Do you like debating sports questions with your friends?
If so, the book “Got Your Answers” by Mike Greenberg with Paul “Hembo” Hembekides is right for you.
The book, published by Hyperion Avenue, is their second. The first, “Got Your Number,” was more about sports history. This one is designed to settle the 100 greatest sports arguments.
Of course, it won’t settle all of them, but it will start the debate. Some you will agree with and some you won’t.
For example, he does not include the Tom Brady Patriots on his list of the top 10 sports dynasties of all time. He has the Bill Russell Celtics with 11 titles first with the Casey Stengel Yankees with seven titles from 1949-58 second. The two pro football dynasties he includes are the Vince Lombardi Packers third and the Chuck Noll Steelers third and sixth with five and four titles.
He said he doesn’t include the Patriots because they don’t fit the traditional definition of a dynasty because by the time they won their sixth, Brady was the only player left from the first three. In effect, Brady won with three different teams because he won his last one with the Bucs.
I agree with him that the Patriots don’t fit the definition of a traditional dynasty, but many fans won’t, although that is why it is interesting to debate these questions.
I think it is just a matter of time before the Patrick Mahomes Chiefs are added to the list. The success of Brady and Mahomes shows that in this era, when all the rules favor the passing game, you don’t need a great team to win; you just need a great quarterback.
In the past, John Unitas had Alan Ameche, Otto Graham had Marion Motley, Bart Starr had Jim Taylor and Paul Hornung and Terry Bradshaw had Franco Harris. Brady didn’t need a great running back and Mahomes hasn’t needed one, either, to compliment the passing game.
I would include the Paul Brown Browns who went to 10 title games in a row with Otto Graham at quarterback and won seven from 1946 to 1955, but since the first four were in the AAFC, I guess that is why they were left out.
On the pitchers you would want with the season on the line, the authors have Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson and Christy Mathewson as the top three and there is no argument there. But they have Curt Schilling and Whitey Ford at Nos. 4 and 5, and they left off Walter Johnson, Grover Cleveland Alexander and Warren Spahn from their top ten.
In the rule changes that had the most impact, he starts with the NBA three-point line in 1979. But he leaves the five-yard bump rule that the NFL instituted the previous year. It was the first step into turning the NFL into a pass-first league.
In his list of the top NCAA tournament team, he has Gail Goodrich over Magic Johnson at guard. I know Goodrich won three rings and became a Hall of Famer playing with then-Lew Alcindor at center, but Magic’s win over Larry Bird in the Michigan State-Indiana State game made March Madness a prime time event.
His perfect all-time baseball lineup includes five old-timers (Rogers Hornsby, Honus Wagner and Walter Johnson, plus Ruth and Gehrig plus one Negro League player, Josh Gibson. He has Ruth hitting second because according to analytics, he would get more at bats. Ted Williams makes it as a DH batting fourth behind Josh Gibson. Barry Bonds leads off and knocks Ty Cobb off the team. Willie Mays and Mike Schmidt round out the lineup. The only team to have more than one player was the Yankees of the 1920s with Ruth and Gehrig. That is why the 1927 Yankees are still in the running for the accolade of being the best of all time. If you have Ruth and Gehrig, you can just fill in the other seven.
The book includes a lot more answers, which is why it is a good addition to the library of any sports fan. And the book also includes 100 trivia questions so you can see how many you can answer.
Here’s one: Bart Starr went 9-1 in playoff games. Which team beat him?
The answer is the Philadelphia Eagles in 1960. Vince Lombardi said after the game they would never lose another title game and they didn’t, winning the next nine before he left the sidelines in Green Bay.
You will want to see how many you can answer.
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