Monthly Archives: May 2019

H2H 19: Terry Bradshaw vs. Roger Staubach – Who was Better?

Posted on May 24, 2019 | 2 comments

More so than any other position in football, and perhaps in all of sports, quarterbacks are judged by how much they win, in particular how many Super Bowl titles they have.  When you think of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history, be it Tom Brady, Joe Montana, Peyton Manning, Johnny Unitas, Brett Favre, etc., one thing they all have in common is at least one Super Bowl ring.  Back in the 1970s, when the NFL-AFL merger had only recently happened and the Super Bowl was still in its infancy, two of the dominant teams of that era were the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Dallas Cowboys, both of whom were led by Hall of Fame quarterbacks in Terry Bradshaw and Roger Staubach.  Thinking back on their careers and how each quarterback led their respective team to multiple Super Bowl victories (as contemporaries and rivals, they even faced each other twice in the Super Bowl), the question is:

Who was better – Terry Bradshaw or Roger Staubach?

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H2H 18: Jason Kidd vs. Steve Nash – Who was Better?

Posted on May 17, 2019 | 1 comment

Keith Allison from Owings Mills, USA, Jason Kidd, CC BY-SA 2.0

Keith Allison from Baltimore, USA, Steve Nash, CC BY-SA 2.0

As the so-called “floor general” of the team, a point guard’s primary responsibility is to make the offense flow and to create opportunities for scoring, whether it  be for teammates or himself. Throughout the history of the NBA, there have been many great point guards who have helped guide their teams to success and championships, whether it be Bob Cousy of the Celtics, Magic Johnson of the Lakers, Isiah Thomas of the Pistons, Steph Curry of the Warriors, etc.  The recent 2018 Basketball Hall of Fame class included two of the most dynamic point guards of the 2000s in Jason Kidd and Steve Nash. During careers that overlapped as both teammates and opponents, the duo were usually at or near the top of the assists leaderboard each season and helped revitalize a few moribund franchises, which begs the question:

Who was better – Jason Kidd or Steve Nash?

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H2H 17: Ray Bourque vs. Nicklas Lidstrom – Who was Better?

Posted on May 11, 2019 | 1 comment

As the name implies, the primary responsibility of a hockey defenseman is to defend and prevent the other team from scoring goals.  However, to be truly great, a defenseman must not only be highly proficient in his own end, but must also be a skilled quarterback for the offense, particularly on the power play.  Throughout the NHL’s long and storied history, there have been many great defensemen, with most experts considering Bobby Orr to be the greatest blueliner of all time, though one thing he did not have was longevity.  In terms of sustained brilliance, two of the greatest defensemen in NHL history are Ray Bourque and Nicklas Lidstrom, each of whom spent 20 years with one franchise and racked up numerous Norris Trophies and 1,000+ points in their Hall of Fame careers.  In comparing their long and illustrious careers, the question arises:

Who was better – Ray Bourque or Nicklas Lidstrom?

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H2H 16: Adrian Beltre vs. Chipper Jones – Who was Better?

Posted on May 3, 2019 | Leave a comment

Keith Allison from Hanover, MD, USA, Adrián Beltré in 2017, CC BY-SA 2.0

As of the 2019 Baseball Hall of Fame class, third base has the dubious distinction of having the fewest inductees in Cooperstown by any fielding position (17), which speaks to the degree of difficulty required to play the “hot corner” and to excel both offensively and defensively there over a sustained period of time.  Luckily for baseball fans of my generation, we had the fortune of witnessing two of the greatest third basemen ever in Adrian Beltre and Chipper Jones. While one was a bit of a baseball nomad (Beltre) and the other a face of a franchise for nearly 20 years (Jones), both were without a doubt among the best players of their generation and at times, often underrated and under-appreciated for their greatness.  2018 was a milestone year for the two, as it marked Beltre’s retirement from baseball and Chipper’s induction into the Hall of Fame; with this era of third basemen from the 1990s coming to an end and a new generation emerging that includes stars such as Jose Ramirez, Nolan Arenado, Alex Bregman, and Kris Bryant, we should take a moment to pause, reflect, and ask:

Who was better – Adrian Beltre or Chipper Jones?

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