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Ketch's 10 Thoughts From the Weekend (A special Memorial Day edition...)

Hakeem is 9 years older than Shaq so if Shaq is early 20s Hakeem is probably 30, and a 20 year old Shaq in Orlando is no where close to what he was in 1999-2000 with the lakers. The best player out of that group is a 30 year old Hakeem but a 28 year old Shaq out muscles and beats a prime Kareem or Hakeem imo. The head to head battles don't work since their primes were not closely enough aligned.

Do you think Hakeem was a greater player?

The 22-year-old Shaq led the league in scoring. If he wasn’t at his absolute peak, he was close enough that it doesn’t matter. Similarly, Hakeem in the ‘80s was near his peak, too. He wasn’t as good offensively but was better defensively and more athletic. Again, if he wasn’t at his absolute peak, it was close enough to not matter. Late ‘80s Kareem was nowhere near his peak.

In terms of career, it’s pretty clearly Kareem > Shaq > Hakeem. There’s no real debate there.
 
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BUY or SELL: Chris Del Conte will be critiquing the offensive performance this year. If the offense still stutters by mid season he’ll force Herman to change things up.
Agree with Ketch. A) not CDC’s relational style with Herman... not even close. B) Herman isn’t Charlie and will not let assistant coaches determine his future... he won’t need to be told
 
The last section gave me goose bumps!
Also I love your prediction for game 7 tonight. And one more thing, a good offensive line will hide bad play calling and subpar QB play. It all starts up front!
Thanks for your hard work!
 
One more follow up on your statement about Wilt being great in any era and Russell not being as good as Wilt.

Wilt and Russell played 10 seasons together in the NBA. In 5 of those seasons, Russell beat Wilt in MVP voting and in 5 seasons, Wilt beat Russell in MVP voting. How did Russell beat Wilt so often in MVP voting if Wilt was on another level as a player? NBA writers and MVP voters in that era seemed to think Russell was just as good as Wilt in the regular season and clearly more successful in the playoffs. I think Ill go with their opinion over your thoughts based on the 30 seconds of grainy highlight clips you have watched Russell play.
 

Let's talk about Tyler Johnson, the Conroe Oak Ridge offensive lineman who committed to the Longhorns over the weekend.

I'm a big, big fan.

When I moved Johnson into the top 10 of the Lone Star Recruiting rankings earlier in the spring, the athletic dancing bear hadn't quite caught fire as a prospect from a recruiting rankings standpoint, but it was obvious to the naked eye when reviewing his film that this was a kid that would emerge as a high-level national prospect.

fjspzvzhiurly4fag1dl


Four months later, he's a national top-75 prospect and committed to the Longhorns. Eventually, I believe he'll be rated as a high-four star prospect, which would match the traditional ranking that goes along with being on the cusp of the top 70. It might seem like an insignificant detail, but there's actually a stark difference between the quality of a top 75, high four-star prospect and the tier below it (mid-four-stars), which typically extends to the national top 150 or so.

The difference? Well, when it comes to projecting as an NFL drafted player, those in the top 75 (and ranked as high-four stars or higher) typically emerge as impact linemen worthy of serious attention from NFL teams at twice the rate as the next tier below them.

At the most basic level possible, it's the difference between 2:1 odds of eventually being drafted by an NFL team and 4:1 or 5:1 odds.

Therefore, while there's a lot of work to be done in the next four or five years of development for Johnson, he's a piece of clay that will arrive on the 40 Acres with an upside that's different from most.

Since the beginning of the decade, the Longhorns have signed only five such offensive line prospects: Trey Hopkins (2010 - No. 64 overall), Kennedy Estelle (2013 - No. 67 overall), Kent Perkins (2014 - No. 41 overall), Darius James (2014 - No. 65 overall) and Patrick Hudson (2016 - No. 61 overall).

Of that group, Hopkins was a solid college player, who emerged as a starter for the Cincinnati Bengals, but the other players created mixed (mostly poor) results. Perkins was merely an average college player, but has also emerged as an NFL player with the same Bengals squad as Hopkins, while Estelle and James flamed out of the program before they could make a real positive impact. Meanwhile, it's too early to properly judge Hudson, who was injured last season right at the moment when he seemed to be coming on.

I'd contend that the Longhorns are due to hit on one of these elite-level prospects, since you'd probably have to go back to Tony Hills in 2003 to find an elite offensive line prospect that truly lived up to the massive expectations that come with being such a highly-regarded prospect.

No. 2 - Some softball coaching scuttlebutt ...

There's been some discussion that the Longhorns could replace former coach Connie Clark with a hire from within, with assistant Tripp McKay listed as the primary possibility.

In asking around this weekend, I'm not sure I made any real headway in locking down the direction Chris Del Conte will go with this hire, but I will keep digging.

I have to be honest, I don't know much about the women's softball coaching market. I don't really have a smart recommendation because ... wait for it ... I'm not qualified to make one.

I just wonder how everyone might feel about making a hire from within?

No. 3 - You could see it coming a mile away ...

I think the best thing that could happen to the Texas Longhorn baseball team is that there was actually a Big 12 Baseball Tournament for it to flame out in before the start of the NCAA Tournament.

In retrospect, it was impossible to think that there wouldn't be a bit of a hangover following a pretty magical weekend, which occurred only a few days before the start of the Tournament.

A more experienced winner probably would have handled the situation better, but Texas baseball is no longer an experienced winner. That mental strength will need to be rebuilt and the events from this weekend will be part of the lesson that will be learned.

For now, this team needs to recharge its batteries, shake off the results from the Tournament and prepare itself for the true second season.

No. 4 – Buy or Sell …
BUY-SELL.gif


BUY or SELL: The quarterback play will have more to do with the success or failure of the offense this year than Coach Beck's play calling?

(Buy) Obviously, there's some crossover between these two issues, but good quarterback play can mask poor play-calling better than great play-calling can mask poor quarterback play.

BUY or SELL: As of today 5-27-2018, you feel Texas will finish with a top-10 class in recruiting? I know this question has been worn out and the landscape continuously changes.

(Buy) Last year, Florida State was the No. 10 team in the national rankings, finishing with one five-star, 15 four-stars and an average star ranking of 3.76. Texas currently has eight commitments, with five currently rated as four stars. So, it comes down to whether you believe the coaches will finish with another 11-12 four-stars, which I believe they will. It might be close, though.

BUY or SELL: Chris Del Conte will be critiquing the offensive performance this year. If the offense still stutters by mid season he’ll force Herman to change things up.

(Sell) I don't believe that at all.

BUY or SELL: A team can have too many quarterbacks, defensive backs and wide receivers on campus and in the pipeline?

(Sell) There's not a position on the field you can have too many of. The entire purpose of elite recruiting, year-in and year-out, is so that you always have volume.

BUY or SELL: Texas beats Maryland on Sept. 1, destroys Tulsa on Sept. 8, and then beats USC convincingly in Austin on Sept. 15.

(Sell) I could see beats Maryland, beats Tulsa and gets by USC, which I would imagine would be good enough.

BUY or SELL: Despite winning its first three games of the year, Texas still hasn't settled on a starting quarterback.

(Buy) I'm not buying a lot of stock in the Texas offense right now.

BUY or SELL: The Longhorn men will play for a national championship in one of the big three sports in the next five years.

(Sell) I still can't buy that. Hope like hell I change it to a buy soon.

BUY or SELL: Longhorns win a national championship -- any sport -- before you spend $100 (your own money) at a strip club again!

(Buy) Eddie Reese will win another national title before I go back to a strip club ... I think.

BUY or SELL: It was not an accident that Chris Plonsky was not mentioned or quoted in the press release regarding the resignation of Connie Clark?

(Buy) There are no accidents.

BUY or SELL: You cheat by using the Buy or Sell questions to help you come up with a theme for your 10TFTW column, then pick from the remaining B/S questions that are okay.

(Sell) I "cheat" occasionally, but usually I take notes on what I want to write about during the week and by the time I get to the weekend, I'm pretty good with topics. It probably happens once a month or so where I'll steal an idea or concept for an entire section.

BUY or SELL: Sergio Ramos is a dirty player and accomplished what he set out to do to Mo Salah?

(Sell) Ramos is a dirty player and I think he absolutely meant to give Salah some rough treatment with his intentional efforts to hold Salah's arm as they went to the ground in the Champions League final, but I don't think anyone could have guessed that it would cause the damage that it did.

BUY or SELL: If the Eagles, the Beatles, and the Beach Boys held a winner-take-all poker game, the Eagles would win?

(Buy) As a band, the Eagles were some card-playing deviants and Glenn Fry was a card-shark among his group.

No. 5 - Appreciate the greatness in front of you...






No. 6 - For the record...

These are my top 10 all-time NBA players.

1. Michael Jordan
2. LeBron James
3. Magic Johnson
4. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
5. Wilt Chamberlin
6. Shaquille O’Neal
7. Tim Duncan
8. Kobe Bryant
9. Larry Bird
10. Hakeem Olajuwon

No. 7 - Predictions, predictions, predictions...

a. Kevin Durant plays his best game of the series in game seven of the Western Conference Finals on Monday night.

b. James Harden plays an even better game - 38 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists.

c. Eric Gordon has a bigger impact tonight than either of the Splash Brothers.

d. Rockets win 115-110.

No. 8 – Eternal Randomness of the Spotty Sports Mind …

... It goes without saying that LeBron James finding a way to win a game seven on the road with Jeff Green and J.R. Smith in the starting line-up goes down as one of the great achievements of his career. The Cavs will get smashed in the finals, but winning on the road in game seven is a rare deal.

... Jayson Tatum is going to be a bad dude for a very long time in the NBA. Imagine him in Philly right now instead of Markelle Fultz ...

... The Celtics have some interesting personnel decisions to make in the next couple of off-seasons.

... After a five-hit game two days ago, this Mike Trout stat is goofy:


... Headline on ESPN.com that kind of scared me: "There's no question Cowboys are Dak Prescott's team now"

... Josh Freeman retired from the CFL this weekend. Who knew?

... Like Texas fans following the 2010 national championship game, I'm going to forever wonder "what if" when it comes down to this weekend's Champions League final. Liverpool was the better team in the first 25 minutes of the game - creating chances and making Real Madrid uncomfortable ... and then everything changed when Mo Salah had to leave the field with injury. As it is, Real won the game on a wonder goal and two keeper mistakes. It's a bit frustrating that Liverpool didn't really make Real Madrid beat them. The Liverpool back four was outstanding, Ronaldo was rendered a non-factor and it was basically a push in the midfield. The difference was Gareth Bale, Loris Karius and the Salah injury.
tenor.gif


No.9 - This will give you some perspective...



No. 10 – And Finally …

To every single man and woman that has ever given the ultimate sacrifice, and the families that were forced to live with that sacrifice ...

From the bottom of my heart ...

Thank you. We might be a dysfunctional family right now, but you are never ... ever ... forgotten.

Not today. Not yesterday. Not tomorrow. Not ever.

You represent the best of us.

DeS5ZaqU0AUm9ie.jpg:large
Shaq is not ahead of Hakeem...no way. I’m a Houston fan and I’ll admit that up front. You can’t possibly have Shaq at 6 and Hakeem at 10 and think your list has merit. Truth is, after the first two it’s up for grabs, but never Shaq in front. Wow on that.
 
Internal hire for softball is weird but we don’t really care. Trust cdc I guess.

Spot on your last comment.
Hope CDC has people around him that know the game. Heard from source Cat Osterman doesn’t want the job. Which is good. I’d take the fat UT wallet and go get Tim Walton.
 
The 22-year-old Shaq led the league in scoring. If he wasn’t at his absolute peak, he was close enough that it doesn’t matter. Similarly, Hakeem in the ‘80s was near his peak, too. He wasn’t as good offensively but was better defensively and more athletic. Again, if he wasn’t at his absolute peak, it was close enough to not matter. Late ‘80s Kareem was nowhere near his peak.

In terms of career, it’s pretty clearly Kareem > Shaq > Hakeem. There’s no real debate there.

Nope a 2000 Lakers Shaq ragdolls the Orlando Shaq like he did robinson to think otherwise is insane, Shaq>Kareem>>>Hakeem
 
One more follow up on your statement about Wilt being great in any era and Russell not being as good as Wilt.

Wilt and Russell played 10 seasons together in the NBA. In 5 of those seasons, Russell beat Wilt in MVP voting and in 5 seasons, Wilt beat Russell in MVP voting. How did Russell beat Wilt so often in MVP voting if Wilt was on another level as a player? NBA writers and MVP voters in that era seemed to think Russell was just as good as Wilt in the regular season and clearly more successful in the playoffs. I think Ill go with their opinion over your thoughts based on the 30 seconds of grainy highlight clips you have watched Russell play.
Go check out Russell’s supporting cast vs Wilt’s. Not even close.
 
ketch great column. but cmon Wilt shouldnt really be on the list because we didnt watch him play... Wilt was before our time bro. we are about the same age so our eras start with the Kareem/Dr j eras...imo

as a basketball historian..any list with wilt should have Bill russel on it also.. imo
 
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Internal hire for softball is weird but we don’t really care. Trust cdc I guess.

Spot on your last comment.
We don't need to hire within, need to clean the slate and start all over. No use to half ass anything. Just my opinion
 
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Kind of where I'm at with it as well.
I’m sorry, I just don’t trust anyone until I see some skins here, at Texas. That softball program is more than stale and everything eminating from it lately only seems to draw negative responses. No, a hire from within makes no sense as this is a program in need of a fresh start.
 
The B/S on our QB and Plonsky in the press release are very interesting points.

I have to think Plonsky is walking down the plank, and she knows it. CDC may be holding her hand to make sure she goes, but to do it in a way that causes the least damage to the University.

As to QBs, not to raise the issue for the billionth time, but Shane is going to play, a lot. The emotional attachment many have to Sam is cute and all, but he has a long, long way to go as a QB. Like Ash, Swoopes and most of his predecessors, its really too bad he didn't get to redshirt. He has a lot of athletic ability, but he needed a year to learn. Shane did as well, but the kid is really underrated here.

I think you are wrong on Sam...my eyes saw different things. We will see. And it is not emotional... it is analytical.
 
Has anyone evaluate any of the softball assistant coaches to see if they would even be a candidate for the job? I'm hoping CDC would do this. I've relegated Women's Softball to the same category as Men's Basketball. If Texas isn't interested, I'm not either.
Glad we are making a change within or without. I'll be watching next year.
 
I am not proposing or poo-pooing a softball coach from within, but an interesting fun fact on corporate leadership you probably didn't know:

90%+ of all truly great companies (those that beat the stock market by 4X or greater for a sustained period of 15 years or more) are/were run by CEO's that were promoted from within.

And, thank you for 9 and 10.
You have a cite for this?
 
Its ridiculous to leave Russell out of your top 10. PER is probably the worst stat to evaluate Russell, considering offensive rebounds, blocks, and steals were not even recorded statistically until 1973. Giving Russell credit for his full rebounding and defensive impact likely would adjust his true PER more than any other player.

My criteria for the top 10... first I start with the top 8, who are the only 8 players to ever win multiple MVP awards, multiple finals MVP awards, and multiple NBA championships: Jordan, Russell, Wilt, Kareem, Duncan, Magic, Bird, and LeBron. Being the best player in the league multiple seasons and being the best player on multiple championship teams is what separates the greatest 8 of all time from the not quite as good like Kobe, Shaq, West, Oscar, and Hakeem.

Jordan and LeBron are the only two with a case for #1, and #1 is still in play for LeBron even if he isnt there yet.

Your argument that Russell wouldnt be great in any era breaks down when Russell always beat Wilt in the playoffs and you think Wilt could be great in any era.
Hakeem would have worn Russell's ass out. Yes, I'm holding against Russell the fact that he had offensive limitations and would have been whipped by later players from tougher era that aren't getting brownie points for winning a league without much tough competition.
 
Why? Because of the turnover ratio of coaches to company leaders? I was thinking about that, too. Great leaders span every aspect of life. From coaches, to clergy, to teachers, to corporate leaders. You have been touched by great leadership at some point in your life. It didn't have to be your boss or your bosses boss.

The greatest coaches (Saban comes to mind) have most of the same traits as great corporate leaders.

Most Athletic Directors (and certainly most fans) don't understand great leadership, and think it is foretold by arrogance and flashy public display. That is the furthest from the truth. Most great leaders have two traits:
1. More concerned about the success of the organization (whatever type that is) than their personal fame.
2. Absolute dogged determination to succeed and take on any challenge they face head on.

Saban has a disdain for publicity and generally doesn't give a rat's ass what the reporters think about him. He will do anything to have his team be successful. He takes responsibility for all of the warts within his program. He is a great leader.
No, because very few elite of the elite hires come from within.
 
ketch great column. but cmon Wilt shouldnt really be on the list because we didnt watch him play... Wilt was before our time bro. we are about the same age so our eras start with the Kareem/Dr j eras...imo

as a basketball historian..any list with wilt should have Bill russel on it also.. imo
flip Russell to the Sixers and Wilt to the Celtics... and how is each remembered?
 
ketch great column. but cmon Wilt shouldnt really be on the list because we didnt watch him play... Wilt was before our time bro. we are about the same age so our eras start with the Kareem/Dr j eras...imo

as a basketball historian..any list with wilt should have Bill russel on it also.. imo
I didn't see the Lincoln presidency either but every indication is that he was among the greats.
 
No.9 - This will give you some perspective...



No. 10 – And Finally …

To every single man and woman that has ever given the ultimate sacrifice, and the families that were forced to live with that sacrifice ...

From the bottom of my heart ...

Thank you. We might be a dysfunctional family right now, but you are never ... ever ... forgotten.

Not today. Not yesterday. Not tomorrow. Not ever.

You represent the best of us.

DeS5ZaqU0AUm9ie.jpg:large
[/QUOTE]
Most important part of these 10 Thoughts. Thank you.
 
Interesting that Dirk was excluded from the list of players with a postseason of 25. He did it 6 times and had another one of 24.8.
 
I thought we had settled the Hakeem vs. Duncan debate with the majority on this board favoring Hakeem.
 
I thought we had settled the Hakeem vs. Duncan debate with the majority on this board favoring Hakeem.

No objective arguments support ranking Hakeem above Duncan.
 
I'll be surprised if CDC goes for an internal hire on softball … he aims higher on everything else, why settle here?

Mackay has a solid and long resume as an assistant and might warrant a HC job, but two seasons on a down trending staff where the HC gets fired doesn't get you that job at a major D1 school trying to be nationally relevant.
 
Would love to see some Vegas style odds from the OB Staff on each of the Big 3 Men's Sports playing in a national championship (not necessarily winning) in the next 5 seasons for each. I'm thinking something like this …

Football: 10 to 1 (a lot of programs that have been out executing us for the past 7 - 8 years to jump over … and takes a lot of talent, which we're only starting to close the gap on).

Basketball 30 to 1 (one final four in the modern era and trending down, might make these long shot odds optimistic).

Baseball 5 to 1 (Pierce, knack of the program to get to Omaha, incoming class make this the best chance to get it done).
 

Let's talk about Tyler Johnson, the Conroe Oak Ridge offensive lineman who committed to the Longhorns over the weekend.

I'm a big, big fan.

When I moved Johnson into the top 10 of the Lone Star Recruiting rankings earlier in the spring, the athletic dancing bear hadn't quite caught fire as a prospect from a recruiting rankings standpoint, but it was obvious to the naked eye when reviewing his film that this was a kid that would emerge as a high-level national prospect.

fjspzvzhiurly4fag1dl


Four months later, he's a national top-75 prospect and committed to the Longhorns. Eventually, I believe he'll be rated as a high-four star prospect, which would match the traditional ranking that goes along with being on the cusp of the top 70. It might seem like an insignificant detail, but there's actually a stark difference between the quality of a top 75, high four-star prospect and the tier below it (mid-four-stars), which typically extends to the national top 150 or so.

The difference? Well, when it comes to projecting as an NFL drafted player, those in the top 75 (and ranked as high-four stars or higher) typically emerge as impact linemen worthy of serious attention from NFL teams at twice the rate as the next tier below them.

At the most basic level possible, it's the difference between 2:1 odds of eventually being drafted by an NFL team and 4:1 or 5:1 odds.

Therefore, while there's a lot of work to be done in the next four or five years of development for Johnson, he's a piece of clay that will arrive on the 40 Acres with an upside that's different from most.

Since the beginning of the decade, the Longhorns have signed only five such offensive line prospects: Trey Hopkins (2010 - No. 64 overall), Kennedy Estelle (2013 - No. 67 overall), Kent Perkins (2014 - No. 41 overall), Darius James (2014 - No. 65 overall) and Patrick Hudson (2016 - No. 61 overall).

Of that group, Hopkins was a solid college player, who emerged as a starter for the Cincinnati Bengals, but the other players created mixed (mostly poor) results. Perkins was merely an average college player, but has also emerged as an NFL player with the same Bengals squad as Hopkins, while Estelle and James flamed out of the program before they could make a real positive impact. Meanwhile, it's too early to properly judge Hudson, who was injured last season right at the moment when he seemed to be coming on.

I'd contend that the Longhorns are due to hit on one of these elite-level prospects, since you'd probably have to go back to Tony Hills in 2003 to find an elite offensive line prospect that truly lived up to the massive expectations that come with being such a highly-regarded prospect.

No. 2 - Some softball coaching scuttlebutt ...

There's been some discussion that the Longhorns could replace former coach Connie Clark with a hire from within, with assistant Tripp McKay listed as the primary possibility.

In asking around this weekend, I'm not sure I made any real headway in locking down the direction Chris Del Conte will go with this hire, but I will keep digging.

I have to be honest, I don't know much about the women's softball coaching market. I don't really have a smart recommendation because ... wait for it ... I'm not qualified to make one.

I just wonder how everyone might feel about making a hire from within?

No. 3 - You could see it coming a mile away ...

I think the best thing that could happen to the Texas Longhorn baseball team is that there was actually a Big 12 Baseball Tournament for it to flame out in before the start of the NCAA Tournament.

In retrospect, it was impossible to think that there wouldn't be a bit of a hangover following a pretty magical weekend, which occurred only a few days before the start of the Tournament.

A more experienced winner probably would have handled the situation better, but Texas baseball is no longer an experienced winner. That mental strength will need to be rebuilt and the events from this weekend will be part of the lesson that will be learned.

For now, this team needs to recharge its batteries, shake off the results from the Tournament and prepare itself for the true second season.

No. 4 – Buy or Sell …
BUY-SELL.gif


BUY or SELL: The quarterback play will have more to do with the success or failure of the offense this year than Coach Beck's play calling?

(Buy) Obviously, there's some crossover between these two issues, but good quarterback play can mask poor play-calling better than great play-calling can mask poor quarterback play.

BUY or SELL: As of today 5-27-2018, you feel Texas will finish with a top-10 class in recruiting? I know this question has been worn out and the landscape continuously changes.

(Buy) Last year, Florida State was the No. 10 team in the national rankings, finishing with one five-star, 15 four-stars and an average star ranking of 3.76. Texas currently has eight commitments, with five currently rated as four stars. So, it comes down to whether you believe the coaches will finish with another 11-12 four-stars, which I believe they will. It might be close, though.

BUY or SELL: Chris Del Conte will be critiquing the offensive performance this year. If the offense still stutters by mid season he’ll force Herman to change things up.

(Sell) I don't believe that at all.

BUY or SELL: A team can have too many quarterbacks, defensive backs and wide receivers on campus and in the pipeline?

(Sell) There's not a position on the field you can have too many of. The entire purpose of elite recruiting, year-in and year-out, is so that you always have volume.

BUY or SELL: Texas beats Maryland on Sept. 1, destroys Tulsa on Sept. 8, and then beats USC convincingly in Austin on Sept. 15.

(Sell) I could see beats Maryland, beats Tulsa and gets by USC, which I would imagine would be good enough.

BUY or SELL: Despite winning its first three games of the year, Texas still hasn't settled on a starting quarterback.

(Buy) I'm not buying a lot of stock in the Texas offense right now.

BUY or SELL: The Longhorn men will play for a national championship in one of the big three sports in the next five years.

(Sell) I still can't buy that. Hope like hell I change it to a buy soon.

BUY or SELL: Longhorns win a national championship -- any sport -- before you spend $100 (your own money) at a strip club again!

(Buy) Eddie Reese will win another national title before I go back to a strip club ... I think.

BUY or SELL: It was not an accident that Chris Plonsky was not mentioned or quoted in the press release regarding the resignation of Connie Clark?

(Buy) There are no accidents.

BUY or SELL: You cheat by using the Buy or Sell questions to help you come up with a theme for your 10TFTW column, then pick from the remaining B/S questions that are okay.

(Sell) I "cheat" occasionally, but usually I take notes on what I want to write about during the week and by the time I get to the weekend, I'm pretty good with topics. It probably happens once a month or so where I'll steal an idea or concept for an entire section.

BUY or SELL: Sergio Ramos is a dirty player and accomplished what he set out to do to Mo Salah?

(Sell) Ramos is a dirty player and I think he absolutely meant to give Salah some rough treatment with his intentional efforts to hold Salah's arm as they went to the ground in the Champions League final, but I don't think anyone could have guessed that it would cause the damage that it did.

BUY or SELL: If the Eagles, the Beatles, and the Beach Boys held a winner-take-all poker game, the Eagles would win?

(Buy) As a band, the Eagles were some card-playing deviants and Glenn Fry was a card-shark among his group.

No. 5 - Appreciate the greatness in front of you...






No. 6 - For the record...

These are my top 10 all-time NBA players.

1. Michael Jordan
2. LeBron James
3. Magic Johnson
4. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
5. Wilt Chamberlin
6. Shaquille O’Neal
7. Tim Duncan
8. Kobe Bryant
9. Larry Bird
10. Hakeem Olajuwon

No. 7 - Predictions, predictions, predictions...

a. Kevin Durant plays his best game of the series in game seven of the Western Conference Finals on Monday night.

b. James Harden plays an even better game - 38 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists.

c. Eric Gordon has a bigger impact tonight than either of the Splash Brothers.

d. Rockets win 115-110.

No. 8 – Eternal Randomness of the Spotty Sports Mind …

... It goes without saying that LeBron James finding a way to win a game seven on the road with Jeff Green and J.R. Smith in the starting line-up goes down as one of the great achievements of his career. The Cavs will get smashed in the finals, but winning on the road in game seven is a rare deal.

... Jayson Tatum is going to be a bad dude for a very long time in the NBA. Imagine him in Philly right now instead of Markelle Fultz ...

... The Celtics have some interesting personnel decisions to make in the next couple of off-seasons.

... After a five-hit game two days ago, this Mike Trout stat is goofy:


... Headline on ESPN.com that kind of scared me: "There's no question Cowboys are Dak Prescott's team now"

... Josh Freeman retired from the CFL this weekend. Who knew?

... Like Texas fans following the 2010 national championship game, I'm going to forever wonder "what if" when it comes down to this weekend's Champions League final. Liverpool was the better team in the first 25 minutes of the game - creating chances and making Real Madrid uncomfortable ... and then everything changed when Mo Salah had to leave the field with injury. As it is, Real won the game on a wonder goal and two keeper mistakes. It's a bit frustrating that Liverpool didn't really make Real Madrid beat them. The Liverpool back four was outstanding, Ronaldo was rendered a non-factor and it was basically a push in the midfield. The difference was Gareth Bale, Loris Karius and the Salah injury.
tenor.gif


No.9 - This will give you some perspective...



No. 10 – And Finally …

To every single man and woman that has ever given the ultimate sacrifice, and the families that were forced to live with that sacrifice ...

From the bottom of my heart ...

Thank you. We might be a dysfunctional family right now, but you are never ... ever ... forgotten.

Not today. Not yesterday. Not tomorrow. Not ever.

You represent the best of us.

DeS5ZaqU0AUm9ie.jpg:large
Ketch, have you found any substance behind the quiet confidence for the football team?

I know it was something you polled the OB staff about during one of the recent podcasts and I'm curious to find out if there's anything more to it.
 
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