Here's a little peek into my thought process on an all-too-common Tuesday during dart season.
— • — • —
7:20 am — Drag yourself out of bed after slapping the snooze button one too many times. "Ugh, I don't wanna go to work today. Ohhh shit, I have darts tonight, too! I'm starting to get tired of league. Maybe I won't go. Who can I get to shoot for me?"
9:09 am — "OK, fine. So I'll go and shoot, have a couple sodas, leave right after the last game, and I can be home by 9:00. Maybe I'll get a movie or something and watch that."
10:37 am — "Man, this morning is going slow. Isn't it lunch time yet? After work today, I should really run over to...oh, wait. Nope. Can't do that. Gotta go shoot darts."
12:44 pm — "Hah! Morning's over. Allll this work to do, though. Damn, I could really use a beer. OK, so if I have a couple beers during league, that's fine. Relax a little, shoot some good darts and get out of there at a decent hour."
1:39 pm — "Gregg, you're running out of weeks this year, and you don't have a sixer yet, you know. Tommy just got one last week, are you gonna let him stay ahead of you all season? Gotta get one. Shoot 'em good tonight."
3:27 pm — "I wonder how far ahead of the rest of the league I am in tons. I haven't seen a stat sheet in weeks. Last week was kind of a below-average night, better make up for it tonight. Hit that middle."
5:59 pm — "Nope, can't stay later tonight at work, I've gotta get to league. We're shooting the second-best team, and I need to get there early to warm up a little. My team needs me, and I need to get some good stats, and a bunch of wins."
6:45 pm (driving to the bar) — "Hit your sixer tonight, Gregg. Shoot 'em straight, shoot 'em hard. Hit your sixer, hit your sixer, hit your sixer, hit your sixer."
7:06 pm — Orders a beer even before taking jacket off. "Mmm, that's good. I've been looking forward to that since lunch! Just a couple beers, though. And don't hang around all night after league, either. Make this an early night, remember?"
8:42 pm — "Wow, three hat tricks tonight, and nine tons! Glad I came out to shoot. Didn't get my sixer, but I'm sure that'll come one of these weeks. For now, I really better get goi..." (out loud) "Hey, you guys wanna shoot a few games for money?"
10:41 pm — Several games of darts later, with a few extra dollars in the pocket, you start an 18-minute, spirited discussion about the final score of Super Bowl XXI (no one can remember). This is immediately followed by a 22-minute debate on why Barry Sanders was a better running back than Emmitt Smith or Walter Payton. Or Jim Brown, for that matter.
11:23 pm — "Man, I could really go for some chicken wings." (out loud) "Who wants wings??"
12:46 am — One dozen hot wings and a Pabst Blue Ribbon later (hey, PBRs are only a buck on Tuesday, how can you go wrong??), you realize how late it's gotten.
12:54 am — "Ugh. Next week I'm definitely not staying out this late. In fact, maybe I won't go. Who can I get to shoot for me?"
— • — • —
I'm pretty persuasive toward myself to change my mind, aren't I? Yeah, like it takes a lot of arm-twisting to get me to stay out and shoot cash games or go eat hot wings.
"Late to bed and late to wake
will keep you long on money
and short on mistakes."
—Aaron McGruder
For the record, Jim Brown was the greatest. Personally, I think Sanders is #2, followed closely by Payton.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to compare players from different eras. The stats will be skewed due to less games being played and such. Plus there are other factors as well - different numbers of teams in the league, overall size of players...
When comparing players from different eras, I think it's best to compare just how much better they were, in comparison to the other players around them during their given era. And in that respect, no one compares to Jim Brown. No one comes close.
Sanders and Payton were clearly the best in their respective eras. But as good as they were, compared to other running backs in their time, they still pale in comparison to how much better Brown was over his fellow running backs in his era.
How about quarterbacks? Again, there's way too many factors involved. In my opinion, it's unfair to label any quarterback as being the "best all-time." People who disagree with me will often throw out the name Joe Montana. And yes, he was fantastic. He won four Super Bowls. But he also had superstar players all around him. Throw Montana into the Cardinals organization for his entire career. Would he have had the same success? I highly doubt it.
Steve Young is a good example of this theory. He wallowed around in Tampa for his first few years, and looked awful. But put him in San Francisco and surround him with greatness, and he became a superstar. Would he have been a superstar had he stayed in Tampa? Again, I highly doubt it.
In my humble opinion, there are currently 10 quarterbacks in the history of the NFL who could be considered to be the "best" of all-time. In other words, I think you could make an effective argument for any one of these 10 guys. Here's my list, in alphabetical order.
1. SAMMY BAUGH
2. TERRY BRADSHAW
3. JOHN ELWAY
4. BRETT FAVRE
5. OTTO GRAHAM
6. DAN MARINO
7. JOE MONTANA
8. BART STARR
9. FRAN TARKENTON
10. JOHHNY UNITAS
That's my list. I think it's a good one. In another year or two, I'll probably add Peyton Manning to that list as well. And Tom Brady might also crack that list someday also. One notable omission is Troy Aikman. My reason for leaving him out is simple. I think he was extremely overrated. Yes, he won three Super Bowls. But he had Hall Of Fame players all around him, on both sides of the ball. When the talent around him eroded, so did his ability to win. A highly trained monkey could have won those three Super Bowls. How many Hall Of Fame players has Brett Favre played with? The answer is one - Reggie White. And Reggie played defense.