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| Page 2 readers sound off From the Page 2 mailbag | ||
Here are your responses to last week's Page 2 Power Poll:
I think Lance Armstrong should have been higher because how good he is and he competes against the rest of the world.
Where are the Mariners? They won 116 games. That is dominant. I would personally put the Mariners as the most dominant next to Lance Armstrong.
In my opinion, Lance Armstorng is far and away the greatest sports story of last century as well as this one. To be on your death bed and back and win the world's toughest event is still unfathomable to me. All others compete against man-made obstacles while Lance overcame something we must all face and scares us all at a very young age -- mortality.
I will always revere him as one of the greatest people, not just athletes in the entire world. Only my parents rate higher. A remarkable man and continuing awesome story.
So unfair, but true was your comment for Lance Armstrong.
First ripped off by not being included in the top 100 athletes of the 20th century, Lance Armstrong not only competes, but wins one of the most grueling athletic events that exists.
Because he is an outsider doing well in a sport of another country, he will be hounded until they find a reason to defeat or dethrone him. It is time that we, the people of the United States, give him his due. He is the best of the best.
I would think a record-setting 116-win season for the Seattle Mariners would be enough for at least an "honorable mention." Or maybe a "dishonorable mention" for their postseason failure, depending on your point of view.
One would think you could find a place somewhere for the team that dominated the Power Poll for the better part of three months. But to give such high praise for the rich getting richer (Yankees) just doesn't seem right.
I was disappointed that the 2001 Seattle Mariners were not on the top 10 best of the year. They did everything except win the World Series. They had the best regular season in history, and they broke all the records during the regular season. Seattle gets no love.
I don't know about including the Rams. Yes, they're good, but they didn't win any championships.
I know that the Mariners didn't either, but you have to respect them breaking the record for most wins in a season. Put them up there instead of the Rams!!
P.S. And that's a comment coming from a Yankees fan.
How about the 2001 Seattle Mariners? They lost a superstar for the third straight season and still managed 116 wins, manager of the year, rookie of the year, GM of the year, and the A.L. MVP. Yeah they lost in the playoffs but so did two other teams in your top 10.
You neglected to mention the University of Miami Hurricanes baseball program, which might very well be the most dominant team of the last two decades, let alone 2001.
Why did the Minnesota Twins end up in the "weaklings" section? For the possibility of contraction, or for finishing second in the division with a $30 million payroll? A little clarification would be nice ...
First off, the Yankees shouldn't even make the top 10. If you're going to commend teams that gave a gallant effort but finished second how about giving props to the 2000-2001 Philadelphia 76xers, better known as "Allen Iverson Inc."?
OK, I'm a little biased being from Philly, but how in the blue hell are the Sixers not up there? A team that dealt with injuries, a coach and a star player who couldn't get along, and an $8 million a year menace named Geiger who prevented them from getting the shooter they needed. A team that has fans that booed Anne Robinson, Destiny's Child, every Lakers possession, and anyone at the bars who wasn't watching every play in the championship. A team that had no right winning 40 games. A team that had no right beating Toronto. A team that had no right beating Milwaukee. A team that had the nerve to actually have a 1-0 series lead on the beloved Los Angeles Lakers.
Do they get any love on this chart? Absolutely not.
The Duke Blue Devils should be No. 1 by far. What coach K is doing there is amazing and more impressive than UCLA back in the day because of how many more athletes there are to choose from. Let's see the Lakers lose their top player like Duke did and still be ranked No. 1. It wouldn't happen. Everyone knows that.I am looking forward to Duke repeating this year and being the favorite to do it again in 2003. With the top recruiting class coming in again!
It's also great to see Carolina on bottom where they belong.
Hey guys ... Maybe you didn't hear about this, so I will go ahead and tell you about this guy. He broke all kinds of records this year in baseball (home runs, Slugging percentage, OPS, walks). I know there is no way that you heard of most dominant offensive season ever put on by a baseball player and didn't include him on the top 10 list so, I thought I would introduce you to him. His name is Bonds, Barry Bonds.
Criticizing the market value of an A-market baseball franchise (Red Sox) sounds like biting the hand that feeds you. Did you ever graph the rise of market value of professional baseball alongside the market leaps made by ESPN? I see a strong resemblance between these two questions: "Are the Red Sox really worth $700 million?" and "Does ESPN.com really need a Page 2? Excessive sports coverage taking a poke at the excessiveness in sports, huh?
Amateuristic, at the very least.
When Notre Dame hires a top notch coach and returns to the top I hope you write as much about them then. It is easy for you to hit someone when they are down. Let's see how hard you hit when we are standing on our two feet.
You can have your opinion but there are millions of people who still think Notre Dame is the greatest place on Earth. You either love them or hate them. Either way it is great press for you guys. Without Notre Dame you would probably be without a job. Keep this all in mind in due time, my friends.
Another East Coast conspiracy? Miami would have been trounced by the 2000 Oklahoma Sooners had they gotten the chance to play OU in the 2001 Orange Bowl.
Nebraska will expose Miami's main weakness (the "conference" they play in during the regular season) in this year's BCS championship. What will Miami fans find to whine about then? Not being ranked high enough in your poll?
The 2001 Miami Hurricanes are in and the 2000 Sooners are out? How could that possibly be?
The 'Canes are not done yet and face their biggest test against Nebraska, while the Sooners defied all odds (and Lee Corso) in returning OU football back to dominance. As sweet as it was watching the Yankees fall or Ray Bourque winning his first Cup, nothing topped watching the Sooners win their seventh title.
The Ravens over the Rams? Baltimore might not make the playoffs, while St. Louis is in a class by itself in the NFL. Both teams have come a long way since last year's Super Bowl, but only the Rams have improved.
I can't really argue with the Lakers getting the top spot, but putting anybody in front of the Ravens is, simply put, foolish. The Ravens had the best defense ever and blasted through the playoffs like no other team. The repercussions are still felt in the careers of Kerry Collins and Eddie George.
Why did you omit Michael Schumacher from your ten most dominant list? This man has done it all in his sport. In 2001 alone, he clinched his fourth world drivers championship in the most difficult racing series on Earth, the F1 circuit. He did so several races before the season concluded. His team again swept the constructors championship. He has made his racing series a competition for second-best honors... nobody has been able to touch him in 2001, or 2000.
Why overlook the back-to-back world champion driver and team, and replace them with someone like the Yankees, who unlike Ferrari, did not go all the way this year.
I'm afraid you guys are totally clueless if you rank the Avs so low and then comment that they have peaked and are on their way down. Here is a team that knew from Day 1 that the Stanley Cup had to be won for Ray Bourque. Shaq and Kobe aren't retiring and neither are Johnson and Schill. Talk about pressure! Then they show they are the best team in the regular season, go to the playoffs, lose arguably their best player in Peter Forsberg and still win the Cup!
They started this season slow but have only one loss in their last 15! to return to the top of their division. On their way down, I don't think so.
Hold the phone there fellas. I'd root for the Canucks, the Kings, Flames, Devils, Lightning, Wild, Red Wings (barely since I'm a Chicago fan), Oilers, Canadiens, North Stars (even though they left my beloved state and broke my heart) and the Hurricanes to win the Cup if it meant Ray Bourque could be on a championship team. But there is no way in hell that I'd ever root for the Colorado Avalanche.
The Avalanche are the spawn of Satan and if you ask me, contraction wouldn't be a bad idea for them. So when you say everyone outside of Jersey was rooting for the Avalanche to win one for Ray, do a brain check and realize that most hockey fans hate the Avalanche, Bourque or no Bourque.
Your comment that everyone outside of New Jersey was rooting for the Avalanche to win the Cup for Ray Bourque was a bit off. No self-respecting Red Wings fan would ever root for the Avalanche to win Lord Stanley's Cup. Never gonna happen. 'Nuff said!
Soon to come must be the Red Wings presence on your Power Poll. They are bar none the most star-powered team ever (bought) assembled.
The Wings are nearly 10 points ahead of their nearest competitor and sport a lineup that is generally the entire Western All-Star team. From a Wings fan who remembers some ugly times and a whole lot of dominant years, this fame will be short-lived with players who are as old as my parents. However, the road to the Stanley Cup, this year, hits a dead end at The Joe.
The whole sports universe and no soccer teams? Not quite the Power Poll I was expecting.
I guess it's the fact that we live on this side of the Atlantic, but it's a shame that great teams like Liverpool and Bayern Munich go unnoticed. Especially Bayern Munich. All it did was win the German championship for the third year in a row, and went on to win the European Champions League.
Soccer truly does not get the respect it deserves over here as these teams were just as dominant as the Lakers and Blue Devils.
You forgot to add to your worst list the Carolina Panthers and the unforgettable Carl Everett.
What are you kidding, the Yanks last? They were one out away from yet another trophy with average, aging talent. But you don't beat the A's and the M's with an average team.
No way that the Diamondbacks are No. 3 on this list! They got almost no attention during the regular season, never won a game when neither Randy Johnson nor Curt Schilling was pitching, blew two games in the World Series on late-inning comebacks, and nearly lost the Series.
This team did not deserve to win the Series, none less No. 3 on the Power Poll!
The New York Yankees are by far the most powerful force in sports. They are the sole reason why I will never watch baseball again until a salary cap is created. They're so disgustingly great that I don't consider any Yankee in my fantasy baseball draft.
They're like the rich kid on the block who gets a Dodge Viper for his 16th birthday ... |
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