IS IT ONLY MICHAEL JORDAN VERSUS TOM BRADY FOR GREATEST G.O.A.T.?
Who is the Greatest Of All Time (G.O.A.T.) athlete in the history of American pro team sports?
ESPN senior writer Ian O’Connor stirred the debate juices last week. He makes it a two-man race between the NBA’s Michael Jordan and the NFL’s Tom Brady.
O’Connor eliminated baseball’s Babe Ruth and football’s Jim Brown from the discussion. He said Ruth “dominated in segregated times.” He gave Brady the edge over Brown on longevity (9 seasons to 18 seasons).
I understand his reasoning but I’m not buying it. Ruth and Brown remain eligible in my mind – without hesitation.
O’Connor concluded that Brady is “now within striking distance of Jordan...I think Brady is one more Super Bowl MVP performance away from sending Jordan to a place he positively hates – second place.”
Here are my rankings. The top athlete in each of the four major North American team sports gets the maximum score of 10.
Baseball
Babe Ruth 10...Willie Mays 9.2...Ty Cobb 9...Honus Wagner 8.7...Walter Johnson 8.5...Barry Bonds 8.4 (tremendous talent but grade suffers for using steroids...Ted Williams 8.3: Ruth dominated his peers like no other athlete in team sports. He was a Hall-of-Fame caliber pitcher before switching to full-time slugger...Unfortunately, Ruth’s peers did not include Negro league superstars Josh Gibson or Oscar Charleston or Satchel Paige. Would Ruth have been less dominant if the major leagues of his time were integrated? Probably a little bit, but there is no way to know...We didn’t get to see 15 seasons from a healthy Mickey Mantle, who might have had as much natural talent as any baseball player who ever lived...Barry Bonds had a five-year run (2000 through 2004 – four MVP awards and second once) – even more awesome than Ruth’s best five-year run, but Barry did it from ages 35 to 39 and some help from steroids.
Football
Jim Brown 10...Tom Brady 9.9...Lawrence Taylor 9.3...Jerry Rice 9.1...Joe Montana 9: Brown was by far the NFL’s best player over the course of his nine-year career. He retired during a spat with Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell at age 29. In his final season (1965), he rushed for 1,544 yards and 17 TDs in 14 games. He also had 34 catches for 328 yards and 4 TDs. He had several prime years left to pad his stats when he abandoned football for Hollywood. In the days of two-platoon football, he would’ve been a great lineman or linebacker or defensive back. He could do it all...I give Brady the edge over Montana for longevity....LT gets my nod as the all-time greatest NFL player on defense...Rice’s statistical superiority over all other wide receivers speaks for itself.
Basketball
Michael Jordan 10...LeBron James 9.7...Magic Johnson 9.5...Wilt Chamberlain 9...Bill Russell 8.9...Larry Bird 8.8...Kevin Durant 8.7: King James is closing in on Jordan but could come up short...Magic could’ve been All-NBA at any position...I give Wilt a slight edge over Russell on his sheer awesome stats and durability. I also think the Boston Celtics would’ve won as many titles with Chamberlain as they did with Russell...I give Durant a slight edge already over Karl Malone as a power forward.
Hockey
Wayne Gretzky 10...Bobby Orr 9.6...Gordie Howe 9.5: Can anyone dispute that this trio stands alone?...In 20 NHL seasons, he was league MVP a record nine times. He had 894 goals and 1,963 assists for 2,857 points in 1,487 NHL games. He is the only NFL player to score 200 points in a season and did it four times...Howe was a six-time league MVP and Orr a three-time MVP.
The bottom line – I can’t choose an all-time G.O.A.T. for one athlete in North American team sports. I don’t why we should need to choose between Babe Ruth, Jim Brown, Michael Jordan and Wayne Gretzky. As far as I’m concerned, they deserve to share top-billing. Not a bad Mount Rushmore for team sports, right?
ANOTHER BIG DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ROCHESTER/BUFFALO SPORTS
Have you noticed how well Buffalo’s four Division I basketball teams are playing this season?
The Buffalo Bulls, St. Bonaventure Bonnies, Niagara Purple Eagles and Canisius Golden Eagles all are playing very good-to-excellent basketball.
One or two of them might be better than the Syracuse Orange this season. A rarity, for sure.
At least one of them could make the 68-team NCAA men’s tournament field.
In between Buffalo and Syracuse is Rochester – with no representation among the 351 NCAA Division basketball teams.
Greater Rochester has excellent and respected colleges of all sizes. We often have outstanding Division III teams in basketball and other sports.
But the lack of a Division I basketball team to root for is tough to swallow – especially when the Buffalo area’s four Division I teams are a combined 57-29 and warming up the winter on the hardwood.
SYRACUSE U. HOOPS UPDATE
Jim Boeheim’s Syracuse Orange basketball team continues to plug away in pursuit of a spot in the 68-team NCAA tournament field.
SU is 15-6 with 10 games remaining in the regular season – all in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Here’s how I see it:
Probable wins (3) – at Georgia Tech Wednesday...Wake Forest February 11...at Boston College February 28
Could go either way (4) – North Carolina State February 14...at Miami February 17...North Carolina February 21...Clemson March 3.
Probable losses (3) – Virginia Saturday...at Louisville February 5...at Duke February 24.SU continues to look bad in the offense and shooting stats and look good for defense and rebounding (rank among the 351 NCAA Division I teams in parentheses).
The good
Scoring defense – 13th (allowing 63.2 points per game)
Field-goal defense – 4th (.379)...give credit to the 2-3 zone
3-point FG defense – 115th (.335)
Free-throw percentage – 128th (.723)
Rebounding – 31st (39.62 per game)
Rebounding differential – 22nd (+6.9 per game)
Scoring margin – 95th (+6.9 per game)
The ugly
Scoring – 273rd (70.0 points per game)
Field-goal percentage – 276th (.428)
3-point field-goal percentage – 307th (.320).
HERE ARE NEW YORK STATE’S 18 WINTER OLYMPIANS
The United States will send a Winter Olympics-record 242 athletes – 107 women and 135 men -- to the Winter Olympics starting February 7 in South Korea.
Here are the 18 Winter Olympians from New York State:
Lowell Bailey, Lake Placid, biathlon
Cody Bascue, Whitehall, bobsled
Tommy Biesemeyer, Keene, alpine skiing
Tim Burke, Laker Placid, biathlon
John Daly, Smithtown, skeleton
Matt Gilroy, North Bellmore, ice hockey
Brian Gionta, Rochester, ice hockey (at 39, he’s the oldest 2018 Winter Olympians)
Jordan Greenway, Canton, ice hockey
Erin Hamlin, Remsen, luge
Justin Krewson, Eastport, luge
David Leggio, Williamsville, ice hockey (very good Amerks goalie 2011-12, 2012-13)
Jon Lillis, Rochester, freestyle skiing
Chris Mazdzer, Saranac Lake, luge
Matt Mortenson, Huntington Station, luge
Emily Pfalzer, Buffalo, ice hockey
Maddie Phaneuf, Old Forge, biathlon
Morgan Schild, Pittsford, freestyle skiing
Andrew Weibrecht, Lake Placid, alpine skiing.
GRADING THE 8 FORMER BILLS ELIGIBLE FOR SUPER BOWL 52
Pro Football Focus and ESPN Insider ranked the 106 players eligible for Super Bowl 52, based mainly on play-by-play performance this season.
The top 10 – 1-NEng QB Tom Brady...2-NEng TE Rob Gronkowski...3-Phil C Jason Kelce—4-Phil DT Fletcher Cox...5-Phil DE Brandon Graham...6-Phil EB Patrick Robinson...7-New Eng CB Stephon Gilmore...8-NEng DE Trey Flowers...9-Phil LB Mychal Kendricks...10-Phil OG Brandon Brooks.
The eight former Buffalo Bills on the list – 7—Gilmore...14-Phil CB Ronald Darby...19-Phil LB Nigel Bradham...29-NEnfg RB Mike Gillislee...36-Phil S Corey Graham...57-NEng DE Alan Branch...89-NEng WR Chris Hogan...98—NEng DE Eric Lee.
A few others worth noting – 32-NEng WR Danny Amendola...38-NEng WR Brandin Cooks...84-NEng WR Kenny Britt (Brady’s wide receivers didn’t get high marks)...53-Phil QB Nick Foles.
NHL STAT LINES FOR JAGR, GRETZKY AND HOWE
The Calgary Flames have placed Jaromir Jagr on waivers and his NHL career probably is over. He’s 45 years old and has 1 goal and 6 assists in 22 games for the Flames this season. He hasn’t played since December 31 and was on injured reserve.
Assuming Jagr’s NHL career is over, he’ll fall 35 games short of Gordie Howe’s NHL-record 1,767 games.
For the record, here are the NHL career scoring lines for Jagr, Howe and Wayne Gretzky:
Gretzky – 1,487 games...894 goals...1,963 assists...2,857 points
Jagr –1,733 games...766 goals...1,155 assists...1,921 points
Howe – 1,767 games...801 goals...1,049 assists...1,850 points. For most of Howe’s NHL career, there was considerably less scoring than when Gretzky played and slightly less than when Jagr played.
TORONTO FC II: ROCHESTER’S “ADOPTED” USL TEAM FOR 2018?
Toronto FC II will play four United Soccer League “home” games at downtown Capelli Sport Stadium this summer.
The Rochester Rhinos will be dormant this USL season and team owners Wendy and David Dworkin will host the four Toronto FC II games to (hopefully) meet terms of their lease with the City of Rochester.
Ironically, the Rhinos outdrew Toronto FC II in the USL last season:
Rhinos averaged 2,031 paid attendance for 16 home dates (32,498 total attendance)...ranked 22nd in the 30-team USL.
Toronto FC II averaged 1,089 paid attendance for 16 home dates (17,429 total attendance)...ranked 27th in the 30-team USL (ahead of Swope Park Rangers 1.015; Vancouver Whitecaps II 869; New York Red Bulls II 632.
I’m wondering if the four games in Rochester for Toronto FC II is a test to see if it would be a good idea for Major League Soccer’s Toronto FC to form a MLS-USFL affiliation with the Rochester Rhinos in 2019.
Eight MLS teams operated teams in USL last season. The USL affiliates ranked 18th, 20th, 24th, 25th, 26th, 27th, 29th and 30th in attendance.
Toronto FC averaged 27,647 last season, third-best in Major League Soccer.
SHORT SHOTS
Sports Illustrated’s Super Bowl 52 pick: New England 27, Philadelphia 16.
Roger Federer on Sunday won the Australian Open Sunday for his 20th Grand Slam tennis singles title. He has won the Laureus World Sports Award as the world’s Sportsman of the Year four times (2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008). The Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year was a tennis player three times – Don Budge in 1937 and 1938 and John McEnroe in 1981. Is it time to consider Federer, despite the fact that he is Swiss and not American?
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...
Monday, January 29
Seth Devalve (25)...Jose Abreu (31)...Alex Avila (31)...Mark Howard (32)...Chris Borque (32)...Marc Gasol (33)...Scott Davis (46)...Aeneas Williams (50)...Dominik Hasek (53)...Andre Reed (54)...former Red Wing pitcher John Habyan (54)...Steve Sox (58)...Mike Foligno (59)...Greg Ballard (63)...Doug Risebrough (64)...Tony Galbreath (64)...Donna Caponi-Byrnes (73).
Tuesday, January 30
Lance Kendricks (30)...Cameron Wake (36)...Jalen Rose (45)...Kimo von Oelhoffen (47)...Trent Klatt (47)...Steve Heinze (48)...Leon Seals (54)...Curtis Strange (63)...Mychal Thompson (63)...Davey Johnson (75). Payne Stewart was born on this date 61 years ago (1957) and died in 1999 at age 42.