FanNation - The Republic of Sport

In the past few weeks I have seen some of the most tired throwdown topics. A few of the most regurgitated throwdowns I have seen--

Will the Yankees or Red Sox Win the AL East?

Manning or Brady?

Lebron or Wade? Lebron or Kobe? Lebron or Melo? Lebron or Oprah Winfrey? Lebron Or Jesus in a game of Horse? (You get the point)

Philly or Dallas will win the NFC West

Lebron (is or is not, mix and match as you see fit) the Next Michael Jordan

Greg Oden or Kevin Durant

Germany would never have been a threat in World War II if Lebron had fought in the war

(This was a throwdown created right after his Game 5 performance versus the Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals. The throwdown was deleted immediately after Game 1 of the NBA Finals because administrators realized Lebron wasn't, in fact, the greatest human being to ever walk the Earth since Gandhi or Mother Theresa.)

Bigger dynasty: Cowboys or Steelers? Cowboys Or Packers? Cowboys or 49ers? Cowboys or Indians? (Not actually a Cowboys versus Redskins throwdown. I can see Big Ben68 getting fired up and breaking out the stats as we speak.) 

Boxers or Briefs?

Okay, a few of those I made up but you get my point. And there are plenty more out there like these. There are tons of creative and intelligent members on here. You would think that we collectively could come up with throwdowns that have more spark. Maybe the dog days of Summer have started to fatigue our spontaneity. Or maybe we just like to beat a dead horse.

Then there is the other side of the spectrum: the pointless throwdown. One of the most random and ridiculous throwdowns I have seen is this one. The topic: Zach Depietro is the best little league player.

http://www.fannation.com/throwdowns/show/18456

For giggles I decided to leave a comment on the throwdown that said this:

"Depietro has skills, no doubt about that. ESPN has him projected as the number 1 pick in 2013 by the STILL awful Kansas City Royals, who will, in a stunning public relations move, change their name to the Kansas City Milkmaids.

In other news, perhaps the most underrated little league prospect is Dominic "Baby Face" Tinkleton. The 5 year old skipped the teeball leagues and jumped right into the sub-A little league. He may still wet his bed but get him on the field and you can count on him to bring Ks and RBIs with the best of them. But it is a bit too soon to tell if he will make the Dixie league All-Star league. We will see how many chocolate bars he sells to get better uniforms for his team before we thrust the prestige of All-Star Status upon him. Cooperstown has already reserved a spot for him in the Hall of Fame, which he will surely be accepted in around the year 2050.

This comment has been brought to you by the Foundation for Throwdowns that People Actually Care About."

Perhaps we need to create a group that focuses on creating new and challenging throwdown ideas for everyone. The site is too good to get bogged down with hyperbole and dull topics that frankly are often voted on more from bias than logic.

For example, A Manning and Brady debate is one that will perhaps be eternally discussed. But a lot of which side you choose comes from what you value more: A quarterback who is the ultimate team player, has more rings, an unbelievable playoff record, and excels with very little offensive firepower around him? Or a quarterback who understands his position better than anyone in the league, will probably shatter all the QB records by the end of his career, and doesn't take for granted the talent he has around him?

To me there is no wrong answer. Both are absolutely wonderful players and likely Hall of Famers. So the vote often comes down to what type of a person you are and not the type of player they are, or whether you like the Patriots or Colts better.

There are a ton of great aspects of the FanNation throwdown site. But for all the positives there are negatives as well. It is the nature of the beast. Some things we can't control. There will always be cheaters on the site, and the best we can do is look out for each other and preserve the integrity of the Throwdown community.

But the effort to create interesting and topic worthy throwdowns is one that I think we can all handle. It just takes a little bit more effort. If we can spend a few extra minutes to research our topic in order to drop that little known stat that will tip the scales in votes our way then we can spend an extra minute or two to make sure our topic isn't as played out as the Paris Hilton videos on the internet. (Which I am sure NONE of us have ever watched because we are all upstanding and morally pure individuals. Ahem.)

Take care everyone and I look forward to seeing what all the great members of the Throwdown Community can bring in the upcoming weeks.