Mailbag Blog #2

We received another round of mailbag questions to the Bean's Blog Google Form link, and today's blog will be going through these questions/suggestions. We have a good variety today from sports to TV to movies -- so no need for more preamble, let's hop right into it!

Who are the Most Influential Athletes of All Time?

Getting DEEP right off the bat this week. This is an excellent question, and one I haven't thought all that hard about before. What makes an athlete influential? Is it the effect they have on the sport itself? Is it the impact they have on society? If they become a global phenomenon/icon?

It can and does mean all three -- but to me, the most important is their impact on the sport itself. People that change the game in one way or another, not just the people that are the greatest at their sport. So for me, while the Tom Brady's and Lebron James' are obviously extremely influential because of how great they were -- I'm looking for the athletes that have 1) grown their sport to new heights, or 2) changed how their sport is played/the outlook of their sport.

I'm also going to try and keep it to the modern athletes that are most influential -- so apologies to you who wrote in if you were looking for the Babe Ruth's and Bill Russell's of the sports world, I'm gonna take a more modern approach.

Stephen Curry

Steph was the first person that came to mind when I read the question. Steph has genuinely changed the trajectory of basketball with his shooting ability. His success shooting has changed how organizations build teams -- even how youth basketball is being taught and developed. Big men are shooting 3's now, there are 3-point specialists in the NBA who's only job is to defend and shoot 3's. The mid-range/paint era from MJ to Kobe has been ushered out because Steph Curry redefined the modern game.

Tiger Woods

I think Tiger Woods is the greatest golfer of all time as well as the most influential. He redefined what a golfer could look like -- his athleticism and shot creativity and demeanor/fiery personality brought in a new era of professional golf. I feel like it exploded in popularity while Tiger was at his peak, and his success changed how the game of golf could be played and marketed.

Shohei Ohtani

For a sport that's been around since the 1800's, it's crazy that in the 2020's we've seen a someone completely change what we thought was possible of a baseball player. Shohei Ohtani has shown the ability to be not only the best hitter in baseball, but the best pitcher as well -- which is unfathomable in the modern era. Positional versatility is a tool that's been on the rise in the MLB, but Ohtani has redefined the concept entirely.

Patrick Mahomes

While I think Tom Brady showed you can have elite success through hard work without elite athleticism, Mahomes has influenced the way the Quarterback position can be played, and how valuable a QB can be. The arm strength is elite, but is something many QB's have -- but his creativity and ingenuity on how to attack defenses is intangible. Being able to improvise when plays break down, make something out of nothing, and utilize unconventional arm angles to move the ball are things we've never seen from NFL QB's.

Katie Ledecky

Michael Phelps is the swimmer that opened my eyes to Olympic swimming dominance, but Katie Ledecky is the current gold standard of dominance. She made her debut at the 2012 Olympics at 15 years old, and has competed in 4 total Olympics' -- setting a new bar for longevity and sustained excellence in the sport. She also is the most dominant distance swimmer the sport has seen, showing a new level of success never been done in women's swimming.

Serena Williams

Arguably the most influential female athlete ever, Serena Williams completely changed the expectation for a female tennis player with the power and athleticism she played with. The game before Serena was much more about court coverage and placement and stamina -- Serena brought power and explosiveness the sport had never seen, overwhelming opponents with her pace and striking. She changed the game in making the serve the primary offensive weapon, using it to completely control a set.

Caitlin Clark

Lastly, the youngest/most recent influential athlete on the list, and perhaps the most controversial to some. I'm a biased Caitlin Clark fan, but I don't think it's a debate that Clark is THE most influential WNBA player ever just 3 years into her career. Not only will her style of play change the game in a similar way that Steph Curry did in the NBA, her arrival has made the league more financially viable than it's ever been -- just take a look at some of the numbers:

• Clark's presence alone increases attendance by an avg of 7,900 for home games, 6,400 for away games

• During her injury absence, viewership for nationally televised WNBA games dropped by over 50%

• Clark's Fever games average 1.18 million viewers in nationally televised games, compared to 394K in non-Clark games. AKA Clark delivers a 200% viewership premium over the rest of the league

• Prior to 2024 (Clark's draft year), the WNBA went 16 consecutive seasons without a game reaching 1 million viewers. Since 2024, 22 WNBA games have cleared 1 million viewers -- 19 were Clark's games.

• The average WNBA franchise valuation rose 59% since she entered the league, but the Indiana Fever specifically have raised 522% in franchise valuation.

Whether the League wants to give her the credit she deserves or not, it's undeniable that Clark's the most influential athlete the WNBA's ever seen -- and I'd argue she's the most influential athlete in Sports today.

Would the NBA moving a franchise to St. Louis be a catastrophic failure? If you could pick any franchise to move to STL, who would you pick? What would the best rebrand for a STL NBA Team be?

The writer of this question noted that they do think it would be a failure if an NBA team was brought to STL. I think St. Louis is a criminally under-rated sports city -- a city that supports the Cardinals and Blues as well as any fanbase, will be a hotbed for MLS soccer with the growing STLSC, and even showed elite fandom for an XFL franchise in the Battlehawks. So while I'm an optimist about this city's ability to support a professional sports team, I tend to agree that it'd be a mistake to expand into St. Louis.

For one, I don't think St. Louis is on any short list for an expansion team. Seattle, Vegas, Nashville, Louisville, even Mexico City/Montreal seem like more realistic landing spots. I'm not even sure STL would be the number one choice for a Missouri city to get a team -- I think Kansas City makes more sense honestly. I also don't think STL has a local ownership group that would be able to make a push for a team, don't have an arena for them to play in (don't think sharing Enterprise would work, the Dome wouldn't work), and our sports market is over saturated with life-long, committed fans to the Cardinals and Blues (plus budding fandom growing in STLSC).

But let's not think about expanding, and let's pretend those concerns above are pushed aside, and let's imagine that a current franchise's ownership sold their team and there was an ownership group in STL that bought it. This is a real life concern for the city of Portland right now, because their owner is a cheap ass and there's a possibility we see the Trail Blazers on the move. I think that'd be a fun option in St. Louis -- rebrand them to the STL Jail Blazers and call it a day.

If I could pick any franchise -- one that would be at least moderately realistic, i.e. not the Celtics or Lakers -- how about the Memphis Grizzlies? People have short memories in pro sports, so the past few years have clouded things with the Grizz from the Ja Morant drama and on-court struggles of the team. But this is a franchise that's seen a good amount of success -- I loved the grit & grind Grizz of the 2010's with Mike Conley, Z-Bo, Marc Gasol and company. They have some young players that I like -- Cedric Coward, Zach Edey, GG Jackson, Jaylen Wells, Cam Spencer, Walter Clayton Jr., Scottie Pippen Jr. They drafted Cam Boozer 3rd overall this year -- a new face-of-the-franchise type of player. They aren't winning championships any time soon, but a couple more seasons of adding high draft picks and letting the young guys develop -- this could become a fun team in a few years. And is one of the few franchises that are a somewhat realistic fit for St. Louis.

As far as a rebrand team name, a few that I liked (s/o ChatGPT for the assist on the 1st one cause I'm not creative in this way) were:

• St. Louis Phantoms (McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II fighter jets, company HQ'd in STL for decades)

• St. Louis Spirits (nod to the old ABA team -- Spirits of St. Louis)

• St. Louis T-Ravs (toasted raviolis fuck)

• St. Louis Tornadoes

The question, "What's your favorite movie" is a poor barometer for a person's movie expertise/love of movies. My favorite question is: What is your Mount Rushmore of Movies? What are 4 movies you go back and watch no matter the situation/time of day?

Incredible question, because if this was simply "What is your favorite movie" It'd take me 7 days to figure out one single movie to represent my love of movies. Narrowing it down to just 4 is hard enough for a Mount Rushmore -- but I'm up for the challenge.

I debated whether this is as straightforward as just pulling my Letterboxd Top 4 and explaining why I love them -- but I think the Mount Rushmore needs to represent the full spectrum of my movie taste. I love thrillers, comedies, action movies, dramas, mysteries, super-hero movies, historical epics -- not huge on horror, romance or musicals -- mixed on most Sci-Fi. And I think rewatchability has to be a major factor -- movies I can watch any time, any where. So after much deliberation, here's my Mount Rushmore of Movies:

The Dark Knight

I just wrote about this movie at length in my Nolan Rankings blog (go read it if you haven't yet), so I won't go into detail here -- but this scratches my action, super-hero, thriller itch all in one go, and is one of my favorite movies of all time. I'll rewatch it any day (and have many times).

The Nice Guys

Debated this or another one of the dramas in "Just missed the cut," -- but this is a movie I am so enthralled by I can't explain it. Ryan Gosling is one of my favorite actors, and I genuinely think he's the best comedic actor in the world that's filmography is <25% comedies. He's so fucking funny in this movie -- the physical comedy/shrieks he does make me laugh so hard. And Russell Crowe is the perfect counterpart -- hilarious in his own right and they have elite chemistry. Not quite as funny as my runner-up comedy (The Other Guys -- Michael Keaton in that movie is the funniest side character ever) -- but an elite rewatchable movie.

Dad, there's like, whores here and stuff.

Sweetheart how many times have I told you don't say "and stuff," just say "Dad there are whores here"

The Social Network

This movie and the next are without a doubt the 2 dramas I've seen more than any other movie. The Social Network has an inexplicable quality that makes it so rewatchable to me, from the dialogue to the pace to the performances to the intriguing story. I've always been such a fan of movies that don't need big set-pieces to tell a story -- and this is a prime example. The deposition scenes intertwined throughout, Eduardo storming in to berate Mark, the opening scene at the bar, Sean Parker's intro (what an unexpectedly awesome JT performance?). I absolutely love this movie.

Moneyball

I think at the end of the day, Moneyball is my favorite movie ever. I've seen this movie no less than 25 times, can probably quote 90% of it, and it's my favorite Brad Pitt performance ever. Not because he's reinventing the wheel with it, but he's so real and likeable and entertaining in the role. Love Jonah Hill, love all the side characters -- Phillip Seymour Hoffman (GOAT, RIP), Pratt as Hatty (Scotty H, picking machine!). It's such an interesting topic to me as a sports fan, it's an awesome David vs Goliath story, the family dynamic connects, it's so nostalgic to me, and it honestly makes me emotional -- which is ridiculous for a movie about baseball analytics. But when that cheesy ass song comes on at the end, it just hits man. How can you not be romantic about baseball? How can you not be romantic about this movie.

Just Missed the Cut:

Inglourious Basterds

The Other Guys

The Departed

Christmas Vacation

I believe you've watched both Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul; how would you rank them in terms of All-Time great shows, and which is better?

My Hot take that I don't think is actually that hot, but anytime I've mentioned it to someone they've looked at me like I have 3 heads, is this -- Better Call Saul is better than Breaking Bad.

That isn't a knock on Breaking Bad in the slightest -- they're both Top 5 shows of all time for me (I think -- These 2, Sopranos, The Wire, Game of Thrones, Peaky Blinders, Succession are the firm Top 7 and they fluctuate in rank). Breaking Bad laid the ground work for Better Call Saul, both in creating the main characters of the show and the world they live in. It gave us the best anti-hero of all time in Walter White, my favorite villain in Gus Fring, one of the best supporting characters in Jesse, and two of the most memorable side characters in Saul and Mike.

But Better Call Saul takes those two most memorable side characters -- plus Gus Fring -- and adds depth/backstory to the characters, making them even more compelling and complex. Where they were one-dimensional in BB, they get fully fleshed out through BCS. They make those main characters so much more interesting than they ever were in BB and gave them more time to shine.

The biggest improvement BCS made from it's predecessor was the side characters -- Rhea Seehorn's Kim Wexler, Nacho Varga, Howard Hamlin, Chuck McGill, Lalo Salamanca. The main characters are developed much better in my opinion, and so are the side characters -- and the characters as a whole are way more compelling (also, there's no stinker characters like Skyler in BB).

I also think the writing in Better Call Saul is much better, the visual story-telling is more refined and confident (because of what Vince Gilligan learned from Breaking Bad -- which is also great in this aspect, just improved in BCS), has more grounded stakes and motivation, and is a slow-burning build-up to rewarding pay-offs. A lot of people say BCS is "too slow" and that "not enough happens" -- I never find it slow because the scenes/dialogue is riveting and building up to great moments. (Where I found Breaking Bad slow early and rapid in the later seasons).

They're both better than 99.9% of TV shows ever made -- but I personally prefer Better Call Saul.

Marry, Fuck, Kill, and Affair:

1.) Waking up thirsty and having an ice cold water next to you to drink.

2.) Having all the boys together to have some drinks and watch a big game

3.) Buying someone a giftt and seeing them open it/see the joy on their face

4.) Cooking something for yourself and it tastes better than you expected

I'm so glad someone went with an MFK question because I think these are perfect for a mailbag blog. And this is a specifically interesting question because it isn't about TV/Sports/Movies like I anticipated -- just purely about life, which is a perfect way to end today's blog. I'm just going to assume the proper order here is Marry (Best), Fuck (2nd best), Affair (3rd best), Kill (Worst) because I'm unfamiliar with this added category.

Marry: Waking up thirsty and having ice cold water near

This is a daily occurrence in my life -- almost every night I wake up and desperately need a swig of water. I bring a 40 oz tumbler of water to bed every night for this exact reason. Even better -- when you've been drinking the night before and wake up hungover, there's no better medicine than some freezing H2O at arms-reach.

Fuck: Watching a big game/drinking with the Boys

It's not something you can do every single day/every weekend because, for one, it's hard to get everybody together that often. But I also think it loses some of the magic if it's something you do too often. It's a magical thing when the stars align, schedules are open, and there's a big-time college football match-up the boys are fired up to see. Throw down some 1st TD bets, delete domestic light beers, laugh so hard your sides hurt -- it's a euphoric feeling.

Affair: Cooking something that tastes better than expected

I'm a picky eater by nature, but I absolutely love to cook. And since moving out, I've had a resurgence in the kitchen with trying new recipes and finding new foods. I'll always plan a couple meals that I already know I'll like, but I've been trying to venture into uncharted waters, especially with healthier meals. Last night I tried a new sweet potato cooking method, made some taco-seasoned ground turkey, homemade street corn with greek yogurt, some pico and jalapenos and avocado -- and holy shit was it good. It doesn't happen often, but it's an incredible feeling.

Kill: Buying a good gift for someone

Another incredible feeling that I think ranks last for me because I'm the least confident gift-giver to ever exist. When I get gifts for Emily or family or friends, I second guess myself constantly and talk myself into them not liking it. To the point where I often ask Emily if this is something she'd like before even buying it. I've had my moments for sure, but I think the times you get someone a gift that you can tell they don't love that much clouds the whole experience.

As always, thank you for your suggestions and keep using that mailbag link in my bio to submit more! I'd love to keep this segment going on a bi-weekly/monthly basis if the questions are flowing -- so any and all submissions are appreciated at the mailbag.