Detroit's Mt. Rushmore

Terry Foster of the Detroit News has an article today asking: "Who belongs on Detroit's sports Mt. Rushmore?" Listing the requirements as being a current active player on a Detroit team, being popular, having a Hall of Fame caliber career or at least playing on all-star teams, and possibly longevity. His list: Chauncey Billups, Nicklas Lidstrom, Pudge Rodriguez, and Brendan Shanahan. I'd say that's a pretty good list based on those qualifications. Foster's all-time list is Gordie Howe, Al Kaline, boxer Joe Louis, and Isiah Thomas.

I found this article particularly interesting because I have my own "Mt. Rushmore" in my apartment. When I moved and needed some color in my apartment I thought about buying a bunch of 8x10s of Detroit sports heroes. I still think this would be a cool thing to do, but I went with McFarlane figures instead because I thought they made a better display. So my qualifications went like this 1) Had to be available in plastic form from McFarlane, 2) Had to be a sports hero in the state of Michigan, 3) I had to have some affinity for them. The current roster looks like this, from left to right across the shelf:

1. Barry Sanders: No explanation needed here. Barry's the best running back to ever play in the NFL and the most electrifying player who's ever played, forget what they say about Vick.


2. Brett Hull: Even though he wasn't there for back-to-back Stanley Cups like Yzerman or Shanahan, he's still one of the guys I think of when I think of great Wings. Plus, he still won the Cup with the Wings.


3. Steve Yzerman: What can I say about the Captain that hasn't been said. This pose is how I'll always remember him.


4. Brendan Shanahan: He was the key addition that allowed the Wings to win back-to-back Cups, and has been a great player ever since. Probably the most recognizable Wing now that Yzerman has retired.


5. Ben Wallace: This one has come into question a bit in the past week. Still, Wallace has been the face of the Pistons and their return to glory. And who didn't love the 'fro? The one I have is in the white uniform.


That's it for now. Maybe someday soon there will be new faces that qualify or some old ones will be available. Magic Johnson is coming out soon and he might qualify on the strength of his career as a Spartan. Who am I missing? Who would you have?

Super Manning Bros.

There's an article up over at Yahoo about the brothers Manning and their work at the Manning Passing Academy, and in the New Orleans area in general. There hasn't been quite as much negative publicity for NFL players this offseason as there has been in the last few, but it's still refreshing to read about players giving back instead of acting like privileged punks.

Are you man enough?

According to Yahoo, our fantasy draft is 57 days, 23 hours, and 59 minutes from now. Are you ready? Obviously you're not. So here's some help from FoxSports. By the way, don't expect fantasy help from ESPN unless you hand over your wallet. Jerks. Anyway, the real question is: "Are you man enough to face the Battletoads?" The defending champ says you're not. Out.

Just Stupid

I think this may be the dumbest legal action I've ever heard of. A guy is suing Michael Jordan and Phil Knight for $832 million because... wait for it... Jordan looks like him and he's tired of being mistaken for Michael. I'll admit it: I'm just not up to the task of ridiculing this guy. I couldn't possibly right anything harsh enough to do his stupidity justice. If a judge doesn't throw this suit out as fast as is possible, then the judge ought to be hanged. The lawyer too, but that's just on principle. If this guy has any friends, they really need to beat him up.

Web Page

Adam, do you still have that webpage at www.geocities.com/stack_guy32 or something like that? Is it still updated? Or, has this blogging site replaced that website?

Norks Nukes

North Korean missiles fall into the ocean faster than we can shoot them down. Watch for the press to report this as a failure of our missile defense.

(And yes, their leader is as nuts as his hair is poofy.)

Penguin Dance?

Kornheiser doing the penguin dance:



You know, I think I might even be able to do that one. Not that I would. Ever.

Bye-Bye Ben

I guess Ben Wallace just couldn't stand to stay in Detroit without Steve Yzerman as captain of the Red Wings, so he's headed to Chicago. This is pretty disappointing since Wallace is the signature member of this Pistons squad. Joe Dumars promised to make him the highest paid player on the team and kept his word with the offer that was made. But the Bulls offered more, a four-year deal starting at $14 million. The Pistons weren't going to offer more than $12 million. At first glance, this seems like a terrible thing for the Pistons. But is it? As the article by Chris McCosky linked above says, how good is Ben Wallace now?

"Wallace has some good years left, there's no question about that. But he might not have any great years left. His days of grabbing 1,000-plus rebounds in a season are probably over. While he can still dominate a game on the defensive end, he hasn't shown the ability to do so consistently, night after night like he once did.

He was essentially not a factor in the last two playoff rounds this season. He never looked older than he did against the Heat. Dumars had to throw that into the equation.

Wallace's stubbornness and petulance got the better of him on occasion this season. His refusal to enter a game in Orlando in April is only one example. He had several blow-ups in practice, as well, and hasn't gotten along real well with any of his last three coaches."

Dumars has made a lot of good moves in his time with the Pistons, with few stinkers (Darko). Hopefully the Pistons can come out of this as a better team.

UPDATE: Wow, that was fast. The Pistons have reached an agreement with center Nazr Mohammed. Yes, he's not the player that Wallace is, but he comes $9 million cheaper. Practically a bargain.

Happy Independence Day

Happy Fourth of July everyone.

Yzerman Retires

Steve Yzerman announced today that he is retiring from the NHL.
Yzerman, who is 41, has played 22 years, all with the Red Wings, and has been their captain for 19 of those years, making him the longest-serving captain in NHL history. Not surprising then that Yzerman will be remembered for his leadership. The Wings will miss him sorely. The moment he was handed the Stanley Cup in '97 after sweeping the Flyers and skated around the Joe is one of my top 5 sports memories, probably number three. The Wings just won't be the same next year. Whoever is chosen to be captain next year, there will never be another "Captain". Thanks Steve.

UPDATE: ESPN has a list of the top 10 Yzerman moments here.

Batman: The Case Mod

ExtremeTech has just announced the first winner of their 3rd annual case mod competition. As you can see in the pic, it's a Batman-themed mod. The creator says it took 17 months to build and the whole contraption, stand and case, weigh 100 lbs. Wow. I'm always amazed at what these guys can do. That is one seriously cool mod. If you like Batman, otherwise I guess you'd think it's a waste of time and money. If you like this, check out some of the other case mods on that portion of the site, like the R2-D2 or the TIE Fighter, which was last year's winner.

Right to Jihad

Mark Steyn's article from the Chicago Sun-Times does a great job summing up the problems I've had with the Supreme Court's latest decision. It also does a good job giving you the main idea behind the Geneva Conventions. Very good reading. (Hat tip: The Corner)

Push On

With everything else going on this week I managed to mostly miss that Northwestern coach Randy Walker died Thursday night at the age of 52. Northwestern has always had the odds stacked against them in Big Ten athletic competition, but Walker had shaped the Wildcats into a respectable team. He took NU to 3 bowl games and had beaten every team in the conference at least once. More on Walker from Ivan Maisel here.

Maisel also has an interesting article up that assigns one player from college football history to each number 1-100 (yes, someone wore 100 one season). Check it out and then get ready to argue. Maybe someday when I'm feeling really motivated, I'll make an all-time 1-99 Spartan team.

More Spider-man 3

Thought I'd follow up my previous Spider-man post with a picture from the trailer:


Enjoy.

Thought for the Day

"...for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved."
-2 Peter 2:19 (New American Standard Bible)

Hamdan

I don't follow legal proceedings much generally, and I haven't been following the Hamdan case in particular. But when I read about the decision, I was pissed. Mark Levin at National Review says many of the things I was thinking, he just does it a lot better.

Spider-Man 3 Trailer

Not into Superman, but still want to see some movie superhero action? Check out the new trailer for Spider-man 3 here in HD. You could check it out at a normal resolution too, if you're uncool. It looks pretty sweet. My only concerns so far, which are fairly small because I trust director Sam Raimi (he's a Spartan after all): 1. I see the Green Goblin, Sandman, and Venom in the trailer. Isn't 3 villains pushing it? 2. Here's how the black costume ought to look:


But what it looks like in the trailer is just a black version of the movie suit. I'm sure there's a good story explanation for this, but it's still disappointing to me since the classic black Spider-man/Venom costume is one of my favorite superhero costumes ever. I'm still really looking forward to the movie though, nitpicks aside. The sequel was better than the first, hopefully the third will outshine the second.

Re: 128

Amen brotha! The NCAA is weak and they are going to fold under the pressure of "let's add more teams because there might be more George Mason's out there." Don't play the George Mason card. Every year it's going to be a different mid-major bubble team that will go on a run. And each year it will be more than just one team because of parity and lack of fundamentals (but we're a dang good 3-pt shooting team.)

I don't see them doubling any time soon. They will expand for sure, most predictably by having 4 play-in games instead of just the one. You know that's the easiest way they'll expand to keep people "happy." Just like the easiest way the NBA could make more money from the playoffs was to expand the first round series to 7 games instead of 5. What took Stern so long to figure that one out?

It is supposed to be an honor to make it to the Big Dance. The standards are pretty cut and dry for the Tourney: 20 wins or win the conference tournament or show that you can beat some of the ranked teams. If you can't qualify through one of those options, what makes anyone think you deserve to be in the Tourney? If you didn't prove your worth by wins, the conference tournament, or competing with the big boys, why would we think you'd prove something in the Big Dance?

Don't water down what is already perfect. The tournament is about finding a champion. Not who can extend their season a little longer but still come up short. No bubble team or mid-major will ever win the whole tournament, so why prolong the inevitable? Sure, more exposure for the school = more money. But so does having a quality team that actually wins. I could go on and on but I guess I'll just stop now.

No one is pissed at Miles Brand for not letting Michigan in the tournament. We're pissed at Tommy Amaker for having an underachieving team down the stretch.

128

Apparently, some college basketball coaches want to double the size of the NCAA tourney. Now, I've said that expanding the tourney was a bad idea already, so you can guess what I think about doubling it. Some of their reasoning:

1. There are lots of good teams that don't make it in the field.
2. The current size has been in place for a while now.
3. Postseason bids help coaches keep their jobs.

Wow, those are great arguments, aren't they? First, the time argument is silly. By that logic sometime in the future every team should get a chance to be in the field just because they exist. The other two come down to one thing: winning. You want to keep your job? Win the game. You want to be in the tournament? Win the game. Don't change the rules because it's too hard. Boo hoo.

Will there be donkeys?

Futurama is returning to television. Comedy Central has ordered 13 new episodes. The voice talent from previous epidsodes will return. The new episodes will air sometime in 2008. This is great news. Futurama, even in reruns, is one of the funniest shows on television, superior to even the Simpsons. And we'll get more Bender. And Zoidberg. Hooray!