Who is/was the NBA's greatest dunker

Now, obviously the person that most fans will jump to has to be the great Michael Jordan. I however have a different opinion. Now while I think MJ is one of the best dunkers and certainly the best NBA player in history, I am not sure if he was the greatest dunker. I look towards the likes of Vince Carter and Jason Richardson. They brought excitement and flash back to the dunk and I think the 2000 slam dunk contest was the best so far. Some others of note were D Wilkins, Spud Webb who were also master of the art of dunking, but I can remember watching the contests of Carter and Richardson and thinking that these men were true innovators. The most recent dunk contest have not been as great as they haven't grabbed the fans attention as much as those prior. I think Jordan is the greatest all around NBA player of all time and will go down in history as such, but who do you feel is the greatest dunker?

Thanksgiving Football

Now that Thanksgiving has come to pass, I took a look back at some of the games. Detroit and Dallas have been regulars, hosting games on Thanksgiving day for years, and it has been tradition to watch them play. However, there have been some discussions on whether it should always be Dallas and Detroit playing or if they should beginning spreading it around and allowing other teams to play. Every year it has been Dallas vs. an opponent, Detroit vs. an opponent, and a third game between two other teams. Now they want to take the game away from Detroit and Dallas and end a tradition. I for one am against. Even though I am not a Dallas or Detroit fan (Pats all the way) I feel this tradition should not be broken and these two teams should continue playing. Thanksgiving has always been considered to be good food and watching America's team, the Cowboys. If they took this away it would cause an uproar in Texas and there would just be to much controversy and complaining. I don't see this happening and sure as heck hope that the tradition remains the same and these teams will continue playing for decades to come.

Steroids in baseball

American sports do not condone the use of steroids. These "cheaters" take away from the natural aspect of the game. It takes away from those who train hard and gives those who cheat an unfair advantage. They have a greater muscle mass and their power gives them the advantage over the average Joe. While some make the case that it make them a better hitter, I do not fully agree. While it does give them a greater deal of power, it does not make them hit the ball. They still must swing the bat and hit it, which take skills in and of itself at the major league level. But the added power accounts for more home runs and can cost a team without steroids users to lose. The greatest of these players can be seen in the former Giants outfielder Barry Bonds. He swung his way into the history books and is now atop the home run record list. But controversy and steroid allegations arose and he is now seen as the biggest cheater in sports. His record will be forever marked with an asterisk and will never be respected as one of the true greats who got there on their own, such as Aaron and Ruth. The players that deny steroid use and are proven to have lied are some of the biggest problems. If they came out up front, they would not be viewed nicely, but would have the respect of many more people, rather than be seen as a liar and a cheater. I am completely against steroids and feel it has ruined the sport I love. Hank Aaron was my favorite ball player, and to see his record smashed by some cheater truly made me upset. I hope that the MLB cracks down on its steroid policy and the cheaters are forever removed from the game, instead of being given three or four chances to correct their wrongs.

Yellow Cards

I think yellow cards in soccer are actually quite pointless. If you get two yellow cards it equals a red, which will get you kicked out for a game or two, but one card gets you sent to the sideline for a second and then you can go right back in after another whistle. Is this meant as a fear tactic, as everyone waits and watches you, only you, as the ref pulls the card from his pocket, or is it just an attempt to pull you off the field to calm yourself? The card is used as a means of caution as it were, but the ref tends to talk to players during the game and give them warnings. So are the cards just used as the final straw of cautions? Either way I don't feel it is necessary. If they want a player off the field then they should tell the coach to pull them instead of halting the game just to flash a yellow piece of paper in front of their face. People don't respect it and some just try to get as many as they can. If a player actually did something bad give em' a red, if not just talk to them and if it didn't work, talk to the coach and get em' outta there

Baseballs Greatest Rivarly

The greatest rivalry in all of baseball and possibly all of sports is the rivalry between the Red Sox and Yankees. Due to their close proximity and the ever infamous selling of Babe Ruth to the Yankees, these two foes have produced some of baseballs greatest games and some of the best fights the sports world has seen. In 1916, Harry Frazee purchased the Red Sox for $500,000. In 1919, a year after being removed as World Series Champions, Harry Frazee sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees for $125,000 and a $300,000 loan, which he secured on Fenway Park. The Red Sox began to turn losing into an art form as they found ways to lose in the big games and not win a World Series for another 86 years, the Curse of the Great Bambino. On the other side however, the Yankees won 26 World Series and 39 pennants from 1920 to 2003. In the 1949 season, the Red Sox found themselves up one game on the Yankees heading into the final two games of the season. These two games were against the Yankees at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees won both game and coincidentally won the World Series.
In 1978, the Red Sox had a 14 1/2 game lead on the Yankees with three months to go in the season. Just as the Yankees got hot, the Red Sox slumped and found themselves with identical records to closer out the season. Therefore, these two foes had to play a one game playoff at Fenway Park to determine who would make the playoffs. The Sox held a 2-0 lead going into the seventh with two out until Bucky Dent hit a three run home run to give the Yankees the lead. The Yankees won the game 5-4 and went on to win the World Series.
In 2003, the Yankees and Red Sox squared off in the ALCS. The rivalry heated up as players on both sides were hit at the plate and a high pitch brushed Manny Ramirez off the plate and the benches cleared and a brawl ensued. Don Zimmer charged Pedro Martinez who tossed him to the ground. The series went to game 7, where the Sox placed their ace Pedro on the mound while the Yankees put their man Roger Clemens, the former Red Sox, on the hill. The Sox held a 5-2 lead going into the 8th inning. Finally, so many of us Red Sox fans thought. But the Yankees began a one out rally and the Yankees got three straight hits to cut the lead to 5-3 with men on second and third. In one of the most scrutinized managerial decisions ever, Grady Little decided to stick with his ace and keep Pedro in the game. The next batter, Jorge Posada, hit a double and the Yankees tied the score. The final blow to Sox fans came in the 11th when Yankees' Aaron Boone hit a walk off home run to give the Yankees the win and the Pennant.
The Red Sox would finally get their revenge the next year as the two met once again in the ALCS. During the 2004 regular season a brawl between these two teams erupted. Sox pitcher Bronson Arroyo hit Yankee third baseman Alex Rodriguez with a pitch inside. A-rod stared down Arroyo as he walked toward first and Sox catcher Jason Varitek stepped in. The two began to argue and then Varitek popped him in the face. This started a benches clearing brawl that saw Sox outfielder Gabe Kapler and the Yankees Tanyon Sturze in a brawl in which the Sox David Ortiz and Trot Nixon joined in. Sturze's was bleeding from the left ear when all was said and done. This would ignite the rivalry more as the two would meet in an October Classic. The Yankees took the first three games of the series, the third games score being 19-8, needed one more win to take the series. It looked hopeless for many Sox fans, but their patience would be worthwhile as the Red Sox made the greatest comeback in all of sports history.
Entering the bottom of the ninth in game four, the Yankees sent their ace closer Mariano Rivera to the mound. Rivera walked the first batter and the Sox sent in pinch runner Dave Roberts. Roberts stole second and came around to score on an RBI single by Bill Mueller. In the bottom of the 12th, David Ortiz blasted a walk off home run and kept the Sox hopes alive. The Sox won game 5 in dramatic fashion as well as they tied the game in the 8th and won yet again on the back of Ortiz who blooped a single in the bottom of the 14th. Game six saw the Sox game one pitcher Curt Schilling step onto the mound with the now legendary "bloody sock." Schilling pitched seven innings of one hit ball and led the Sox into game 7. Amazing, was the only thing i could think as I was watching something truly historic. The Sox completed the sweep with a blowout in game 7 and went on to win their first World Series title in 86 years.
We Sox fans could finally rejoice as the Curse of the Bambino had finally been broken. This however would not stop the rivalry. In 2005 Yankee outfielder Gary Sheffield got in an altercation with a fan in rightfield. In 2007 the Sox finished first in the division, ending the Yankees reign of 9 years of finishing first.
The Red Sox and Yankees are the two greatest baseball franchises in baseball history. These two have had the greatest games and fights the baseball world has ever seen and continue to have the best rivalry to this day. Here's to hoping we will see more of these fights and epic games and that the Sox will win all of em'.

Baseball: America's Pastime?

Baseball has been viewed as America's pastime for the past hundred years. But now with the huge fan base of the NFL, what truly is America's pastime? Viewer ratings for the Superbowl tend to surpass the World Series, even though many only watch the game for the commercials. This years World Series, between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Philadelphia Phillies, had some of the lowest ratings ever for a World Series. People in this generation want fast, hard hitting action and football deliver that. Football is timed, and if it goes into overtime, the first team to score wins. In baseball if the away team scores first, the home team has a chance to score in the bottom half of the inning. This causes baseball games to greatly outlast football games and cause many viewers to lose interest or fall asleep. Also, the Superbowl is one game. It is a one game Championship, winner take all. The World Series, however, can last as many as 7 games. It just doesn't have the same feel as the Superbowl. If you make a mistake in the Superbowl you don't have a second chance, where as in the World Series if you make a mistake in game one you have another chance in this best of seven series. I personally am more passionate about baseball and love the sport. I love watching my favorite team, the Red Sox, play and Fenway Park is one of my favorite places. However, I can see the reasons why baseball has begun to seem as though it is the second greatest sport in America. If the Red Sox and Yankees aren't playing each other, or neither team is a part of the World Series, the ratings just seem to drop, due to their huge fan base. Baseball is an awesome sports, and here's to hoping baseball can someday reclaim the glory of being America's Pastime.

Left Image © Nielsen Media Research, Inc. 2008

Lower Image © Nielsen Media Research, Inc. 2007