The Seven Wonders of the Sports World Today

Yesterday, the local Los Angeles ESPN Radio guys got into a discussion about the "Seven Wonders of the World". Apparently, someone is compiling a new list of them, and it got the guys thinking: if there were a Seven Wonders of the Sports World today, who would they be?

Requirements: athlete must be currently active in his/her sport.

1. MICHAEL PHELPS - The most dominant swimmer in Olympic history. There really is no argument here.

2. USAIN BOLT - Did you see this guy run in Beijing? Unreal. The fastest man in the world, and it wasn't even close.

3. ROGER FEDERER - With his most recent Wimbeldon win, now has a career grand slam and has won more major championships than any tennis player in history....and he's nowhere close to being done.

4. TIGER WOODS - Do I even need to comment on this one? I didn't think so.

5. LEBRON JAMES - "The King" may not have a ring yet, but it's simply a matter of time. I give him the nod over Kobe Bryant because in my opinion, if you put Kobe with the Cavaliers, they wouldn't be as successful as Cleveland was this year, and if you put LeBron with the Lakers, they may have been the greatest NBA team ever.

6. ALBERT PUJOLS - As much as I dislike the guy for being a St. Louis Cardinal, I still respect him for what he's done, and what he'll continue to do for a long time. Only way he finds his way off this list is if his name appears on another list: players who test positive for performance enhancing drugs.

7. PEYTON MANNING - Many people would go with Tom Brady on this one, but Brady is coming off of an entire season lost due to injury, so the jury's still out on how he'll bounce back. Peyton Manning may be just past his prime, but he's still the most prepared, hardest-working quarterback in the NFL.

Anyone think somebody on this list should be removed in favor of another athlete? Let me know!

If I Were Creating a 25-man Baseball Roster...

This topic was presented on ESPN Radio a few days ago and it got me thinking. If I had to build a 25-man roster of guys who could produce for the next several years, here are the players I would choose along with their 2009 salaries:

Catcher: Joe Mauer ($10.5M)
First Base: Lance Berkman ($14.5M)
Second Base: Dustin Pedroia ($1.5M)
Shortstop: Hanley Ramirez ($5.5M)
Third Base: Evan Longoria ($0.55M)
Left Field: Ryan Braun ($0.745M)
Center Field: Torii Hunter ($17.5M)
Right Field: Hunter Pence ($0.439M)

Bench: Albert Pujols ($16M)
Bench: Chase Utley ($11M)
Bench: Jimmy Rollins ($7.5M)
Bench: Kevin Youkilis ($6M)
Bench: Victor Martinez ($5.7M)
Bench: Justin Morneau ($10.6M)
Bench: Carl Crawford ($8.25M)

Starting Pitcher: Roy Oswalt ($14M)
Starting Pitcher: Roy Halladay ($14.25M)
Starting Pitcher: Tim Lincecum ($0.65M)
Starting Pitcher: Josh Beckett ($10.5M)
Starting Pitcher: Clayton Kershaw ($0.404M)
Relief Pitcher: Joba Chamberlain ($0.432M)
Relief Pitcher: Joe Nathan ($11.25M)
Relief Pitcher: Brian Fuentes ($8.5M)
Relief Pitcher: Jonathan Broxton ($1.825M)
Relief Pitcher: Jonathan Papelbon ($6.25M)

Manager: Terry Francona

Total Team Payroll (minus manager): A cool $184,345,000

Hey, at least it's $17M less than this year's Yankees payroll!