Name:     Tom C.

Profession:   Attorney  

If I could change one thing in the sports world it would be___________ because...

I believe the NFL should change its rules so that all offensive lineman are eligible to receive forward passes.  Defenses zone blitz, meaning that D-linemen can drop back into coverage, creating all sorts of blocking issues for the offensive line to sort out who is rushing the quarterback.  I think offenses should have the same flexibility to make defenses wonder who is going out to receive a pass.  An interesting side-benefit to this would be that in order for offenses to take advantage of the more open passing rules, they would need to add TEs to replace traditional O-lineman.  As offenses reduced the number of 300+ lbs O-lineman on the field, replacing one or two of them with a TE-type body, defenses would need to follow suit.  Defenses would need more LB-type bodies instead of DL-type bodies in order to adjust to the increased number of mobile and agile, eligible receivers.  The net result of all this would be more spread offenses and defenses, with more true athletes on the field instead of 300+ lbs guys with limited range and mobility.  (An added bonus of this rule change would be an insane number of additional trick play possibilities, and what’s more fan-friendly than a creative trick play.)

The sports figure/celebrity/politician/business person I most admire is _______ because...

There are so few sports figure/celebrity/politician/business persons out there.  I guess I have to say Arnold Schwarzenegger since he’s the only person that I can think of that fits.  If I could pick one person that fits any of these categories, I’d go with Jack Welch for his unbelievable innovative and successful approaches to business..

 
The top five movies of all-time are...

I’ll break this into sub-groups since it’s difficult to rank movies across different genres:

Comedy:  Trading Places, Airplane

Drama:  One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, A Beautiful Mind

Action:  Raiders of the Lost Ark, Terminator 2

If I could trade places with anyone in the world it would be __________ because...

Norv Turner.  I am a die-hard Chargers fan and under Turner’s leadership, a Super Bowl worthy team is nearing the end of its wide-open window for a championship.  The only thing holding the Chargers back is Turner.  He gets too much credit for winning a couple of playoff games.  The reality is that he took over a 14-2 team, and has taken that team to 11-5 and 8-8 records under his two-year reign.  Reaching the playoffs at 8-8 was pure luck due to an extraordinarily weak division, and both seasons ended with road playoff losses at cold-weather sites.  The Chargers need to play well, earn home-field advantage and get to the Super Bowl.  If I could trade places with Norv Turner, that would happen.

I strongly disagree with the SDSG about...           

The Los Angeles Clippers.  For some reason, the SDSG loves hyping the potential of the Clippers roster, yet ignores the one thing that will always hold them back – Don Sterling.  Whenever the Clippers start to amass talent, Sterling lets it slip away rather than trying to take the giant leap forward and upward with it.   The Clips won the 2009 draft lottery and will draft Blake Griffin.  A funny reader email to Bill Simmons queried whether the Clippers won the lottery or whether Blake Griffin lost the lottery.  I’ll bet on the latter.  He joins the only team with a single person holding both the GM and head coach jobs --- and that person is Mike Dunleavy.  This is such an irrational team structure.  It is incomprehensible that Sterling allows it to continue to exist.   Phil Jackson, George Karl and Rick Adelman don’t have that kind of responsibility, and they’ve had great success with multiple teams.  How can Sterling think Dunleavy warrants it?  And sadly, this is merely one example of Sterling’s cheapness holding back the Clippers.  As much as the SDSG may hype the Clippers’ potential, they are going nowhere.  Just because you are a Clippers writer for realgm.com doesn’t mean that you have to pimp the Clippers in your regular work.