Tag Archives: rdtworldofsport

NASCAR

Sports Oddities #4: Brett Bodine

This series of articles focuses on a bizzaro or oddball statistical anomaly that played in professional sports. I probably will run out of players to do this with eventually though. This is the 4th edition of Sports Oddities!

Brett Bodine was a journeyman NASCAR Winston Cup driver who was solidly in the middle of the pack week in and week out. He had finished in the Top 5 three times out of seventy-eight races in his career thus far. Then came the First Union 400 at North Wilkesboro in the spring of 1990.

Dale Earnhardt led late and Bodine, who was having a solid day and had a shot to earn a fourth career top five finish and even sneak into the Top 10 in the Winston Cup points standings. He pitted a little earlier than the leaders and since North Wilkesboro is a small race track, he ended up being lapped. A caution would come out a short time later and the pace car incorrectly picked up the wrong car as the leader. That was Bodine. Suddenly, Bodine had the lead spot and fresher tires than everyone else and was able to win his first (and it turns out only) career NASCAR Winston Cup race over Darrell Waltrip.

How could such a scoring error happen? In 1990 NASCAR didn’t have their electronic scoring loops like they do today. Hilariously, Bodine claimed he was the leader all along. Waltrip complained to NASCAR Chairman Bill France, who told him that “you’ll win tons more races but leave Bodine alone, this is his first one”. Crazy that something like that would stand.

Brett Bodine’s final career stat line: 480 starts, 61 top 10s, 16 top 5s.

And one win.

Basketball

Sports Oddities: Yinka Dare

This series of articles (looking to do it bi-weekly) focuses on a bizzaro or oddball statistical anomaly that played in professional sports. I probably will run out of players to do this with eventually though. This is the 2nd edition of Sports Oddities!

With a mid-1st round pick in the 1994 NBA Draft, the New Jersey Nets selected Nigerian Yinka Dare. By the time he was eligible for the NBA draft he wasn’t an unknown. He averaged a 13-10 for George Washington University and had led them to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

To be blunt, Yinka Dare was objectively terrible in the NBA. Some of that seemed like bad luck as in his first game of his rookie season he tore his ACL in just three minutes of action. The Nets seemingly gave up on him already as they left him exposed in the 1995 expansion draft (Toronto and Vancouver wisely passed). In his first real season he shot 44% and averaged 2.8 PPG and 2.1 RPG in about 10 MPG.

And he didn’t register one assist.

Not one.

He set the NBA Record for most games played in a season without registering an assist (58).

So yes, he was quite the punchline at this point.  It wouldn’t be until his 78th game, a game against the Raptors, until he’d record one. He’d record four total assists in his entire career. The video above was about 10 games before he’d finally record an assist.

Four career assists against 96 career turnovers? In recent times Dare’s name had come up again as Hassan Whiteside started his career with 26 games without an assist. Still nothing like the Dare though.

Basketball

All Hail the King: A NBA Finals Recap

Never had a NBA Finals been declared over, then not over, then over, then not over so many times.

Everyone thought Cleveland had to split the early games in Oakland to have a chance. In Game 1 Cleveland held a one point lead in the third quarter before Shaun Livingston and Leandro Barbosa surprisingly carried Golden State and pulled away to win by 15. Game 2 was an embarrassment for the Cavs. LeBron once again had nice stats but hasn’t asserted himself. Kyrie Irving was doing a crappy Allen Iverson impersonation, shooting 12 for 35 in the first two games. Kevin Love looked good in Game 1 but wasn’t much in Game 2, and then got hit in the head and would miss Game 3. Klay Thompson said that this Warriors team would beat the Showtime Lakers. It was 2-0 and Cleveland either had to win four straight or win a Game 7 in Oakland. The series was over.

And then it wasn’t. The series shifted to Cleveland where the Cavs blew out Warriors by 30 points. Richard Jefferson provided a spark both offensively and defensively starting for the injured Love. I questioned whether Love should even play in the series anymore. Irving scored 30 and hit as many shots has he did in Games 1 and 2 combined. J.R. Smith finally had a big Finals game and hit five threes. LeBron threw a monster game in there with a 32-11-6. Suddenly, if Cleveland could win Game 4 at home, we’d have a new series.

Then the series was over again. Stephen Curry, the unanimous League MVP who’d been quiet for the Finals so far, decided to remind everyone why he was MVP and dropped 38 with seven threes. LeBron and Kyrie had big games, but no one else really helped. It was 3-1 Warriors. Golden State were 88-16 at that point. They hadn’t lost three in a row in the Steve Kerr era. They lost three games all year at home. No way they were dropping three straight with two at home. The mere glimmer of hope? Draymond Green getting suspended for Game 5 for hitting James low. Justified or not (and I think considering Draymond’s past its perfectly fine), this series was still over. The question at this point was where would Draymond watch Game 5 from and would he make the celebration in time.

The only way LeBron was ever to catch Michael Jordan in the All Time Greats list was to start doing things no one else could do. He had to do something special. LeBron and Kyrie quite frankly kicked the shit out of Golden State in Oakland. LeBron started that special track with a 41-16-7-3-3 and Kyrie helped with 41 of his own. Curry was okay. Harrison Barnes flushed millions of dollars down the toilet. Thompson had a great game wasted. Once again the series wasn’t over, because if Cleveland could win Game 6 at home, well, anything could happen in a Game 7, right?

Game 6 was over by the first quarter (okay fine, Golden State did make some comebacks, but never got the lead). 31-11 Cleveland at the end of the first. LeBron decided to have another holy shit game with a 41-11-8. Curry cheated on defense all game, fouled out and threw his mouthpiece in the stands. Yeah, Game 7 was in Oakland, but looking back its obvious that Stephen Curry was rattled. The pressure was getting to Golden State. Still, both sides were right. Steve Kerr said he would take 1 game on his home floor for a title anytime. LeBron said anything can happen in the two greatest words in sports: Game 7.

Many times Golden State could have put Game 7 away. They began building a lead and had a big second quarter to take a 7 point lead into the half. But Irving brought Cleveland back. They held Cleveland to 40% shooting…but Cleveland kept attacking the rim and legitimately got to the free throw line. Draymond Green played a game so good that I would have been fine with him winning Finals MVP despite LeBron’s greatness (32-15-9 with 6 threes). With the game tied late at 89 all Golden State had to do as they did so many times during the season was hit some big shots and put Cleveland away. There are four plays I will remember from this game down the stretch. I will remember Curry, who clearly seemed rattled by the pressure, going for a behind the back pass and failing miserably. It seemed like this was Curry’s way to tell us that everything was fine and just as it always is. Of course, everything wasn’t and Golden State was falling apart. Curry throwing it away there was a microcosm of that. I will remember Curry failing to dribble past Kevin Love. Arguably the league’s best offensive player couldn’t get by the league’s worst big name defensive player when it mattered. I will remember LeBron’s “Smoke Monster” block as will everyone else. That’s a top five greatest play in NBA Finals history without a doubt. Remember, Golden State never got past 89 points…and that was their best chance at it. I will remember Kyrie Irving’s game winner with 50 seconds left on Curry. I criticized Irving for a crappy Allen Iverson impression in Games 1 and 2. He suddenly became the rich man’s Iverson, an evolutionary efficient version. It’s probably the greatest player type LeBron could ask for as a second guy. A fearless scorer who can make them when they count? It also put one last embarrassment out there for Curry: Cleveland attacked him, the league MVP, down the stretch. And it worked. LeBron also had a 27-11-11 in case that matters.

73-9 now means nothing. Curry now has to wonder about his legacy. The Warriors go into the off-season wondering if perhaps they should add Kevin Durant. But we’re all sure of one thing.

It’s still LeBron James’ league. All Hail the King.

(And congratulations Cleveland…you all deserve it).

Other (DC, Marvel, Disney etc.), Uncategorized

RDT World of Sport Hall of Fame Inductee #1: Muhammad Ali

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alihof

Resume
Career Boxing Record: 56-5 (37 KO)
Three-Time Heavyweight Boxing Champion of the World
Ring Magazine All-Time Ranking: #1
ESPN.com All-Time Ranking: #2
Gold Medalist – 1960 Summer Olympics

With the grace of a butterfly and a sting like a bee Muhammad Ali is arguably the greatest boxer of all-time. He defeated all of his rivals, some in an ironic, dramatic fashion. Everything Ali did in the ring and out was iconic. He got under the skin of Sonny Liston, both literally and figuratively and trash talked him before and after the fight. He converted to Islam and changed his name to Muhammad Ali, which led to him evading the draft years later. He became a symbol against the Vietnam War. He affected young blacks just as much as Martin Luther King Jr. did. His three fight series with Joe Frazier had taglines such as “Fight of the Century” and “Thrilla in Manilla”. He outboxed (rope-a-dope) George Foreman in “The Rumble in the Jungle”. He was a master showman, arrogant and confident to no end. At the same time so many have called him the greatest person they’ve ever met (George Foreman is one example).

An amazing boxer, showman and ambassador (to not only boxing, but as a black American), Muhammad Ali deserves to be recognized in every way possible.

Video Games

The (Fictional) World Series of Smash

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                A random rant about the competitive video game community first. While I enjoy participating in and watching Super Smash Bros. tournaments, I always wished there was more diversity in them. Sure, the idea of competitive gaming is to minimize luck and maximize skill. But I believe more can be done to have casuals play more tournaments as well to expand the game. Giving casuals events they can do well in as well providing a tournament scene that allows them to have fun and not feel bad about losing to competitive players could only grow the Super Smash Bros. community.

If I ever become rich and wealthy, I would look to create a World Series of Smash, a series of tournaments that provide big money Guarantees for small buy-ins. I would try to have Nintendo endorse the series as well (so no Project M or Super Smash Flash) in this fictional scenario. I would look to have every single match recorded and uploaded. While some (most) of the events are standard double elimination style tournaments, some of the events are tournament types not even remotely seen in the Smash community. Right now, it’s just a dream.

Event #1

Game: Melee

Rules: Standard Tournament, Double Elimination

Buy-in: $20

Guaranteed: $15,000

Event #2

Game: Smash 4

Rules: Single Elimination

Buy-in: $20

Guaranteed: $10,000

Event #3

Game: Smash 4

Rules: 4 v 4, Double Elimination

Buy-in: $20 ($5 per player)

Guaranteed: $3,000

Event #4

Game: Brawl

Rules: 1 Stock, 3 Min, Best of Sevens, Double Elimination, Randoms

Buy-in: $10

Guaranteed: $4,000

Event #5

Game: Smash 4

Rules: Best of Fives, Must use different character each time.

Buy-in: $10

Guaranteed: $6,000

Event #6

Game: Smash 4

Rules: 8 Player Smash, 15 Mins, 10% of highest scores advance (closest to a multiple of 8).

Buy-in: $10

Guaranteed: $4,000

Event #7

Game: Smash 4

Rules: 3 v 3, Double Elimination

Buy-in: $21 ($7 per team)

Guaranteed: $3,000

Event #8

Game: Smash 4

Rules: 4 Player Smash, 10 HP, Randoms, Customs On, Single Elimination

Buy-in: $5

Guaranteed: $2,500

Event #9

Game: Melee

Rules: Single Elimination, Best of Sevens

Buy-in: $20

Guaranteed: $15,000

Event #10

Game: Brawl

Rules: Double Elimination, Low Items

Buy-in: $10

Guaranteed: $3,000

Event #11

Game: 64, Melee, Brawl, 4

Rules: Double Elimination, Game selection is a counterpick option. Game choice at the beginning is a result of striking.

Buy-in: $10

Guaranteed: $2,000

Event #12 (64 Main Event)

Game: 64

Rules: Standard Tournament, Double Elimination

Buy-in: $20

Guaranteed: $6,000

Event #13 (64 Teams Main Event)

Game: 64

Rules: Standard Tournament, Double Elimination

Buy-in: $20 ($10 per player)

Guaranteed: $4,000

Event #14 (Melee Main Event)

Game: Melee

Rules: Standard Tournament, Double Elimination

Buy-in: $20

Guaranteed: $40,000

Event #15 (Melee Teams Main Event)

Game: Melee

Rules: Standard Tournament, Double Elimination

Buy-in: $20 ($10 per player)

Guaranteed: $20,000

Event #16 (Brawl Main Event)

Game: Brawl

Rules: Standard Tournament, Double Elimination

Buy-in: $20

Guaranteed: $15,000

Event #17 (Brawl Teams Main Event)

Game: Brawl

Rules: Standard Tournament, Double Elimination

Buy-in: $20 ($10 per player)

Guaranteed: $8,000

Event #18 (Smash 4 Main Event)

Game: Smash 4

Rules: Standard Tournament, Double Elimination

Buy-in: $20

Guaranteed: $25,000

Event #19 (Smash 4 Teams Main Event)

Game: Smash 4

Rules: Standard Tournament, Double Elimination

Buy-in: $20 ($10 per player)

Guaranteed: $8,000

Event #20

Game: Smash 4

Rules: Standard Tournament, Double Elimination

Buy-in: $50

Guaranteed: $20,000

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Basketball

Five and Five: Was Cleveland Firing David Blatt the Right Move?

In perhaps the most shocking personnel move in NBA history, David Blatt was fired as Head Coach of the 30-11 Cleveland Cavaliers. And it may have been the correct move. So let’s debut what I hope will be a recurring feature at RDT World, Five and Five: Five reasons this is the correct move for the Cleveland Cavaliers, and five reasons this is a bad move for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

First, five reasons why this was the correct move for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

No 1: Blatt hasn’t found a way to integrate Kevin Love successfully after a season and a half.

What’s the deal here? Many fans have put the onus on Kevin Love here, claiming he just put up empty stats for a losing Minnesota team for a few years. And while empty stats are definitely a thing (looking at you Monta Ellis), I argue that Love was in fact a great player for Minnesota. The 2014 Minnesota Timberwolves were better than anyone remembers. They only went 40-42 in the tough Western Conference, but had a 48-34 Pythagorean W-L. This means they were unlucky by about eight games. While his raw stats were impressive (20-15, 26-13, 26-12 peak years, excellent 3P shooting) his advanced stats were also amazing (.245 WS/48, 120 offensive rating, 29% usage in 2014). He only has one (huge) flaw, which is that he’s just as bad defensively as he is good offensively. But Cleveland should have found a way to make Kevin Love work, and that’s on the Head Coach.

No 2: LeBron James didn’t like Blatt and loves Tyronne Lue.

If your superstar player doesn’t want you to be the Head Coach you’re going to have issues winning it all no matter what. A great example of this? The 2004 Los Angeles Lakers where Kobe led to the ousting of Phil Jackson. All that dysfunction is difficult to overcome. Players will often follow their leader on the court over their Head Coach when push comes to shove. Don’t forget, LeBron had basically told Blatt what do so in certain situations (like changing the play so he could hit the game winner against Chicago, and the Tristan Thompson sub controversy against Atlanta), and the team followed LeBron.

No 3: Without LeBron the Cavs were awful.

Anyone remember that stretch where LeBron sat out for a couple of weeks last season and the Cavs fell below .500? What happened there? Why is everyone around LeBron James not able to hold the fort? I understand losing LeBron is a huge piece, but a team with Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving should have been able to hold the fort in the Eastern Conference.

No 4: Blatt was severely outcoached by Steve Kerr in the NBA Finals.

Maybe it’s hard to fault Blatt since he was missing Irving and Love here, but Kerr’s switch to Andre Iguodala absolutely sunk a Cleveland Cavalier team that somehow was only two games away from winning the title.

No 5: The 34 point trashing by Golden State in Cleveland last week showed how far behind the Cavs were to winning the title.

The Cavs have had two huge tests this year and failed the both. First, San Antonio outplayed them. But that’s fine, the game was moderately close. Golden State on the other hand absolutely embarrassed Cleveland on their home floor. For Cleveland right now, it’s all or nothing. Winning the East means nothing. Of course Cleveland is going to win the East. But they are going to have to beat San Antonio or Golden State and, especially in Golden State’s case, Cleveland is not in the same league as the top Western Conference title contenders. How Cleveland could not show up in such a huge regular season game was baffling.

Now, five reasons Cleveland made a mistake.

No 1: The Cavs are currently 30-11 on top of the Eastern Conference.

Without Kyrie Irving for most of the season no less! They are on pace for a 60-22 season. LeBron is great, but the Cavs have improved from last season (they’d only need to go 23-18 the rest of the way to match last year’s record). Cleveland has had a couple new pieces too that integrated nicely (like Mo Williams). I mean how many teams even with great players go 30-11 for the first half?

No 2: The Cavs beat the Thunder and the Clippers.

They beat the other two Western Conference contenders this season and in the Clippers case, it was a good win. They were close in San Antonio. The Cavs seem like they can hang with the top teams at least and are capable of beating them. I get that Golden State has their number, but Golden State is just in another world right now.

No 3: Blatt has an 83-40 regular season record and a 14-6 playoff record.

Sure he has a great team, but it’s not like the Cavs lost big games they should have won. The promptly took care of business in the Eastern Conference last season and it was a bit of an upset that they took Golden State to six after losing Kyrie Irving. Even if Blatt wasn’t the best Head Coach and LeBron was amazing, it was clearly a combination that could have won the NBA Title last year. 83-40 is pretty good for a team that was slapped together. Remember, Erik Spoelstra didn’t win the title in the first LeBron year either…and they weren’t guaranteed anything after that either. What if Tyronne Lue is worse?

No 4: We don’t know what Tyronne Lue brings to the table.

All we know is players went to him most of the time and that he’s LeBron’s guy. Should we be placating LeBron? Remember, Doug Collins was Michael Jordan’s guy…then he got fired, Phil Jackson became Head Coach and the Bulls won a bunch of NBA Titles. If Cleveland did this just to placate LeBron and keep him in Cleveland I understand, but there’s a serious risk in regards to a coaching change this late in the season. The best case scenario is that the players play really hard for Lue because they like him. The worst case is that players are forced to learn new things in January and it messes up the team. And if Cleveland falls short…what happens then?

No 5: David Blatt was Dan Gilbert’s guy.

It’s being reported that Tyronne Lue is going to be the guy who “gets on his stars” and holds all players accountable, something Blatt apparently didn’t do.  Blatt probably didn’t do this because Gilbert doesn’t want LeBron or even Irving to leave Cleveland. What if Lue gets on his stars and his stars end up not playing well? Can LeBron and Love take criticism? And is Gilbert happy that LeBron’s guy is now the Head Coach?

To be honest, I like the reasons to fire him more. If the Head Coach isn’t doing his job well, then he has to go. The Cleveland Cavaliers want to win the NBA Title now and any distractions need to go. They’re winning the East for sure. They just need to find a formula to beat the Spurs or Warriors and it didn’t seem like David Blatt had that answer.

 

Video Games

Ranking the Super Mario 64 Courses

It may be hard to believe, but it has been nineteen years since Nintendo established the 3D adventure platforming model with Super Mario 64. One of the most amazing feats of the game is that despite it being one of (if not the first) of its kind, it managed to put together memorable and awesome worlds. Here is a ranking. While I’m intending to rank these based on what I think is the best, the word best of course is subject to debate. Also, I am only ranking the main courses. No Cap Switch Palaces, no Bowser levels etc. Nonetheless, here we go!

  1. Tiny-Huge Island

mario64tinyhuge

The idea behind Tiny-Huge Island is tremendous. Problem is that it doesn’t quite work in Super Mario 64. When everything is huge the world is a chore to get around, but at least it’s not terrible. But when everything is tiny Tiny-Huge Island is the worst. Tiny Goombas run around like crazy and knock your giant self off the small island. It’s an absolute plan to get through most of the time. The red coin challenge in Wiggler’s Cave also feels awkward, but at least we get some solid platforming out of it. It has some good moments, like Wiggler making an appearance and the Koopa the Quick rematch, but overall as I said before, it’s a pain to get through.

  1. Tall Tall Mountain

mario64talltall

Pretty much the most boring course in the game. Tall Tall Mountain has four notable features: it’s tall, it has a bunch of mushrooms to platform through, it has an annoying monkey and it has a somewhat difficult slide. Only the slide is a positive here. Being tall would be a good challenge, but Tick Tock Clock does the “scale the tall world” thing a lot better.

  1. Dire Dire Docks

mario64diredire

Right up there with Tall Tall Mountain with being boring. Dire Dire Docks is simply two sections of water. It contains the Bowser sub, which unlocks Bowser at the Lava Sea. Problem there is there is next to no challenge upon boarding that sub. There’s also barely 100 coins here (I think 108 total?) so the entire challenge there is making sure you don’t screw up the blue coins. One of its potentially most interesting stars, Collect the Caps, is rendered useless as it’s actually easier to ignore the metal cap here. The only good star is the red coin challenge, as you must jump from one pole to another to collect them. Also has an area that if you get sucked in you end up in the moat outside the castle, which is an unnecessary time waster. It does have awesome music, so there is that.

  1. Shifting Sand Land

mario64sandland

Probably the worst level I would consider good (which means Mario 64’s worlds are 80% good. That’s pretty awesome actually). The outside is a pain, as normal plains are slow moving quicksand traps, so if you stand in place for too long it’s hard to run out if you need to. There are tons of other instant death sandtraps, specifically around pillars you need to land on or the main pyramid. The pillars themselves are annoying to get to the top of as the physics around them are strange, and trying it with a shell, while possible and fun, is probably unnecessarily dangerous. There is a lot of good in the Shifting Sand Land though. Crazy boxes are cool. The pyramid itself is quite fun and there’s a fun little boss battle in there.

  1. Hazy Maze Cave

mario64hazymaze

An interesting course for sure. Being that it’s a maze, it is easy to get lost and not find everything, but there’s nothing wrong with that. For the most part, this course is good. My only issue is that some of the stars seem a bit awkward to obtain. Riding Dorrie’s head is a bit weird. The actual maze with toxic fumes can be tough to navigate with beavers throwing rocks at you. The red coin star can be frustrating. But in the grand scheme of things, no biggie. Hazy Maze Cave is good and enjoyable and an interesting course to explore.

  1. Cool Cool Mountain

mario64coolcoolmount

Cool Cool Mountain has a couple of good things going for it. The slide and penguin race is a lot of fun. The baby penguin star can also be a lot of fun. Wall Kicks will work, also a lot of fun. On the flip side, the snowman lost his head star is a bit weird. Other than that, Cool Cool Mountain is another solid, fun level, but it’s only tenth as other than the slide, there is nothing special about it at all.

  1. Whomp’s Fortress

mario64whomps

One of the most interesting ideas that seemed to get dropped early on in Mario 64 is each world having a theme related to an enemy. The first world was a war between the Bob-ombs. Here we have the fortress of the Whomps (later, we’d have the house of the Boos). Anyway, Whomp’s Fortress is fantastically designed for the most part. Only issue is there’s a piece of the course when you’re platforming on small platforms that don’t really fit in with the rest of the level. Other than that, it’s thoroughly enjoyable and the Whomp King is pretty funny.

  1. Snowman’s Land

mario64snowman

Gets the nod over Whomp’s Fortress as Snowman’s Land has many different interesting sections. Of course, there’s the whole point of the world which is climbing up the big Snowman, which is fine. There’s also an igloo, an ice sculpture you have to jump through, a big bully and some shell shredding. Overall, a really fun course.

  1. Jolly Roger Bay

mario64jolly

This would be where I would start calling the levels great. Jolly Roger Bay may be the first recorderd water level that I really enjoyed in a video game. The music is beautiful (same as Dire Dire Docks…which gets all the credit for some reason as this came first) and provides a peaceful break in between all the platforming you did in Bob-omb Battlefield and Whomp’s Fortress. There is a tricky star where you have to launch yourself to a pillar and jump onto a small alcove in the wall, which gave me a lot of trouble as a kid. There’s also the ship, which leads to another section. Lastly, there’s a small cave that’s some fun as well. It does have one awkward star, the one that you try to take off the tail of the eel, but overall Jolly Roger Bay is great and so much better than Dire Dire Docks.

  1. Bob-omb Battlefield

mario64bomb

One of the best first levels in gaming history. When I first saw that Chain Chomp as a kid I realized that gaming was in a totally different world now. Bob-omb Battlefield is the perfect first world to get used to how Mario works in his new 3D environment. We even get our first tease in regards to the Switch Palaces. There are also some great characters introduced as well, including the Bob-omb King and Koopa the Quick! It would be higher, but flying through the middle of rings of coins is an odd star.

  1. Rainbow Ride

mario64rainbow

There’s so much to do in Rainbow Ride! There’s two different main path ways that you need to ride a magic carpet to get to…as well as a platforming maze and a whole lower level. Rainbow Ride is a fun test of platforming. I specifically liked some of the stars here, such as Tricky Triangles. A real great last test of your platforming abilities near the end of the game.

  1. Lethal Lava Land

mario64lethallava

Really up here for its awesome picture and it’s awesome first section. The first section has a Bowser matching part for 8 coins that is unnecessary but cool nonetheless. Otherwise, you can shell shred the entire world and it may be the most fun part of Super Mario 64 period. The volcano is pretty bland admittedly, but there is some good platforming to be had here.

  1. Tick Tock Clock

mario64ticktock

I would say that this begins the top tier. Easily the most interesting course in Super Mario 64. Tick Tock Clock does the whole “climb a huge level” deal way better than Tall Tall Mountain does. There’s tons of different places to go here with each having a different challenge. Tick Tock Clock is easily the most difficult 100 coin star in the game, with only Rainbow Ride coming close, and yet the challenge of getting all 100 coins is quite satisfying. Really fun. Pretty hard, especially if you don’t know what you are doing. As a bonus, the level reacts differently based on which number you enter the clock in. Great stuff.

  1. Big Boo’s Haunt

mario64boo

Another level with a myriad of places to explore. If Tick Tock Clock is the better Tall Tall Mountain, then Big Boo’s Haunt is the better Hazy Maze Cave. The 100 coin star requires you to interact with the main enemies of the course, which of course are the Boos. There are boos all over the place which is to be expected. I had another crazy childhood moment with that damn piano. Anyone who claims they weren’t at least startled by is lying. Also has a really cool star which requires a cap, a wall jump and some running. Has only small flaw…falling into the basement is a bit of a pain. But whatever, the rest of it is great.

  1. Wet-Dry World

mario64wetdry

Another course that changes based on how you jump into it (the higher you jump…the higher the water level). Wet-Dry World at first seems small until you check out all of its areas. You realize then that his course was just made for platforming. Arrow lift star is cool…even though you can actually avoid it altogether. Getting to the Top of the Town and finding five secrets force you to explore the level. This doesn’t even include the downtown area…another fun platforming level with a fun 8 red coin star and a time based one based on the invisible cap. Wet-Dry World just has no holes. It’s an awesome course in an awesome game.

Pro Wrestling

RAW vs. NITRO Week 1 (9/4/95)

Reviewed 9/3/14

September 1995 Background

The latest…and biggest shot has been fired.

The WWF had been the major player in wrestling for a solid decade at this point. The NWA and WCW were always a distant second place until about 1994. Before then it was the WWF’s big gimmicky promotions against the top tier wrestling of WCW (note, each would have a little of the opposite in them). In 1994 though the tides had changed in a big way. The WWF had moved to becoming a more athletic wrestling show led by Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels. WCW signed Hulk Hogan to an insane deal and suddenly looked gimmicky all around (and a lot like the old WWF). WCW would continue to sign away big talent from the WWF through 1994 and 1995, with men such as Hogan, Randy Savage and others all jumping ship.

And for some reason, Vince gave up on the athletic type and went back to the superman big man. 1995 this didn’t work. ”Big Daddy Cool” Diesel turned out to be the worst drawing WWF Champion of all time (not all his fault to be fair). WCW also kept the pressure on, running 10 PPV events in 1995 and forcing Vince to run an “In Your House” event each month. Reviews on the IYH events ranged from mixed to poor. 1995 was just a bad year for the WWF. Bad booking, competition on the way, and stars leaving to WCW.

WCW meanwhile hit some big peaks in 1994 when Hogan showed up. Hogan’s popularity did plateau rather quickly though. But with bigger star power overall (Flair, Sting, Savage, Hogan vs. Michaels, Bret, Diesel) Ted Turner famously asked Eric Bischoff “Hey Eric, what would it take to compete with WWF?” Bischoff joking said Monday Night primetime. And Turner gave it to him. The Monday Night War had begun.

For September, we would see that WCW smartly began on a date that the WWF would be pre-empted. WCW would hit upon some big moments right away and immediately change how each show would be booked.

Note, the show that has the best review the week prior will go first in the post, as insignificant as that actually is.

Week 1

Posted Image

Nitro: 9/4/95
Minneapolis, MN

It should be pointed out that Nitro debuted at a time where RAW was pre-empted for two weeks. Pretty smart right off the bat.

Nitro intro video is pretty cool even today. Theme is great too.

Very odd that Nitro is coming live from the Mall of America.

Nitro already puts something on that was pretty unique and cool, which is the opening match.

Steve McMichael calls Bobby Heenan “Bobby the Stain” for the whole show. Ugh.

Jushin “Thunder” Liger vs. Flyin’ Brian

Cool cartwheel kick to start. Bischoff on commentary is really pumping Nitro up as something never seen before in big league wrestling.

Pretty bad timing as Jushin Liger climbs up to the top rope and Pillman just stands there and takes the moonsault.

Wooo, surfboard!

Decent high flying stuff from Liger, including a somersault off the apron. Maybe it hasn’t aged great, but it was pretty cool stuff for its time, even if the 1-2-3 Kid was doing just as good stuff.

Pillman gets a perfect dropkick on Liger coming from the top.

Top rope hurricanrana from Liger!

Tornado DDT from Pillman! Maybe it’s just a bunch of spots, but it’s a fun match.

Brian Pillman pins Jushin Liger. Pillman gets a victory roll from the win. A fun little 6 minute match that wouldn’t be great if it was on PPV, but just fine for a TV show. Bischoff went right ahead in trying to get a good start for Nitro with something unique and he succeeded.

Sting promo. He’s gonna lock Flair in the Scorpion!

Hulk Hogan is promoting PASTAMANIA in the Mall of America! He hypes up the WCW Title match later in the show. PASTAMANIA is gonna run wild on Big Bubba brother!

WCW United States Championship
Sting© vs. Ric Flair

I’d almost be upset this wasn’t main eventing, but it makes sense as Hogan is Hogan.

One of the most historic moments in the entire war happens in the first show as Lex Luger walks down the aisle. Luger had just appeared at WWF Summerslam eight nights prior. No one in the WWF locker room knew it was happening. Want to complain about WWF no-competes these days, it was moments like this that caused them. This was absolutely brilliant from Bischoff.

Of course, Sting and Flair give him a look, since that’s who had history with Luger when he left in 1992. Another great thing about this moment is the less is more approach. All Luger did was just walk down the aisle. That was it. Big Luger chants too.

We get some typical Sting-Flair stuff, which is always great. Of course, it’s the shortened version, but that’s okay.

WCW’s star power was pretty much on display here. While the WWF did have big matches on RAW before this, you never really saw two top guys go at it (say, Bret vs. Shawn on RAW). Here, WCW could afford to do Sting vs. Flair since the roster was deep.

Arn Anderson is down here. This was a time that Anderson and Flair were not getting along.

I like how a great wrestler like Ric Flair had a finish that always seemed to get broken.

Sting retains by DQ. Arn Anderson just walks into the ring and breaks up the Figure Four. He proceeds to beat the crap out of Ric Flair. Good match, and it furthered the story for Anderson and Flair. Anderson got a huge reaction.

Scott “Flash” Norton confronts Bischoff, but is cut off by Randy Savage. Fans pop huge for this, I didn’t even remember this Norton moment to be fair. Savage wants to go right now, but it doesn’t happen. Still, really cool and another moment that showed anything could happen.

We get a Sabu hype video! Interesting Sabu didn’t get over in WCW. Probably cause he bought Mr. JL and Alex Wright every week. Still cool though.

We get some WCW Saturday Night hype. Then some Fall Brawl hype!

Michael Wallstreet debut promo. “I’m sure the IRS is going to be watching me real close.” Brilliant!

WCW World Championship
Hulk Hogan© vs. Big Bubba Rogers

Hogan vs. Bossman in 1995! It works though.

Hogan had actually been champion for some 13 months at this point.

We do get the announcement of Savage vs. Norton next week on Nitro! I’m actually excited for that one even though Norton would become a midcard guy.

Hogan looks better here than he did in WWF 1993, if that matters.

Oddly Hogan and the ref exchange words after Hogan gets his hair pulled by the ref. Interesting.

I always wondered how Hogan got away with heel moves like the double elbow foot eye rake deal.

The crowd is actually pretty dead for the Hulk Up.

Hulk Hogan retains by pin. But the pop huge for the pin. By the numbers Hogan match, but the Bossman sold for Hogan like a million bucks. Good main event considering who’s involved.
The Dungeon of Doom run in and attack Hogan…and Lex Luger runs in to fight them off! Hogan and Luger come back to back and nearly come to blows.

Luger challenges Hogan for a WCW World Title match, deriding the WWF in the process. He says some questionably true statements (“I’VE BEATEN WHO YOU’VE BEATEN”) and Hogan gives him credit…then offers him the title shot for next week’s Nitro! Sure, some words went wrong there (“I’ll shake your stinky palm” from Hogan and “you don’t have to wait till next week”, also from Hogan), but the whole segment was really effective.

This show was very good, and EXACTLY what WCW needed to kick off the Monday Night War. Vince probably watched this show and shit his pants, especially when Luger showed up. Now Vince had to go up against Hogan vs. Luger for the WCW Title next week. Serves Vince right for wasting Luger after he didn’t get over as the top guy in 93-94.

Not the best show, but a very good one that showcased a lot of great stuff for WCW. Historically, it’s one of the most important dates in pro wrestling history, and it laid the groundwork for RAWs you even see today, as this would be the end of squash matches against nobodies on Monday Night. Of course…that matters.

TV Rating: 2.5
Grade: A+

Weekly Review

RAW was pre-empted by the US Open and in fact had already taped all of their shows for the next two weeks. Nitro being live each week would put some serious pressure on the WWF to step up their game. The last RAW on August 21st, 1995 had MOM vs. two jobbers, the 1-2-3 Kid vs. The Brooklyn Brawler, The Undertaker vs. Tatanka, Jean-Pierre LaFitte vs. Scott Taylor (a nobody at this point) and Diesel and the British Bulldog vs. MOM. This show had Sting vs. Flair, Pillman vs. Liger and Hogan vs. the former Big Bossman. I mean…which show is the minor leagues again?

Nitro’s rating was also quite impressive. RAW had done (I am missing a source though) mid 2s to low 3s, so for Nitro to put up a rating in that range right off the bat was impressive.

The score remains tied at 0-0 here as there was no heads up battle…but next week will be a bigger story.

TV Ratings Score: 0-0

Grade Score: 0-0

Basketball

Top 100 Basketball Players Ever: #80-#71

#80: Lenny Wilkens

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NBA All-Star Game MVP: 1x (’71)

MVP Runner-Up: 1x (’68)

NBA All-Star: 9x (’63, ’64, ’65, ’67, ’68, ’69, ’70, ’71, ‘73)

NBA Top 10 Points: 1x (’69)

NBA Assists Leader: 2x (’70, ’72)

NBA Top 10 Assists: 12x (’63, ’64, ’65, ’66, ’67, ’68, ’69, ’70, ’71, ’72, ’73, ’74)

NBA Top 10 Win Shares: 1x (’68)

NBA Top 10 Offensive Win Shares: 2x (’67, ’68)

NBA All-Time Assists: 12th

2nd Best Player on two Runner-Ups: (’61 Hawks, ’64 Hawks)

Simmons Pyramid Ranking (2010): 71st

Slam Magazine 500 Ranking (2011): 72nd

A strange resume for sure. Wilkens was once runner-up for MVP…but also never made an All-NBA Team. His advanced stats (dubious for the 60s admittedly) don’t blow anyone away. What stands out is that random runner-up for MVP and his assists totals.

You know who he reminds me of? Jason Kidd. Now Kidd is obviously a lot more revered than Wilkens considering Kidd’s been All-NBA Team many times. But that’s the reason Kidd is about 40 spots higher. Lenny Wilkens seemed like another very good player stuck in the Russell Celtics era. He had two early cracks at the title but the Hawks couldn’t get it done. Nothing wrong with that. Lenny would eventually win a title with the ’79 Sonics as a coach and has won like a billion games. Not bad.

#79: Earl Monroe

New York Knicks vs. Milwaukee Bucks

NBA Rookie of the Year: (‘68)

All-NBA 1st Team: 1x (‘69)

All-NBA Rookie 1st Team: (’68)

NBA All-Star: 4x (’69, ’71, ’75, ‘77)

NBA Points Runner-Up: 1x (‘69)

NBA Top 10 Points: 3x (’68, ’69, ‘70)

Starter on one NBA Championship Team: ’73 Knicks

2nd Best Player on one Runner-Up: ’71 Bullets

Role Player on one Runner-Up: ’72 Knicks

Simmons Pyramid Ranking (2010): 67th

Slam Magazine 500 Ranking (2011): 47th

My first instinct is to go with Earl “The Pearl” being overrated because he had a cool nickname and he played on the famous Knick teams of the early 70s. His resume doesn’t quite stack up with the guys around him on this list at all.

Here’s the thing. When Monroe was great…he was elite. He outright invented a move (spin move) and was unstoppable until knee injuries. He still played a part in three straight NBA Finals…although he didn’t win in ’71 and got outplayed by Gail Goodrich in ’72. He played a role in the ’73 Knicks title, which helps. His career as a productive player wasn’t over yet either, as he made All Star teams in 1975 and 1977, as the league was adding talent post ABA merger.

Maybe he should be lower, but this is one of those where reputation is going to outweight the resume. And no one really has anything bad to say about Earl “The Pearl”.

#78: Tony Parker

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NBA Finals MVP: 1x (’07)

All-NBA 2nd Team: 3x (’12, ’13, ‘14)

All-NBA 3rd Team: 1x (’09)

All-NBA Rookie 2nd Team: 1x (’02)

NBA All-Star: 6x (’06, ’07, ’09, ’12, ’13, ‘14)

NBA Top 10 Assists: 1x (’12)

NBA Top 10 PER: 2x (’09, ’13)

NBA Top 10 Offensive Win Shares: 1x (‘13)

NBA Top 10 WS/48: 1x (’13)

2nd or 3rd Best Player on three Championships Teams: (’05 Spurs, ’07 Spurs, ’14 Spurs)

Starter on one Championship Team: (’03 Spurs)

2nd Best Player on one Runner-Up: (’13 Spurs)

Simmons Pyramid Ranking (2010): Not Ranked

Slam Magazine 500 Ranking (2011): 139th

Tony Parker made a great case for himself after 2011, where he suddenly looked like the real best player on the Spurs. This shouldn’t have been such a shock as while the Spurs were starting to look and feel old, Parker had hit his prime. Unfortunately a disappointing 2015 just as suddenly makes Parker look washed up and probably prevents him from moving up to this list.

Truth is, Parker has been a very good player for almost all his career. He definitely lucked out on landing with the Spurs…I don’t think he even has half the career he ended up having without that stroke of luck…but he definitely had talent. As early as 2003 Phil Jackson wrote in his book how Parker would give the Lakers fits on screen rolls. Even early on in his career, Parker was playing at a high level in the playoffs.

The 2003 Finals was a different story, although I believe it’s a story that showed that Tony Parker could be great. The main storyline leading up to the 2003 Finals between the Spurs and the Nets was that Jason Kidd’s contract was expiring…and the Spurs were one of the top teams to land him. There were interviews with Parker asking if he would take a back-up role to Kidd during the finals no less (I remember Parker saying he’d beat him out for the starting job). Anyway, as Parker struggled towards the end of the finals, that controversy only grew stronger and only went away when Kidd re-signed with the Nets. Parker took that slight and turned it into a very good career, and from 2004 on, I’d even argue you might want to have Parker than Kidd.

#77: Chris Webber

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NBA Rookie of the Year: (’94)

All-NBA 1st Team: 1x (’01)

All-NBA 2nd Team: 3x (’99, ’02, ’03)

All-NBA 3rd Team: 1x (’00)

All-NBA Rookie 1st Team: (’94)

NBA All-Star: 5x (’97, ’00, ’01, ’02, ‘03)

NBA Top 10 Points 2x (’00, ‘01)

NBA Rebounds Per Game Leader: 1x (’99)

NBA Top 10 Rebounds: 2x (’99, ’00)

NBA Top 10 Blocks: 1x (’94)

NBA Top 10 PER: 3x (’00, ’01, ‘02)

NBA Top 10 Win Shares: 1x (‘00)

NBA Top 10 WS/48: 1x (’02)

NBA Top 10 Defensive Rating: 3x (’01, ’02, ’03)

NBA Top 10 Defensive Win Shares: 3x (’00, ’01, ’03)

Simmons Pyramid Ranking (2010): 72nd

Slam Magazine 500 Ranking (2011): 80th

There are similarities to Tracy McGrady in terms of being a once-in-a-lifetime talent who didn’t pan out by not working on his game. Chris Webber was given every single thing a big man could ever want. Explosive power. Great passing. Good size. Good leaping ability. Webber had everything. Yet Webber’s college career might have messed him up mentally to the point where this once-in-a-lifetime talent never reached his sky high potential.

First, let’s look at Webber’s college career. As the centerpiece of the Fab Five, Webber was dominant. While Michigan’s loss to Duke in the 1992 Championship game hurt, it will never be forgotten how Michigan lost the 1993 Championship game on Webber’s infamous timeout. With 19 seconds left and Michigan down by two, Webber grabs a missed free throw. He first gets away with a travel before dribbling straight into a trap. Webber then calls timeout when Michigan has none, leading to a technical and costing Michigan a last chance at the National Championship. One must wonder how much this affected Webber in the NBA, especially in his playoff battles with the Lakers. When it came to the clutch, Webber never wanted to be the man and came up short each time. I think some of that can be traced back to this 1993 NCAA Championship.

The 2nd piece of Webber’s college career is the behind the scenes piece. As ESPN’s 30 for 30 on the Fab Five documented, the Fab Five were not happy about how Michigan made tons of money promoting them, yet as NCAA amateurs they couldn’t receive a penny of it. Thanks in big part to Michael Jordan, future NBA players were now about their brand and getting theirs. As Jack McCallum put it in his Dream Team book, it was the era of “the fully hatched superstar”. After being used by Michigan (a story that gets a lot worse with the Ed Martin scandal) in his mind, Webber went out to the NBA and did what was best for him as a brand.

This meant bad things for Webber early on. While unlucky to be traded from Orlando to Golden State (since he could have played with Shaq), he was still quite lucky to play for coach Don Nelson. Nelson and Webber clashed though, and Webber got out after one year, a shame since Webber was the perfect fit for Nellie-ball.

After toiling away on the Wizards for a few seasons (and getting seriously injured for the first time) Webber was dealt to the Kings and immediately put them on the map. One of Webber’s best accomplishments is being able to be a competitive top power forward in a league with Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett (and later even Dirk Nowitzki). Webber would never reinvent his game though, and when Garnett surpassed him, it was easy to think that Garnett had become what Webber was supposed to be.

The Kings with Webber also have a legitimate gripe as arguably they should have been the 2002 NBA Champions…something that would have altered Webber’s legacy greatly. The Lakers were heavily favored by the referees in both Games 3 and 6 for sure of the NBA Finals and there’s video evidence of it and everything. With that being said the Kings still had home court in Game 7. And they came just short. Officiating and all, one big Webber 40 point explosion and the Kings still pull off the title (yes, they were beating the 2002 Nets).

Injuries continued to sap Webber’s effectiveness to the point where the Kings were arguably better without him (something that proved to ultimately be false in the long run, but in 2004 seemed true as they went 55-27 and Webber only played 23 games). The Kings looked to move to Peja Stojakovic as their top guy. The Kings dealt Webber to the Sixers in the middle of the 2005 season and haven’t won a playoff series since. Webber finally changed his game enough to at least have one 20 PPG season with the Sixers, although his efficiency had gone. He never developed a reliable three point shot or even outside shot. Some forgettable stints followed and that was that.

Sure he was unlucky in some spots. Sure he got screwed in 2002. But he still had the talent to be a top 30 guy and that’s on him.

#76: David Thompson

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ABA Rookie of the Year: (’76)

All-NBA 1st Team: 2x (’77, ’78)

All-ABA 2nd Team: 1x (‘76)

All-ABA Rookie 1st Team: (’76)

NBA All-Star Game MVP: 1x (’79)

ABA All-Star Game MVP: 1x (’76)

NBA All-Star: 4x (’77, ’78, ’79, ‘83)

ABA All-Star: 1x (’76)

ABA Points Runner-Up: 1x (’76)

NBA Top 10 Points: 4x (’77, ’78, ’79, ’81)

ABA Top 10 Steals: 1x (’76)

ABA Top 10 Blocks: 1x (’76)

ABA Top 10 PER: 1x (’76)

NBA Top 10 PER: 1x (’78)

NBA Win Share Leader: 1x (’78)

ABA Top 5 Win Shares: 1x (’76)

NBA Top 10 Win Shares: 2x (’77, ’78)

NBA Top 5 WS/48: 1x (’78)

ABA Top 5 WS/48: 1x (’76)

ABA Top 5 Offensive Rating: 1x (’76)

NBA Offensive Rating Runner-Up: 1x (’78)

Best Player on one ABA Runner-Up: ’76 Nuggets

Simmons Pyramid Ranking (2010): 70th

Slam Magazine 500 Ranking (2011): 63rd

Sadly, David Thompson is one of the poster boys for the cocaine era of the NBA. In Thompson’s case it may be the biggest waste of a career in professional basketball history due to substance abuse. Thompson was arguably the NBA’s best player in the late 70s (depending how you feel about Bill Walton) and had surprisingly taken that title from Julius Erving. Thompson had a great 1978 season where his Nuggets just couldn’t get by the Sonics in the Western Conference Finals.

How great was Thompson in 1978? He scored 73 in the final game of the regular season to try to win the scoring title (similar to David Robinson’s 71 point game 16 years later), only he was so hot early fans thought he was going for 100. Thompson was merely 23 years old at the time. Everything fell apart in 1979 when he injured his knee in Studio 54 in New York City…and the aforementioned cocaine problems.

I might rethink this one in the future as he only played 509 career games and was only elite for four seasons. That’s the thing though, unlike someone like Webber, Thompson was elite at for a portion of his career. You know you’ve done something influential in your career when Michael Jordan selects you to induct him into the Hall of Fame. As Simmons put it, “Skywalker” was the Intellvision to Jordan’s Playstation 2. That’s pretty good for the late 70s.

#75: Jerry Lucas

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NBA Rookie of the Year: (’64)

All-NBA 1st Team: 3x (’65, ’66, ’68)

All-NBA 2nd Team: 2x (’64, ‘68)

All-NBA Rookie 1st Team: (’64)

NBA All-Star Game MVP: 1x (’65)

NBA All-Star: 7x (’64, ’65, ’66, ’67, ’68, ’69, ‘71)

NBA Top 10 Points: 2x (’66, ‘68)

NBA Top 10 Rebounds: 8x (’64, ’65, ’66, ’67, ’68, ’69, ’70, ’71)

NBA Top 10 PER: 6x (’64, ’65, ’66, ’68, ’69, ‘71)

NBA Top 10 Win Shares: 4x (’64, ’65, ’68, ‘72)

NBA Top 5 WS/48: 3x (’64, ’72, ‘73)

Role Player for one Championship Team: ’73 Knicks

Starter on one Runner-Up: ’72 Knicks

Simmons Pyramid Ranking (2010): 64th

Slam Magazine 500 Ranking (2011): 38th

I have to admit I was quite skeptical of SLAM’s ranking. Here’s the deal with Jerry Lucas. He put up big stats in a league with a couple of elite centers and no real bigs other than that (a big reason why Oscar put up his insane stats). He was one of the best two power forwards in the league, but PF was a diluted position. He was Oscar’s 2nd option on a bunch of Royals teams that failed to win anything. He went to the Knicks and started for a Finals team…although he took on less of a role in 1973 and the Knicks promptly won the title. He also wasn’t regarded highly at all, as he was once traded for Jim King and Billy Turner (one all-star total there) and another time for Cazzie Russell (another one time all-star).

Still, it’s hard to look past that resume. For the first six seasons of his career he averaged a 19-19. And he was a part of two Finals teams. His rankings on both Simmons and SLAM’s lists make it hard to really drop him. But reading Simmons, even he seems skeptical. So I don’t know. This feels right.

#74: Pete Maravich

Pete Maravich shoots

All-NBA 1st Team: 2x (’76, ‘77)

All-NBA 2nd Team: 2x (’73, ‘78)

All-NBA Rookie 1st Team: (’71)

NBA All-Star: 5x (’73, ’74, ’77, ’78, ‘79)

NBA Points Leader: 1x (’77)

NBA Top 10 Points: 5x (’71, ’73, ’74, ’75, ‘77)

NBA Top 10 Assists: 2x (’73, ’75)

NBA Top 10 PER: 3x (’73, ’74, ‘76)

Simmons Pyramid Ranking (2010): 68th

Slam Magazine 500 Ranking (2011): 60th

One of the most famous basketball players of all time was someone clearly ahead of his time. Maravich was an offensive savant, making crazy passes that one would have never thought possibly and hitting jumpers from all over the floor. He scored 68 with this style of play in 1977 and managed three other 50 point games that season as well.

It should be mentioned that Maravich did all of that in addition to averaging 24 PPG for his career…without a three point line. Can you imagine a jump shooting guard scoring all those points without a three point line? The thing was practically made for him (in his last year when he was beyond washed up, he took 15 three pointers and made 10). He averaged 31.1 PPG in 1977. Compare that statistic with players and take away a point for each three pointer they made a game. I’d guess that Maravich would be someone who hit minimum 3 threes a game. That right there is 34 PPG.

Of course, whether or not a player can actually win as the best player on his team that way is debatable. The Pistol couldn’t win anything. He gets overrated historically for the highlight reel plays for sure but it hasn’t really been until 2015 that outside shooting teams can make all the difference. In the 1970s…with no three point line? No chance. Still, the Pistol was great at one point for sure.

#73: Chris Bosh

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All-NBA 2nd Team: 1x (‘07)

All-NBA Rookie 1st Team: (’04)

NBA All-Star: 10x (’06, ’07, ’08, ’09, ’10, ’11, ’12, ’13, ’14, ‘15)

NBA Top 10 Points: 2x (’09, ‘10)

NBA Top 10 Rebounds: 1x (‘09)

NBA Top 10 PER: 2x (’08, ‘10)

NBA Top 10 Offensive Rating: 1x (’06)

3rd Best Player on two Championship Teams: ’12 Heat, ’13 Heat

3rd Best Player on two Runner-Ups: ’11 Heat, ’14 Heat

Simmons Pyramid Ranking (2010): Not Ranked

Slam Magazine 500 Ranking (2011): 171st

Chris Bosh made a choice. Either be a 22-9 guy on .500 Raptors team or be a role player on a title contending team every year. He chose the latter. There was a lot of hate toward Bosh, but there’s no question that he was an integral part of the Heat four year run. Without Bosh the Heat fall to the Pacers in Round 2 of the 2012 Eastern Conference Finals. Many fans who hate LeBron and the Heat would complain that Miami created a super team…but at the same time Chris Bosh sucked. Well which one is it? It can’t be both.

You should sacrifice individual statistics for team glory. That’s why Robert Horry is on this list. And that’s why Bosh is on this list. On any given night that D-Wade was hurt and LeBron needed a second weapon, Bosh was there. It remains to be seen what the post LeBron Heat look like with Bosh. Year one didn’t look that great and Bosh was hospitalized midway through…but 2015-2016 will tell us a lot. It’s a chance for Bosh to climb through this list, let’s see if he can do it.

#72: Dwight Howard

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NBA Defensive Player of the Year: 3x (’09, ’10, ’11)

All-NBA 1st Team: 5x (’08, ’09, ’10, ’11, ‘12)

All-NBA 2nd Team: 1x (’14)

All-NBA 3rd Team: 2x (’07, ’13)

All-NBA Defensive 1st Team: 4x (’09, ’10, ’11, ’12)

All-NBA Defensive 2nd Team: 1x (’08)

All-NBA Rookie 1st Team: (’05)

NBA All-Star: 8x (’07, ’08, ’09, ’10, ’11, ’12, ’13, ’14)

NBA Top 5 MVP Voting: 4x (’08, ’09, ’10, ’11)

NBA Rebounds Leader: 6x (’06, ’07, ’08, ’09, ’10, ’12)

NBA Blocks Leader: 2x (’09, ’10)

NBA Top 5 Rebounds: 10x (’05, ’06, ’07, ’08, ’09, ’10, ’11,’12, ’13, ‘14)

NBA Top 10 Blocks: 4x (’07, ’08, ’09, ’10, ’11, ’12, ’13, ’14)

NBA Top 10 PER: 4x (’09, ’10, ’11, ‘12)

NBA Defensive Rating Leader: 3x (’09, ’10, ’11)

NBA Top 10 Defensive Rating: 6x (’07, ’08, ’09, ’10, ’11, ’12)

NBA Defensive Win Shares Leader: 4x (’08, ’09, ’10, ’11)

NBA Top 10 Defensive Win Shares: 7x (’07, ’08, ’09, ’10, ’11, ’12, ’13)

NBA Top 10 Win Shares: 4x (’08, ’09, ’10, ’11)

NBA Top 5 WS/48: (’09, ’10, ’11)

NBA Career Rebounds: 34th

NBA Career Blocks: 25th

NBA Career Defensive Win Shares: 58 (28th)

Best Player on one Runner-Up: ’09 Magic

Simmons Pyramid Ranking (2010): 78th

Slam Magazine 500 Ranking (2011): 86th

This whole time we thought that Dwight had the potential to be the next Shaq…only in reality Dwight was the evolutionary Dikembe Mutombo. That’s not a bad thing. Dwight gets this high on the list due to his great defensive resume and the fact he took the 2009 Magic to the NBA Finals. Perhaps you’re thinking this isn’t high enough for Dwight then. Here’s the counterpoint to that.

Dwight Howard dominated the NBA at a time where there was a dearth of top centers. Shaq was just about done and Andrew Bynum couldn’t stay healthy. Interestingly Yao Ming had tons of success against Dwight (Yao averaged 24-10, 56% FG with a 7-2 record vs. Dwight’s 12-10, 46% FG in head to head matches), but he couldn’t stay healthy either. But then the Joakim Noahs and Marc Gasols showed up and Dwight starting having back problems. He hasn’t been the same since 2011 really, and now it suddenly looks like the league has passed him by. Remember, teams like the Thunder and Cavs would add players like Kendrick Perkins and washed-up Shaq just to be able to single Dwight.

It doesn’t change that he had a legit argument for the 2011 MVP, or that he led the Magic to the 2009 NBA Finals. It doesn’t change that Dwight Howard at one point was dominant. It just means he was great for a short period time, never got better offensively (which would help him tons now) and is probably at best a #2 or #3 guy on a title team. Which still isn’t that bad. Like many others though, he should be better.

#71: Dennis Rodman

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NBA Defensive Player of the Year: 2x (’90, ‘91)

All-NBA 3rd Team: 2x (’92, ‘95)

All-NBA Defensive 1st Team: 7x (’89, ’90, ’91, ’92, ’93, ’95, ‘96)

All-NBA Defensive 2nd Team: 1x (’94)

NBA All-Star: 2x (’90, ‘92)

NBA Rebounds Leader: 4x (’92, ’93, ’94, ‘98)

NBA Top 10 Rebounds: 10x (’89, ’90, ’91, ’92, ’93, ’94, ’95, ’96, ’97, ‘98)

NBA Top 10 Offensive Rating: 2x (’89, ’90)

NBA Top 10 Defensive Rating: 9x (’88, ’89, ’90, ’91, ’92, ’95, ’96, ’97, ‘98)

NBA Defensive Win Shares Leader: 1x (‘92)

NBA Top 10 Defensive Win Shares: 5x (’90, ’91, ’92, ’94, ’98)

NBA Top 10 Win Shares: 1x (‘92)

NBA Career Rebounds: 22nd

NBA Career Defensive Win Shares: 54.5 (38th)

Role Player on two NBA Championship Teams: ’89 Pistons, ’90 Pistons

Starter on three NBA Championship Teams: ’96 Bulls, ’97 Bulls, ’98 Bulls

Role Player on one Runner-Up: ’88 Pistons

Simmons Pyramid Ranking (2010): 69th

Slam Magazine 500 Ranking (2011): 48th

One of the most destructive defensive players in NBA history. He was one of the first guys who could guard anyone from small point guards to centers. He gave Karl Malone fits in the 1997 and 1998 NBA Finals and played great in the 1996 NBA Finals as well, including 19 boards in the clincher. Despite being pretty much crazy in all aspects of his life, he got along well with two NBA teams known for having competitive personalities (the Bad Boy Pistons and the Post-Baseball Jordan Bulls).He only submarined one potential Champ, which was the 1995 Spurs (not joining huddles, missing/showing up late to practices, even showing up late for games). The good far outweighs the bad here.

His rebounds prowess was also quite incredible. It seemed like Rodman could grab a rebound from absolutely anywhere. Unlike guys like McGrady and Webber, it looked like Rodman made the most of his physical talent and left it all out on the court (most of the time). Did it help being teammates with Isiah Thomas and Michael Jordan? Of course. But you can’t argue with results.

Pro Wrestling

RDT Reviews The 1993 WWF King of the Ring

WWF King of the Ring ‘93
June 13, 1993
Dayton, OH

The New Generation was hit with Hulkamania brother!

Hulk Hogan had “retired” at the conclusion of Wrestlemania VIII. After a top feud of Ric Flair vs. Randy Savage, Vince McMahon had Flair drop the World Title to Bret Hart. While Bret was a new face on top of the card, he had been an excellent IC and Tag Champion over the years. There weren’t any heels built for Bret to face off with, but Bret still carried the top title with pride and his match quality night in and night out proved he was worthy of being the Champion.

Who knows why the decision at Wrestlemania IX was made to have Bret drop the title to Yokozuna who then immediately dropped it to a returning Hogan. The crowd was hot for the finish, sure, but long term that was one of the worst the WWF had ever made. Unless of course, we were getting Hogan vs. Bret at Summerslam ’93. But first we’re getting Hogan vs. Yoko II. Bret will have to carry the PPV match quality wise…while Hogan has to “draw the money”, brother.

The Card

This is being billed as the first King of the Ring, but there were previous non-televised KOTRs before.

King of the Ring Qualifier: Bret Hart vs. Razor Ramon

This is a rematch from the ’93 Royal Rumble. Ramon had just began his program with The 1-2-3 Kid, which would lead to a face turn.

Razor was such a cool character. Really could have been a top guy in pretty much any era.

Razor definitely has heat…huge “1-2-3” chants.

Pretty awesome false finish where Bret tries for a backslide out of a Razor’s Edge, but then flips over Razor by using the turnbuckles and rolls Razor into a small package.

Bret Hart wins via pin in 10:25. Razor goes for a belly to back suplex off the top, but Bret turns in midair and lands on Razor for the 1-2-3. Good match that made Razor look really strong as he went toe to toe with Bret. Interesting to see a Bret match where he doesn’t go for the legs at all.

Man, I can’t believe they were building toward a Mr. Hughes vs. Undertaker program. I mean how dreadful does that sound?

King of the Ring Qualifier: Mr. Perfect vs. Mr. Hughes

This was Mr. Perfect’s short WWF comeback, but it wouldn’t last and he’d retire again shortly. He would be back in 1997 of course.

The role of selling for the monster is something Perfect was a master of…but this isn’t pretty to watch.

Ha. Bret gets asked who he would wrestle between these two. I mean, you think he laughed like hell before or after he answered Mr. Perfect?

Hughes crotches the 2nd rope and he sells it like he’s taking a shit. I think I’ve had enough.

Mr. Perfect wins in 6:02 by DQ. Hughes takes the urn and whacks Perfect for the DQ. I mean whatever really. This match can be best described as Mr. Perfect wrestling himself. But even then, it was better than it had any right to be. And we get Perfect vs. Bret II.

Mr. Fuji and Yokozuna interview. Trying to save face about Wrestlemania IX here. I don’t remember Yoko ever cutting English speaking promos though, so that was something.

King of the Ring Qualifier: Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Hacksaw Jim Duggan

One of the last WWF matches of Duggan’s early WWF run. He’d show up in WCW when Hogan did.

Match is built around whether or not Duggan can slam Bigelow or not. A small story is better than none I guess.

Duggan gets the slam…but the end would be near for him.

Bigelow wins via pin in 4:59. Duggan misses the 3 Point Stance clothesline, and Bigelow comes off the top with the headbutt to advance. Interestingly, if I were watching this without knowing the results I would have assumed Luger was coming from the other side of the bracket against Bret, but Luger vs Bigelow would be heel vs. heel, so either Tatanka was going over or something screwy was happening.

King of the Ring Qualifier: Tatanka vs. Lex Luger

Luger was still the Narcissist here (with awesome music). I assume if Bret were still champion and Hogan wasn’t around, Luger would be winning this tournament to face Bret at Summerslam.

Interestingly, both Luger and Tatanka were undefeated, so something had to give here.

Refs make Luger cover the metal plate in his arm with an elbow pad…which doesn’t make any sense, but it works.

This hasn’t been too bad. Luger still gave a shit at this point it seemed.

Only real complaint here: announcer’s pretty much give away the finish bringing up the time limit constantly.

Draw: Time Limit: Other complaint: Luger and Tatanka don’t really gain a sense of urgency as time ticks away. Luger gets big cheers asking for five more minutes. I wonder if Vince had the idea of turning him face at this point. Luger then whacks Tatanka without the elbowpad!

Match was a solid back and forth affair. They would have much worse matches later for sure. Anyway, this draw puts Bam Bam in the finals.

King of the Ring Semi-Finals: Bret Hart vs. Mr. Perfect

First, Bret and Perfect have a hilarious promo, which includes Bret saying Stu Hart beat Larry Hennig, and Perfect responding with “your dad never beat my dad”.

The commentators tell the story about Razor stomping on Bret’s hand in their earlier match. According to Bret’s book, this was to allow Bret to use three different finishes and give him an excuse not to use the Sharpshooter.

So far this match has been ahead of its time. Hard, crisp moves that remind me a bit of the Angle vs. Benoit series.

Ridiculously stiff European uppercut from Bret late in the match. What a match this has been.

Great psychology! Bret goes for the Sharpshooter and Perfect grabs Bret’s damaged hand!

Vertical suplex sends both men to the outside, which was a unique spot for sure.

Bret Hart wins via pin in 18:56. Perfect puts Bret in a Small Package…but Bret reverses into his own and wins! Amazing match, possibly the 1993 Match of the Year. Very similar to technical matches a decade later.

Hogan interview. The last in his WWF career for some nine years.

WWF Championship
Hulk Hogan© vs. Yokozuna

Whatever you think of Hogan’s drawing power at this point, the live crowd was still pretty hot for him.

This is the rematch from Wrestlemania IX.

Match starts off really slowly, with Yokozuna just beating on Hogan.

Hogan goes for the slam! But doesn’t get there.

Hogan no-selling a belly to belly isn’t exactly putting Yokozuna over here…

Yoko surviving the big legdrop though…that definitely is putting Yokozuna over.

Yokozuna wins the WWF Title by pin in 13:08. Hogan calls for a slam after Yoko kicks out of the legdrop…but is distracted by a camera man. The camera blows up in Hogan’s face, and Yoko hits a big legdrop of his own to finish off Hulkamania in the WWF until Hogan returned at No Way Out 2002.

Match is awful. Maybe it flew for 1986, but in 1993 Bret had shown the main event style was headed in another direction. He also didn’t put over Yokozuna clean either. I mean an exploding camera? Interestinly, Undertaker would do the whole surviving Yokozuna’s splashes and such better in 1994, although those matches had other problems. Crowd was very pro-Hogan for what it’s worth, which isn’t much at this point.

Yoko lands a Banzai Drop on Hogan to finish him for good.

We get an interview with the IC Champ Shawn Michaels. He names his new bodyguard Diesel here.

Money Inc. and The Headshrinkers vs. The Smokin’ Gunns and The Steiner Bros.

Seems like a thrown together match just to include the tag division.

The Gunns and Steiners win when Billy Gunn pinned Ted Dibiase in 6:49. Dibiase takes out Billy with the Million Dollar Dream, then cockily let’s go. Billy rolls him up for the win, which is a pretty lame finish. Probably done to get the Gunns over as Dibiase’s career was coming to a close anyway.

Yokozuna victory celebration!

WWF Intercontinental Championship
Shawn Michaels© vs. Crush

This was near the end of Crush’s good guy run. I never saw Crush as a money drawing top face, but some thought he should have gotten the run instead of Luger. I would disagree though.

Match started off okay with Crush hitting HBK with power moves and HBK selling them to death.

Match terrible slows down though when Diesel rams Crush into the post and HBK then locked in a headlock. Killed the match.

Shawn Michaels retains by pin in 11:14. Two Doinks show up and distract Crush, and HBK gets a superkick to the back of the head for the pin. A contender for HBK’s worst PPV match post-Rockers to be honest.

King of the Ring Finals: Bret Hart vs. Bam Bam Bigelow

The beginning of the match can be described as Bam Bam viciously kicks Bret Hart’s ass.

The middle of this match can be described as Bam Bam viciously kicks Bret Hart’s ass.

Luna Vachon gets a chair shot in, and Bigelow finishes Bret with the flying headbutt! A second referee comes in to say the match continues because of Luna’s interference. Weird moment there, as I mean, should Hogan have gotten a 2nd chance earlier then?

Bigelow STILL kicks Bret’s ass, and to be honest it’s pretty awesome.

Bret makes his comeback and we get a great back and forth.

Bret Hart wins King of the Ring via pin in 18:11. Bret gets the victory roll for the win. A tremendous big man vs. little man match. Shockingly, there was no Bigelow vs. Hart program afterwards (makes sense with the screwjob finish in the middle), but Bigelow went nowhere after this. Don’t you think Taker vs. Bigelow makes more sense than Hughes vs. Taker? Come on now.

Jerry Lawler attacks Bret during Bret’s coronation, legit injuring Bret’s ribs. Lawler even throws the throne chair at him. Great heel stuff from Lawler as the PPV ends.

There’s a some great (Bret-Perfect) and a bunch of good (Bret everywhere else). There’s some historical significance here too with Hogan’s last WWF PPV for nine years and Diesel’s PPV debut. There’s a lot of bad too, showing that the WWF just didn’t have a deep talent roster at this point (Mr. Hughes?!) or didn’t know what to do with such talent (The Steiners or even Doink here). Luger vs. Tatanka was okay, but the rest of the non-Bret matches just weren’t good.

But Bret Hart showed that World title belt or not, he was the MVP of the WWF at this time. Soon Vince would have no choice than to put the strap on him.

Final Grade: B-