5-at-10: Friday mailbag on homers, favorite cars, best 80s songs and spring football

Friday, April 5, 2013

Gang, excellent week of questions. Simply outstanding. We got a slew from some of our regulars and a few emails from some newcomers. It's a nice mix.

We're going to get going because we get it that you have a lot going on. As always feel free to chime in with your answers to any or all of the following.

From the "Talks too much" studios, let's kick the tires and light the fires big daddy (and gang, any time you can start a mailbag off with a cheesy quote from "Independence Day" well, we're all better off)...

sportsfan said...

Jay

I realize it's last minute but if you have time for the mailbag...if you had an unlimited budget and Mrs Fiver had no veto power, what's your Rushmore of cars you'd like to park in your driveway? Put me down for Magnum's Ferrari, a Mini Cooper, a 1956 Vette (ragtop), and the Batmobile (just for fun).

sportsfan,

First off congrats on the promotion. We'll miss your commentary around here during the daytime hours but man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. Congrats.

OK, let's break this down into three categories. Since you combined your list with real life cars, TV cars and movie cars, we'll do a Rushmore of each. Hey, you were to the point; we talk too much. That may explain why you got promoted. Alas.

And this question is a great Rushmore question because the first three kind of jump out there and the fourth one is debated and bounced back and forth. Nice work. Give yourself a promotion.

Real cars: 1966 Mustang convertible; mid-1980s full-sized Bronco (one of the ones that the back part of the top comes off); a tricked-out Ricky Ross is the Boss Escalade because that's how we roll; and why mess around, let's take the Hennessey Venom GT that has reached speeds in the upper 260s and has a sticker price around $1.4 million (which the Mrs. 5-at-10 would surely veto, and her name's not Shirley).

TV cars: The TV Batmobile; the four-door Lincoln convertible at the from the beginning of Entourage; KITT from Knightrider because, well it's KITT for crying out loud; the convertible T-Bird from the old Vegas.

Movie cars: Ferris Bueller's Ferrari he steals from Cameron's dad's garage; Dr. Brown and Marty McFly's DeLorean from Back to the Future; The 1958 Plymouth Fury that was Christine; and the Ford Shelby in Gone in 60 seconds (or we'd gladly take four James Bond cars and call it a day).

This question was tougher than we thought.

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From Tide Man

You are an Auburn homer. You know Chzik and the rest of the whole Auburn mess cheated there (deleted) off. Cam, Trooper, now the stories keep coming.

That's the only way you guys can win a national championship.

If you don't admit it that just proves you are a homer.

Roll Tide.

Tide Man,

Thanks for the email and for reading the 5-at-10. Feel free to swing by anytime, as Bluto says, "Don't cost nothing."

And thanks for the extra "Roll Tide" at the end... not sure we would have known who your team was without it.

As for our college education, well, yes, you figured it out. You have connected the dots - or read my bio on this very page - and deduced that we graduated from Auburn. Well-played indeed.

As for being a homer, well, that's an easy term to toss around when you don't like what someone else has to say. In fact, one of the main causes of the struggles of our nation is that we no longer have discourse or discussion about points with opposite views. We are super-quick to say so-and-so is biased or is a homer or is a right-wing nut or a liberal bleeding heart.

We don't debate the points, we dismiss the message because of perceived flaws or shortcomings of the messenger.

TIde Man didn't like what we wrote about the story by Selena Roberts on Auburn's alleged misdeeds during the 2010 title season. Rather than debate those points we made - which, when summarized, were the allegations were serious, the only Auburn source that has not backed off the quotes Roberts used is about to go on trial for a Class A felony, and we don't know if this is true and really none of us do - you want to call us a homer.

Now, to debate the points of your email:

photo Auburn coach Gene Chizik applauds following a touchdown in an NCAA college football game.

• Chizik was fired for going 3-9, including two of the most embarrassing losses in Auburn history to end his career on the Plains, and paid the highest buyout in college sports history to go away. If he was cheating, he was terrible at it.

• Every NCAA official and headline-loving sports writer around the country looked 12-ways-to-Sunday into the Cam Newton stuff. Nothing stuck. Period. Does that mean Auburn cheated or didn't cheat. No, not really. It means nothing stuck. O.J. was acquitted. (Side note: Here's what we think happened in the whole Cam situation, and this is completely a theory founded on next to nothing: Auburn found out that Cam's dad did some sketchy stuff. At the time Auburn's compliance guy was a former FBI agent who spent time in the NCAA compliance office too. Let's say he called the NCAA office and told them all that had happened. They ask a couple of questions about a junior-college transfer who had not been named the starting quarterback until well after spring practice and they are happy with the answers. They clear Cam's recruitment because, really, who cares about some junior college transfer who may or may not play. Well, Cam becomes CAM and the world starts paying attention. The stories come out again, but rightly or wrongly, the NCAA has already signed off on Newton's eligibility. That's our theory at least.)

• As for Trooper, well, we've met Trooper a few times and really like Trooper. The fact that he is still without a job - especially considering that during the pre-signing day time he was carrying a five-star linebacker with him - means one of two things: a) he could want to collect his buyout checks from Auburn and watch his son play his senior year of high school sports; or b) he's got some serious baggage. And c) all of the above is not out of the question.

As for your "only way you can win a national championship," well, why does 2010 bother Alabama fans so much? You guys are the Yankees of college football right now, with three of the last four titles, including the last two and will likely start 2013 preseason No. 1, yet you are worked up about Auburn's title in 2010. OK.

As for being a homer, well, you sir are entitled to your opinion, but we feel obligated to share the top complaints the goofball sports editor of the TFP gets most frequently:

1) Do you know which state Chattanooga is in? We get this when UT fans feel like we are running too many Georgia or Alabama stories.

2) Do you know that UTK is in Knoxville and UTC is in Chattanooga and Knoxville has its own paper? we get this from UTC fans who want more Mocs and less Vols.

3) Why do you love Baylor? Which is followed closely by, why do you hate Baylor? You could also trade out "private schools" for Baylor in both those questions. When we get these close to a 1-to-1 ratio, then we know we're somewhere on the right course.

4) Why do you hate Auburn? Seriously, that question is this high because there are more than a few AU fans in Chattanooga, but no where near the collection of UT, UGA or Alabama fans in our coverage area. Although we have not heard this one much lately because of the total stink-ness that has been AU athletics for the last few months.

To review, if we were a homer, you would be reading a bunch of public school stories from near Atlanta and Auburn sports stories. Yes, the first two complaints may still be 1 and 2, but this was about being a homer and had nothing to do with geography.

So it goes, and again, thanks for reading.

(Side note: We went way too long on those first two, so we are going to pick up the pace. Deal? Deal.)

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From Grateful Dawg

I don't know if this qualifies as a question or more of a hypothetical ponder, but here it goes: Could the 2013 Georgia Defense be an improvement over the 2012 squad?

GD -

Great question. And this likely could be the case despite the UGA defense losing as many as eight guys in the NFL draft, and as many as four defensive guys in the first two rounds.

We like the young talent Georgia has on that side of the ball. The guys you mentioned - Drew, Bailey, Swann - are stud ducks. Herrera is going to be excellent and the reports on Tray Matthews are eye-popping.

Something else that will help, not relying on stars but on the unit as a whole. That's a good thing.

Something else that will help, part two, the Georgia offense is going to be crazy good so opposing teams are going to feel the pressure of having to keep up or get trucked.

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From Stewwie

photo LeBron James

Stopping LeBron looks near-impossible these days. So what's the best way to play against him and the Heat to give yourself the best shot at beating them? Play man-to-man straight up and take your chances? Or send a double every time or at certain times...and who do you double with--post or guard? (Hello Shulman Fire defense? Haha...j/k.) Or try a zone of some kind?

Captain Stew-being,

Stopping LeBron is nearly impossible when he is motivated to score because he can get to the rim at any point. The only way to stop LeBron is to force him to consistently shoot 3s and hope the referees are not going to call the foul when he drives to the basket. (We maintain that if LeBron James got the friendly whistles MJ got, James would be averaging 34 points per game.)

The approach to stop LeBron and top the Heat is a long shot at best. They are that good right now, and the streak ending so those guys could rest down the stretch may be the best thing for their title hopes.

The Bulls did a great job last week of making them work on every possession at each end. In truth the best way to beat the Heat may be by letting LeBron get 50. Miami is at its best when LeBron is the most physically intimidating point guard in NBA history. If he becomes a MJ-type score-first, -last and -always, the Heat are not as effective. Let LeBron get as many as he can working as hard as he can against your best defender. Don't give Battier or Allen or Chalmers or Wade open 3s by helping on James' drives.

Like we said, it's a long shot.

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From A Reader,

Dude, you asked for our best 80s songs, but you never offered yours. What's the deal? Ashamed maybe? Come on Eileen?

Seriously, thanks for the 5-at-10. Good stuff.

A Reader,

Fair point. In Rushmore form, when we think 80s songs the four that pop into our head first are "Every Rose has its Thorns," "Home Sweet Home," "Boyz n the Hood" by Eazy E and "Total Eclipse of the Heart" by Bonnie Tyler. So yes, maybe we were embarrassed a little. Naw, we don't get embarrassed which is both a blessing and a curse.

Thanks for reading and feel free to swing by any time - "Don't cost nothing."

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From McPell

Late getting back...work is again getting the way of a personal life. Good question on a female cracking top 100, that will require many co-colers.

Are you going to have a draft contest? Rumor has it the 5/10 loves a draft.

McPell,

He's referring to the question we asked about Brittney Griner's NBA discussion about is there a sport out there that the world's best female would crack the top 100 in the men's rankings? Feel free to discuss. We offered bowling or maybe curling. Hard to know.

As for the draft contest... Of course. We love the draft. You know this.

But before we get there, we'll have the Masters contest next week. This is one of our favorites. Submit any five golfers in the Masters field. We'll take the best four finishers and add up their place (first is 1 point; second is 2 points; 11th is 11 points; etc.) and the low score wins. We take the best four so that if you have one golfer that misses the cut, you're not out of it.

There is one caveat called the Tiger Clause. If you pick on Tiger Woods, you only get to submit four golfers rather than five.

Last year, if memory serves, Jefe and Spy had almost perfect scores.

We're pretty stoked. (As for the NCAA tournament, well, the 5-at-10 won, so we're going to buy ourselves a Masters T-shirt.)

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From Got a question

I normally agree with you on most things, but why were you defending the Rutgers coach the other day.

Dude deserved to get the ax. Imagine if the little 5@10 was on the team?

Thanks and thanks for the 5@10... it's a nice blog.

G-A-Q,

Thanks for the kind words.

photo Mike Rice

We were not defending Mike Rice, the Rutgers basketball coach that got fired in the aftermath of the release of the video showing him throwing basketballs and slurs at his players.

Our point was why was he not fired in November, and what has changed since then other than the public now knowing. And if nothing's changed then the AD has to go too.

That said, we've been on enough teams and in enough locker rooms that if some one wanted to take an edited video tape of the worst outbursts of any coach, the tape would be pretty bad.

Again, Rice got what he deserved, and better late than never, we just wondered what took so long and if the AD really believed this wasn't going to get out.