There are some aspects of the sports world- be they players, fans, teams, histories- that are overhyped. Way, way, overhyped. Things which we, the fans, are not supposed to question. Sacred cows, if you will. When these things are brought up, we're expected to genuflect, to assent with the party line.
To quote Sagat: man, funk dat!
It's time to burst a few bubbles. So, presented in no particular order, here is a list of some of the things about sports which I, for one, find to be hugely overrated.
To wit:
The Raider Mystique
It's been at least twenty years since the "badass" Raider image had any teeth, but you'd never know it, the way this organization gets talked up. You'd think George Atkinson was still part of the Criminal Element and Jack Tatum was still out there paralyzing New England receivers. The fact is, the Raiders have made it to one Super Bowl in the last two decades, and that was with a finesse team that got flat-out muscled by the Tampa Bay Paper Champions. And as far as the so-called Raider Nation is concerned, we're talking about a fanbase that saw Al Davis leave town, then welcomed him back! The Black Hole is the collective asses of Raider fans, wide and gaping from Al Davis's years of buggery. And those battered wives like it.
The Army-Navy Game
I don't know about you, but I can't wait to watch a game between a couple of 2-8 teams that still run the Wishbone and have about one real football player between them.
Willis Reed Coming Out on the Floor Before Game Seven of the 1970 Finals
The man only played a few minutes and scored four points, and the Knicks won easily. New York was a better team than Los Angeles (60 regular-season wins to L.A.'s 46), and the game was in Madison Square Garden. Besides, those Laker teams had already made losing in the Finals into somewhat of an art form. Willis Reed could have been suspended from the Garden rafters, Owen Hart-style, and Frazier, Bradley and Co still would have won.
Warren Sapp
If this guy didn't talk so much self-promotional s--t, somebody might have noticed that while he was with Tampa Bay, he was the third-best player on his own defense... at best. And that's after Hardy Nickerson left. Remember when he guaranteed the sack record, then got something like, three, the entire season?
- Sapp gets the "No Shit Award" for assessing Courtney Brown as 'soft' following the Bucs' 17-3 thumping of the Browns in '02.
Pete Rose
Aside from the fact that, like Chris Sheherlis, Rose was a gambling junky who wouldn't listen, he was also a portly singles hitter who didn't run well (topped out at 20 steals in a season), wasn't a great fielder, hit with little power (topped out at 16 home runs in a season), and was never the best player on his team, anywhere he went. This is the asshat who complained that Gene Garber was bearing down too hard when Garber struck him out to end his 44-game hitting streak (which was kept alive several times by bunt hits). What a pussy.
The 1985 Villanova-Georgetown NCAA Championship Game
The astounding thing is that 'Nova, an eight-seed, made it all the way to the Championship Game. But it's not as astounding that they beat Georgetown. The two teams were both in the Big East and had already played twice. Georgetown won both games, but they were close- by seven points and two points in OT. Villanova hadn't played particularly well during the '84-85 season, but they were a senior-heavy team, they knew Georgetown, and what's more, they knew they could play with Georgetown. 'Nova's Tournament run is not overrated. Their win over Georgetown, though very impressive (78% shooting!) is.
Brian Urlacher
If Urlacher is such a great middle linebacker... why do the Bears suck so badly every season?
The 1998 Home Run Chase
Two roid-freaks from mediocre teams chasing an individual record- a distorted record- in a team game. Yawn. And yes, the Cubs were mediocre, despite going to the playoffs.
Bill Buckner's Error in Game Six of the '86 World Series
The game was already tied. The Red Sox had already blown their two-run lead. It was over. Boston wasn't coming back after getting so close and letting it slip away. Billy Buck's error was the coup de grace, but the Red Sox had already been mortally wounded, make no mistake about it. The real goats for Boston that inning were Calvin Shiraldi, who couldn't get the third out, and John MacNamara, who for the first time all season, didn't pull the gimpy Buckner for defensive specialist Dave Stapleton... and paid for it.
Nice, but a little overrated
The Drive
Really, this isn't sour grapes. Ask me who the best quarterback I've ever seen is, and I'll answer '#7' every time. All I'm saying is that the Broncos had almost six minutes to get down the field, and that's plenty of time, even if they did have to go 98 yards. The 49ers went 89 yards to beat the Cowboys in the 1981 NFC Championship Game, they had a minute less to do it than did the Broncos, and they were still able to get a good chunk of those yards on the ground. Elway has had better comebacks.
Kellen Winslow Getting Helped Off the Field After the '81 Chargers-Dolphins Playoff Game
You've seen the video- Kellen, utterly spent from his 13 catches and game-saving blocked field goal, getting assisted off the field by Charger teammates Eric Sievers and Billy Shields following the San Diego-Miami playoff classic. How heroic. No doubt, Kellen played his frickin' ass off in that game, but so did about fifty other guys from each team, and you didn't see them being carried off the field. Can you say, 'drama queen'? Can you say, 'like father, like son'?
Joe Torre
Amazing what George Steinbrenner's money and Buck Showalter's players can do for your status as a manager. Get Torre out of Yankee pinstripes, and he's a .471 career manager with one division title and one three-game NLCS smackdown on his resume. I'd still rather have Torre than Eric 'Mustache' Wedge.
Michael Jordan Getting "Cut" From His High School Basketball Team
He didn't get cut altogether. He got bumped down to JV as a sophomore. Big whup. People seem to think he got, you know, cut- and he didn't. But that notion fits nicely into MJ's "Everybody worships the ground I walk on but I have to feel disrespected at all times" manner of self-motivation.
1958 NFL Championship Game
Certainly important in terms of the NFL's nationwide popularity, but even the guys who played in it say this was not a great game artistically. Until about the two-minute mark of the fourth quarter, this was a sloppily-played, wholly unmemorable game.
Joe Namath
Yes, Broadway Joe directed the Jets' Super Bowl III upset. But did you know that Namath played eight more years after Super Bowl III, and never again beat a team with a winning record? Or that he threw 220 interceptions in his career? Or that he's in the Hall of Fame because of one game, and for most of his career, he was an erratic, injury-prone quarterback playing for a lousy team?
Willie Mays's Catch in the 1954 World Series
Good snag, sure, on Vic Wertz's 460-foot shot (would've been way out of the yard in Cleveland), but Mays made a butt-load of better ones. Actually, the best thing about this play is Mays's howitzer-shot throw back to the infield following the catch.
Jesse Owens "Showing Up" the Nazis at the 1936 Olympics
This is no disrespect to the late Mr. Owens (an all-time great and an Ohio man), but the socio-political aspects of his four gold medal-performance at Berlin have been way overblown. I don't know where African-Americans ranked on the Nazis' "Ethnic Groups We Detest and Wish to See Eradicated" list, but my guess is that they were well down it- maybe #17 or so. Owens won his fourth gold medal because he and fellow African-American Ralph Metcalfe were inserted onto the 4-x-100 team in place of Sam Stoller and Marty Glickman, Jewish runners who were pulled so as to not offend the Nazis. Some "statement" (you know you're in deep social doo-doo when it's 1936 and black people are more acceptable than you). Plus, when Owens got back to the States, he was still forced to race horses for a living, and when the Nazis wiped the Olympic egg off their faces, they went right ahead with their nefarious plans to re-make Europe.
Lynn Swann
Averaged 37 catches a year, never had more than 880 yards in a season; yet he's in the Hall of Fame. Don't get me wrong- the guy was a damned good receiver, he was clutch, and he played on a team that really didn't need to pass all that much. But there are receivers from the same era who were just as clutch as Swann and more productive overall, and they're not in the Hall of Fame (*cough* Drew Pearson). Hell, Swann wasn't even the best receiver on his own team (*cough* John Stallworth).
Cal Ripken
I think I'm in the majority when I say that I believe Cal Ripken is one of the biggest phonies to ever put on spikes. He travelled separately from the team; he stayed separately from the team; and he always thought about Cal Ripken first, then the team. His highlight reel consists of a.) All-Star Game home runs, b.) winning a Home Run Contest, and c.) breaking a record which is really quite meaningless, then running around the field polishing his 'legendary' status for about a half hour. There's no actual game film, because, um, Cal Ripken wasn't all that great. He was a'ight. But Omar Vizquel displays more brilliance taking a dump than Ripken ever did on the field.
Drama queen
The Yankees-Red Sox Rivalry
The Boston Red Sox went an even 100 years without beating the Yankees with a division or league title on the line. According to Jerry Tarkanian, for it to be a rivalry, the other team has to win sometimes. And the Red Sox didn't beat the Yankees in a meaningful game until last fall. If you adhere to the Tarkanian Rule, and I do, that means this 'ancient rivalry' didn't even become a rivalry until about eight months ago. Just goes to show what living on the East Coast and acting like yours is the only team to ever lose to the Yankees can do for you.
If any of you kind readers have any other examples, or if you simply want to call 'bullshit', don't hesitate.
bears fans...chill Posted: 8/29/2006by: ayyy I have as much respect for Urlacher as the next guy, but this article was written in June of '05, before that division championship you're all bragging about. Open your eyes. shut up Posted: 6/29/2006by: Horus "If Urlacher is such a great middle linebacker... why do the Bears suck so badly every season?"
Two words: Division Champs. Brian Urlacher is not overrated! Posted: 1/12/2006by: Nick Brian Urlacher is the NFL Defensive MVP this season. With your only argument being that the Bears suck, which they have disproven that fact this season, I cannot believe you could say such a thing. Even still, would you say Barry Sanders was overrated because the Lions sucked while he was there? I think not. Urlacher Posted: 1/6/2006by: geecher DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR ON A 11-5 TEAM! What more do you want? brilliant Posted: 1/4/2006by: JimHL Step back, breath deep, read again - dude is right in nearly every respect. I'm a Red Sox fan and can admit that I'm a snivelling whiner with an inferiority complex. Sure, it hurts to get called on it. But that doesn't make it untrue. Cal Ripken Posted: 12/29/2005by: DB You obviously know nothing about baseball and your comments regarding Ripken proved it. 1982 Rookie of the Year, 1983 AL MVP, 1991 AL MVP, 1991 All-Star Game MVP (he also won the HR Derby that year), 1991 and 1992 Gold Glove Award Winner, Elected to MLB All-Century Team, 2001 All-Star Game MVP, most double plays recorded by a SS (1682), and a member of the 3000 hits 400 HR club. He can also be credited for revolutionizing the shortstop position. Before him, shortstops weren't expected to power hitters. A-Rod and Jeter both have commended Ripken for opening the SS position up for big power hitters like them. As far as staying in different hotels, he started that around the time of the streak to keep the stupid media away from the rest of his teammates. Try doing a little research before you start slapping the "overrated" label on people. Ripken Shouldn't be Considered the Record Holder Posted: 12/29/2005by: CW Yes, Cal Ripken, Jr. played in more consecutive games than Lou Gehrig. Big deal, so he went to work every day. I come to work every day and I work year round. Where's my victory lap?
But the real reason I discount Cal Ripken's "record" is that Lou Gehrig never went on strike during his streak. Cal Ripken did and by doing so, he ended his streak in 1994 well short of the record for consecutive games played. oops Posted: 12/13/2005by: David oops. i posted twice. Pete Rose Posted: 12/13/2005by: David Pete Rose genuinely wasn't half the player most people thought he was. An example: Tim Raines, a player whom many feel is a borderline candidate, was a superior player.
Consider this:
If Pete Rose's job is to get on base, he didn't do it as well as Raines. Raines' career OBP of .388 edges Rose's OBP of .377.
In addition, Tim Raines slugged 18 points higher (.427 to .409) and hit only 8 fewer homers in more than 6,000 fewer at bats. While power is not a must for leadoff hitters, it definitely is a plus.
Pete Rose won Gold Gloves (2, not 3, in 1969 and 1970 playing OF for the Reds) But the Gold Glove award means very little, and many of the players who win it are not deserving (Derek Jeter, anyone?). Popularity, reputation, and offensive ability are more of a factor than anything else in the selection of a winner, and few, if any, baseball experts believe that Pete Rose was a quality defender.
Pete Rose was never a good baserunner, EVER. Consider this: Rose stole 198 bases over his 24 year career, but was caught 149 times! That's a miserable percentage by anyone's calculations. He hurt his team by running the bases. Raines stole 815 bases, yet was actually caught stealing 25 times less than Rose.
Pete Rose was a .303 lifetime hitter with below average power, less ability to get on-base than Tim Raines, horrendous baserunning ability, and a mediocre glove. If he wasn't banned from the HOF, I still don't know for sure if he's a shoo-in Hall of Famer, even considering his remarkable durability. I think Darrell Evans was a comparably valuable player, and Tim Raines was a superior ballplayer to Rose. So while he was a great player, he wasn't nearly as good (like Nolan Ryan, but that's a different story) as many people thought he was. Pete Rose Posted: 12/13/2005by: David Pete Rose genuinely wasn't half the player most people thought he was. An example: Tim Raines, a player whom many feel is a borderline candidate, was a superior player.
Consider this:
If Pete Rose's job is to get on base, he didn't do it as well as Raines. Raines' career OBP of .388 edges Rose's OBP of .377.
In addition, Tim Raines slugged 18 points higher (.427 to .409) and hit only 8 fewer homers in more than 6,000 fewer at bats. While power is not a must for leadoff hitters, it definitely is a plus.
Pete Rose won Gold Gloves (2, not 3, in 1969 and 1970 playing OF for the Reds) But the Gold Glove award means very little, and many of the players who win it are not deserving (Derek Jeter, anyone?). Popularity, reputation, and offensive ability are more of a factor than anything else in the selection of a winner, and few, if any, baseball experts believe that Pete Rose was a quality defender.
Pete Rose was never a good baserunner, EVER. Consider this: Rose stole 198 bases over his 24 year career, but was caught 149 times! That's a miserable percentage by anyone's calculations. He hurt his team by running the bases. Raines stole 815 bases, yet was actually caught stealing 25 times less than Rose.
Pete Rose was a .303 lifetime hitter with below average power, less ability to get on-base than Tim Raines, horrendous baserunning ability, and a mediocre glove. If he wasn't banned from the HOF, I still don't know for sure if he's a shoo-in Hall of Famer, even considering his remarkable durability. I think Darrell Evans was a comparably valuable player, and Tim Raines was a superior ballplayer to Rose. So while he was a great player, he wasn't nearly as good (like Nolan Ryan, but that's a different story) as many people thought was.
