Favorite all-time Athletes

I figured I would try and rank my all-time favourite athletes. I am only 21 so most of my sports knowledge is in recent times. As a kid I only followed my favorite teams, and that will be quite apparent in my list.

1. Tom Brady - The ultimate champion. Throughout his career Tom has played his best in the biggest games. He won three superbowl rings in his first 4 years as the Patriots starter, and led the team to their 16-0 season last year, in which he set the all-time record for touchdowns in a season. He plays for a "hometown" discount to help the patriots acquire other players and stay with their winning ways.

2. Mats Sundin - Growing up a leafs fan, there was only one constant. Sundin led the beloved leafs in scoring seemingly every year, he wore the "C" with pride and was an elite centre. When he had the chance to go elsewhere he stuck with the leafs, even last year when he could have left to a true contender, he wanted to stick it out with "his" team. He has taken a lot of criticism, as any captain in the hockey hot-bed would over the years, and has never said a harsh word about it.

3. Roy Halladay - Halladay may be the most intense athlete I have ever watched. No one takes their job more seriously than "The Doctor". Halladay is a workhorse in the true sense of the word, leading the league in Complete games most years. He faced a lot of adversity early in his career being sent back to the minors and having to fight back. Halladay won the 2003 AL Cy Young award. He is supportive of the Blue Jays franchise and does his bes to get others to come and stay.

4. Chris Bosh - I was sold on Bosh in his rookie season when Vince Carter threw a towel at him during a lopsided game and said something along the lines of "Don't worry chris there will be other days" Bosh took the towel threw it back at Vince and said "This game isn't over Vince" and walked back onto the floor.

5. Tiger Woods - I don't think an explanation is needed here. I remember the 97 masters that this kid was just incredible, and a legend was born.

6. Carlos Delgado - The leader of the Jays while I was growing up, Delgado was an intimidating force in the middle of the lineup. A perennial all-star, Delgado was called up in late fall 1993, but wasn't on the roster in the post-season for the world series. Delgado was the one constant from the world series' years to the new crop of Jays trying to make another run.

7. Wendel Clark - My first sports hero. Wendel was the definition of what Toronto hockey fans want. A skilled player, who when the time was right would drop the gloves and tussle with anyone. Wendel was an incredible captain and then was also the chip that got us Sundin who would be the captain for the next era of Leafs.

8. Teddi Bruschi - A hero in all three superbowls, Bruschi was the emotional leader of a defensive team. The image of bruschi celebrating in the end zone of the Snow bowl sticks with me. Bruschi suffered a stroke in February 2005 that had negative affects on both his vision and motor skills. He managed to come back to football the following year mid-way through and remains an inspiration for stroke survivors as he is still an effective player today.

9. Michael Jordan - Although i was young, and not the biggest basketball fan growing up, looking back, I wish I had watched more of MJ live. I constantly am looking on youtube and tuning into the odd ESPN classic game to watch him work on the court. In the time I have watched sports, no one has dominated a sport, and been as clutch as Michael Jordan.

10. Troy Brown - The ultimate patriot. Brown did whatever Bill Belichick asked whenever he asked during the Patriots superbowls. Whether it was being the Number one wide receiver, being a 3rd or fourth option or even playing defensive back, Troy Brown would do it. Belichick doesn't smile much, and doesn't give his players too much credit, but the times Troy Brown comes up in press conferences, Bill gushes about him.

11. David Ortiz - If anyone remotely into baseball, or sports for that matter was not captivated by the 2004 MLB playoffs, then please step forward. David Ortiz had the entire sports world on hold with each at bat, hitting multiple clutch homers. Ortiz is a perennial all-star, an intimidating bat in Boston's line-up, an overall good guy, and a fun personality for baseball.

12. Morris Peterson - Peterson came to the Raptors as a rookie and immediately produced. He won the city over with big shots and an attractive personality. He left on bog terms, but any who follows the Raptors remembers the circus shot in Washington his final year. He noe starts on the Hornets, a championship contender this year.

13. Brett Favre - Favre is a guy who truly loves to play football. You have to love his gunslinger approach, it isn't always pretty, but overall Favre has gotten the job done, capturing the 1996 superbowl. He continues to play the game with the joy of a child even now that he is 38, which is a truly refreshing thing in sports.

14. Curtis Joseph - Toronto Maple Leafs fans fell in love with "Cujo" during his time in Toronto, riding him as far as the Eastern conference finals. Cujo was a local kid playing for his favorite team. He made the leafs an immediate contender and was a cinderella for a team that had not won a championship in over 30 years. Cujo had an accomplished career in Edmonton before he was a leaf, and had success in Detroit, he came back to the leafs and is the backup this year.

15. Paul Kariya - Kariya was truly a good guy in the NHL in the 90s. He and Selanne made one of the most exciting duos in recent memory. Kariya was also one of the headliners for Canada in Nagano, a very much hyped Olympics, although it ended in disappointment. Kariya was back in Salt Lake city and paired with Lemieux for the famous goal in the gold medal game.

Not a good few days in raptorland.
I was at the game Friday night when the Raptors blew a 17 point third quarter lead to the Nets.

Vince Carter simply went off. The constant booing of the crowd usually causes Vince to take a ton of ill-suggested jump shots to try and show the crowd what they are missing out on, but on Friday Vince showed a determination to get to the rim, and when he does that, he's as good as just about anyone.

What a scary moment when J.O went down grabbing his knee. The building went absolutely silent. I sat there with my hands over my mouth picturing what the Raptors season was going to look like without him.

Ironically, the Raptors got a pretty good idea of what the season would look like when their defense absolutely caved after he left the game (they gave up 111 points to a team that averaged 95 in regulation). And does Vince get an alley-oop dunk to win the game in OT with Jermaine on the floor? I don't think so.
Sunday was even worse for the raps, as they simply did not show up against the defending champs.

Bosh was simply as frustrated as I have ever seen him. This obviously doesn't bode well when we are hoping to give him a contract extension in the off-season.

After the game Garnett was asked about Bosh and he said that he looked frustrated and he "Needs to decide whether or not he wants to be [in Toronto]"

Scary.

Bosh is the best thing to ever happen to the Raptors franchise. He is a young super-star with a team first attitude. He gives 100% effort on every play and never takes a shot at anyone. He is a good player to interview and good with the media. You can tell he has the desire to win. If he gets frustrated with the team and leaves town after next season, the Raptors franchise will be in rough shape.

Patriots Season Outlook

The Patriots will have a much clearer image of where there season is going 10 days from now.
Two big matchups, this sunday against the 6-4 Dolphins, and next sunday against the Steelers are two big tests for the Matt Cassel led team from Boston.

Exiting these games at 6-6 would almost guarantee needing a sweep the final four games to even have a shot at the post-season. The general consensus is that one AFC East team will get to 11-5 and win the division outright, and at 7-3 the Jets appear on their way, which leaves a lot of teams fighting for the wildcard.

If the Patriots can get a split from these two games, and the way Pitsburg is playing I suggest beating the Dolphins, then they have games at Seattle and at Oakland, tough places to play, but very winnable games.

The Bills shouldn't have much to play for come week 17, but eliminating New England's playoff hopes is probably enough of a reason, so no gimme there.

That leaves week 16 against the Cardinals as a very decisive game, and to be honest, that passing game worries me, with MVP favorite Kurt Warner under centre, (or in shotgun, whatever) throwing to Boldin and Fitzgerald is a scary thing when the Patriots are starting names like Jonathon Wilhite and Terrence Wheatly in the secondary some weeks.

raptors and quick thoughts

Tough night for the raps last night, and an excellent effort wasted by Chris Bosh.

Bosh scores 40 points and rips down 18 boards, Jermaine O'Neal does an outstanding job shutting down Dwight Howard, and record his third straight double double, and they lose.
The Raptors are simply getting zero production from their wing players. For whatever reason Anthony Parker is in a shooting Slump and the raps simply cannot get Jason Kapono any good looks.
I had thought in the offseason after acquiring O'neal that if the Raptors could have acquired someone like Corey Magette, who I love as a player, they could be a championship contender. I still feel the Raptors could have a chance at winning 50 games and a playoff series win once they get everyone on the same page and Jose Calderon is back healthy. Clearly Solomon and Ukic proved they can't carry the load on their own for any long amount of time.
The offense was completely out of sync last night, which can be expected with a new quarterback running the show, but Solomon made a lot of lazy pass turnovers and actually turned the ball over 3 or 4 times per assist recorded. Ukic time and time tried to shoot the ball, and time and time again proved to us his jumper is not developed.

Sports Quick thoughts:
-Crisp to the Royals - this has to be bitter sweet for Coco. Sure he will play more, but winning 30 less games and no shot at ever winning a world series can't sit well. I doubt there is any thank-you cards in the mail to Jacoby Elsbury
-I have to say I called Pedroia winning the MVP at seasons end, those who gave me flack can apologize any time.
-It appears the Leafs have come down to earth. The only part of their team that didnt appear a question mark, Vesa Toskala, appears to be a big one right now. Lowest save percentage in the East. So much for that possible gold chip at the deadline.
-Another NCAA basketball season and curry goes for 44, this guy can shoot.
UNC dominates with the best player in the country, Tyler Hansborough sitting on the bench, this team is scary, could be pretty easy brackets this march.
-Lebron the early heavy favorite for his first MVP, Mo Williams has really helped that offense
- just wondering, is Brandon Jacobs human, or machine?

Patriots record when they win the coin toss in overtime 6-0.

Patriots record when they lose the coin toss in overtime 0-4.

This stat is absurd.

The NFL is a league where every game really does matter. In other sports there are so many games that a loss here and there does not affect your team very much, as you see teams sometimes even resting players in games when they have a back to back etc. even though a miracle comeback may still be possible.

The NFL has 16 games, and the playoff race almost always not only comes down to a very close amount of games won by teams, but tiebreakers are involved, and yet the NFL swears by there bubble-gum overtime rule.

Teams practice all week, they battle hard for 60 minutes, and then the NFL flips a coin that heavily influences the winner.

The fact that a team can win a coin toss, have a decent run back and two good plays and kick a field goal to end the game is ridiculous. There has to be a rule where both teams get both their offenses and defenses on the field. Some say the college system wouldn't work because low scoring games can end up 48-43 at the end because teams wouldn't stop scoring and the game went on forever, but the NFL has superior athletes and is much lower scoring and those games would be few and far between.

If you are a Tennesee, or a Baltimore, maybe the coin toss system isn't that terrible for your team as you have a very strong defense and a run-heavy offense that the game might go back and forth a few times. But if you are an offensive win-in-a-shootout type team such as the Denver Broncos, you have to figure that 75% of the time that coin is deciding your fate.

Many teams pride themselves on one side of the ball or the other, and if that happens to be the offensive side, I don't know how the NFL can decide by a coin that they don't get to go on the field to try and win the game. Offense and Defense should be looked at evenly by the NFL.

It's time for the NFL to step up and realize its fault and make a change for the better and bring Integrity back to overtime games.

onto basketball...

The cletics beat the hawks last night for their first loss of the year, and now there only remains one unbeatedn team in the NBA, The Lakers.

The combination of Kobe, Bynum, Gasol, Fisher and Odom coming off the bench has looked absolutely dominant. They were down late to the Mavs teh other night but come crunch time this team has the experience, the skill and the desire to win the games down the stretch.

The scary thing is, entering the Mavericks game Kobe was only averaging just over 22 points a game, and still the Lakers had averaged 18 point victories in every game.

Persoanlly I am a Raptors fan, and through eight games, I really like the move Collangelo made of bringing in O'neal. O'neal has had back to back double-doubles, including 11 offensive boards last night (tied career high). He appears to have a lot of life left in his legs, and its just a matter of the raptors wingmen getting it going, and hopefully they will.

Obviously the injury to Calderon is a huge concern for any one who follows this team, as Will Solomon sometimes tried to do too much, and has a habit of turning the ball over, and Roko Ukic has no chemistry on 'D' with his teamates as was clearly the case last night with bad switches.

Bosh has played so well that he has himself in early MVP talks, obviosuly the Raptors record is going to have to improve for those talks to actually gamin any momentum, especially after week Lebron just had, and as stated early Kobe's lakers being undefeated.

My Quick thoughts for the day

People are giving Lincecum a lot of Flack for winning the Cy Young. Sure CC is a strong candidate, but only played half a season and his stats from the first half werent great. Webb had a fabulous season but plays for a better team, had a higher ERA and less strikouts. In games Lincecum started the Giants were 21-12...the rest of the time they were, well you know, the Giants.

Billy Beane at it again, holliday will be wearing a Cubs, Yankees, Red Sox or Doidgers jersey next October. I woulda loved to know what Riccardi would have had to give up to bring this guy to Toronto.

UNC undefeated season? I dont know about that, the sky is the limit for this roster though, its National Championship or bust.

A year and a hlaf later, Oden makes it through an NBA game.

The Padres should be ashamed of how they dealt with Hoffman.

I know its a while ago now, but Herm Edwards made the right call going for two last Sunday. His team is going no where, if the game goes into OT the chances of the chiefs winning the game are luckly just under 50%, and the chnaces of them making the play is liekly about the same, but worse comes to worse any publicity is good publicity, and had it not happened would I be talking about the Chiefs right now?

Romo confident he will play, does anyone care?

Lookout for Peyton and the colts, they appear poised to make a run at it. No disrespect to Marvin Harrison though, it may be time to hang them up, there appears to be very little football left in this man.

tomorrow's Jets game

Many peopel are sayign that the AFC East is on the line tomorrwo night at Gillette Stadium as the Pats take on the red hot jets.

I am going to disagree with this statement, and am going to say that this, liek most things in the nfl are extremely over hyped.

The NFL is the king of Hype, we all know that, but we still fall for it again and again, how many time in week 3 have you heard that its a "Must Win" game. To the best of my knowledge no team has ever gone 11-5 and not made the playoffs, and 90% of the teams that go 10-6 get in as well.

This game is going to be decided by pressure on the quarterbacks. It appears that Kevin Faulk and Benjarvus Green-Ellis will be handling the carrying duties for the Patriots again. And although Thomas Jones was successful last week, even without Adalius Thomas I think the pats can shut down the familiar Jets running game.

Can the Jets get to Cassel and force plays for losses? Can the Pats get to Favre and force him to turn the ball over? I think that the pats will come out victorious in this one as Cassel has gotten rid of the ball quicker and the offensive line play has really improved.

My Call?
Patriots 24
Jets 17

After a week of criticism in New England, Bill Belichick is back to his genious status.

Belichick and the patriots toyed with the Bills for sixty minutes on Sunday in foxborough. The bills felt like they were in the game the whole time, but Bill had everything under control, highlighted by a 9+ minute fourth quarter drive in which they had two striaght intentional no yardage gained QB sneaks giving the bills the ball with no where near the amount of time needed for the 17 point come back.

The PAtriots injuries continue to pile up though, as Adalius Thomas was lost for the year. The PAtriots have now lost Tom Brady, Laurence MAroney, Sammy Morris, Adlalius Thomas and Rodney Harrson for the season. The fact that the team is 6-3 and in first place in the division is truly remarkable.

Matt Cassel continues to look more comfortable in the pocket, using his legs more effectively and less often, as well as getting rid of the ball sooner. He doesnt look confised or rattled on the field, and the cliche term "the game is slowing down" is really starting apply. Come December he could be a quarterback to be counted on in the playoffs, and boyond them, he is an unrestricted free agent after the season, and has a chance to make some big money. Teams drule over young quarterbacks who have shown promise, see Schaub, Matt.

So as we all know, defense, and defensive players are often overlooked in the NFL, so here, off the top of my head are who I feel are the top 50 defensive players in the league.

1. Jared Allen DE, Minnesota Vikings
2. Champ Bailey, CB Denver Broncos
3. Albert Hayneswerth, DT Tennessee Titans
4. Mario Williams, DE Houston Texans
5. Bob Sanders, FS Indianapolis Colts
6. Julius Peppers, DE Carolina Panthers
7. Brian Urlacher, MLB Chicago Bears
8. Troy Polamalu, SS Pitsburg Steelers
9. Patrick Willis, MLB Sanfrancisco 49ers
10. James Harrison OLB Pitsburg Steelers
11. Jussi Umeniura, DE New York Giants
12. Assante Samuel, CB Philadelphia Eagles
13. Pat Williams, DT Minnesota Vikings
14. Demarcus Ware, OLB Dallas Cowboys
15. Sean Merrimen, OLB Sandiego Chargers
16. Dwight Freeney, DE Indianapolis Colts
17. Richard Seymour, DE New England Patriots
18. Jason Taylor, DE Washington Redskins
19. Ed Reed, SS Baltimore Ravens
20. Keith Bulluck, OLB Tennesee Titans
21. Julian Peterson, OLB Seatle Seahawks
22. Joey Porter, OLB Miami Dolphins
23. Lofa Tatupu, MLB Seatle Seahawks
24. That Osemaugha guy from Oakland
25. Shaun Rogers, DT Cleavelend Browns
26. Antoine Cromartie, CB Sandiego Chargers
27. Kerry Rhodes, SS New York Jets
28. Ernire Sims, OLB Detroit Lions
29. Justin Tuck, DE New York Giants
30. Kyle Vanden Bosch, DE Tennesee Titans
31. Vince Wilfork DT, New England Patriots
32. Demeco Ryans, MLB Houston Texans
33. Nick Barnett, MLB Green Bay Packers
34.Adalius Thomas, OLB New England Patriots
35. London Fletcher-Baker, MLB Washington Redskins
36. Laron Landry, FS Washington Redskins
37. Charles Woodson, CB Green Bay Packers
38. Antonio Pierce, MLB New York Giants
39. Williams, the other dude from minnesota
40. A.J. Hawk, MLB Green Bay PAckers
41. Aaron Kampman, DE Green Bay Packers
42. Bart Scott, OLB Baltimore Ravens
43. Nate Clements, CB Sanfransico 49ers
44.Jonathon Vilma, MLB New Orleans Saints
45. Deangelo Hall, CB Oakland Raiders
46. Ty Warren, DE New England Patriots
47. Brian Dawkins, FS Philadelpia Eagles
48. Dante Whitner, SS Buffalo Bills
49. Casey Hampton, OLB Shawne Phillips
50. Resheed Mathis, CB Jacksonville Jaguars

So I have had a number of months to come to grips with the PAtriots losing the superbowl after their 18-0 satart. Its hard to imagine an 18-0 "best team ever" turning into just another team that didn't win the super bowl. This team had more talent than the other three superbowls. But we lost, fair and square, the Giants were the better team on the field Sunday. Taking nothing away from the Giants, these are the Five self-induced points as to why the patriots lost the Superbowl.

1) Assante Samuel has to catch that ball a play or two before "The play". He lost focus and didn't even seem too bothered by it, smiling seconds after. Samuel is a top five cornerback in football, and his strength is his playmaking ability. He got lost in the moment. A flat out choke.

2) Belichick may be the best coach ever, but i think he took a serious hit when he went for it on 4th and 13. Stephen Gostkowski is no slouch, The Patriots drafted him. Any drafted kicker has a good leg, and we have seen that the two years he has been with The Patriots. Its indoors for goodness sake, kick the 51 yard field goal and that game is 17-17 and going into overtime.

3) Richard Seymour, Adalius Thomas and whoever else had a hand on Eli, Bring him down, this isn't Vince Young, It's not Ben Rothlesberger, its ELI MANNING, No reason he ever should have gotten away. Arguments could be made that those defenders are top 3 in the league at their postition, so what happened? that leads to my next point.

4) Lack of Energy - The pats just didn't show the passion I expected. I want to see some screaming, some frustration on the sidelenes. Guy's like Seau, Bruschi, Brady and Faulk really got set the tone and get the team more energy, especially against a physical team liek the Giants.I want to see fire in their eyes, its the biggest single game in North American sports, crank it up a notch. The Patriots played liek it was their right to win. The team that wanted it more won the game. Period.

) Preparation - I suppose it's debatable, but I think Josh Mcdaniels and the other coaches should have had a play in the book for a situation liek their was at the end. There are 35 secoonds left, no one would have blamed them for trying something, especially on the kickoff return. Be it a reverse, a lateral, or a repeat of the music city miracle, an 18 yeard return, or whatever it was, just didn't cut it for me.And there you have it.

Although it hurts to say, Giants, you deserved it.

It's truly a crazy NFL season.
Here we sit after all 32 have completed over half of their games, and a league hierchy remains very unclear. There are 19 teams in the NFL within 2 games of the .500 mark, and only the Lions, the Chiefs and the Bengals appear completely out of the playoff picture.
Tennessee does remain the only unbeaten team, but they have many doubters, including myself, who feel there comes a point in a season where you need a quarterback to win you some football games, and even a "ten years ago" version of Kerry Collins would struggle to do that, let alone the 37 year old he is now.
Deangelo hall was released yesterday by the "Al Davis show" Raiders, and there will surely be a bidding war between teams with playoff inspirations with trouble in the secondary, talking to you Dallas and New England.
Week 10 will surely answer some questions, more to come on that later.
Several big matchups this weekend. Two that stick out for me are the matchups of New England and Buffalo, as well as Indy and the Steelers.
We all saw on Sunday Night as Peyton Manning, Reggie Wayne and co. stepped up and beat their arch rival of the decade patriots. Obviosuly the matchup didnt carry the hyp it normally did. No Tom Brady, no undefeated teams, combined the teams were only 2 games above .500 coming in, but a win is a win, and the Colts, desperate to stay in the Wild-card race, got one.
They need to continue that desperate feel as they travel to Pitsburg this Sunday. The Steelers are coming off an impressive win against the Redskins, led by fill-in quarterback Byron Leftwich. No word on whether or not Big Ben will be in the lineup yet, but either way the colts are going to have to develop some kind of running game to beat the steelers and their outstanding linebacker play at home.
Heading into week 7, Buffalo was a cinderella story at 5-1. Now they appear to be a team with a lot of holes, and a quarterback who may have been annointed early. The Patriots on the other hand appear to be inproving under Matt Cassel and the offense looks a little more comfortabel each week. It appears that Lamont Jordan will be on the field, and that will ad an element to the New England running game they haven't had in weeks.