Mount Rushmore of Overrated
This is an idea stolen from my friend Tony.
There are a lot of over-rated things in this world and here’s what I think belongs on the Mount Rushmore of Overrated:
- Jim Morrison – First of all, The Doors aren’t all that great. Second, have you read Jim Morrison’s poetry. It sucks. I have no idea how or why people think The Doors are “The Shit”. A way overrated band and a way overrated frontman.
- Joe Namath – Take a guess at what his career stats are and I’m sure you will give him way too much credit. For the record, they are 173 TD passes, 220 INTs and a completion percentage of 50.1. Pretty shitty, huh? Ok, he won a Super Bowl. So did Trent Dilfer.
- Coffee – It’s my list and I can put whatever I want on here. I just do not get the whole infatuation this country has with coffee, and to be more specific, Starbucks Coffee. If you want to drop $4 on a cup of warm shitwater, be my guest. Just don’t expect me to do it.
- Angelina Joile – Answer me this: what has she ever done? I don’t think I have ever seen a movie with her in it. She marginally hot (and that’s pushing it) and the thing I really know her for is being Jon Voight’s daughter – and I really know him for the whole “Jon Voight’s car’ thing on Seinfeld.
Filed under: all-time, music, Sports | 2 Comments
Tags: overrated
- Richard Pryor – stand-up comedy exists as it does today, because of Richard Pryor
- George Carlin – probably the smartest stand-up comedian of all time
- Jerry Seinfeld – the most successful (and richest) stand-up comedian of all-time
- Andy Kaufmann – blew everyone away by bringing a completely different kind of comedy to the mainstream. The ultimate compliment: no one knew if he was serious.
Honorable Mention: Steve Martin, Johnny Carson, David Letterman, Lenny Bruce, Chris Rock, Rodney Dangerfield, Roseanne Barr and Kevin James (sorry, but I saw him in Vegas and laughed for a solid hour straight).
Filed under: entertainment | 6 Comments
Tags: all-time, best, comedian, stand-up
Although he’s not a relief pitcher, I just watched Aaron Cook get out of the biggest all-star game jam of all-time. Mariano Rivera also got out of some tough jams tonight. It got me thinking about the Mount Rushmore of Relief Pitchers. Seems like this would be an easy one. Or is it?
- Goose Gossage – For me, he invented the position (many will argue Wilhelm). The handlebar mustache, the big leg kick and the heat. That’s what Relief Pitchers should be about.
- Bruce Sutter – Bruce brought relief pitching into the 1980’s and really benefited from Whitey Herzog’s masterful bullpen management. But the guy could bring it. His split-finger fastball was downright nasty. And he closed out the 1982 World Series. That’s a Winner!
- Dan Quisenberry – I actually wasn’t planning on “Quiz” making this list, but this guy won the Rolaids Fireman of the Year five times, including four in a row from ’82 to ’85. No one else has won more than four. Plus he had the submarine delivery. You don’t see that anymore.
- Rollie Fingers – Great name, great ‘stache and he has the stats to back it up: 341 saves and an ERA under 3!
Honorable Mentions: Hoyt Wilhelm, Bill Campbell, Lee Smith, Gene Garber (just because Pete Rose hates him), Jeff Reardon, Dennis Eckersley
Filed under: Sports | 1 Comment
Tags: best, bruce sutter, dan quisenberry, goose gossage, relief pitchers, rollie fingers
The Mount Rushmore of: Guitar
This is one of those subjects that is already well documented in terms of the greatest of all-time. But The Mount Rushmore Of… is more about influence than prowess. Here’s my list:
- Jimi Hendrix – He’s been #1 on every list I’ve ever looked at including the Rolling Stone Top 100 Guitarists of All-time.
- B.B. King – The Blues is all about the guitar and if anyone owns the Blues, it’s B. B. King. Personally, he’s my favorite artist on this list and let’s face it, B.B. King has probably, single-handedly kept the Blues alive in the last 20 years.
- Chuck Berry – First off, he the invented Rock ‘n Roll guitar sound. Second, he’s from St. Louis. Third, when he got in the restaurant business, he put peep holes in the wall of the women’s restroom.
- The final choice comes down to Eddie Van Halen, Keith Richards, or Jimmy Page and I go with Page. I give Jimmy Page and Led Zeppelin most of the credit for re-defining Rock music in the late 60’s and 70’s and influencing the music that followed for the next 20-25 years. I like the Rolling Stones more, but I think Led Zep is more influential and Jimmy Page’s guitar had a lot to do with that.
Honorable Mentions: Eric Clapton, Robert Johnson, Eddie Van Halen, Keith Richards, Bo Diddley
Filed under: music | 7 Comments
Tags: all-time, B.B. King, Chuck Berry, greatest, guitar, guitarists, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, rushmore
Mount Rushmore Of: Beer
My good friend and fellow blogger, Stan Hieronymus was nice enough to promote this blog and add his thoughts on the Mount Rushmore Of Beer. Stan is way more of a beer historian than I am so I can’t question his judgment on who should be on this list. But I can add some links and my own little spin to it.
- Michael Jackson – No, not the one who’s best friends with Emmanuel Lewis and the kid from Home Alone. I’m talking about the one who was best friends with beer. Michael is commonly known as the best beer writer and critic of all-time. It can also be said that he did more to promote the global craft brewing industry than anyone else. His least favorite beer was Corona and that right there is almost enough to get your sculpture on this mountain.
- Charlie Papazian – Charlie’s passion is homebrewing and he has parlayed his hobby into several books, magazine articles and of course, the Brewers Association, which he founded in 1977. 31 years later, the Brewer’s Association is still going strong and Charlie is still the man with the plan.
- Fritz Maytag – Not too many people have their occupation listed on Wikipedia as “Brewing Magnate” – but Fritz Maytag does. Many credit Fritz for inventing modern-day Craft Beer in 1965 when he bought the struggling Anchor Steam Brewery and changing the recipe and brewing process to brew good beer.
- Two headed monster of Jim Koch/Ken Grossman – The only thing these two guys did was build the two biggest US Craft Breweries from the ground up, that’s all. Unless you have been in hiding for the last 10 years, or are one of those weirdos that doesn’t own a TV, you’ve probably seen Jim Koch pushing his Samuel Adams Boston Lager. I actually met Jim at the National Beer Wholesalers Convention this past year, and he’s actually a really nice guy. Plus, he had heard of me.
- Unless you’re a beer geek, you probably have no idea who Ken Grossman is. Ken started a little brewery in Chico, CA back in 1980 called Sierra Nevada. Sierra Nevada sells about a bazillion cases of beer a year and they do it the complete opposite way of Sam Adams. No TV, no ads…in fact I don’t know how they do it. I guess just good beer.
Honorable Mentions: George Stranahan and Richard McIntyre (since they own the brewery I work for),
Filed under: beer | Leave a Comment
Tags: beer, charlie papazian, fritz maytag, influencial, jim koch, ken grossman, michael jackson, most important, mount rushmore of, people, the beer hunter
Since this is a blog, I thought we might pay tribute to the people that got us here with a Mount Rushmore of the Modern Day Internet. And I’m not talking about the early-day internet because apparently, no one really knows WHO invented this damn thing.
- A siamese, two-headed twin of Larry Page and Sergey Brin: They’re the two nerds that invented Google. You might have heard of it. And I say “nerds” with the utmost respect – especially since the best thing I’ve ever invented is a blog about Turkey Sandwiches.
- Jimmy Wales – He invented Wikipedia and admit it, you use this for everything, including cheating on board games and solving Final Jeopardy.
- Craig Newmark – Yup, you guessed. He’s Craig of Craigslist fame. If one person could be brought on charges for killing the newspaper industry, it’s probably this guy.
- Gary Kremen – Who? Gary Kremen was the first person to register sex.com. And since Porn innovates a lot of internet technology – Gary got my vote.
Honorable Mentions: Robert Scoble (blogger), Steve Jobs (Apple), Meg Whitman (eBay), Jeff Bezoz (Amazon),Matt Mullenweg (WordPress)
Information for this post taken from PC World’s 50 Most Important People on the Web
Filed under: internet | 1 Comment
Tags: internet, modern day, most important, most influencial, mount rushmore of, people, web
You didn’t expect this one did you? Fine, I’ll admit it: I like County Music – but let me be clear: the bubble-gum pop stuff that dominates the radio airwaves IS NOT Country Music. But you knew that.
- Hank Williams – He defined a style that is still revered today, recorded 10 songs that reached the top of the charts and did it all before the age of 30. Yes, Hank died when he was 29.
- Johnny Cash – Johnny Cash was and still is the most iconic figure in Country Music. The punk scene commonly refers to him as “the first punk” which is interesting since he grew up in more of a gospel setting. Of course the bio-pic re-energized interest in the man in black and brought a whole new group of fans into the fold. But even if that movie is never filmed, Johnny Cash still gets his sculpture on the mountain.
- Dolly Pardon – I gotta pay some respect to the ladies of Country Music and for me the conversation starts with Dolly Pardon. CMT did a list of the 40 Greatest Women of Country Music and Dolly was 4th on this list. But Dolly did for Country Music what Will Smith did rap/hip-hop by going to the big and small screens and taking her genre to the mainstream.
- Buck Owens – Yes, Buck created the Bakersfield sound, and that’s really important to this conversation. But the man also created an co-hosted Hee-Haw. Seriously, the show was on TV for 24 years. Think about how many Country Music musicians that show influenced. Yeah, a lot.
Honorable Mentions: Patsy Cline, Bob Wills, Garth Brooks, Waylon Jennings, Loretta Lynn, Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson
Filed under: music | 2 Comments
Tags: all-time, buck owens, country music, dolly pardon, greatest, hank williams, johnny cash, mount rushmore, musicians, western
Is there a better topic to debate than who should go on the Mount Rushmore of Douchebags? Let’s get to it.
First off, it probably makes sense to define Douchebag. Urban Dictionary has a bunch of definitions, but this one is my favorite: An individual who has an over-inflated sense of self-worth, compounded by a low level of intelligence, behaving ridiculously in front of colleagues with no sense of how moronic he appears.
- OJ Simpson – This guy’s douchebaggyness has captured the attention of the American public for going on 15 years now. Sure, he’s a douchebag for killing his ex-wife and her boyfriend – but his true, inner douchebag has really come out in the more recent years. OJ is a douchebag because he talks about finding Nicole’s killer when he’s interviewed on the golf course. OJ is a douchebag because he wrote a book basically admitting his guilt. OJ is a douchebag because he breaks into Las Vegas hotel rooms and threatens people who are selling his stuff. (Keep in mind that he owes over $1 million in taxes). OJ = Douchebag.
- Bill O’Reilly – I have to put Bill O’Reilly on this list because of this video alone. And go ahead and throw in this video for good measure. Dude’s a douche, plain and simple, no matter what your political views are. Based on the definition above, Bill O’Reilly is clearly a douchebag.
- Roger Clemens – Roger didn’t quite make my Mount Rushmore of Baseball, but he gets his sculpture on the Mount Rushmore of Douchbags. Clemens is on here because he cheated, won’t admit to it and has thrown everyone in life under the bus to save his image – including his wife and best friend. Wow, what a douche.
- Wilmer Valderrama – Who is this guy? I know he was a sidekick on somewhat popular show, but what else has he done? This link sums up Wilmer perfectly. He’s a douchebag.
Honorable Mentions: Kobe Bryant, David Stern, Ryan Adams, Dustin Diamond, Adolf Hitler, Eddie Murphy, Chad Johnson, Tom Cruise
This was actually a tough list to come up with. When you stop and think about it, there are a lot of douchebags out there and the category could be narrowed down considerably. We could do a Mount Rushmore of Douchebags, Sports Edition. We could narrow that down to just Football. We could even narrow it down to Wide Receivers. But we all pretty much know who goes on that list and there wouldn’t be any debate. (Coincidentally, my choices would be Chad Johnson, Terrell Owens, Brandon Marshall and Javon Walker.
Let the debate begin. Who’s on your Mount Rushmore of Douchbags?
Filed under: all-time, douchebags, Uncategorized | 3 Comments
Tags: all-time, biggest, bill o'reilly, douche, douchebags, oj simpson, roger clemens, wilmer valderrama
The Mount Rushmore Of: Baseball
Let start with a topic that everyone has an opinion on: Baseball.
My Mount Rushmore of Baseball is:
- Jackie Robinson: No, not even one of the top 50 baseball players of all-time, but what he did for the game is undeniable. He’s the only player who’s number is retired by every team in Major League Baseball. Jackie Robinson is an easy choice for the Mount Rushmore of Baseball.
- Babe Ruth: I’m actually not a huge Babe Ruth fan. Colin Cowherd said on his radio show that anyone who can be played by John Goodman in their bio-pic is overrated – which is funny and probably true. But the fact of the matter is that his HR record dwarfed anything that had ever been done before. When Babe Ruth played, he was an absolute freak show. Before Babe Ruth, the single season record was 27. Then he hit 29 in 1919. Then he hit 54 in 1920. That’s like some one rushing for 4000 yards in a single NFL season. Babe Rush has to be in this group.
- Walter Johnson – There has to be at least one pitcher on here and Walter Johnson has the stats to be the guy. 417 wins, 3509 stikeouts, 2.17 lifetime ERA and he even has 547 hits. This is a no-brainer. Roger Clemens would have got some consideration, before this year…but we all know how that’s going down.
- This is the tough one. Ted Williams or Willie Mays. Their stats are really close, especially if you extrapolate Ted Williams’ stats for the three years that he missed in ’43. ’44 and ’45. I give the nod to Ted Williams since he hit .406 in 1941 and is considered the greatest pure hitter of all-time. But this is a really tough call. I really could go either way.
Who’s on your Mount Rushmore of Baseball?
Information and statistics from The Baseball Guru and The Hardball Times.
Filed under: Sports | 6 Comments
Tags: all-time, babe ruth, baseball, greatest, jackie robinson, mount rushmore, players, ted williams, walter johnson
The Mount Rushmore Of... 