Damon Bruce, the host of "The Damon Bruce Show" on KNBR 1050, has a daily segment called the 3 O'clock 3-Play, where he asks three questions on one topic. Today one of his questions dealt with the Mount Rushmore of sports. Callers were able to tell listeners the Mount Rushmore of running backs, television shows, coaches, sports comedies, and a variety of other things.Today's question of the day is based on Mr. Bruce's question. Who would don the Mount Rushmore of your favorite team? The deal is they have to have played on that team during your lifetime. So, if you're 25 years old, don't be busting out Babe Ruth or Bart Starr.
It's your Mount Rushmore, so they don't necessarily need to be the best players on the team... they just have to be important to you. I'll give you an extra point if you write a brief explanation for your picks.
I'll get things started... Football and baseball are hot right now, because one's about to start and the other is about to finish. Basketball gets a lot of love, because most of the blogs I follow are based on it. On the other hand, it's the off season for hockey fans and I'll be honest, the Sharks have been quiet. So... it's time to show them some love. The four players who'd make my Mount Rushmore would be:
I'll get things started... Football and baseball are hot right now, because one's about to start and the other is about to finish. Basketball gets a lot of love, because most of the blogs I follow are based on it. On the other hand, it's the off season for hockey fans and I'll be honest, the Sharks have been quiet. So... it's time to show them some love. The four players who'd make my Mount Rushmore would be:
On the left, the Father of my beloved Sharks: Patrick Marleau. Patrick has played almost 300 more games in the Teal & Black than any other Shark. He's played his whole NHL career in San Jose and you know me and my love for players who's stayed with one team their whole career.
Sitting in old Jefferson's spot would be one of the most loved goalies in San Jose history: Arturs Irbe. Thomas Jefferson is one of our Founding Fathers of the United States of America and Arturs Irbe is one of the Founding Fathers of the San Jose Sharks. He's the only member of my Mount Rushmore to actually play in their inaugural season (1991-1992). His 57-91-26 record isn't close to being the greatest in Shark's history, but it would have been much worse without Irbe in the net.
Next up would be Devin Setoguchi. He's my favorite current Shark and is the only Japanese player (he's actually hapa) that I know of in the NHL.
Last, but not least... Honest Abe is represented by Jeff Friesen. When I think of Abraham Lincoln, I think of someone who has positive character traits. Jeff Friesen fits that description too. Friesen is by far the nicest player I have ever met. I've had the opportunity to meet him on several occasions and he's always been really fan friendly. He once spent over 15 minutes chatting it up with about 15 fans talking about the game and his lunch plans... the whole time he had a huge smile on his face. One of the saddest days in Shark's history was when he was traded along with Steve Shields to the Ducks for Teemu Selanne.
Well that's it. There's my Mount Rushmore. What's yours?
Oh... and here's your last update before I'll announce the winner of our contest on Saturday. Currently, we have a tie for 1st. This situation didn't cross my mind, so if the contest ends in a tie... there'll be one additional challenge to decide who's champion. Sorry... only one person will be crowned king of the hill. The loser of the challenge, along with everyone else will have there names entered into random.org to see who will receive the remaining packages.
Spastikmooss - 24 points
G Moses - 24 points
Hoopography - 22 points
Hoopography - 22 points
Tony Mc - 22 points
82Redbirds - 20 points
Sal - 20 points
night owl - 15 points
BA Benny - 14 points
BA Benny - 14 points
TJ - 12 points
Play at the Plate - 11 points
Play at the Plate - 11 points
Steve D - 11 points
dkwilson - 10 points
Martyn - 10 points
dkwilson - 10 points
Martyn - 10 points
Cam - 9 points
John - 6 points
John - 6 points
Redsox101 - 5 points
Jeremy - 4 points
(...Joe) - 3 points
Captain Canuck - 3 points
longlivethewho - 1 point
The Ranter - 1 point
Jeremy - 4 points
(...Joe) - 3 points
Captain Canuck - 3 points
longlivethewho - 1 point
The Ranter - 1 point
lonestar - 1 point
timmy v - 1 point
dodgerbobble - 1 point
Sports Card Report - 1 point
Oh... I almost forgot to mention... there's one final twist to this contest. To make things interesting, I thought we'd end it like Final Jeopardy. If you're not familiar with Final Jeopardy, it goes a little something like this. Everyone who has at least 1 point can bet up to half of their points (don't include your Mount Rushmore points) in their last ditch effort to capture first place. For example, night owl currently has 15 points, so if he wants to... he can wager 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7 points on our final challenge. If he's correct, he wins the amount of points he wagered. If he's wrong, he loses the points.
The challenge is simple, pick the winner of Friday night's game between the San Diego Padres (Mat Latos) and the Philadelphia Phillies (Roy Oswalt). Remember to tell me how many points you're wagering, otherwise I'll assume it's the maximum (1/2 of what you have).
I'm going to hide people's comments, so that you won't be able to see what everyone else is wagering... which will hopefully make things interesting. On Saturday, I'll show everyone's comments and determine the winner of the contest.
So are you guys ready? Let's do this!
Since it's an all or nothing contest, I'll go all or nothing on the game challenge. I will take Mat Latos and his Padres to beat the Phillies, and will wager half my total (12 I believe) towards that end. I really hope they win, because I really want that one of one!
ReplyDeleteAs for the other thing, I'll do a Mount Rushmore of the Browns. I'm only a 3-4 year old Browns fan, so it'll be mostly real recent guys, but it'll be good.
First of all comes Josh Cribbs - he's going to be the LeBron James of Cleveland now that LeBron is gone, in terms of popularity anyways, since he really is the biggest game in town. Thing is, he's also much nicer than LeBron, and I think he's way cooler. Def #1.
2 is Seneca Wallace. Yeah he's a backup right now, but he's my favorite active player...so he's in.
3 is Kevin Johnson. Random pick, but I remember him and Tim Couch connecting on a game winning touchdown back when the Browns returned, and that was a big part of what made me initially notice the Browns, a year or two before the Pats even won a Super Bowl. He definitely makes it.
4 is Ben Gay. It was tempting to go Eric Metcalf, or Earnest Byner, or Eric Zeier, or Michael Jackson, but Ben Gay was a) great in flashes for a year and b) one of the best sports names of all time. So he gets added in.
Let's go Padres on Friday!
I think I just posted...but I don't know if it went through...did it?
ReplyDeleteMy Mount Rushmore of Dodgers would be: Sandy Koufax, Steve Garvey, Fernando Valenzuela and Orel Hershiser.
ReplyDelete(Yes, I'm old enough that Koufax pitched during my lifetime -- but just barely).
I picked these four because they each put the Dodgers in the national consciousness. Grandmas in Alabama knew who each of these guys were during the peak of their careers.
For Final Jeopardy, I'm picking the Padres and I'm all in for 7 points. It's almost the only way I have a chance of winning this.
Hmmm... not too familiar with your presidents accomplishments, but I'll give it a go...
ReplyDeleteMy Mount Rushmore, by Canuck.
George Washington - Bob Lilly. The very first Dallas Cowboys draft pick, played his entire career with the Boys, ending in the Hall of Fame. One of the most feared defensive linemen, an anchor of the Doomsday Defense.
Thomas Jefferson - Roger Staubach. The epitome of poise, character, and charisma, Roger put his football career on hold to serve in the military. Then he came back and led the Cowboys to the Super Bowl. To this day, one of the top QB's ever to play in the NFL.
Abraham Lincoln - Emmitt Smith. Emmitt was judged to be too small and too slow to play in the NFL. He is now the ALL TIME leading rusher in NFL history.
Roosevelt - Troy Aikman. Overcoming a rough start to his career, having to transfer from Oklahoma to UCLA, then joining a struggling pro team as their #1 pick and going 1-15 in his first year, Troy overcame ll adversity on his way to a Hall of Fame career, winning three Super Bowls.
My mount rushmore would be David Ortiz Buster Posey Madison Bumgarner and Tim lincecum
ReplyDeleteTHe reason why is that all of them have all been nice to me (yes ive met them all personally) and ive gotten their autos and their mabye not the best players of all time Ortiz is ok now Posey is on Fire but bumgarner and lincecum are doing terrible but i have faith
and for the final wager i bet 2 points on the padres thanks
First off....I'll wager 5 points and go with the Padres. That should ensure a Phillies win. As for my Texas Rangers Mt. Rushmore I'll go with the following:
ReplyDelete1. Nolan Ryan--He only played for Texas for 5 of his 27 seasons, but he did have a couple of no-hitters and his milestone 5000th K as a Ranger. Also, he kicked Robin Ventura's impudent little arse on the Texas mound. He's now a part of the ownership group of the Texas Rangers.
2. Jim Sundberg--He was one of my favorite Rangers as a kid. He's no Pudge Rodriguez, but Pudge doesn't make the cut.
3. Tom Grieve--an original Texas Ranger (coming over with the Senators in the move in 1972), a General Manager for the team, and now works on the TV broadcast team. He's an all-around good guy and one of my favorites.
4. I'd love to put Will Clark on the mountain because he's my all-time favorite player, but he made his mark on the league as a Giant. My 4th person would be Tom Vandergriff, the mayor of Arlington who played such a huge role in getting the Senators owner, Bob Short, to move the team to Texas.
I thought about some other big Rangers names like Raffy, Juan Gonzalez and Pudge, but I wouldn't tarnish the Mt. with anyone who was connected to PED use.
Great question!
Okay My Mount Rushmore,
ReplyDeleteAgian it's football (Soccer) Blackburn Rovers.
Mr Colin Hendry, he has recently been widowed & declared Bankrupt sad times for him, but he was and is a legend, a tough scottish defender who played with heart & no fear.
Mr Kevin Gllacher, Another Scottish player this one a striker who also played on the wing. however at the time of his arrival at Ewood park I was sad as it involved sending American forward Roy Wagerle to Coventry as part of the deal. I can remember being in the crowd as he scored a hat trick against Wimbledon. He missed the 1994-95 championship title season due to broken legs, his workrate was second to none.
Scott Sellars
My first fave player, he joined the club in 86 until 92 after winning the Full Members cup final in 87 & promotion in 92. A left winger I believe he is the reason i'm left Handed & left footed.
Alan Shearer
I would love to add another, I never got to see too much of Simon Garner and if mt Rushmore had 5 presidents Mike Newell would be up there. Alan Shearer was the Michael Jordan of soccer in the nineties, and but for injury Blackburn could've won back to back titles. He was the old fashioned text book English striker with Modern training & diet. I know in one cafe in Blackburn the ALan Shearer was Roast Chicken with Baked beans. Now a pundit on BBC he's the great #9.
However Matt Jansen he was talented, sadly he was involved in a road accident in Rome in 2002, he should've been in Japan / South Korea. He had neurological problems from the crash & is now playing non league football aged just 32. I just noticed he's playing near me after a move so I'm gonna go and watch.
For the Game I'm going to bet 3pts on Philadelphia
My Mount Rushmore
ReplyDeleteBlazers:
Batum - Because he's the bees knees.
Roy - Because he brought us out of the dark ages
Drexler - Because he was Portland's first big superstar
Oden - represents a hope for the futre
OH. I wager all 12 points on San Diego tonight. Latos is going to blow the Phillies down.
First place should be mine.
The "Mount Rushmore" of my team would be four Chicago Blackhawks from the 1990s.
ReplyDeleteSteve Larmer - Played in 884 consecutive games for the 'Hawks. Won rookie of the year award and played in 2 all-star games.
Chris Chelios - My favorite player. A perennial all-star and three-time award winner. Heart and soul of the team.
Jeremy Roenick - Played every game like it was his last. Dynamic. Could skate, score and hit.
Dirk Graham - Team Captain for 6 years. Average in skills, but above-average work ethic made him better than his numbers would show. Won Selkie trophy in 1991.
As for Final Jeopardy...
ReplyDeletePadres will WIN tonight.
I will wager 10 of my 20 points.
No guts, no glory, right....?
My Mount Rushmore for the Mets:
ReplyDeleteMike Piazza: the face of the franchise for my teenage years. He made the Mets an instant contender and was a Hall of Fame force for the Mets for years, leading them to the 1999 NLCS and the 2000 World Series.
David Wright: Piazza passed the torch to him. He's the current face of the franchise, the backbone of their lineup, led them to the 2006 NLCS, and will likely hold many of the team's hitting records.
Al Leiter: coming over after the Marlins won the 1997 World Series, he was the anchor of the starting rotation during his 6 yrs with the Mets. I'll never forget his 2 hit CG shutout against the Reds to win the 1999 wild card in Game 163.
John Olerud: only a Met for 3 years, but solid, consistent, and underrated. He had a great bat and glove. He also rode the train to Shea everyday which I thought was cool.
I'll just bet 1 point and say the Padres will win.
Well, my favorite team is kind of a toss up, but I'll go with the Buffalo Bills as I am currently looking at Ralph Wilson Stadium. Here are the four players:
ReplyDelete1. Jim Kelly: He ran the K-Gun offense during the glory years. One of the toughest football players I have had the pleasure to watch. He does a lot of charity work here in WNY/Orchard Park.
2. Bruce Smith: He was simply terrorized the opposing teams quarterback.
3. James Lofton. Lofton was my favorite Bills player when I was growing up. My mom got me an autographed Bills hate. She taught Lofton's son in pre-school.
4. This is a tough one for me because I really like Antoine Winfield, but he has played in Minn. for so long now. I also like Don Beebe. Just ask Leon Lett for the reasoning behind that, but I will go with Thurman Thomas. He was the do everything back before Marshall Faulk or LT. He was awesome.
Man…. I love the Bills. Great question Mark.
As for the baseball game. This is a nice matchup, but I am going to go with the home team Padres for the full 11 points I can wager. Go BiG or go Home!!!
My picks are the following Giants - JT Snow, Jeff Kent, Bill Mueller and Will Clark.
ReplyDeleteSnow, Kent and Mueller because they were my favourite players when I first got into baseball and because of the great memories I have of them.
Will Clark because its WILL CLARK! I didn't follow baseball when he played for the Giants but I soon learnt who he was when I did start following. Also Clarks RC was the first single I ever bought.
They may not be great reasons to you but they are to me.
For final jeopardy I will bet 4 points and say that the Padres will win.
Contest entries are officially closed: Feel free to continue commenting, but it won't count for points.
ReplyDelete