Jim Byrne and John Norman have been in a two-man race for the entire season thus far in "The Sharpest Point," so now we must see if Darren Riethmiller or Corey Griswold can muster anything to get off the schnide.
Last week, Norman once again took the judge's vote, while Byrne maintained his monopoly on the fan vote narrowly, taking home his fourth straight decision from the people by two votes over Norman.
Is Byrne "the people's champion?" If you want to derail his train, head to "The Sharpest Point" article on spectrum.buffalo.edu and vote.
This Week's Question: Who is the most overrated athlete/team/coach in sports?
Jim Byrne (5): Overrated things - one of my favorite subjects. Since I have to stick with sports on this one though, I will just mention that Darryl Hall of Hall and Oates fame is so unjustly glorified. We all know that John Oates and his mustachio carried those two.
But let's get down to business. Although it pains me to agree with Rush Limbaugh, I would definitely have to say that Donovan McNabb is overrated. Of course not for the same reasons of Limbaugh - that right wing, conservative racist son of a gun - cited, but certainly McNabb is in a spotlight he does not deserve.
The guy has not done much in the league since he has been in it, riding the tailcoats of a monster defense and a great coach, while milking his success off a craptastic division that has included the Cardinals (16-32), Giants (36-28), Redskins (33-31) and Cowboys (23-41) (all records from 1999-2002, when McNabb began starting).
Let's not forget he can't win the big one, failing to capitalize in two National Football Conference Championships, losing last year's to the Bucs 27-10 and two years ago to the Rams, where he had meager stats of under 200 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
McNabb has been getting the credit and spotlight that the Steve McNair's and Kerry Collins' of the league truly deserve, two quarterbacks who have taken their teams to two total Super Bowls and four conference championships, but never get the television time that golden boy McNabb does.
John Norman (3): Most overrated athlete? LeBron James. He has gotten so hyped up by playing against high school kids, not Shaq or Garnett. These kids aren't even as good as the UB team, let alone NBA players.
He can't possibly live up to the hype around him. He would have to go out and score 30 points a night in the NBA to warrant the $100 million he has already been given.
The NBA is a huge jump from high school. Everyone is as fast as LeBron, everyone is as big, and everyone can shoot as well. Every player in the league will be gunning for 'Bron. The kid hasn't played a game on the same level as them and yet he is making more than 99 percent of the league. Tell me you wouldn't want to put him in his place?
The NBA is in big trouble with Jordan retired and Kobe facing a few years in jail, trying to not drop the soap. So they're looking for a savior, and who did they choose? LeBron.
He is a terrific player, but there is no way he could possibly live up to the hype, at least not for a few years.
Darren Riethmiller (0): Wow, this is a hard topic. I couldn't decide between Eric "head case" Lindros, the RPI system, 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks or the 1984 Brigham Young Cougars, so I magically picked one with my ouija board and thus I shall rant on the 1984 Cougars.
The Cougars of 1984 led by quarterback Robbie Bosco, who lost to Doug Flutie of all people in the Heisman race, went undefeated en route to a 13-0 record. Now this was all before the terrible Bowl Championship Series system and the national championship game were installed in college football and any team could vie for the national championship, even a team from the Western Athletic Conference.
What's suspect about this is that the Cougars didn't even play a team that finished in the Associated Press top 20 at the end of the season! They played two-bit teams from the WAC and to top it off, BYU played in the Holiday Bowl against a 6-5 Michigan team for crying out loud. They didn't play in the Sugar, Cotton, Fiesta, Rose or even the Orange Bowl.
What's even sadder is that the only reason Brigham Young got to number one was because at the time they were third behind Nebraska (No. 1) and South Carolina (No. 2) and both teams lost their final contests. The Gamecocks lost to Navy while the Cornhuskers lost to Oklahoma. All of which would romp over the Cougars.
Corey Griswold (0): We all have our favorite overrated something. It makes us feel better about our own favorite things. Sport is no exception. The most overrated thing in sports today is the NFL.
Yes, I said the NFL.
I'll explain this quickly as I still make sense. No other major sporting league has rules as trite and misleading as the National Football League. I could bring up countless examples: any pass interference call and the "tuck" rule, which doomed the Raiders of 2001. The basic denominator between what is pass interference and what isn't is the call of a part timer.
Even Monday night serves the example, with an absurd call that gave the Colts a re-kick - even though it didn't really matter. The Bucs had lost that game already.
The referees are part time, 70-year-old men who, in the face of adversity, will turn on their microphones and announce to the world that they don't know the rules they are supposed to be enforcing, in a playoff game. See Steelers vs. Titans 2002.
I have a hard time buying into a league that needs to apologize to teams for missing calls after every week. The NFL is exciting; indeed maybe the most of all professional leagues, but it is by far the most poorly officiated. As a consequence it is the most overrated.
Also, they should have a "ref blows a big call" modulator for Madden 2004, just to improve the feel.
The Verdict (by special guest judge, Generation editor Chris Davis: I'm going to have to pick Darren Riethmiller as the winner. But, I am worried about Darren, because anyone that knows that many statistics about a 19-year-old team must have some serious issues. As for the other three, Donavan McNabb may have ridden the coattails of the defense, but I just love the way he dunks the ball on the goalposts after he scores. I'm going to wait until Lebron James actually plays before passing judgment on him, and I'm not sure if Corey Griswold read the question or not, but it said athlete or team not league, you don't deserve to win if you can't follow directions.
The Victor: Darren Riethmiller
