MLB HOF and CFB 'best ever' vs. Ed Sprinkle
Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2020 11:04 am
I usually don't get worked up over HOF snubs/bad selections...but this Ed Sprinkle thing really sticks in my craw. I haven't felt this frustrated since Floyd Little got enshrined. What makes Sprinkle's selection worse is that it was specifically part of some super-research old timers committee, and there were other far more deserving names on the list that weren't picked. Ack.
Anyways, it made me feel better to witness the MLB HOF voting and the CFB 'best 11 players ever' lists. The NFL HOF is superior by comparison.
MLB - only two guys got in...Jeter was a shoo-in (although 396/397 is a topic), and Larry Walker finally made it in on his last year, which was also a topic. Two of the best players in MLB history (Clemens & Bonds) did not make it. Looking at who will be first time eligible for 2021 (Tim Hudson, Mark Buehrle, Torii Hunter), it is highly possible that next year the MLB HOF will have zero players enshrined, which wouldn't be a first. On a minor note, someone actually voted for Adam Dunn to be put in Cooperstown.
What irks me the most is how PED 'suspects' like Pudge Rodriguez and Jeff Bagwell can kind of float into Cooperstown, and a guy like Sammy Sosa (who never tested positive for PEDs) will receive less HOF votes than a schmuck like Andy Pettitte...who not only has no business being put in the HOF, but who also tested positive for PEDs! Sosa's numbers are better than many HOF players, yet he struggles to capture 10% of the vote. Who is to say that Larry Walker wasn't on PEDs? To me, it is a totally subjective criteria of who the media liked and who the media didn't like, with PED 'issues' being put forth as a phony justification.
CFB Best 11 - not sure if anyone saw this, but during halftime of one of the playoff games, CFB named their top 11 players in college football history. Yes, its a daunting task, but the effort given was terrible. First, there was no attempt to represent different position groups. Second, the picks were awful...especially the old time picks....The Top 11 are as follows, in order:
Jim Brown (RB, Syracuse, 1954-56)
Herschel Walker (RB, Georgia, 1980-82)
Bo Jackson (RB, Auburn, 1982-85)
Archie Griffin (RB, Ohio State, 1972-75)
Jim Thorpe (RB, Carlisle, 1907-12)
Red Grange (RB, Illinois, 1923-25)
Earl Campbell (RB, Texas, 1974-77)
Dick Butkus (LB, Illinois, 1962-64)
Barry Sanders (RB, Oklahoma State, 1986-88)
Gale Sayers (RB, Kansas, 1962-64)
Roger Staubach (QB, Navy, 1962-64)
*There is no way that Jim Brown was the best CFB player ever. He wasn't even the best Syracuse FB of his era. Tony Dorsett's college career is vastly superior to Brown's. I don't get it.
*The list is, OBVIOUSLY, too RB-heavy. And even then, those picks are terrible. Gale Sayers has no business being on the list at all. Barry Sanders below Bo Jackson? OK.
*Hey, at least Dick Butkus made the list.
*I love Roger Staubach, but come on. Was his college career better than Tim Tebow's? Vince Young's? Staubach is the best QB in CFB history??
In sum, this was one of the worst 'best ever' sports list I have ever seen. I thought there would be actual great college football players on it...Tim Tebow, Bubba Smith, Tony Dorsett, Jack Tatum, John Hannah, even an oddball pick like Andy Katzenmoyer or Howard Twilley.
Anyways, it made me feel better to witness the MLB HOF voting and the CFB 'best 11 players ever' lists. The NFL HOF is superior by comparison.
MLB - only two guys got in...Jeter was a shoo-in (although 396/397 is a topic), and Larry Walker finally made it in on his last year, which was also a topic. Two of the best players in MLB history (Clemens & Bonds) did not make it. Looking at who will be first time eligible for 2021 (Tim Hudson, Mark Buehrle, Torii Hunter), it is highly possible that next year the MLB HOF will have zero players enshrined, which wouldn't be a first. On a minor note, someone actually voted for Adam Dunn to be put in Cooperstown.
What irks me the most is how PED 'suspects' like Pudge Rodriguez and Jeff Bagwell can kind of float into Cooperstown, and a guy like Sammy Sosa (who never tested positive for PEDs) will receive less HOF votes than a schmuck like Andy Pettitte...who not only has no business being put in the HOF, but who also tested positive for PEDs! Sosa's numbers are better than many HOF players, yet he struggles to capture 10% of the vote. Who is to say that Larry Walker wasn't on PEDs? To me, it is a totally subjective criteria of who the media liked and who the media didn't like, with PED 'issues' being put forth as a phony justification.
CFB Best 11 - not sure if anyone saw this, but during halftime of one of the playoff games, CFB named their top 11 players in college football history. Yes, its a daunting task, but the effort given was terrible. First, there was no attempt to represent different position groups. Second, the picks were awful...especially the old time picks....The Top 11 are as follows, in order:
Jim Brown (RB, Syracuse, 1954-56)
Herschel Walker (RB, Georgia, 1980-82)
Bo Jackson (RB, Auburn, 1982-85)
Archie Griffin (RB, Ohio State, 1972-75)
Jim Thorpe (RB, Carlisle, 1907-12)
Red Grange (RB, Illinois, 1923-25)
Earl Campbell (RB, Texas, 1974-77)
Dick Butkus (LB, Illinois, 1962-64)
Barry Sanders (RB, Oklahoma State, 1986-88)
Gale Sayers (RB, Kansas, 1962-64)
Roger Staubach (QB, Navy, 1962-64)
*There is no way that Jim Brown was the best CFB player ever. He wasn't even the best Syracuse FB of his era. Tony Dorsett's college career is vastly superior to Brown's. I don't get it.
*The list is, OBVIOUSLY, too RB-heavy. And even then, those picks are terrible. Gale Sayers has no business being on the list at all. Barry Sanders below Bo Jackson? OK.
*Hey, at least Dick Butkus made the list.
*I love Roger Staubach, but come on. Was his college career better than Tim Tebow's? Vince Young's? Staubach is the best QB in CFB history??
In sum, this was one of the worst 'best ever' sports list I have ever seen. I thought there would be actual great college football players on it...Tim Tebow, Bubba Smith, Tony Dorsett, Jack Tatum, John Hannah, even an oddball pick like Andy Katzenmoyer or Howard Twilley.
