115 replies to this topic

[MtlJeff]

So the Calvin Johnson thread is a lot of fun, and i guess it's supposed to be mostly about Calvin Johnson but has become about much, much more. So i'm starting a thread where we can argue daily about guys from different eras, guys who've won titles versus guys who haven't. Basically you get to be an era-crossing GM for the sport of your choosing, which players would you want?

And then the rest of us will tell you why are you are wrong  

So who wants to start it off?

You get to start a football team from scratch, which QB are you taking? Which RB? Which Receiver?

What about Basketball, let's say Michael Jordan is off the table....who is your pick?

Anyone who wants to chime in with their own specific questions about any sport just jump in....i think this could be fun

Edited by MtlJeff, 31 December 2012 - 06:12 PM.

[MtlJeff]

Should we start it off with Marino versus Elway? Anyone want to take the bait on that one?

[esketores]

I'll bring my team of Magic, Kareem, Wilt, Oscar, Bird (bench of Lebron, Olajuwon, Maravich, Havlicek, Dr. J) and play your team any day.

[bubbagump]

Im taking ( bias) in some key positions

Steve Young or Montana

Jerry Rice, Megatron, Fitz and a young TO with a sleeper Percy Harvin

Adrian Peterson, Emmitt Smith

Ray Lewis, Patrick Willis, Von Miller, Aldon Smith, LT, Charles Haley (cant pick just 4)

Bryant Young, Reggie White, Justin Smith, Gilbert Brown lol

Deion Sanders, Champ Bailey, Merton Hanks and Ronne Lott

Feel like thats a good start..

Edited by bubbagump, 29 December 2012 - 12:45 PM.

[tommyrobson]

5 years of RGIII before he gets a bad injury (knock on wood) or 10 years of Luck

Defensive-Playmaker PG like Rondo or a Scoring PG like Westbrook


all time? with Jordan off the table? (can we do this like wines and have specific vintages?)
if so, 2008 LeBron or 1986 Magic

to the OP's question:
QB: 2006 Peyton Manning (SB winning year)

RB: 1989 Bo Jackson & 2006 LT

TE: 2004 Tony Gonzalez

WR: 1995 Jerry Rice, 1994 Michael Irvin, 2012 Calvin Johnson

O-Line: 1972 Oakland Raiders O-Line (Gene Upshaw, Art Shell among other greats)

3-4
D-Line: 2005 Pittsburgh Steelers D-Line (Brett Keisel, Casey Hampton, Aaron Smith)

OLB: 1986 Lawrence Taylor, 2008 DeMarcus Ware

MLB: 2003 Ray Lewis, 1970 Dick Butkus

CB: 1993 Deion Sanders, 2009 Charles Woodson

FS: 2002 Rod Woodson

SS: 2010 Troy Polamalu

KR: 2007 Devin Hester

K: 2004 Adam Vianeteri

P: 2005 Sean Lechler

best team ever, I think so.

[MtlJeff]

esketores, on 29 December 2012 - 12:41 PM, said:

I'll bring my team of Magic, Kareem, Wilt, Oscar, Bird (bench of Lebron, Olajuwon, Maravich, Havlicek, Dr. J) and play your team any day.

ooohhhhh now we're talking. Well that's a pretty tough team to beat. But here goes

PG= Jason Kidd (in his prime a great defender and distributor)
SG= Jerry West  (team player, shooter and scorer)
SF= Scottie Pippen (Michael's wingman for life!)
PF= Tim Duncan (my opinion, best power forward ever...go on and disagree, that's the whole point of the thread LOL)
C= Bill Russell

Bench= Dave Cowens, Kevin Durant, Gary Payton, Bernard King, Ray Allen

The starters would be a pretty darn good defense. Off the bench we could continue that with Cowens and Payton. Bernard King in his prime would be our second unit super scorer, Durant could play the 3 or the 4. And we have 2 shooters in West and Allen

I like it!

not sure what i'd do if you threw Kareem, Wilt and Olajuwon out there together though!

Edited by MtlJeff, 29 December 2012 - 03:18 PM.

[MtlJeff]

bubbagump, on 29 December 2012 - 12:42 PM, said:

Im taking ( bias) in some key positions

Steve Young or Montana

Jerry Rice, Megatron, Fitz and a young TO with a sleeper Percy Harvin

Adrian Peterson, Emmitt Smith

Ray Lewis, Patrick Willis, Von Miller, Aldon Smith, LT, Charles Haley (cant pick just 4)

Bryant Young, Reggie White, Justin Smith, Gilbert Brown lol

Deion Sanders, Champ Bailey, Merton Hanks and Ronne Lott

Feel like thats a good start..

Here's one i used to argue with my friend about ALL the time.

But i was a big Marshall Faulk fan, my friend liked north-south guys better.

in their best year would you take Peterson or Faulk?

I know AP is a monster. But ive never seen a guy create matchup problems like Marshall Faulk

[bubbagump]

MtlJeff, on 29 December 2012 - 03:30 PM, said:

bubbagump, on 29 December 2012 - 12:42 PM, said:

Im taking ( bias) in some key positions

Steve Young or Montana

Jerry Rice, Megatron, Fitz and a young TO with a sleeper Percy Harvin

Adrian Peterson, Emmitt Smith

Ray Lewis, Patrick Willis, Von Miller, Aldon Smith, LT, Charles Haley (cant pick just 4)

Bryant Young, Reggie White, Justin Smith, Gilbert Brown lol

Deion Sanders, Champ Bailey, Merton Hanks and Ronne Lott

Feel like thats a good start..

Here's one i used to argue with my friend about ALL the time.

But i was a big Marshall Faulk fan, my friend liked north-south guys better.

in their best year would you take Peterson or Faulk?

I know AP is a monster. But ive never seen a guy create matchup problems like Marshall Faulk

Obviously youd be in great shape with either lol.  I think my answer is AP because to me he does everything Faulk did (maybe not to the same level) but is bigger, stronger, faster.  The only knock on AP is how hard he runs and injury prone...But I still think in their best year, I take AP...but not by too much.

Edited by bubbagump, 29 December 2012 - 03:35 PM.

[MtlJeff]

i was going to throw Tomlinson in there too. I think he's still the gold standard of modern runningbacks because he could run between the tackles a bit better than Faulk, and had a game that could do fairly well in tough weather whereas Marshall was obviously better suited to domes where he could make clean cuts.

I would put LT ahead of both of them, but i didn't put him in there because i thought he was really a mix of both

[esketores]

Barry Sanders, Tony Dorsett, Earl Campbell
Elway, Jim Kelly
Tony Gonzales, Art Monk, John Stallworth, Lance Alworth, Steve Largent


I'd have to add Lambeer to foul Cowens. And Wilt would not play center.. power forward

Edited by esketores, 29 December 2012 - 04:09 PM.

[MtlJeff]

i'm kicking myself for not taking Isaiah! Forgot about him....but hmmm, i do like Payton's versatility. Ahhh i'll just stick with it.

Laimbeer too! LOL you have a HUGE team

I would definitely give Kidd-Payton-Pippen-Duncan-Russell a lot of run together though. I mean now that is a defense!

[tommyrobson]

MtlJeff, on 29 December 2012 - 03:14 PM, said:

esketores, on 29 December 2012 - 12:41 PM, said:

I'll bring my team of Magic, Kareem, Wilt, Oscar, Bird (bench of Lebron, Olajuwon, Maravich, Havlicek, Dr. J) and play your team any day.

PG= Jason Kidd (in his prime a great defender and distributor)
SG= Jerry West  (team player, shooter and scorer)
SF= Scottie Pippen (Michael's wingman for life!)
PF= Tim Duncan (my opinion, best power forward ever...go on and disagree, that's the whole point of the thread LOL)
C= Bill Russell

Bench= Dave Cowens, Kevin Durant, Gary Payton, Bernard King, Ray Allen

PG: Magic Johnson (I want him to run my fast break)
SG: Kobe Bryant (only question on whether or not I should have him is if he could accept that hes not always gonna be #1 or even #2 scoring option)
SF: Larry Legend (his perimeter defense sucks, but Duncan and Kareem are a great back-line of defense)
PF: Tim Duncan (questionably best of all time)
C: Kareem

Bench: Chris Paul (great defender who can come in to replace Magic if he is getting torched, also great distributor) Bill Russell (Leader off the bench, knows how to win, will play tough D) Moses Malone (will get every rebound while he is on the court) Kevin McHale (can score in 12 different ways) Scottie Pippen (it was him or Larry as starting 3, depends on what team they play) Hondo (consistent scorer, not much playing time, but can get it done) Reggie Miller (He goes in in crunch time, 3 pointers and FT almost automatic)

Edited by tommyrobson, 29 December 2012 - 05:19 PM.

[hebron1427]

here's one...who would you rather be
2002

Ohio state or Miami?

you're tempted to say OSU because they won the game, but many still dispute the final play,and Maurice clarett tarnished it anyway. Miami clearly had more NFL talent based on the number of players in the league. but Miami didn't get the hardware.

[One_Putt_Blunder]

My Ultimate " Fantasy Football Team"

QB: Montana, Brady, and Young in that order
RB: Barry Sanders, Adrian Peterson, Walter Payton
WR: Jerry Rice, Calvin Johnson, Randy Moss and Larry Fitzgerald
TE: Tony Gonzalez, Vernon Davis
LT: Jonathan Ogden and Walter Jones
LG: Gene Upshaw
RG: Would move Steve Hutchinson to RG  
C: Jim Otto
FB: Tom Rathman just because

3-4 defense
LE Deacon Jones
NT: Casey Hampton
RE: Howie Long
LOLB: Lawrence Taylor
MLB: Ray Lewis
MLB Patrick Willis
ROLB Demarcus Ware
CB Deon Sanders
CB Darrell Revis
CB Merton the neck Hanks
CB Champ Bailey
FS Ronnie Lott
SS Troy Polamalu
KR Devin Hester
PR/KR Dante Hall
Punter: Andy Lee
Kicker: I hate kickers so I refuse to acknowledge a greatest ever

Edited by One_Putt_Blunder, 29 December 2012 - 11:52 PM.

[deadsolid...shank]

Thank you One-Putt for finally bringing up Walter Payton. I have a feeling that most who did not mention him are probably younger and didn't have the opportunity to see him play. To put up the numbers he did on a team that was as bad as it was (outside of the Superbowl year) is just amazing.  And I admit to being a little biased with him because I also just loved how he played the game, just so classy out there.

I'll also throw my vote in the direction of Marino, can you imagine the numbers he would have put up if he would have had a offense like Montana's (and not taking anything away from Joe, but what a team around him). How much fun was it to watch Jerry Rice play?

Oh, and since you didn't vote for a kicker, I'll nominate Morten Anderson.

For hoops, I'm a huge, huge Bird fan, but I think I'd start my team with Magic (and it pains me to say that, I hate the Lakers ((almost as much as the Yankees)).

Edited by deadsolid...shank, 30 December 2012 - 01:17 AM.

[CCUgolfer23]

If I was going basketball my starting 5 would be Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Kareem, Wilt, and Lebron. Bench would have Kobe, Wade, Julius Erving, Oscar Robinson, Isiah Thomas, and Bill Russell. That is with Michael being off the table. If Michael was on the table Take Lebron and put him on the becnh and take Isiah and take him off the team.

[avrag]

One-Putt's team looks pretty much like mine would, but I would not want to have a team without Greg Lloyd as linebacker.
And even though the 4 receivers he chose are probably really the best 4 wide-outs overall I have seen in my time, I still would want that one guy in there who always makes every catch on third down right on the first down marker, get's his toes in bounce, and then falls OB to stop the clock. Cris Carter anyone?
WHat did he do to get ignored here just like he was for the HoF?

Edited by avrag, 30 December 2012 - 06:45 AM.

[highergr0und]

Who's coaching the teams?  Got to have the right system for the players you pick.

[bubbagump]

highergr0und, on 30 December 2012 - 08:22 AM, said:

Who's coaching the teams?  Got to have the right system for the players you pick.

Bill Walsh or Bill Belicheck for me

[hebron1427]

or Chuck noll

[hebron1427]

or Lombardi

[MtlJeff]

hebron1427, on 29 December 2012 - 11:51 PM, said:

here's one...who would you rather be
2002

Ohio state or Miami?

you're tempted to say OSU because they won the game, but many still dispute the final play,and Maurice clarett tarnished it anyway. Miami clearly had more NFL talent based on the number of players in the league. but Miami didn't get the hardware.

that Miami team was insane. Wikipedia the 2002 Miami Hurricanes, their defense looks like an NFL defense. I mean that entire defense got drafted....and it's not like the offense was bad

Another thing i used to argue with my friend about: 1995 Nebraska talent wise versus 2002 Miami (they won in 2001 but i think they were more dominant in 2002 even despite the tainted loss). Nebraska lacks the QB and receiver chops obviously but they had like 30 players go pro from that team, probably the best modern team ever in the trenches

[MtlJeff]

and obviously i mean NFL talent QB wise....i mean in college Tommy Frazier was a god

[MileHighClub]

Not seeing a lot of love for The Dream here.  That guy was an amazingly athletic big man.

[SilverBullets]

hebron1427, on 29 December 2012 - 11:51 PM, said:

here's one...who would you rather be
2002

Ohio state or Miami?

you're tempted to say OSU because they won the game, but many still dispute the final play,and Maurice clarett tarnished it anyway. Miami clearly had more NFL talent based on the number of players in the league. but Miami didn't get the hardware.

I think you phrased the question wrong... Obviously you would rather be OSU as they won the game.... As a die hard Buckeye fan, that Miami team was more talented and was overall better, OSU just pulled off a miraculous upset.  I was at the game and I remember telling my dad of the Bucks kept it to a 2 score game than they played well.  No one thought they could beat Miami.  

It's neither here nor there but that controversial play should have been a penalty, IMO... I think it just should have been def holding.  

Also, most of those buckeyes got drafted just not that year.  They were all jrs.  Now obviously Miami had multiple pro bowlers as opposed to 02 bucks, but, there were some solid nfl guys off that team (Will smith, AJ Hawk, Gamble, Michael Jenkins)

[Myherobobhope]

I'm just going to throw this out there... Babe Ruth would have been the best steroids era baseball player...

[MtlJeff]

MileHighClub, on 30 December 2012 - 10:35 AM, said:

Not seeing a lot of love for The Dream here.  That guy was an amazingly athletic big man.

useless tidbit here....but apparently, before the 1984 draft the Rockets offered Ralph Sampson to the Blazers for Clyde Drexler and the #2 pick. Imagine if Portland accepts that trade? You could have had Olajuwon, Drexler and Jordan on the same team....Crazy to think about

It's almost good that Jordan retired for a couple of years because Hakeem finally got the recognition her deserved. I think at worst he's a top 20 player alltime.

It will be interesting to see Tim Duncan's staying power aswell. Solid argument he's the best basketball player since Jordan, i think he ranks like 2300th in jersey sales haha

[MileHighClub]

MtlJeff, on 30 December 2012 - 12:02 PM, said:

MileHighClub, on 30 December 2012 - 10:35 AM, said:

Not seeing a lot of love for The Dream here.  That guy was an amazingly athletic big man.

useless tidbit here....but apparently, before the 1984 draft the Rockets offered Ralph Sampson to the Blazers for Clyde Drexler and the #2 pick. Imagine if Portland accepts that trade? You could have had Olajuwon, Drexler and Jordan on the same team....Crazy to think about

It's almost good that Jordan retired for a couple of years because Hakeem finally got the recognition her deserved. I think at worst he's a top 20 player alltime.

It will be interesting to see Tim Duncan's staying power aswell. Solid argument he's the best basketball player since Jordan, i think he ranks like 2300th in jersey sales haha

That would have been a dynasty or sure.  Dream moved like a 6'2" guy.  I also agree with your comments about Duncan.  He would be talked about with MJ, Magic, and Bird if he had played in LA or NY.  Guy is a winner.

[One_Putt_Blunder]

avrag, on 30 December 2012 - 06:41 AM, said:

One-Putt's team looks pretty much like mine would, but I would not want to have a team without Greg Lloyd as linebacker.
And even though the 4 receivers he chose are probably really the best 4 wide-outs overall I have seen in my time, I still would want that one guy in there who always makes every catch on third down right on the first down marker, get's his toes in bounce, and then falls OB to stop the clock. Cris Carter anyone?
WHat did he do to get ignored here just like he was for the HoF?

I would use Fitz as that guy. Big physical possesion type receiver. Thought about Carter but liked how physical Fitz is. Not very fast but knows how to jump and use his body to shield DB's

[hebron1427]

MtlJeff, on 30 December 2012 - 09:50 AM, said:

hebron1427, on 29 December 2012 - 11:51 PM, said:

here's one...who would you rather be
2002

Ohio state or Miami?

you're tempted to say OSU because they won the game, but many still dispute the final play,and Maurice clarett tarnished it anyway. Miami clearly had more NFL talent based on the number of players in the league. but Miami didn't get the hardware.

that Miami team was insane. Wikipedia the 2002 Miami Hurricanes, their defense looks like an NFL defense. I mean that entire defense got drafted....and it's not like the offense was bad

Another thing i used to argue with my friend about: 1995 Nebraska talent wise versus 2002 Miami (they won in 2001 but i think they were more dominant in 2002 even despite the tainted loss). Nebraska lacks the QB and receiver chops obviously but they had like 30 players go pro from that team, probably the best modern team ever in the trenches

touchdown tommy was a god, but you're right...much more pro talent on the line.