March, It's the Greatest Time of the Year

March is Here.......

March Madness Baby! With the NCAA Men's basketball season nearing an end and the onset of March here, let the best time of the year begin. You know what that means, its bracket time!

The NCAA tournament is by far the best sporting event in sports. It truly is the only tournament or event where a champion can come out of nowhere because there are so many schools that have a shot. While there has never been a 1 vs. 16 upset seeding yet, there have been four 2 vs. 15 seeding upsets. Most recently in 2001, where little known Hampton beat Jamaal Tinsley (Indiana Pacer's starting point guard) and the Iowa State Cyclones. Being from Wisconsin, I certainly have 2 very vivid memories of years past where schools in the state of Wisconsin have had major runs. In 2005, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panthers under coach Bruce Pearl (a great coach who I absolutely love and would love to play under now at Tennessee, check out his pic where he sat in the student section at a Lady Vol's game) made a fantastic run to the Sweet-16 with a 12 seeded team. They eventually lost to Illinois, who was a number 1 seed that lost eventually in the championship game to North Carolina and had come off a near undefeated season (one loss in the final game of the year at Ohio State). My other memory is from my alma-mater, Wisconsin. The 2000 Wisconsin Badger basketball team made an improbable run to the Final 4 as an 8 seed. In the process, they knocked off number 1 seeded Arizona, number 4 seeded LSU, and number 6 seeded Purdue before falling to eventual champs and number 1 seeded Michigan State. Coach Dick Bennett had installed an amazing shut down defense for the Badgers and it led them to an amazing cinderella run in the tournament despite the lack of any true offensive threat.


Laettner's Shot Against Kentucky
Bryce Drew's game winner
I love how players step up big at tournament time too. Players can define their entire career because of a tournament run or shot. Names that come to mind are Christian Laettner,Bryce Drew, Miles Simon, Sean May, and Mateen Cleaves. Also, in a more recent trend freshmen in college have begun to dominate the scene. Last year the entire Ohio State roster that made it to the championship was defined by freshman Greg Oden, Mike Conley Jr., and Dequan Cook. Carmelo Anthony has to come to mind when he lead his Syracuse Orangemen to the title as a freshman in 2003. I don't know about you, but I can't wait for this year's March Madness to begin!

Madden

I recently finished playing a series of Madden 2008 and have to say each and every game is just as much fun as the last. If you haven't experienced it for yourself, please do or you'll find yourself missing out. I presently am holding it down and have been sticking it to my roommate Ryan and good friend Dominique. The truth is, they do not want to see me. Anyhow, playing it has some pretty realistic aspects while still having a virtual reality concept with imaginary abilities. You don't even have to be a football fan to love Madden. I mean, my roommate is a soccer guy and he's down with some Madden all day. I suggest if you don't already own a copy of Madden 08, do yourself and the rest of your friends a favor by going out and buying it. You will not regret it. It's extremely competative and does take time to get used to, but once you got it oh is it neverending fun.

Here's some players who I enjoy dominating the field with:

Ladainian Tomlinson (RB, San Diego Chargers) - simply the rawest player in the game, breaks tackles, shifty, speed, catches the ball, does it all just like in real life

Peyton Manning (QB, Indianapolis Colts) - if you want to throw the ball hes your man, a vision (if you use the tunnel to read the D) the size of the field, as accurate and timely a passer as you can get, doesn't move well but gets plenty of time from get O-line

Steven Jackson (RB, St. Louis Rams) - a beast of a runner, breaks tackles for fun, can catch the ball out of the backfield, simply fun to have to run people over

Larry Johnson (RB, Kansas City Chiefs) - a great runner, breaks a lot of tackles, does it all just not as overall skilled as LT

Chad Johnson (WR, Cincinnati Bengals) - Ocho Cinquo knows how to outrun and out snatch any defender on the field, combines uncanny speed and hands

Brian Urlacher (MLB, Chicago Bears) - as fast as a receiver practically and takes peoples heads off, good hands to pick balls off, is everywhere making the play

Troy Polamalu (SS, Pittsburgh Steelers) - fast hard hitter that commands the whole field on D, fun to play center field and diagnose the play with

Antonio Gates (TE, San Diego Chargers) - everybody who plays Madden will tell you your pass game just won't fly without a good tight end, he's simply the best tight end, fast as wide out, strong, great hands, uncoverable

Julius Peppers (DE, Carolina Panthers) - fast defensive end who brings the heat on everyplay, disrupts a lot of plays by getting in the backfield

Vince Young (QB, Tennessee Titans) - Madden 08 cover boy for a reason, fast and shifty QB, throws the ball moderately well for an amazingly fast QB, impossible to stop if he gets to the corner

Devin Hester (WR/KR, Chicago Bears) - one word describes him, electrifying, 100 speed in the game! thats unheard of! Fast and scary to kick the ball to, run him deep as a wide out and see if anyone can keep up with him

Vince Vaughn puts Madden into perspective so well!

The Best of the NBA Young Guns

Watching the the 2007 Playoffs has been a blast. The season was a let down, but these playoffs have been fascinating. The Warriors were a great story as were the Jazz. Now Cleveland is on the stage and I personally believe its because of the young guns of the NBA finding their own. I believe the best of the best are still on their way.

Just Beginning to Shine

In this category of NBA youth each individual is on the verge of breaking out and consistently putting his team into the playoffs. Its obvious each of theses guys are the best player on their respective teams who will be the center for their teams to build upon and have an unlimited upside. Chris Paul has not got there yet in terms of carrying the whole load, but without him the Hornets would not even manage 20 wins. He drops dimes with the best of them, the offense is still improving. He needs a few more pieces around him as well. Iguodala is probably the rawest of the bunch. He is a freak in terms of athleticism, but he doesn't know yet how to put all the pieces together. Philly has little talent to surround him, so unless he develops a more consistent jumper the 76ers will have a tough time. Dwight Howard also falls here. He got the Magic into the playoffs in the 8th spot in the East this season, but that doesn't say much. He is another crazy mad athlete, but his inside post scoring needs a lot of polishing. If he wasn't allowed to dunk he would have trouble scoring. The Magic have a few nice players, but don't have a title threatening team yet. Eddy Curry of the Knicks falls in this group too. He is a beast in the post to defend, but he lacks consistent effort to dominate.

Showing Signs of Getting There

Right now this group is just starting to understand their potential. Deron Williams of the Jazz had a breakout 2007 Playoff showing. He impressed me a lot with his ability to score. I didn't think he was capable of putting up 26 a night, I did think he could put the 8-10 assists a game. Without Williams, the Jazz would not have gotten past the Rockets or won a game against San Antonio. He reminds me of Jason Kidd with more offensive ability less rebounding and physicality. Then there's Chris Bosh. His athleticism and size make him an extremely tough match up. As another amazing product of the 2003 NBA draft, he is showing tremendous confidence and progression. The Raptors, built around him, will be an annual Eastern Conference power.

The Elite

Amare Stoudemire
Simply put, a beast down low. Not even Duncan can stop him in the post and that speaks volumes. He has an attitude of the up most confidence in himself and that's really good, sometimes. STAT (Standing Tall And Talented), as he nicknamed himself, is a key component for the Suns. Nash does make him better but his power and athleticism make him unguardable. His attitude does make him a nuisance at times though. He was the second most T'd up player in the league besides Rasheed Wallace this past season. Also, he gets into foul trouble way too easy. I especially saw this in the San Antonio playoff series. When he was on the court, led by him Phoenix was going to win. When he was in foul trouble, being in and out of the game, Phoenix couldn't get over the hump to win. He needs to be on the court for his team to win.

Carmello Anthony
Melo is a very smooth and savvy player. He has a great feel for the game and offensively is going to put up 25-30 a night with another 8 boards. I really like how he is one of only a few players who utilizes the mid range jumper. Not only does he have a great jumper, but he can take it to the rack and throw them down. Hes got a post up game to go along with it too. Defensive is where he needs to improve. Hes not a great on the ball defender and off the ball is not always rotating right. The acquisition of AI in Denver I think will prove to be very beneficial to his career. I know he will not be expected to take as many shots anymore, but now hes going to be taking more efficient shots. When Denver beat San Antonio in game 1 of the opening series, everyone got a glimpse at the possible future of the Nuggets led by Melo.


Dwayne Wade
I'm not going to lie, hes my favorite player. He is very tough to stop offensively and plays defense too (a rarity from a any player today). I love watching him play, he dunks all over people, knocks down the mid range, and hustles his ass off. I mean, he's a 6'4'' shot blocker off the ball!! WTF to that. He knows how to step up in the clutch, one attribute only the greats have. Evidence is seen through his performance in the 06 Finals and he took home the Finals MVP too. The problem is he turns the ball over too often and finds himself getting hurt too much because he has no regard for his body. I hope he can continue to play with his usual style of Fall down 7 Get up 8, but he's not Superman. He's got one ring to his name and the potential for more is in his hands.

LeBron James
In my eyes, easily the best of this bunch. His performance in Game 6 (48 pts, 9 reb, 7 ast ) of the Eastern Conference Finals tonight (5/31) is the reason I'm writing this post. He proved tonight that he just might be in that class of Bird/Magic/MJ. The Cavs have no support for him and he is still probably going to take the team to the Finals. He possesses all of the great skills needed and really is a mold of MJ and Magic put together. The athleticism and power of MJ taking it to the hoop (throws them down much stronger too) and the unselfishness and passing vision of Magic. A once in a lifetime player, his only faults are his free throw shooting and drive to dominate. I often read Bill Simmons and other writers, they all see it just as I do, he needs to be in the MJ mindset all the time that nobody is going to take anything away from him and he will not let his team lose. When hes in this zone, as he was tonight, there's no stopping him and man is it fun to watch. Number 23 is destined to have multiple rings if he decides to embody the MJ mindset. Wade is the only one with anything on him in this mess of ballers, already winning a title.

The Fall of the 2K Milwaukee Bucks

The Milwaukee Bucks were an exciting team from 1998 until 2001. Within that span, the Bucks made the playoff each season( 3 playoff appearances) and never finished a season below .500. The team had a combined record of 122 wins and 92 losses, a 57% winning percentage. Considering where this team was at from 1991 to 1998, 7 straight seasons of missing the playoffs and posting a combined record of 207 wins and 367 losses (a 36% winning percentage), things were looking pretty solid. Each season players and the team progressively improved. So how did they build the team to be so good and then what happened after the 2001 season that somehow anchored this team to a fight for the 8th spot in the Eastern Conference every year after?

Key Components to the Uprise of the Bucks

• Glenn "Big Dog" Robinson

Glenn Robinson was drafted first overall by the Bucks in the 1994 Draft out of Purdue. The man came out of college the same way he came in, a straight up scorer. While chosen over Grant Hill and Jason Kidd, the pick was in no way a bad one. He averaged 21.9 ppg as a rookie and for his career in Milwaukee never had a season below 18 ppg. As a 2 time All-Star (2000, 2001) he was a consistent scorer every year he was a Buck until 2002 and had easily the most solid mid-range jump shot in the league. He was also in terms of league identity known as a member of the Big 3 with Sammy and Ray. His downfall was defense and ball handling (usually averaged 2.5-3.0 turnovers per game). While he was not a good defender, his surrounding cast never was either so he fit in with the identity of the team. Every game you knew he was good for 20 points and 6 boards. He missed the biggest shot of his career though, a 10 foot baseline mid-range shot as time expired at Philadelphia in Game 5 of the 2001 Eastern Conference Finals. The Bucks lost the game 89 to 88 in a nail biter, but my feeling is if he makes this shot, the Bucks would have went on to the NBA Finals. Hate him or love him, he was very integral in the Bucks success during this time span.

• Ray Allen

Ray Allen was actually drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves and then traded to the Bucks along with a future first round pick (no sure who it later became or if this ever was paid up due to Minnesota being penalized by being stripped of a 1st Round pick from 2001-2005 excluding 2003 for their illegal contract negotiations and signings with Joe Smith) for Stephon Marbury in the 1996 draft. In my opinion I would take this draft day trade every time, Ray Allen is and has been a superior player to Steph throughout his NBA career. Ray is and always will be one of the scariest players behind the arc. Besides Reggie Miller, I can't think of another NBA player who posed as much of a threat from downtown. For his career in Milwaukee, he shot 41% from 3. Besides his jumper, he had the ability to put the ball on the floor and take it to the rack. I really wish he would have utilized his ability to take it to the rack more because he would have been that much more dynamic (People forget that he was in the 1996 Slam Dunk contest, this same attribute applies to Vince Carter, if he would not be so content to settle for jumpers he would be unstoppable) He was a member of the Big 3 who was rarely hurt, playing for 400 consecutive games at one point, and garnered 3 all star appearances as a Buck (7 total thus far for his career). Another thing Ray brought to the Bucks was publicity. I felt that the entire NBA and its fan base kept a closer eye on the Bucks after Ray Allen played Jesus Shuttlesworth in He Got Game. He did a pretty solid job acting too. Rays weaknesses were content in settling for his jumper at times and his focus defensively. He has and had the abilities to be a solid defender but was and still is more focused on his offensive game. In my opinion he was the most integral player on this run for the Bucks.

• Sam Cassell

Sam Cassell became a Buck in a blockbuster 3 team trade during the 98-99 season where the Bucks sent Terrell Brandon and Brian Evans to Minnesota T-Wolves along with a first round pick (maybe this is where that pick from the trade with Steph went), the New Jersey Nets retained Stephon Marbury, Chris Carr, and Bill Curley, and the Bucks also got Chris Gatling and Paul Grant as well. So a long story short, Sammy, Steph, and Terrell Brandon(who was a very solid Buck for 1 and a half seasons) were swapped around. Cassell brought experience and most of all a confident attitude to the Bucks. After being a solid role player for the Houston Rocket teams that won 2 NBA titles, he journeyed around the league until he really hit his prime in Milwaukee. He should have been an all-star multiple seasons as a Buck, putting up 18 ppg and 7 apg consistently. He has always had a great feel for 2 things, one being when to take the big shot and the other being exactly how to talk to an official. I absolutely loved how effective he was posting up smaller guards to set up his near unguardable turnaround mid-range jumper. As the third part of the Big 3, he was the floor general who really set the tone for the team. His weaknesses were his defense, him looking like an alien (had to say it, he does have an ugly mug) and at times became too much of a scoring point guard, but I liked this aspect to his game most of the time. I certainly would not argue with calling "Sam I Am" the most important piece to the Bucks success.

• Tim Thomas

Tim Thomas was traded to the Bucks along with Scott Williams in the 98-99 season for Tyrone Hill and Jerald Honeycutt (Hill was a solid rebounder, but its so clear we got the better of this deal). Thomas came to the Bucks with loads of raw talent and potential, but utilizing it consistently was a problem. Coming into his second season with the club, he really developed and became a great player off the bench. During the playoff series with Indiana in that 99-2000 season, T squared put on his own show alongside the Big 3 by averaging 15.4 ppg off the bench. At 6'10'', his ability to play 3 positions at any given time and shoot the 3 or post up for the Bucks (shooting guard, small forward, or power forward) made him a tough match up every night. Timmy got screwed out of winning the Sixth Man of the Year award in the 00-01 season. That season he averaged 13 ppg and shooting 41% from 3. Somehow Aaron McKie won the award, but it was obvious how well and deserving Timmy was based on how he played. Ray Allen said of Thomas "Tim Thomas could be the best player in the league" because he had that kind of potential. As the spark off the bench, he was an important piece to the Bucks run. As his career progressed Thomas settled for the outside shot way too much, especially after he got the big contract, and he never gave it all on defense where he could have been dominant. Thomas was still a spark and component the Bucks could not have done without in order to be as good as they were.

• Role Players

The Bucks had some very nice players who pitched in as role players during their short stint as a top tier team in the Eastern Conference. Scott Williams embodied Mr. Hustle more so than almost everybody else on the team. He played great defense and pitched in with 6 ppg and 6 rpg off the bench. Darvin Ham was Mr. Energy off the bench. Ham could jump out of the gym and was a great rebounder to have as a reserve. You did not want to be posterized during a Ham-Slamwich. Lindsey Hunter was a nice change of pace guard who could hit the open shot and played solid defense. Ervin Johnson was another post off the bench who could rebound and alter shots at the rim. He was a liability offensively but he wasn't needed to score with the Big 3 and Timmy around. Other players who contributed were Jason Caffey, Mark Pope(oh yeah can't forget about him) Vinny Del Negro, Danny Manning, and a handful of young players who were still in the developing stages (Michael Redd, Rafer Alston, Joel Przybilla). The overall thing this group needed help with was bringing in more consistency playing solid defense. The team never had a problem scoring, but playing defense was always an issue.

• George Karl

George Karl just bread success into Milwaukee. When he became the Bucks coach in 1998, something special started. Karl had never missed the playoffs with Seattle, he kept that going the second he walked into the door with the Bucks. In his first season, the lock-out shortened season, he helped end the Bucks 7 straight playoffless season streak by leading the squad to a 28-22 record and the 7 seed. While they lost in 3 and got swept by the Pacers, the team showed signs of life under him. He took them back to the playoffs in the 99-00 season losing to the Pacers again but this time taking the series to its max of 5 games. Reggie Miller said after the classic fifth game that the better team lost the series. The Bucks were the biggest challenge to the Pacers that playoff season in the entire Eastern Conference. Coming back in 2000-2001, Milwaukee, led by Karl, showed signs of dominance. The squad went 52-30 and won the Central Division along with earning the number 2 seed in the East. The Bucks marched through the playoffs until they met Philadelphia in the Eastern Conference Finals. There the series went to the max again of 7 games. The Bucks had the series won but as I said, the Big Dog just couldn't hit the clutch shot. After the 00-01 season, he still did a fine job as coach, but the team and management fell short. Karl did a great job gelling the team together and really only failed to teach the team to play consistent defense. He did make a mistake in pushing to acquire Anthony Mason, but it didn't define his career in Milwaukee. I wish he was still the Bucks coach, he just knew how to win.

Components to The Fall

• Poor Transactions

Nobody embodies this more than Anthony Mason. While he was the right kind of player, he just wasn't the right player the team needed. After going to the Eastern Conference Finals in the 2000-2001 season, the team failed to even qualify the year after with Mason. He's not to blame for all of the struggle in the 01-02 season, but he definitely didn't live up to his end of pitching in to give the Bucks the missing piece. How about the draft pick of Marcus Haislip? With players like Nenad Kristic, Tayshaun Prince, and Carlos Boozer available, the pick of an unproven athlete was not right on. Granted you can't know the 3 players I've mentioned would be better than Haislip, I have to say Prince and Boozer were definitely more proven players at big colleges in Kentucky and Duke respectively. How about the fact that team didn't have first round picks in 2001 or 2004. Trading away Ray Allen in a package deal for Gary Payton and Desmond Mason was not beneficial in any way. Allen was and still is a great player. Payton was on the down slope of his career when acquired and only lasted for that season. Mason was coming off a nice rookie season, but never panned out to become anywhere near as good as Allen (in retrospect that's who he was essentially traded for). I know the trade also cleared room for Michael Redd, but I would like to have traded Ray for at least a dominant post player(say Elton Brand in a package deal) or early round pick(that year it could have lead to drafting Amare Stoudamire). The Big Dog trade brought in Kukoc and the drafting of T.J. Ford . I was a fan of the trade and the Ford pick, but failed to see how Ford could not flourish under Karl's half court offense (now Ford is redefining his career in Toronto playing alongside Chris Bosh). Ultimately Glenn faded off after the trade, but his consistency in scoring for a sporadic and injury prone Ford and old Kukoc never turned out. Trading Sam Cassell away with Ervin Johnson for Joe Smith and Anthony Peeler was terrible. Joe was a nice role player, but Sammy was worth more. Even if it meant getting a pick, I would have liked more out of that deal.

• Coaching Moves

After firing George Karl in 2003 (why? Because he wanted more managerial power or because the team was falling short of expectations? Look at the players first, then the coach) the team never found a coach it liked. Terry Porter was a nice solid coach, but he was fired for no apparent reason to me. The team didn't play to its potential under him, but he wasn't working with a team who wanted to play to its potential either. Then Terry Stotts! Yikes! Biggest mistake ever! This guy should never be anything more than an assistant who interviews using the tag line Stats with Stots. Come on, he has had all the right tools for the Bucks and never made them work. Never before has a coach done so little with so much talent.

Look to the Future

Andrew Bogut, Charlie Villanueva, Michael Redd, Ruben Patterson, Dan Gadzuric, and Charlie Bell all make up a nice core to build off of. Defense and consistency are in need of improvement, but that has to be dug in and engraved into these guys. I do like the potential of David Noel and Ersan Ilyasova a lot as well. Lets face it, dealing off Maurice Williams, Bobby Simmons, and Brian Skinner can only improve the team. I'm not real sure how I feel about Earl Boykins, but I do think he should come off the bench to spark them as he did for Denver. I would also like to see what Larry Krystkowiak can do with this squad before writing him off. Drafting is in need of improvement, hopefully in the form of Brandon Wright or Al Horford this upcoming year assuming we don't get a chance to enter the Oden-Durant sweepstakes.

The Ultimate Debate: The Most Dominant Athlete of All Time

So here's the scoop; since my days back in high school there has been a never ending debate over who truly is the most dominant athlete of all time. Arguments can and pretty much have been made for a laundry list of athletes, but no consensus winner has ever come out. I figured what better way than to start my blog off than to touch base with the timeless question: who is the most dominant athlete of all time?

There are a few big issues in trying to find an answer to this question.

• The fact that there is a clear difference between individual and team sports makes this debate extremely difficult.
  
  

Is it fair to even try and compare Tiger Woods to Jerry Rice? One is solely dependent on himself while the other is dependent upon how his other teammates perform at any single instant. How many more passes could Jerry have caught if an offensive lineman, say tackle Harris Barton (49er from 1987-1996), would have held his block one second longer? Now that is one tough variable to consider.

• The time periods in which these athletes competed in raises a lot of questions.
  

Did the fact that Pete Maravich played without a three point line make him any more or less of a dominant athlete? Did athletes of the past have to deal with as much media pressure and exposure as they do today? Have athletes really become "bigger, faster, stronger" as time has evolved or is it just the name of a workout plan to pump you up! (Geracie students, you know what I'm talking about) How about the fact that an athlete like Henry "Hank" Aaron had to constantly face a prejudice world when African Americans were fighting for their civil rights.

• How do you measure dominance?

Is it even measurable? Is it based off stats, championships, clutch performances or a combination of all of these things? Dan Marino holds nearly every NFL passing record, but he never won a Super Bowl. Does that make him any less of a dominant athlete? Pete Rose holds the record for most career hits in MLB history, but was he the most dominant hitter? Charles Haley, a very solid NFL defensive end throughout his career, has 5 Super Bowl rings. That does not make him a more dominant athlete than Reggie White (who has one, RIP Reggie, you may be the biggest reason the Packers won Super Bowl XXXI) because he has more rings. What about the fact that Peyton Manning or Phil Mickleson took a number of opportunities to come through with a clutch performance in a big event? Does that make them any less dominant? I think not.

• Then comes the biggest issue of whether or not most dominant is the same as greatest.

You know when you say greatest and most dominant to yourself, there doesn't quite seem to be an equality between the two terms. I can argue that Dominique Wilkins was the most dominant dunker in basketball history, but hands down, Vince Carter is the greatest dunker basketball has ever seen. Let's face it, these two attributes, qualities, or however you want to term them are apples and oranges. They might seem the same and fit into the same criteria but just are not.

The Candidates


The most dominant athletes in American sports history are a very select few. To name them is absurdly difficult, but the athletes that I immediate think of are MJ, Tiger, Muhammad Ali, Gretzky, Lance Armstrong, The Babe, Jerry Rice, Lawrence Taylor, and Edwin Moses. Why these select individuals? Besides the fact that I said so, each one has dominated their respective sport/competition to the point of evolving their respective sport/competition. Nobody can argue how each sport has changed since each one of these individuals performed.

One thing when debating this issue that never came to mind was charting out the major categories/qualities which make an athlete dominant. First is stats/feats, which is pretty self explanatory. Next is the winner category. This is based off of regular season/non major competitions performance. The champion category is simply the athletes ability to win or carry themselves/their team to victory in the big matches/games. I'm talking NBA Titles, Golf Majors, Boxing Titles, Stanley Cups, Tour de France victories, World Series wins, Super Bowl wins, and Olympic medals. Individual just means how they perform by themselves each time they compete (these guys gave it their all). Teammate is a very tough category to judge, but its based on the athletes ability to make others around them better. Clutch is how they performed when the pressure is on. Pressure might seems synonymous with clutch but there's more to it than that. It has to deal with exposure in their respective sport and an individuals ability to overcome societal and personal issues. Based on these categories, here's how it breaks down in terms of the most dominant athletes:

Athletes:
MJ
Tiger
The Babe
Lance Armstrong
Ali
Edwin Moses
Rice
LT
Gretzky




Stats/Feats
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
9
10

Winner
10
10
9
9
9
10
9
9
10

Champion
10
10
9
10
10
10
9
8
10

Individual
10
10
10
10
9
10
10
10
10

Teammate
9
NA
8
NA
NA
NA
10
10
10

Clutch
10
10
10
10
10
9
9
9
8

Pressure
10
10
9
9
10
10
9
8
8

Average
9.86
10
9.29
9.67
9.67
9.83
9.43
9
9.43

Explanations

I'm not going to defend why a certain athlete is or is not on this list, but the understanding for my grading. I know some people, including myself think of Ryder Cups as extremely telling of Tiger's teammate rating. However, after much thought, its not really fair based on how many times hes competed in pairings. It's just not a practice in golf and his teammates shot doesn't depend on his performance as much as say a pass in football or basketball. I know I know, anytime you represent our country in any competition you better step up. Tiger is just awful when it comes to Ryder Cups. He has the second most match losses in USA history with 13. He still plays single matches in the Ryder Cup, but even then as part of the US team he doesn't seem to have his usual "it" factor. If his presence and ability is that much more dominant than everyone else, than he should be the horse pulling the US to victory Ryder Cup after Ryder Cup. I'm still waiting for this to happen and want to see it bad, but its not fair to rate him on that. As for MJ's 9 rating in teammate, it's because he had to learn to play together. When he first started off with the Bulls, he was all about himself scoring. Ask Doug Collins. He did learn how to work as a team and make everyone around him better as his career went on and thats when he won titles. Gretzky getting an 8 in both clutch and pressure. He sure has his share of championships, but how many of them after he left an all star cast team in Edmonton? How about zero. That tells me in the playoffs, in the big games and big moments, he did not elevate his play enough to step up in the clutch. The pressure category simply deals with his sport. Don't get me wrong, hockey had a good following, but it's not even close to being on the same level as football, baseball, basketball, or other main events like the Olympics. Today the sport has an even more pitiful amount of exposure (What channel is it even aired on?? Oh and figure skating overtook its air time on ESPN). Other than that, I felt the rest of the grading is pretty right on. Ladies and Gentlemen, the debate seems to have a winner: Tiger Woods!!!

Tiger Woods-Most Dominant of All-Time

Tiger Woods is the most dominant athlete of all-time. He may not be the greatest athlete of all-time, I believe that title still belongs to Michael Jordan, but he dominates his sport like none other. He has been the number one ranked golfer forever it seems like. Other his if you can call it "slump" from 2003-2004, he has won a major every year of his career since 1997. He has won 14 majors (2008 U.S. Open was unreal and caused me to truly believe he is the most dominant), 65 tournaments, the youngest to a career grand slam, and the youngest and fastest to 50 career victories. He's been PGA player of the year a record 9 times, won the Byron Nelson Award for lowest adjusted score a record 8 times, has 2 team titles in the WGC-World Cup , defended a title 21 times (in golf thats unreal) and has won 29% of his PGA Tour pro starts. He never ever loses leads, thus titled the "greatest closer in history" (31-6 when leading after 36 holes, 44-3 when leading after 54 holes, and an amazing 14-0 when leading in majors going into the final round). His Tiger Slam in of winning 4 majors in a row in 2000-2001 span was crazy and only matched by Bobby Jones doing it in the same year. He has won several tournaments multiple times majors and other tournaments. It trully is not fair. He has the lowest career scoring average and the most career earnings of all-time. He has won majors by the largest margin of victory a couple of times (12 strokes in the 97 Masters, 15 strokes at the 2000 U.S. Open) and holds scoring records all over (-19 at the 2000 British Open was unreal). Stats could go on and on but the telling sign of his dominance lies in how his competition reacts to playing with him. It has been studied and written about. Sports writer Bill Lyon wrote asking if it was a good thing he was even in golf because of how often he wins and drives the spirit of competition out of others. Jennifer Brown, an economist out of Cal Berkeley, studied and found that players play worse by nearly a whole stroke when competing with Tiger. He is the measure of dominance in sports. He is a legend in every way. What can be done to stop him? He has shown he can win in all odds (knee surgery, father's death, marriage, children, pressure from an early age on, etc...). Tiger Woods is the most dominant athlete of all-time, simply put.

Just Watch the Man go to work:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gKSxUer_3I

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DK9aS-tr1gE&feature=related