to anymore.  Some may say that the move has actually saved the Winter Olympics, I am not one of those people, I think it has detracted from the overall Olympic spirit.  Yes, we will still have some stars born at the games, but they’ve taken a back seat to their professional brethren. 

 

            So why hasn’t this dampened the Summer Games?  Well here it is more of a numbers game.  There are more Olympic events in the Summer games with broader appeal than there are in the Winter games.  Sure Basketball has taken some of the thunder, but think of it this way.  We all have something in common with an Olympic track star.  We all have run in some capacity and have a bigger sense of awe at just how fast these men are.  How many of us can say that we can relate in some way to the skill involved in Skiing or Ice Skating?  Obviously not as many people. 

 

            Is there any hope that the Winter Olympics can get out of the shadow o####lorified NHL tournament?  With the inclusion of more exciting events such as snowboarding they might be able to pull even again in the future.  But, this will take some time.  So, if you’ve turned on the Games and not been interested in what you saw, or not even had enough interest to tune in when you had in previous years, you could trace the roots back to the 1972 Summer Games, the seed that has ruined the Winter Olympics

     I wanted to take this time to thank everyone who has read my posts.  I really appreciate your support.  It seems that my blog has really taken off recently and again I want to thank everyone, so please let me know who you are!  Likes or Dislikes, even if you read because you might disagree with everything I say.  Let me know who you are and I will do my best to return the favor and read through your blogs.

Thanks again-
Derek Miller aka "The Saint"

     I may not be a finalist in the competition but the lure of a top ten list was too great.  We all know about how just plain aweful the old Denver Nuggets jersey's were.  Actually I could probally make an entire list of ten just from Denver teams, the mustard and brown broncos jerseys, to the just plain yuck of the Colorado Rockies Jersey's (no not the baseball team, the Rockies who later became the New Jersey Devils).   For the sake of this top ten list I will only use jersey's being currently worn.  *A word of caution - you'll be seeing red*

10.  This is one I'll call a tie, I had a list of 11 and one is more of a personal grievance that I thought should be included.
The Vikings - ok, you have a tough name in a cold town, you could actually imagine Vikings possibly being there. So why on god's green earth would you dress the team up in purple.
Please, maybe I'm not up on my history enough, actual Vikings could have been known to wear purple but come on. 

Other teams that wear purple but got a pass - the Baltimore Ravens, ravens actually have a purple tint to them in the sunlight.  Toronto Raptors and Colorado Rockies, it doesn't actually look that bad for these teams. 

The Tampa Bay Bucs - Again this is more of a minor grievance, having finally shed those silly bright orange uni's a few years back they still insisted on keeping a sliver of that orange in there, probally wouldn't be been so irrating if they didn't have red as a main color.  Clashing colors equal hard to look at.  I understand the reason why so that's why they are only tied for 10th.

9. New Orleans Saints 3rd jersey's - Gold Jersey's to go along with Gold helmets and Gold Pants.  It's just hard to look at, a little bit too much for my taste.

8. Houston Astro's Red jersey's - Pheww, look this is going to be a common theme here so I appologize, but red and gold don't go together, it looks bad, don't you see that. 

7. The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 3rd Jersey's - I generally like these kind of old time throwback style jersey's, but this one is all wrong.  It's also hard to buy that throwback feel when you can remember going to the theater to see the movie which gave the team it's name.

6. Toronto Raptors 3rd Jersey's - Again, red's the word. The picture here doesn't make them look too bad, it's more of the notion that there is purple all around the arena.

5. Atlanta Braves 3rd Jersey's - First thoughts on seeing these, I thought spring training is over in april.  These pups are bright and obnoxious, the regular Braves jersey's look pretty sharp with the red as an ACCENT.  Please, if you want to wear a third jersey, stick to the throw-backs from the 70's.

4. Atlanta Thrashers 3rd jersey's - Ok, I personally would have these ranked at 3 but I needed a brief break from the red, and what uglier than powder blue jersey's.  If the goal is to distract the opposition the mission accomplished.  Although it does lead to some deception, cause you don't expect to get run over by anyone wearing powder blue.

3. New York Giants Road and 3rd jersey's - Retro worked for the Jets, not for the Giants.   Again a big fan of classic design, sometimes however it just doesn't work. 

2. Minnesota Wild 3rd Jersey's - This was really a toss-up and these jersey's were the reason for this list.  Red, green and gold.  This things resemble the worst christmas present you ever recieved, you don't want to hurt grandma's feelings by not wearing it so you put it on anyway.  The whole time praying for the moment grandma leaves, or in this case the game is over.  

 
This easily could be number 1 but much to my dismay my eyes came across these....

 

1. Dallas Stars 3rd Jersey's - what the.... how .....why.....oh no they didn't..... Just one look at these things and you gag.  I know I vomitted a little bit in my mouth at the mere sight of these

.  Uh there it goes again.  That's it, I can write no longer, the porcelain god calls me.