Anyone can suggest adds and drops for the NBA fantasy fans out there, but few make those suggestions from the gut.  We’ve also sprinkled in tons of helpful stats for all fantasy formats too. Because that’s the kind of fantasy help you deserve.

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O.J. Mayo, MEM If Memphis has any strengths – and I’m not necessarily saying they do, so don’t go quoting me – it’s that you never know which sloppy player is going to make a name for himself on any given night. Someone will. And it will be sloppy … unless you’re talking about O.J. Mayo on Monday, who was not sloppy at all. So nevermind that. I just disproved myself. And now you see why I didn’t want you to go quotin’ me. Now you have to go back and re-quote me. Do you see the damage you’ve done? Mayo had 20 points off only eight shots. He also went to the line 10 times and made it all 10 times. That’s accountability, man. He’s like Casey At the Bat if Casey hadn’t totally choked.

Here are a few more guys that totally choked and a few who didn’t.

Tyreke Evans, SAC ‘Reke Show put the Kings on his back, scoring 28 points on 10-for-18 shooting. Evans’ back is too small to fit whole teams on it, so Sacramento still lost to the Grizzlies.

Spencer Hawes, SAC Hawesome has seen better days. Few of them have come lately however. He started the season 0-for-13 from the three-point line, went 2-of-3 on Saturday, then started sucking anew from downtown Monday (0-for-1). He’s fun.

Rudy Gay, MEM  Rudy-Tootie’s averaging career highs in points (21.9), rebounds (6.8) and FG% (51.3). I’m told he doesn’t seem as selfish as I was told he seemed last season. I can’t be sure as I’ve never actually seen this guy play. That would entail watching a Memphis Grizzlies game. No one enjoys basketball enough to do that.

Ersan Ilyasova, MIL He led the Bucks in points (20) and all I can tell you about him is a) He’s not Andrew Bogut, b) he’s averaging 15 points and 7.9 rebounds in his last seven games and c) if you rearrange the letters in his name, you get Snare Yo Saliva.

Brandon Jennings, MIL Twelve points, 7 assists and played like we all expected him to play back in mid-October. But this is November and now we’re all disappointed.

Michael Redd, MIL Michele Rouge is back and ready to give you all 20 points, a couple threes and nothing else. That is, until his knee pops or his elbow dislocates or his swine gets floozy or whatever. Four points and a three on Monday you say? He’s dead to me.

LaMarcus Aldridge, POR  24 / 13 against the Bulls couldn’t hide the fact that he runs funny. Seriously. He lifts his knees like he’s prancing.

Joakim Noah, CHI Noah was slathered in Eau D’en all game and it frustrated him. 7 points, 8 boards and only got to the line once in nearly 33 minutes. Oden. Annoyance. Anger. A technical foul. After eight games of at least 11 rebounds, Noah hasn’t had more than eight in his last two.

John Salmons, CHI He’s the worst of all fantasy players right now. He’s hotcolding. What’s hotcolding? He’s shooting .500 and scoring 15-18 points. Maybe a steal, a few assists. A game later, he sinks you. Foul trouble. Cold shooting. So you bench him. He’s back to .500 with 20 points. That first bad game was a blip. So you put him back in your lineup. Stinkaroo again. This will go on all season (hotcolding). Unless you trade him. Then he’s going to play like Oscar Robertson for the remainder of the season.

Baron Davis, LAC When you drafted Davis you were aware that games like this could happen and probably would happen. So if you knew that, you only have yourself to blame. While we’re at it, Baron blames you too, because guys who go 0-for-9 (before finally making one) with only six assists don’t tend to point fingers inwardly much.

Marcus Camby, LAC One of the better games from Camby this year. Not a “let’s-hold-off-on-retiring-No.23-to-see-how-this-Camby-thing-pans-out” type of game. But solid. Good for a Clipper, let’s say. 6-9 (.667) / 12 PT / 18 RB / 4 AS / 3 ST / 1 BL

Matt Bonner, SA The Red Rocket neared his career high in points (25) with a 23-point performance on Monday. He drained six threes in only 25 minutes. Am I saying he’ll do it again? You’ll never know. I am saying he’s only scored 20+ points in fewer than 30 minutes twice in 377 career games.

LINE OF THE NIGHT

Greg Oden, POR 7-8 (.875) / 10-12 (.833) / 24 PT / 12 RB / 1 AS / 2 BK / 2 TO
Oden scored a career-high 24 points in a smidge under 27 minutes. He took eight shots and only missed one. He’s like the most wrinkly-headed of all angels.

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Photo courtesy of Yahoo! Sports via Getty Images

Sports fans love to argue, and there’s no better way to start an argument than a systematic ranking of the teams. You can find these rankings for nearly every sport. There’s NASCAR power rankings, Tennis power rankings, WNBA power rankings, and why the heck not, even reality television power rankings.

But what’s so powerful about them? Aren’t they just an ordered ranking of the teams followed by little blurbs? Why hasn’t anyone put a different word in front of rankings before, like “Virility Rankings” or “Moxie rankings. It’s always power rankings … but some are more powerful than others.

There’s never been a thorough examination of this power ranking phenomenon, so we here at SportScape took it upon ourselves to officially power-rank which site has the most powerful power rankings.

Pretty meta, huh?

Quality power rankings really only boil down to four things:

1. Some little writeup before the rankings that either mentions a trend or something interesting about several teams.
2. An accurate and thoughtful ranking of all the teams, in order of their power.
3. Some sort of additional writeup on each team, possibly detailing their ranking of power.
4. Putting it all together in a visual package that’s not painful to the eyes.

With that, we have ranked 10 of the Internet’s most widely-read Power rankings. They’re charted 1 through 10, according to – what else – their power.

Sports Illustrated NFL Power Rankings by Don Banks
It’s exactly what you’re looking for in a power ranking. There’s always a solid writeup to lead into the rankings, followed by a paragraph on each team. And with a nice layout, it’s probably the easiest to read among its power ranking brethren. Granted, it’s not the same without Dr. Z’s voice, but it still stands as the gold standard of power rankings.

ESPN NFL Power Rankings by a panel of experts
ESPN mixes the power ranking structure up a little. Instead of one writer giving one voice, the rankings are decided by a panel, who then contribute thoughts on the various teams. Their voice is noble, but there’s not consistently good insight on each of the team’s comment.

CBS Sports Power Rankings by Pete Prisco
This is what we’re talking about when it comes to power rankings. There’s an excellent lead-in to the rankings, followed by good analysis on each team. And if you click on the “trends” button, you can see exactly what was said about each team on various weeks. This is an excellent take on the power rankings phenomenon, and should be applauded.

Yahoo! 32 Questions with Mike Silver
Mike Silver’s writeup isn’t technically a power ranking, in fact you won’t find those words anywhere in his column. But following his intro is a veritable ranking of the teams, followed by one pertinent question per club. So should it count in these rankings? Well, since it performs the same function, we say yes. And Yahoo gets credit for managing to avoid calling it what every other site in the world calls it.

AOL Fanhouse NFL Power Rankings
Solid.

Not fancy or outlandish. Just a good intro and per-team analysis, nothing more or less.

NFL.com Power Rankings by Jason La Canfora
This is probably the most stripped-down rendition of power rankings out there. It’s simply a one-sentence intro followed by one-sentence write-ups on each team. No logos, table or measure of where a team stacked up last week. The writing is great, but where’s the production value?

USA Today Power Ranks (fans chime in against experts)
USA Today melds a couple of approaches, as both fans and a panel of experts vote on the rankings. But again, there’s no real intro to the rankings and no more than a sentence of analysis on each team. I guess that’s what we should have expected from the fast food of newspapers.

NBC Sports Power Rankings presented by Pro Football Talk.com
There’s nothing technically wrong with these rankings. But there’s no pre-ranking writeup and very little analysis on each team. I know Mike Florio runs the entire site from his basement, but he can do better.

Bleacher Report NFL Power Rankings by Jordan Schwartz
This is only one of about 5,293,583 NFL power rankings you can find on Bleacher Report, but that doesn’t make it any less solid. Nice intro, fine write-ups on each team. Could do more in the way of packaging, but at least he didn’t opt for a slideshow like other BR writers.

Fox Sports Power Rankings
Nice layout and good commentary on each team, but it lacks a good intro that introduces any sort of theme or trend. And while the piece is penned by an author, it seems like it was spat out of a machine.

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Logos courtesy of Flickr

It’s Tuesday and in one week the 2009-10 NBA season will officially begin. Many of us are already gathering notes together for our basketball fantasy drafts. You can hardly control your excitement, right? Well, Sidelines can’t control its excitement. So in the five weeks leading up to the season tip-off, we’re thumbing through our old fantasy notebooks, cringing at our past selections and revisiting our top 10 fantasy picks from each of the seasons that introduced us to a new decade. This week: the new millennium. Karl Malone was the reigning MVP at the age of 35, still the oldest anyone has ever won the award. Tim Duncan was all David Robinson needed to finally capture his first championship title. Only 50 games were played in the lockout-shortened ’99 season. And it appeared as if the heir to Air Jordan could be found in a Toronto rookie named Vince. The year ahead would see future Hall of Famers Dominique Wilkins, Joe Dumars and Charles Barkley play their final seasons.

Enjoy and we’ll see you on October 27.

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Waasssuuuup, fantasy ballers. SportScape Sidelines back again to hook you up with this year’s basketball studs. If you followed our advice last year your team probably won. If you follow us this year, you’ll no doubt be as dangerous in your league as Y2K viruses are to our world. So stop humming “Oops … I Did It Again” and follow us as we review the 10 best the game has to offer.

And now: The best bets for your 1999-2000 fantasy all-stars!

10. Grant Hill, ORL
Hill, perhaps the most fully rounded player on this list will have his first shot at a full season in Motor City with Jerry Stackhouse, a power duo almost two seasons in the making. Assuming both these guys stay healthy (and there’s no reason to think they wouldn’t) they’ll help each other become one of the premiere powerhouses in the East once again.
09. Jason Kidd, PHO
It wouldn’t be insane to think Kidd might average a triple-double one of these years. He averages nearly 17 points and eight boards while leading the league in assists-per-game last season with 10.8, more than a full assist better than his previous high. He’s the best true point man in  game full of great ones.

08. Stephon Marbury, NJ
Marbury didn’t exactly enjoy sharing the spotlight in Minnesota spotlight with Kevin Garnett. But now that he’s with New Jersey and the shoot-first point guard can call the team his own, there won’t be anything to stop this guy from going gonzo all over the league. A happy Marbury is a quiet and productive Marbury. If he continues growing, he’ll be on his way to the Hall of Fame 15 years from now. He’s that good.

07. Chris Webber, SAC
Oh, the free throw percentage! Webber! Webber, practice your charity tosses, my man. He shoots .486 while standing three feet to the left with a defender in his face, but only .454 when everything stops. If he could just shoot .650, he’d be the best power forward in the game. Statistically, that free throw percentage wrecks your team.

06. Tim Duncan, SAS
We know the big goober in the middle can play. We also know he can win. What we don’t know is how high his ceiling is. Is he just as good without the Admiral taking heat off of him? Robinson isn’t long for this league and, as good as Duncan is now, I can see him tapering off when Robinson’s team becomes his team. Because I’m teetering, he gets the middle of the list.

05. Kevin Garnett, MIN
Statistically, Garnett and Duncan are similarly ferocious stat-stuffers. Actually, Garnett’s just ferocious in general. With Marbury out of town, it’s totally his show and stat-wise he’s going to eviscerate most power forwards in this league. Heck, he’ll probably take a few SF with him.

04. Gary Payton, SEA
Payton’s 8.7 assists-per-game average was third behind only Marbury and Kidd. But what makes the Glove special is that he consists of the best of both those other two PGs. He scores nearly as many points and threes as Starbury (21.7, 1.7) and, like Kidd, rebounds, blocks and steals in higher numbers than someone as small as Payton is expected to (4.9, 0.2 and 2.3). When you choose Payton, it’s as if you’re choosing Marbury and Kidd.

03. Karl Malone, UTA
You know why Garnett and Duncan aren’t ranked higher? Because the Mailman hasn’t retired yet. I’m willing to concede that either one of those younger guys might be considered better than the quickly aging Charles Barkley. But Malone? Duncan and Garnett would have to have pretty remarkable careers. He’s 35 years old and he’s missed two games in the last seven seasons. Think about that. No clue how many seasons he’s got left in him, but I hope it’s enough to win a ring.

02. Allen Iverson, PHI
Iverson is a PG the way Superman is Clark Kent. Call it whatever you’d like, the Answer is a shooter. Three years in the league, this mighty mite has never averaged fewer than 22 points. Shoot, steal, repeat. His declining assists are a bit alarming. He’s be in the No. 1 spot if he dished the ball more than 4.6 times a game …

01. Shaquille O’Neal, LAL
… Well, and if the big fella wasn’t also in the league. Honestly, who can stop this guy? Not ‘Zo. Not Mutombo. Not Ewing. Not Robinson. He’s a scary, scary force. A force that scores nearly 30 points a game, grabbed 11 boards and blocked 1.5 shots per game last season … and he’s not really trying. God forbid Kobe Bryant continues to improve, not only will the Lakers be really good, but Shaq might feel the need to step up his game. I can’t imagine what that would be like.

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NOTE: Look for us next week as The Sidelines looks ahead at your 2010 Fantasy WNBA team.

… Just kidding. Those don’t exist.

Say what you want about sports, most people become fans of specific teams based on one of two things: geography or inherited fandom. If you root for the Detroit Lions, the Pittsburgh Pirates or the Los Angeles Clippers, chances are it’s because you live in those cities or because your parents hate you.

There’s a small percentage of rebels who eschew both of these general guidelines. More often than not, their only rationale for rebelling is simply to rebel. So how do they choose who to root for in times of such rebellion? Many go by the logo.

Sidelines is taking a look at the teams we would have begun rooting for if our parents hadn’t brainwashed us early.

 20. Ft. Wayne Pistons (1942-48)

If I was able to make one complaint about team logos, it would be that there aren’t enough robot-like machines representing our favorite squads (Bill Belichick excluded). I’m not sure why the Pistons got rid of this elbow and knee-less mascot, but it probably had something to do with original owner Fred Zollner selling the team. Yeah, that explains the “Z” in the middle Pistonman’s chest.

19. New Jersey Devils (1992-present)

Many cities and universities try and fail to arrange their representative initials into both a clever and appropriate fashion. The Devils are among the few teams that really get it right.

18. Chicago Bulls (1966-present)

I totally think “Jalen Rose” whenever I see this logo. Is there any player more associated with Bulls basketball than Jalen Rose? As if that weren’t reason enough for the logo to make the list, this logo is the only one that subliminally feeds you pro-robot subtexts. Look at the bull again. Do you see the hidden robot? No? It’s so obvious. It’s a robot sitting on a bench reading a book (probably the Bible). No, I’m not crazy. Click the Bulls logo for a clearer view of the Bible-reading robot.

17. Notre Dame University Fighting Irish (1973-83)

They’ve since punched up (pun!) the iconic leprechaun logo, but he’s facing left in the current rendition of it. An odd choice considering that logos should always favor the right. Look at the rest of these logos and tell me it’s not true.

16. New England Patriots (1971-92)

The Pat the Patriot logo is a bit busy, sure, but how tough must ol’ Pat have been to get in the huddle without taking off either his buckled shoes or his puffy-sleeved shirt?

True story: New Englanders never had “Pat the Bunny” read to them as children, they had “Pat the Patriot.”

15. University of Maryland Terrapins (1997-present)

Bulldogs, American-Indians, Roman warriors, weather disasters and birds are all over the sports landscape. You know what isn’t? Fightin’ turtles. Name another turtle-sponsored team? You can’t, can you? Okay. Now name another mascot that looks like he’s flashing you. Still nothing, right? Ladies and gents … the UMD Terrapin.

14. Milwaukee Brewers (1978-1993)

Have you ever sung a specific lyric of a song incorrectly for years, then one day realized suddenly that you’ve been singing it wrong all that time? It blows your mind, right?

Yeah well, it took me over a decade to realize that there was an “m” and “b” in this logo. One of the best designed logos of all-time.

13. Atlanta Falcons (1990-02)

The 90s Falcons logo looks like it belongs on the hood of an old Bentley or hanging off the ledge of a building designed in the art deco era. It’s sleek and crisp and classy.

12. Cleveland Rams (1940-45)

There are a handful of ram-based logos in the sports world, but none resemble Princes Leia as much as this one. The horns on this sucker (the oldest logo to make the list) look like they have the ability to fly out and gore someone standing 20 feet away … which would be awesome.

11. Washington Huskies (2004-present)

There are a tragic amount of huskie mascots out there, but this is the only one that gives the animal any dignity (I’m looking at you UConn). Excellent use of negative space and, uh, light purple. This is among the best “simple” understated logos out there. Very sleek and … I won’t say “sexy” because that would be weird, but just know that I was thinking “sexy.”

10. San Francisco 49ers (1946-67)

The Houston Colt .45s, the Baltimore Bullets and this prophecy of Mike Singletary illustrate that we’ve really changed as a nation in the last few decades. Of course that change is into a mass of sissified peaceniks looking to remove guns out of our sports, but I digress.

The Niners old mascot motivates and pumps me up with the same fervor that listening to my “Fired Up Workout Jam” iPod playlist does. Yeah, one look at this mascot is equal to 45 minutes of Fergie. Deal with it.

09. Denver Nuggets (1977-81)

I’ll be honest, Maxie the Miner just reminds me of Yukon Cornelius from “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.” But that’s more than I can say for any other NBA mascot, so here’s the logo. Coming in at No. 9.

The only explanation for the Nuggs ridding themselves of Maxie, is that by 1981, the NBA finally got around to outlawing pickaxes on the court, therefore rendering the miner’s appearance mildly ridiculous. Had Photoshop existed back then, Maxie would undoubtedly still be with us.

08. Memphis Grizzlies (2004-present)

Ever see a Shaman bear? No? This bear is a shaman bear. A Shaman bear with a heart-shaped head, a keg-shaped nose and eyes that say, “Don’t you dare mess with me or in eight years, I’ll only put together three winning seasons and compile a .401 franchise winning percentage all over your butt!”

Yeah. That’s a bear you don’t want to mess with.

07. UNLV Runnin’ Rebels (1995-2005)

Heck, I like this guy. He can come to my town and date my sister.

Since 2006, this confederate has had a little of the curl taken out of his ‘stache and he’s wearing a black hat now, but he’s still the same ol’ runnin’ rebel. He becomes more likable if you imagine his voice being really, really high-pitched.

06. Buffalo Sabres (1996-2006)

Most people never put together that buffaloes and sabres have little to do with one another. Would it be that terrible to call them the Buffalo Buffaloes? They obviously want to. This logo was designed so that everything about the buffalo was sharp, angular and serrated, making it feel as if both “buffalo” and “sabre” were represented.

Taylor Swift, no disrespect and imma let you finish, but the Sabres have the best NHL logo of all-time.

 05. Baltimore Orioles (1966-88)

The O’s went to the World Series six times between 1966 and 1983 and haven’t been back since. What years did the franchise run this logo? Ah.

If the symbol on the Orioles’ hat is the Baltimore Orioles logo, then is the bird just wearing a hat of himself in that exact same pose? Does it just keep repeating like two mirrors facing one another?

04. Boston Red Sox (2009)

It seems a little alarming that it took the Red Sox over 100 years to settle on such a simple design. A lot of fancy “B” letters and baseball outlines had to be rejected before a literal representation of the team’s name settled into place.

Somewhere Don Draper is emotionlessly shaking his head and drinking a scotch in disgust.

03. University of Illinois Fighting Illini (1989-03)

This is the best of the non-cartoony, detailed logos. Chief Illiniwek is still around on a lot of merchandise, but took a backseat to a more simpler, less Indian-y logo six years ago.

02. San Diego Padres (1969-84)

The image is mildly offensive, the color scheme is ugly. I shouldn’t give this logo the time of day, should I? It’s like the plain girl in school that you’re embarrassed to admit you have a huge crush on. You “don’t mind” her great attitude. You can see how someone else might be smitten with a person who likes old T-Rex albums. And it’s not the worst thing in the world that she can beat you in a few video games. Then you realize one day that her inner beauty attracts you more than her outer beauty ever could. So you marry the plain girl and head off into the sunset.

… Then you buy a cap with the swingin’ friar logo on it. ‘Cause that’s just the kind of man you are.

01. University of Texas Longhorns (1950-present)

This is the longest-tenured logo on the list, which shows that people know a good thing when they’ve got it. What makes UT’s logo so awesome?

1) It’s easy to replicate with your hand, which is convenient when your clothes can’t help you support your school because you’re running through the quad naked.
2) It’s a relatively easy shape to get tattooed.
3) UT’s particular shade of orange happens to match the color students turn after fake-baking, so if they have second thoughts about that tattoo, it can easily be blended back into the skin.

Here’s a recap of the weirdest or most overlooked sports stories on the Interweb this week. Plus, as you’ve come to expect, in this space, no one can hear you scream.

Monday I’d hate to think the ladies in the strip club a few hundred feet away from Safeco Field weren’t M’s fans. Baseball
Tuesday South Korea shows us that we’ve been cheering wrong this entire time. Seriously, this thing is amazing. Soccer
Wednesday Pro fisherman Dave Mercer, casts the first pitch in front of 300 non-plussed Blue Jays fans. Fishing/Baseball
Thursday Look me in the eye and tell me you don’t want to open a beer bottle with a golf club. Golf
Friday The North Carolina Lottery made the Ric Flair “Woo Ticket” a reality. Tell Tchaikovsky the news. Pro Wrestling
Saturday Goalie shrinks goal posts, soccer remains boring anyway. Soccer
Sunday Chris Arreola became the first Mexican-American heavyweight champ to cry after a butt-whuppin’. Boxing
Eighth Day This Badger is a journalism student. Looks like he’s getting an early start on being loathed by everyone around him.

Titans vs. Jets

First we have New York. The Jets are on top of the world after beating the Patriots. They’re in love with Mark Sanchez, and enjoying a 2-0 record.

Meanwhile, the Titans have managed to lose more games in two weeks than they lost in three-and-a-half months during the 2008 season. Kerry Collins isn’t the problem, but merely the fact Tennessee has played in two tight games against the Steelers and their division-rival Houston. The Titans shouldn’t push the panic button just yet, but if they lose to the Jets, then all bets are off.

I like the Titans in this one for the sheer fact that they’re hungry. And New York obviously isn’t over their win against New England, seeing how Bart Scott is still yapping about the game four days afterwards. Tennessee is last in the league in pass defense and 20^th in scoring, but they’re certainly better than those numbers might suggest. They’ll prove that this week.

With that, let’s get to the other 15 games.

Dolphins at Chargers (-6)
“The Chargers may or may not have LaDainian Tomlinson for this one, but I think they can still pull it off. Miami needs to dig itself out of a hole, but it won’t be this week.”

Chiefs at Eagles (pick ‘em)
“Once again, I really don’t care who the Eagles start at quarterback. They could put Donovan McNabb, Kevin Kolb, Jeff Garcia and Michael Vick on the field at the same time for all I care. Any of those guys are capable of beating the Chiefs. That’s how bad Kansas City is.“

Jaguars at Texans (-3.5)
“The Texans are feeling good about themselves in the early season. I don’t think that’s ever happened before.  And while they’re far from a playoff lock, Houston seems to have enough mojo to surge past the struggling Jags.”

Browns at Ravens (-13)
“If the Browns win this one, then I’ll re-name my son ‘Otto Graham’. The Ravens might be the best team in the NFL right now, so no way do the Brownies pull the upset here.”

Giants (-6.5) at Buccaneers
“Like the Titans and Dolphins, the Buccaneers aren’t the worst 0-2 team on the planet. They’re still more than capable of winning some games. But that won’t happen this week. The Giants are too good to let this one slip away.”

Redskins (-6) at Lions
“I’d love to join the chorus of pundits who think the Lions will get a win here. But the Redskins stuck with the Giants in Week 1, and that shows me they’re capable of making some noise this season. I like the Lions to win a game this year, but it might be against the Browns or Rams. Redskins win this one.”

Packers (-6.5) at Rams
“I can’t give the Rams any credit until they show at least a little fight. And while Green Bay isn’t an elite team just yet, they should roll the Rams without much problem.”

49ers at Vikings (-6.5)
“Boy, who would have thought back in May that this would be a game between two 2-0 teams? Forget the quarterback battle. I want to see if Adrian Peterson finishes with more yards than Frank Gore. I’ll venture to guess the tailbacks combine for at least 325 yards. But in terms of this game, I’ll take the Vikings.”

Falcons at Patriots (-4.5)
“Who to like in this one? The Patriots might have something seriously wrong this year, or maybe Tom Brady is still not back to his old self. Still, if Mark Sanchez can beat the Patriots, so could Matt Ryan, right? I’m going to give the Pats one more shot before I start to seriously question them.”

Bears (-2) at Seahawks
“This seems like the type of game the Bears drop all the time. Just a week removed from beating the Super Bowl champs, Chicago could easily lose one to the Seahawks. But I’m going to give Jay Cutler a little credit. He should pull this one out, especially if Chicago’s defense gets a few shots at Matt Hasselbeck’s broken rib.”

Saints (-6) at Bills
“The Bills aren’t totally dead in the water, but T.O. will get more than a little peeved watching the Saints’ offense bolt up and down the field at Ralph Wilson stadium. Saints win this one, and I’m sure they’ll hang their usual 40 points.”

Steelers (-4) at Bengals
“I like the Bengals this season. They’ve got some fight in them. Cedric Benson isn’t God-awful anymore and Carson Palmer finally appears to be healthy. Still, I’m nowhere near confident enough to give them the nod over the Steelers. Pittsburgh wins.”

Denver (-1.5) at Raiders
“Well, what do you know? It’s week 3 and neither the Broncos nor the Raiders are complete disasters. I like the Raiders, merely for the fact that they should have won at home against the Chargers, so they can make up for it this week.”

Colts at Cardinals (-2.5)
“Wow, it’s strange to see that the Colts aren’t favored in this game. But Kurt Warner isn’t exactly running on all cylinders here. I think Peyton can pull this one out. He won’t be able to do it every week, but Arizona’s defense isn’t exactly a group of world-beaters here.”

Panthers at Cowboys (-8.5) (Monday night)
“I’m not sure what to make of the Cowboys just yet. They hung in there with the Giants, but Dallas’ defense doesn’t have a sack and Tony Romo is turning over the ball like it’s covered in swine flu. Fortunately for him, he’s facing off against one of the few QBs in the league with more interceptions than him. I like the Cowboys in this one, but I think Romo and Jake Delhomme will combine for five INTs.”

Week 2 Prediction Results: 8-8 (.500)
2009 Season Prediction Results: 16-16 (.500)

[Critic Al appears on SportScape screens throughout the country.]

Last week, Forbes Magazine, through E-Poll surveys, polled its readers and compiled a top 10 list of the most disliked people in sports. I was confused at first why it was Forbes and not, say, Sports Illustrated executing such a poll. I mean, these are sports figures we’re talking about, isn’t ESPN’s magazine better equipped? Forbes may not be the foremost expert on sports, but flip through any issue of their magazine or click on any page of their web site … dudes know a lot about hateable personalities.

But the list isn’t as much of a reflection of the Forbes company as it is about the company’s readers (ages 13 and up). And what’s reflected is a severe case of “lemmingism.” Everyone who made the list makes sense, but are they a true reflection of the most disliked sports figures?

I mean, hockey is one of the five largest sports in the country (and Canada, if you care) and no one from the NHL represented. Most of the names you’ll see here are hated because of overexposure more than their actions that caused the overexposure. Can they be blamed for that? And if they can, why isn’t Erin Andrews at the top of this list? (She’s not) Heck, one of these guys retired 17 years ago. Is that the best (worst) Forbes readers could come up with? Do they even follow sports?

In the words of the 10th most disliked athlete, “you cannot be serious.”

1. Michael Vick
Why he’s here? Yeah, okay. This isn’t surprising. He had dogs kill one another in his off time. Honestly, if Vick had murdered a human, his jail sentence would have been longer, but he’d be no more hated than he is now.
Does he belong? I’ll put it this way … yes. Yes, he does.
Possible replacement Brett Favre. Vick’s infamy was brutal and awful, but it was also original. You know what isn’t original? Brett Favre’s annual hijacking of the sports pages while he decides if he wants to be a professional suckwad or a retired suckwad. Most of the guys on this list are on here because people are tired of hearing about them. On that front, Favre is head, shoulders and suckwad ahead of everyone else.

2. Manny Ramirez
Why he’s here? Steroids. He used ‘em. He got caught for using ‘em and he missed almost a third of the season for using ‘em.
Does he belong? Dodger fans don’t think so. Manny gets L.A. fans giggly-er than girls at a sleepover.
Possible replacement Sean Avery. I wanted to put a woman on here, but I’m unconvinced that Serena Williams counts. I guess Avery is as close as we’re going to get. I mean, c’mon … these are women’s sunglasses, dude. New York’s self-proclaimed bad boy has literally lobbied to be marketed like a WWE villain, which is not only a tacit admittance that he’s a wanker on the ice, but he’s seemingly badmouthed every last one of his hot and famous ex-girlfriends. Anyone who badmouths Elisha Cuthbert: unlikable. That’s a rule.

3. Alex Rodriguez
Why he’s here? Overexposure. Perhaps the overwhelming disgust for both Madonna and Kate Hudson has spilled over onto him as well.
Does he belong? If you take into account America’s tendency to convert jealousy into hatred along with the fact that he’s dating a movie starlet, makes $25 million a year to play a game in the most famous city in the world and cheated so as to help him achieve all these things, then yeah. I reckon he belongs.
Possible replacement Kyle Busch. This little pipsqueak. This picture best illustrates why he really ought to have made this list. And if you’re a NASCAR apologist, then what about when he snapped the Nashville Superspeedway Les Paul guitar trophy into shards ’cause he was just so gosh darned excited. A-Rod’s a tool that seems embarrassed by himself a lot of the time. Busch shares no such embarrassment.

4. Terrell Owens
Why he’s here? An inability to censor his narcissism.
Does he belong? He belongs for the amount of time various media outlets have spent talking about him over the years, but generally, Owens has done very little to warrant the ire of the American people. At worst, he’s been a bad teammate. Then again, his statistics suggest he’s made his teams better. It’s all about perception.
Possible replacement Tom Brady. Oh no! Not my sweet Tom. What’s he ever done to anyone except urinate awesomeness and use unicorn horns to pick Superbowl glory out of his teeth? Well go ask Bridget Moynahan. He knocked up Coyote Ugly, split while she was pregnant, ignored the birth while pretending not to ignore the birth, hooked up with a Brazilian supermodel (superfluous pic here) and impotently allowed her to treat Moynahan’s kid as if it were her own. Oh, then he had the gall to skip the 2008 season. So I ask you, what’s worse: being a bad teammate with good stats or being a bad husband, father and man with no stats?

5. Kobe Bryant
Why he’s here? Smugness and possibly rape. Mostly smugness.
Does he belong? For the smugness? Yes. For the possible rape? I’d have to visit Denver a few more times to say for certain.
Possible replacement Fedor Emelianenko. People just don’t like it when someone so obviously talented doesn’t need fans’ approval to stay talented. We don’t like when talented people clamor for it either (see: Rod, A) but when you’re good and you know it and no one can do a damn thing about it, it tends to alienate fans. Fans want to feel a part of it all and when they know they’re not a part of any of it, it pisses them off. Now you tell me, which one of these two was I just talking about?

6. Allen Iverson
Why he’s here? Because people like “gangsters,” not “gangstas.”
Does he belong? Iverson hasn’t been relevant in two years. Right now, only three teams have shown any interest in paying him to play basketball and one of those teams is in Greece. Hating an irrelevant Iverson is like hating the words to a song a toddler just wrote.
Possible replacement Mark Cuban. If the fine readers over at Forbes want to flippantly throw Iverson on here because he came into the NBA with cornrows and tattoos and everyone was depressed that Michael Jordan was gone, that’s fine. Now allow me to retort by submitting my own irrationally-justified basketball personality. Mark Cuban is loud, he picks fights with players, his hair is often mussed, he likes Jason Kidd too much, his cha-cha-cha is a 1/2-step too slow and he was accused of insider trading. But go ahead, convince me a neck tattoo is worse.

7. Isiah Thomas
Why he’s here? Sexual harassment … and because he hasn’t done anything well since 1993.
Does he belong? Oh yeah. He might have tried to kill himself and when it didn’t work, he might have tried convincing authorities that his daughter was the one who was ill. Also he sexual harassed a woman (not daughter related).
Possible replacement I had a whole case for either Al Davis or George Steinbrenner and although they both totally deserve to be on here, the readers polled by Forbes accidentally got this one right. Isiah Thomas is awful.

8. Stephon Marbury
Why he’s here? Sociopathology.
Does he belong? Absolutely not. Oh sure he’s been a locker room cancer on each of the last four teams he’s played before arriving in Boston, but few noticed until he got to New York and became Isiah Thomas’ cancer. But seeing as how Thomas is more disliked than Starbury, isn’t this a clear-cut case of “the enemy of my enemy is my friend?” Friends don’t put friends on disliked lists. Think of it this way: Stephon Marbury builds the character of every NBA player with whom he comes in contact. Good for the game.
Possible replacement Brock Lesnar. And since very often “bad” is good for the game, who better to illustrate this than the UFC’s Brock Lesnar? Look, you don’t get more white than Brock. He’s a 6-foot-3, 265-pound farm boy who lives and trains in the Minnesota woods, has a drooling problem, drinks Coors and signifies that “he’s No. 1″ with the wrong fingers. He’s thoroughly unlikeable, yet UFC has never been more popular. It’s far more fun to hate than to love.

9. Nick Saban
Why he’s here? Bullying. Lying. Willfully living in Alabama.
Does he belong? Nah. For $32 million, I’d probably live in Alabama too. But I wouldn’t talk to anybody.
Possible replacement Brett Favre (again). Yes, but what better way to emphasize how disliked he is than by having him wear out his welcome on this list, just as he’s worn out his welcome in the NFL. Remember in “Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out” when you beat Bald Bull and then later in the game a meaner, tougher Bald Bull returned? Such is Favre. Just when his awfulness seems to subside, another offseason arrives and it takes three star punches to get him to go away.

10. John McEnroe
Why he’s here? Because he was really outspoken three decades ago.
Does he belong? About as much as a polar bear at the Pyramids.
Possible replacement O.J. Simpson. McEnroe was a loudmouth infamous for throwing hissyfits (and rackets) and complaining about almost every call that didn’t go his way. Essentially he was an NBA player. But all of this happened in the past. He’s retired from the pro tour now. So if inactive players are suddenly eligible for this list, why not pick an athlete who, you know, probably murdered two people? Bonus: How great would it be to have two Buffalo Bills in the top 10?

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Vick, Ramirez, Rodriguez, McEnroe photos courtesy of Yahoo! Sports via Getty Images
All other photos courtesy of Flickr

One in 75. This is the ratio of average professional baseball players to elite ones.

In Major League Baseball’s 133-year history, 17,056 players have come and gone. From that, only 229 of those players are in the Hall of Fame (about 1 of every 74.5).

Yes, the roster sizes, number of teams and players churning up and down the farm system varies on an almost unquantifiable level, but for the sake of this hypothetical, let’s say that there are 25 players on a major league roster, multiplied by 30 teams …

… Hey! Don’t skip the math stuff just to get to the glossy pictures. Embrace the numbers.

Where was I? Oh right … 25 players multiplied by 30 teams equals 750 players currently playing baseball.

And no, I haven’t forgotten about the mere 16 teams in 1917 or 12 teams in 1897 or the dearth of players a century ago as compared to today. But this is a hypothetical, remember? If you trust that the overstuffed rosters of today cancel out the lack of expansion teams from yesteryear, then will too.

If one out of every 75 players makes it to the Hall of Fame and there are 750 players in the league right now, then the law of averages suggests there are 10 future Hall of Famers active in the league today. This suggestion is made more compelling when one considers what the Steroid Era will do to these averages (if anything).

Sidelines looks at the 10 most likely active players to make it into the Hall of Fame. Obvious Cooperstown-bound players like Alex or Ivan Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez and Andy Pettitte become less obvious because of their involvement with steroids. I’d still bet some of them get in, but I’d bet on the following 10 before any of the afore mentioned.

Fun facts about these 10 players: Six of them have played on the same team throughout their entire MLB careers. All but two of them played on one team for more than half of their careers. Half of these players played for either Seattle, a Canadian team or both at some point in their careers.

In no particular order:

Ken Griffey Jr.
Career highlights: 13-time All-Star, 1997 AL MVP, 600+ HRs
“The Natural” gets my vote because a) he made backwards baseball caps acceptable for grown men and b) because anyone who can ruin the lives of annoying sign-holders deserves special enshrinement.

Pedro Martinez
Career highlights: 8-time All-Star, 3-time AL Cy Young Award Winner, 3,100+ Ks
If Randy Johnson scared hitters stupid, Martinez – from 1997 to 2003 – just made them look that way. He was angrier than Greg Maddux, but just as smart. And then the year after his peak … he (and his wee friend) won a World Series.

Albert Pujols
Career highlights: 8-time All-Star, 2-time NL MVP, 2001 Rookie of the Year
Not even a gross last name can slow this guy. At his current pace, he’ll reach 500 homers by April of 2012, at the age of 32. Barry Bonds hit his 500th on April 17, 2001 three months before his 37th birthday and 15 days after Pujols made his MLB debut.

Mariano Rivera
Career highlights: 10-time All-Star, 3-time saves leader, 500+ career saves

The guy hasn’t started a game in over 14 years and at some point in all that time, you’d think someone would have convinced him that “Panama” was a better song to enter the ninth inning to than “Enter Sandman.”

Ichiro Suzuki
Career highlights: 9 seasons: 9-time Gold Glove Award winner, 9-time All-Star, 1999 AL MVP, 1999 Rookie of the Year
If the Hall loves two things it’s consistency and guys with silly names. But if the Hall loved three things, I’m sure the third thing would be Asians. So Ichiro’s at least 2-for-3. What? Did you think I was suggesting Ichiro had a silly name? Not cool, dude.

Derek Jeter
Career highlights: 10-time All-Star, 1996 Rookie of the Year, 6 World Series Appearances
If players were elected to the Hall of Fame based on past girlfriends, Jeter would get his own wing. As it stands, the people he’s dated are just a fringe benefit of being the face of the most recognizable franchise on Earth … and that’s nice too.

Trevor Hoffman
Career highlights: 7-time All-Star, 2-time season save leader, 575+ saves
I could go on about longevity and the ability to pitch in “high-stress” save situations year-after-year. But really, it’s simple: Hoffman is the all-time saves leader. Saves are recognized as a meaningful statistic (for now) and you can’t have the all-time leader in a meaningful stat excluded from the Hall of Fame. That would be stupid.

Roy Halladay
Career highlights: 2003 Cy Young Award Winner, 6-time All-Star, 4-time season leader in complete games
As of this writing, Doc Halladay is still a member of the Toronto Blue Jays, a team he’s been on for his entire 11-year career. If he gets traded to a contending team … well, then 11 years in medical school would not have gone to waste.

Chipper Jones
Career highlights: 1999 NL MVP, 11-straight playoff appearances
What jumps out at most people about Jones’ career is that nothing about his career really jumps out. He’s been solid for 16 years in an era where the Braves dominated the NL. And although the pitching staff of those teams were the motor that kept those teams humming, Jones was the chassis … or maybe the seats. Car seats are highly underrated.

Randy Johnson
Career highlights: 10-time All-Star, 5-time Cy Young Award Winner, 9-time season strikeout leader, 300+ career wins, 4,800 career Ks
Why is the Big Unit already as good as enshrined in Cooperstown? Because dead birds don’t get a vote.

Tip o’ the cap to Craig Robinson at Flip Flop Flyball

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Photos courtesy of Yahoo! Sports, Flickr

After winning Wimbledon two weeks ago, 15-time Grand Slam champ Roger Federer was given a timely spot from Nike congratulating their endorsement face of men’s tennis using other such Nike stars as John McEnroe, Pete Sampras, Serena Williams, Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan. The “Love Fifteen” campaign is also a nod to a 2007 ad that highlighted Federer’s background and early life. Both commercials are just two instruments in the symphony orchestra that has been Nike’s athletic commercials in the last 20 years. So because it’s the slowest part of the year and because I feel like it, let’s look back at Nike’s 10 best commercials.

Click the pics after the jump.

10. “Chicks Dig the Longball” (1996)

This ad solidifies Greg Maddux as the best geek-pitcher in baseball history. I’m hoping Tom Glavine at least felt a little uncomfortable asking his teammate if he’s “getting bigger” while naked in the sauna.

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09. “Enjoy the Weather” (2001)

How did no one bring up this commercial after Lance Armstrong said Stage 7 of this year’s Giro d’Italia was way too dangerous? Woulda been ballsy.

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08. “Bo Don’t Know Diddley” (1989)

Someone forgot to send the Great One the memo about not being racist in Nike ads. If Bo can hit a 95 mph fastball, uh, I’m pretty sure he can skate Wayne. Racist.

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07. “Defy” (2006)

This spot best captures Nike’s ability to also illustrate moments in sports and not just the players within them. Here is a collection of athletes suspended in mid-air at different times in different sports.

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06. “Leave Nothing” (2007)

Quick! Name a more intense commercial. You can’t do it. Now take a deep breath and take a guess whether Steven Jackson makes it across the goal line.

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05. “The Spike & Mike Show” (1987)

When you think of Nike, you think of my main man, Michael Jordan. And a lot of why you think of him was because of everybody between ages six and 56 repeating the mantra: “Money, it’s gotta be the shoes!” Still the best pair of Jordans Nike ever made.

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04. “Fenway’s Generations” (2004)

This spot, which was shot and edited in one day, brings a familiar idea into a timely and visually interesting ad. Alas, Nike gets docked a few points for inadequately representing how obnoxious Sawx fans have become over the last few decades.

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03. “Huarache 2K4 Evolution” (2004)

I don’t remember seeing this on television, but it’s possible I just blocked it out of my memory because I hate sandals (especially when they’re from South America) and I just mistook this look at the Huarache evolution as something benign. It’s not, it’s mesmerizing, which is hard to gleam from a sandal.

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02. “Let Your Game Speak” (2006)

Easily Nike’s most cleverly executed spot. It shows off a culmination of everything Nike has learned to do well: Promote a top athlete, subtly orchestrate a viewpoint, encapsulate small moments of sports, while simultaneously adding to the mystique of those moments … plus maximum use of slow motion.
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01. “Trick Shot” (1999)

The beauty of this ad is that it’s all Tiger Woods. It’s not clever, it’s not moving and it’s not slick … because it doesn’t have to be any of those things. An Nike knew that, because Nike is the Tiger Woods of athletic-wear. Now do you get it? See? They belong together.

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All screenshots courtesy of YouTube

]]> http://blog.sportscape.tv/2009/07/18/the-10-best-nike-commercials-of-all-time/feed/ 0 http://blog.sportscape.tv/2009/07/12/the-50-most-controversial-nfl-players/ http://blog.sportscape.tv/2009/07/12/the-50-most-controversial-nfl-players/#comments Sun, 12 Jul 2009 16:47:55 +0000 Adam http://blog.sportscape.tv/?p=1325 Of the 1,500-some-odd players in the NFL, there are those chosen few who get 90 percent of the headlines. They’re not always the best players, but sometimes they’re the loudest. And in almost every case, they’re the guys on the police blotter. In the grand tradition of CBS Sportsline’s annual rankings of the top 50 NFL players, we present the top 50 most misbehaving, irritating and downright ruckus-causing players in the league. And note, we purposefully excluded Michael Vick and Pacman Jones from the list because it would have been far too easy to put them on top. They’re both also not on a team right now.]]>

Of the 1,500-some-odd players in the NFL, there are those chosen few who get 90 percent of the headlines. They’re not always the best players, but sometimes they’re the loudest. And in almost every case, they’re the guys on the police blotter.

In the grand tradition of CBS Sportsline’s annual rankings of the top 50 NFL players, we present the top 50 most misbehaving, irritating and downright ruckus-causing players in the league.

And note, we purposefully excluded Michael Vick and Pacman Jones from the list because it would have been far too easy to put them on top. They’re both also not on a team right now.

50. Peyton Manning Just kidding. He’s as harmless as Opie. We just wish that SNL commercial he did was the real version of him.

49. Matt Leinart Similar to Brady Quinn, Leinart gets way too much attention paid to him because of his college pedigree. And granted, he had a great career at USC, but getting beat out by Kurt Warner does not signal a great hall of fame career for this guy. But you’d never know it if you read stories about him.

48. John Henderson Big John tends to stay out of trouble, but we like him on this list because of his pre-game ritual. If you haven’t seen it, prepare to view a giant man being slapped.

47. Chris Cooley His blog is awesome. But he accidentally exposed himself on it.

46. Kurt Warner He’s not controversial in his own right. But his wife raised plenty of ruckus shortly after the Rams’ Super Bowl win.

45. Darnell Dockett He’s not terribly interesting, but he’s playing the role of ‘unhappy star on the losing Super Bowl team’ to perfection.

44. Shaun Rogers He’s worth of the list because every season there’s a distinct possibility that he’ll become too fat to function.

43. Anquan Boldin Tough player, awesome talent. But an incredible whiner when it comes to his role with the Cardinals. Then again, if I made $2.5 million a season, I’d probably be jealous of Larry Fitzgerald’s $14.5 million salary too.

42. Roy Williams (the safety) He broke Terrell Owens’ ankle. And while that’s normally a cause for celebration, the guy managed to get an illegal tackle named after him. Ask any Cowboys fan if he’s done anything else in the past five years, and you’ll just get a blank stare.

41. Braylon Edwards A sometimes-great player. Though you know the guy has been trying to force a trade out of Cleveland since he first got there.

40. Jared Allen Another awesome player, but the guy picks up DUI’s like they’re invitations to the Playboy mansion.

39. Visanthe Shiancoe Visanthe really hasn’t done too much to bring in the controversy. But for the mere fact FOX Sports accidentally showed a little too much of Shiancoe to a national audience, he’s on the list. He could make the next 20 Pro Bowls, and people will still only remember him for that one thing.

38. Brady Quinn Huge expectations, little results. Had he come from anywhere but Notre Dame, people wouldn’t give two thoughts about the backup QB for the Cleveland Browns, but here we are.

37. Travis Johnson This guy would be higher on the list if he was a decent defensive tackle. But when your career highlights include knocking Trent Green unconscious (as if that’s hard) and then taunting the motionless quarterback, you know you’re bad.

36. Martellus Bennett When the Cowboys tight end started whining that Jason Witten didn’t like him, we started to agree. But after reading his blog and watching his videos, it’s clear that Bennett might be the funniest guy in the league. But we wonder how long before his team or the league crack down on him.

35. JaMarcus Russell Where to start with this guy. There’s the epic holdout in 2007, the exorbitant contract, the two completely forgettable seasons, and only now is he starting to show signs of leadership. The guy is simply a walking, talking example of how screwed up the Raiders continue to be.

34. Channing Crowder He’s had his fair share of dustups, but man, talk about a great quote. In the past year, the guy has launched shots at Rex Ryan, Matt Light, Bart Scott, the University of Miami, the Carlyle Group, the Jonas Brothers … the list goes on and on. And we only hope Crowder keeps talking.

33. Vernon Davis Waaay too much attention gets paid to Vernon Davis, seeing how he’s a sub-par tight end (nine career TDs) on a bad 49ers team. Still, his catfights with Mike Singletary should be good for a few headlines this season.

32. Bart Scott Compared to former-teammate Ray Lewis, Bart Scott is a saint. But when Scott said he planned on killing Hines Ward, he raised enough controversy to fill two seasons.

31. Pat Williams Really nothing controversial about him off the field, but getting himself embroiled in the StarCap controversy makes him worth of the list.

30. Kevin Williams You can’t have one Williams without the other.

29. Shawne Merriman He’s not terribly controversial off the field, but don’t you love how he gets busted for steroids, yet there’s nowhere near the outcry over it compared to baseball? Incredible.

28. Jeremy Shockey How great was that when the Giants won a Super Bowl without their talented yet obnoxious tight end? So far, his time with the Saints has included zero touchdowns and one instance of being found passed out in a Las Vegas pool.

27. Marshawn Lynch Sexual assault, hit and run, marijuana possession. He’s also a dead ringer for Little John.

26. Koren Robinson Ninth overall pick. Fourteen career touchdowns. One year suspension. That’s all you really need to know about this guy.

25. Tank Johnson He was in that Henry-PacMan-Johnson triumvirate that helped create the personal conduct policy. But you haven’t heard a peep out of Tank since he rejoined the league. That’s largely due to the fact he’s been terrible since leaving Chicago.

24. Donte Whitner Whitner’s not a bad guy, he’s even a promising safety for the Bills. But we’re putting him in the top 50 because of his promise as a controversy-starter. Beyond his arrest for disorderly conduct last year, he’s now teammates with Terrell Owens, and that can only lead to more headlines.

23. Jay Cutler Cutler is talented, whiny and diabetic. But that second quality is what he’s now best known for after crying his way out of Denver. It’ll be interesting to see whether the City of Chicago embraces a guy who tends to pick catfights with Philip Rivers.

22. Brandon Marshall Having a rap sheet is one thing, and Marshall certainly has one, but the guy has just landed on the NFL radar and he’s already stirring up trouble. And come on, who hates the city of Denver?

21. Steve Smith He’s had no fewer than two fights in training camp, but we give him credit, he managed to win both tussles despite being only 5-foot-9.

20. Mike Vrabel He was a key member of the Patriots’ Super Bowl teams, but he pushed Rodney Harrison as the dirtiest player on New England’s defense. The list of guys who’ve fallen victim to his cheap shots is a long one.

19. Santonio Holmes Santonio talks openly about his rough upbringing. But if he could just stop getting arrested every season, maybe that Super Bowl MVP would become what people remember him for.

18. Matt Jones Jones probably won’t ever be a great NFL receiver, but he could at least stay out of trouble if he eliminated one thing from his life. And that would be the mountains of cocaine he constantly gets arrested for. He’s officially the Dr. Rockso of the NFL.

17. Albert Haynesworth Doesn’t matter if he’s awesome and makes insane money. He has a permanent spot on this list because of two words – Face. Stomp.

16. Kellen Winslow The poor guy had boatloads of controversy follow him from his college career (I’m a soldier!). But then he crashed his motorcycle, mouthed off 200 times and got shipped off to Tampa Bay, where we’re guessing he’ll cause an even greater ruckus if he can stay on the field.

15. Joey Porter Where to start…Porter’s got a truckload of best moments, starting with the time he got shot before the 2003 season. He’s pretty much the only quote you need to read when the Dolphins play … well, anyone.

14. DeAngelo Hall The guy is such a big yapper that it drove Terrell Owens to spit in his face during a game. We don’t doubt that T.O. is nuts, but Hall has done his fair share of other crazy things, like getting a giant contract from the Raiders despite being highly overrated.

13. Ray Lewis You really haven’t heard much controversy out of Ray Lewis in the past four years, because he’s been focused on staying on the field even as his age starts to set in. But the tranquil waters of Reverend Ray can’t make up entirely for the wild first half of his career, where he may or may not have helped kill a man.

12.  Larry Johnson It’d be interesting to see if a running back has ever gone from all-everything to all-police blotter so fast. Chief fans love to remember his two 1,700-yard seasons, and everyone wants to forget the fact he’s repeatedly assaulted women at Kansas City nightclubs.

11. Cedric Benson You don’t need to be a Chicago Bears fan to hate this guy. Benson causes way too much controversy for a running back with 12 career touchdowns. He also helped further the perception that players from the University of Texas are nothing more than hard-drinking, pot-smoking whiners (though that’s probably true).

10. Hines Ward Who knew a receiver could be a dirty player? Hines is a key component to the Steelers’ recent championships, but he left a lot of broken jaws in his wake. Hines might be the only guy in the top 10 who reached that mark by his on-field behavior alone.

9. Donte Stallworth We never had much of a beef with Donte Stallworth before 2009. He was a solid receiver for the Saints and Eagles, then he played a bit role with the Patriots before going to the Browns. Then he killed a guy, so here we are.

8. Ricky Williams Oh, Ricky. Like Vince Young, his controversy-factor is pretty much in the self-destruction category. Although he gets the added bonus of setting the Dolphins back a few years with his wackiness. He’s got his career back on track now, but you couldn’t count the number of headlines he caused from 2004-07.

7. Randy Moss Moss has a laundry list of controversial moments, but he’s never killed a guy (we don’t think). The only reason he’s not in the top five is his production over the past two years with the Patriots has helped him re-emerge as one of the best receivers in the game.

6. Vince Young Most guys are on this list because of things they’ve done to teammates or society. But Vince Young is simply self-destructive, and that’s obviously been well chronicled. But don’t forget his shirtless birthday dance party last summer in Austin. That one was just plain weird.

5. Chris Henry He’s the third player in the PacMan-Tank Johnson-Chris Henry triumvirate, and he can take credit for helping create Roger Goodell’s personal conduct policy. For that, and the fact he’s managed to stay in the league, we give Chris Henry a top 5 billing.

4. Plaxico Burress Not sure where to begin here. For the mere fact his leg-hole in 2008 tanked the Giants’ chance at a Super Bowl repeat is worth a place near the top of the mountain.

3. Brett Favre For the vast number of headlines he causes every offseason, Favre gets a place in the top 3. But to be honest, he might be one of the least controversial players on the field.

2. Terrell Owens If Ochocinco is the court jester of the NFL, then TO is obviously the prince of darkness. We don’t need to fill you in, just look at the wreckage he’s caused. The best part is, no matter how nuts he acts or how much he alienates his quarterback, the guy backs it up on the field, and that means we have to keep paying attention to him.

1. Chad Ochocinco The difference between T.O. and O.C. is clear. Owens creates controversy because of football-related transgressions, whereas Ocho makes controversy his primary and seemingly solitary goal. Where to start with him? Beyond the name change, there’s his Twitter obsession, the infamous fight with Marvin Lewis after the 2005 playoffs loss, the ‘who covered 85 in ‘05’ list, the footrace against a horse, the Riverdance touchdown celebration…we could go on and on. But whether you find him hilarious or tiresome, Ocho reigns supreme over the NFL land of ill repute.

Photos courtesy of Yahoo! Sports via Getty Images/ Flickr