TOP 5 BAD BOYS GONE SOFT

They walked the athletic battle field with intensity in their eyes as fear washed over their opponent's faces. These bad boys of sports intimidated their way to stardom. But oh how far we have come, to the day, when these once menacing and scary men are now just soft and mushy entertainers. These 5 men have taken their bad boy image and made it into something unique. From the ballet to the WNBA, these men no longer bring fear into their opponents eyes but instead bring laughter (but make sure you laugh from a reasonable distance away).

The Top 5 Bad Boys Turned Soft

1. Lawrence Taylor (Dancing with the Stars)
Hall of Famer, Lawrence Taylor was one of the greatest defensive players to ever play the game. He changed the linebacker position forever and put fear in the quarterback's eyes. HE BROKE A MAN'S LEG (Joe Theisman's career would never be the same). So what happened Lawrence? Do you really need the money? Why not "Celebrity Survivor" where you go and tackle a bear or eat the bones of a lion? But not this:



2. Rick Mahorn (WNBA - pushing Lisa Leslie)
Once an enforcer on the basketball court, Rick Mahorn brought toughness and muscle to the bad boy Detroit Pistons. No one messed with Isaiah Thomas because Mahorn was his protector. He feared no one...no one until he ran into Lisa Leslie. Come on Rick pick on someone your own size or at least your own gender:



3. Merlin Olsen (Delivery of Flowers Commercial)
Hall of Famer, Olsen was a part of the original "Fearsome Foursome" that terrorized opposing teams. He was 6'5 and intimidating on the field but soon became better known for his soft side. He was a character on Little House on the Prairie and this commercial officially ended his bad boy image:



4. Dennis Rodman (Dressing like a women)
Rodman was arguably the dirtiest and meanest player in the NBA. He kicked a camera man, got into it with Karl Malone and was truly a bad boy until this:

And This:

And This:

And These:

5. George Foreman (Boxer turned cook)

George Foreman pummeled opponents in the ring with his fists on his way winning the heavyweight boxing title and for a short time being known as best fighter in the world. Foreman was not only big but he was also mean. Now, Foreman is better known for his recipes and grilling techniques then his boxing. His famous smile does not intimidate anymore it just makes people hungry. Foreman is a genius for giving up his bad boy persona for an apron.

This Didn't Help Either:

TARKENTON CALLS THE KETTLE BLACK - Favre not only one overrated

"Boy could he scramble", my dad use to say over and over about his favorite player of all-time Fran Tarkenton. "But dad could he pass?", "but dad did he ever win a Superbowl?", "but dad didn't he throw 32 interceptions in one season?" "dad don't you think Tarkenton is overrated?" He would pause a moment and then reply, "yeah...but boy could he scramble." Fran Tarkenton was possibly one of the most overrated quarterbacks to play the game, even my dad (who idolized him) could admit that. So when Tarkenton came out and called Brett Farve a bad teammate and an overrated quarterback, I took offense. I agree but I take offense:

"I think he has been a great flamboyant quarterback, but he has made more stupid plays than any great quarterback that I've ever seen. Look at his final game in a Packers uniform. He blew that game against the Giants. He's playing against Eli Manning, I love Eli Manning, but he's still not a great quarterback. He's not Peyton yet, or Tom Brady. He's just a guy. And they're (Packers) are playing at home, and they're in a tight situation, they went to overtime and he (Favre) throws the interception that allows them (the Giants) to come back and win the game. He has done that and driven his coaches crazy all of his career."

Fran Tarkenton


If this isn't calling the kettle black, then I don't know what is. Fran Tarkenton may be one of the most overrated quarterbacks of all-time. Yeah, I know he is 5th on the all-time passing list (only because he played 18 years), made 3 Super bowls (lost them all) and once led the league in passing (he also led the league in interceptions that year). Tarkenton couldn't hold a candle to the games best quarterbacks...Unitas, Montana, or Marino. How dare he attack Farve. Now if Manning or Montana said that same quote then I would say "yeah I agree Farve is overrated" but when an overrated qb calls another qb overrated I got a problem. Tarkenton needs to look in the overrated mirror. Even my dad agrees.

Check for yourself:
Fran Tarkenton's Stats

Top 5 Most Overrated Quarterbacks

1. Joe Namath
Living off his Super bowl victory and his panty hose commercials. Led the league in interceptions 4 times,completed only 50 percent of his passes and threw for over 20 tds in only 1 year of his career. Your good looks got you a long way Broadway Joe.

2. Warren Moon
Only 3 winning seasons as a starting qb and no Superbowl rings come on. He also led the league in interceptions (twice) and run-ins with the police.

3. Troy Aikman
This was a tough one. Aikman won Super bowls and did everything a qb is suppose to do...if a quarterback is suppose to hand off to one of the all-time great running backs every time. Even Jason Garrett or Vinnie Testeverde could have won a Superbowl with Smith carrying the load. Look at his numbers: Aikman averaged less than 14 tds a year, never led the league in any major category and was a lousy FANTASY player (he cost many fantasy fans league titles...lucky for me I was an Elway fan).

4. Dan Fouts
His numbers were great but whose numbers wouldn't be great playing in nice weather every game, with stars all around you (John Jefferson, Lydell Mitchell, Kellen Winslow, Charlie Joiner, Wes Chandler) and with "Air Coryell" at the helm. With all those passing yards you would think that he would at least have gotten a sniff of a Superbowl ring. In fact Fouts had only 3 playoff victories and threw 16 interception compared to only 12 tds in the playoffs.

5. Fran Tarkenton
(See above)

Honorable Mention: Brett Farve, Jim McMahon, Randall Cunningham

WORST BASEBALL HAT EVER

I have officially seen it all...a scratch and niff baseball hat. I guess chewing gum, seeds and tobacco is no longer good enough to keep a players attention between pitches, we now need something to smell. 10 years from now the makers of this hat will saying "what in the heck were we thinking". I just hope we don't have a turn-back-the-clock night where everything is old school scratch and niff (can you imagine). Well, lets take a look at some other decisions where someone must be saying "what were we thinking":

Top 5 Worst Major League Baseball Hats

1. Montreal Expos 1969

2. Pittsburg Pirates 1976

3. San Diego Padres 1984

4. Millwaukee Brewers 1978

5. California Angels 1962

Any that I missed?

NFL NETWORK FOR THOSE WITHOUT - Top 10 Part I

NFL Network reached an agreement to be a part of Comcast's packaging a couple of weeks ago so I decided to give the Network a try and see what all the fuss was about. I figured I wasn't really missing anything especially since Thursday night football is like Tuesday night church service...it doesn't feel right but you gotta participate. So I flip to it and guess what, I was hooked. Besides the fact that the Cincinnati Bengals are on "Hard Knocks" (the NFL's version of Cops and Judge Judy), one show really intrigued me...a show called "TOP 10". This show takes a look at the classic top 10 lists of the NFL. From the top 10 backfield tandems to the 10 best Dallas Cowboys to the top 10 most fearsome tacklers, the NFL Network analyzes them all. What a great concept.

So here I am using my DVR to provide those unfortunate souls who do not get the NFL Network (no I do not work for NFL Network) a chance to enjoy the TOP 10 lists along with some Retro Sports Talk analysis. So here goes:

Top 10 Biggest Changes to the NFL

1. AFL - NFL Merger

2. T.V. and Monday Night Football

3. Free Agency

4. Paul Brown

5. Instant Replay

6. Astro turf (because of all the injuries and the increase in speed)

7. Defensive Back Rule Change (rule that a defensive back can't touch a wr past five yards)

8. NFL Films

9. West Coast Offense

10. Soccer Style Kickers

Honorable Mention: Hash Marks, Pete Rozell

Analysis:
The first change to the list would be to move PAUL BROWN up. He should be #1 on the list (for starters he has a team named after him). Everything football starts with Paul Brown. He truly revolutionized the game and his impact is still felt in the game today. Lets take a look at the impact Brown had on the game:




a. Coaches such as Don Shula, Chuck Noll, Sam Wyche, Bill Walsh, Weeb Ewbank, Bud Grant played or coached under Brown
b. The Face Mask
c. The Playbook
d. The Helmet Ear Piece
e. The Full Time Coaching Staff
f. Using game film
g. Sending in plays with a guard
h. Diagrams for passing plays
i. The Chalk Talk

No other coach has done more to change and improve the game than Paul Brown.

Next, I would definitely put FANTASY FOOTBALL on the list. Fantasy football not only gave millions of football geeks a reason to watch EVERY NFL game but it also made name recognition for many lesser known players. Fantasy football made millions of dollars for the sport.

Lastly, why in the world would you put kickers on the list? Don't they know that kickers are always the last pick in most fantasy football drafts. Jeez!

Part II (Next Week) - NFL's Top 10 Most Fearsome Tacklers

Links:
NFL Network Top 10 Schedule

WORST FASHION TRENDS IN SPORTS

After watching a high school baseball game this weekend I noticed a trend that was quite disturbing; players were wearing their baseball hats with FLAT bills. When I was growing up this was not acceptable. You curved your hat or looked you like a dork. The curved bill looks stylish, helps keep sun out of the corners of your eyes and allows you to narrow your focus. This new flat bill trend is only one step away from baseball players wearing mesh hats or their hats on sideways. Yet, the flat bill is everywhere (sometimes people will not even take the price tag off the flat bill hat). As an old school guy that didn't like to get beat up for looking stupid, I just don't understand these new fashion trends.

Top 5 Worst Sports Fashions

1. Long Sleeves under basketball uniform



2. Baseball Flat Bill



3. Basketball arm sleeve

4. Personalized eye black

5. Golf Visor

ULTIMATE "INLIER" - Moses Malone

Bill Simmons first coined the term "inliers" is his hilarious article-email exchange with best selling author Malcolm Gladwell called "Curious Guy" (a must read). He called an "inlier" as an athlete that if in another era could have made a huge impact. He tabbed Larry Holmes and Nick Faldo as "inliers" because if they were in another era they may have reached total stardom...like Ali or Palmer. Once I finished reading Simmons three part article, I started to think about "inliers". In fact I have the perfect "inlier"...ME (okay only if I was in an era where short, weak, somewhat athletic guys ruled sports maybe)...no the perfect "inlier" would be MOSES MALONE.
Moses came along in the wrong era. When Malone was at his peak he was in the unfortunate shadow of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Hakeem Olajuwon. Moses was stuck behind Jabbar and his showtime Lakers most of his prime years. If you put Moses in the league today everybody would know his name for years to come. If you bring up the topic of great centers of the 80's you automatically get Jabbar and Olajuwon and few would mention Malone. Well lets take a look at his accomplishments during this time period:

1) Between the years of 1978 and 1987, Malone was 1st team or 2nd team All-NBA 8 times (the times he finished 2nd team he was behind Jabbar 3 times and Olajuwon 1 time)

2) He is a career 20 points and 12 rebound guy (Jabbar was 24 ppg and 11 rebounds)

3) He led the league in rebounds 6 times during that period (Jabbar only 1)

4) He won 1 NBA title...against guess who? Jabbar

5) He won the finals MVP against... guess who? Jabbar

6) He led the league in minutes played and free throws made twice each (Jabbar and Olajuwon never did that)

7) In 1981 he was a 30 points and 14 rebound guy.

8) He is in the Hall of Fame (many may not even know that)

Moses Malone was as dominate as any center in the league. The problem was that he didn't win 4 NBA title like Jabbar did in that span nor did he have the "Sky Hook". Jabbar didn't pass the torch to Malone in the late 80's as the best center like you would expect. Instead the claim to the best center went to Olajuwon. Malone was sandwiched between Jabbar and Olajuwon for the best years of his career. Jabbar and Olajowon are on every ones mind when it comes to great centers that played the game while Malone is the forgotten warrior. He is a true "inlier", put him in another era and we may be saying Moses Malone..."you the man".

CLASSIC CHUCK - Where did you go?

Okay I have had it...the ankle injury...is there no way to stop it:

Headline: Ankle injury always a pain for Williams
Headline: Walton out with injured ankle
Headline: Chandler sits out with ankle injury
Headline: Yao Ming's Foot Injury Breaks Houston Rockets'Dream
Headline: Howard leaves playoff game with ankle injury

Nothing worse then watching the star player limp to the bench in a playoff game with an ankle injury. It is painful, humiliting (it doesn't matter how many muscles you have) and ackward (you can't go down gracefully with an ankle injury). Some of the best doctors in the world can't help if you go down with an ankle injury. So what can we do? Well, players could tape up more or wear a clumsy ankle brace but both of those might limit a player's movement. So we need to be proactive. Lets start with the shoe. Get rid of the expensive LeBron IV, Jordan XX3 and Kobe I. Lets go old school and make every player wear the classic:

CHUCK TAYLOR ALL STARS

Back in the day when the Converse Chuck Taylor All-Stars ruled the basketball world you never heard of an ankle sprain. You never saw Wilt Chamberlain or Dr. J getting ankle injuries. When you wore your Chuck Taylors you could do anything. You could score 100 points and not get hurt, you could dunk from the free throw line and not get hurt. The Chuck Taylors are the answer to our playoff woes. Can you imagine what Dwight Howard would be doing if he sported the black Converse high tops. No more ankle injuries just production with his Chuck Taylors on. Let's rid the NBA of ankle injuries and in the process bring back a classic; the Converse Chuck Taylor All-Stars.

Top 5 Classic Basketball Shoes

1) Converse Chuck Taylors All-Stars

2) Nike Air Jordan I

3) Nike Air Force I

4) Addias Superstars

5) Reebok Omni Lite Pump

BEST EVER NBA ALL-STAR TEAM - 62' team tops list

The NBA has been voting on an all-star team for over 50 years now. Each team represents the best of the best that year. But which all-star team is the best ever? There have been many talented ones like the 1989 team or the 1997 team but I don't think there is a better group then 1962 all-stars.

This 62' team consisted of:

F: Elgin Baylor
Averaged: 38 ppg/ 18.6 reb/ 4.6 ast

F: Bob Pettit
Averaged: 31 ppg/ 18.7 reb/ 3.7 ast

C: Wilt Chamberlain
Averaged: 50.4 ppg/ 25.7 reb/ 2.4 ast/ ? blks (Blocks Shots were not kept)

G: Oscar Robertson
Averaged: 30 ppg/ 12.5 reb/ 11.4 ast

G: Jerry West
Averaged: 26.9 ppg/ 6.9 reb/ 4.7 ast


Analysis
This team was amazing. Four players on the team averaged more than 30 points a game and four players averaged over 12 rebounds a game. If this team wasn't dominate I don't know what team was. They had the premier point guard in Oscar Robertson. Oscar was Magic Johnson but could score at will. West was the prototype shooting guard who could also pass while Pettit was the enforcer that could put up 20 points and 20 rebounds any night. Now throw in Elgin Baylor and Wilt Chamberlain, two of the all time greats and there is no way you stop them. Defensively, Chamberlain's athleticism would make it very difficult for opposing teams to score. This team, like the 89' team has Hall of Famer after Hall of Famer. Is there a better group of NBA all-stars? Check out the list and you tell me:

All-NBA Teams 1950-2009

OLD SCHOOL DOMINATES - simulation results reveal 09' no match for 89'

In my previous post I posed the question of which style would win, the new style of play or the old school. So I put it to the test in a 7 game series simulation in which the 2009 1st team all stars went against the 1989 1st all stars. I used the "What if Sports" simulation engine to play the games (note: I filled out the rosters with the 2nd team all stars for each year).
Here are the results:

GAME 1
1989 Team 125
2009 Team 117

MVP = Michael Jordan 29 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists and 5 steals

89' Team leads series 1-0


GAME 2
1989 Team 124
2009 Team 104

MVP = Michael Jordan 25 pints and 10 assists

89' Team leads series 2-0


GAME 3
1989 Team 127
2009 Team 112

MVP = Karl Malone 33 points and 16 rebounds

89' Team leads series 3-0


GAME 4
1989 Team 129
2009 Team 107

MVP = Charles Barkley 26 points and 8 rebounds

89' Team WINS series 4-0


Analysis:
After looking at the simulation, I confirmed my theory that the old school style is much more effective. Looking at games 1 and 2 you see that Jordan was in prime form, not only did he score but he defended and passed. The 89' team was much more unselfish and had many more assists.
Then in games 3 and 4 it looks like the big guys of Malone and Barkley wore down the 2009 team. The inside game was the big difference in the final 2 games. Now, the question becomes were the 89' all star team just a special group? What if you took the 79' all stars and pitted them against the new school bunch? Would the result be the same?

What do you think?

OLD SCHOOL VS NEW SCHOOL NBA - Does 20 years make a difference?

Last night I played in a high school staff vs student basketball game where 17 old and out of shape men and women beat a group of 7 young varsity basketball players. The youngsters were no match for the physical, fundamental, and team brand of basketball that the old schoolers threw at them. This made me think, Is the old school style of player better than the new school style of player?
So I decided to put it to the test... What if the 1989 old school all stars (20 years ago) had played the new school 2009 all stars? Would the old school physical play and teamwork outshine the new school finesse and selfishness? Would retro short shorts and long socks out play the sagging cutting edge new school style?

Here would be the rosters:

1989 1st team players

G Magic Johnson
G Michael Jordan
F Charles Barkley
F Karl Malone
C Hakeem Olajuwon

2009 1st team players

G Kobe Byrant

G Dywane Wade

F Dirk Nowitzki

F LeBron James

C Dwight Howard

So lets pick some criteria and find out which is better old school or new school:

Criteria
a. Guards
b. Forwards
c. Center
d. Intangibles (championships and pressure)
e. Simulation (I will simulate the games using the what if sim) Click here for WhatIfSports!

GUARDS
Michael Jordan was the best scorer ever to play the game. He could take you off the dribble, he could post you up or he could knock a 3 down in your eye. He rarely missed as evident by his .497 field goal percentage. He also was one of the greatest defenders of all time averaging over 2.3 steals a game in his career.
Magic Johnson would have been a great compliment to Jordan by dishing out assist after assist. Magic averaged over 11 assists a game and blew away the new school players in terms in assist to turnover ratio. He also took good shots averaging an .520 shooting percentage, amazingly high for a guard.
Kobe Byrant and Dwyane Wade can score but they have limitations. With these two on the floor there wouldn't be enough balls to go around. They don't pass like the other two averaging only 4.6 and 5.7 assists a game. These two also don't shoot as well. Neither player tops .483 in career field goal percentage.

Edge: Old School


FORWARDS

This position would be the true inside vs outside match up. LeBron James and Dirk Nowitzki represent the new school style forward who plays the perimeter and looks to shoot and slash. They can shoot the 3 which gives them a slight advantage in scoring but they also miss more shots. Both Nowitzki and James average only .477 compared to Malone's amazing .560 field goal percentage and Barkley's respectable .541 percentage. The physical play would not get to James as he is a beast himself but it would get to Nowitzki. Barkley and Malone would have a field day banging him down low. I don't believe James nor Nowitzki could stop Malone or Barkley in the post and if James was off from the outside, which has happened, then it could be long night for the new school forwards.

Edge: Slight Old School


CENTER

This match up is closer then you would think. Hakeem Olajuwon averaged more points than Dwight Howard but did not shoot as well and believe it or not did not rebound as well as Howard over his career. Now I regard Olajuwon as one of the top 5 centers to ever play the game and his "dream shake" was virtually unstoppable but I think Howard could have given him a run for his money. The factor that tip the scale in Olajuwon's favor is the fact that Howard disappears in some games and is not as big an offensive threat as Olajuwon. Both can rebound and both can block shots but if you need a bucket at the end of the game Olajuwon is your choice.

Edge: Old School

INTANGIBLES

Under intangibles is the ability to make teammates better, the ability to win and the ability handle pressure. No one on the rosters won more than Jordan. His 6 championships proves that he is a winner. He made his teammates better and in the process he won playoff games. Magic Johnson with his 5 rings demonstrates that winning is what the old school team did. All but Malone have an NBA title. Now, in all fairness the careers of the new schoolers is not over so we don't know how many they will win over their whole career. Both Nowitzki and Howard have not won an NBA title and Wade will never win another one unless Shaq comes back. So the only way the new schoolers can top the old school players would be if LeBron and Kobe continue their dominance.
Now if you factor in playing under pressure I think the edge has to go to the new schoolers. If I have to choose someone to take a last second shot it would be Jordan but a close 2a and 2b would be Kobe and LeBron. With 2 possible "go-to" guys, I would have to give the nod in playing under pressure to the new schoolers.

Edge: Even

SIMULATION

I will simulate the game of 1989 all stars vs the 2009 allstars this week using the "What If Sports" simulation engine.

I will post the results later in the week. The simulation will play a 7 game series using each players best years. The homecourt will be set to a neutral site.

Edge: TBD

Who do you think would win?