One Big Giant Dynasty?

         

  

   As the San Fransisco Giants won the World Series, I thought to myself "Is it time to consider the Giants a dynasty?" Many teams in the past 14 years have come close to being a "dynasty." The last team that we can say was a dynasty were the early 2000's Patriots who won 3 of 4 Super Bowls. What really makes a dynasty? Is it the way they are run at the executive level? The way they are coached? Or simply the way they play? There are so many factors that come into this discussion.

   To be honest with you, I am huge Yankees fan. Once they lost Game 7 of the 2001 World Series, I knew that dynasty was over. 4 World Series Championships in 6 years, and 4 straight appearances. That was a true dynasty. Joe Torre did an excellent job at managing the game. The players excelled in all areas from defense to pitching to timely hitting. Bob Watson and Brian Cashman put together a great team, as well as bringing up the right players through their farm system.

    As much as I dislike the Patriots, I respect the way they were being run in the early 2000's. Many people may say that the first Super Bowl, Tom Brady just walked into that team. What about the next 2 Super Bowl victories? He redeemed himself by playing well. They were also coached very well by Bill Belichik. Although he was a defensive genius, he was able to run his offense just as well as his defense. The Patriots had the right team around Brady to help make him a winner.
    My favorite example of any dynasty is the Bulls of the 1990's. They won more than half that decades championships. They were well coached. We all know that Phil Jackson did a great job with that team. There were sound defensive and offensive teams, but most importantly they had all players contributing on all ends(not just Jordan and Pippen). Jerry Krause did an excellent job putting the right players around Jordan. Those players gave him the right support to do not 1, but 2 3-peats. The triangle offense also helped out.

    Do I think the Giants are a dynasty? Absolutely! Running a dynasty is like a triangle. You need someone to run at the top, which they have in Brian Sabean. Brian Sabean is putting together the right team. He's signing and bringing up the right players at the right time.  Then there is management. Bruce Bochy is managing the team very diligently. He has great game management.  
Finally, there's the players. The players seem to playing on all cylinders. Let's have some fun and see how long this lasts.

All(Not Old)Timers(3 of 3)

   I am back for the final installment of this 3 part post. What you guys think of my previous 2 All Time teams? Did you agree? Disagree? Tell me what you think? All the sports have such great players in all different generations. I will tell you it was not easy for me at any position(including coach) in any of the 3 sports.

    Ready for the current American sport in football? Here we go:
Offense
Quarterback: Joe Montana
 Wide Receiver: Jerry Rice
 Wide Receiver: Cris Carter
 Running Back: Jim Brown
 Running Back: Barry Sanders
Tight End: Tony Gonzalez
Center: Mike Webster
Guards: Gene Upshaw, John Hannah
Tackles: Bruce Matthews, Orlando Pace

Defense
Defensive End: Michael Strahan
Defensive End: Bruce Smith
Defensive Tackle: Warren Sapp
Defensive Tackle: Joe Green
Linebacker: Lawerence Taylor
Linebacker: Ray Lewis
Linebacker: Brian Urlacher
Cornerback: Dieon Sanders
Cornerback: Rod Woodson
Safety: Ronnie Lott
Safety: Charles Woodson

Special Teams
Kicker: Adam Vinateri
Punter: Sean Landeta

Coach: Vince Lombardi

There's my all time football team. What do you think? Again so many great players at all the positions, its hard to choose for them. Most, if not all, are hall of famers or will be in the hall of fame. It took more time to do football than the other sports because it is a larger team in general.

  There was a 3 part blog post for this topic. It was interesting, fun and challenging all at the same time! There are so many players deserving of all accolades that they could have received. Sometimes its one great season by an OK player that may snub a great player with just an OK season. That is certainly not the case with any of teams.  All my players have had multiple great seasons which have built up to great careers.

All(Not Old) Timers (2 of 3)

  I am back for part 2 of 3 now! Didn't think I was just going to leave you like that did you? What did you think of my All Time baseball team? Any surprises? It was tough, as it was for all the sports that I did. Every sport is different with its generations and eras of players that it produces.

   Today the All Time basketball time will be discussed. It is interesting because this team is the smallest out of all the teams. This is the only team to have under 10 players. It was fun because there are so many greats at ALL the positions. Here we go:

Shooting Guard: Michael Jordan
Point Guard: Magic Johnson
Small Forward: Larry Bird
Power Forward:  Karl Malone
Center: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Coach: Phil Jackson

What do you think? Interesting choices. If you want me to be completely honest with you, the Coach was the toughest position for me. Basketball had some great players and athletes overall. The interesting thing is that we see that four of these players had some kind of rivalries. Magic Johnson and Larry Bird had a rivalry, and Jordan and Malone kind of had one.

   We all know that Bird and Johnson's rivalry dated back to college and went through the NBA. That is what made them so great. They pushed each other so much that they became the best at what they do. They dominated the 1980's. Between the 2 of them, they have 5 championships and 6 MVP awards(3 each). That's how good they are.

   Malone and Jordan didn't have a real rivalry like Bird and Johnson did, but they did play each other in back to back championships(both won by Jordan). Like Bird and Johnson, it made 2 of the greats of generation play each other, it only makes them better. Between the 2 of them, they have 7 MVP awards(5 by Jordan, 2 Malone) and 6 championships in 8 appearances(Malone never won one).

   Kareem didn't really have a rivalry, but he did have 6 MVP awards(my whole team has that), and 6 world championships. Kareem, like Michael, was a scoring machine. He also had a great defensive prowess. He was a very intelligent basketball mind, just like the rest of the team is.

   The toughest position was deciding on a coach. It really came down to Phil Jackson and Red Auerbach. The reason I chose Jackson in the end is not because he has 1 more championship than Auerbach, but something completely different. Jackson had 3 3-peats and 1 repeat. His first 3-peat was a young, athletic Bulls team. His second Bulls team, they were more seasoned. The second 3-peat in Chicago had more winning with it, including with the acquisition of Rodman who had already won 2 with Detroit. The third 3-peat with the Lakers was similar to his first with the Bulls, all young and athletic. Kobe and Shaq were still both relatively new to the league, but extremely dominant. The repeat in 2008-2009, 2009-2010 season was also a more seasoned team. What do all of these have in common? All 4 of these teams were 4 different teams of personalities. As a coach, you need to have control of them. Jackson had complete control of all of those teams.