@policeman said:

Gipper and Ghoolie are two of the smartest persons I have ever had the pleasure of responding to a post made by one of them on a message board.

Ghoolie is smart the way the Unabomber was smart.  (and the Unabomber was very smart)  Intelligent, but totally twisted...in certain regards.

FYI....if you were to just look at the Unabomber Manifesto....there is some very accurate, interesting, prophetic material in there.  The problem of course is that instead of publishing his material....his thoughts, philosophies.....he used his intellect for evil and to kill people.

(I am not comparing Ghoolie in that respect...just in other ways, like saying that Obama was responsible for the Las Vegas mass murder...See what I mean by twisted?) 

@policeman said:

Gipper you should write a book.

It wouldn't be a book....just an edited compilation.  

@policeman said:

Gipper you should write a book.

I think he secretly is.......and we're all in it. 

@ghoolie said:

The Browns died in 1995 and were moved to Baltimore. There, they have won titles. THe team in Cleveland is not historically tied to the real Browns and therefore is an expansion team.

This thread was meant for people interested in Sports.  If you can't pay attention and answer the questions asked, don't bother to participate.

@tour2ma said:

Yeah... the prices were amazing. No TicketMaster back then.

Then you sat for Alice about where I "sat" for Eagles - Maha - Yes. I was in the seats for Alice.

Niles had a McKinley, too??? Who knew...

Yeah in 1966 my junior year we went 10-0-0 and beat Massillon, Canton McKinley  (where the prez moved later) and Warren Harding. 

@the-gipper said:

Here are some factoids and some questions on football and on sports in general that may take your mind off of the Browns suckotage for just a bit.  You can consider this to be in lieu of Trivia for the week....and also somewhat this week's Survey:

1. . At the time of the "Merger"  of  1970 there were a combined 26 teams in the newly combined NFL.   Nearly half of the team in place at that time have NOT won a Championship since the merger.   14 teams have won titles,  12 have not.   Those who have not are: Eagles, Vikings, Lions, Falcons, Browns, Chargers, Cardinals, Jets, Chiefs, Bills, Bengals, Titans/Oilers.   And the Dolphins last won in 1973.

Do you consider this good, bad, or indifferent that the league has  had so many teams not win titles in practically the lifetime of many of you out there?

2. Since 1970, Six new teams have been added to the league.  Half of those have won a Super Bowl:  Seahawks, Bucs...both of which came in 1976, and the Ravens who came in in 1996.  The Jags, Panthers and Texans have not won.

Same basic question,  is it good that half of the "expansion" teams have won, or not.  Also:  Do you think the NFL should expand?

3..  Whatever happened to the "Big Man" in basketball.  Is it fair to say that the dominating center has gone the way of the Dinosaur?  Practically extinct?   The last one that I can think of is Shaq.

 Is there any room for the dominant center in today's NBA?

4. Major League Baseball has identified the fact that there are two franchises that have serious Stadium Issues:   Oakland and Tampa Bay.   Oakland in on schedule to have a new stadium built by 2023 near Jack London Square.   Tampa Bay is looking at a new waterfront stadium in Tampa to replace Tropicana Field in St. Pete.

Once these two sites have been settled and the stadium financing etc. all in place,  MLB will be looking to expand to 32 teams.  The MLB commissioner has actually named 3 cities that he believes would be prime potential locations for  this expansion:   A. Going back into Montreal  B.  Charlotte NC, and C.  Mexico City...or some city in Mexico.

What do you think about these choices? Or are there others that would be preferable?

5. The Sporting News published its list of the 10 Greatest Running Backs ever.  The are:

10. Marshall Faulk   9. LaDanian Tomlinson 8. Tony Dorsett 7. Eric Dickerson 6. Gale Sayers 5. OJ Simpson 4. Emmitt Smith 3. Walter Payton 2. Barry Sanders 1. Jim Brown.

Any problem with this list or this Order?   (note...the following who are in the Top Ten in all time rushing were not included on this list; Curtis Martin, Jerome Bettis, Frank Gore...any issues here?

6.A bit of nostalgia.  The Akron Rubber Bowl is soon slated for demolition.  As part of its history recal that in 1952 the Dallas Texans played its only season as a franchise in the NFL.  But things got so bad there, that that team moved its final 2 home games to the  Rubber Bowl.  That NFL team won its only game that year over the Bears in the Rubber Bowl....on Thanks giving day.   However....that same day, there was also a high school City Series Championship game played that outdrew the Texans/Bears Games.

Is the San Diego/LA Chargers move to the Stub Hub stadium about tantamount to the Texans playing in the Rubber Bowl? Small stadium. No local support.  Fans of the opposing team outdraw fans of the home team? etc.

The Browns died in 1995 and were moved to Baltimore. There, they have won titles. THe team in Cleveland is not historically tied to the real Browns and therefore is an expansion team.

@tour2ma said:

Yeah... the prices were amazing. No TicketMaster back then.

Then you sat for Alice about where I "sat" for Eagles - Maha - Yes. I was in the seats for Alice.

Niles had a McKinley, too??? Who knew...

And the "fictional" School in the TV show Glee was Lima McKinley.    Lima never had a McKinley HS

Then you sat for Alice about where I "sat" for Eagles - Maha - Yes. I was in the seats for Alice.

@mjp28 said:

I saw Chicago,, Three Dog Night among others plus was on the field for some very memorable high school football games in 1965, 66, 67 in Stark and Summit County with our NILES MCKINLEY RED DRAGONS back then.

Niles had a McKinley, too??? Who knew...

@tour2ma said:

I'll see your poster and raise you a stub...

And there it is... lower left of the featured trio...

I was there.  While there were no assigned seats, myself and a group of friends sat right up front and center, probably not 15-20 feet from the front of the stage.  Remember at the end a helicopter hovering over the crowd throwing out panties (like the ones that came in the School's Out album)

And WOW,  $4.50 to see the show. Oi!

@tour2ma said:

Don't forget many, many great concerts...

I saw Chicago,, Three Dog Night among others plus was on the field for some very memorable high school football games in 1965, 66, 67 in Stark and Summit County with our NILES MCKINLEY RED DRAGONS back then.

And there it is... lower left of the featured trio...

They should go to San Antonio....because Jerry Jones thinks that market belongs to him....and I would not mind seeing him get Fubarred. (F----uckedupbeyondallrecognition)

@the-gipper said:

Here are some factoids and some questions on football and on sports in general that may take your mind off of the Browns suckotage for just a bit.  You can consider this to be in lieu of Trivia for the week....and also somewhat this week's Survey:

1. . At the time of the "Merger"  of  1970 there were a combined 26 teams in the newly combined NFL.   Nearly half of the team in place at that time have NOT won a Championship since the merger.   14 teams have won titles,  12 have not.   Those who have not are: Eagles, Vikings, Lions, Falcons, Browns, Chargers, Cardinals, Jets, Chiefs, Bills, Bengals, Titans/Oilers.   And the Dolphins last won in 1973.

Do you consider this good, bad, or indifferent that the league has  had so many teams not win titles in practically the lifetime of many of you out there?

Indifferent. It is what it is.

2. Since 1970, Six new teams have been added to the league.  Half of those have won a Super Bowl:  Seahawks, Bucs...both of which came in 1976, and the Ravens who came in in 1996.  The Jags, Panthers and Texans have not won.

Same basic question,  is it good that half of the "expansion" teams have won, or not.  Also:  Do you think the NFL should expand?

No on any expansion, there aren't enough good QBs with 32 teams. 

3..  Whatever happened to the "Big Man" in basketball.  Is it fair to say that the dominating center has gone the way of the Dinosaur?  Practically extinct?   The last one that I can think of is Shaq.

 Is there any room for the dominant center in today's NBA?

Sure. But athletic 7 footers are hard to find.

4. Major League Baseball has identified the fact that there are two franchises that have serious Stadium Issues:   Oakland and Tampa Bay.   Oakland in on schedule to have a new stadium built by 2023 near Jack London Square.   Tampa Bay is looking at a new waterfront stadium in Tampa to replace Tropicana Field in St. Pete.

Once these two sites have been settled and the stadium financing etc. all in place,  MLB will be looking to expand to 32 teams.  The MLB commissioner has actually named 3 cities that he believes would be prime potential locations for  this expansion:   A. Going back into Montreal  B.  Charlotte NC, and C.  Mexico City...or some city in Mexico.

What do you think about these choices? Or are there others that would be preferable?

Wow, I didn't realize there was expansion talk in MLB. Those choices seem fine to me, although I wonder if Montreal would be supportive again. I'd look into Calgary or Winnipeg, even though the markets are smaller.

5. The Sporting News published its list of the 10 Greatest Running Backs ever.  The are:

10. Marshall Faulk   9. LaDanian Tomlinson 8. Tony Dorsett 7. Eric Dickerson 6. Gale Sayers 5. OJ Simpson 4. Emmitt Smith 3. Walter Payton 2. Barry Sanders 1. Jim Brown.

Any problem with this list or this Order?   (note...the following who are in the Top Ten in all time rushing were not included on this list; Curtis Martin, Jerome Bettis, Frank Gore...any issues here? Earl Campbell needs to be in the top 10 somewhere, and I'd remove Tomlinson to put him on there. 

6.A bit of nostalgia.  The Akron Rubber Bowl is soon slated for demolition.  As part of its history recal that in 1952 the Dallas Texans played its only season as a franchise in the NFL.  But things got so bad there, that that team moved its final 2 home games to the  Rubber Bowl.  That NFL team won its only game that year over the Bears in the Rubber Bowl....on Thanks giving day.   However....that same day, there was also a high school City Series Championship game played that outdrew the Texans/Bears Games.

Is the San Diego/LA Chargers move to the Stub Hub stadium about tantamount to the Texans playing in the Rubber Bowl? Small stadium. No local support.  Fans of the opposing team outdraw fans of the home team? etc.

Jerry Jones, Robert Kraft, and Goodell pushed hard for the LA market. The Chargers shouldn't have bolted...I bet they end up in St. Louis or Oklahoma City someday.

@tour2ma said:

Don't forget many, many great concerts...

@texasag1969 said:

On the RB's if we don't account for longevity because of a career ending injury, got to put Bo Jackson on there. Damn he was one great RB. Ran a 4.13 at the combine and power like JB and Earl. Still don't get why Ross was credited with the fastest now. Must be the era of the laser timer only I would guess. All I can say is when I saw him run an 80 yd screen pass for a TD  in person at the Cotton bowl, I'd never seen anything like it before or since. The nearest DB was 15 yds behind when he crossed the goalline. And we had a very fast D that year. Unreal!

And he did the same to the Seahawks here too!

Well, I hear what you say....but, Bo's career was just SO short...that I don't think we can really give him his due.  I mean, Marcus Dupree was one of the best looking RBs ever to play (maybe better than Bo?)...but his career was shortened too by injury...and I don't think we can give them their due.

@the-gipper said:

Here are some factoids and some questions on football and on sports in general that may take your mind off of the Browns suckotage for just a bit.  You can consider this to be in lieu of Trivia for the week....and also somewhat this week's Survey:

My own answers:

1. . At the time of the "Merger"  of  1970 there were a combined 26 teams in the newly combined NFL.   Nearly half of the team in place at that time have NOT won a Championship since the merger.   14 teams have won titles,  12 have not.   Those who have not are: Eagles, Vikings, Lions, Falcons, Browns, Chargers, Cardinals, Jets, Chiefs, Bills, Bengals, Titans/Oilers.   And the Dolphins last won in 1973.

Do you consider this good, bad, or indifferent that the league has  had so many teams not win titles in practically the lifetime of many of you out there?

Because the Browns have not won one I am inclined to say that it is bad...but that really would not be true. In the 46 years since the merger, 17 teams have won a title. That averages out to about 2.765 titles per each team that has won. Consider also how many of the teams that have not won came so close to winning:  Last year the Falcons who cacked up a furball when they had the game all but won. The Bills, wide right. The Titans, one yard short. Bengals lose on a miracle Montana drive.  Eagles and Panthers lose 3 pt. games to Pats. There easily could have been a better ratio of teams winning with just a few different bounces of the ball.

2. Since 1970, Six new teams have been added to the league.  Half of those have won a Super Bowl:  Seahawks, Bucs...both of which came in 1976, and the Ravens who came in in 1996.  The Jags, Panthers and Texans have not won.

Same basic question,  is it good that half of the "expansion" teams have won, or not.  Also:  Do you think the NFL should expand?

I think that the NFL could easily expand...in terms of the fact that there are cities out there that are perfectly viable of supporting an NFL team. The only real question is how would the divisions/conferences be made up.  Right now there is almost perfect symmetry with 32 teams.  16 in each conf.  4 in each division.  If you added 2-4 teams how would those divisions be set up.  Some divisions would have more than others (but...the league has done that before on a couple of occasions).  If you had say, 36 teams, would you revert back to 3 Divisions in each conference of 6 teams each?   Trying to figure out a playoff format would be another issue.

3..  Whatever happened to the "Big Man" in basketball.  Is it fair to say that the dominating center has gone the way of the Dinosaur?  Practically extinct?   The last one that I can think of is Shaq.

 Is there any room for the dominant center in today's NBA?

4. Major League Baseball has identified the fact that there are two franchises that have serious Stadium Issues:   Oakland and Tampa Bay.   Oakland in on schedule to have a new stadium built by 2023 near Jack London Square.   Tampa Bay is looking at a new waterfront stadium in Tampa to replace Tropicana Field in St. Pete.

Once these two sites have been settled and the stadium financing etc. all in place,  MLB will be looking to expand to 32 teams.  The MLB commissioner has actually named 3 cities that he believes would be prime potential locations for  this expansion:   A. Going back into Montreal  B.  Charlotte NC, and C.  Mexico City...or some city in Mexico.

What do you think about these choices? Or are there others that would be preferable?

Forget Montreal.  If you want another Canadian city perhaps go out west to Calgary or Vancouver.   Charlotte would seem a natural though.  If they were to do Mexico...how about Monterrey?  It is much closer to the US.  Its a huge city/region with a population of over 4 million...plus, it would be all of Mexico's team, not just Monterrey.   In the US you would consider San Antonio/Austin,  maybe Portland, Indianapolis, Nashville, Sacramento?

5. The Sporting News published its list of the 10 Greatest Running Backs ever.  The are:

10. Marshall Faulk   9. LaDanian Tomlinson 8. Tony Dorsett 7. Eric Dickerson 6. Gale Sayers 5. OJ Simpson 4. Emmitt Smith 3. Walter Payton 2. Barry Sanders 1. Jim Brown.

No real big problem....but I hear what Tour says about Earl Campbell.  I might put him between Dickerson and Dorsett.  Dorsett and Campbell played in the same general era...and Big Earl was considered the superior back...both great...Earl Better.

Any problem with this list or this Order?   (note...the following who are in the Top Ten in all time rushing were not included on this list; Curtis Martin, Jerome Bettis, Frank Gore...any issues here?

6.A bit of nostalgia.  The Akron Rubber Bowl is soon slated for demolition.  As part of its history recal that in 1952 the Dallas Texans played its only season as a franchise in the NFL.  But things got so bad there, that that team moved its final 2 home games to the  Rubber Bowl.  That NFL team won its only game that year over the Bears in the Rubber Bowl....on Thanks giving day.   However....that same day, there was also a high school City Series Championship game played that outdrew the Texans/Bears Games.

Is the San Diego/LA Chargers move to the Stub Hub stadium about tantamount to the Texans playing in the Rubber Bowl? Small stadium. No local support.  Fans of the opposing team outdraw fans of the home team? etc.

There are some similarities....but sure, the situations are far different.   We know that the Chargers are going to go into the new joint LA stadium. The DTs has no such promise.  But, for a bit anyway, they both seem like vagabond franchises.

And he did the same to the Seahawks here too!

@canton-dawg said:

Sad thing about the Rubber Bowl.

Its hosted high school, college, and even some pro games.

If I remember correctly, the Browns played a few preseason games there.

With the new Infocision Stadium, and the newly re-vamped Tom Benson Stadium down the road, it serves little use these days.

Yes, I believe that is all true.  Browns definitely played preseason games there.   And I think that the City Series teams do now play at Infocision.

@canton-dawg said:

Sad thing about the Rubber Bowl.

Its hosted high school, college, and even some pro games.

If I remember correctly, the Browns played a few preseason games there.

With the new Infocision Stadium, and the newly re-vamped Tom Benson Stadium down the road, it serves little use these days.

Don't forget many, many great concerts...

Surprised there are that many given the oft discussed "age of parody" we're supposedly in. But it's not all about titles. Even our Browns have gone deep into the playoffs during that ime period.

2. Same basic question,  is it good that half of the "expansion" teams have won, or not.  Also:  Do you think the NFL should expand?

Personally I can't see further expansion. I did once think that a European Division was inevitable, but no longer do due to CTE, product quality issues and symbolic terror targets.

3..   Is there any room for the dominant center in today's NBA?

They are still around, but the game has become a three-point game rather than an inside game, so their role is minimized. Even near 7-footers are hitting threes these days.

4. What do you think about these choices? Or are there others that would be preferable?

I'm fine with all those. Were I to pass over one, it's be Montreal as they had a team and lost it. Pass over them for where? Nashville area would seem to fill a void. Somewhere in the "heartland" might work as well... maybe Nebraska or Oklahoma.

5. Any problem with this list or this Order?

Hell yeah I have a problem... Where's Earl?

6. Is the San Diego/LA Chargers move to the Stub Hub stadium about tantamount to the Texans playing in the Rubber Bowl? Small stadium. No local support.  Fans of the opposing team outdraw fans of the home team? etc.

I don't see a parallel. Maybe if Bears fans had flocked to the Rubber Bowl???