Athletes with Killer Instincts Since 1990: No. 1

1. Bryon Russell

Those who know notorious, Hall of Fame speeches will know why Bryon Russell is sarcastically listed as the #1 Athlete with Killer Instincts Since 1990. 

Was there any doubt who the #1 Athlete would be? You may disagree, but in major sports, is there someone you think could perform better in the clutch than Michael Jordan? I'm all ears...

While Jordan was one of the most well-rounded and clutch scorers in NBA History, many fail to understand the extent to which Jordan was an elite defensive player. When Jordan wanted to shut down other players, he did. He made the NBA All-Defensive Team 9 times and led the NBA in steals 3 times. These are remarkable feats for someone hailed as a scorer. Of course, that is why Jordan is the best. Check out these other statistics and highlight video:

1. 6x NBA Champion

2. 6x NBA Finals MVP

3. 5x NBA MVP

4. 14x NBA All-Star

5. 10x NBA Scoring Champion

6. 9x NBA All-Defensive First Team

7. 3x NBA Steals Champion

8. 3x AP Athlete of the Year

9. 2x NBA Slam-Dunk Champion

10. NCAA Champion (1982, UNC)

11. Playoff PPG of 33.4, FG% of .487, RPG of 6.4, APG of 5.7, SPG of 2.1

12. Highest Player Efficiency Rating (PER) for Career (27.91)

13. Part of Bulls Record 1995-96 winning season with 72 wins out of 82 games

Don't forget to check us out @GRHuddle. Who do you think the top athlete should have been? Submit your feedback to us with the hashtag, #KillerInstinct.

No. 2: Tiger Woods

15 Week Trivia Contest (Final Question)

Here's how it works:

1.Over 15 weeks, we will be asking a trivia question each Thursday. The challenge started January 2, 2014. 

2. Answers must be submitted to groundrulehuddle@gmail.com by 11:59 PM Eastern Time the day the question is posted. 

3. Scoring will be based on each week's question. 

4. During the 15th week, we will have a final bonus question in which wagering (based on your cumulative 14 week score) will be used. 

5. The winner will receive an Amazon Gift Card and an opportunity to be featured on the blog. 

WEEK 15 TRIVIA QUESTION (4/17)

No Outside Resources. This means you cannot use other people, the internet, or other means to help your answer. 

ESPN came out with a list of the 25 best sports films from 1979-2004. This list can be found here. The final trivia question will be based on the ESPN Expert Panel's Top 25 list, not the SportsNation users list. Please read the following description very carefully:

There are multiple actors, who have been at least nominated for an Academy Award, to be cast in multiple movies on the Panel's Top 25 list. Your task is to, without outside resources, identify these actors.

Initially, I was going to do a wagering question, but upon further analysis, I like this point structure better:

I am leaving the number of actors out intentionally. I will tell you that there is more than 1 correct answer, but less than 6 correct answers. You will receive 10 points for each correct guess, but will lose 10 points for an incorrect guess.

You can also earn an additional 10 points if you guess all the actors correctly, and another 10 points if you can name which actor has been cast in the most Top 25 sports movies. 

Summary Points:
1. Name the Academy Award Nominated Actors who were cast in multiple ESPN Top 25 Films. These actors could have won an Academy Award, but they had to at least be nominated to count.

2. You will receive 10 points for each correct guess, but will lose 10 points for each incorrect guess. The absence of a guess will not count against you.For example, if there are 5 Academy Award Nominated actors who have been cast in multiple sports films and you submit only 3 answers, you will not lose points for not listing 5 actors. You would receive 30 total points if your 3 guesses are correct. However, if one of your 3 answers is incorrect, you would lose 10 points. If you correctly guessed all 5 actors, you would receive 60 points (10 for each correct answer and an additional 10 points for guessing all correctly). 

3. Guess which of your answers has appeared most often in ESPN's list for an additional 10 points. Using the above scenario with 5 actors, if you guessed all 5 actors correctly, and guessed which one has appeared in the most top 25 sports films, you would receive 70 points (10 points for each correct answer, an additional 10 for guessing all correctly, and another 10 for guessing which actor has been in the most top 25 sports films). 

Check out the trivia question and scoreboard from Week 14

Joy and Pain

We all love sport for various reasons. Some of us feel as if we are able to live vicariously through others talents. Others want something to get behind. Sometimes people get caught up in the excitement that can permeate a city or a region when a team takes off. Others just grew up involved in it. Regardless of why you began to follow sport, there are certain scenarios that every fan can understand. One of those is the absolute kick in the gut feeling that we all inevitably feel when our team reaches a certain point only to fall short. Sport allows us to the outlet to feel as on cloud nine or as low as dirt. Occasionally those feelings swing in the blink of an eye. Even cooler is when these moments are caught on tape. 

If you haven't seen the following clip, take a moment to watch it. It sums up the utter highs and bitter lows of being a fan in less than 2 minutes. Let me set the stage: The Philadelphia Phillies had just scored 5 runs in the bottom of the 8th to lead the Atlanta Braves 6-5 with only three outs left in the game. The Braves managed to load the bases in the 9th but after a strike out of Braves catcher Evan Gattis, fans in Philadelphia felt they may be able to wiggle away with an improbably win. Then, this happened...

Can you imagine if this had been a post season game? Better yet, Game 7 of a playoff series. How devastating would that be? As a Brave fan, I still hate Kirby Puckett and the Minnesota Twins for beating my team of destiny in the 1991 World Series. Kent Hrbek is still a crook for pulling Ron Gant off of 1st base and Lonnie Smith will never be thought of highly because he allowed Chuck Knoblauch to fool him into not running for 3rd. This would pale in comparison to all of that if it had happened in the post season. 

Fandom is what it is because we allow it to be. But all of these highs and lows are why I keep coming back. You literally never know what is going to happen next. UCONN winning the national championship. Bubba winning one green jacket (let alone two). The 1991 Braves and Twins. 1985 Villanova. You just never know what is going to happen. It's why I won't taunt these fans. I've been in their shoes. My guess is, if you're a true fan, you have too. And you know what, we'll all feel like this again one day. So will they. It's why we watch and why we'll keep watching. Because those these fans were on the wrong side of it, Braves fans have huge smiles on their faces this morning. While these guys faces dropped, the bar I was watching the game last night in erupted with joy. It's what being a fan is all about.

No #'s today. Just wanted to share my thoughts on the joy and agony of fandom. Check us out on Twitter @GRHuddle and don't forget to like us on Facebook to keep up with everything Ground.Rule.Huddle

JD's Deuce Points (With a hint of potpourri...)

1. The Principles of Patience

Patience. Like a field of of blooming colors do I hinder thee for thy whispering eye. For many a time you have called and come to my surprise, but I have yet to respond to thee o' countless wonder of silence. Help me, save me, give me thy wisdom for gerunds and of other devices which blunder thy bosom. Time is ending, the season is changing, and I can't find K-Mart. I turn left, I turn right. No blue light. No special. Help me now. Where is it? Patience.

2. Jog-A-Boo like a Piece O'Poo

Frontin. U can't play me no mo like dat, gurl. I smell yo tricks, they ain't got me fooled no mo. Sip on da Lysol, pour dat Hennessey and get me a Zima, trick. U messin with tha wrong playa now. U can't catch me, U can't chase me, U can't even hide from me. Sniff a trick from a mile away. U wonderin where Waldo is. But he ain't wonderin where u are. Run all u want, Ms. Ghetto Graffiti, with tha dunk in the plunk. 

We're here. Unload the bags and allow the concierge to escort us to our room, dear. 

Bracket Challenge Winner

Congratulations to Derrick Daniel for winning our 2014 Bracket Challenge and an Amazon Gift Card. His bracket placed in the 99th percentile. 

Thanks for supporting our blog and playing!

Making it Up To You

As mentioned here on Tuesday, Brain Dropping has been behind and there's been quite a lot going on in the world of sport. Therefore, I wanted to jump in with some thoughts and we'll hopefully get back to the column next week. No hash tags for this one, just things right off the top of my head...

1) This Guy - You've all probably heard of Derek the RA at UCONN by now. If you haven't, feel free to read his letter to the students who live on his floor prior to the NCAA Championship game on Monday:



Derek caught a lot of flack for his comments and I can certainly understand why. However, I don't think Derek is getting credit for what this truly is...laziness. Derek just doesn't want to have to work. I've seen first hand the destruction that rabid fans can do in the wake of a major victory. It takes a lot of clean up. Derek would probably have to fill out a lot of paper work as RA. The bottom line is, nobody has time for that. So, Derek has done what any red-blooded American would do...pass the buck.

So, all of these other sport websites have trashed Derek but here at GRH, we applaud him. Because, well, we're American. If you wanted to make the translation that all those other sports blogs are Un-American then those are your words, not mine. But you can't say that about us and you can't say that about Derek either. Good job, man. Keep fighting the fight.

2) These Guys - The good news for Derek is that he is not an RA at the University of Kentucky. After they lost the championship game, there were 29 arrests and more than 35 fires set in Lexington.

http://www.kentucky.com/2014/04/08/3185180/fire-damages-house-on-state-street.html 

UK has officially turned into the Hooligan capital of the US. Let's be honest, it's almost acceptable to turn over cars and rampage in the street after your team wins. I just hope I'm not too old by the time UGA wins a championship of significance (though it does have the only National Championship for an SEC team this year in Women's Swimming). However, when your team loses in the shameful way that UK did on Monday (basically by not making free throws), then you crawl into your hole and shut the hell up. You don't burn 19 couches (which is totally a WVU thing, come on Cats, be original at least). I'm glad they only get riled up about one sport there.

3) Pleasing the Patrons - This morning the Masters officially teed off right up the road in Augusta. It's hard to argue with the tradition of some of the legends of the tournament teeing it off ceremonially. There is no Tiger in this year's field which makes a lot of fringe fans pass on watching. I can't stress how exciting the last day of the Masters can be even without the most famous golfer in the world. Last year's finish by Adam Scott was must see TV as was the year before when Bubba Watson took home the green jacket. I don't know who is going to win, but there are some things I can guarantee: (1) Justin Rose will be on the leader board at some point today. He might even be leading after day 1. But don't expect him to be there on Sunday for some reason. (2) Fred Couples and Angel Cabrera will play well even if they don't win. (3) Uncle Verne will give us a good chortle sometime on Sunday. (4) The Eisenhower Tree will not be missed because it didn't matter for the pros. (5) Someone will forget that the ball always rolls towards Rae's Creek and miss a big putt because of it.

There's lots of other things but we'll leave it at that for now. Brain Droppings will be back on Tuesday in its regular time slot so keep an eye out for us. Also, don't forget to follow us on Twitter @GRHuddle or like us on Facebook. Have a great week!

15 Week Trivia Contest (14)

Here's how it works:

1.Over 15 weeks, we will be asking a trivia question each Thursday. The challenge started January 2, 2014. 

2. Answers must be submitted to groundrulehuddle@gmail.com by 11:59 PM Eastern Time the day the question is posted. 

3. Scoring will be based on each week's question. 

4. During the 15th week, we will have a final bonus question in which wagering (based on your cumulative 14 week score) will be used. 

5. The winner will receive an Amazon Gift Card and an opportunity to be featured on the blog. 

WEEK 14 TRIVIA QUESTION (4/10)

No Outside Resources. This means you cannot use other people, the internet, or other means to help your answer. 

Today is a grab bag of MLB questions. You will get 2 points for each question you answer correctly and an additional 4 points if you answer all correctly.

1) Who is the only person to win consecutive manager of the year awards? Bobby Cox

2) Which Royals Hall of Fame hitter did Nolan Ryan face more than any other in his career? George Brett

3) With 511 wins, which pitcher has the most career wins? Cy Young

4) Which pitcher holds the lowest walks and hits per inning pitched (WHIP) for a single season? Pedro Martinez

5) Reggie Jackson leads MLB with 2,597 total strikeouts (as a batter). Who is 2nd all-time? (Retired in 2012) Jim Thome


Week 14 Scoreboard

Name	Week Score	Cumulative
Matthew T.	0	20
Derrick D.	4	66
Bruce B.	8	63
Jonathan S.	0	20
Tanner C.	0	6
Jeff F.	0	30
Nicole A.	14	72
Sallie W.	0	27
Tyler S.	0	3
Burt F.	4	35
Evan K.	0	3
Jarred S.	0	19
Bryan M.	2	55

Check out the trivia question and scoreboard from Week 13