Dreams May Come

Over the past couple of months, a couple of "dream match ups," previously thought of as impossible, became realities. Manny Pacquiao and Oscar de la Hoya sealed the deal and will fight later this year, while American pros like Walter Ray WIlliams Jr. and Tommy Jones were finally able to bowl in the Bowling Men's World Championships. This got me to thinking about "dream sports match ups," and while some will be impossible to arrange, it was still nice to consider them. Here are just some of the "dream match ups" I thought out:

Basketball - Dream Team 1 (then) versus the rest of the world (now)

People keep talking about matching up the original Dream Team (Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan and Larry Bird) with this year's Redeem Team (Kobe Bryant, Lebron James and Dwayne Wade), but I think the better way to compare them would be to see if the original Dream Team can still win the Olympic Medal with the much-improved international teams. People keep claiming that the U.S. simply could not dominate anymore because all the other countries have improved, and that claim would be answered if the original Dream Team could play in the Beijing Olympics. (Runner-Up: 1993 Chicago Bulls vs the 1994 Rockets)

Bowling - Walter Ray Williams Jr. versus Rafael "Paeng" Nepomuceno

Williams, with the most Professional Bowling titles in history, was finally able to compete in the World Championships in Thailand this year. However, Paeng shied away from joining the team this year. It would be great to see them on a one on one match on wooden and synthetic lanes, with different lane conditions. The greatest pro bowler vs the greatest amateur bowler in history. What's not to love? (Runner-Up: Dick Webber versus Pete Webber)

Basketball - Grand Slam Crispa Teams versus Grand Slam San Miguel Team versus Grand Slam Alaska Team

Each team boasts of the fact that no other team could beat them in a whole season. It would be great to see which team would beat which. A mini-tournament featuring the four teams would be sight to watch. Imagine the match ups of Johnny A vs Bernie Fabiosa or Hector Calma, Atoy Co vs Ricky Brown or Jojo Lastimosa and Philip Cezar vs Ramon Fernandez or Bong Hawkins. Araneta wouldn't be big enough to fit the amount of people who want to watch this one. (NCC National Team versus the 2007 PBA National Team)

Boxing - George Foreman versus Mike Tyson

This dream match between tremendously powerful sluggers would have been possible were it not for Mike Tyson's trouble-making ways. This won't be a pretty fight, but it sure would be a great one to watch. A knock out is almost guaranteed as neither would rely on sticking and jabbing or other pretty boy stuff like that. (Runner-up: Manny Pacquiao vs. Roberto Duran or Oscar de la Hoya vs. Marvin Hagler)

MMA - Anderson Silva versus Royce Gracie

Silva has been named MMA's best pound-for-pound fighter ,while Gracie has been widely-regarded as the sports greatest ever. The spider-like smooth moves of Silva, combined with his scary knock-out power, would be put to test against the tough, patient and crafty Gracie. Whether the fight ends with a knockout by Silva or a submission by Gracie, the fight will surely be a dandy. (Runner-up: Brock Lesnar versus Dan "the Beast" Severn or Ken Shamrock vs Frank Shamrock)

Pro Wrestling - The Rockers vs The Hardys

While pro wrestling can always bring the old guys back, this match up seems to be only possible as a dream match up since Marty Jannety is nowhere to be found. These two teams revolutionized the Tag Team genre and their high-flying antics would surely be entertaining, no matter how fake wrestling is. In fact, the only match better than this would be these four guys in a Tag Team Ladder Match. If only Vince McMahon read my blog... (Runner-up: Undertaker versus Rick Flair)

Of course, these are only dream match ups that I want to see. Place your comments if you have other dream match ups. I would love to read about them.