*****TAKE FOLLOWUPS TO THE NEWEST POST.

If I’m not mistaken, both great players whose teams didn’t win the big ones. Are people more kindly disposed towards them?

I’m really not as relievers-obsessed as it looks

By contrast, A-Rod has never done it when it has REALLY counted. Sure, he’s a hit a few regular-season walkoffs, but as we all know has never really stood up at the business end of the season.

That said, it’s obviously easier to be a dominant individual in a sport like golf – duh, Steve, it’s an individual sport. And a point guard is more able to be the dominant individual in a game of basketball.

You could argue that, in baseball, only the pitcher really has that opportunity. A-Rod is a lot more dependent on his team-mates, in other words.

@Steve: You realize everything you notice about every game is the bullpen. You got a lot of studying to do for next year.

@Grey: The Maxell ad comes from the UK – I’m not sure it was one we got in NZ, just one of my favourites.

How’s that Angels bullpen? It’s crap is how it is.

This might be the first time that video made any sense to me. I guess I’m the type that needs english subtitles for Pixar movies.

@Grey: @get figgy with it: Shame on both of you, I’m revoking your man cards. Does that show even count as reality TV? You can practically see them reading the cue cards. The wife watches it and its pretty unbearable for me to be in the room. Because she’s watching The Hills, smart ass.

Wilt still wins by, well 10,000 women.

Charisma? A-rod has none.

Also, are we discounting charisma in all of this — their “Je ne sais quoi,” or is charisma a by-product of the championships? It would be appear so.

If I may add, guys who win championships don’t go down in history. Guys who win multiple championships do.

Bill Russell comes to mind. As do John Wooden, Reggie Jackson, Bird, Magic, Johnny Unitas.

Gretsky was one of a kind, Jordan was the only one who rose above all other NBA players, and Tiger, when it’s all said and done will trump Nicklaus. And that’s no easy feat.

In baseball, we love our heroes of yesteryear. Nobody will replace the Babe, not Bonds, not Pujols, and definitely not A-Rod.

That’s why baseball will always be the great American pasttime, and why Hollywood continues to glorify it. But I don’t have to tell you that, you’re living it.

But, you’re going to give us your rankings for 09 so I’m not really basing my draft on this list.

FBB, a year round game the whole family can play.

If Braun is ranked in the top five at OF, why wouldn’t you want to know? This will give you an idea about ’09 and you’ll be able to impress friends and neighbors at the bar when the discussion of position eligibility comes up.

Also, I think we’re seeing the good BJ in the playoffs, but really, has there ever been a bad BJ?

Note to self: “self, you just set yourself up for a bad Tijuana joke right there.” Ok, fire away.

Endorsements — Agreed. Everything came together for Mike. You weren’t like Mike. Mike was the zeitgeist.

re: flair for dramatic – You can’t be the best if you can’t win the big game/moment. Transcend the moment, right? Maybe this is why Reggie wasn’t exceptional in any way yet he still gets the loudest applause when introduced; this connects to your Gibson example. Okay, so this goes back to the championships. But he needs to win the championships, but, wait a second, what about Bonds and Sosa? Before roids, these two could’ve done anything. At one point, Sosa upstaged Keanu. So maybe transcendence doesn’t have to do with championships.

Start with the championships. Imagine Jordan with no titles or Tiger with no trophies. Stats are one thing, but championships build legends. (Or, at least, help sportswriters build legends.) I agree that not everyone cheers for the Yankees, but A-Rod’s career-long title oh-fer is a big factor.

Two: Endorsements. Again, you’re right about Jordan, his personality was basically Nike x Gatorade / Haines. Be Like Mike — you think he thought that shizz up? But remember that his early Nike ads were like a perfect storm of media marketing: Beautiful, ground-breaking ads unlike any seen before in sports (remember that slo-mo one?), and a career micro-managed by the most meteoric and dominant sports brand in modern memory. No one else will be like Mike because we’ve already seen Mike. It’s so much harder now to build LeBron or Kobe into a Mike-sized legend. So forget about flavorless A-Rod.

Also: It’s arguable whether Jordan is the best ever or even the best of his era, but he definitely had a flair for the dramatic. The clutch shots. The shrug after those flu-riddled three pointers. He was a performer. What moments do you think of when you think of A-Rod? A bat flip? A dramatic smash? Nope — you think of The Slap. Or the “Got it!” moment. Granted, this isn’t all his fault — well, actually it is. But the media amplifies it, because it plays into the existing A-Rod storyline. Which is then solidified with each new event. Rinse. Repeat.

It’s probably not too late for some ascendant brand to adopt A-Rod and remake his image as some sort of silent titan. But that brand has to appear out of nowhere. It would help if he won a World Series or two. Also, stop with the slapping already.

Baseball, in a weird way, is the most stat-obsessed sport, but also the one in which gaudy stats can fade while great achievements endure. (George Foster hit 50 HRs once, but who ever talks about George Foster?) Kirk Gibson? League average player. Also: A legend, because of one limping fist-pump.

As for Gretzky, he truly was a genius, the best ever, and someone who entirely reinvented his game. He didn’t need endorsements, sportswriters, or for anyone to give a shizz about hockey. Also he won like thirty Stanley Cups.

Anyway, to pick up on a thread that was running through the comments on the previous post, if you want a classic song that’s mashed up with a brillliant TV commercial, you’d be hard pressed to go past this little beauty:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxELSzay2lc&feature=related

Enjoy.

It’s the sort of thing I wanted to do when I worked in advertising, but never quite got there…