For those who missed out last week, this newest edition of The Sharpest Point features a 16-man (and woman) bracket displaying the sports knowledge of the collective Spectrum staff. Each Friday two staffers go at it with John Norman and myself doling out points on a 10-point scale for three different categories. The loser goes home and the winner advances to the next round.
Due to Norman leaving the building in an early fashion, Editor in Chief Erin Shultz will handle his duties this week.
Nick Mendola punched out Dan Gvertz last week, and now we bring you Ben Cady vs. Dan Stein for the rights to battle Mendola in the round of deuce.
The Norm and I love to chat it up about "classy" people at our beloved sports desk, so this week we figured we'd tap into that for the topic of debate. Or the opposite, actually.
In this match we let Cady and Stein decide who puts the "a-double crooked letter" in classless. Which athlete is or was the worst for their respective sport?
Dan Stein (Editorial Editor): In the vast history of professional sport, there have been lots of terrible athletes, both on and off the field. Since we're focusing only on the off the field portion, there are a couple of criteria I used to find the worst of all time. I looked for guys who either went crazy or got arrested, and found combinations of the two.
Here are the top five:
5 - Bison Dele (Brian Williams before 1998). He disappeared after the 1999 season to supposedly start a water purification plant in Africa. He was last seen on a boat with his brother and wife, and may or may not be dead.
4 - Dimitrius Underwood. He was drafted by the Vikings in 1999 and went to camp, but then disappeared and showed up in Philadelphia a few days later. His agents offered excuses, but then coach Dennis Green was told that Underwood would never play again. Then he stabbed himself in the neck with steak knives while yelling, "I am not worthy of God." Thankfully he is now receiving full time help and medication.
3 - Eugene Robinson. Nothing says pre-Super Bowl excitement quite like being arrested the night before for soliciting a cop dressed up as a prostitute. He went out of style when spiked chokers did, taking his NFL "Man of the Year" award to new heights.
2 - Vince Coleman. His stint with the Mets in the early 1990s will be remembered for swinging a golf club in the clubhouse and breaking Doc Gooden's arm and throwing a firecracker at some fans. Now that's class.
1 - Pete Rose. Even if he never bet against his team, the days he wasn't betting for them, he was doing just that. He disgraced the game and put his own finances over the dignity of the sport. No joking around, he's the worst.
Ben Cady (News Editor): The enduring glory of sports is that no athlete, however legendary, is greater than their game. Whether Bart Starr or Brett Favre hoists the Lombardi trophy, for example, the pathos of football transcends the years.
However, as a result of his criminal activity and outrageous actions, one man has brought a sport to its knees.
No sport has fallen as far as boxing in the twentieth century, and nobody is more responsible for the sad fate of boxing than Mike Tyson.
For nearly a century, boxing was a proud sport. Sports Illustrated named its greatest star, Muhammad Ali, "Sportsman of the Century."
And then came Tyson. Convicted of rape in 1992, he served three years of a six-year prison sentence. Five years later he bit off a chunk of Evander Holyfield's ear during a match. His boxing license in Nevada was suspended. Millions of young Americans know him not as an extraordinary athlete, but fodder for their friends' AIM profiles (among other mind-boggling quotes, he told reporters he wanted to eat Lennox Lewis's children).
Some athletes make their sports worse simply by virtue of their pathetic play (remember Todd Collins and Browning Nagle?). In more serious cases, reckless athletes such as Jayson Williams and Pete Rose ruin their own credibility.
But Tyson -- by destroying the credibility of an honorable sport -- has earned a rightful place atop the list of the worst villains in sports.
JB: Stein had an abundance of style, earning him a 9 in that department, but his fleeting support of Rose as the ultimate bad boy brings his point to a halt. I give a 3 for strength of argument because of that, and a 5 for factual evidence considering that Underwood and Dele/Williams really did not hurt their sports, just themselves.
Cady penned a masterpiece in portraying Tyson as the monster of all monsters. He had me believing that Tyson is the reason that boxing suffers today, and registers a 10 for strength of argument. I give a 9 for style just because he mentioned Collins and Nagle. His factual evidence was perfect as well, truly supporting his claim, and for that I dish out a 9 as well.
ES: To be clear, this judgment comes with heavy help from Geoff Nason, graduate assistant in the Athletic Communications Department. That said, we can all go back to pretending I have the sports knowledge and prowess to fittingly judge this contest.
Stein disobeyed the cardinal rules of the game. We asked for one athlete. He gave us a Letterman-style list. He picked up points with a couple comedic moments, though, earning him a 7 in style. Like Jim, I say Stein's examples only hurt themselves, not the sport as a whole, earning him an 8 on strength of argument. Factually, Stein's answers just didn't stack up. Coleman didn't break Gooden's arm. He hit him, but Gooden started 29 games that season - missing only one start in April. Pitchers can't usually pitch with broken arms. He gets a 5.
Cady was less humorous than his editorial counterpart, but made up for it with argument, though I disagree with his points. Arguably, there are millions of problems with boxing. In fact, Tyson may be more synonymous with the sport than current heavyweight champ, Lennox Lewis. People love to watch him - for the right or wrong reasons. Also naming Ali Sportsman of the Century doesn't make boxing the sport of the century. The pieces were there for Cady's argument; he just didn't have the glue to hold it together. Factually, Cady was fine and earns 8s across the board.
If you ask me, there's no question - Shoeless Joe Jackson (and The Black Sox Scandal, overall). Hands down.
Final Score: "Boisterous" Ben Cady 52, "Devious" Dan Stein 37
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
