18 minutes ago, we_gotta_believe said:

Atlanta is pretty bad, but LAX and Ohare are worse.

 

5 minutes ago, vikas83 said:

LAX is a 3rd world airport. It's horrible. It's also been under construction for 25 years straight.

Yup and Yup.  Also, NEVER connect in Philly

7 minutes ago, just relax said:

Heathrow is the absolute worst.

Newark International Airport.  I absolutely hate Newark.

Don't think I've flown into and out of LAX many times, maybe just 2-3?  I don't have anything negative to say about that.

I also hate Washington Dulles.  The "mobile lounges" that they make people take between terminals is so unbelievably lame.  

 

8 minutes ago, paco said:

I actually don't hate Delta nor am an Airline snob.

 

But I will avoid Southwest and Spirit at all costs.  I've literally seen trash bags used by multiple people on a single Southwest flight as carry on luggage (plus those f'ers stranded me in Omaha once when they switched me to an earlier flight and forgot to mention they didn't have a seat for me on the second leg).  And Spirit, well, I don't feel like being involved in a mid flight brawl.

Never flown southwest and it's been over a decade since I've flown spirit but they were absolute dogshit back then. I refuse to set foot on their planes now, regardless of how cheap the fares might be. 

15 minutes ago, bpac55 said:

 

No. Better. Atmosphere.

18 minutes ago, we_gotta_believe said:

One other negative you can list on Jordan vs LeBron is the advent of zone defenses due to the rule change after he retired. He even admitted his numbers wouldn't have been nearly as good if he had to face zone as much as teams play it now.

They could also hand check Jordan. 

 

14 minutes ago, just relax said:

Heathrow is the absolute worst.

Never been but I cant imagine much worse than Rome

4 minutes ago, we_gotta_believe said:

Never flown southwest and it's been over a decade since I've flown spirit but they were absolute dogshit back then. I refuse to set foot on their planes now, regardless of how cheap the fares might be. 

I've flown SW a fair bit. I never found it to be terrible.  BUT... I also flew direct... PHL to PHX and always with a carryon only... and paid the extra bit to load first on the plane.

 

I had it worked out so that the plane touched down, came to the gate and as soon as the door opened, I was out and gone.    That was nice.    Flying American recently, they always have first class as part of the flight and so no matter what you do, other than pay that premium... you are waiting on the plane.

13 minutes ago, paco said:

 

Yup and Yup.  Also, NEVER connect in Philly

I just did that.  Not a great airport, minimal accomodations, weird layout.

3 minutes ago, Mike31mt said:

They could also hand check Jordan. 

They also played aggressive and physical defense back then.  Most of those personal fouls would be considered flagrant 2's these days 🤣

10 minutes ago, EricAllenPick6 said:

I also hate Washington Dulles.  The "mobile lounges" that they make people take between terminals is so unbelievably lame.  

 

Do they still have those people movers?  It's been probably a decade since I've flown there but they did have that new train up and running.

8 minutes ago, EricAllenPick6 said:

Newark International Airport.  I absolutely hate Newark.

Don't think I've flown into and out of LAX many times, maybe just 2-3?  I don't have anything negative to say about that.

I also hate Washington Dulles.  The "mobile lounges" that they make people take between terminals is so unbelievably lame.  

 

Newark is the worst I've ever seen.  My wife and I connected through there and I laughed when I saw a single-file lineup of 250+ people against the wall trying to check in.  I said to my wife "thank God that's not our line."  Little did I know, every line was like that.  The employees there not only don't give a crap, but they're rude to the point you want to punch them.  No signage, no directions -- we had to get a fellow traveler to tell us where our gate was to connect.  

There are many many other complaints I could list, but I don't like to complain.... 

SEA-TAC also sucks.  Only time I've ever been bumped from a flight, and I almost had security called on me.  Good thing I don't like to complain.

11 minutes ago, we_gotta_believe said:

Never flown southwest and it's been over a decade since I've flown spirit but they were absolute dogshit back then. I refuse to set foot on their planes now, regardless of how cheap the fares might be. 

I once got a rash after flying Southwest.  I'm pretty sure most of the people that fly it have flees.  

 

They are also notorious for taking safety shortcuts.

7 minutes ago, Mike31mt said:

I just did that.  Not a great airport, minimal accomodations, weird layout.

It feels like it's an old airport that just kept expanding without a real plan.

 

DIA on the other hand was planned out well.  You can connect quickly even when going to different terminals thanks to the moving walkways and a frequent train. They can literally add two more terminals and double the runways with almost no additional congestion.  And one nice touch is they space the terminals out far enough so planes at opposite terminals can back out simultaneously.  Compare that to ORD, if one plane backs out from it's gate it causes pretty much every plane in that terminal and the adjacent one to wait.

1 hour ago, vikas83 said:

There are 4 players with legitimate GOAT claims in NBA history, IMO. In chronological order: Wilt, Kareem, Jordan and LeBron. And no Lebron haters, I really don't want to hear it. Just deal with it.

Wilt -- just the greatest statistical monster of all time. His clear negative is he didn't win enough and couldn't beat the Celtics. 

Kareem -- I feel like he gets overlooked, but once again a stat monster who won MVPs and championships. The negatives are (i) his numbers are somewhat due to longevity and (ii) his championships in the 80s came on a stacked team with another all-time top 10 (Magic). 

Jordan -- greatest scorer in NBA history, great defender, and 6-0 in NBA finals. Dominated the league. But there are 2 serious negatives (i) the 1993-1994 Bulls won 3 fewer games after he retired a week before training camp and made game 7 of the EC Semis and (ii) Jordan never faced tough competition due to expansion watering down the league (he faced one finals open with 3 HOF players, and that was the 1991 Lakers where Magic had HIV, Divac was a bench player and Worthy was hurt).

LeBron -- the greatest all around player statically (points, rebounds, assists). 10 finals appearances. Faced super teams in 8 of them.  Negatives -- he lost to the one of the non super team he faced (2011 Mavs), 4-6 overall finals record.

I guess you can include Russell too, but I don't. There's really not a wrong answer among those 4.

Good post except you didn't mention the biggest negative for LeBron.  Being responsible for the "player empowerment era" of players jumping to contenders in their prime to stack easy/worthless rings.  Made a total mockery of the league for almost a decade.

3 minutes ago, paco said:

It feels like it's an old airport that just kept expanding without a real plan.

 

DIA on the other hand was planned out well.  You can connect quickly even when going to different terminals thanks to the moving walkways and a frequent train. They can literally add two more terminals and double the runways with almost no additional congestion.  And one nice touch is they space the terminals out far enough so planes at opposite terminals can back out simultaneously.  Compare that to ORD, if one plane backs out from it's gate it causes pretty much every plane in that terminal and the adjacent one to wait.

Most shocking one for me was Detroit -- actually a nice airport. And the Delta lounge was new and awesome. Got stuck there with a delay, and it was workable.

They really have this statue of the Immaculate Reception in the Pittsburgh airport.

 

I joke that there is a similar one in Oakland with the ball touching the ground.

4 minutes ago, vikas83 said:

Most shocking one for me was Detroit -- actually a nice airport. And the Delta lounge was new and awesome. Got stuck there with a delay, and it was workable.

Oh yeah, I like Detroit a lot.  It's been a while though, I think Northwest Airlines was still a thing when I last flew there.

1 minute ago, Connecticut Eagle said:

The really have this statue of the Immaculate Reception in the Pittsburgh airport.

 

I joke that there is a similar one in Oakland with the ball touching the ground.

Pittsburgh may be one of the most depressing airports I've ever been to.  Its basically a big cross and I feel like last time there two of the four terminals were basically abandoned.  It's also not convenient at all to get to the city to\from there.

 

 

Oakland is actually a decent airport.  They have a really good track record for on time flights.  I'll have to see if I can find the picture of my buddy and his seat mate James Hetfield flying into Oakland.  (Afterward it turns out I parked about 2 card down from him and he gave us a "Are you f'n stalking me" look  )

1 hour ago, vikas83 said:

There are 4 players with legitimate GOAT claims in NBA history, IMO. In chronological order: Wilt, Kareem, Jordan and LeBron. And no Lebron haters, I really don't want to hear it. Just deal with it.

Wilt -- just the greatest statistical monster of all time. His clear negative is he didn't win enough and couldn't beat the Celtics. 

Kareem -- I feel like he gets overlooked, but once again a stat monster who won MVPs and championships. The negatives are (i) his numbers are somewhat due to longevity and (ii) his championships in the 80s came on a stacked team with another all-time top 10 (Magic). 

Jordan -- greatest scorer in NBA history, great defender, and 6-0 in NBA finals. Dominated the league. But there are 2 serious negatives (i) the 1993-1994 Bulls won 3 fewer games after he retired a week before training camp and made game 7 of the EC Semis and (ii) Jordan never faced tough competition due to expansion watering down the league (he faced one finals open with 3 HOF players, and that was the 1991 Lakers where Magic had HIV, Divac was a bench player and Worthy was hurt).

LeBron -- the greatest all around player statically (points, rebounds, assists). 10 finals appearances. Faced super teams in 8 of them.  Negatives -- he lost to the one of the non super team he faced (2011 Mavs), 4-6 overall finals record.

I guess you can include Russell too, but I don't. There's really not a wrong answer among those 4.

As a lifelong Utah Jazz fan I can say a lot of bad things about Jordan on and off the court and I can also say he was a really good player.

As with stars now the league back then let the " stars" get away with a lot on the court,and as Jordan was the biggest star the league let him get away with the most.

So eff Jordan.

44 minutes ago, bpac55 said:

 

Meanwhile RTK is sitting there like I hate that f'ing song

1 minute ago, Diehardfan said:

Meanwhile RTK is sitting there like I hate that f'ing song

Dear Blog.  Please do not create a RTK cutout that we peel a section off for every Phillies win.

15 minutes ago, Arsenal79 said:

Good post except you didn't mention the biggest negative for LeBron.  Being responsible for the "player empowerment era" of players jumping to contenders in their prime to stack easy/worthless rings.  Made a total mockery of the league for almost a decade.

That's a function of the CBA and the max salary. When peak LeBron can only be paid the same as Mike Conley Jr., then the best players in the league are the most valuable assets by far because they are comically underpaid on a relative basis. LeBron was smart enough to realize that he was the most valuable asset in the game, but it didn't start with him. The Celtics and Lakers both took advantage in the 2008-2010 timeframe. 

The max contract is a debacle.

1 hour ago, vikas83 said:

There are 4 players with legitimate GOAT claims in NBA history, IMO. In chronological order: Wilt, Kareem, Jordan and LeBron. And no Lebron haters, I really don't want to hear it. Just deal with it.

Wilt -- just the greatest statistical monster of all time. His clear negative is he didn't win enough and couldn't beat the Celtics. 

Kareem -- I feel like he gets overlooked, but once again a stat monster who won MVPs and championships. The negatives are (i) his numbers are somewhat due to longevity and (ii) his championships in the 80s came on a stacked team with another all-time top 10 (Magic). 

Jordan -- greatest scorer in NBA history, great defender, and 6-0 in NBA finals. Dominated the league. But there are 2 serious negatives (i) the 1993-1994 Bulls won 3 fewer games after he retired a week before training camp and made game 7 of the EC Semis and (ii) Jordan never faced tough competition due to expansion watering down the league (he faced one finals open with 3 HOF players, and that was the 1991 Lakers where Magic had HIV, Divac was a bench player and Worthy was hurt).

LeBron -- the greatest all around player statically (points, rebounds, assists). 10 finals appearances. Faced super teams in 8 of them.  Negatives -- he lost to the one of the non super team he faced (2011 Mavs), 4-6 overall finals record.

I guess you can include Russell too, but I don't. There's really not a wrong answer among those 4.

You can say Lebron faced a bunch of super teams but he also had those same super teams many times.

Not a knock on the guy.  I think he's #2 all time.  But he may have faced better competition in the Finals but he's also played with more all stars and hall of famers than anyone.

2 minutes ago, Utebird said:

As a lifelong Utah Jazz fan I can say a lot of bad things about Jordan on and off the court and I can also say he was a really good player.

As with stars now the league back then let the " stars" get away with a lot on the court,and as Jordan was the biggest star the league let him get away with the most.

So eff Jordan.

Yeah but no one's perfect. I always felt that the extremely elite and those obsessed with winning in a field at all costs had a little sociopath in them. I see it in pro athletes and billionaire execs and such. Just a little bit off. That type of focus requires some social nastiness for relationships and when engaging with others.

3 minutes ago, vikas83 said:

That's a function of the CBA and the max salary. When peak LeBron can only be paid the same as Mike Conley Jr., then the best players in the league are the most valuable assets by far because they are comically underpaid on a relative basis. LeBron was smart enough to realize that he was the most valuable asset in the game, but it didn't start with him. The Celtics and Lakers both took advantage in the 2008-2010 timeframe. 

The max contract is a debacle.

So while I am pretty fluent in the NFL cap, I really struggle with NBA cap, so apologies if this take is foolish:

 

I feel like because of what you just stated, a side effect is superstars like Lebron getting either small contracts time wise (2-3 years) or player opt out clauses very early making that 5 year contract really a 1-3 year one so they can bump up their $$$.

Just now, 315Eagles said:

You can say Lebron faced a bunch of super teams but he also had those same super teams many times.

Not a knock on the guy.  I think he's #2 all time.  But he may have faced better competition in the Finals but he's also played with more all stars and hall of famers than anyone.

Don't disagree, but he was an underdog in most of those finals for a reason. He was playing teams with 3+ hall of famers pretty much every time. 

And Michael won his last three with 2 other hall of famers (first three with Scotty, who is a top 75 all-time), and never won a finals where he didn't have the better team and betting favorite. 

Honestly, I'm always shocked Wilt doesn't get more consideration. I never saw him play, but off the numbers...wow.