Experts & Clowns: Discussing Randy Moss, Outdoor Hockey, Spygate and UFC

This is the first edition of AC's sports roundtable Experts and Clowns for 2008. This episode is late because one member of our panel, Mr. Zac Wassink, has been slowed by illness. We were waiting for Zac to get better and then last night we got a note from him that he was covering a primary. Thanks for big timing us, Zac!

So, we will gamely try to carry on as a trio this edition.

Jake Emen is from Rockville, MD, which means he did not take R.E.M.'s advice. But because he walks home to an empty house and sits around all by himself he's able to write so many articles here for AC.

Nick Meyer is biding his time here at AC until the domain nickmeyer.com becomes available. We look forward to new content when our Nick takes over the site, although he'll have a hard time surpassing the information from the Weather Channel that is currently available.

And you all know me. I am I am I am Superman and I can do anything.

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Where does Randy Moss rate among the all-time best WRs?

Brian - Jerry Rice is the greatest receiver of all-time but Moss' 2007 season puts him back on target to, if he stays healthy and motivated, one day claim the title himself. And who else besides Rice would you want to line up for your team at WR? Terrell Owens and Cris Carter are the only other possibilities. But Moss' main drawback is his (not altogether deserved) reputation and Owens has a bad rep that's even worse. And Moss has been just as productive in two fewer seasons. Carter was one of the most unappreciated receivers in the game and without a doubt had much better hands and ran better routes than Moss. But I'll take Moss' explosiveness and ability to catch balls in traffic.

Some might say Marvin Harrison, but I think he's clearly a case of a quarterback making a wide receiver. Harrison had three nice seasons to start his career, but it's funny how he became a top receiver once Peyton Manning got established. Meanwhile, Moss broke onto the scene with a 17-TD season in his rookie year with Randall Cunningham as his QB. The same guy who was out of the league for a year with his career seemingly over before getting hooked up with Moss. Randy also had to play with Jeff George, Bubby Brister, Spergon Wynn, Todd Bouman, Gus Frerotte, Kerry Collins, Marques Tuiasosopo, Aaron Brooks and Andrew Walter as his quarterbacks. That's a pretty sad lot.

In his first year with Tom Brady, Moss put up a better year than any season Harrison ever enjoyed with Manning. Imagine if Moss got to play his entire career with a Pro Bowl QB? Moss was so good, he actually made Daunte Culpepper look like one of those. But ask Dolphins and Raiders fans (to say nothing of fantasy owners who took him on the first round) what they think of Daunte with no Randy.

Jake - Nowhere near the top of the list... yet. If the question was, who was the most athletically amazing WR of all time, he would probably be numbero uno (with apologies to Lynn Swann). The problem with his all time status is the down, wasted years in Oakland. Not just that his numbers were bad, but that he officially gave up. I mean, he was traded for a freaking 4th round pick last year! (How did the league let that happen, by the way? Don't tell me the Patriots were so smart, please, everybody knew he could still play! Every other GM in the league dropped-the-ball!) He needs another great few years to erase the memories of his Raiders days and gain status as a legendary WR.

Nick - How good is Randy Moss? So good that even with all the baggage and the idiotic things he's said and done over the years, I'd still take him over any other receiver except Jerry Rice that I've seen if I were starting a team and had to win one game. His ability to hit that second gear and blow by people makes him just about unstoppable. It's no coincidence that he has been a part of two of the best offenses of all-time: these Patriots and that 15-1 Vikings team. I'd put him top 5 for now with a good shot to reach the top 2 or 3.

Did you watch the Pens-Sabres outdoor NHL game? If so, did you enjoy it? How often should the NHL do this?

Jake - I only saw a few minutes of the game but I definitely enjoyed the part of it that I did. The NHL should do this at least once a year, every year, if not more. I suggest though changing the date to maybe the weekend in between NFL conference championship games and the Super Bowl or the Saturday of the weekend of the conference championship games. New Year's Day is a certified college football holiday, and the NHL should want as much of the market as it can get. If they want to do it more than once a year, there should be a season opener outdoors. They can also consider doing an All Star game outdoors. The ratings suggest that everybody loved it, and with good reason-- it was fun and had great atmosphere.

Nick - I didn't see it because I was watching college football but I think it was a great idea. At the same time, the NHL should save it for the All-Star Game or maybe a game in the Stanley Cup Finals to make sure it stays important and doesn't become a gimmick.

Brian - I wanted to watch it but life got in the way and I was not able to see it. But I did something I almost never do - I intentionally watched SportsCenter to see highlights of the game. I'm not sure how often the NHL should do this. My first thoughts are: what is it like for the season-ticket holders? They are critically important to NHL teams, who rely on live gate more than the other big four leagues. If season-ticket holders are in favor of outdoor games, then the NHL should make it happen on a regular basis.

The Patriots still have the 7th pick in the draft from San Francisco, should that pick have been taken away by the league additionally or in place of their own (late 1st-likely last pick of the 1st round)?

Jake - Yes, this is fairly absurd. So they go 16-0, get caught cheating and end up still having the 7th pick in the draft? So how were they punished at all? This was a major oversight by Roger Goodell. Now, I didn't even necessarily begin with the draft pick being taken away to begin with.. I thought "spy gate" was pretty overblown. But if you are going to "punish" them and take away a 1st round pick, how do you not take away the more valuable of the two? Seriously?!

Nick - I don't see why it would. You have to give the Patriots credit for making a shrewd trade. There's not really anything the rest of the league can do about it. Besides, I get the feeling that the NFL enjoys the attention and hype a dynasty like the Patriots generates for the league.

Brian - I think the Patriots received more than adequate punishment from the league for Spygate. They broke the rules and they got punished. End of story. The only reason this question is being asked is because New England is enjoying one of the finest seasons of all-time. Seriously, would anyone be looking for additional punishments if this was the Jets or Dolphins or Bills?

Are you a fan of the UFC? Why or why not? Can the sport become truly mainstream some day?

Nick - I go to a sports bar to watch just about every event, but at the same time, I realize that it's not for everyone. An uniformed observer might look up at the screen during a break in the action and see a boring sport that looks like two guys trying to hug each other (or, ahem, worse) at times.

But just about any sport is boring if you don't invest the kind of emotion into it that you do the sports you like. Once I learned about all the different fighting styles and how technically sound these fighters are as well as started to get to know some of the incredible personalities the sport has, I was hooked.

The personalities and styles of the fighters are the best part of the sport and the fact that the fighters are far more aggressive than in boxing makes it one of my favorite sports to watch.

The sport also isn't as violent as people perceive it to be; the numbers bear out that it's a lot safer than boxing for the fighters. Whether or not it becomes mainstream is just a matter of whether a major network like ESPN gives it a chance. The Ultimate Fighter already draws incredible ratings on Spike TV.

Brian - I'm quite sure that I'm not the main demographic for the UFC and I am not a fan. I don't really know much about it, but if it is a well-run organization then I wish it nothing but success. Can the UFC grab a larger audience? I don't see why not. The NFL proves how successful controlled violence can be. But I wouldn't want to bet on it happening and I'm pretty sure I don't like the implications for society if UFC goes mainstream.

Jake - Big, big fan of the UFC. Why... well why not? It's competitive and exciting. As the major boxing representative on Experts and Clowns, you might be asking, well how can you like the UFC? Doesn't that go against/hurt the popularity of boxing? Well, no, it doesn't. The succss of the UFC has brought more attention back to boxing. I would argue that the UFC is already mainstream, today. A Sports Illustrated cover, coverage on ESPN and Sportscenter, major articles in sports sections from the New York Times to the Washington Post, a reality TV show that has some of the best ratings anywhere on cable.. that sounds pretty mainstream. While the sport may be seen as ultra violent, it is actually surprisingly safe. Well many fighters get knocked out and even more get bloodied up, fights are stopped very quickly. When fighters (and football players) get hurt is repeated hits to the head after already getting concussed and injured. That is a situation the UFC protects its fighters from by stopping fights swiftly and effectively.

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