Who's Now? Bracket Interesting, But...
| 5
|
by Gmaddux04
It really holds no substance pertaining to, well, nothing at all. Is it entertaining? Sure, it compares athletes from different sporting environments and is a fan based tournament. And who doesn't love a great tournament?
Now with me you can seed up some Boggle champions into a March Madness style bracket and I'd be enthralled, but what are we really gaining from this experience, other than filling our mornings with chatter before we march off to work?
I am well aware of the other articles talking of the Who's Now? series, and the parodies I've read were hilarious to say the least.
I don't know who else agrees though, but this tournament is a no-contest shoe-in. I'm going to say it right now: there is NO way Peyton Manning can lose.
This will not take weeks to debate-- Manning is now. He is the best quarterback in the NFL for the Superbowl Champions. He does great commercials, his name is easily recognizable by standard passersby, and he was even on Saturday Night Live.
Let's just break this down a little, shall we? He plays in the NFL, the most popular sports company in America, where it counts. He is a quarterback, far and away the biggest position in the game (quarterbacks on average are also the highest paid position in the league, with left tackles coming in 2nd). He is a Superbowl Champion, a game that is watched by almost everyone who owns a television.
I am by no means a fan of Manning, but the only people close to him in this "contest" would be LeBron James, Tiger Woods, and Alex Rodriguez.
I just can't see the public letting LeBron or A-rod win, but Tiger most likely has just as good a shot as Manning. Then again, he does play golf, which works well as great naptime fodder, but other than that he is representing a league which is in constant debate of it's actual "sport" legitimacy. Seriously, does anyone actually watch except for Sunday majors?
Interestingly enough, both Manning and rival Tom Brady were number 1 seeds. This is no comparison really. While Manning is a winner in a high octane offense, Brady doesn't lose games and lets those around him dictate the Patriot's success. Manning clearly gave way to the Colts two-headed running monster this year and triumph followed. This just cemented the All-Universe quarterback's legacy, raising him from the "Well, he hasn't one the big one" pit of despair.
With all that said, I turn my attention to the rest of the field and the way the fans are voting. I am quite amused to find the people voting for this thing are the ones that are intrigued by it's aura. Just look at these results:
Jeff Gordon defeats Barry Bonds 62.2-37.8%
Are you kidding me, people? What's more now than Bonds about to break the most talked about sports record in the history of mankind? Character aside...well, hell, his enormous character profile should just add to the fact that America got this completely wrong. This isn't Who's Five Years Ago?
Derek Jeter defeats Sidney Crosby 63.8-36.2%
It's unfortunate that not enough of these voters even watch hockey, because if they did they would see Gretzky 2.0 in the making. Derek Jeter is an astounding baseball player who can do anything and everything you ask him on the field, but outside of that he's nowhere to be found in the headlines. To be honest, he's not even the most Now athlete in his own infield (the aforementioned A-rod holds that distinction). The new breed of the NHL, headed by Crosby will be the reason the league will eventually pull a major TV contract (c'mon ABC!), but until then not even Sid the Kid can make his name known to the masses.
Tony Parker defeats Roger Federer 56.1-43.9%
This was the only "upset" the first round saw, with the 7th seeded Parker ousting the 2nd seeded Federer. Hmm, I guess Parker is pretty now, having won the NBA Championship and bagging the hottest Latina going right now in Eva Longoria. Parker, though, is just a well-oiled piece in the assembly line that is the San Antonio Spurs. Yep, right there next to Manu Ginobli, Timmy Duncan, and even Gregg Popovich. Federer, on the other hand, is doing things that are making Tiger jealous. Federer is tennis, plain and simple. Not only has he been number 1 in the world longer than any of us can remember, he's racked up 11 grand slam titles since 2003. And it's just him out there, no teammates or nothin'. This same argument correlates with Woods' case, but we are just talking about Parker v. Federer here, a final decision wielded by voters who either showed their bias cards or dunce caps.
