Searching for Silver Lines

Here we are at the very end of the 09-10 season and Brandon Roy has a tear in his miniscus. Shit. We get all the way to game 79 of an 82 game season, and a muscle in his knee decides to be a bitch.

WHY!? Why are the Basketball God's so cruel this season. We had such a promising squad. Two seven footers at center. Another forward damn near seven feet tall. A log jam of shooters at the 2 and 3 positions. A mixture of you and vetran point guards. BRANDON F**KING ROY. We got the bad playoff beat out of the way and looked hungry for retrobution.

Before the season started, we learned last years rookie starting Small Forward, Nicolas Batum hurt his shoulder and was feared to be lost for the season (he came back in Febuary). Then Travis his foot. Then Oden's busts his knee cap (which I detailed in a December post). Then Rudy decided to get surgery on his shoulder which had been bothering him since March of the previous season (thank you, Trevor Ariza). Then Pryzbilla. It was like listening to a Larry the Cable Guy set; just the same shitty joke told and re told over and over again.

Then Rudy comes back, Travis looks like he will be coming back sooner then expected and our team starts to come together. Roy and Andre Miller seem to have had found an understanding on how they can play together. We were showing some potential.

Then down goes the captain. Roy hurts his hamstring and misses 14 of the next 15 games. He was supposed to heal quickly. He had an experimental operation done that was supposed to bring him back quickly. It did not. And the captain was forced into hybernation this winter.

By the time the Allstar break, the injury depleated Blazers had seen 6 rotational guys miss atleast 15 games due to injury (even coach Nate McMillan had an Achilies Tendon injury that forced him to miss games). That is not a typical formula for success in the NBA. Somehow, despite the injuries, the Blazers kept plugging along and stayed in the playoff seedings all year.

Some credit needs to be given to Kevin Pritchard. He didn't panic when the injuries happened. He kept cool and resisted the temptation of hitting the "red button" and blowing things up. Pritchard kept faith that the guys playing could hold their own while he continued to shop for the right deal.

He found the right deal, and on Febuary 17th, he pulled the trigger sending two fan favorites (Travis Outlaw and Steve Blake-both in contract years) to LA for Marcus Camby. Marcus, who apparently appreciated the chance to play in the Playoffs again (has been stuck in Clipperville for a few seasons) has rewarded the Blazers brass for the trade by posting averages of 7 points 11 rebounds and 2 blocks per game (not to mention leading us to a 17-6 record since joining the team). Of course he put an exclamation point on his current stay with the Blazers by droping a season high 30 points and leading us to a win against Oklahoma City locking up the 6th seed for us and giving us a chance to play the Suns instead of the Los Angles Lakers.

The potential for a post season run was there. A great mix of young/athletic and grizzled vetrans. The team was starving for playoff success and were clicking on all cylinders leading into the final month of the season and then the injury bug decides to strike again.

Game 79. In LA, playing the Lakers, and Roy's miniscus decides to tear. Not a bad injury, but no injury is a good injury with 2 and a half games to go untill the post season.

So now where are we? Well the media can't seem to make up their mind. First Brandon was going to play. Granted, not a 100% but he would still be able to contribute. It was also announced that though he was going to play, he would require surgery to repair the damage in the off season. This would require a 4 to 6 week recovery period. Again, not a bad injury.

A few days later it was announced that he was going to be out of the playoffs, take the surgery a few days before Game 1 against the Suns, and get ready for next season (shit). This is before he tested the knee or anything in a practice. They seemingly decided that our chance of winning a championship is better next year then this year, and told him "lets not risk further damage." I get that, better safe then sorry. It still sucks though.

Today, Roy went through surgery to repair his knee (I hope thats the last time I write that sentence). Post surgery, the doctors (as they do) came out and announced they had successfully cut open and fixed our franchies baller. They also let us know that the time table for recovery was now 1-2 weeks.

Wait...WHAT?!

Apparently that was the reason behind having the surgery now as opposed to after the season. So now if Portland is able to get past The Suns ( a team we match up well against, despite our missing Super Star) there is a chance Roy will be good to go. Good decision.

Whether Roy comes back and gives us the Hollywood ending or not (the Hollywood ending woudl be this: Roy comes back to be better then ever starting the second round, we bounce Dallas in the second round and prevail over heated rivals the LA Lakers in the Wester Conference Finals and win (or lose) the championship behind a half court buzzer beater), the one thing we can all agree on is this season is exhausting. Set back after set back this team has over come mountains of trials this season. They have looked adversity in the eye, and kicked it square in the balls.

They are not affraid of screwing up like last year, because expectations have long been thrown out the window. As sick as it sounds, the injuries have made us better. We know how to fight for wins. We know how to steal games we have no business winning, and that makes us better then last year.

It sucks that Oden is gone, that Pryz may never return. It sucks we had to trade Travis and Blake. It sucks that we had to settle for a six seed. But we're here, and thats what important. We have fought our way back into the playoffs. With or without Roy, we're gonna give the Suns hell. They should be worried, because we can still beat them.

Blazers in 5.

Quick Rambling: Mariners Edition

I feel like I jinxed the M's.

I was so excited for this season to start. I was hyping them up to anyone who would listen to me. Felix this, Cliff Lee that. Shit, I was even drinking a healthy dose of Milton Bradly's kool aid. I wrote a lengthy fluff piece (look to the entry below for reference) about them, and how I feel they could do some damage in the AL West this year just in time for them to take a big Cleveland Steamer all over my opinions.

Jeez thanks guys, did you have Fajitas for lunch?

Over this weekend, I was overcome with the idea that they were actually only having two men bat, and the other 7 were just automatic outs that ESPN would update as a formality.

On the bright side, the other day Mariners minor league Shortstop Nick Franklin (plays for the Clinton Lumberkings) went 4-4 with a triple, double and two Home Runs. Super. I know he is supposed to be in the minors until he pays his due's or some shit, but couldn't we just skip a couple steps just this once?

I don't care if he comes up and bat's .210, it's gotta be better then what we got right now. I mean, are you kidding me? Jackie Wilson? He couldn't hit me right now.

Hopefully they get their shit together. I'm going to take the voyage up to Seattle on Friday with The Girlfriend to catch King Felix's first home start of the season. It shouldn't be too hard to pull out a win, just give him 3 runs. It's not that hard. It's 1 run every three innings. Retarded 11 year old girls could put up 3 runs.

It's been a frustrating 9 games, to say the least. But thank goodness it's only that, 9 games. We got a lot of ball left to play.

So stop being a bunch of vag'es, and get your asses into gear boys. Prove me right.

One and Oh: A delayed season preview

Cancel the 2010 season, people this shit is over!

If I've learned anything over my 15 years of watching Baseball it's this: you can find out everything you need to know by how your team with how they play on opening day! With that being said, the 2010 Seattle Mariners have timely hitting, solid Defense, and a certified Money-in-the-Bank Ace. We're not only going to return to the playoffs for the first time in near a decade, but as sure as I sit here at my cubical today, will be winning the World Series come October.

If only it was that easy.


In reality, the state of my Fan-dom Union is this :I'm nervous coming into the season. If we went back in time to December when my father called me while I was Christmas shopping to tell me the Seattle Mariners just pulled a West Coast jack move and took Cliff Lee from the Phillies, well we would probably have a conversation like this:

You: So, Belvin, what do you think about your Mariners chances this year?

Me: (searching for words, look of complete shock on my face... only able to make satisfied grunt noises).

You: Does that mean you're happy?

Me: (finally, after the blood returns back north to occupy my head) I think so. First Chone Figgins, now Cliff Lee? We'll see how the rest of the winter goes... but what a start!


Then imagine after we deal Carlos Silvas fat, unproductive ass to the Cubs for the always angry, always entertaining(as long as you're watching from a safe distance and he isn't on your team) Milton Bradly:

You: Milton Brady? Wow. That could be bad.

Me: Yes, it could be. It could also be good. Remember Jose Guillen?

You: True, but he gets ran out of every team he plays for.

Me: True, but even if he goes Artest Mele on us, he will still be more productive then Carlos Silva.

You: (nod in submission)


Now if you talked to me as Spring Training camps were about to open up:

You: Do you think your team improved?

Me: Chone Figgins, Cliff Lee, Milton Brady, Casey Kotchman? Yes, yes I do. No more Kenji, no more Beltre, NO MORE SILVA!? Yes we got better. Our infield is a vacuum, and we have two aces in our rotation. To make matters worse, our division got worse.

You: so you think you will win the division?

Me: Yes, not only do I think we will win the division, but i think we could go deep into the playoffs.


Thats right I said it. And before a week ago, I said it alot. Now I'll admit, lately, the flaws on this club have become a little more apparent to me, and I'm no longer admiring my favorite club with rose colored glasses on. Doesn't mean I don't believe in their potential, I just no longer believe it's as of sure of a bet as I once did.

To be fair to early March me, here was my reasoning for being so high on my team (not including the fact that ESPN analysts are also drinking my koolaid). Last year we were the American Leagues best pitching team (on American League team with a sub 4 era). On top of that we were unquestionably the top Defensive squad in ALL of the majors. Last years team had a major flaw that kept us out of serious contention and that was the fact that outside of Ichiro, Jose Lopez, Russel Branyan and Franklin Guitierez we couldn't hit the ball. In fact despite the fact that we had the best ERA in the American League and posted a winning record, we still gave up more runs then we scored.


Not going to win division crowns with that statistic highlighting your season.

So lets look at this years team. Safeco field is built for defenses and pitching. Obviously those are going to be the most important. Defensively 2010 we shouldn't see much of a change this year. True, we lost former Gold Glover Adrian Beltre, but we countered his loss with adding Chone Figgins( who is no slouch with the leather (half way through the Spring the M's decided to experiment by sending Jose Lopez over to third and apparently they liked it because the position swap is still going).

We upgraded Firstbase's defense by letter Russel the Muscle go, and bringing in Casey Kotchman. Casey is leaps better the Russel at first, but we could end up really missing Russel's bat. The rest of the D is solid.

Guitierez is known as the best Center Fielder in the game and as aquired the nickname for his position (much like Right Field is known as 'Area 51') "Death To Flying Things." Bradly is servicable out there, and Ichiro untill further notice is still Ichiro(which in roughly translates into 'AWESOME!' in Japenese).

The pitching has the potential to hurt some feelings. We had one of the elite staff's in baseball last year which was anchored by his Cy Young runner up Felix Hernandez. Despite good numbers from our staff, we were unquestionably missing some talent in the starter department. So what does the front office do? Well they some how squeeze their way into trade talks with Toronto and Philadelphia, present both teams with Hookers and Blow and steal 2008 AL Cy Young winner Cliff Lee-in a contract year- from the Phillies.

So if you're having trouble keeping track at home coming into the season we have a 1-2 punch of Felix and Cliff Lee (and when Erik Bedard gets healthy, he will run the three or four). God bless Jack-Z.

Unfortunatly, Cliff Lee had some issues involving an altercation during a Spring Training game that left him with an ab strain and a possible 5 game suspension. Those could possibly keep him out of action for a few weeks, which isn't ever good. But as of this writing, he has been throwing pain free and they have a scheduled hearing to appeal the suspension for later in April.

All in all, our pitching (once healthy) is going to be filthy. Two certified aces, and a good bulpen. Yes please.

Our hitting will also hurt feelings, just not the way that our pitching will. Long story short, our hitting could very well suck (outside of Ichiro, Chone, Jose and three hot weeks of Guitierez). I don't trust Milton Bradly to not melt down, I don't trust Griffey or Sweeny to keep their body parts intact, and I sure don't trust near Mendoza Line hitting Rob Johnson. Sure anyone one of those guys could string together a season, and I guess it's always possible that Casey Kotchman could wake up and remember that once upon a time he was a top prospect with the bat, but I'm not going to hold my breath. I'm preparing for the worse.

So where do I stand on the season? I feel like we could win the division. Of course, everything has to go right and by everythign going right I mean this:

• Our pitching needs to get and stay healthy. Cliff Lee and Erik Bedard in particular. We can't afford a big pitcher to go down. Felix included. If Bedard doesn't bounce back, or has another injury, it's going to be tough. If Lee or Felix miss considerable time, forget 2010.
• We have to run, run, run. We're gonna play a style of ball that was once upon a time called "National League" style. That means we're going to steal, bunt and scrap runs together.
• Milton can't melt down, and we have to get a suprise year out of atleast one other player. Last year, Jack Z took a flier on Russel the Muscle who rewarded us with his first 30 home runs season. He is gone, so now we gotta find someone else. Whether it be Kotchman, Johnson, or maybe Griffey nut's up-someone needs to do it.
• We need to make a trade that brings us a big hitter. Someone to plug into the middle of the order. More specifically, we need to get Adrian Gonzalez.

If these things happen, we could be scary. Defense and pitching win in October, and baring injury, we'll have that in spades.

Personal prediction: I feel like we're going to do what needs to be done (personel wise) to be put in position to win. Jack Z is a maverick and seems like he is willing to do what it takes to win. The only question now is, how and for who will he trade. If we get Adrian Gonzalez, the whole make up of this team changes for the better. All of a sudden, Ichiro and Chone have a reliable masher driving them home. Pressure is taken of Kotchman to perform, and anything we get from him would be a bonus. Not to mention Lopez and Bradly get a little sexier since they aren't the 'producers' of the line up.

Maybe it's a good sign that Felix didn't look super sharp tonight, but we still won. And that we had a 4 RBI debut from Kotchman, and a solo homer from Rob Johnson (two guys I previously said I don't expect much from).

This in mind, I feel like we win the division. I know it's only only one game and that over the last two weeks Texas has begun to scare me more and more, but something feels good about this year. I like our players, I love the managment, and I love our direction.

One last note: I have simulated the 2010 season all the way through a few times and every time the Mariners win the division, and once we won the World Series. Of course Bedard, Lee, and Felix never got hurt. In fact we didn't have any major injuries.

If only life were like a video game and I could turn injuries off.

Seaside Adventure

I went to Seaside today with the Girlfriend and The Baby. It was not my idea, nor was I particularly fond of the idea when I woke up this morning. Despite my excuses on why we shouldn't go, The Girlfriend had her heart set on taking a trip-just three three of us. Ultimately, my lack of interest in taking the two hour drive submitted to The Girlfriends wants and my desire to spend the day with the two lovely ladies.

She had originally planned for us to leave by ten. This didn't happen. You see we decided to leave The Baby under the watchful eyes of Dad and StepMom, then we went out drinking the night away! Upon returning to my fathers house,we were confronted with the fact that The Baby had started another round of teething. Super. It must've hurt like hell because up untill that point, the Lil' One has never, and had never screamed like she did. Oh yeah, she screamed. And screamed. And screamed some more. She screamed for hours.

I'm not sure how much sleep we got last night, but it wasn't much. The Girlfriend, refusing to let a sleep depervation deprive her of Oregon Coast and it's magistry, still urged for us to continue with her plans. Reluctantly, I agreed.

We got on the road about 1 o'clock after we were good and cafinated. The Baby was again less then thrilled with life. I speculate she had every sub terianian tooth pushing at once by how grumpy she was.

However, she did find enjoyment during the car ride with a game she made up. It was very funny. You see she would wait till I was comfortable, maybe my eyes were closed. Then she would let out a little angry chirp to get my attention. Not wanting to hear a full fledged cry, I would oblige and give her my undivided attention. She would then give me the hand signal for 'more' insinuating that she wants more snacks. In this case they were cheerios.

The first couple times, I thought nothing of it. Gradually, her chirps became more frequent. 'No way you already ate those' I would think. Then I caught on to her game. She was putting them all over the back seat. Under her butt, under her car seat, on the floor. It didn't matter. She was like a squirl and those cheerios were getting stored for winter.

After what felt like 9 million years we finally get to Seaside. The town is not like I remember. I remember Seaside fondly for family adventures, as well as the location for my High School Senior Trip. It's the place where the 'Dewaholic' t-shirt was concieved. I'm pretty sure it's the place my parents went on their Honey Moon at. Needless to say, this wasn't my parents Seaside.

First of all, it's small. The buildings are insanely close together, where it felt like you had to

walk sideways to get in between them. The streets are narrow to the point where it was making me feel unsafe driving down them-and I was in the passenger seat. My anxiety started to act up a little.

Second of all, the people. Not a specific person, but the majority of the locals looked like extras from a "Hills have Eyes" sequal. We went into a burger joint I remembered being delcious, because we were both starving. The two dudes manning the grill both had a set of eyes that were so close together on their face they could be confused as cyclops's. The woman, who I imagine was the manager on duty talked as if she could exhale pure nicotine and looked like the spitting image of the Landlord from "Kingpin".

If that refrence is lost on you, please take a moment to refresh:

Yummy. Alright, it's very possible she wasn't that bad, but this is my recollection of the events and I will recall it how I see fit. So suck it. Plus, it's so much better when you have visual aid. Enough of the fun, back to the story.

Third and most important, parking fucking sucks there. It was the Oregon coast in March. Not exactly a dream get away, yet there was still enough people to make us drive around looking for parking about 15 minutes longer then we should've.(side note: we found a parking lot behind the psuedo mall they have there and the situation was so tight that a bicyclist would've felt closterphobic navigating his shit through there. Anywho, some jackass in an SUV decided he would go his own way in the parking lot leading to a confusing moment where two cars were facing each other on a one way path. This didn't help anything.)

When we finally got a parking spot and unpack everything, it instantly starts to rain. Girlfriend is now frustrated. She is hungry, tired, and the rain is why she wanted to leave Vancouver. But the shit followed us. Totally lame.

Needless to say, we didn't last long in the city on the Side of the Sea. Just not that much to do there, at least while it's raining. Maybe if we got to go play on the beach it would've been more fun. Sadly, no beach for us. Just tacky gift shops and an over priced burger.

We did almost do one of those old time photos, which would've been cool. But Baby wasn't holding up and we couldn't decide on a pose. Oh well, maybe next time. Cuz there will be a next time.

Oh Seaside, we've had some good times, you and I. Unfortunately, This wasn't one of them. You were just too far of a drive for that day, your streets are too narrow and your people were extra creepy. We went there to play on your beach and you rained on us. Shame on you.

It wasn't a complete fail though, I mean I did get to spend that quality time with the Girlfriend and the Baby. So in that light, thanks Seaside.

And see you next time.

Special Guest Post: A Born Winner's perspective on marriage

I spent this weekend with my buddy Rob up in Seattle. While we were out and about we got on the subject of my blog and the shit I do on here. It seemed like just passing conversation, but at some point he asked if it would be cool if once in awhile he wrote a "Special Guest Blog." I said 'yes' and didn't think anything about it after that. Well tonight, I got a voice mail from Rob telling me to check my email. Sure enough, the Born Winner has already completed his first special guest post.

Here you go, it's called: "Why Men Get Married"

My whole life I have always wondered why men get married, and untilI started knocking doors and witnessing the interaction, the decision making process, and lives of the elderly I never understood it.

From my point of view I only saw how the women nagged, withheld sex, begged for children, spent all the money (and if things went really poorly took half the money), and so on. My career has given me a completely different take on the situation. This may seem like a sexist rant so far, but this is actually a cautionary tale for you would never guess it...women.

The advantages for women wanting to get married seemed so obvious to me, but the advantages for the men never quite added up. The way I saw it if you stayed single as a man you could: 1. Keep your money 2. keep your freedom, and 3. pray on the single women desperate to get married, or even better clean up on divorcees (even easier).

Here is where the doom and gloom, and ultimate reason guys get married set in for me. When guys get old they lose it. By lose it I mean they are mindless invalids. When most guys hit 70 two things happen either they die (worst case scenario?) or they lose their mind, forget everything, and need someone to wipe their ass for them. I'm serious most old men can't even remember what they had for breakfast at lunchtime, let alone be responsible for personal hygiene. In the end most marriages end up being some type of lifetime symbiotic relationship.

In the early years/middle ages the husband supports the wife financially and emotionally through pms menopause and all that crazy nonsense, which is what I always saw, but in the end they literally need somebody to keep them alive. They can't cook for themselves, they can't clean for themselves, and they certainly can't take care of themselves in any way shape or form.

So congratulations ladies, that free ride you thought you were picking up wasn't actually free in the end. Enjoy wiping ass and taking care of someone that is completley grumpy and ungrateful, that can't even remember the nice things you did for them yesterday.

Coming from me in my mind this is one of the strongest endorsements of marriage I can give. I always heard marriage was a give and take, and as far as I'm concerned wiping ass is the ultimate take. So congrats ladies enjoy the final years of your life as a caregiver.

Quick Ramblings: Things are the chapping my balls

I got some things to say and I have shit for an attention span today. So instead of focusing a post on each of these topics like I normally would, I'm going to just ramble a little bit. It's been a while since I've done that. So without further hesitation, here is what I got on my mind right now:

Listening to the radio today, I heard a commercial start off saying,"3 most frightening letters in the English Language, I-R-S" Bull shit. The three most frightening letters are H-I-V. No contest. 9/10 humans would rather have money issues then a death sentence ( say 9, because apparently Magic Johnson doesn't care if he has AIDS or not. He is rich enough for the cure).

Even with the bad economy, any sane person would agree that money troubles are no match for a virus that kills you. The IRS may be able to do lots of mean shit to you, but in the end you'll still be breathing. You might be naked and without a place to go, but you'll still be breathing. You contract HIV, and you've been handed confirmation that your life has an expiration date.

You tell me whats more frightening.

Big Ben Rothlisburger got busted for sexual misconduct again. This time with a 20 year old in a bar who has a head wound and a convincing story to back her. I have two takes on this. 1, if Ben is innocent then shame on this whore. That being said, even if innocent, Ben needs to start being more careful where he is throwing his attention on. This is two times bro. Eventually we stop believing you.

If Ben is guilty, well then dude, what the hell?! You are a two time Super Bowl winning Quarterback in a blue collar town that love their sports. You play Quarterback for the Steelers. You are the most recognizable face on that franchise. You can't tell me you don't get plenty of offers every day. There has got to be some Steel Mill worker's daughter you can take out for a good romping.

Also if you're guilty, I'm sorry for calling that girl a whore.

I was takin a piss today at the urinal at work and a guy who I know only by facial recognition posted up next to me. Alright, thats not an issue but what is an issue is that he felt obligated to speak. I'm not sure what he was talking about because I was doing what I was supposed to be, and that is concentrating on the flow and minding MY OWN business.

Look if you got something to say, sweet, lets talk about it when our swords aren't drawn. When I'm peeing I want to enjoy it. I don't want to talk to anyone. I especially don't want to talk to another dude who is holding his own meat and peeing. I feel like this isn't too much to ask.

It's just another one of those unwritten rules of life, right up there with "don't pass out with your shoes on" and "if you're currently fighting a civil suite for sexual misconduct, it's a good idea to not do anything that could lead to you being accused of it again two years later in a seperate incident. Most notebaly, with a 20 year old you met at a bar." Right, Ben?

The Great Debate

The other day I recieved an email from The Elder, one of my best friends and an absolute wizard of instigating sports debates (no joke, if I ever get my own radio show I want him to co-host it. No one gets me focused on tangents better then him). The subject line was simply : "Let the debating Being..." naturally, I was intrigued. The Elders email read like this:

I have put some thought and study into this, and I have composed a list of the greatest sports teams of all time. This is my opinion, and i am curious as to what your thoughts are as well as what your lists would be.

Greatest Sports Teams of All Time:

• 1.)1980 Soviet Union Hockey Team*


• 2.) 1995 Nebraska Cornhuskers Football Team


• 3.) 1972-73 UCLA Mens Basketball Team


• 4.) 1995-96 Chicago Bulls


• 5.) 1992 USA Dream Team


• 6.) 1927 New York Yankees


• 7.) 1985 Chicago Bears


• 8.) 2000-01 Los Angeles Lakers


• 9.) 2002 Brazil Soccer Team


• 10.) 2001 Seattle Mariners*

HONORABLE MENTION:2005 USC Trojans Football Team* 1998 New York Yankees

* - asterix denotes that they did not win a championship that season

I had a number of issues with this email. 1, he put a Hockey team first. Not to mention the 1980 Soviet team was the team that lost to the US in the Lake Placid Miricle game. 2, He put the 01 Lakers on this list ( I don't want to step on the toes of my rebuttle, so just wait for my reasons why). 3, he put the 01 Mariners. The team that was famous for it's out of no where 116 wins, and infamous for choking like David Carradine (I'm sorry, thats not funny. Autoerotic asphyxiation is a serious matter and should be treated as such, haha)

What upset me the most about the 01 Mariners being on the list, was I felt like he was taking a personal dig at me. How could he possibly think this team was better then the 98 Yankees? They only won two less games then the 01 Mariners, but blew through the playoffs and won a World Series. It just did't add up.

Being a Dodgers fan, he wasn't left a bloody mess after the 2001 ALCS like I was. The idea that he deliberatly put the M's on there to piss me off put me in a bad place the rest of the day. Before I replied to this email, I had to have his reasons for including them.

After talking to him, I realized his reasons for putting the M's on there were justified. Wrong, but justified. Armed with the reassurance that this was legit, I fired back my response:

Can they really be "Greatest teams" If they didn't win a championship? I disagree with a few members on your list. Mainly the Soviets and the Mariners ( that was painful. Someone call my doctor, I'm going to have some issues to work through). They didn't win. If any team deserves to be on this list without a championship it's the 07 Pats. Thats it.

The Soviets lost to college kids and amatures. Is the 92 dream team losing to a team made up of college versions of Grant Hill and Chris Webber (actually legend has it is they did beat the 92 team in a scrimmage, but Allen Houston started talking shit, and Michael Jordan made sure Mr. Houston didn't touch the ball the whole next game they played.) Point is, Jordan is not losing to amatures with a medal in his grasp.

Two, my beloved 01' Mariners. They won a major league record 116 games. They were a fun team to watch, and an easy team to root for. But as they proved in October, they were not great. They lost to the Yankees in the ALCS. Here is where it's going to get painful. Those 98 Yankees were the best baseball team I've ever seen. They won their division by 22 games. They won the most games ever at that point with 114, and had a playoff record (including sweeps in the divisional round and the world series) of 11-2. They had young Derek Jeter, a entering his prime Bernie Williams and an All-Star year out of Tino Martinez. They had Pettite, Cone and a overly productive David Wells. The team had NO holes. It's shouldn't be close.

01 Lakers? Why? They won their division by 1 game over the Kings. They didn't win 60 games. They were completely average untill Shaq got his fat ass into gear, and happened to lay waste to the western conference playoffs. That aside, the 96-97 Bulls as well as the 85-86 Celtics both 69 wins and are largely debated as some of the greatest teams ever. Long story short, no team with Shaq's fat ass deserves to be in the top ten sports teams ever.

AND WHERE THE HELL IS THE 72 DOLPHINS! They went undefeated!

That was my response to everything. I obviously had some quams with The Elders list.

Real quick though, lets talk about the 72 Dolphins. True, they were in a less talented league then we currently have, which has been the common response from anyone reading that original email.

"The line men were smaller," "The players were slower," "They played less games," the ney sayers say. While all these are true, only the third I recognize as a valid complaint. The undefeated Dolphins of 1972 are the only undefeated team in any of the four main American Pro Sports history (Those four: Football, Basketball, Baseball and Hockey). They were 17-0 that year (to be perfect in the NFL now you would have to be 19-0). Two extra games means you have two extra chances to spoil perfection. I understand this, and it's a good point. However, there were also less teams meaning the talent wasn't as spread out. For the talent pool available was much more condensed then it would be now.

This brings us to the next two arguments, that there was a lack of athleticism then there is in today sports. There for we shouldn't recognize that team. That maybe so, but that could be said for all sports.

You can't tell me that there is a single team in the NBA right now that would lose to a team in the NBA 30 years ago. Could you imagine a former MVP Dave Cowens trying to guard a guy like Dwight Howard? Cowens was slow and 6'9", yet he was also a 2 time MVP. Dwight Howard can dunk on 12 foot rims. This would not be a game, it would be an execution.

The only sport that can translate is from 30 years ago to today is Baseball. But even then, the old team is battling up hill because of how physically perfect (granted, most artificially) the players are. In 1972, it's not inconcievable to see a player built like me (5'10" 175 lbs). Today, your average player is built like a Florida State line backer.

Example: Ozzie Smith, all star and hall of fame short stop. Played almost 20 years in the MLB. He was listed at 5'11" 150 lbs. Derek Jeter (a player who no one has EVER suggested to have done roids) is listed at 6'3" 195. Both All Stars. Ozzie is in the Hall, Derek is heading there. Here is the catch, Derek is considered to be not a very big dude. Back when Ozzie started out, Derek would be considered a power hitter. Now he is a line drive hitter.

All sports have evolved. Just because a team was perfect in 1972, and not 2010 doesn't mean they weren't perfect. They played the best in the world at that time, and they beat the best in the world at that time. They were great then and they are great now.

Done and done.

So here is my list of the Greatest Teams of All Time:

1. 95-96 Bulls: 72-10, 33 of which were road wins, which is an NBA record. They had the MVP, Michael Jordan, and three members on the leagues 1st team All Defense squad (Jordan, Pippen and Rodman). They also went 15-3 on the way to claiming their 4th ring in 6 seasons.
2. 95 Nebraska- Yeah I agree with The Elder on this one. The numbers are jaw dropping. They went un-defeated and slapped second ranked Florida 62-24 in the Championship game. Also, they beat four other top ten ranked teams by 23 that season.
3. 92 Dream Team: First year America sends the pro's to do business, and boy did they ever. 10 of the 12 were voted on the 50 Greats Players of All Time team. They set the bench mark for which all other Olympic basketball teams will be judged (especially the American teams. Just ask the "Redeem Team"). They took home the Gold Medal while sporting an 8-0 record with an average win of 43.75. Way to show up, rest of the world.
4. 72 Dolphins: Again, UNDEFEATED.
5. 85 Bears: 18-1 (15-1 in the regular season, 3-0 in the playoffs). A team that had Michael Singeltary AND Walter Payton ran through three playoff games outscoring teams 91-10 on their way to a Super Bowl. Yeah, thats great.
6. 98 Yankees- As stated, 114 wins, swept the World Series. Won their division by 22 games. 4 different guys with 20+ home runs. All 5 guys in their rotation won atleast 13 games.
7. 76-77 Montreal Canadians- NHL players weren't allowed to play in International Hockey tournaments until 1988, so to me that voids out Olympic Hockey teams. Looking at the NHL, the all time leader in Points is the 76-77 Montreal Canadians. They were 60-8 with a home grown squad ( 14 of their 24 players were originally drafted by them) and outscored opponents by 216 goals (also an NHL record). They outscored opponents by an average of 2.7 goals a game, and swept the Boston Bruins on the way to winning their 20th Stanley Cup.
8. 1973 UCLA Bruins- 30-0, destroyed Memphis State in the championship behind Bill Waltons 44 points (Which was just another day in the office, he hit 21 of 22 field goals)
9. 1985-1986 Boston Celtics- They went 40-1 at home and had 67 wins overall. They won their 16th championship over the previous 22 seasons that year and had the Leagues MVP (Bird, who won his third straight that year). Also they had 4 members of the NBA's 50 Greatest Players of All time Team.
10. 2002 Brazillian Soccer Team- Now I'm not the smartest Futbol fan in the world, so I decided to assume The Elders pick was the wise one. That being said I looked up what this team did, and oh buddy did they beat ass. They went undefeated in their Group, then as soon as the knock out trournament began ran amuck, only giving up 1 goal in 4 games (They won the Cup, and outscored their four opponents by 7-1)

HONORABLE MENTION

1. 1927 Yankees: Won their division by 19 games and swept the Series that year. They put up the 5th highest win total ever: 110 wins (in only 154 games). They also 107 home runs between their 3-4 hitters (Ruth 60, Gerhig 47). The knock against the, MLB was only white dudes at this time.
2. 07 Patriots: Only team to go un-defeated through the regular season in the NFL since they expanded to 16 games. Thats gotta be worth something. Tom Brady and Randy Moss set records for Touchdowns by their positions (Brady threw 50 Td Passes and Moss caught 22 of them). They didn't win the Superbowl, therefore do NOT belong on my Top-10.
3. O1 Lakers: Just because Shaq has a fat ass, and this team coasted through the regular season doesn't mean I'm not going to show their playoff dominance some love.