King Kaufman's Sports Daily
A Web site puts the beatdown on a sports columnist, and since it's not this columnist, great fun is had. Plus: Terrell's ankle and other Super hype yawners.
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Feb. 1, 2005 | Tom Brady vs. Peyton Manning is so last month. Tom Brady vs. Donovan McNabb is a little more au courant, but even that little set-to is nothing compared with the Tom Brady vs. Joe Montana debate that seems to keep some people up at night.
Is Tom Brady the greatest quarterback in history, a greater quarterback, already, than Joe Montana was? I'm pleased to offer my opinion on the subject: I don't know. Let's talk again around the end of the decade.
I'm really sticking my neck out with that one because I've seen what happened to Skip Bayless, who offered his considered opinion on the subject on ESPN.com last week. He also tackled the crucial quandary "Is Bill Belichick the greatest coach in NFL history, a greater coach than even Bill Parcells?"
My take on that one, by the way: Who cares? And let's just ignore the ridiculously obvious question raised by these two: When did we all agree that Joe Montana and Bill Parcells -- Bill Parcells?!? -- are the greatest quarterback and coach in history?
Montana maybe. Parcells only if you consider history to have started after Don Shula stopped coaching, which would also be after George Halas, Curly Lambeau, Vince Lombardi, Tom Landry, John Madden, Chuck Noll and maybe a couple of others did. Bill Parcells, greatest ever. Good grief. Parcells' career is roughly equivalent to that of Hank Stram. Wonderful coach. Hall of Fame. But not even in the greatest-ever conversation.
Anyway, what happened to Bayless is that he was taken to the woodshed by the Web site Cold Hard Football Facts, which critiqued his column point by point, paragraph by paragraph, in what has to be the most amusing thing I've read about sports in 2005, and maybe in the 21st century.
Just one sample: Bayless talked up Montana's 1981 season by writing that "his go-to wideout that year was a former college quarterback named Freddie Solomon. His running backs were the immortal Wendell Tyler and Lenvil Elliott." He then described one of Montana's signature moments, "the Catch," his touchdown pass to Dwight Clark in the NFC Championship Game against the Cowboys.
Next page: "What a donkey." Plus: Terrell Owens' ankle, Jacksonville's lack of charm and other Super yawners
