The (72 and Counting) Greatest Football Moments in Candlestick History

Next year is the last for the Niners at Candlestick -the club's put together this ranking of greatest moments.

It may not surprise you that this was insufficient for me.

So - here are (as of the end of 2012) the 71 greatest NFL moments in Candlestick Park history.  I'm just ranking them chronologically, at least one per season.  


1. 11-26-1971 NFC Divisional Playoffs – d Redskins 24-20 – Our first Candlestick playoff game; we held them to under 100 passing yds. Brodie had a 78 yard TD to Washington

 

2.       9-17-72 Home Opener – d Chargers 34-3 – We opened up the following season with three TDS for Washington

3.       10-21-73 biggest Candlestick margin to that date – d Saints 40-3 – We held NO to negative passing yds. Brodie was in his final year, he went 8 of 9 for 131 and a score.

44. 11-24-74  d Falcons 27-0– We had back to back shutouts in '74; Dave Wilcox led the defense.

5.      11-16-75 d Bears 31-3 – We held Bears to under 50passing yards. Tommy Hart took back a fumble for a score.

5. 10-23-76  d Falcons 15-0 – We improved to 6-1 when we heldAtl under 50 yds total offense. Jimmy Johnson was in his final season.

7.      11-27-77 d. Saints  20-17 – Wilbur Jackson had 190 yds rushing

8.      10-1-78 d. Bengals 28-12 – OJ Simpson’s firstNiner TD

9.      10-21-79 d Falcons 20-15 – Niners were 0-7coming in. Paul Hofer scored twice.

10.  9-14-80 d. Cardinals 24-21 – My firstCandlestick football game, 11 days before my 10^th birthday, a 4^thqtr comeback and OT win. Hofer scored twice including a game tying bustout in the 4th qtr.  

11.  12-7-80 d. Saints 38-35 – biggest regular seasoncomeback in NFL history

12.  10-11-81 d. Cowboys 45-15, Cowboys 5 ptfavorite, this was the real beginning of dynasty. Fred Dean's first game.

13.  1-3-82 NFC Divisional Playoffs d NYG 38-24 – firsthome playoff game in ten years

14.  1-10-82 NFC Title d Cowboys 28-27 – The Catch

15.  We didn’t win a home game in ‘82.  A bit of a Super Bowl hangover.  

16.  11-13-83 d NO 27-0 6 Fred Dean sacks

17.  12-19-83 –last game of regular season, MondayNight d Cowboys 42-17 win NFC West, Montana 4TDS


 

18.  12-31-83 – NFC Divisional Playoffs d Lions 24-234^th quarter comeback

19.  12-8-84 d Vikings 51-7, we hang 50 on the Vikes

20.  12-29-84 NFC Divisional Playoffs d NYG 21-10

21.  1-6-85 NFC Title d Bears 23-0, shutout, 9 sackshold Bears to 37 passing yds

22.  12-22-85 need win to make playoffs, last game ofseason d Cowboys 31-16, scored last 21 points

23.  10-5-86 d Colts 35-14, 3 TDS, 172 receiving ydsfor Rice – from Jeff Kemp

24.  11-9-86 d Cards 43-17, 3 TD 156 receiving ydsfor Rice – from Montana, making his return after back surgery


 

25.  12-19-86 d. Rams 24-14, for the division title

26.  11-29-87 d Browns, Cle had second best ptdifferential in ’87, Joe threw 4 TDs, 3 to Jerry, his last TD pass to Dwight.


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27.  12-27-87 d Rams 48-0, outgained them by almost300 yds, both Joe/Steve threw for multiple TDS

28.  10-30-88 d Vikes 24-21, Young’s broken tacklerun

29.  11-21-88 – Monday night against Champs dSkins  37-21, Joe retook job, the SB rollstarted, JT 95 yd punt return


,

30.  1-1-89 – NFC Divisional Playoffs, d Vikes 34-9,revenge game, 3 Rice TD, Bill’s last Candlestick win

31.  11-27-89 Monday night, battle of 9-2 teams, dNYG 34-24, Joe 27-33 3 scores/0int

32.  1-6-90 NFC Divisional Playoffs, d Vikes again 41-13,Joe 4 TDs

33.  1-14-90 NFC Title d Rams 30-3 Joe 26-30, 2scores/0int

34.  11-18-90 d Bucs 31-7 took us to 10-0 afterwinning back to back SBs.

35.  12-3-90 d NYG Monday Night War 7-3

36.  1-12-91 NFC Divisional Playoff d Skins 28-10,Joe’s last Niner playoff win, we scored last 28.

37.  12-23-91 d Bears 52-14, there’s a future Ninerhead coach on the field, guess who it is, Don Griffin took a fumble back 99 yards.

38.  10-18-92 d Falcons 56-17, most Candlestickpoints, almost 600 total yards, Jerry 2 td receiving/1 rushing, over 200 totalyds, we then beat Atl 41-3 later in season

39.  12-28-92 Monday Night d Lions 24-6, Joe’s lastgame at Candlestick 15-21 2 scores

40.  1-9-93 NFC Division Playoffs d Skins 20-13

41.  1-15-94 NFC Division Playoffs d NYG 44-3 Wattersscored 5 TD

42.  9-5-94 Monday night season open d Raiders 44-14,Jerry scores 3 breaks all time TD record

43.  11-13-94 d Dallas 21-14,  We finally getpast the Cowboys in the regular season.

44.  11-20-94 d Rams 31-27, Jerry 16 catches/3 TD

45.  1-7-95 Divisional Playoff d Bears 44-15 3William Floyd TDs

46.  1-15-95 NFC Title d. Cowboys 38-28 21-0 first qtr leadand held on to finally beat the Cowboys

47.  12-18-95 d Vikes 37-30 – Is this Jerry Rice’sbest game?  14 catches/289 yds/3 TDs
.

48.  9-8-96 d Rams 34-0. Same ole sorry assRams.  At least for one more game.  7 sacks/2 safeties

49.  9-29-96 d Falcons.  The best game for a Niner kicker?  Jeff Wilkins’s 6 FG.

50.  12-29-96 NFC Wild Card d. Eagles 14-0, theWatters returns game, we hold him to less than 3 yds/carry

51.  12-15-97 Monday Night d Broncos 34-17, Joe gothis jersey retired, Jerry returned early from nearly season long injury andscored a TD, we went to 13-2.

52.  1-3-98 NFC Divisional Title d. Vikes 38-22,Terry Kirby 120 yds/2TD.  Terry Kirby!

53.  9-6-98 d Jets 36-30 Garrison Hearst had 187yards/2TD and a 96 yard OT TD to win it

54.  1-3-99 NFC Wild Card d. Packers 30-27Owens!  Owens! Owens! Owens!

55.  9-19-99 d Saints 28-21, Steve Young’s lastCandlestick game, Lance Schulters won game with 4^th qtr pick 6.

56.  12-17-00 d Bears 17-0, 20 balls for Owens onJerry’s last Candlestick game.

57.  11-11-01 d Saints, 28-27 4 TD passes and a 4^thqtr comeback for Garcia. Game winning TD pass to Eric Johnson, future JessicaSimpson baby daddy

58.  12-16-01 d Dolphins 21-0, battle of 9-3 teams,Niners get 6 sacks/4 turnovers, 2 of those were Zack Bronson picks.

59.  1-5-03 NFC Wild Card d. NYG 39-38, we scoredlast 25 points, Owens caught 9/177 2 TDs

60.  12-7-03 d Cards 50-14, 6 TDS for Garcia (4passing/2rushing)

61.  10-10-04 d Cards 31-28, only home win, scoredlast 19 points, Mr Jessica Simpson 13 catches/162/1TD

62.  10-30-05 d Bucs 15-10, Bucs were 5-1, 11.5 pointfavorites, Joe Nedney hit 4 40+yd FGs

63.  11-19-06 d Seahawks, 20-14 Frank Gore had 214 yds onground

64.  12-23-97 d Bucs 21-19, highlight of ’07 wasrookie Patrick Willis, here, 8 tackles, 2 sacks

65.  11-16-08 d Rams 35-16, highlight of ’08 was AndyLee, here 6 punts/311 yards

66.  9-20-09 d Seahawks 23-10, Gore 16/209/2TD

67.  11-14-10 d Rams 23-20, did Troy Smith reallythrow for 356 yards?

68.  9-11-11 d Seahawks 33-17, Ted Ginn takes back apunt and a kick for 4^th qtr scores

69.  12-19-11 A big Monday night game, like the olddays, two 10-3 teams, d Steelers 20-3, 2.5 sacks for Aldon Smith

70.  1-14-12 NFC Division Playoffs d Saints 36-32, 2    4^th qtr comebacks

71.  11-19-12 Monday Night v. Bears, we’re 6-2-1,they’re 7-2, d 32-7, Kaepernick takes starting QB job, 5.5 sacks for AldonSmith

7
   72. 1-12-13 NFC Division Playoffs v. Packers. 45-31  Kaepernick amasses nearly 450 total yards, breaking the all time QB single game rushing record.

7

The Occasional Tendown - YearEndDown 2012

Dear Internet:

Tom Grunnick: What do you do when your real life exceeds your dreams? 
Aaron Altman: Keep it to yourself. 

2012 was the best year of my life.

A year ago I had been dropped down to adjunct status ("rightsided" in the words of my Dean, losing my full time position after 8 years; he also didn't survive the year with his job as it turns out) and was spending a couple of grand in travel expense flying across the country looking for a full time job.  I had to pick up adjunct courses at additional schools to pay my bills and was losing my health insurance, which meant losing the health insurance for the other person in my house. The amount of pressure I felt in every waking moment was unbearable.

A year later - I not only have a new job, it's one where I can entirely work from home and at a healthy bump above my previous salary.  That's allowed me to move to a less expensive (but larger) home and given me a solid quality of life upgrade.

I got married on my 42nd birthday; I wish I could say that I intentionally waited, chose not to settle, until finding the exact right person but that's misleading; I stumbled blindly into finding the exact right person.  Every day is better than the one before.

And my baseball team won the World Series.  It took over half a century to get the first, and now we have two in three years.

A new job.  A wedding.  A World Series - that's 2012.

I know it's a snapshot; I don't recall when I learned how it was that Hemingway died, but I recall very distinctly taking away the understanding that all success was ephemeral, that if someone who achieved Hemingway's level of, not even accomplishment, but mastery, could still commit suicide, it meant that all good was impermanent.  All roads eventually lead to the same awful destination.

I make no prediction for 2013.

But 2012 was terrific.

(Yeah, we even won 400 bucks on a two dollar lottery ticket.  How about them apples?)

146 is here. This is Tendown 147. 

1. The Best Baseball Player Who Ever Lived

It will take time, but the wheel is going to turn in Barry Bonds's favor.  Sports On Earth did a piece calling him the best baseball player ever:

 If you trust Wins Above Replacement to provide a ballpark approximation of a player’s career value, and I do, then the top five players since integration are Barry Bonds (158.1), Willie Mays (150.8), Hank Aaron (137.3), Alex Rodriguez (111.4), and Rickey Henderson (106.8). I think these are the right names in the right order; the only other guys over 100 WAR in that time frame are Mickey Mantle, Mike Schmidt, and Frank Robinson, and I’m comfortable saying Rickey and Rodriguez are where they should be in relation to those guys. (Side note on Ted Williams: even though our endpoints have lopped off a significant amount of his value, he’s still 24^th on the list post-integration. If we make a special exception and give him credit for those years, his career 119.8 WAR puts him between Aaron and Rodriguez. Not sure I disagree with that, either.)

Mays and Aaron are from early in the post-integration era, well before expansion began in the ‘60s, but both men had Hall of Fame careers that took them into the ‘70s, so we can keep them around. Henderson’s a modern-era player through and through, and Rodriguez is still active, but I don’t think they pose any credible challenge to the three guys above them. And as much as Hank Aaron’s shadow fell over Bonds in the later years of his career, Mays is really his only serious competition. On full consideration, the list has the guy at the very top correct.

2.The Sports City of the Year

It's the Bay Area.:

The Giants won the World Series and the 49ers came within a few plays of the Super Bowl; the A's continued to be scrappy and unkillable, and the Warriors are beginning to feel relevant again. The Sharks remain a force (albeit a perennially underperforming one) in that bygone thing called professional hockey. The Raiders continue to not fall into a pit of lava.

3.The Best Movie of the Year


I'm always a year behind with movies, and completely US-centric in my film watching, so I don't seriously warrant any of my film thoughts.  But the best movie from 2012 I've seen so far is Moonrise Kingdom.

Here's AO Scott's Top 25 films of the year and here's Greenwald's look at Zero Dark Thirty

The film absolutely and unambiguously shows torture as extremely valuable in finding bin Laden - exactly as they said it did - and it does so in multiple ways... In US political culture, there is no event in the last decade that has inspired as much collective pride and pervasive consensus as the killing of Osama bin Laden.

This event has obtained sacred status in American political lore. Nobody can speak ill of it, or even question it, without immediately prompting an avalanche of anger and resentment. The news of his death triggered an outburst of patriotic street chanting and nationalistic glee that continued unabated two years later into the Democratic National Convention. As Wired's Pentagon reporter Spencer Ackerman put it in his defense of the film, the killing of bin Laden makes him (and most others) "very, very proud to be American." Very, very proud.

For that reason, to depict X as valuable in enabling the killing of bin Laden is - by definition - to glorify X. That formula will lead huge numbers of American viewers to regard X as justified and important. In this film: X = torture. That's why it glorifies torture: because it powerfully depicts it as a vital step - the first, indispensable step - in what enabled the US to hunt down and pump bullets into America's most hated public enemy.

The fact that nice liberals who already opposed torture (like Spencer Ackerman) felt squeamish and uncomfortable watching the torture scenes is irrelevant. That does not negate this point at all. People who support torture don't support it because they don't realize it's brutal. They know it's brutal - that's precisely why they think it works - and they believe it's justifiable because of its brutality: because it is helpful in extracting important information, catching terrorists, and keeping them safe. This film repeatedly reinforces that belief by depicting torture exactly as its supporters like to see it: as an ugly though necessary tactic used by brave and patriotic CIA agents in stopping hateful, violent terrorists.

4. Constitutional Amendments, Ranked.
Courtesy of Deadspin, a ranking of all of the Amendments to the US Constitution.

Spoiler alert - the second is (correctly) ranked last.

From a law professor at the University of Chicago:

In many respects, the US Constitution has served as a model for constitutions around the world. Of the 188 nations that have written constitutions, the vast majority have adopted fundamental guarantees that were first fully articulated in the US Constitution.

Indeed, 97 per cent of all the world’s constitutions now protect the freedom of religion; 97 per cent protect the freedom of speech and press; 97 per cent the right to equality; 95 per cent protect the freedom against unreasonable searches; 94 per cent the right of assembly; 94 per cent prohibit arbitrary arrest or detention; 84 per cent forbid cruel and unusual punishment; 84 per cent protect the right to vote; 80 per cent prohibit ex post facto laws; 72 per cent protect the right to present a defence and 70 per cent the right to counsel. These freedoms, first constitutionalised in the US, are now widely recognised as fundamental to a free, humane and civilised society.

Yet, only 1 per cent of all the other nations of the world recognise a constitutional right to keep and bear arms. The idea that individuals have a fundamental right to purchase and possess firearms has been resoundingly rejected by 185 of the world’s 188 nations. There are few, if any, questions about which the world’s nations are in such universal agreement.

5. Two Images
Those thoughts, that, like our not having universal health care or maintaining a policy of executing our own citizens, place us in the smallest possible corner among advanced nations will probably not be of interest to the people at whom the following two images were targeted.

That's the ad copy selling the Newtown gun.  There's all sorts of post-shooting chatter about responsible gun owners and self defense and the intent of the framers of the Constitution.   Are those the buttons being pressed by the good people at Bushmaster with this ad?  Or does this just prey on the same "you need to take your country back" insecurities that Fox News mines?  In a country where we still permit cigarette sales but have regulated and stigmatized marketing them to children, in a country where we still permit the sale of alcohol but have regulated and stigmatized driving while intoxicated - should there not be at least as bright a light on ad campaigns like this as there was on Joe Camel? 

And that's a t-shirt that, as of a week ago, had almost a million shares on Facebook.

All religious belief sounds like nonsense to me, so I always want to qualify criticism of anyone's particular conception of a god, but why would one want to believe in a god who is such a jerkoff?  There's not any type of national catastrophe, from 9-11 to a hurricane to this, when the theocrats don't come out in full force and blame it on gay marriage or Engel v. Vitale.  What is the message of this shirt or of this commentary?  God decided it was okay to let some six year olds get slaughtered to register his opposition to a 60 year old Supreme Court ruling.  That's God for you. Bit of a dick.  Hope God hasn't seen this picture yet:

All you toddlers better watch your ass come Christmas morning.  God's getting his man card back.


6. The Huskier Children


Here are some pieces on the Newtown massacre to consider.

The last mass homicide in Australia was in 1996 - wonder why?
Do armed civilians ever stop mass shootings?  Nope.
Do more guns mean more gun deaths?  Yes.
Are mass shootings increasing in number?  Yes.

And the weirdest of the right wing talking points this week (even weirder than the NRA blaming the shooting on American Psycho Friday; a reference so musty I expected the next sentence to be "don't forget how Feminazi Hillary emboldens killers by having Vince Foster bumped off") is the idea that we should be training kids to run at the shooters.  Here's Newsweek:

I'd also like us to encourage people to gang rush shooters, rather than following their instincts to hide; if we drilled it into young people that the correct thing to do is for everyone to instantly run at the guy with the gun, these sorts of mass shootings would be less deadly, because even a guy with a very powerful weapon can be brought down by 8-12 unarmed bodies piling on him at once.  Would it work?  Would people do it?  I have no idea; all I can say is that both these things would be more effective than banning rifles with pistol grips.  

And, even better, the National Review:
...a feminized setting is a setting in which helpless passivity is the norm. Male aggression can be a good thing, as in protecting the weak — but it has been forced out of the culture of elementary schools and the education schools that train their personnel. Think of what Sandy Hook might have been like if a couple of male teachers who had played high-school football, or even some of the huskier 12-year-old boys, had converged on Lanza.

Got that fat kids?  The killer took just ten minutes to fire some 200 rounds (I can't tint my windows but I can buy guns that fire twenty rounds a minute) but if you can just put the Pringles down for a second and run right at him that would be a big help, mmkay?

7.More Greenwald
The piece I'd encourage you to read is Greenwald's take on the shooting.

8.  On a Lighter Note

This was the description for last Saturday's live SNL.  And you thought Eddie would be tough to bring back.

9. The Piece to Read This Week
Is actually two - from the NYT on a high school rape case in Ohio.
And as a companion, from Gawker, about the blogger referenced as "complicating" matters by the Times

10. Fox News Hates Jesus

I mean, it must - otherwise....

That's all for this time.  I'll be back next time.  If there is a next time...

Your pal,

Jim

Every Survivor Winner Ranked (S1-50)

Ranked through season 50, every Survivor winner, this is the last entrant in this list.

1. Tony S28/S40

2. Sandra S7/S20

3. Parvati S16

4. Boston Rob S22
5. Tyson S27

6 Richard Hatch S1
7. Kim Spradlin S24
8. Tom Westman S10

9. Yul S13

10.  Brian Heidik S5

11. Jeremy S31

12. Sarah S34

13. Todd Herzog S15
14. Earl S14
15. Chris Daugherty S9

16. Ethan Zohn S3

17. Aubry S50

18. Cochran S26
19. Nick S37

20. Wendell S36

21. JT S18

22. Dee S45

23. Kyle S48

24. Rachel S47

25. Savannah S49

26. Natalie S29

27. Adam S33

28. Denise S25

29. Ben S35
30. Sophie S23

31. Michelle S29

32. Tommy S39

33. Mike S30

34. Yam Yam S44

35. Maryanne S42

36. Tina Wesson S2

37. Aras S12

38. Jenna Morasca S6

39. Amber S8
40. Danni S11

41. Kenzie S46

42. Erika S41

43. Bob Crowley S17

44. Fabio S21

45. Vecepia S4
46. Chris S38

47. Natalie White S19

48. Gabler S43

Let's start at the bottom; the height (depth?) of which, for my dollar, was Natalie White - which is why I have her last.  Even if you're in the "no such thing as a bitter jury" camp, she just happened to be the one sitting next to a Hantz at the end.  Unlike, Natalie, I think I would have voted for Chris; he maximized his return to the game following a very...very long stay away from it.  But that's just a function of the competitors he was sitting next to - as a Survivor winner, his is a slender resume.  Gabler...look, we're in an era with shorter seasons, tons of trinkets - Gabler was in a season with a dominant player who got bounced and wound up the compromise selection in a middling lot.  

I think of Bob and Fabio (and to a lesser extent, Aras) and Maryanne (maybe Yam Yam too, and in this era of Survivor, the short game feels like less of a hill to climb) as similar, largely good natured, played a basically frictionless game - the other competitors liked them and likeability is their biggest (only?) strength.  Jenna and Amber (and Tina and Denise) rode coattails but all had a level of value to their games not found with those bottom five winners.  Michelle's somewhere in that group; her primary benefit was she wasn't seen as making the moves that took out the swing votes in the jury.  Ben was outflanked down the stretch, but used multiple idols and an unprecedented end game twist (a coup d'eBen?) to get the win.  It's only his being a good player throughout the game that keeps him from a lower slot.  

Twinnies Natalie's game was uneven, but she fought from underneath and made some big strategic decisions in the endgame. A good comp is Mike from the following year, he was clearly better, just physically dominating the endgame maybe in an unprecedented way, but also largely responsible for being positioned underneath in the first place, and the quality of his opposition, like Natalie's, was suspect. JT would be in the top 10 if not for a subsequent appearance on the show - giving Russell the idol was such a terrible move that this is as high as he could reasonably be ranked.  Ethan and Earl were both nice guys in the vein of Fabio/Bob, but added a second level of leadership.  Adam made a lot of moves; not all of them were effective, but his unanimous jury vote is testament to the ability to create a jury perception of punches that landed when maybe he was just being busy.  Nick made fewer moves, but was personable, strategic enough, and positioned himself well for the end game. Tommy won without the benefit of any twists and had a good handle on the general flow of the game. Erika was a good player; had a good handle on the strategic flow of the game, there was a dominant player, Ricard, he clearly played the best game in S41. Late period Survivor (short season, tons, just tons of twists) becomes super hard to envelop into this type of ranking; Dee was good, part of the decision making flow of the game, won competitions, didn't back her way into anything nor take over the game.  

Heidik/Todd/Daugherty all fill that sneaky/strategic role that bumps them up  I could see an argument that Earl/Ethan should be ranked ahead of Daugherty.  Cochran's game was less slippery, strategic in his second stint and more guy everyone really liked.  He was Ethan Zohn. Jeremy really falls into that phylum as well; he played a good all around game, never really lost control although wasn't as aware of everyone around him as others, but really relied on how much more people liked him, liked the moral force of him, than any particular strategic decision. Sarah played a rat floater game, made some good strategic moves, stayed in good with people when she needed to ge in good with them, was less in control of the game and more on the right side of where the game was being controlled.  And she was boring TV, that doesn't matter for these purposes, but it should be noted that she's a not particularly appealing television character. Wendell's tough to rate, he and Domenick together controlled the back half of the game like Tom Westman, but absent a twist introduced in Ben's season allowing for firemaking, he wouldn't have made the final 3. Savannah played a really good late period game, had a tight alliance, understood where the game was, nearly won out.  

Tony was messy; bold, impetuous, great TV and a really constant, tenacious player who benefited from the all time worst decision in show history (Woo's final 3 vote) and a jury that was better than Russell Hantz's.

Yul/Kim/Tom all dominated every phase of their season; were either Yul/Kim to return and get into another jury vote there's room to move up.  No one ever dominated like Rob in his final attempt; I'd see an argument anywhere in the top 4 for Rob.  Sandra won twice and while there was never a point really in either game that she dominated, the results alone require a top 4 finish. Her third appearance was the most fun of the the three and doesn't hurt her overall ranking.  Parvati did dominate in her second appearance, despite losing to Sandra - in a pretty deep field in season 20 she was the best player.  She's also the hottest Survivor winner, which probably is worth some mention.  Tyson moves into that group with his dominant win; he and Rob profile very similarly.  If Yul/Kim are similar, so are Rob/Tyson.

And finally, Hatch.  I think it's underappreciated how "making an alliance" wasn't inherently an obvious strategy when Survivor began - the Hatch template is basically still the method which reality competition contestants across the world still use (both in order to win and to make good TV). Survivor's harder in 2013 than it was in 2000; current competitors not only have all of the past Survivors to draw from but all the other reality competition programs that utilize similar group dynamics.  I'm amenable to a counter-argument that Hatch's game doesn't match, say the level of strategy of Rob's winning season.  

But in the end I remain really, really impressed with Hatch's forward thinking; for the same reason I'd still rank Dr. Will ahead of Dan Gheesling as the best BBUS player - I'll say Hatch, 30 seasons later, is still the greatest Survivor ever.  

So, Winners at War necessitated a rethink that might ripple for awhile.

I'm not sure exactly the weight the season should hold; Boston Rob in 2020 doesn't necessarily reflect peak Boston Rob, for example.  Survivor's not a sport - but Michael Jordan's Wizards performance doesn't reflect peak Michael Jordan and we all understand how that works.  

I've moved Tony to the top spot; S40 was a really, really impressive performance, to come in with nearly the target level that snuffed out Rob/Parv before the game even started and leave never having received even one vote against him - it's an all time great game and he shoots to the top.  I've dropped Hatch to 6; all the "he did it first" stuff still stands, but there needs, after 40 seasons, to be a stronger accounting given to the evolution of the game.  Jeremy gets bumped up, Sarah gets a sizeable bump and there's a reshuffling of some of the players further down the list.