Lt. Dan's Revenge

Understandable, I don't know how long I'll keep going up for it either. I missed it last year though, so I would like to get to Oswego for that and/or Harbor Fest this year.

Since I'm a fellow NT resident, I'll help Wooderson out with this one and will say that North Tonawanda is still going VERY strong in the party/food departments. Pizza Junction is still very good, yet very overpriced as well. There's a place called Good Guys about 5 minutes away from Junction in North Tonawanda that has extremely similar food and will hurt your wallet much less at the same time. In fact, a couple of the owners of Good Guys worked at Pizza Junction for years before opening up their own place. The suggestions that were previously made about Dwyers and Klimeks are on point. If you're looking for a good party and are in the area, stop out at Crazy Jakes which is across the street from Dwyers on Webster Street. Has great bands every Friday and Saturday and is always a great party.

Great thread, Sage. For me it would be a fresh kaiser roll, krakus ham, swiss cheese, mayo, and LOTS of banana peppers!

I am also a former Laker, Matty. What a great school/city. Sub Shop was a weekly stop after Mug Night for me. Had a place called Zonies that had all kinds of calzones that was awesome too. You doing the Bridge Street Run this year?

With LeBron it's not a matter of if, it's just when. And I'm a huge Kobe fan.

I see your point, Promo, and I think Starks is a legit NFL talent, but Richard and Willy to support your point? C'mon.

Classic Cooper name drop! Guy probably had nightmares about Dr.J for 6 months. Nice list, hard to argue with any of those. Here's mine: Point Guard: Oscar Robertson - One of the best all-around players the league has ever seen. Off Guard: MJ/Kobe () Forward: Larry Bird - 'Nuff has already been said about Bird. Forward: LeBron James - Assuming he doesn't shred an ACL or something, he's definetely going to be in the top-5 all-time) Center: Bill Russell - The winningest athlete in the history of the 4 major sports. God I wish this was possible.

Actually, with no 3-point line at the time, the game was played almost exclusively closer to the basket, making a dominant defensive center like Russell all the more valuable. He was also arguably the best playoff performer in NBA history. Was Chamberlain more talented offensively? Without question. Did he have half the balls or will to win as Bill Russell? Not a chance.

I would add Bird to this list. He's in the top 5 all-time for me. Back to the original topic, I think you did a good job of wording it when you said that there was a difference between being the "Greatest" and "Best" ever at a particular sport. I'd like to point out first that I'm a Laker fan, so I do have a bit of a bias in this. I think when it is all said and done, Kobe will have me convinced that he is the best NBA player that I've ever watched. He's already damn close to doing so, IMO. What really bothers me about the classic Kobe haters is that they always seem to point to 3 out of his 4 championships coming with Shaq on the team as if that's supposed to be some sort of discredit. Not many people talk about the fact that Jordan was fortunate enough to play with Scottie Pippen, who might be the greatest man-to-man defender that the league has seen in the past 3 decades. Also a very good scorer. One of the most underrated players in the history of the game, IMO. MJ also had Dennis on his side for many of Chicago's glory years, who is a top-20 all time rebounder and a GREAT defender during those years. Shaq was an incredible force in his prime, but it's not like Jordan was playing with a bunch of scrubs out there. They both were coached by Phil for the majority of their careers, so that's a wash. The thing with Kobe Bryant is that he has evolved as a player over the years and has gotten better and better because he's learned to trust his teammates, and become more of a playmaker for long stretches of the game before taking over in the final 5 or 6 minutes. If he didn't learn to do that as well as he had, then I don't know if we're ever having this conversation. It's the reason why another 2-3 titles aren't out of the question for Kobe, especially considering the kind of shape he keeps himself in, and the dedication he has to his craft. He's lost some of his explosiveness over the years, so he now makes a LIVING in the paint. In this regard he's re-invented himself as a player. He can still get to the rack, knock down open threes, and defend with the best of them. He has the best mid-range game that I have ever saw. Almost unstoppable, even with perfect defense. And, obviously, he has evolved into one of the best closers that has ever played the game. I think one of the best things to happen to Kobe was the emergence of LeBron into the league. In the couple of years before King James came around, no one in the league was even close to the talent level of Kobe Bryant, and I think that this rivalry that's been getting hotter and hotter over the years has really fueled Bryant to continue to take his game to another level. Jordan's prime was at the tail-end of guys like Magic and Bird's careers, so it would have been interesting to see what would have happened if Jordan had a guy like LeBron to compete with on an individual level like Kobe does. I kind of shy away from saying that Kobe is better than Jordan at this moment, but I can easily see myself saying that with some confidence in a couple of years. It will be very interesting to watch.

I caught it this afternoon on HBO and thought it was very, very good. It was cool how deeply they went into both Magic and Bird's perspectives on subjects basketball-related or about life in general. Glad that I stumbled upon it today.

Italian, Irish, and Scottish.

Bunch of wild boars.

I really don't think that Jenna Haze gets enough credit for her body of work.

Casino Goodfellas Heat Friday The Doors The Patriot (For some reason) Rounders

Another vote for The Departed. Nothing like Damon getting his head blown off by a covert Wahlberg.

YES. I dated a hairdresser for a long time, and nothing would piss her off more than cheap dudes stiffing her on a tip after a cut. Somewhere between $3-5 is fine. If not for yourself, do it for the boyfriends/husbands of those hairdressers who will have to deal with the never-ending tip bitching when they get home after a shift of bad tips.

No doubt in my mind.

+1. Among other things... Beer, golf, basketball, slow-pitch softball, poker, working out, good music, traveling, etc.

U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!

I've been sick today so I've been watching the marathon almost the entire day. Phil sure as hell seemed like a class act and a really genuine guy. It's too bad he had to pass so young.

That was AWESOME. Pete probably had to go to counseling for weeks after getting ripped by Simon like that.

Besides possibly Locker, Jacory Harris will emerge as the best QB in next years draft IMO.

Red Sox, Sabres, NCAA Champion Tar Heels, the NBA Champion Lakers. ...and FSU football...

Very good article. I was a fan of Clausen before reading this, but the comparison of those statistics with guys like Manning, Rivers, Stafford, etc is pretty eye-opening. Especially the 7:1 TD:Int ratio like the guy mentioned. Pretty damn impressive. As the writer also mentioned stats only tell so much, but when I watched Clausen this year I also saw him executing a complicated offense very well, playing through injuries, displaying good leadership abilities, and showing more than enough physical tools to get the job done at the next level. Particularly his accuracy. At the moment, I'm more into the idea of making a trade for a quarterback and using our high draft picks for other needs, but if we do not choose to do this and are still stuck with what we got come April 22, Jimmy Clausen would be my first choice as of now. It will be interesting to watch what happens with his pre-draft workouts.

If this is our offseason, I'd be on the phone immediately after the draft to buy back my season tickets that I got rid of after they brought back Jauron for '09.