What if???????

[MacGuyV]

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Ali wasn't forced out of boxing for refusing the draft.


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It seems very possible his legend would not be as large.

Ali was forced out of boxing when his skills were at their peak. But, it also gave him resting years. So, when he went up against Frazier and Foreman, his body hadn't taken the beating it otherwise would have.

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What if the judges had correctly ruled he lost to Ken Norton Sr. 2 out of 3 times?

[MacGuyV]

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Bottom line, both series were won on the road in 6. Jordan has a funny thing about the bottom line. It's funny how all of these teams frequently weren't able to "show up" until after the Bulls had already put them deep in a hole. See the Sonics for another example.

The 94 team was a Hugh Hollins call away from likely playing Houston instead of the Knicks (who pushed Houston to 7 games). Pretty clear that adding Jordan to that team stomps everyone. Heck, they wouldacouldashoulda won without him.

95 team had a guy who hadn't played in 2 years and no power forward. With just one year back under his belt they annihilated an Orlando team in 96 that by all rights might've been better than the one they lost to in 95.

99 was a horribly down NBA year. Even though older the Bulls still likely win the East that year and only a fool would bet against Jordan in the finals.

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This sums it up pretty well. Tug, you might be right that the '96 team wouldn't have dominated as much as it did, but any argument that they wouldn't have won at least 8 in a row is pretty lame.

[MacGuyV]

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What if Drew Bledsoe never gets hurt?

Does Brady unseat him?do they go to the playoffs? Does Bledsoe get cut after the season?

Does Brady ever become "Tom Brady"? Bledsoe didn't exactly fall into obscurity after that season...he's been a solid starter on two different teams since.

Same goes for Kurt Warner....what if Trent Green never gets hurt?

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What if Bledsoe doesn't "complete" a 9 yard pass to Sean Jefferson out of bounds on 4th&10 for a "1st down" in 1998 vs. Buffalo or Vinny's helmet doesn't cross the goaline that same year vs. Seattle. Seattle makes the playoffs that year instead of New England. More importantly, instant replay doesn't get reinstated, there is no Tuck rule, somebody else (Rams?) win the SB in 2001, Warner & Faulk are even bigger legends, Brady much less so.

What if the Dallas OLman were called for an obvious hold vs. KC last December on the gamewinning TD? Pittsburgh doesn't make the playoffs.

What if the 1st half of the homerun throwback game wasn't officiated more 1sided than the USA-USSR '72 Gold medal game.

[Sykes]

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Giambi slides vs the Yankees.


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He's safe and the A's win the series?


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Jordan is drafted by Portland


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still finds a way to dominate.

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Eck strikes out Gibson in 88


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A's win the series obv.

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Leinart doesnt get "pushed in" vs Notre Dame


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they still would have played texas.

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Gretzky isnt traded.


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Oilers become a dynasty and Gretzky's status climbs to mythical.

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Norwood makes the kick


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maybe a bills dynasty, maybe 2 straight after that.

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Gary Anderson makes the FG vs the Falcons in 1998


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Vikings win the Superbowl then.

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Earnhardt doesnt hit the wall

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he lives obv. obv obv obv.

[gusmahler]

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Lemieux's back and health held up.

Bobby Orr's knees held up.

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Gretzky is possibly demoted to the third best player in NHL

history.

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If you "what if" Lemiuex and Orr, don't you have to "what if" Gretzky? He had a back injury in 90 that limited his mobility and he wasn't the same goal scorer again (though he still led the league in assists several times.

[mrbaseball]

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If you "what if" Lemiuex and Orr, don't you have to "what if" Gretzky? He had a back injury in 90 that limited his mobility and he wasn't the same goal scorer again (though he still led the league in assists several times

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What if Gretzky played in the old 6 team league without all the hockey talent in the world diluted by way of all of the expansion teams? I've always wondered this and I expect he would have just been another very good hockey player.