The 2007 ArmchairGM Fifty -- 11 through 20

#11: Brett Favre

In Ball Four, Jim Bouton comes in with a great quote: "[y]ou spend a good piece of your life gripping a baseball, and in the end it turns out that it was the other way around all the time."

Turn "baseball" into "football", and you have Brett Favre.

The iconoclastic passer for the Green Bay Packers turns every February into Retirement Watch. He unintentionally holds not only the state of Wisconsin hostage, but also the NFL, who will certainly treat his last official season with the unofficial pomp and circumstance that others typicall receive.

But for now, and possibly forever, Favre serves as a gentle reminder that the game is more powerful than fans realize -- that it traps you in and never lets go.

#12: Bob Bowman

As President and CEO of MLB Advanced Media, Bowman and his team runs MLB.tv, the first-of-its-kind sports video-to-internet service. In 2006, MLB.tv had over 1.3 million subscribers -- at about $40+ a pop. Combine that with MLB's fantasy sports games and e-commerce site, and MLBAM is a business in and of itself.

MLB owners pool internet-based revenue, so Bowman's successes are leading to greater parity amongst teams. While $100m in annual revenue (split 30 ways) gets your a decent middle-reliever, in ten years, it may get you a Hall of Famer.

And MLBAM's advances have made the rest of the sports world react. CBS -- with the assistance of MLBAM -- live-streamed March Madness games two years running.

#13: Jason McElwain

It was the stuff of Hollywood, but it was real.

A 17-year-old senior at Greece Athena High School in New Jersey, McElwain made a record six three-pointers in the final minutes of his last game. He scored 20 points in less than a quarter of basketball.

So, what’s the big deal, you may be wondering? Simple. Jason is autistic, and prior to that night, he’d never seen a minute on the court in a real game; he was the team manager.

Coach Jim Johnson felt that it would be a fitting show of gratitude to put McElwain in the final home game of the 2005-2006 season, as long as the team was ahead by several points. When Greece Athena had a comfortable lead late in the game, the coach put McElwain in the game. His appearance on the court elicited a deafening cheer from the supportive home crowd.

McElwain's first three-point attempt was an airball; followed by a missed layup. However, within a four minute period at the end of the game, McElwain seemingly entered "The Zone", redeeming himself in spectacular fashion by scoring one two-pointer and six three-pointers. His last three-pointer was the final shot of the game, and as the final buzzer sounded, the crowd erupted with wild jubilation, stormed the court, and swarmed around him as his teammates lifted him up onto their shoulders.

#14: Mel Kiper Jr.

The NFL Draft is a sports media firestorm, with mock drafts starting the day after the BCS title game, and continuing for almost four months. For this period, there's no one more important in sports media than the man and the hair of Mel Kiper Jr..

In college, Kiper started his niche-expertise business as a side-project, devouring as much information about the draft and prospects as possible. He's never played organized football at any level (high school or beyond), and in the words of former Colts GM Bill Tobin, "no more credentials to do what he's doing [. . .] than a postman."

Nevertheless, Kiper is the industry leader when it comes to NFL Draft opinions. Like other experts, he's not nearly as accurate as his reputation would suggest; however, he's bold, unapologetic, and more accurate than a cynic would beleive. What he says matters when it comes to the draft, and the NFL Draft matters a ton. That is influence.

#15: Tom Brady

Tom Brady is poster boy of the NFL. From his first practice at the University of Michigan, all people did was find problems with him. First, it was Brian Griese who started ahead of him, after finally getting his life in order for his senior year. Then, it was the fan favorite, Drew Henson, who split the duty with him, but got most of the time over Brady. Any time Brady went onto the field, everyone booed.

Then, he went pro, where he was "too slow... too skinny... too weak of an arm..." to play in the NFL. Long story short, he shows up to training camp, tells New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft he is ready to start immediately, and his coach, Bill Belichick tells him to work his butt of to get better. He gets stronger, faster, and his arm got better. The starter, Drew Bledsoe, goes down injured, and Brady carries them to a Super Bowl championship as a rookie. Now, Brady has 2 Super Bowl MVP's, 3 Super Bowl rings, and is the poster boy for the NFL. Henson is stuck as the Minnesota Vikings 3rd string QB.

#16: Fernando Alonso

Fernando Alonso made his Formula One breakthrough with the perennially back of the grid Minardi team. He nonetheless impressed, and went to Renault.

In 2003, he won the Hungarian Grand Prix, and became the youngest ever driver to win a Grand Prix.

Two years later, at the age of 24, Alonso became the youngest Formula One World Champion ever, surpassing Emerson Fittipaldi's win in 1972. His title fight with Kimi Raikkonen of McLaren was compelling - his car was not as good as the McLaren, but the Renault won the day on reliability. Nonetheless, he chose to sign a contract with McLaren for 2007.

In 2006, he was again in the hunt to win the World Championship along with Michael Schumacher of Ferrari. Schumacher was a 7 time World Champion, and the most famous face in the sport, if not the most reviered. Alonso was more than 20 points ahead after the 2006 United States Grand Prix, but at that moment, the Ferrari became the better car. Alonso's lead was whittled down to none after the 2006 Chinese Grand Prix, with just two races left. An engine failure for Schumacher in Japan, the penultimate race of the season, left Alonso in the driving seat. He duly won the race, to mean he needed just 8th in the last race of the season in Brazil to be World Champion. Despite a great drive from Schumacher after a puncture sent him to the back of the grid, Alonso finished 3rd to secure his second World Championship. He had taken on the most successful driver ever, and won.

Alonso is a sporting icon in Formula One circles, and he has revolutionised interest in the sport in his home country of Spain. In 2007, he is now driving with McLaren, where he is currently in a three way tie for the lead of the World Championship.

#17: Mark Cuban

The owner of the Dallas Mavericks would have made this list in the past simply for his irreverent style of ownership -- the "fan-first" type who travels to road games, berates officials, and is very hands-on when it comes to, literally, "his" team.

But that was very 2004.

Instead, Cuban makes this list because every fan of the Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Penguins wishes that the rumors swirling around Cuban-as-owner of their team came to fruition. Cuban -- via his successes with the erstwhile losers in Dallas -- has become synonymous with "hope" for the downtrodden professional sports team.

Maybe, one day, Cuban will actually buy another team, and hope to rekindle a wasteland of sports talent, returning a team like the Minnesota Vikings to the glory they once knew. Until then, we're left to wait and see what the Midas Owner will do next.

#18: Joey Crawford

It's true that fans treat refs like children -- we think they should be seen, and not heard. We don't want them affecting the outcome of a game, and we definitely do not want them taking their personal feelings onto the field or court with them.

Crawford, by most accounts, is an excellent ref. However, On April 15, 2007, he ejected San Antonio Spurs center Tim Duncan for -- get this -- laughing. Duncan alleges that Crawford challenged him to a fight on the court as well.

Crawford was suspended two days later for "fail[ing] to meet the standards of professionalism and game management [required] of NBA referees." In doing so, he became the example fans will forevermore point to

#19: Tiger Woods

Honestly, does this one really even need a write-up?

With the announcement "Hello World," Eldrick Woods first teed it up as a PGA Tour pro in 1996... and the sports world hasn't been the same since. Forget Woods' on-course accomplishments (of which there will eventually be enough to justify calling him the GOAT); Tiger's off-course impact has been nothing short of monumental. Who else could make golf tournaments (and not just Major Championships) must-watch TV? Who else could draw significantly more fans to the course any given weekend, simply by playing? Who else could radically influence the design of golf courses that had stood intact for decades? Who else could convince an entire generation of minorities and young people to grab a set of clubs and start playing a game that was, before his arrival, all but synonymous with old, affluent, white men? And in a sports world where so many talk the talk but fail to walk the walk, who else could be a legitimate role model to so many, through programs like his eponymous Foundation and The Tiger Woods Learning Center? Believe it or not, he even impacts the stock market when he plays! What other athlete can say that?

By itself, Woods' extraordinary victory at the 1997 Masters would have made him one of the most influential athletes of all time, but Woods didn't stop there. 10 years later, Tiger's legacy has not only been his high standard of play, but also the way he has reshaped the landscape of sports: Can a golfer be the greatest athlete in the world? Before Tiger, that question was laughable. Now, it's not only conceivable, but true. Can minorities succeed in sports traditionally dominated by old white guys? Again, unthinkable until Tiger came along. And that's not even factoring in his charity work and his endorsement empire... It's pretty simple, really: Tiger Woods is easily one of the most influential people on earth -- sports or otherwise.

#20: Bryant Gumbel

Bryant Gumbel made his name as an anchor on the Today. Since leaving there he stared in his own HBO series, with a focus on sports. Over the past summer, the NFL Network thought it would be a good idea to bring Gumbel into the booth. Let him be the play-by-play man for the NFL Networks games. Before he could do that, he had a few words of advice for new commissioner Roger Goodell.

At the beginning of the 2007 football season, Bryant Gumbel thought it fair to remind Commissioner Goodell to ask former commissioner Paul Taglibue where he kept his leash for players union representative Gene Upshaw. Of course this generated a small fire storm, as Gumbel's remarks carried racial implications, and coming from what had been such a prominent and respectable source.

However, the firestorm would soon be forgotten when Bryant Gumbel took to the booth for his first NFL Network game, and the reviews of his performance were horrible. Instead of being remembered for his radical comments to begin the season, he will be remembered for his inability to perform in the booth.