Sports Illustrated 100 Greatest

I get Sports Illustrated Magazine. I saw they had an add for their ranking of the 100 Greatest Moments in Sports History. It wasn't in their magazine, though, it was online (si.com/100greatest). I thought I better check this out.

Here is their top ten, along with my insightful, biased commentary:

10. 715 - When Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth's record. Good call. It would be even better if, Barry, the steroid-fueled cheating machine hadn't come along and broken his record. Lance Armstrong isn't listed as having won any of the Tour de France races, because they knew he cheated to do it. If I ran baseball, the same kind of thing would happen with Barry.

9. The Guarantee - Joe Namath and the Jets winning the Super Bowl. Joe, a fun guy, but the most overrated quarterback ever, did a nice job, but they were a good team. It really wasn't that much of an upset. Plus, the game lasted three hours. Not really a "moment".

8. The Ultimate Walk Off - Bill Mazeroski's (I have his baseball card) World Series, 7th game, 9th inning home run. Good choice.

7. The Rise of Tiger - Tiger Wood's first big win. OK, but, again, not really a moment. Tournaments last four days.

6. Eight the Hard Way - Michael Phelps wins 8 events at the Olympics. No. First of all, he's a jerk. Secondly, the only way you can win a lot of events in the Olympics is by swimming. Can you see a track guy winning the 100, 200, 400, 800, 1500, shot put, pole vault, marathon, ... Those swimmers have an advantage when it comes to getting multiple medals.

5. Thrilla in Manilla - Frazier vs. Ali. I'm not sure it would have been that famous if it didn't rhyme. Would it have been as memorable if the bout was fought in Lichtenstein? I don't think so.

4. The Greatest Game - Colts vs. Giants in an NFL Championship game. This goes back to Johnny Unitas / Frank Gifford days. Older events don't get the notoriety they deserve. This is a good pick.

3. Jesse Bucks Hitler - 1936 Olympics. I heard Hitler didn't leave the stadium because of Jesse Owens. He just had stuff to do and wasn't planning on staying. Say what you will about Hitler, but he kept himself busy.

2. Breaking the Barrier - Jackie Robinson. I suppose this is rightly placed here, but it was more a social accomplishment than an athletic one. All Jackie really did to accomplish this was to walk on to the field. Even I can do that.

1. Miracle on Ice - The U.S. Olympic Team beat the Russians in hockey. I don't think so. Just because we sucked at hockey for so long doesn't make this a huge accomplishment. The miracle is that we sucked so long at this sport, not that we finally won.

I think next week I'll have my own list. Then people can critique that. It's only fair.