basically gherkins

Athlete of the Month: January, 2012

2012-01-24T15:50:00.001-05:00

The 2011 Athlete of the Year is here. Courtney Upshaw. Runners-up: Matt Flynn, Vince Wilfork, Victor Cruz And once again - the race for Athlete of the Year begins.

Prime 9 - Shortstops. The 9 Greatest Shortstops of All Time

2012-01-23T19:33:00.000-05:00

A thousand 20th century games at short was the qualification to make the MLB Network list. That means no Davis and Dahlen on its list, so I'll add two to mine. My top 200 is here. MLB Network List: 1. Wagner 2. Rodriguez 3. Ripken 4. Banks 5. Smith 6. Vaughan 7. Jeter 8. Larkin 9. Appling My List: 1. Wagner 2. Rodriguez 3. Vaughan 4. Ripken 5. Banks 6. Davis 7. Boudreau 8. Larkin 9. Dahlen

The Weekly Tendown January 15-21 2012 (Championship Sunday Edition)

2012-01-22T15:08:00.001-05:00

Dear Internet: How am I getting ready for the 49ers return to the NFC Championship Game? The same way as you, of course. Better watch your behind if its in our way. Here's Tendown 111. 110 is here. 1. Yes, I Picked New York. Yes. 49er interest has caused this past couple of weeks to be the most highly trafficked in the history of the blog; you'll note on the right side that my all time

2012 NFL Playoff Predictions The Conference Championships

2012-01-20T09:24:00.001-05:00

So, let's start here. I'm 7-1 against the spread so far in the NFL playoffs. Only the Saints scoring that late touchdown to spoil Detroit's backdoor cover keeps me from a perfect run. Also, in that same post I made my Golden Globe picks. I was 11-2 picking the film categories, 10-1 picking the television categories. If you can find anyone with a better combination than that, go read his

The History of the San Francisco 49ers vs. New York Giants Rivalry

2012-01-19T08:18:00.041-05:00

The San Francisco 49ers have played 35 games against the New York Giants. We've won 18. They've won 17. We've played 7 times in the playoffs, we've won 4. The Giants have never lost in the NFC Championship game. They meet again Sunday. Here are the 35 previous meetings. San Francisco 49ers 14 at New York Giants 23 Sunday, November 9, 1952 A decade later he'd be a New York Giant,

Every NFC Championship Game in San Francisco 49ers History-Part 3

2012-01-18T09:09:00.000-05:00

Part 2 is here. Dallas Cowboys 30 at San Francisco 49ers 20 Sunday, January 17, 1993 The 80s version of the Niners dynasty died at Candlestick two years previous, but the best stretch of uninterrupted great football was still to come - the Young Niners teams of the early 90s were 3 of the 10 best regular season squads in franchise history. The best was the first group; the '92

Every NFC Championship Game in San Francisco 49ers History-Part 2

2012-01-17T12:17:00.000-05:00

Part 1 is here. Chicago Bears 0 at San Francisco 49ers 23 Sunday, January 6, 1985 The '84 Niners are not the best regular season team in San Francisco history (that's the '87 team) but, when you consider the postseason as well, this is the best 49er team of all time. After our week 7 loss to Pittsburgh, our only loss in the first 18 win season in NFL history, here was the rest of the

Every NFC Championship Game in San Francisco 49ers History-Part 1

2012-01-16T16:09:00.002-05:00

Sunday will be the 13th NFC Championship Game in 49er history. We're 5-7. Here are the first four. Dallas Cowboys 17 at San Francisco 49ers 10 Sunday, January 3, 1971 The 49ers lost the first ever NFC Championship Game. How long ago was January, 1971? This game was our last in Kezar. How old am I? I've been alive for every single Niner NFC Championship game, although I was only a

1st and Ten - The Weekly Tendown January 8-14 2012 (Who's Got it Better Than Us?)

2012-01-15T15:42:00.002-05:00

Dear Internet: It's Tendown 110. 109 is here. 1. We're Going to the What Now? With Sunday's games still to be played, I'm 5-1 against the spread in the NFL playoffs so far (you can also find my Golden Globe predictions by clicking that link) Of course, I picked the Saints to win the whole thing - the Saints will not win the whole thing. I don't think we're going to beat the Packers, but

2012 NFL Playoff Predictions - Week 2, The Divisional Round(and Golden Globe Predictions)

2012-01-13T00:09:00.010-05:00

Last week, I was 3-1 against the spread and 3-1 straight up. If not for the Saints deciding to swat away Detroit's backdoor cover, I'd have hit a perfect ATS. I don't like any game as strongly as did I Houston giving the FG last week, but I'll still give you each game in the order of my belief in it. Houston +7.5 Baltimore (Ravens win) A week ago, I said Houston would get to Baltimore and lose

Prime 9 - Left Fielders. The 9 Greatest Left Fielders of All Time

2012-01-12T19:37:00.000-05:00

900 post 19th century games in LF was the minimum requirement to make the MLB Network list. My top 200 is here. MLB Network List: 1. Williams 2. Bonds 3. Musial 4. Henderson 5. Ramirez 6. Yastrzemski 7. Simmons 8. Kiner 9. Raines My List: 1. Bonds 2. Williams 3. Musial 4. Henderson 5. Delahanty 6. JJackson 7. Yastrzemski 8. Clarke 9. Raines -Delahanty and Shoeless Joe get knocked off the

Prime 9 - Center Fielders. The 9 Greatest Center Fielders of All Time

2012-01-11T19:40:00.001-05:00

I've got a CF with fewer than a thousand games at the position and one who played in the 19th century, they'll each be excluded from the MLB list, so I'll add two. My top 200 is here. MLB Network 1. Mays 2. Cobb 3. Mantle 4. Speaker 5. DiMaggio 6. Griffey 7. Snider 8. Edmonds 9. Puckett My List: 1. Mays 2. Cobb 3. Mantle 4. Speaker 5. DiMaggio 6. Hamilton 7. Griffey 8. Edmonds 9. RSmith

Prime 9 - The Nine Greatest Players not in the Baseball Hall of Fame

2012-01-10T23:17:00.000-05:00

My top 200 is here. This is a list of players who could be in the MLB Hall of Fame (so, as of 2012, not Clemens or Bonds or Shoeless Joe, all of whom would be on this list otherwise) but are not. The MLB Network list is first, then my list. MLB Network: 1. Tim Raines 2. Jack Morris 3. Mark McGwire 4. Minnie Minoso 5. Jeff Bagwell 6. Lee Smith 7. Alan Trammell 8. Ted Simmons 9. Dick Allen

Prime 9 - Right Fielders. The 9 Greatest Right Fielders of All Time

2012-01-10T19:48:00.002-05:00

A thousand games in right after 1901 was the MLB cutoff for the list. That's going to just ace Manny off their list. I'll add one to mine. My top 200 is here. MLB Network List 1. Ruth 2. Aaron 3. Ott 4. Robinson 5. Kaline 6. Clemente 7. Crawford 8. RJackson 9. Gwynn My List 1. Ruth 2. Aaron 3. Ott 4. Robinson 5. Ramirez 6. Heilmann 7. Kaline 8. Waner 9. Clemente Sheffield would be next on

Prime 9 - Third Basemen. The 9 Greatest Third Basemen of All Time

2012-01-09T19:43:00.001-05:00

900 post 19th century games at third was the cutoff for MLB Network, that means no Allen/Molitor, I'll add two to my list. My top 200 is here. MLB Network List 1. Schmidt 2. Mathews 3. Brett 4. Jones 5. Boggs 6. Robinson 7. Rodriguez 8. Santo 9. Baker My List 1. Schmidt 2. Mathews 3. Boggs 4. Jones 5. Brett 6. Allen 7. Santo 8. Rolen 9. Molitor Robinson and Evans would join my list to

The Weekly Tendown January 1-7 2012 (aka: The Sexual Realm License)

2012-01-08T15:25:00.001-05:00

Dear Internet: Would you like to win twelve dollars and fifty cents? Let me ask this another way, who is going to be the Republican nominee? Romney, right? It's not going to be Santorum, and everyone else died in Iowa this week. It's over. Currently, you can invest in Romney at -400 to be the Republican nominee, meaning, were you to invest fifty bucks, you'd win twelve dollars and fifty

The 25 Best Professional Wrestling Matches in 2011

2012-01-07T15:54:00.000-05:00

The guts of this post are here. You can also find my 10 best WWE matches of 2011 at that post. The best wrestler in the world in 2011 - Kotaro Suzuki 1. Kotaro v. Nakajima - March, NOAH. 2. Go v. Sugiura - July, NOAH. 3. Sugiura v. Morishima - December, 2010. NOAH 4. Go v. Akiyama - August, NOAH 5. Akiyama v. Suwama - October, All Japan 6. Suwama v. Nagata - June, All Japan 7. Nagata v.

Prime 9 - First Basemen. The 9 Greatest First Basemen of All Time

2012-01-06T19:29:00.001-05:00

MLB Network wanted 20th/21st century players (so that's going to mean no Connor, Brouthers, and Anson) with 900 games at the position. My top 200 is here. MLB Network List 1. Gehrig 2. Foxx 3. Pujols 4. Mize 5. McCovey 6. Greenberg 7. Murray 8. Thome 9. Killebrew My List 1. Gehrig 2. Pujols 3. Brouthers 4. Connor 5. Foxx 6. Anson 7. Mize 8. McGwire 9. Bagwell So, if I had the same rules as

My 2012 MLB Hall of Fame Ballot

2012-01-06T13:53:00.000-05:00

Goes like this. Jeff Bagwell Barry Larkin Alan Trammell Tim Raines Edgar Martinez Larry Walker Mark McGwire Rafael Palmeiro

2012 NFL Playoff Predictions

2012-01-05T12:53:00.006-05:00

Here's the thing about which I'm most certain as we hit the playoffs. The distance between the best teams (Packers/Saints/Steelers) and the next tier (Patriots/Ravens/New York) isn't as great as it is most years. Were New York or my Niners or Atlanta or Detroit to wind up with the chip, it would not shock. This is not the year to invest right now in, say, the Packers to win the whole thing.

Prime 9 - Catchers. The 9 Greatest Catchers of All Time

2012-01-04T19:27:00.002-05:00

MLB Network list is first. Mine's next. A thousand games caught is the cutoff for the MLB list. That's gonna mean no Buck Ewing. My top 200 is here. MLB Network List: 1. Bench 2. Berra 3. Rodriguez 4. Piazza 5. Cochrane 6. Dickey 7. Campanella 8. Fisk 9. Hartnett My List: 1. Bench 2. Piazza 3. Dickey 4. Carter 5. Rodriguez 6. Berra 7. Fisk 8. Ewing 9. Hartnett If I had the games caught

Prime 9 - Left Handed Starters. The 9 Greatest Left Handed Starters of All Time

2012-01-03T19:54:00.002-05:00

MLB Network list is first. Mine's next. My top 200 ranking is here. MLB Network: 1. Grove 2. Johnson 3. Spahn 4. Hubbell 5. Carlton 6. Ford 7. Glavine 8. Koufax 9. Plank My List: 1. Grove 2. Johnson 3. Spahn 4. Hubbell 5. Newhouser 6. Carlton 7. Ford 8. Glavine 9. Plank Only difference on the lists are the two Dodgers. Newhouser: ERA +130, 2993 IP. Koufax: ERA+ 131, 2324 IP

Prime 9 - Right Handed Starters. The 9 Greatest Right Handed Starters of All Time

2012-01-02T23:30:00.001-05:00

-The qualifier for the MLB Network list eliminated Cy Young given his pre 1900 career. MLB Network list is first, mine's second. My top 200 of all time is here. MLB Network List: 1. Johnson 2. Maddux 3. Alexander 3. Mathewson 5. Clemens 6. Seaver 7. Martinez 8. Palmer 9. Gibson My List: 1. Johnson 2. Clemens 3. Young 4. Alexander 5. Maddux 6. Martinez 7. Mathewson 8. Gibson 9. Walsh If I

The Weekly Tendown December 25-31 2011. Happy Newdown.

2012-01-01T12:54:00.003-05:00

Dear Internet: Last night, after midnight in Times Square CeeLo Green sang "Imagine." Kinda. As opposed to "and no religion to" the lyric became "and all religion is true." I've thought for years "Imagine" had weirdly penetrated culture given the anti-establishment message, that it was the musical equivalent of Muhammad Ali, effectively neutered by commodification; once 7th grade choirs

Prime 9 - Second Basemen. The 9 Greatest Second Basemen of All Time

2011-12-31T18:45:00.002-05:00

MLB has a Prime 9 series in which it ranks the top 9 players at each position. Second base was today. Here's my list in comparison to that list. My ranking of the 200 greatest players in history is here. MLB Network List: 1. Hornsby 2. Collins 3. Morgan 4. Lajoie 5. Carew 6. Gehringer 7. Alomar 8. Sandberg 9. Grich -I was prepared to yell about Grich not being included - and then he led