Mt. Rushmore of Athletes- by Ryan J. Murphy

Recently on Sports Center the rapper Ice Cube did a segment where he named his ‘Mount Rushmore’ of athletes. This means the four best/most influential athletes of any sport, ever. He said his four ‘Mt. Rushmore’ athletes would be Muhammad Ali, Jackie Robinson, Jim Brown, and Magic Johnson. I wanted to do this as well, but do it for every sport, meaning the four best/most influential for each sport individually.

Baseball: Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson, Ted Williams, and Lou Gehrig.

Honorable mentions: Mickey Mantle, Derek Jeter, Cy Young, and Hank Aaron.

Basketball: Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Honorable mentions: Wilt Chamberlain, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neil, and Bill Russell.

Football: Jerry Rice, Jim Brown, Joe Montana, and Lawrence Taylor.

Honorable mentions: Johnny Unitas, Reggie White, Tom Brady, and Walter Payton.

Hockey: Wayne Gretzky, Gordie Howe, Bobby Orr, and Mario Lemieux.

Honorable mentions: Patrick Roy, Martin Brodeur, Ray Bourque, Steve Yzerman, and Mark Messier.

Golf: Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Arnold Palmer, and Bobby Jones.

Honorable mentions: Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Walter Hagen, and Sam Snead.

Boxing: Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Sugar Ray Robinson, and Joe Louis.

Honorable mentions: Mike Tyson, Sugar Ray Leonard, Jack Dempsey, and Julio Caesar Chavez.

I don’t follow Soccer or Tennis enough to do a list on those.

So what do you think of the lists?

The Penn State Disaster- By Ryan J. Murphy

This is a really hard topic for me to discuss, but I will anyway. There has been talk all over ESPN and the news about whether or not Penn State should receive the “death penalty.” I’m sure everyone has their own opinion on it, but here is mine.

What Jerry Sandusky did to those children is horribly, horribly, wrong. He is a monster. He should NOT have been given the death penalty, or life in prison. I do not wish this upon anyone, but that man should’ve been tortured to death with some medieval like device to suffer the pain he caused those children over the years.

Joe Paterno is a selfish man; I wouldn’t go as far as to say a monster, but what he did was absolutely horrible too. He allowed Sandusky to continue what he was doing to those children, all for himself. He was not concerned about the victims, football, or Penn State; he was concerned about Joe Paterno. He didn’t want bad publicity to his name. The statue of Joe Paterno should be immediately removed from the front of the football field and destroyed. The other day I tweeted that Joe Paterno “did nothing wrong.” Boy, did I screw up. A day later all this new information came out in the Freeh Report and I drastically changed my mind.

Now that that part is over with, here is my opinion on what should happen with Penn State. Yes, I know this was an incident surrounding the football program at Penn State, but everyone involved has already been punished in one way or another. It’s technically a new era in Penn State, and they should move forward, putting this horrible incident behind them. The NCAA should NOT give Penn State the “death penalty,” and here are the reasons why.

      1. They would be punishing the wrong people. If you cut the football program for two, three, even five years, you’re ruining the lives of the kids who came to Penn State to play football. Notice how I said ‘ruining the lives of the kids.’ That is what Sandusky did to those children for 14 years and possibly more, and these current college players should not have their lives, hopes, and dreams ruined because of this.

      2. The local businesses that thrive during home Penn State games would lose a ton of money. Think about it, the local hotels, restaurants, gift shops, and various other businesses near the stadium that get a majority of their business during college football season would be punished. Those businesses had nothing to do with this.

      3. As I said earlier, the high ups at Penn State are no longer there, and have already been punished. Do not punish people who do not need to be punished.

      

In the wake of all this, everyone got what they deserved and the NCAA should not step in. Maybe a fine, but that’s about it. It’s about individuals, as well as the past, and not the current football program.

Thoughts?

Early NFL 2012 Season Predictions- By Ryan J. Murphy

NFL Season 2012

I wanted to pick who I think will win each division with their record, and who will advance to the AFC/NFC Championships, and The Super Bowl.


AFC:
1. New England Patriots (13-3)
2. Pittsburgh Steelers (12-4)
3. Houston Texans (12-4)
4. San Diego Chargers (11-5)
5. Baltimore Ravens (12-4)
6. Denver Broncos (10-6)


NFC:
1. San Francisco 49ers (13-3)
2. Philadelphia Eagles (12-4)
3. Green Bay Packers (12-4)
4. Atlanta Falcons (11-5)
5. Chicago Bears (11-5)
6. Detroit Lions (10-6)


Playoffs: Round 1
AFC: Broncos at Texans (W)
          Ravens at Chargers (W)
NFC: Lions at Packers (W)
          Bears (W) at Falcons


Playoffs: Round 2
AFC: Texans at Steelers (W)
          Chargers at Patriots (W)
NFC: Bears at 49ers (W)
          Packers (W) at Eagles


Playoffs: Conference Championships
AFC: Steelers (W) at Patriots
NFC: Packers at 49ers (W)


Playoffs: Super Bowl
Steelers at 49ers (W)


I'm predicting a Steelers 49ers Super Bowl. Both teams are much improved. Both have great defenses, as well as their QB's both are now in their prime. Looks to be a great NFL season, and I cannot wait.