5-at-10: Friday Mailbag with Butch, Jeter, best sports months and rooting against your team

Gang, another great week in the books. Well-played all around.

OK, we are going to offer a quick Rushmore for you to consider as today is the 50th birthday of the Buffalo Wing. Yes, 50 years ago a woman in Buffalo, N.Y., reportedly made the first batch of chicken wings. Until then they were either thrown away or put in stews.

Rushmore of best Gameday food. Go, and as always feel free to chime in on any of the below questions. Need another Rushmore? Today is the 53 anniversary of Bobby Thompson's "Shot Heard Round the World." What's the Rushmore of names for sports moments? Miracle on Ice is certainly there.

From the "Talks too much" studios, Happy Birthday Dave Winfield, who was drafted by four professional teams - Padres, Vikings, the Hawks and the Utah Stars (ABA).

photo Butch Jones

From Jomo

another question Jay - The UTK Vols saturday will be playing a meaningful SEC game that will be the first time Butchy is NOT the underdog. Is this a must win as far as perception ? This will be the first time actual coaching ( not just slogans and recruiting rankings ) will be judged ? if UTK losses this game they are out of it for SEC east and just playing out the string for a meaningless who-cares bowl.

Jomo -

We have talked about this on Press Row this week and we were going to write a column about this for Saturday's paper, but Weeds covered this topic extremely well this week.

Saturday's date with Florida is monstrous for Tennessee as a program and the fan base. It's even bigger for Butch, because this is not a test against a top-15 team with UT bringing a bunch of Doolittle baggage and hoping just to compete.

To put it in more Orange-tinted terms, the bricks of competing with the best teams in the East have been placed diligently and neatly in a row. The next layer must include wins over the Floridas, South Carolinas, et al., on even footing.

Sure UT beat South Carolina last year - and that was a monster win for what it meant in terms of unity and building confidence - but that was an upset.

Track upsets is easier in the modern sports culture of "No one believes in us" and "We shocked the world" methods of motivation.

Can Butch ride shotgun and deliver a knockout blow to a comparable SEC team UT is expected to beat.

Two other things here:

First, if you are comfortable playing close with the upper echelon teams in the nation's best conference and winning the the random upset, well, that's Vandy circa 2002 and not Tennessee. Period.

Second, a win Saturday would all-but-seal Will Muschamp's demise as Gators coach and reopen the recruitment of a lot of highly talented prospects. Plus, if Florida goes and lands a five-star coach who flips the switch, and since Tennessee's riding a decade-long losing streak to the Gators, well, this may be the best chance to stop the skid.

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photo New York Yankees designated hitter Derek Jeter hugs teammate Ichiro Suzuki after coming out of the baseball game for a pinch-runner in the third inning against the Boston Red Sox in a baseball game at Fenway Park, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2014, in Boston. It is the last baseball game of Jeter's career.

From TT

I loved watching Jeter play and was happy to see him get the send off he got.

It got me thinking about would be the bets at each position for the last 25 years.

What do you think and I love the 5@10?

TT -

Derek Jeter's exit was borderline too good to be true. It was near-perfect to be honest.

Great question about the last 25 years... and since it was mainly known as the Steroids Era, we are not going to keep PED users out.

C - Ivan Rodriguez

1B - Albert Pujols

2B - Roberto Alomar

SS - Jeter

3B - Miguel Cabrera (sorry Chipper Fans, his career has been better and his numbers will be all-timers if he stays healthy)

OF - Barry Bonds

OF - Ken Griffy Jr

OF - Ichiro

DH - A-Rod

RHP - Greg Maddux

LHP - Clayton Kershaw

Closer - Mariano Rivera

Great question.

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From Bob H.

This may seem crazy but I was wondering if you ever think there is a time to root against your team?

Thanks, and you guys are awesome on the radio.

Bob H. -

The short answer is no. No, there is not a time you can cheer against your. In fact, if you cheer against your team, you officially don't have a team.

In fact, we believe everyone has only one team that is valued beyond all others. This is not like children where you love them each individually and equally for different things and traits.

In fact, when you read this question, what was the first team that popped into your head? That's your team. The rest? Those are teams you cheer for, but they are not your 'team' when all is said and done.

So, there is no rooting against your team.

Case in point. Someone offered us Alabama minus-3.5 in last year's Iron Bowl for a sizable entertainment wager. We took the Tide. It was the most fun we've ever had losing entertainment and we pulled for Auburn the whole way.

No wager, no desire to have a coach fired, no opportunity to get the No. 1 draft pick gives you a free pass to root against your team.

Period.

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From James

Jay, I love you and David on the radio and listen almost everyday now. Thanks -- you guys really cover all the topic and not just your favorite teams.

I have been meaning to email you a mailbag letter for a while and now that Oregon has pulled an Oregon I want to know who you have in the college football playoff? I know it's late and if the mailbag is full maybe you could talk about it on the radio.

Thanks for the 5@10 and for the show.

James -

Thanks so much for the kind words, and the football season has been a blast on Press Row - give us a listen 3-6 p.m. Monday-Friday on ESPN 105.1 FM locally and linked right here at timesfreepress.com.

Wow, who saw that Oregon debacle coming? And in truth, that hurts two contenders, as Oregon got pantsed at home by an Arizona team that had to score 36 fourth-quarter points to beat Cal six days ago. It also dented Michigan State, since the Spartans got whipped at Oregon last month.

We think Florida State will get there, and the only real test left on the Seminoles schedule is a visit from Notre Dame in two weeks. It's actually a game FSU could lose, and it's also a game that the normally outcast Notre Dame will be carrying the banner for the entire country that wants to see Jameis Winston crash.

We think Alabama gets there. The Tide are getting better by the week, and this may be the most complete offense Nick Saban's had.

We think Oklahoma gets there. And the only way Oklahoma doesn't is if Baylor gets them next week, and then Baylor gets there.

We think an unbeaten Pac 12 champ will get there. That champ could be UCLA. Heck it could be Arizona after last night.

Now where the questions come are 1) where does a one-loss SEC West team not in the title game fit; 2) how big a screw ball could conference title games throw into the equation; 3) If Dick Vitale and Lou Holtz started talking at the same time, would Holtz go deaf before Vitale drowned or vice versa; 4) If there are say, two unbeaten Power Five conference champs, a couple of one-loss conference champs and an unbeaten BYU standing there (because BYU will be unbeaten) and even a one-loss Notre Dame (and that loss was a three-point loss at FSU), what happens?

Buckle up. And it's only the first week of October.

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From Buschleague

What do you think happens first in our lifetime, a women elected President of US, a women commissioner elected over NHL/NFL/MLB/MSL? Think of the carnage of wild Bill as First Man without the responsibility! As Pres with ALL the responsibility the whole Lewinsky thing happened.

Big orange is a lock Sat if Butch just uses the pod system..

BL -

Too close to call, because Condolezza Rice is going to get major push to be the NFL commissioner when Goodell makes his next mistake.

Of course Vegas has Hillary as the frontrunner for 1600 Pennslyvania Ave. in 2016, a fact that scares the visor off of the 5-at-10.

As for Bill, well, that term would officially become "First Dude" and you want to talk about the best Secret Service assignment OF ALL TIME. Dear Lord.

SS Agent 1: Well, we're following Mrs. President to the G-20 Summitt in London under 12 rounds of security and working through 20 check points and three shell assignments. It's going to be dangerous after the recent threats on her life.

SS Agent 2: Man, that sounds rough. We're taking the First Dude to Vegas for the Mayweather fight and then he was asked to come back stage after the Aerosmith show at the MGM. We're pretty sure Clooney wants an audience with the First Dude after his recent divorce, so we'll have to pat down all in attendance and maker sure no one is smuggling in any contraband. The First Dude is so worried about people taping his conversations or trying to frame him, he makes certain everyone is strip-searched, and even does several of them himself.

In fact, if Bill gets into the First Dude roll, then that's a reality TV show we'd watch. This must happen.

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From sportsman

Jay-Rushmore of best sports months and why. January- although the BCS bowl alliance altered the vibe nothing used to beat watching New Years Day bowl games on multiple televisions all day long while eating junk food and drinking cocolas. God bless Mrs Sportsfan for putting up with me and my buds each year. February-not a big NASCAR fan but starting a sport season with the equivalent of the Superbowl is awesome in its awesomeness. April - nothing comes close to the reverence and excitement whether in person or on television than the Masters. August-the beginning of high school and college football brings hope, joy, excitement, and the knowledge that for the next 4 months all is right with the world. Feel free to offer your thoughts in the mailbag if you need to fill a spot.

Sportfan

We'll do a Rushmore and then break it down to even more precise elements of time. Deal? Deal.

October is No. 1 for us. The weather changing. Playoff baseball. High school football hitting the home stretch. College football getting good. NFL reaching its stride. Basketball on the horizon. It's the most busy with the most stuff and the most fun. The other months on the Rushmore are April, January and November.

The best week of the sports year is the week of April that almost always includes the Final Four-Baseball's opening day-The Masters. That's tough to top.

The best weekend of the year is that first weekend of the NCAA tournament.

The best day of the year is going to be New Year's Eve/New Year's Day in the new college football playoff format with six games in 30 hours including two semifinals.

As always, great questions gang. Thanks for listening to the show and playing along here on the 5-at-10.

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