Rants and Ranks

Lottery: 1. Hakeem Olajuwon 2. Sam Bowie 3. Michael Jordan Would you rather Bowie or Olajuwon?  That was the question of the '84 draft.  4. Sam Perkins 5. Charles Barkley 6. Melvin Turpin 7. Alvin Robertson 8. Lancaster Gordon 9. Otis Thorpe 10. Leon Wood 11. Kevin Willis 12. Tim McCormick 13. Jay Humphries Remixed: 1. Michael Jordan (3) 2. Hakeem Olajuwon (1) 3. Charles Barkley (5) 4. John Stockton (16) 5. Alvin Robertson (7) 6. Otis Thorpe (9) 7. Kevin Willis (11) 8. Sam Perkins (4) 9. Michael Cage (14) 10. Jerome Kersey (46) 11. Jay Humphries (13) 12. Tony Campbell (20) 13. Vern Fleming (18) I've been avoiding doing this one just due to the fact that it's one of the most historic/infamous, fill any other adjective, draft ever.  Also due to the general population's bias's, any draft Jordan was in would be called "greatest" even if the rest of the draft sucked.  Fortunately this one didn't suck. Speaking of "...

Daniel Bryan, Samoa Joe, CM Punk, Austin Aries, AJ Styles, these are the names of the men that went from "Internet Darlings" to world champions in their respective companies.  Why?  There's lots of reasons that I could list as contributing ingredients, but at the end of the day they have the "x-factor" that a talent needs to have to transcend to main event glory. I get a little annoyed by the "smarks," or whatever they want to call themselves these days, when they get their collective panties in a bunch over "Internet Darling X" getting a WWE tryout, then WWE isn't interested in signing them, followed by internet outrage.  "Vince and HHH don't know talent when they see it."  "They just lost a potential main-eventer!"  "They just lost the next Daniel Bryan!" I, myself, keep tabs on the young guns on the independent scene.  I cheer like crazy every time one of them get to TNA or WWE and proceed to take ...

Lottery: 1. Shaquille O'Neal 2. Alonzo Mourning 3. Christian Laettner 4. Jim Jackson 5. LaPhonso Ellis 6. Tom Gugliotta 7. Walt Williams 8. Todd Day 9. Clarence Weatherspoon 10. Adam Keefe 11. Robert Horry 12. Harold Miner 13. Bryant Stith Remixed: 1. Shaquille O'Neal (1) 2. Alonzo Mourning (2) 3. Latrell Sprewell (24) 4. Robert Horry (11) 5. Doug Christie (17) 6. Christian Laettner (3) 7. Tom Gugliotta (6) 8. Jim Jackson (4) 9. P.J. Brown (29) 10. Clarence Weatherspoon (9) 11. Walt Williams (7) 12. LaPhonso Ellis (5) 13. Matt Geiger (42) This has been the only draft I've done that numbers 1 and 2 have went in the correct order.  That being said, this isn't the best draft.  The gap between Shaq (one of the best ever) and Zo is quite substantial.  Zo is a Hall of Famer too, and there is no shame coming up second to Shaq.  However, the drop to the third best player (Sprewell) is pretty much a considered a free-fall.  Sprewell had so...

1985 Draft Lottery: Not the traditional draft picture, but both guys were drafted this year.  1. Patrick Ewing 2. Wayman Tisdale 3. Benoit Benjamin 4. Xavier McDaniel 5. Jon Concak 6. Joe Kleine 7. Chris Mullin 8. Detlef Shrempf 9. Charles Oakley 10. Ed Pickney 11. Keith Lee 12. Kenny Green 13. Karl Malone Remixed: 1. Karl Malone (13) 2. Patrick Ewing (1) 3. Chris Mullin (7) 4. Joe Dumars (18) 5. Terry Porter (24) 6. Detlef Shrempf (8) 7. Xavier McDaniel (4) 8. Charles Oakley (9) 9. A.C. Green (23) 10. Wayman Tisdale (2) 11. Arvydas Sabonis (24) 12. Spud Webb (87) 13. Hot Rod Williams (45) Honorable Mentions: Benoit Benjamin (3), Tyrone Corbin (35), Mario Elie (160), Bill Wennington, just kidding. Remember there were 7 rounds back then, which is why there is a "160" next to Mario Elie.  Although the '84 draft (Jordan year) was more heralded, this actually had more All Stars than '84 did.  It's also strange that the best ...