By: Stephen C. I would like to clarify something. I am a fan of Kobe Bryant. People tend to think I don’t like Kobe because I point out that he may not be as good as some think, which, in reality, is just splitting hairs because Kobe Bryant is one of the greatest basketball players in the history of the game. But even so, I am actually a fan. I’m a fan because I appreciate greatness. I appreciate when an athlete can perform at a level that very few athletes ever reach. I appreciate when an athlete can make you question how it’s even possible for anyone to ever be able to do what he or she just did, especially when they make that greatness seem routine. Kobe is one of those athletes. There are few things in basketball more entertaining to watch than Bean when he’s on. When Kobe’s on, he is as good a scorer as there ever was and ever will be in the league. He can take and make ridiculous shots from anywhere and everywhere. This past weekend, Kobe moved into third place on the all-time scoring list, a spot in which he will likely stay upon his retirement as he is still over 4,000 points away from Karl Malone for second all-time and over 6,000 points away from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for first all-time. But passing those two wouldn’t matter nearly as much as passing the man who previously occupied third place all-time: Michael Jordan. Jordan, obviously, is widely considered the greatest basketball player of all-time, and he and Kobe have been forever linked since Kobe came into the league way back in 1996. Their games, their styles, their competitive nature. You can find countless YouTube clips of Kobe and MJ performing similar moves with the basketball. The back-to-the-basket, turnaround fadeaway jumper. The crazy athleticism and grace around the basket. Even the way each played defense was similar. Kobe modeled his game on many of the all-time greats, but none more so than Jordan (and rightfully so. If you want to be the best of all-time, why wouldn’t you try to emulate the best of all-time?). There will be constant comparisons between the two, both for as long as Kobe plays and for long after he walks away from the game. It’s just natural. Kobe is the closest thing we will ever see to another Michael Jordan. Was Kobe as good as Michael? No. Kobe never reached the level of play that MJ hit. No one has. Kobe has had an outstanding career, one of the greatest ever, but he’s not better than MJ. And that’s okay. For the past 19 seasons, Kobe Bryant has been among the premier players in the NBA. His list of accolades is as impressive as anyone’s. Despite only winning one regular season MVP award, Kobe is a five time NBA Champion, two time Finals MVP, 16 time All-Star (including a record four All-Star Game MVPs, which is fitting because Kobe always had to prove he was the best, and what better way to do that than to dominate the games among the best players?), eleven time First-Team All-NBA team member (to go along with two more Second teams and two more Third teams), nine time First-Team All-Defense team member (plus three more Second teams), two time scoring champion, and the leading scorer in the history of one of the two most storied franchises in league history. Quite the impressive résumé. Kobe will be a first-ballot Hall of Famer, as he should be, and will cement his rightful place among the ten greatest players in NBA history when it’s all said and done. He’ll play out the rest of this season, in all likelihood one in which his Lakers do not make the playoffs. He will continue to accumulate mind-boggling stats and will continue to try and prove everyone wrong (before the season, ESPN ranked him the 40th best player in the NBA. You know he’s thinking about that in every game, with every shot, especially in games against any of the 39 players ranked in front of him). Kobe has said this will be his final year, although he hasn’t made anything official. He won’t go on a farewell tour. He won’t pine for the affection of the masses. Kobe doesn’t care about that. Kobe cares about winning and being remembered as one of the greatest. Kobe cares about going about his business his way, with a competitive spirit and determination to succeed that can be described as both Jordan-esque and Bryant-esque. So congrats to Kobe for passing his favorite player on the all-time scoring list. A remarkable accomplishment for a remarkable player. The NBA will miss Kobe when he’s gone. And so will I.
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By: Stephen C. Right now, there’s no one on earth who can throw a football better than the quarterback of the Green Bay Packers, Aaron Rodgers. Not Peyton Manning. Not Tom Brady. Not Drew Brees. No one. Rodgers, having completed his first 100 starts with a thrilling 43-37 win over the Atlanta Falcons, now has a win-loss record of 68-32. This is significant because that record is the exact same as his predecessor in Green Bay: Brett Favre. Favre is widely considered one of the best quarterbacks to ever play the game. Known for being able to make throws that no one would even dream to attempt and as the original gunslinger, Favre helped to revolutionize the quarterback position during the mid-1990s into the position it is today. The similarities between the two quarterbacks, however, may very well end with their record and the fact that they both played in Green Bay. Rodgers, of course, sat patiently behind Favre in Green Bay for his first three seasons as Favre’s understudy. Once Favre retired (the first time), Rodgers took the helm in Green Bay and has led the Packers to what will likely be six straight playoff berths, including one Super Bowl title. Rodgers has been fantastic, but has he been better than Favre? It's a question that has been brought up essentially since Rodgers took over for Favre in Green Bay, but a question of which the intensity has definitely picked up since Rodgers matched Favre's first 100 starts. If you look strictly at the numbers, it wouldn't even be a discussion: Rodgers has put up considerably better numbers through his first 100 starts. More completions on fewer attempts (Rodgers: 2,186/3,312 for 66.0%, Favre: 2,094/3,400 for 61.6%), more yards (27,520 to 24,079), more touchdowns (222 to 194), almost half as many interceptions (54 to 104), and a significantly higher quarterback rating (107.26 to 89.19). In fact, if you wanted to compare the stats of Brett Favre through 100 starts, you should compare him to another NFC North starting quarterback: Jay Cutler of the Chicago Bears. But we can't just look at the stats, and for good reason. We have to dig a little deeper. For starters, the rules now are much different than the rules of the mid-1990s, during Favre's first 100 starts. The rules today are MUCH more favorable towards a pass-happy kind of offense, which has caused passing stats to be much higher today than they have been at any point in league history. For example, Favre's best statistical season during his first 100 starts came in 1995 when he threw for 4,413 yards, 38 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions. Again, this is Brett Favre, one of the best quarterbacks to ever play the position. Last season alone, there were five quarterbacks who topped his yardage total, two who topped his touchdown total, and eleven who threw more interceptions. The game today is much more pass-oriented, which causes the stats of quarterbacks before the rule changes to look worse compared to today's passers. Where Favre stands out from Rodgers is the hardware and the playoffs.Through his first 100 starts, Brett Favre was a three-time regular season MVP, a one-time Super Bowl MVP, and a one-time Super Bowl champion with a playoff record of 9-4. Through Aaron Rodgers first 100 starts, he is a one-time regular season MVP (he could very well win it again this season, but a lot can happen in three weeks), a one-time Super Bowl MVP, and a one-time Super Bowl champion with a playoff record of 5-4. Here's a listing of the MVP winners during the seven seasons that span each of Favre and Rodgers' first 100 starts:
Not a fluke on that list. Every single person on the list from 1992-1998 is either in or will be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Manning and Brady are sure-fire Hall of Famers from the list on the right. Peterson is fantastic (on the field) and Rodgers has had the beginning of a Hall of Fame career. My point is this: you can’t just say “Oh, Rodgers would have so many more MVPs if it wasn’t for Peyton Manning.” Brett Favre went toe to toe with the Hall of Fame likes of Young, Sanders, Smith, Broncos QB John Elway, and Cowboys QB Troy Aikman, among others, and won three straight MVPs. Favre also appeared in two straight Super Bowls, winning Super Bowl XXXI and losing Super Bowl XXXII to Elway’s Denver Broncos. Rodgers has appeared in and won one Super Bowl, Super Bowl XLV. You could make the argument for Rodgers’ MVP candidacy in 2012 and possibly in 2009, but he wasn’t really that close in either year. 2012 was the year Peterson single-handedly took a middle of the road Minnesota team to the playoffs after coming back from a devastating knee injury. Plus, Rodgers wasn’t even the best quarterback that year. That would be Peyton. In 2009, Rodgers put up very good numbers, but again, not as good as Peyton, and not even good enough to win his own division. The best numbers from an NFC North quarterback in 2009? That would be the quarterback of the Minnesota Vikings: Brett Favre (it all comes full circle). So who’s better? The numbers point to Rodgers, but the hardware points to Favre. The only thing we can say for sure is that Green Bay has been incredibly fortunate to land two top level talents in a row. The simple fact is, given all the extenuating circumstances and rule changes, Aaron Rodgers is trending on the way to become the greatest quarterback of all time. The key word is trending. When Aaron Rodgers is on, he’s absolutely unstoppable, as we’ve seen multiple times this season. But what sets Favre apart from just about everyone was his longevity. Favre started 297 regular season games in a row from September 27, 1992 to December 5, 2010 (and another 24 playoff games, bringing a total of 321 straight games where Brett Favre’s team’s starting quarterback was Brett Favre. Remarkable). Only eight times in his entire career was Favre knocked out of a game due to injury where he could not return. Favre’s injury list during the streak include just about every injury imaginable, including a shoulder separation, concussion, stress fractures, torn ligaments in his knee, injured nerves, and a torn biceps. Week after week, Favre went out and played at a high level. Upon his retirement, Favre held just about every single significant NFL passing record. Will Rodgers pass Favre statistically when it’s all said and done? If his first 100 starts are any indication and he stays healthy, all signs point to yes. Will Rodgers pass Favre as a player? Well, we’ll just have to wait and see, but again, all signs point to yes. If I had to pick one for who’s “better” in their first 100 starts, I’d probably go with Rodgers, but it’s much closer than the stats would suggest (also keep in mind that I’ve watched Rodgers pretty closely over the past five or six years, whereas I was six years old and hardly knew the difference between a wide receiver and a running back when Favre won his Super Bowl). The biggest reason for me is Rodgers’ aversion to mistakes. Rodgers’ interception percentage is historically good, and although I’m sure the rule changes help, I don’t think the rule changes would cause that much of a difference. Favre was better than arguably anyone in NFL history at making throws that no one else could make, but a lot of those throws would end up as turnovers as well. Rodgers still has a long way to go to catch and eventually pass #4 on the all-time ladder, but if Rodgers can keep playing the way he’s playing, and secure his second MVP this season, he’ll be well on his way. By: Stephen C. Well, college football has had a pretty straight-forward season, right? And everyone thought there’d be less controversy with four teams instead of just two… There will ALWAYS be controversy. They could go straight to what NCAA Men’s Basketball does and throw 68 teams into the playoff, and teams 69-72 will all be hiring their own PR firms. We’ve seen the record for rushing yards for a game broken in consecutive weeks, first by Wisconsin standout RB Melvin Gordon, then by relatively unknown Oklahoma freshman RB Samaje Perine. We’ve seen the defending champions, Florida State, constantly yo-yo their way from horrid to unstoppable to just good enough. And we’ve seen a selection committee that isn’t scared to make a big statement if they feel like a team isn’t playing well (as in Florida State). There are seven teams who still have a realistic shot (I guess you could say ten teams have more than a zero percent chance…) to make the four team field, depending on how the conference championships work out on Saturday: Alabama, Oregon, TCU, Florida State, Ohio State, Baylor, and Arizona (Kansas State, Wisconsin, and Missouri would need to win convincingly on Saturday and would need a lot of help). If this season has been any indication, Saturday will be one more crazy day before we find out which four teams get to play for a National Championship. Before we can talk about the really good teams, I have to talk about my Nittany Lions. It’ll be brief. Just this paragraph, so skip to the next one if you don’t care. Penn State had quite the interesting season to become bowl eligible. With the bare minimum wins to be bowl eligible, they sit at 6-6. But this isn’t your standard 6-6 team in terms of a bowl game. Penn State fans travel ridiculously well, and any bowl that can land the Nittany Lions should try to. I’d be pretty surprised if PSU went to any bowl except for the New Era Pinstripe Bowl, played at Yankee Stadium on Saturday, December 27, at 4:30 PM. The opponent is looking to be Boston College; however, there is still some Notre Dame buzz, although that’s becoming increasingly unlikely. PSU-Notre Dame would be a best case scenario for the bowl, as the matchup between two storied programs could make for a huge marquee game. I’m still holding out hope for Notre Dame to be the opponent (even though PSU would have a better shot to win against Boston College) simply because that would be the most fun. Alright, PSU talk over. HEISMAN TROPHY WINNER - Marcus Mariota, QB, Oregon 1. Marcus Mariota, QB, Oregon 2. Melvin Gordon, RB, Wisconsin 3. Amari Cooper, WR, Alabama 4. Jameis Winston, QB, Florida State (not that he actually deserves it. More of a courtesy vote) 5. Tevin Coleman, RB, Indiana (someone has to be fifth, and Coleman has been unreal) Mariota, at this point, should be the unanimous winner unless something goes horribly, terribly wrong against Arizona in the Pac-12 Championship game. And even if something goes horribly, terribly wrong, like a five interception game, then he should just win it, not unanimously. Gordon has been fantastic and no one in the country can cover Cooper, but Mariota is simply on another level right now. A 36-2 touchdown-interception ratio, coupled with 68.6% completion rate and another ten scores on the ground, there’s no one that should take the trophy from Mariota this year. RANKINGS 10. Wisconsin (current rank: 13) 9. Missouri (current rank: 16) 8. Kansas State (current rank: 9) These three are lumped together because they need the most help. KState can do the most to help itself by beating Baylor, but even a win over Baylor won’t be enough unless TCU and maybe even Florida State loses. Missouri would need to beat Alabama in the SEC Championship game, convincingly, and then have TCU, Baylor, and Florida State all lose. Even that may not be enough. Wisconsin would need to beat Ohio State by a bunch, and, given the injury to OSU QB J.T. Barrett, that probably won’t even be enough. I can’t see any of these teams getting in without complete and utter chaos breaking out on Saturday. But it’s college football. Complete and utter chaos is basically a weekly occurrence. 7. Arizona (current rank: 7) Arizona should be in with a win. The only problem is that win would have to be against Oregon. Yes, the Wildcats have already beaten the Ducks once this season, but a second win over Mariota & Co. will not be easy. It's hard enough to beat Oregon once, so I can't imagine having to beat them twice. Oregon has been playing lights out since that Thursday night loss. Arizona may control their own destiny, but the Ducks are not going to make it easy. 6. TCU (current rank: 3) 5. Baylor (current rank: 6) Even if both Baylor and TCU win, I really think if Ohio State wins, they’re in regardless of what happens in the Big 12. A Baylor win over KState should leapfrog the Bears over the Horned Frogs because, regardless of what the Big 12 wants to say, Baylor would be the Big 12 champion. I don’t understand how TCU’s loss to Baylor is viewed more favorably to the committee than Baylor’s win over TCU. TCU had that game in the bag and suffered a complete meltdown in Waco in the fourth quarter to the quick strike Baylor offense. This is an example of where the “eye test” has been overrated, and I think will be corrected if Baylor defeats KState. The state of Texas will be rooting for Wisconsin to beat Ohio State, because one (and maybe even both if Florida State loses) would almost definitely be in with a win and an Ohio State loss. 4. Ohio State (current rank: 5, projected seed: 4, loss in Sugar Bowl) A win with their third string quarterback over Wisconsin should be all the committee needs to see to finally put Ohio State in the playoff. No team has had to overcome more than OSU this season, both on and off the field. The losses of Barrett and preseason Heisman candidate QB Braxton Miller were huge when it comes to the game of football, but pale in comparison to the loss of the life of DL Kosta Karageorge. Losing a teammate to injury is one thing. Losing a teammate to an apparent suicide is something else entirely more. How OSU responds to the events of the past week will go a long way in terms of their standing in the playoff. I still believe they’re in with a win. The committee would be hard pressed to leave out the B1G Champion, especially after a convincing win over Michigan State in East Lansing. I think the committee did the right thing of reserving judgment of the Buckeyes until they play a game with QB Cardale Jones under center, but keeping the Buckeyes out because they lost their quarterback would be an overreaction to the very good season OSU is having, especially if they pass the “eye test” with a win over a good Wisconsin team. 3. Oregon (current rank: 2, projected seed: 2, loss in Ross Bowl) 2. Alabama (current rank: 1, projected seed: 1, loss in National Championship game) Alabama and Oregon are playing like the two best teams in the country right now ("eye test" co-champions). Both offenses have been unstoppable, led by each of their Heisman candidates, and both defenses are playing well (despite what allowing 44 points to Auburn would lead you to believe about Alabama). Oregon needs to win to secure its spot, as a loss could theoretically drop the Ducks from the playoff. Alabama is probably in regardless of what happens on Saturday, win or lose. A win would all but guarantee Alabama the #1 seed and a semi-final game in New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl. Oregon would most likely be the #2 seed with a win and host the Rose Bowl, unless the committee does a complete 180 and rewards Florida State for an undefeated regular season. These two deserve to play for the national championship if it was held on Saturday. 1. Florida State (current rank: 4, projected seed: 3, National Champions) Is Florida State playing like the best team in the country? No. Are they the best team in the country until someone proves otherwise? Yes. Everywhere but in college football, a win is a win. Doesn’t matter by how much or how little or even to who. A 52-0 win counts the same as a 6-4 win. But because Florida State is failing the “eye test” (which has been overrated this season, in my humble opinion), the only undefeated team in the COUNTRY is ranked at #4 heading into championship week (some think it's a conspiracy theory, because when in doubt, conspiracy theory). Granted, a loss to Georgia Tech in the ACC Championship game and I absolutely agree that Florida State should not be in the top four, but until proven otherwise, Florida State deserves to be at the top of the poll. They could very well get run off the field by Oregon or Alabama in the semi-finals or championship game, but I won’t believe Florida State is going to lose until they actually do. They’ve found a way to win each and every football game. With Jameis, without Jameis (Clemson), and in spite of Jameis (Florida). Maybe they’ll stop looking so bored now that they have something to actually play for. The story of their season has been that they come out flat in the first half and then miraculously pull it together in the second half to pull out a close win. With a conference championship, and then a national championship, on the line, I think we’ll finally at least see one B+ game from Florida State. They’ve been beating everyone with their C and C+ game so far. Imagine if they actually get it together and put forth a solid effort. There’s no one in the country that can beat them then. The College Football Playoff will announce its top four teams on Sunday, December 7, at 11:45 AM. |
Stephen C.If nothing else, I am consistent. I got LASIK to correct my vision, so I have no flaws. Stephen H.I am so damn good looking. I am also a guest contributor at this point who will probably never post again. Archives
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