For the record, I think that both Peyton Manning and the Atlanta Braves have nothing to be ashamed of. Both have put themselves in position to win titles. Both have one world series ring since 1995. Both have dominated their divisions and leagues for many years. Manning is going to re-write the record books before he is done. The Braves have won the National League east an astounding number of times I think they have won 15 division titles since 1991, including this year. Chipper Jones is as tragic a hero as Peyton Manning. Peyton Manning's teams have won 12 division titles, and lost in the first round or game 8 times. He has one super bowl ring. Who is more disappointing? In my opinion the answer is the Atlanta Braves.
Peyton Manning has had terrible games in the post season. He would lose to Tennessee in his first playoff game, he would lose to Miami in his next one and then his worse loss was against the Jets and they lost 41-0. The New England Patriots always seemed to have his number. Hew would put up video game number during the regular season and looked lost and confused in playoff games. He had great players on his offense. Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne are hall of Famers. Edgerin James was efficient and reliable as anyone. Dallas Clark and Marcus Pollard made a lot of plays for him. They did not have a great defense. Dwight Freeney was unblockable during the regular season, but in the playoffs was often a non factor. They had could never get a consistent pass rush or stop the opponents running game. Peyton is often blamed for his teams failures because he would throw a late interception or multiple interceptions in games. Fair or not the quarterback either gets too much credit for good thing or too much blame for bad things. i think he should be appreciated just for getting their. Several great players never got to the super bowl or won a playoff game. Barry Sanders never was as spectacular in the playoffs as he was in the regular season. Didnt the packers hold him to negative yardage in a playoff game? In fact I dont think he won more than one playoff in a game in his career if at all. O.J. Simpson ran wild in the NFL no post season legacy to speak of. Dan Fouts lit up every team in the NFL in his brilliant hall of fame career, no rings to show for it.
The Atlanta Braves are tragic and here is why. They dominated everyone. They out pitched everyone. They would win games that were insurmountable more than anyone. They matched up well with everyone. Glavine, Maddux, Smoltz Avery, Alejandro Pena, Mark Wohlers, John Rocker, embarrassed everyone. They lost to the Yankeees after dominating them in earlier games. They lost to the Twins who had only Jack Morris as an imposing pitcher. They lost to Toronto who had Winfield and Molitor. The Braves were favored in all of these series. They had a superstar laden lineup. They could beat you with a speed game with Otis Nixon or power game with Gant and Justice. Glavine Smoltz, Maddux, and Chipper Jones are first ballot hall of Famers. What puzzles me about their lack of success is the baseball adage of momentum is the next day starting pitcher. The Braves threw four top of the line starters at teams each night. They put teams in slumps with their dominance. They never had a team that they dreaded playing. The Colts season was always based on whether they beat the Patriots. When they would win people thought that they could win the title. when they lost people would say same sorry ass Colts. The Braves were always the hunted. They had no peer. They just simply could not win. Teams would bleed their starting pitching for 8 innings and get to their bullpen and beat them late quite often. The Yankees, Blue jays, and Twins had memorable world series wins in the late innings to sting the Braves. Jim Leyritz name is a sore subject down south. Kirby Puckett and Dane Iorg dramatics in Minnesota. Dave Winfield, Kelly Gruber. Ernie Witt. Tom Heinke stifled the bats of the Braves in world series. The Braves had more heart breaking losses than anyone.
I am sure anyone would love to be Peyton Manning or Chipper Jones or Greg Maddux because of their brilliance on the field. However the lack of rings will always haunt these guys. All great players and great teams. Unfortunately we are all judged by wins and chips. Both only have one in the last 20 years. The Braves are more tragic because they had no peer. They had reservations to be in the playoffs every year and just got beat when you least expected it. W e all knew that Peyton would throw that pick or we all knew that Peyton wouldn't come through. He only did it once. We all were shocked when the Braves would fail in the post season. They had everything...
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