"What if's" of sports history

[BruiserBrody]

I consider Mandarich to be the biggest bust ever because of the added weight of who Green Bay missed out on. By going with the hype/swag guy, they missed Barry Sanders, Derrick Thomas, and Deion Sanders.

If Leaf had gone before Manning, I'd say he was the biggest bust.

1> Green Bay drafts Sanders- Does the Magic get the Pack to some consistent success, meaning no Holmgren or Wolf or Favre?

I see Deion leaving in FA or trade ASAP if he's picked as GB wouldn't suit his swag...although a Butler, T-Buck and Neon Deion secondary is an ahhh shit...

Derrick Thomas would've had Tony Bennett and Tim Harris helping him blitz the QBs and that probably would've kept Reggie White away...

2> Bo Jackson agrees to play for Tampa Bay instead of leaving for baseball - He joins young Steve Young on a team that went 2-14 without Jackson there and that led to Young being deemed a bust and being shipped to San Fran

 

[Vitamin X]

As to the first question, Green Bay had a pretty bad record in 1990 and 91 and went 10-6 in 89 with Mandarich barely contributing and Barry Sanders or not, they might've still done pretty awful enough to get Holmgren and Wolf, and thus Favre as the league was evolving at that point into the pass-first machine we see it today. Lindy Infante was a really, really bad coach.

 

[teke184]

Your Bo scenario had little shot of happening, IMHO.


Bo had told the Bucs he wouldn't play for them BEFORE the draft due to several reasons and the Bucs thought they were calling his bluff by taking him first overall. They were wrong.

The reasons he refused to play for them included Bucs players he talked to telling him how fucked up the franchise was and the Culverhouse family's decision to get him declared ineligible for his senior year of baseball at Auburn so that he wouldn't get injured before football season.


The only way that situation would have changed would be if the Culverhouse family had conducted themselves in a professional manner before and during their courtship of Bo.

Considering their legendary reputation for penny-pinching at the expense of on-field performance, such as lowballing Doug Williams to the point where he left for the USFL despite leading the Bucs to the playoffs the year before, that wasn't going to happen.

 

[BruiserBrody]

Your Bo scenario had little shot of happening, IMHO.


Bo had told the Bucs he wouldn't play for them BEFORE the draft due to several reasons and the Bucs thought they were calling his bluff by taking him first overall. They were wrong.

The reasons he refused to play for them included Bucs players he talked to telling him how fucked up the franchise was and the Culverhouse family's decision to get him declared ineligible for his senior year of baseball at Auburn so that he wouldn't get injured before football season.


The only way that situation would have changed would be if the Culverhouse family had conducted themselves in a professional manner before and during their courtship of Bo.

Considering their legendary reputation for penny-pinching at the expense of on-field performance, such as lowballing Doug Williams to the point where he left for the USFL despite leading the Bucs to the playoffs the year before, that wasn't going to happen.

Interesting stuff. Thanks for the info.

As to the first question, Green Bay had a pretty bad record in 1990 and 91 and went 10-6 in 89 with Mandarich barely contributing and Barry Sanders or not, they might've still done pretty awful enough to get Holmgren and Wolf, and thus Favre as the league was evolving at that point into the pass-first machine we see it today. Lindy Infante was a really, really bad coach.

Yeah I suppose the Majik Man was floundering enough (and injured IIRC) that Mike Tomczak was getting starts the year before the Favre trade IIRC.

I'm still intrigued at the thought of a Packers team that doesn't trade for the greatest QB of all time - Detmer, Brunell, Ken O Brien, heck even a over his head Kurt Warner trying to replace Majik

Sanders and Sterling Sharpe WITH Favre may have competed with Dallas' triplets for the league's Top Offensive trio - assuming Sharpe stayed healthy

 

[snuffbox]

Brent was brought in as a backup. No reason why that would have been different. Atlanta didn't want him.

 

[snuffbox]

They also could have drafted Steve Atwater.

 

[Gert]

Steelers don't win first Super Bowl in this generation, less women get raped, Bengals MAY be respectable enough that the GD franchise QB isn't too embarassed to play for them 6 years later........well two out of three ain't bad. ;D

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

If that kick went through the uprights, we'd be talking about the Bills as one of the greatest dynasties ever and it might have changed the future of the franchise.

For another one, if the 1994 MLB Strike never happened then perhaps the Montreal Expos would have won the World Series and would still exist today.

 

[Agent of Oblivion]

The Colts, in back to back years, could have drafted Ryan Leaf and Ricky Williams. Instead they took Peyton Manning and Edgerrin James.

 

[teke184]

What if Alabama had hired Rich Rodriguez as Mike Dubose's successor after the 2006 season?

RichRod had been linked with the job and expected to take it, but stayed with West Virginia at the last minute after receiving a huge raise.


Considering what Nick Saban has done for Bama since being hired as well as the damage RichRod did to Michigan as its coach, this could have sent the two storied programs in drastically different places then they're at today.

 

[wnyxmcneal]

What if Nick Saban didn't get cold feet about Drew Brees?

 

[Red Baron]

If that kick went through the uprights, we'd be talking about the Bills as one of the greatest dynasties ever and it might have changed the future of the franchise.

For another one, if the 1994 MLB Strike never happened then perhaps the Montreal Expos would have won the World Series and would still exist today.

Boy I'm glad this didn't happen.

 

[still fly]

What if Portland won Game 7 of the 2000 Western Conference Finals? Legacies were made and broken in that game.

What if Malice in the Palace never happens? Do the Pacers get to the NBA Finals?

What if the Lakers kept and Shaq and let Kobe walk?

What if the Raiders got John Elway like they were going to in that draft?

What if Al never trades Gruden to Tampa?

What if Pedro for Delino never happens?

 

[Star Ocean 2]

What if China discovered and populated the New World first?

(related to sports because if it happened many things would be different, like maybe we'd be watching tackle table tennis instead of football)

 

[still fly]

We'd be eating dogs

 

[Star Ocean 2]

Raider fans do that anyway

 

[Red Baron]

What if Guy Lafleur was never traded to Montreal?

What if Mario Lemieux was healthy?

 

[Master Thrasher]

What if Sidney Crosby wasn't concussed during last season?

 

[HarleyQuinn]

What If Houston Doesn't Blow that Lead?

This is one of the more interesting questions considering everything that happened afterwards and what branched off it.

01: They probably never hire Buddy Ryan as their DC in 1993 to replace Jim Eddy, who got fired primarily due to the playoff loss despite his constant years of success.
02: Since Buddy never gets hired, Jeff Fisher never joins the staff as he joined Houston as a defensive assistant under Buddy Ryan. He never becomes the DC in 1994 and then future HC.
03: Kevin Gilbride had interviewed for the Pittsburgh Steelers job that ultimately went to Bill Cowher. A playoff win and further advancement could have given him more credibility. If Gilbride landed a HC job elsewhere (such as maybe Arizona where Buddy went in 1994?), Pardee probably would've likely tried to hire recently fired John Jenkins from the University of Houston.
04: Jack Pardee probably keeps his job through the 1994 season as Buddy wouldn't have led a meltdown in 1993 and Warren Moon may have stuck around for the '94 and '95 seasons if he had gotten his salary boost rather than bolting in FA.
05: Houston would've likely gone on to face the Pittsburgh Steelers, a team they had played close twice during the season (Lost 29-24 and 21-20). Would have given Houston an outside chance at going as far as the AFC Championship game.

 

[Vitamin X]

What if San Francisco took Aaron Rodgers instead of Alex Smith?

What if the Blazers took Michael Jordan and Kevin Durant over Sam Bowie and Greg Oden?

What if Barry Sanders never retired?

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

What if the Packers brought back Brett Favre after his first retirement?

My guess is that Rodgers then demands a trade or at the very least doesn't come back after his rookie contract expires. The team still sucks in 2008 because they did with Rodgers even though he had a better season than Favre did. The Packers right now would be one of the bottom third teams in the league and Thompson & McCarthy would be on the unemployment line. If Rodgers ended up getting traded to the Jets like Favre was, then the Jets might be the two time defending Super Bowl champions.

What if Barry Sanders never retired?

Probably not much, other than him being the all-time leading rusher. I only think he had another year or two left anyways. He was on the wrong side of 30. Had he not retired he probably would have limped to the end of his career like Emmitt Smith or Ladanian Tomlinson.

 

[Tony149]

What if Ginobili doesn’t foul Dirk in game 7 of the ‘06 WCSF?

The Spurs rallied from 20-something down to take the lead on a Ginobili 3 with :30 or so to go. Cuban looked like he was about to off himself on the sidelines until Manu decides to go for the block on Dirk after Pop reminded the team not to foul. With Duncan gassed the Spurs and their best shot of a repeat (which likely turns into to 3-peat since they were the defending champs and went on to sweep the Cavs in the ’07 Finals) go down in OT. That loss hurt more than Fisher’s .4 because the series was headed back to L.A. and I’m not sure they beat the Pistons that year.

What if the Yankees hold on to beat the Mariners in the ‘95 ALDS? Does the Yankee dynasty that followed happen under Buck Showalter instead of Joe Torre?

 

[teke184]

What if San Francisco took Aaron Rodgers instead of Alex Smith?

We definitely wouldn't be saying "Super Bowl MVP Alex Smith", but I'm not as sure that Rodgers would have caught on like he did.

Getting beaten and battered as the 69ers starting QB for several years instead of carrying Favre's clipboard probably would have stunted his growth as a QB, as I don't think he was ready to make a full transition from a Jeff Tedford offense at Cal to the NFL without being parked on the bench for at least a year a la Carson Palmer.

 

[AntiLeaf33]

What if Mario Tremblay had pulled Patrick Roy earlier in the game vs the Red Wings?

 

[teke184]

What if Tom Brady hadn't blown out his knee in week 1 of the 2008 season?


That ended up having multiple repercussions.

1. Matt Cassell became a starting QB in the NFL, pulling down 8 figures a season.
2. The Steelers ended up winning a record 6th SB, which may not have happened if the Pats put up numbers similar to the ones the previous year's 18-1 squad had.
3. The NFL changed the rule on hits to the QB's legs because a marquee star had not only gotten hurt, but in the first game of the season

 

[Big Beard Booty Daddy]

What if Pat Reilly didn't leave John Starks in game 7?

 

[BruiserBrody]

Brent was brought in as a backup. No reason why that would have been different. Atlanta didn't want him.

Except for he was the planned starter in the long run, Wolf loved him when he was still helping the Jets draft in 91

Wolf even had a medical issue that would have nullified the trade ignored so Holmgren would have a raw QB to work with

Clearly a 1st round pick indicates more than a back up role

 

[Byron The Bulb]

What if Tom Brady hadn't blown out his knee in week 1 of the 2008 season?

The world is spared a second Ben Roethlisberger Super Bowl victory

 

[Vitamin X]

What if Tom Brady hadn't blown out his knee in week 1 of the 2008 season?

On that note, what if Drew Bledsoe's guts didn't bleed all over his insides in 01, making way for Brady? Would we have Drew Bledsoe, New England sports hero instead of Drew Bledsoe, Inexplicable New England sports pariah?

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

What if Tom Brady hadn't blown out his knee in week 1 of the 2008 season?

On that note, what if Drew Bledsoe's guts didn't bleed all over his insides in 01, making way for Brady? Would we have Drew Bledsoe, New England sports hero instead of Drew Bledsoe, Inexplicable New England sports pariah?

Patriots fans don't hate Bledsoe. I'm not sure what you're talking about.