OT(ish): The Mount Rushmore of Sports...

[XXtwindad]

The passing of the great John Havlicek got me thinking about the seminal and transformative figures in different sports. My criteria is that the athletes had to bring their sport to greater heights in popularity or transform it. Four presidents on Rushmore, so four athletes.

The only sports I feel qualified to comment on:

Basketball:

1) Russell
2) Wilt
3) Magic
4) Jordan

apologies to: West, Baylor, Mikan, Bird, James, Curry

Baseball:

1) Ruth
2) Robinson
3) Mays
4) Eckersley

Apologies to: Cobb, Aaron, Williams, Brock, Koufax, Ripken, Henderson, Barry Bonds.

Cycling:

1) Coppi
2) Anquetil
3) Merckx
4) Armstrong

Apologies to: Bartoli, Hinault, LeMond.

Others?

[Drmojo]

Mantle
Joltin JoeDiMaggio

[Jaybee]

Oh man, this is going to piss some people off....


LeBron belongs on the basketball Rushmore.

[rst72]

1. Pele
2. Maradona
3. Cruyff
4. Messi

[XXtwindad]

Originally Posted by Jaybee

Oh man, this is going to piss some people off....


LeBron belongs on the basketball Rushmore.

Definitely thought about him in lieu of Wilt since Russ is already there.

[torquer]

In terms of changing the game I would advocate for Dr. J.
But he was two years ahead of me at Roosevelt High School so I’m a bit prejudiced.

[asindc]

Originally Posted by XXtwindad

The passing of the great John Havlicek got me thinking about the seminal and transformative figures in different sports. My criteria is that the athletes had to bring their sport to greater heights in popularity or transform it. Four presidents on Rushmore, so four athletes.

The only sports I feel qualified to comment on:

Basketball:

1) Russell
2) Wilt
3) Magic
4) Jordan

apologies to: West, Baylor, Mikan, Bird, James, Curry

Baseball:

1) Ruth
2) Robinson
3) Mays
4) Eckersley

Apologies to: Cobb, Aaron, Williams, Brock, Koufax, Ripken, Henderson, Barry Bonds.

Cycling:

1) Coppi
2) Anquetil
3) Merckx
4) Armstrong

Apologies to: Bartoli, Hinault, LeMond.

Others?

Wow, 10 basketball players mentioned and no Kareem? 12 baseball players mentioned and no Clemente? And you should apologize to LeMond because he belongs in the slot that you put Armstrong in.

[Elefantino]

Originally Posted by rst72

1. Pele
2. Maradona
3. Cruyff
4. Messi

If there were five people on Rushmore I'd add Beckenbauer. But absent that, these are the correct four.

Pele's head should be twice as big as the others, though.

[Elefantino]

Originally Posted by asindc

Wow, 10 basketball players mentioned and no Kareem? 12 baseball players mentioned and no Clemente? And you should apologize to LeMond because he belongs in the slot that you put Armstrong in.

Kareem changed the game, forcing an NCAA rule change against dunking.

-7 does not belong on any mountain other than a garbage pile.

[XXtwindad]

Originally Posted by asindc

Wow, 10 basketball players mentioned and no Kareem? 12 baseball players mentioned and no Clemente? And you should apologize to LeMond because he belongs in the slot that you put Armstrong in.

Vague sense of deja vu here. Flash dinged me before for neglecting Kareem on another thread. You're right. But on the "apologies" list. Not on Rushmore.

Still going with Armstrong over LeMond. For better or worse, far more of an impact.

[Elefantino]

Originally Posted by asindc

Wow, 10 basketball players mentioned and no Kareem? 12 baseball players mentioned and no Clemente? And you should apologize to LeMond because he belongs in the slot that you put Armstrong in.

Clemente is a great bar bet:

"Who is the first player in baseball history to retire with 3,000 hits?"

Trick question. Only Clemente had exactly 3,000.

[Onion]

what about Kareem over Wilt? they banned dunking in college because of kareem so he just invented another unstoppable shot. i know this is not a list of of the greatest, but the idea that TR is on rushmore already makes the rushmore thing kinda off. should definitely be FDR if we were doing it over.

according to wiki "Between October 4, 1927, and October 31, 1941, Gutzon Borglum and 400 workers[22] sculpted the colossal 60-foot-high (18 m) carvings of United States Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln to represent the first 130 years of American history. These presidents were selected by Borglum because of their role in preserving the Republic and expanding its territory."

preserving and expanding the game--I gotta go:

Russell
Kareem
Jordan
LeBron (though I am tempted to put Dirk on there for being 1) the first truly great international player and expanding the reach of the league and 2) redefining what it meant to be a big man in the league. his shooting ability as a 7 footer really changed the game into the pace and space style we have now)

[donevwil]

NBA:
David Stern
Tim Donaghy
Donald Sterling


MLB:
Ty Cobb
Pete Rose
Bud Selig


NFL:
Too many to mention

[makoti]

Originally Posted by Elefantino

Kareem changed the game, forcing an NCAA rule change against dunking.

-7 does not belong on any mountain other than a garbage pile.

Yeah, LeMond over him for sure. First American & all that. Made cycling cool for a while in the US

[Ozz]

Originally Posted by Elefantino

If there were five people on Rushmore I'd add Beckenbauer. But absent that, these are the correct four.

Pele's head should be twice as big as the others, though.

+1

Exactly what I was thinking.....