State Mt. Rushmores for Sports

[Appa23]

ESPN has a ongoing "program" where they allowed viewers to pick the "Mount Rushmore of Sports" for each of the 50 states plus DC and Puerto Rico.

Here are the results:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/sportsce ... id=3879785


They now are asking for viewers to vote on what 5 states have the best "Mount Rushmore".


Interestingly, for my state of Nebraska, there was some support for including a walk-on football player like Cory Schlessinger (sp). After reading others post on the .com site, I also gave considerable thought to the idea of putting Brook Berringer on the Nebraska Mount, as a symbol of what Nebraska football ideals are.

[Appa23]

BTW, I am surprised that my secondary "home state" of Kansas did not include Phog Allen, Dean Smith, or James Naismith.

(Apparenly, Adolph Rupp also is from Kansas, Did not know it.)

[Tocqueville3]

BTW, I am surprised that my secondary "home state" of Kansas did not include Phog Allen, Dean Smith, or James Naismith.

(Apparenly, Adolph Rupp also is from Kansas, Did not know it.)

Peyton Manning is on there twice and neither time is he listed from Louisiana.

[Tocqueville3]

There are only nine women listed.

Harrumph.

[Appa23]

BTW, I am surprised that my secondary "home state" of Kansas did not include Phog Allen, Dean Smith, or James Naismith.

(Apparenly, Adolph Rupp also is from Kansas, Did not know it.)

Peyton Manning is on there twice and neither time is he listed from Louisiana.

I fully expected to see Billy Cannon on Louisiana's list.

[Tocqueville3]

BTW, I am surprised that my secondary "home state" of Kansas did not include Phog Allen, Dean Smith, or James Naismith.

(Apparenly, Adolph Rupp also is from Kansas, Did not know it.)

Peyton Manning is on there twice and neither time is he listed from Louisiana.

I fully expected to see Billy Cannon on Louisiana's list.

I'm glad not to see him on the list. He's kind of an embarassment.

[clem21]

There are only nine women listed.

Harrumph.

Um....and which major women's sports are the general American public interested in again?

I'm not trying to be sexist but I'm just remembering that ESPN poll a few years back which asked if you would rather have your WNBA team win a title or find a dollar on the street.

The latter won with an 80+ percent majority if I remember correctly....

[silvercamaro]

Before I looked at the list, I thought that if Jim Thorpe were not on the Oklahoma list, I would be outraged. He's there -- not first, as I think he should be, but there, and it's hard to argue against the enduring popularity of Mickey Mantle. So I kept reading.

My major quibble would be about Barry Switzer. If one coach is to be included, I'd much rather see Bud Wilkinson, because he was the gentleman who turned Oklahoma into a football power. I will assume that the voters were too young to understand how all that worked. The only college football player is Barry Saunders, who evidently beat out all the many Heisman Trophy winners from OU, who may have split their votes, and not all of whom have become major forces in pro ball. In addition, Saunders' selection gives some satisfaction to the half of the state comprised by OSU fans.

[Tocqueville3]

There are only nine women listed.

Harrumph.

Um....and which major women's sports are the general American public interested in again?

I'm not trying to be sexist but I'm just remembering that ESPN poll a few years back which asked if you would rather have your WNBA team win a title or find a dollar on the street.

The latter won with an 80+ percent majority if I remember correctly....

Honey, you don't have to try to be sexist.

There are women who should be listed who are not.
Jackie Joyner Kersee
Babe Zaharias
Althea Gibson
Cheryl Miller
Lisa Leslie
Billie Jean King
Venus and Serena

[Estonut]

There are women who should be listed who are not.
Jackie Joyner Kersee
Babe Zaharias
Althea Gibson
Cheryl Miller
Lisa Leslie
Billie Jean King
Venus and Serena

Perhaps you don't understand the concept here. JJK made her name as an athlete at UCLA and in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Cheryl Miller, Lisa Leslie,
Billie Jean King, and Venus and Serena Williams are all Californians. How should all 6 of these athletes be listed on a list of the 4 most iconic athletes in the history of the state?

[Appa23]

There are women who should be listed who are not.
Jackie Joyner Kersee
Babe Zaharias
Althea Gibson
Cheryl Miller
Lisa Leslie
Billie Jean King
Venus and Serena

Perhaps you don't understand the concept here. JJK made her name as an athlete at UCLA and in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Cheryl Miller, Lisa Leslie,
Billie Jean King, and Venus and Serena Williams are all Californians. How should all 6 of these athletes be listed on a list of the 4 most iconic athletes in the history of the state?

Absolutely right about California: Tiger, Wooden, Magic, and Jackie Robinson.

None of the women listed, as fabulous as all were, can knock the first three off of the list. If you limited Jackie Robinson to New York (for the Brooklyn version), then there still are a long list of incredible athletes to overcome. For example, no one can claim Lisa Leslie over Alcindor/Kareem (UCLA then Lakers).

Joyner-Kersee was born and raised in St. Louis, but Missouri's list has Musial, Brett, Jack Buck, and Lamar Hunt. Again, hard to overcome two of the greatest baseball players in history, THE VOICE of the Cardinals, and the longtime owner of the Chiefs and AFL originator (plus his link to soccer).

I did wonder where Babe D-Z was born and grew up.

Another example would be Mia Hamm. Iconic female athlete, but she has to compete in Texas and North Carolina. (Although, it would be "funny" if she made the list for NC with her Nike twin, Jordan.) Maybe you could enshrine her in Oregon for being such a cash cow for Nike?

[Craig Paquette]

There are women who should be listed who are not.
Jackie Joyner Kersee
Babe Zaharias
Althea Gibson
Cheryl Miller
Lisa Leslie
Billie Jean King
Venus and Serena

Perhaps you don't understand the concept here. JJK made her name as an athlete at UCLA and in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Cheryl Miller, Lisa Leslie,
Billie Jean King, and Venus and Serena Williams are all Californians. How should all 6 of these athletes be listed on a list of the 4 most iconic athletes in the history of the state?

Estonut will vouch for the fact that I was flat out snubbed in not making California's monument....

CP21

[littlebeast13]

There are women who should be listed who are not.
Jackie Joyner Kersee
Babe Zaharias
Althea Gibson
Cheryl Miller
Lisa Leslie
Billie Jean King
Venus and Serena

Perhaps you don't understand the concept here. JJK made her name as an athlete at UCLA and in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Cheryl Miller, Lisa Leslie,
Billie Jean King, and Venus and Serena Williams are all Californians. How should all 6 of these athletes be listed on a list of the 4 most iconic athletes in the history of the state?

Absolutely right about California:

Tiger, Wooden, Magic, and Jackie Robinson. None of the women listed, as fabulous as all were, can knock the first three off of the list. If you limited Jackie Robinson to New York (for the Brooklyn version), then there still are a long list of incredible athletes to overcome. For example, no one can claim Lisa Leslie over Alcindor/Kareem (UCLA then Lakers).

Joyner-Kersee was born and raised in St. Louis, but Missouri's list has Musial, Brett, Jack Buck, and (blank). Again, hard to overcome two of the greatest baseball players in history and THE VOICE of the Cardinals.

I thought JJK was from my side of the river.... East St. Louis in particular....

lb13

[Appa23]

Perhaps you don't understand the concept here. JJK made her name as an athlete at UCLA and in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Cheryl Miller, Lisa Leslie,
Billie Jean King, and Venus and Serena Williams are all Californians. How should all 6 of these athletes be listed on a list of the 4 most iconic athletes in the history of the state?

Absolutely right about California:

Tiger, Wooden, Magic, and Jackie Robinson. None of the women listed, as fabulous as all were, can knock the first three off of the list. If you limited Jackie Robinson to New York (for the Brooklyn version), then there still are a long list of incredible athletes to overcome. For example, no one can claim Lisa Leslie over Alcindor/Kareem (UCLA then Lakers).

Joyner-Kersee was born and raised in St. Louis, but Missouri's list has Musial, Brett, Jack Buck, and (blank). Again, hard to overcome two of the greatest baseball players in history and THE VOICE of the Cardinals.

I thought JJK was from my side of the river.... East St. Louis in particular....

lb13

I was not sure which side of the river for the Joyners, although I recalled St. Louis rather than East STL. Illinois would have been even harder to make.

[earendel]

Kentucky has the distinction of having the only nonhuman on the list.

[Appa23]

East St. Louis it is.

JJK is not beating out Payton, Jordan, or Banks. I would not have put Ditka as the 4th, but there are a slew of Bears, Cubs, Bulls, and Black Hawks that would beat out JJK.

[Tocqueville3]

There are women who should be listed who are not.
Jackie Joyner Kersee
Babe Zaharias
Althea Gibson
Cheryl Miller
Lisa Leslie
Billie Jean King
Venus and Serena

Perhaps you don't understand the concept here. JJK made her name as an athlete at UCLA and in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Cheryl Miller, Lisa Leslie,
Billie Jean King, and Venus and Serena Williams are all Californians. How should all 6 of these athletes be listed on a list of the 4 most iconic athletes in the history of the state?

Half the peeps on the list aren't listed from their home state. Peyton Manning isn't listed from Louisiana and Terry Bradshaw is. If they wanted to be somewhat consistent they would have listed Bradshaw from Pennsylvania. They way they compiled the freaking thing they coulda made those women from any state in the union cuz they prolly played a match or a game in any state except Alaksa.

[andrewjackson]

There was a huge debate on the Indiana discussion board about whether the choices should be native Hoosiers or not. And whether or not native Hoosiers should count if they became famous somewhere else. I tended to go with natives.

Here is the Indiana list:
Larry Bird Bob Knight Peyton Manning John Wooden

Two of those are not Hoosiers and I didn't vote for them. Wooden is the one that people from outside Indiana seemed to think we shouldn't pick.

I would have had Oscar Robertson and Dan Patch on there instead of Knight and Manning.

[TheConfessor]

If they're specifically looking for "Rushmore" candidates, they should probably focus on the running backs.

[ne1410s]

Illinois has Mike Ditka and not Red Grange? I don't think so...

[Dawn Clark Netsch]

Illinois has Mike Ditka and not Red Grange? I don't think so...

I can't believe my all-pro billiards skills didn't earn me a spot between Jordan and Ernie....

A broad doesn't have a chance in this world....