FanNation - The Republic of Sport

Tonight marks both my one-year anniversary on FanNation and the rounding of my quarter-pole of life. While my profile might mark 21 November 2007 as my official date of admission to the group of FanNation members, it wasn't until the fifth of December that I first made my presence felt on this site. It all started with the throwdowns...

I was a high-school debater and went on to a college scholarship to do the same. But there is a unique aspect to throwdowns which was unlike anything I had done before. I was hooked...

I've made some outlandish claims in throwdowns before... and while I am no prognosticator, I have nonetheless stood up for some interesting sides on a wide variety of issues over the past year. So tonight, I plan to dive in and see where I've been right and -- as I expect to be the case -- where I've more frequently been wrong. Without further adieu, here are ten of my throwdowns from my first two months on the site, for review and a verdict on the correctness of the claims...

Virginia Tech will beat Kansas -- 12/05-12/08/2007 -- 14-5 victory

My goodness! Could I have possibly been right?! Yes... with a 24-21 victory in the Orange Bowl, Mangino's Jayhawks vindicated my faith in their team. Of course, it doesn't hurt my bottom line when my opponent made only a thirteen-word argument (see, it isn't just a recent phenomenon, folks!) but nonetheless it was a risky position to take heading into that game. Frank Beamer's Hokies came in heavily favored, but the Kansas defense found a way to lead the Big XII to claim at least one BCS win during the 2007 bowl season...

Ohio State does not belong in the national championship -- 12/05-12/06/2007 -- 15-11 defeat

So I lost this argument, but history will prove that, after the Buckeyes' second consecutive BCS title-game bust, I had the better position ultimately. This season, all the talk about the Big Ten (especially during Penn State's undefeated run) was how Ohio State's stinkers in the previous two championships would hurt the conference's chances at advancing to a third straight championship... and indeed, it looks like out of the one-loss programs that perception is sticking to the Nittany Lions.

Saban should have pulled John Parker Wilson -- 12/05-12/06/2007 -- 4-4 draw

I took the negative side on this issue even as Alabama, in Saban's first season, was suffering growing pains. Arguing that the depth chart was barren behind Wilson, I argued that the starter was getting valuable experience for the future... and just look where the Crimson Tide are headed -- to the Georgia Dome on Saturday for the SEC Championship, the only undefeated BCS-conference team still standing in football, with only Florida standing in their path toward the BCS title game...

The Return of Scott Niedermeyer to the Anaheim Ducks will Help Defending Champs Regain NHL Footing -- 12/05-12/06/2007 -- 6-1 defeat 

The Ducks were fighting just to remain anywhere near a playoff berth in the Western Conference when I started this throwdown. My opponent, another citizen of the Willamette Valley, got the better of this argument... at the time. But while he won the battle, it was Niedermeyer's presence on the blueline that helped guide the defending champs to a four-seed in the West -- so they DID regain NHL footing. However, Dallas Zamboni-ed the Ducks' chances clean with a 4-2 first-round defeat of the champs...

Holding the 2008 Olympics in Beijing is Harmful to Athletes' Health -- 12/06/2007 -- 9-3 victory 

Won the throwdown... but thankfully my doomsday predictions of the air pollution dropping the world's elite athletes like flies never did come to pass. While there was certainly noticable periods of smog during the Olympics this summer, no athletes keeled over... this is one prediction I am more than happy to have messed up!

The Phillies should've tried to re-sign Aaron Rowand -- 12/13-12/16/2007 -- 12-2 victory 

A homer got paranoid when Rowand signed with San Francisco in the offseason... but, as I predicted, his production was not missed nearly as much as fans wished to believe would be the case. The result of losing Rowand? The first Philadelphia World Series since 1980...

Oregon would Provide Terrelle Pryor with the Best Tools for Success in Basketball and Football -- 12/16-12/17/2007 -- 7-1 victory 

I might've won this argument -- and while it still may be fundamentally true, the fact remains that Pryor ended up going to the school my opponent advocated. And as of yet, I've heard not a peep about his basketball career with the Buckeyes, so I'll accept my failure here...

Georgia will beat Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl -- 12/17-12/18/2007 -- 19-7 victory 

I took the underdog from the WAC here... and was soon reeling as the Warriors came out listless. The seemingly-prolific offense, guided by June Jones and led by Colt Brennan, couldn't even put up as many points (10) as I got votes in this argument. If only the BCS buster could've designated someone to battle for them in a contest of wits rather than taking the field against the stout Bulldog defense...

WVU Signing Bill Stewart to a 5-Year Deal Will Prove Disastrous -- 01/03/2008 -- 20-14 defeat 

Following the Mountaineers' upset of Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl, interim coach Bill Stewart was granted a five-year deal. And while the jury is still out on this one -- he hasn't gone Charlie Weis-level bad yet -- it did appear that West Virginia stepped back a bit this season after several stellar years of Big East dominance. After three straight seasons under Rich Rodriguez of no more than two losses, Stewart's inaugural campaign ends against South Florida -- a team which has beat West Virginia both of the past two seasons -- with the risk of losing as many games (five) as they did the past three seasons combined... and if they don't get it against the Bulls, there's still a bowl game to be played...

Will Dontrelle Willis turn it around in Detroit? -- 01/20-01/22/2008 -- 5-5 draw 

Everyone thought that the trade sprung by the Tigers to acquire Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis would have Detroit taking the World Series before the season even started. But recognizing that Willis was not the player he was in his one shining moment, I said this would not be just what the Tigers needed... and a season later, it seems as though it was true. 0-2, only 24 innings pitched... the Willis experiment seems have been a pure disaster.

That, it seems, is the highlight of argumentation for my first few months on this site... it's been a wild ride, and here's to more great debate!