Even on a gimpy hamstring, M.S. Dhoni, India’s greatest cricket captain and perhaps the best ODI player in the world, put the team on his back when he needed to. Almost every time he stepped up to bat, all the broadcasters showered him with compliments; how if they could pick anyone on the planet to hit in clutch moments, they would easily pick Dhoni.

It was difficult for people to see India winning after such a collapse. After bowling out Sri Lanka for 201, India was in prime position to claim victory in the Tri-Nation Finals. But after a hot start, they cooled off; soon they went from being 139-3 to 152-7 with just 12 overs to play.

Sri Lanka’s bowling - especially the work of bowler Rangana Herath, who gave up only 20 runs, while taking four wickets - was exceptional and they knew how to use a muddy pitch to their advantage. Left with just two wickets left, their injured captain and Vinay Kumar at bat, Dhoni, like a general watching his troops get murdered, had to adjust his strategy on the fly. India played defensively, biding their time to hit only singles and balls that would give Dhoni a chance to hit a few strong strikes that could help India chase Sri Lanka’s score.

After seeing Kumar defend well against the Sri Lankan bowling, Dhoni hit a single to give him a chance to hit a boundary and score some runs. Instead, Kumar hit a high arcing ball that fell into the hands of Angelo Mathews and give Sri Lanka their ninth wicket. 19 balls, one wicket from defeat, and 18 runs needed. But Dhoni, cool and collected as ever, stayed composed.

Like Tom Brady and the Patriots running down the clock until the two-minute warning, India would play defensively - only scoring two runs for the next 13 balls. Yet, despite the clock ticking, Dhoni showed no emotion - save for a near running miscue by the overly giddy Ishant Sharma in which the Indian captain gave him a tongue lashing. Soon at 187-9, the game went to Dhoni’s favorite over of a cricket game: the last one and he was up to bat.

After whiffing on the first ball, Dhoni came back with a vengeance to smash a high arcing six off Shaminda Eranga. The 15 runs needed in five balls became nine runs in four balls. Like the Terminator, Dhoni showed no emotion after this hit. He instead delivered with another four, making it fives runs in three balls. Still no emotion from Dhoni. He absolutely destroyed the next ball for a six, giving India the victory. Game, set, match.

Yes; during all the chaos in the final overs and Indian batsmen losing their wickets, Dhoni was the constant; the captain with ice water in his veins. One thing for sure, with M.S. Dhoni leading the charge, you can never count out him or the Indian cricket team.

The Most Dominant Athlete

People usually associate the above title with LeBron James. But it’s not him. Nor is it Peyton Manning. Hell, it’s not Novak Djokovic. It’s Joey Chestnut: my favorite American hero.

Never heard of him? He is, as of today, the seven-time consecutive champion of Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest, as well as the world record holder of most hot dogs eaten in 12 minutes. To put that into perspective, that is the equivalent of someone in the NFL winning MVP seven times in a row. It’s unprecedented dominance. The only other guy in sports that has even as close as a dominant run as Chestnut is Rafael Nadal at the French Open. But even that is only in one of the four Grand Slams.

Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating contest is the Super Bowl of competitive eating. For the last seven years, Joey Chestnut has won the world’s most famous eating competition. To top it off, he has continually set records that he has topped consistently: his latest one being 69 hot dogs in ten minutes. That is ridiculous.

It’s not just a feat of some incredibly overweight man. Competitive eating requires a ridiculous amount of endurance and extremely powerful stomach muscles. Many eaters, like Chestnut, fast and conversely consume an insane amount of milk, water, and protein. Chestnut, in particular, weighs anywhere from 210-225 pounds, a bit heavy for his 6”1 height, but also engages in long amounts of cardiovascular activity and aerobic activity every week, in order to keep his heart strong throughout the ridiculous amounts of food that he eats. Doesn’t sound easy any more, does it?

In a sports world where titans can be brought down to earth in a fleeting moment and where champions can quickly become losers, it is clear that in the world of competitive eating, it has been Chestnut’s era for a while. Now all we need to do is have Indians start our own eating competition. Let’s see how much thiar saadam Joey Chestnut can eat in 10 minutes. I’m sure I have a relative somewhere that can challenge him.

The Dominance of Losing

While in sports there are dominant runs made by champions, sometimes dominance comes in its most unexpected form: a dominant run of mediocrity.

In just about the very first case ever of an obituary going viral, Scott E. Entsminger of Ohio, and lifelong fan, as well as season ticket holder, of the Cleveland Browns requested six Cleveland Browns pallbearers to lower his body into his casket so that “the Browns can let me down one last time.” Although it may come off as a cheap joke, the worst team to support in the last ten years has been the Cleveland Browns (except for perhaps the Oakland Raiders). Let’s take a look at their recent dynasty of mediocrity.

Ten years ago, the year was 2003 and the Browns were coming off a 9-7 season, taking the vaunted rival Pittsburgh Steelers to overtime in an AFC Wild Card game. The only place to go was up. Alas; in a pattern that would ultimately become familiar for fans of the Browns, they only went down.

That same year, the Browns, having drafted in a low, but still good enough spot, selected Jeff Faine, a center out of Notre Dame. Unfortunately for Cleveland, by picking him, they missed out on future good NFL players, such as Nnamdi Asomugha (before he fell off), Willis McGahee, Lance Briggs, and Dallas Clark.  Cleveland disappointed their fans that year, going only only 5-11.

This soon became familiar territory for the Browns, going 4-12, 6-10, and 4-12 in consecutive years. 14-34. Not to mention, drafting talented but underperforming players like Kellen Winslow II, Braylon Edwards, and even trading their 2006 first round pick. Did I mention that they missed out on future franchise stalwarts like Vince Wilfork, Ben Roethlisberger, Aaron Rodgers, and DeMarcus Ware? And how about the pick they traded Baltimore in 2006 eventually becoming Haloti Ngata? If a god exists, he hates Cleveland.

2007, however seemed to be the light at the end of the tunnel for tortured Browns fans. Derek Anderson, a former nobody, rose from out of nowhere to overtake other first round pick, Brady Quinn, as their starter. Cleveland’s newly drafted left tackle, Joe Thomas, started his strong career off to a great start.  Their previous underperformers, Edwards and Winslow, started to show glimpses of potential. Though their defense still had many patches to fix, the Browns started to create something that looked to be an elite offense, finishing at No. 8 in points scored per game.. They ended up with a shockingly good record of 10-6 - just having missed the playoffs.

Then it all fell down again. Just like that, Anderson collected his 20 million dollar contract, and fell off in 2008, having suffered a concussion in a preseason game. By November 3rd of that year, Anderson had lost his starting position. With a quarterback merry-go-round of Brady Quinn, Bruce Gradkowski, and Ken Dorsey, many Browns fan wondered if their main special teams kick returner, Josh Cribbs, was the best quarterback on the roster. The offense fell to No. 30 in the league, as the Browns completed another 4-12 season.

Ever since then, the Browns have finished with consistent records of 4-12 and 5-11. That level of irrelevance is simply stunning. Cleveland isn’t quite the most atrocious franchise of the last ten years and never at one point were they by far the worst team in the league; but they have always put themselves in position to lose and it’s incredible to see how they almost implore mediocrity.  

I really would like to see the Browns shock the world this year and win the AFC North. Unfortunately, precedent has shown that Cleveland fans should know that they should just assume that their team will finish somewhere around 4-12 or 6-10.  I guess Entsminger understood that. Here’s one to the dominant run of irrelevance by the bumbling, broken, but lovable Cleveland Browns.

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