Re: Re: Re: Manning, schmanning... when all is said and done ...
FallingAlice said:
I agree, Orr and Russell changed their respective games. I haven't put Brady ahead of Russell yet. But I have put him ahead of Orr. For a couple of reasons...
1. More championships at a young age.
Dang that Ken Dryden. In some ways, the Big Bad Bruins remind me of today's Colts... an offensive machine that ran afoul of the notion that defense wins championships. If Orr and company reinvented hockey offense, the Red Army style of disciplined skating and the Canadian's habit of stifling the Bruins in the playoffs took the sport the other way. I like hard hitting defensive physical football. I disagree with some Colt fan's opinions that Patriots style football isn't fun to watch. Still, after growing up watching Bobby Orr, I couldn't be bothered watching the modern NHL game.
Originally posted by FallingAlice 2. Football is a bigger game than hockey in the U.S. And I don't see that ever changing. Thus, ultimately, I see Brady being the bigger star.
My argument isn't that Brady is a better athlete than any of them but will go down as the biggest star. I suppose because he's been so successful on the biggest stage of them all.
Ah, but I was growing just south of Boston when Orr was skating. That was a magical time. I remember driving home from UMass, after dropping off my sister, and tuning in a Bruins game. They were down about four goals. We didn't turn off the game. We waited for the explosion. The current Patriots following is a very good thing. The Big Bad Bruins were magic.
I remember a tale of one of Orr's first visits to Madison Square Garden. As Orr took the puck from behind his own net, the local radio announcer proclaimed that the Boston crowd thought Orr was special. He didn't understand what made Orr so special. In the time it took for Orr to skate the length of the ice and light the lamp, he figured it out. In the NFL, there have been a few running backs who could demonstrate greatness in one play. Quarterbacks, not so much.
You hear the stories of Bird looking up at the rafters during the Star Spangled banner, not looking at the US flag, but at the Black and Gold retired number four, hoping someday to be loved as Orr was once loved. Bird aspired to too much. Brady too has a long way to go.
Yes, today Football is by far the dominant sport... It wasn't so in Boston when Orr was skating, and that was because of Orr. Brady, he is loved, but not Loved.
Originally posted by FallingAlice By the way...your points about Brady not being the innovator could also be directed at the young Russell. I'm sure Red had an awful lot to do with the innovations that Russell executed on the court.
In a sense, Russell is the basketball version of Brady to Chamberlain's Manning. Russell just won, baby.
Perhaps. It was Red who told Russell, forget scoring, just get the (expletive deleted) ball. Still, would Red have been able to say that with a center other than Russell? On the other hand, would Belichick be remaking the NFL in his own image with Bledsoe at quarterback?
Of Boston's Big Five stars, Williams, Bird and Orr seem larger than any of their coaches. Russell and Brady might end up linked to Auerbach and Belichick as similarly great coaches. Perhaps none of the latter two pairs would stand as tall without their partner.
But Brady and Belichick have some games to win yet, in my opinion, before they should feel entirely comfortable in such company. Hopefully, it will come.
For the moment, I'm still an Orr guy, and don't discount Russell's rings.
But the Brady - Belichick run is still in progress. As they say on Broadway, if you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with.
