It's about that time where we start thinking of what holiday parties we will attend/skip and the resolutions we will give up by February. With it being the end of the year, it also means that it's time for the LCB staff to share their thoughts on the year. Over the next couple weeks we will be recapping the year by listing our favorites in the world of sports and entertainment. We all know that listing something as the "BEST" is both ridiculous and absurd, considering it's all due to taste and viewpoints on topics that are absolutely unquantifiable. But we will try our best to do just that. Next up, our picks for the best team of 2009.
Langston: Now I could have taken the easy way out and picked my favorite team in the world, the Los Angeles Lakers. But I'm certain they are on their way to repeating as champions, allowing me the ability to list them next year. Or I could have picked the New York Yankess, who destroyed their competition all season and postseason long. But then again, my fantasy team has more charisma and came at a much cheaper clip. So I went with the Tide, even if their story hasn't ended. Alabama is the prototypical SEC Champion, and going undefeated in the best conference (bar none) makes them stand out that much more. They dominate on defense, thanks to Mount Cody and Rolando McClain. And when their defense wasn't forcing three and outs, their offense was doing their own damage. Passing enough to keep the defense honest and pounding the ball until the defense waved the flag. Most importantly they ruined the most important game of Tim Tebow's life. And even, as a Tennessee fan, I have to admit that is pretty cool.
Teach: This choice seems as obvious to me as Santa following Rudolph's nose on a stormy night. The 2009 North Carolina basketball team was easily the team of the year. The legend of Psycho T, along with Danny Green, Ty Lawson, and Wayne Ellington, returned to Chapel Hill with the single purpose of winning a championship. Mission Accomplished (and not in the Dubya Bush sense of the word). This team compiled one of the largest average margins of victory as they flew through the NCAA Tournament, delivering gifts to Carolina children everywhere. I would name their opponents on that run, but it would be an insult to this Carolina team, who was clearly playing against themselves. I also stand firm to the idea that the greatness of this team will grow as time goes by because Hansbrough is already proving to be a better pro than many predicted he would be, Lawson is already better than anyone thought he would be, and the role players from the '09 team are still writing their own legacies: Ed Davis could wind up being better than the aforementioned players, Larry Drew may be the second coming of Ed Cota, and Ty Zeller screams NBA potential.
Langston: Now I could have taken the easy way out and picked my favorite team in the world, the Los Angeles Lakers. But I'm certain they are on their way to repeating as champions, allowing me the ability to list them next year. Or I could have picked the New York Yankess, who destroyed their competition all season and postseason long. But then again, my fantasy team has more charisma and came at a much cheaper clip. So I went with the Tide, even if their story hasn't ended. Alabama is the prototypical SEC Champion, and going undefeated in the best conference (bar none) makes them stand out that much more. They dominate on defense, thanks to Mount Cody and Rolando McClain. And when their defense wasn't forcing three and outs, their offense was doing their own damage. Passing enough to keep the defense honest and pounding the ball until the defense waved the flag. Most importantly they ruined the most important game of Tim Tebow's life. And even, as a Tennessee fan, I have to admit that is pretty cool.
Teach: This choice seems as obvious to me as Santa following Rudolph's nose on a stormy night. The 2009 North Carolina basketball team was easily the team of the year. The legend of Psycho T, along with Danny Green, Ty Lawson, and Wayne Ellington, returned to Chapel Hill with the single purpose of winning a championship. Mission Accomplished (and not in the Dubya Bush sense of the word). This team compiled one of the largest average margins of victory as they flew through the NCAA Tournament, delivering gifts to Carolina children everywhere. I would name their opponents on that run, but it would be an insult to this Carolina team, who was clearly playing against themselves. I also stand firm to the idea that the greatness of this team will grow as time goes by because Hansbrough is already proving to be a better pro than many predicted he would be, Lawson is already better than anyone thought he would be, and the role players from the '09 team are still writing their own legacies: Ed Davis could wind up being better than the aforementioned players, Larry Drew may be the second coming of Ed Cota, and Ty Zeller screams NBA potential.
7 comments:
This reads like a local news story, sticking its nose up Ole Roy's arse. I think I just puked.
December 28, 2009 at 11:28 AMI don't know about Teach, but it was difficult to write this post without sounding cliche.
December 28, 2009 at 12:13 PMWell, when Langston asked me to write on this, I basically ruled out teams that hadn't won championships. Maybe not doing that would make it more interesting.
December 28, 2009 at 1:30 PMIn the NBA, I could have picked the Lakers, but I wrote last year that I thought that postseason was marred by injuries. I never understood the whole this is an amazing first round. It was only amazing because some of the best teams were missing their best players, so teams like the Bulls got inflated for no reason.
I stayed away from college football cause the whole thing is a crock of shit.
The Yankees aren't exactly a new story. Are we supposed to embrace it as their first steroids free title in decades? I hate fake redemption stories.
That leaves Carolina, the Steelers, and maybe Spain's soccer team. I'm going with Carolina cause in hindsight that's at least their second best title team after the '82 team, and it cements Roy Williams as one of the alltime great coaches.
I would have gone with the Penn State Women's Volleyball team. They have gone undefeated for three straight seasons and won three straight NCAA Championships. Don't tell me that's not a freaking epic team/run. http://www.gopsusports.com/sports/w-volley/psu-w-volley-body.html
December 28, 2009 at 4:20 PMInjuries happen every season in every professional league. If that's the reason you can't respect what the Lakers did, than how can you respect what any champion does? The Steelers won last year, but Tom Brady was hurt. Does their championship mean any less because of it?
December 28, 2009 at 4:56 PMIce: We should have given more attention to the Penn St Women's Volleyball team, which is why you need to post more one this site, so that we know what we're overlooking.
December 28, 2009 at 6:35 PMLangston: We've talked about last year's NBA playoffs several times, and you know I feel that injuries to Amare, Manu, KG, TMac, and Yao left last year's playoff competition less than stellar. I can't remember a year where that many contenders were the walking wounded. What the Lakers did earns my respect. I never said I didn't respect them. All I said was last year's playoffs was not the epic event that so many make it out to be.
Fair enough, even if a few of those players have been injured over the last couple seasons.
December 28, 2009 at 6:46 PMPost a Comment