10 Quick Sports Thoughts for a Friday Afternoon

How about a quick break from whatever you may be doing during our national timeout? No heavy lifting here, folks, just random thoughts on the world of sports with no (okay, only a few) references to the Coronavirus. Here we go with a quick Top 10:

1. So sad to hear Curly Neal passed away. Is there an aging hoops fan out there that didn’t romanticize the Harlem Globetrotters growing up? I think not.
2. I’m seeing a lot of Top 5 posts on social media regarding NBA greats. I almost always disagree with the selections, especially when the one doing the posting is a young NBA star (can somebody please introduce Trae Young to YouTube?), who’s grasp of league history only goes as far back as Michael Jordan. So to set the record straight once and for all, here it is — All-Time NBA Top 5 — Wilt, MJ, Oscar Robertson, Larry Bird, Kareem (disclaimers — I just missed Bill Russell growing up, so he’s off the board, will never include Havlicek or West on general principal — Larry Legend was hard enough — and feel like LeBron is a near miss — call him the sixth man). All-Time New York Knickerbockers Top 5 — Patrick Ewing, Willis Reed (we’ll play him at power forward, like when he was a rookie), Clyde Frazier, Earl the Pearl (was tempted by both Dick Barnett and Alan Houston here, but stuck with Monroe) and Anthony Mason (we need an enforcer, and I take Mase’s defense and ball handling over Oak — barely).
3. Who is Sam Darnold going to throw to this year? Better pick a wide receiver early and get it right, Jets.
4. Why is LeBron James so dead set against resuming the season without fans present? We will be watching, King. I promise.
5. Whenever I hear about the virus striking someone famous that I also happen to admire, I can’t help being thrown for a major loop. Hearing today that Doris Burke tested positive really made my knees buckle. Get well soon, Doris, we need you.
6. As much as I can’t stand the Yankees, I am a fan of Aaron Judge. But I’m starting to worry we may have another Pete Reiser on our hands (look him up, kids). Credit to Aaron Boone for debunking the absurd idea of making Judge a first baseman to protect him from further harm. Disregard the mammoth homers, the guy is fun to watch play right field (better than Mookie Betts — apologies to Geno the Sawx Fan).
7. Everybody forgets how big a guy Muhammad Ali was, especially for a fighter known to “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.” Do yourself a favor during our national lockdown, and watch the incredible sports documentary, “When We Were Kings,” about the Ali-Foreman bout in Zaire back in ’74. We all remember Big George Foreman as this epic giant, but there is Ali, staring down Big George eyeball to eyeball. Ali weighed in at 216 pounds for that fight, spread out over his 6’3 frame. A big heavyweight for the day. How would The Greatest fare against today’s heavyweight champ, Tyson Fury, a true monster at 6’9 and 285 pounds? Ali would knock him out ten times out of ten. And I happen to like Fury, that’s just how good Ali was (and how far today’s heavyweights have fallen).
8. I wonder if Noah Syndergaard will post more shirtless photos on Twitter during his 15-month rehab from Tommy John surgery? I suppose these days we should expect all power pitchers to experience TJ surgery at some point in their career, but c’mon! Only the Mets can find a way to lose arguably their most popular pitcher while the sport is on hiatus, and then manage to anger the country’s entire population by publicly sending him in for his surgery during a pandemic. LFGM.
9. What would I think if I was an NFL General Manager in search of a starting QB, and all I had to choose from was Cam Newton, Jameis Winston and Andy Dalton? Well, I’d probably think a lot of things, such as (in no particularly order ) — How do I feel about going 7-9 this year? Is going 7-9 that much better than signing none of the three and going 4-12? Which is worse, letting Winston kill me slowly with 30 picks at critical, game-changing moments, or having to deal with Newton’s ridiculous press conference outfits as the losses pile up week after week? Has there ever been a successful, red-haired QB in the NFL (spoiler alert — nope)? When was the last time I updated my resume? Is ESPN hiring?
10. And finally… Top 5 Worst Professional Sports Franchise Owners Today — 1. James Dolan; 2. Daniel Snyder; 3. Fred Wilpon; 4. Mark Davis; 5. Michael Jordan. Let the record show that MJ made two SportsAttic Top 5 lists today — an accomplishment truly worthy of a GOAT.