The Drubbing

Weekly poll recap:

Who is the greatest leadoff hitter of all time?

100% of you said Rickey Henderson.

Rickey Good.

Now on to the links:

Think you can hit a Pro Tennis player’s serve?

How do you trash talk in swimming? I think Milorad Cavic does a good job dishing it out to Phelps.

Once again, the Rat Jose Cansceo speaks out about the truth.

Your Weekly Chuck Norris Fact:

Chuck Norris was one of the original members of the Wu-Tang Clan, but quit because they weren’t street enough.

* Please note that Chuck Norris is in no way affiliated with The Drubbing or its writers. If he did find out we were using his name in a gimmick he would roundhouse kick all of us to death.

For those that may have missed it, former Texas Tech quarterback Graham Harrell signed with the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League on Friday. Yes, that’s the same Graham Harrell that threw for over 5,000 yards in a season twice and holds the NCAA Divison I record for career touchdowns with 134 and was undrafted in last years NFL draft. He has two of the top ten season passing yardage marks including the #4 spot, right behind the late Steve McNair. This guy not getting a good look from an NFL team is downright criminal if you ask me.
Continue reading “Tenured quarterbacks in the NFL” →

Not to be confused with David Banner, Joe Banner is the astitute Eagles President

I completely understand supporting your NFL team and feeling confident about the season ahead.  I also completely understand that as a team executive, you want to have confidence in the team you helped to assemble.  This quote however, is completely absurd:

Since I’ve been working in the league, I don’t think the best team has won the Super Bowl any year. You get a ball bouncing the wrong way, a bad call from a ref, a windy day when you plan to throw a lot … There are just too many things out of your control.”
– Eagles team president Joe Banner in Sunday’s Philadelphia Inquirer.

Apparently, since 1994 (Joe’s first year in the league) none of the following teams were the best:

• SB XXIX Champion San Fran 49ers were 16-3 and won 49-26
• SB XXXI Champion Green Bay Packers were 16-3 and won 35-21
• SB XXXII Champion Denver Broncos were 16-4 and won it all, and to prove that they were lucky they only went out and won it all again the following year going 17-2 and winning SB XXXIII
• SB XXXIV Champion St. Louis Rams went 16-3 and won (in one of the most exciting 2nd halves ever)
• SB XXXV Champion Baltimore Ravens were 16-4 and had arguably the best defense in NFL history.
• SB XXXVIII Champion New England Patriots went 17-2 and won, and similiar to Denver, proved that it was nothing but luck and won the following year in SB XXXIX with a 17-2 record.

I think an argument can be made for more teams to be added to that list, but i thought those stood out the most.  My favorites are the back to back Super Bowl Champion Broncos and Patriots.  Those two teams alone disprove Joe “wish i had a ” Banner’s statement about an unlucky bounce, a bad call or bad weather.  The fact of the matter is if you truly have the best team, you can withstand injuries, bad calls, weather, and any other excuses you can think of during the course of the year.  Because of the single elimination format of the NFL playoffs, i will agree that some years the best team in my mind does not win it all.  But to say since 1994 no team that has won the Super Bowl has been the best in the league, is completely absurd.

Take responsibility for your team, Joe.  The TO experiment ended poorly and was no ones fault but yours and the lack of depth on the offensive line has also lead to some recent blunders.  Instead of thinking you have had the best roster in the league every year but somehow end up a bit short, why don’t you build a little depth around your line, maybe find another coach that can manage the clock better at the end of games.  Just a thought.  It may be you, and not that luck has played a part in your team’s inability to win it all.

Through the first half of the season, there has been a lot of talk of whether the Nationals are bad or historically bad. Currently (6/26/09), their winning percentage was .306, which is within shouting distance of the 1962 Mets all-time record of futility of .250. Inevitably, if the Nationals continue to play as poorly as they have been, there will continue to be discussions of whether or not they are the worst team ever. So let’s see if we can find some statistical way to look at this question.
Continue reading “Are the 2009 Nationals the worst team ever?” →

Watching Stage 21 from my couch Sunday was rather boring up until the sprint finish and the post race interviews. The peloton was rather relaxed and Alberto Contador went through the customary in race celebrations, e.g. toasting a glass of champagne along the Stage route and joking around with teammates and media crews.
Continue reading “Contador wins 2009 Tour de France” →

Any hope of Lance Armstrong dawning a yellow jersey and claiming his 8th Tour championship in this years race is just about gone. Armstrong has made good on his word and done the right thing over the last three weeks. Fellow Astana teammate Alberto Contador has shown that he is without a doubt the most prolific rider in the 2009 version of the Tour.
Continue reading “Tour de Lance update, Stage 20 Mont Ventoux” →

Weekly poll recap:

Who is the worst GM?

60% of you said Elgin, while 40% said Isiah.

for flash in the pan i gotta go Isiah, he was like the Priest Holmes of horrible GMs but Elgin was so consistent over so long, he’s like Emmit Smith.

Another reminder of the King, Elgin Baylor.

Now on to the links:

Amateur video of the craze that made young white suburban kids want to throw money in the air onto scantily clad woman.

Cool story about Gatorade bringing back 2 high school football teams who, 15 years ago finished in a tie to play out a full game.

In honor of the 40th anniversary of the U.S. landing on the moon.

Big Ben should be jailed for hooking up with this girl, consensual or not.  Good lord, what was he thinking?

Sure the Pitcher will go down as getting credit for a perfect game, but Mark Buehrle’s buying Dewayne Wise a car because of this help.

Your Weekly Chuck Norris Fact:

* Please note that Chuck Norris is in no way affiliated with The Drubbing or its writers. If he did find out we were using his name in a gimmick he would roundhouse kick all of us to death.

Since 1980, these three players are the only ones to do something. First one to name the connection wins points in my new random and sporadic trivia game.

Bill Russell, Charlie Hayes, Juan Uribe

Much of my time these past few weeks has consisted of listening to ESPN radio commentators discussing Xavier’s Jordon Crawford dunking on Lebron. Nike apparently confiscated and censored said video. Upon hearing this, I assumed that this must be one of the most embarrassing incidents ever experienced by a professional athlete.

Video of this incident finally surfaced yesterday showing Lebron a step slow at moving out of his zone position to defend against Crawford’s drive to the basket. James was not defending Crawford 1 on 1. Crawford did not go directly over or even at James. James did not go down. See for yourself.
Continue reading “Much ado about a nothing dunk” →

The WWE is about as popular as the MLS, and the people that run it are about as big of whiners as the Lakers or Spurs. The bumbling idiots that manage the Pepsi Center in Denver, home of the Denver Nuggets, were foolish enough to schedule a WWE event on the same night as a potential NBA playoff home game. Instead of taking it like a man, trying to reschedule for another day or rearrange the time of the event, the chairperson of the WWE, Vince McMahon, decided to throw a public tantrum and cry like the little woman that he is.
Continue reading “Vince McMahon just as childish as the basement-dwelling man-boys that watch the WWE” →