re: Post your unpopular sports opinions

1. The World Cup is the best event in sports.

2. Even if the greatest American athletes were steered towards soccer, we would not dominate the game. It would take a complete structural overhaul of the managing in this country to develop talents like are seen abroad.

3. American style playoff systems are terrible ways to determine champions. Playoffs rewards streakiness to the detriment of year-long consistency. The fact that the NY Giants were SB champions over the Patriots in 2007 was ridiculous, especially considering the Pats had already beaten them in the regular season.

4. Re number 3 above, I have no solution that can determine a champion more justly in American sports as European Soccer structures would not work with our setups. I do think the BCS likely is the best system devised for rewarding total accomplishment, though I readily admit its myriad flaws.

5. Peyton Manning is to Quarterbacking what Saban is to coaching...joyless, stressful, and unequivocally brilliant. I lament that choking the fun out of a game in the pursuit of dominance is the most effective way to achieve the desired end.

6. John Elway was the most physically gifted QB in NFL history. His combination of arm strength and athleticism surpasses all the modern dual threat QBs by leaps and bounds.

7. Matt Ryan could QB an elite offense with the Saints under Sean Payton. Brees could not orchestrate a top 5 offense under just any coach in the NFL. That is more a comment on Payton's genius than it is a comment on Ryan vs Brees. Brees and Payton may be the best match in the modern era, with only Walsh/Montana in competition.

8. Joe Sackic was the most underrated NHL player of the 90s.

9. PED usage is absolutely rampant in both College and Pro football.

10. The Saints 2011 team was better than the Super Bowl winner.