Experts & Clowns 21st Edition: Who's Your #1

From Here to Eternity, what a great movie that was back in the good old days. Seems about that long since I submitted my first edition of the Experts & Clowns article here on Associated Content. However, we all learn from our mistakes and the excitement I built up in my own mind, only confused the rest of the readers in theirs.

So, I will make this simple. I am Judge Mathis, Judge Judy, Judge Alex, Judge Jerry, Judge Amy (Now on Private Practice),the judge on Eli Stone, all the judges from Boston Legal, and for all you old fogies that are in my generation or older; Judge Harry T. Stone (from the television show Nightcourt).

I give each of our E & C Writers points for good answers to bad questions, and negative points for bad answers to good questions. Then of course, I don't give any points because are really don't feel like it.

What you should know is that if you're a sports fan, this can get you away from reading all those boring, beat your head against the computer desk, tax articles that keep getting showcased on the front page of this site. Then again, you may be sneaking over here to read up on something that you can have a discussion with your spouse about in the sporting world, even though you have know idea who Yao Ming might be.

Enough of that, lets welcome back our panel of writers who all take the time out to read fifteen different emails about 3 questions, I mean 4 questions, no wait 3, well, okay 4, but lets change the 4th now, thanks a lot Yao (Inside joke for the writers, don't get confused people!).

Brian "Frazier" Joura- Sitting around the corner of the horseshoe (didn't know they had corners), Joura here spits out intellectual sports stats and trends to us as we all throw back a few suds, until he realizes he's talking to himself and the rest of us are over playing Golden Tee.

Jake "Waldo" Emen- After much debate Emen was given this nickname because in the recent weeks we finally found him in his original "Where's Jake" picture, so he blew it up a little so we could see what he looks like. He was going to be nicknamed for those staring pixels that if you stare long enough you see a picture that finally pops out, but the nickname wound up being too long.

Nick "WhiteListing" Meyer- Meyer inherited this nickname when he told everyone that after 20 editions of E & C, he doesn't receive all of our emails when trying to get an article together.

Zac "Busy In My Backyard" Wassink- Unforunately the Wass couldn't be with us this week because he is still enjoying the Giants Super Bowl win and re-enacting the David Tyree catch in his backyard using velcro for the football to helmet effect.

Last but not least, there's me. Lets get started.

Who is the most overrated heavyweight champion of all-time?

Brian "Frazier Joura-The most overrated heavyweight boxer has to be Evander Holyfield. He gets so much publicity for winning the title four separate times and for all of his success after moving up in class. But really, who has he beaten?

The two biggest names he defeated were George Foreman and Larry Holmes. But they were both 42-years old and well past their primes. He beat Mike Tyson but again, way past Tyson's prime. It took him 10 rounds to beat Michael Dokes. He lost to Riddick Bowe twice and was lucky to get a draw out of two fights with Lennox Lewis. And he managed just one win in three fights against John Ruiz.

Holyfield is an athletic marvel, seems to be very intelligent and has even appeared in Dancing With The Stars. But as far as a great heavyweight, I just don't see it. Finally, anyone who thinks Tyson was an overrated champion never saw him fight prior to 1990. He absolutely destroyed people. Anyone who saw the fights against Marvis Frazier or Trevor Berbick or Michael Spinks or a host of others will never forget them.

Jake "Waldo" Emen-Wow, we're talking boxing. This is great. I feel like Tim Cowlishaw when a NHL question gets lobbed to him on the lesser version of our article, the TV show on ESPN Around the Horn. I'm assuming this question stems from the Wladimir Klitschko fight this past Saturday night. Let me get this out of the way first; it's not Wladimir Klitschko, because there aren't many real boxing fans that are giving this guy any credit. He's the "best" of a weak bunch, but there's no excuse for being his size and having his power and technical ability and fighting scared.

The most overrated heavyweight champion of all-time is one of the most famous and one that helped to change the sport; Jack Dempsey. Dempsey was a great fighter in his time and his power captivated the masses (he routinely fought in front of 80,000-120,000 spectators). However, he lost - twice - to a contemporary in Gene Tunney. If you're familiar with the fights, the second fight had some controversy with Tunney receiving a "long count" and having approximately 14 seconds instead of 10 to recover from a knockdown.

Well, all is fair in fighting and boxing, Dempsey was once literally pushed back into the ring by the sportswriters at ringside, who happened to be his good friends and big fans. So what goes around, comes around. Everything else being equal (styles, total records, opposition, etc) you cannot be considered a greater fighter than somebody who beat you twice, when you were both at the same stage of your career. Gene Tunney was a better fighter than Jack Dempsey; and Jack Dempsey is the most overrated heavyweight champion of all-time.

Nick "WhiteListing" Meyer- Lennox Lewis. He brought a boring fighting style to the ring and retired in his prime for no apparent reason. Not that he's considered one of the greats or anything but he never impressed me all that much.

Listen, these are all interesting answers and I'm not sure that a wrong one is even possible in this category. In all honesty you could make the case that Muhammad Ali was the most overrated boxer, because he got more of his fame from refusing to go to war and that spilled over into boxing. Especially if you consider Ken Norton beat on him and lost both "questionable" decisions. People could argue that Rocky Marciano fought some of the weakest fighters in history etc., etc.. So you all get two points because you all at least said something.

Brian 2
Jake 2
Nick 2

Can the Rockets still make the playoffs without Yao Ming?

Jake "Waldo" Emen- In a word... no. The Western Conference is just way too stacked. The first place and eighth place teams are only seperated by 5.5 games. (Compared that to the 19 games separating those seeds in the Eastern Conference). Not only that, the Rockets, with a 12 game winning streak, only moved up to the seventh seed! Sorry, but this is a lost cause. Yao has improved his game enough to show he is an elite level player, but now he can't stay healthy. McGrady finally adjusted to not being the 40 point scorer, and now he will be forced to do just that. Of course, he's not healthy either... sorry Houston, cya.

Nick "WhiteListing" Meyer- Without Yao Ming, absolutely not. Although i still think they can sneak into the playoffs with their easy schedule, beating a top Western team is too much to ask now.

Brian "Frazier Joura-There are eight teams playing above .600 in the Western Conference right now and the Rockets are 17 games over .500 for the season. The ninth-placed team in the conference is the Nuggets, who are 10 games over .500 at 33-23. With Denver having 26 games left and Houston having 25, it would take a major slump by the Rockets or a fantastic winning streak by the Nuggets for Houston to miss the playoffs.

Since Tracy McGrady came back in late January, the Rockets are 15-1. Obviously, they can't keep up that pace, but can they play close to .500 the rest of the way? They have Memphis, New Jersey, Charlotte, Minnesota, Seattle and the Clippers at home and that's a great start. If they win those six games, they need to go just 7-12 with the remainder of the schedule to finish with 50 wins. That would force Denver to go 17-9 (.654) to tie them in the standings.

The Rockets are seventh in the Western Conference, meaning that Golden State is between them and the Nuggets. The Warriors have two games remaining against the Nuggets and one with the Rockets while Houston has two games left with Denver. The Nuggets, having lost four of their last five games, have 12 games remaining against teams with a .600+ record. And the schedule has one other hurdle for Denver, as it has both a four-game and five-game road trip remaining. Even without Yao, I think the Rockets make the playoffs.

Well Brian gets 5 points because after I read his response I forgot about the other two that were given. Specific points, Bravo! Scrolling back up, Jake gets 1 point for explaining the separation of the 1st and 8th place teams. Nick gets -1 for answering a question that is "Can the Rockets still make the playoffs without Yao Ming?" with Absolutely Not, then turns around and says they can sneak in. Not sure, but I thought absolutely not doesn't leave room for thought.

Brian 7
Jake 3
Nick 0

Who's the number one pick in fantasy baseball - mixed league and AL and NL only, too - and why?

Nick "WhiteListing" Meyer- For the NL, I look for Albert Pujols to bounce back and dominate. For the AL, I will go with Miguel Cabrera because he's in great shape now and still improving, and he'll be protected by a great lineup. Pujols is my #1 overall guy but I may be way off because I don't have the patience to play fantasy baseball all year.

Brian "Frazier Joura-In both mixed leagues and the AL , the first pick almost has to be Alex Rodriguez. He had the best overall season last year, has a long track-record of success and plays a position that has several stars but not much depth. In the NL, it should be a toss-up between David Wright and Hanley Ramirez. I would pick Wright because of position scarcity plus concerns about how Ramirez will recover from off-season shoulder surgery. Plus, if Ramirez drops from first to third in the batting order, he could gain RBIs but lose both runs and steals and end up a lesser impact fantasy star.

Jake "Waldo" Emen- It's Alex Rodriguez; maybe that's not an original thought but it's true. I'm betting that A-Rod on his new contract, with some Yankee fan support behind him this year, is going to have another great year. Pencil him in for 50 homeruns and 150 RBI, a .310 batting average and 20 stolen bases. I'll take that any day. If I'm in a NL league only, I'm taking Jose Reyes. Some might say he declined last year and Hanley Ramirez is the better choice. However, stolen bases are such a rare commodity, much more so than homeruns, so I believe the extra SB Reyes will get you are more important than the power numbers of Ramirez. Additionally, Jose's batting average dropped by twenty points last year. However, his OBP stayed the exact same as it was in 2006, .354. So his eye and patience at the plate have only continued to improve on what was once his biggest weakness. Expect a rebound year in average, an OBP approaching .400, 75 stolen bases and 15 triples.

Its agreed that A-Rod has to be considered the overall choice for this year's fantasy after his consistent play over his career. For that Brian and Jake both get 1point. I have to give Nick a 1point for mentioning Pujols even though he really didn't give a real "why" answer. He does get 2points for throwing Cabrera into the mix because he is a darkhorse for an unbelievable season in that lineup, but -1 because there are a plethora of outfielders to choose from overall.

Jake steals 2 points from Brian's comments on Ramirez and choosing Reyes instead, but Brian gets 1 point for saying he would take Wright #1 in the NL because of scarcity at the position. You know what, Jake and Brian both get 3 more points for putting some time into their answers, and Nick gets 2 points for showing us he really isn't a big fan of baseball or for answering the questions this week even though he didn't have the time..

Brian 12
Jake 9
Nick 5

Who would you take with the #1 pick if you were the Miami Dolphins?

Nick "WhiteListing" Meyer-I think they should look to trade down first and foremost because the strength of this draft is depth. Glenn Dorsey is great but Sedrick Ellis is almost as good. Jake Long is great too but Ryan Clady and other tackles are almost as good. Darren McFadden is an explosive player but someone like Rashard Mendenhall might be a more durable, tough back with more strength for the long haul.

Jake "Waldo" Emen-If I'm the Miami Dolphins, I'm trading that #1 pick. Maybe the Jets, sitting at the sixth pick want to move up and take Darren McFadden. There is a chance that defensive end Chris Long or left tackle Jake Long will be available at that spot. Either way, there are too many glaring needs in the Dolphins organization to take the number one pick. The more picks the better for them. If they can get multiple first round picks, they can get a top level quarterback in the late first or early second round; maybe Brian Brohm or Chad Henne.

Brian "Frazier Joura-I expect Bill Parcells will shop the top overall pick but with no franchise quarterback available (sorry Matt Ryan), odds are against someone paying a king's ransom to acquire the first pick. I think the Dolphins will take linebacker Chris Long from Virginia . Parcells will go for defense and will attempt to use Long as a blitzing force much like he did with Lawrence Taylor. Long gets the nod over Glenn Dorsey because of the likelihood of the Dolphins playing a 3-4 defense. Dorsey is better suited to DT than nose guard like he would be forced to play in a 3-4 scheme.

Wow, really surprised everyone wants to trade the first pick. Nick makes good points about the depth so you can have 2 points for that even though the top 10 have so many of the same needs an area like OT or DT could be gone in a flash. You get 0 points for the Mendenhall/Mcfadden comment because Mcfadden is as much a marketable player as he is an explosive runner (see combine) and they could do some serious damage drafting him, then trading him. Eh, Mendenhall is durable so you get another point for that too.

Jake gets 2 points for picking a team to trade too, but -1 for banking it on Long or Long "having a chance" of being there when the sixth pick comes around. Big Tuna will want certainty in this draft. You do get 2 points for explaining the need for it all. However, you get -2 points for suggesting Chad Henne will even be picked in the first or early second.

Brian gets -5 just for saying Matt Ryan isn't a franchise quarterback. I can see your point about no one paying to get the #1 pick, but a team like the Jets really could use a marketable player like McFadden, regardless of other needs. With the depth on defense in this draft they could grab what they need with their other picks. You're probably right though about Miami going for defense and Chris Long can be more marketable because of daddy and is a better fit for their 3-4. For that I'll throw you 3.

Brian 10
Jake 10
Nick 8

Okay, I'm outty, tonight's Lost episode was sick! Or fat, P H phat! Oh yea, Brian and Jake are the experts this week! Sorry Nick, the honor of Bozo goes to you brother!