Nate Kadah: A Second Chance at a Sport He Loves

By: Jonathan Kahn 

"Ever since I can remember" - that's what Syracuse University Linebacker Nate Kadah said was when football became a part of his life. Now Kadah is a Freshman walk-on on a division I football team.

It was just a few years ago that football seemed to be the furthest thing from his mind. Kadah, a standout on a talented Fayetteville-Manlius squad, was cruising into his senior season with his goal of playing college football dead in his sight. But, tragedy stuck when his father was diagnosed with brain cancer. 

"My dad passed away from brain cancer in February of 2013," Kadah said. "My mom kind of needed me close to home, so I needed to help her." 

Nate had to step away from football, the sport he loved. Kadah spent the next year at LeMoyne College in Syracuse. 

"I needed to go to LeMoyne where they don't have football," Kadah said. "And, get my life straight again."

He may not have had the pads on but football was still very much on Kadah's mind. Just a few miles away from his future team he still followed the Orange and the rest of college football.

"I was dying to get back to football," Kadah said. "I would see how my buddies were doing with sports. I was just dying to get back on the field."

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The Passage of Time: A Sports Perspective

By: Tim Durr

In life, we gauge the passage of time in many different ways. We count weeks, months, years, and all those standard measures. But, we also mark milestones, and accomplishments in the passage of time.

For sports fans, there is the rotation of which sport is in season, and what point in the season it is can tell us exactly what time of the year it is. MLB playoffs, NFL just started, and NHL and NBA are warming up: you'd know it's early October. As we follow sports for longer periods, we gauge the passage of time by dynasties (if those even exist anymore), and length of player's careers. 

As someone who has been an engaged sports consumer for close to 15 years now (can't really count the first 10 years of my life as being anything more than a fan), I am just getting to that point where I can see a great player's career from start to finish. I have had tastes of careers that started after I became a full-time sports lover, and ended recently, but it wasn't a player who I was enamored with from start to finish. 

One of the first names that come to mind is LaDainian Tomlinson. (Enjoy the link to highlights of all the greats I mention) He was drafted in 2001, right when I was realizing that I wanted to do something related to sports when I grew up. 

LT had a fantastic career - most touchdowns in a season (31), most points in a single season (186), and so many other scoring records. But, I was on the wrong side of the U.S. for all but those final years when he was in New York. Either way, I enjoyed watching LT play, but he wasn't my favorite player. 

Why am I blabbering on about my nostalgia of seeing an athletes career start to finish? 

Part of it is watching Derek Jeter retire after a 20-year career with one team. I'm not a Yankees fan though, so that doesn't personally touch me like it does many others. 

The reason I'm nostalgic is because I see that one of my favorite players of all-time is closing in on the end of his career. Steve Smith, formerly of the Carolina Panthers, and now with the Baltimore Ravens, is getting into his final years. 

I still remember the first time I really started paying attention to Steve Smith. The 35-year-old, who was drafted in that same 2001 class with LT, was in his second year when he popped onto my radar.

Initially it wasn't for a good reason. Smith got into a fight with teammate Anthony Bright, was suspended a game and cited with a misdemeanor. I knew who he was at this point but that is my earliest memory of him. I turned on SportsCenter after coming home from school one day and there was the story. Something told me to keep paying attention to him when he got back on the field. I think it was that fire and intensity pouring out of him, and the ability to make his small 5'9'' body work like he's 6'6''. He's never taken anything from anyone, and that passion was contagious. 

I followed the Panthers throughout the 2002 and 2003 season and when I watched them in the Super Bowl against New England, I was sold as a Panthers fan for life. 

When Steve Smith retires, I will know a feeling that so many sports fans have had. The feeling of watching your favorite athlete walk off the field for the final time.

Wait!

I've already had my nostalgic moment with Steve Smith. I saw him walk off the field for the last time as a Panther after a NFC Championship loss to the San Francisco 49ers last year. 

It won't be the same when he plays his final game with the Ravens, or another team if he tries to stay around longer. How many of us get to see our favorite player leave from the place we first loved them? 

Jerry Rice? Nope, he went to Oakland, Denver, and Seattle after leaving San Francisco. 

Joe Montana? Nope, he went to Kansas City. 

Brett Favre? No. Michael Jordan? No. Wayne Gretzky? No. 

It seems more often than not, our favorite players depart from where we first loved them before hanging up their cleats, skates, or sneakers. 

I'm not sure how to feel about this. Part of me wants to compare it to breaking up with a girl, then seeing her on the arm of another man. Another part of me feels like I'd rather see them playing in a different city over retiring. 

This is the nature of sports, though. It's ultimately a business. So, finishing where you start isn't always an option. If it isn't the player who wants a change of scenery, it's usually an owner or GM who forces them out. 

Moral of the story, kids?

Appreciate the rare occasions when someone finishes their career with your favorite team. Celebrate everyday that Derek Jeter never put on another team's jersey. Get excited that Mario Lemieux was and will always be a Penguin. Cherish the fact that Larry Bird only donned Green and White as a Celtic. (You can be mad that Larry is now associated with the Pacers if you're a Boston fan, though.)  

One of the coolest things that I got to see growing up was my dad's love of Dan Marino. My dad met him at a football camp in high school. Marino was at Pitt and my dad was playing high school football in Western Pennsylvania.  Fast forward a few years and my dad becomes a Dolphins fan when Marino is drafted there. 

I got to see my dad enjoy watching Marino play on one team for 17 seasons (I was only alive for 8 of those seasons). He saw it from the start to the finish, and became a fan all because of one player. A few years after my dad got to see Marino's final game, I started a similar affinity because of Steve Smith. I found my favorite team because I found my favorite player. Should I be a Ravens fan because he left? No. I'll be a Panthers fan for life because I have that option to stay with one team, and that's something we should appreciate. 

Whether you were a Yankees fan before Jeter, a Dolphins fan before Marino, a Lakers fan before Magic, or you became a Lakers fan because of Kobe, a Steelers fan because of Mean Joe Greene, or whatever reason you like the team you do - enjoy the players who find a way in today's sports market to go through an entire career with one team. Because, before you know it, it's 1999 and that guy you met when you were 17 just played in his final game.

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If you have a nostalgic story of watching your favorite player, share it with us in the comments below.

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Piecing Together the Sports World

A New Beginning

Sports Microcosm was originally created as a blog by Tim Durr to delve deeper into sports than simply talking X's and O's. Now, Sports Microcosm is advancing into a full multimedia experience with a podcast, Twitter, Facebook, and adding another contributor to the process: Jonathan Kahn.

Jonathan is a graduate of SUNY Oswego's Broadcasting and Mass Communication program. He served as in-game host and executive producer of Hockey Night in Oswego for 2 years, interned with Time Warner Cable Sports Channel in Syracuse, NY as well as CNY Central. Jonathan has been a freelance reporter/producer in Syracuse since August of 2012. He is now pursuing a Masters of Science in Broadcast and Digital Journalism at Syracuse University's Newhouse School.

And, in case you forgot about Tim. He is a graduate of Slippery Rock University's Communication program with an emphasis in Journalism. He served as Sports Editor of The Rocket for two years, interned with the Beaver County Times, produced a sports talk show on WSRU-TV, and did play-by-play for Slippery Rock football in 2011. He is now pursuing a Masters of Science in Broadcast and Digital Journalism at Syracuse University's Newhouse School, and interning with the Syracuse Crunch.

The first edition of the podcast will be released Wednesday, Nov. 12, and podcasts will be released each Wednesday.

The blog element of Sports Microcosm will be updated on a regular basis with thoughts, commentary, and used as a more in-depth associate of the podcast element.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and SoundCloud for updates and insight.

Individually follow Tim and Jonathan on Twitter, too.

Have a question, guest, or topic you'd like us to cover? Email us: sportsmicSU@gmail.com  

Expectations Beyond Achievements: The Pittsburgh Penguins

A Year Later, A Round Shorter

It has been five years since the Pittsburgh Penguins won the Stanley Cup. In every year since then, they've lost to a lower seed. After last year, I was the front runner in leading the "let's make major changes" brigade. I didn't want them to bring Fleury back. I said Blysma should be fired. I said we should get rid of Letang, Kunitz, Orpik, Sutter, and so on. A handful of those names I called for played better this time around. Marc-Andre Fleury redeemed himself and played great in the seven wins the Penguins had this post-season. He even played decent in some of the six losses. So, I'll bite the bullet on that one and say Fleury has earned a right to stay. On the other hand, I don't understand how a team with so much talent can struggle so much. An argument can be made that they have the two best players in the NHL. They might have the two best sidekicks to those players also. Though, it didn't look that way for 95 percent of the playoffs. Past knowledge aside, if I was watching these 2014 Stanley Cup playoffs, I'd say that Jussi Jokinen and Brandon Sutter were the two best players for the Penguins. I'd say Crosby looked like a child who didn't get the toy he wanted, and Malkin showed glimpses of greatness, but ultimately just met the bar of what we expected from him. James Neal looked like he didn't understand that the point of the game was to score goals, Chris Kunitz simply filled minutes, Beau Bennett disappeared against the Rangers, and Brian Gibbons was arguably one of the four best players against the Rangers. (Not because he played excellent, but because nobody else showed up.)

After back-to-back Stanley Cup appearances, the Penguins' fans raised the bar. Each year the team has assembled trade deadline deals that made everyone scream for excitement. "Jerome Iginla is the missing piece." It turns out he disrupted chemistry and was forced to play out of his natural position. "Brendan Morrow is a strong presence that we need." It turns out he was underwhelming and didn't accomplish much in the playoffs. "Doug Murray is a defensive stalwart and will secure our defensive pairings." Actually, he's slow and a big ogre. This year it was "Marcel Goc is a solid center and can change games in the faceoff circle." Actually, he got injured and didn't have enough time to get into the system. "Lee Stempniak is going to be the perfect fill-in for Pascal Dupuis." Or he'll get bounced from the first line after about four games and be replaced with Beau Bennett, Brian Gibbons, Evgeni Malkin, Big Bird, Elmo, I think I played a few shifts...okay you get it. The Penguins couldn't figure out which line worked with which players. 

As I rehash the past mistakes and issues that the Penguins have had, I see two things. Bad coaching and bad front office decisions. Now I'm not "in the room" when Bylsma is addressing the team, but I haven't seen much that showed he was really making the right moves to improve this team. There isn't any accountability. There isn't enough determination and discipline. Too many times, I see Evgeni Malkin taking a penalty in the offensive zone. Or, Sidney Crosby gets knocked off his game because he wants to be a physical presence instead of a finesse scorer. James Neal goes and acts like a goon and makes dirty plays, Chris Kunitz seemed to settle into a role that killed his production late in the season and playoffs. Where is the coaching staff that organizes these issues? Everything is too reactionary by the Penguins. Yes, they lost a ridiculous amount of man games this year. Yes, they had a 3-1 lead over the Rangers until a force outside of hockey changed the momentum and will to fight for New York. But, this isn't the first time we've seen this. It's been five years since a Stanley Cup victory and the Penguins have under-performed every season.

"But, it's really hard to get back to the Stanley Cup Finals. In today's age, nobody can have repeated success like this. We should be happy that we've made the playoffs for eight consecutive seasons."

Okay, let's see how Pittsburgh stacks up against the top teams of the past ten years then. Should we be proud of what they accomplished? 

The Boston Bruins have made the playoffs seven consecutive years. They have one Stanley Cup win, and two Stanley Cup appearances, the same as Pittsburgh. They've been bounced in the first round twice in these seven years, Pittsburgh has been bounced in the first round three times. 

The Chicago Blackhawks have made the playoffs six consecutive seasons. They have won two Stanley Cups in their two appearances. They've been bounced in the first round twice, and they are four wins away from reaching their third Stanley Cup Final in five years. 

The Los Angeles Kings have made the playoffs five consecutive seasons. They have won the Stanley Cup once, in their only appearance, and bounced from the first round twice. 

The San Jose Sharks have made 10 consecutive appearances. They have never made it to the Stanley Cup Finals in that time, and were bounced in the first round four times. 

The Detroit Red Wings have made the playoffs 23 straight years. In that time, they've won four Stanley Cups, but i'm only going to mention their last 10 seasons. In those seasons, they've made two Stanley Cup appearances, both against the Penguins and they each won a trophy. They've lost in the first round four times in those 10 years.

From gauging these five teams compared to the Penguins, it seems that Pittsburgh is right on par with the most successful teams of the past 10 years. They have a strong consecutive streak, they won a Stanley Cup, and they've been bounced in the first round about the same or less than the other teams. But is being one of the five best teams for a stretch of 10 years, really enough? Are they actually even one of the best teams?

Since 2008, in the Penguins first Stanley Cup appearance in the past decade, 27 of the 30 NHL teams have made it to at least one playoff appearance. 21 have made two appearances or more. 18 have made three appearances or more. And, exactly 16 have made four appearances or more. So, for the last seven seasons the majority of the playoff field has been the same for the majority of the time. 1/4 of the field has been exactly the same. 1/2 of the field has been the same all but one year, and 3/4 of the field has been the same for five of the seven years. 

The Penguins are part of that 1/4 that has made the playoff every season in the past seven years. The only other teams are Boston, Detroit and San Jose, as mentioned above. Anyone with some hockey knowledge would probably put Anaheim, Chicago and Los Angeles above San Jose though for top teams in recent years as all three have a Stanley Cup win and San Jose doesn't. So, let's get a better gauge of which teams are really the best. Let's give a points system. 1 point for simply making the playoffs, 2 points for advancing 1 round, 4 points for advancing two rounds, 6 points for making the Cup finals, and 10 points for winning a Cup. 

Excluding this current season, the best teams based on this points rating from 2008 are:

Chicago Blackhawks = 55 points (2 Stanley Cup wins, two first round losses, and a third round loss)

Pittsburgh Penguins = 48 points (1 Stanley Cup win, a Finals loss, two first round exits, and a second and third round loss)

Detorit Red Wings = 46 points (1 Stanley Cup win, a Finals loss, three 2nd round exits, and a first round loss)

Boston Bruins = 44 points (1 Stanley Cup win, a Finals loss, two second round losses, one first round exit)

The issue with this ranking is that a large portion of the team, specifically the bottom three lines, have changed a lot since 2008. In the last three seasons, the Penguins have 9 points by this barometer, which is the same as the Canadiens, and less than the Rangers (11), Sharks (11), Canucks (15), Flyers (19), Blackhawks (25), Kings (25), and Bruins (37). 

By the end of the playoffs this year, Pittsburgh will possibly fall even further behind for their performance since 2011. With the talent on the Penguins roster, is it really acceptable to have a team that averages being just inside the top third of teams in the NHL the past three years? 

No. It is completely unacceptable.

Now that we've discussed some metrics for the team's performance since making their first Finals appearance in the past decade, let's look at what they can do now. 

1.) Fire Dan Bylsma.

2.) Fire Ray Shero.

3.) Make some major trades.

After firing Dan Bylsma, there is a perfect selection to replace him. Andy Murray (no not the tennis player). Murray was the head coach with the Los Angeles Kings from 1999 to 2006, then the St. Louis Blues from 2006 to 2010. Since being fired from the Blues, he's been coaching at Western Michigan University. When coaching the Kings, down 3-1 in a playoff series to Colorado, Murray made the announcement that any of his players who weren't giving 100% wouldn't be playing in game 5. The Kings came back to win the next two games and force a game 7. Isn't that exactly what the Penguins need? Haven't we had enough of this lack of accountability, lack of adjustments, and lack of performance from the Penguins.

I'll get deeper into steps two and three of this plan after doing some more research over the next few days. 

The Monuments Men: Final Four

In a couple weeks it will be one of my favorite periods of the sports calendar: March Madness. As of now, we have our own madness to settle. Throughout the week, I have ranked my Top-4 from each of America's top professional sports. It started with the NFL where Jerry Rice, Bill Walsh, Tom Brady, and Jim Brown made the Mt. Rushmore of football. In basketball, it was Michael Jordan, Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, and LeBron James. The NHL got Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Bobby Orr, and Sidney Crosby on the list. In baseball, I called Kyle Holmgren from the bullpen and he selected Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, and I threw in Barry Bonds to discuss the steroid era. There is the Sweet 16 of pro sports in America. Now we're going to move down to our Final Four, choosing one from each sport.

The Gridiron Gang

This is a no-brainer if you read my initial post selecting the Mt. Rushmore in the NFL. All of my choices were debatable, except one: Jerry Rice. He has almost 7,000 more receiving yards (22,895) than any other WR to ever grace the gridiron. His 195 TDs is 41 more than second place Randy Moss, and then add in 13 Pro Bowl appearances, 3 Super Bowl rings, and a work ethic that was rarely touched. You could argue that Bill Walsh was the guy who set up the offense that Jerry succeeded in and he made bigger contributions to the game. I would say that's a fair statement but nobody says Bill Walsh is streets ahead of the next best head coach. Jerry Rice can't be compared. Is there a single receiver who even comes within 7,000 yards of Jerry Rice? The simple answer is NO! He was so dominant at his position that I don't see anyone ever coming close to his accomplishments. Tom Brady still has years left in his career and if he wins two more Super Bowls then the debate could be made that he's the greatest NFL player of all-time, but until then, it's Jerry Rice over everyone. Even the great Jim Brown falls short. Much attribution to that is the shortness of his career. He was a prolific scorer but his rushing numbers didn't stand up through the longevity of future running backs. The closest case made for anyone comparing to Rice is Jim Brown but after looking through the numbers and seeing what Jerry accomplished over a long career, he is the G.O.A.T.

Heralded on the Hardwood

Everyone expects this to be the easiest decision to make. It's Michael Jeffrey Jordan, isn't it? Nope. Not this time. I'm going to pay homage to the most prolific scorer I have ever seen (watched highlights and read articles about) and that is Wilt Chamberlain. As I said in my previous post, we all acknowledge the fact that he scored 100 in a game but we overlook the fact that he has 32 of the 63 occurrences in the NBA that a player scored over 60 points. Yes, half of the highest scoring games in NBA history are Wilt Chamberlain's. If you look at the Top-20 highest scoring games in NBA history, Wilt has 15 of 20. He scored between 65-70 points 10 times. Most players don't score between 40-45 points 10 times in their career. My personal favorite player of all-time, LeBron James only has 12 total 40+ point games, and 9 games of 50 or more with 56 points being his most ever. Now, LeBron doesn't need to score as much as Wilt did but the best player of our current time isn't even close to being the scorer that Wilt was. Nobody comes close to Wilt. The only guy who stacks up with his career numbers is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Also, Wilt averaged 22 rebounds per game throughout his career. He has one season where he averaged 50 points per game. Nobody comes with 15 points of that in a season anymore. The stone that houses the NBA on my Final Four Mt. Rushmore is Wilt Chamberlain.

Ruler of the Rink

This debate was settled in my blog on Wednesday so I apologize for the reiteration. The NHL doesn't even need four choices. It comes down to two. Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky. While Gretzky has career numbers that dwarf anyone, the amount of time they played has to be considered. When you break down the averages, their points per game is separated by .04, Gretzky has the slight edge. Lemieux has more goals per game and Gretzky has more assists. Lemieux has a better percentage of game-winning goals and a better career shooting percentage. While I could simply say that Lemieux has the edge in 3 of 5 categories, so that settles it, I won't. I look at more than that. Lemieux never had a line mate as amazing as Mark Messier. The people who surrounded Lemieux for the majority of his career weren't Hall of Famers. Gretzky played on the same line with different Hall of Famers his whole career. Since I already made this decision on Thursday, I won't go on and on, I'll simply say if you want more information then look back at my Monuments Men: NHL post and see the argument for Lemieux. He's the third face on the list. 

Dominance on the Diamond

Since I had Kyle choose 3 of the 4 heads to be etched on the MLB Mt. Rushmore, I discussed with him which player he would select as baseball's representative in the Final Four of American Sports. Hint: He didn't choose Barry Bonds. The obvious choice that most of America would lean toward is Babe Ruth. He still gets a huge amount of mentions when people talk about the game today. No other sport really does that. Most sports go back about 20 years at most but baseball is a different animal. So, we chose a different animal to represent our Mt. Rushmore: Ty Cobb. The reasoning: he failed less than any other hitter in history. That's a bit of a joke, but it does hold some merit. As Kyle stated yesterday, or you could look up for yourself, Cobb has the best batting average ever. He hit more than .300 in all but his rookie season and went over .400 three times. One of the most absurd records that he holds is how many times he's stolen home. It's 54 times. That's more than some teams stole home in their entire history.  Cobb stole home 21 more times than any other player in league history. The numbers aren't the only thing that make Cobb so amazing. His burning desire to win and intensity to dominate the sport puts him above everyone. So, while your list might have Babe Ruth, Wayne Gretzky, Michael Jordan, and Joe Montana, we have Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry Rice, Mario Lemieux and Ty Cobb. 

Final Four

Four men in the four most popular sports in America. Jerry Rice in football, Wilt Chamberlain in basketball, Mario Lemieux in hockey, and Ty Cobb in baseball. If I was going to add a few more faces for some of the more niche sports in America that have either declined or been more secondary, I would choose Muhammad Ali, who might be the most influential athlete in sports history, and Dale Earnhardt as the choice for NASCAR. There isn't any other sport that I follow enough to comment on who the greatest ever would be. Check it next week as we rotate to more recent sports issues for our blogs and end the list. Hopefully you enjoyed this week! 

The Monuments Men: MLB

When we talk about the greatest ever in sports, we always seem to focus on the era that the current 30 and 40 year olds watched growing up (probably because most people around that age work in the sports media). In basketball, it’s Magic, Larry and Michael. Football talks about Montana, Elway and Rice. Baseball is a different animal, though. It's the oldest sport that's been in the mainstream of American culture, so our field of players to choose from is quite large. Also, we start in 1907 when choosing different players. No other sport travels back that far to discuss the greats. When creating this idea of a Mt. Rushmore for each of the four major sports, I knew baseball would be the hardest to select. So, I'm calling in the Sports Microcosm baseball expert, my former roommate, and co-host on Apt 11 Sports, Kyle Holmgren to fill in the list. But first, let me add one piece to the mountain and discuss the most insane period of the sport: the steroid era.  

Pumped Up on Baseball

The era of baseball that I grew up watching is now marred with asterisks, medical acronyms, and a blanket of fog over all accomplishments during the time period. During this era, several guys dominated. One who started out as a skinny kid in Pittsburgh became a behemoth in the bay area. Of course I’m talking about Home Run King, Barry Bonds. In a 22-year career he hit 762 home runs, which is the most by any player in any era. "He was on steroids, though!" Yes, we are all aware of that. He never failed a test, though. And unlike the Baseball Hall of Fame, I'm not going to choose to ignore one of the most popular eras of the sport. It was definitely the most exciting era. Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, and Mark McGuire went year after year drilling 50+ homers and having us tune in every game they played to see who moved into the lead that day. Also, to Bonds' credit, he was an MVP player prior to hitting 500 foot jacks every night. In Pittsburgh, Bonds was a finalist for the MVP his final 3 seasons there, winning the award twice. His first year in San Francisco is when his numbers ballooned. Is that the moment that we want to mark as the start of steroid usage? Maybe he started in 1990 and it took a little time for his power to hit astronomical numbers? The point is that we'll never get specifics unless he decides to come out and say when he started, how long he used for and even then we don't know what he would have achieved without them. The man was walked almost 20 percent of his plate appearances. Intentionally walked 26 percent of all his walks. He finished his career with almost 3,000 hits and 2,000 RBIs. Removed from the era, Barry Bonds is arguably one of the best batters to ever step to the plate. While nobody else wants to acknowledge the period, I don't care about the sanctity of baseball as much as the next guy and Barry Bonds is going on my list. His head’s nearly the size of the actual Mt. Rushmore so it’ll fit right up there with the rest of the faces. Or maybe it'll end up as a statue to Barry because everyone else will complain about being put on a list with him. Now, here's Kyle to give you some insight on the history of the game and who he selects as his Top-3 MLB players of all-time.

I get to pick my Top-3 MLB players of all-time? Not exactly an easy task. As Tim said, we’ve got to go all the way back to 1907 when we start looking for our guys. Now I’m a little more of a purist than my former roommate and I care a little more about the sanctity of baseball. Would Bonds make my list? No, but this isn’t my blog so I’ll take what I can get with three of the four picks. It’s so hard to pick with all of the amazing baseball players that have come and gone over the years. Bob Feller, pitcher for the Cleveland Indians, won 25 games in 1941 and 26 games in 1946. He had a bit of a slump while he was in WWII. Hank Aaron and his home runs make him one of the greats. Jackie Robinson is honored across the league once a year for the contribution that he made to baseball and to the entire country. More recently, Derek Jeter decides to retire after the most impressive career I’ve seen in my lifetime. If I had to pick just three…

The Obvious Choice

Let’s play a game. I’ll say something and you tell me the first thing that comes to mind. Ready? Best baseball player ever. I’ll bet the name Babe Ruth crossed your mind just now. If he’s not number one on your list, he should be pretty high. Ruth finished his 22 year career with 714 home runs, almost 3,000 hits, and over 2,200 RBIs. Sounds familiar doesn’t it? One thing that differentiates Ruth from almost every other player was his play on the field before all the home runs and the fame. Before his Yankee days, he was a world class pitcher for the Red Sox. Ruth made all but seven of his starts from 1915 to 1919. In that time he started 139 games and of those 139 games he won 87. That’s about 63% if you were looking for a number. In the 1916 season he had 23 wins with an ERA of 1.75 and 24 wins with an ERA of 2.01 in 1917. If he did nothing else for the rest of his career he’d be a great player. The numbers are all well and good but it’s what Ruth did to the game that puts him on the list of the best ever. He was one of the architects of the way the game is played today. All of those steroids that Tim talked about up there, that started with Ruth. I’m not saying Babe Ruth was on the juice, but he did start a trend that still exists in baseball today. McGuire, Sosa and Bonds were all chasing an idea that Ruth helped build. The home run hitter is king. The Yankees even built their new stadium to allow for more home runs from their lineup of power hitters. The game is dominated by home runs and all of that started with George Herman Ruth.

The Georgia Peach

When Babe Ruth started hitting 40 or 50 plus home runs in the 1920s, a completely different kind of baseball player was dominating the game about 600 miles to the west, in Detroit. It has famously been said that the best hitters in the game fail seven times out of ten. During the 1911, 1912 and 1922 seasons, this man only failed six times out of ten. Ty Cobb still has the best career batting average in the history of baseball. He hit .366 over 24 seasons. The only time he hit less than .300 was his rookie season in 1905 and he only had 150 AB that season anyway. He set upwards of 90 records in his illustrious career and a few of them still stand today including that .366 career average. A record that begins to illustrate the way that Ty Cobb played the game of baseball is the record for most times stealing home. He did it 54 times. He stole home, 54 times. He won nine batting titles in a row and a couple more outside of those. Out of his 4,189 hits, Ty Cobb only hit 117 home runs. There is a legend that surrounds a two game stretch Cobb played during the 1925 season. In those two games, Cobb hit five home runs. If you were paying attention a couple sentences ago, this was not his normal game plan. According to legend, Cobb told reporters to pay close attention because he was going to try something new that day. He said that for the first time in his life, he was going to actually try to hit home runs. He wanted to prove to them that he could hit for power if he wanted to. Whether or not he actually told reporters that before the two games is still debated. What’s not debated was Cobb’s hatred for everything Ruthian post 1920. He thought the great desire for home runs killed all the strategy in the game. If you don’t think that’s the case, look at how different the play is in the National and American leagues today.

The Best of Both Worlds

There was one man who came into the batter’s box with some of the attributes of both Ruth and Cobb. That man was Ted Williams. Williams started his career about a decade after Ruth and Cobb had finished theirs. He is the last man to hit .400 over an entire season. He finished his career with a batting average of .344 and an on base percentage of .482. His career OBP is a record that still stands today. He had the average like Cobb, so what made him like Ruth? Williams finished his 19 year career with 521 home runs. He’s not in the 700 club, but those guys never hit .400. Williams was obsessed with hitting. In 1970, he wrote a book called The Science of Hitting. That’s what hitting was to him, a science. He broke it down into its different pieces and perfected all of them. He used a lighter bat, allowing him to swing faster. He was said to have told his teammates not to leave their bats on the ground because they might absorb moisture, making them heavier. While he was playing left field in front of the massive Green Monster at Fenway Park, he would practice his swing by looking at his shadow as he went through his movement. He lived for hitting. It was his life. Williams was criticized for being selfish with his batting. He wouldn’t swing at a bad pitch to put the ball in play and advance the runner. His argument was basically that it was stupid to swing at a pitch outside the strike zone because his average dropped dramatically. Williams is considered by many to be the best hitter of all time, and that’s why he’s making it up on Mt. Rushmore.

The Lineup

Thanks to Kyle for pinch hitting on the blog today and giving us some insight on his greats of baseball. We know that you probably have 15 other guys you think are worthy of the Mt. Rushmore, and we agree that they’re worthy but these are the choices. Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Lou Gehrig, Stan Musial, Cy Young, and the rest of the crew all made major contributions to the game, but when you have to pick 4, things get hard. Then when taking away a spot for someone else to put the best player of the steroid era to make a point, it’s ever harder. All of the 4 major sports have been covered and tomorrow I’ll stack up the best from each sport to choose the Final 4 on the American Pro Sports Mt. Rushmore. 

The Monuments Men: NHL

Simple As...

When it comes to building a Mt. Rushmore of players for any of the major sports, there are always more than 4 people who are worthy of making the list. With the NFL there are more than 4 at almost every position, the NBA has 4 current players that have cases to make the list, and MLB spans such a large amount of time that it's hard to differentiate eras. But, in hockey, we have a simpler task. The first two busts on the mountain are undeniable. They dominated as players and then moved to management and coaching positions, their contribution to the game is undeniable. They are Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky. 

Since it is an obvious notion that these two top the list, at least in the minds of most educated hockey fans, i'm going to compare the two and see if we can come to a conclusion of who is the best between them. I'm sure your initial response will be that Gretzky has more assists than Lemieux has total points but Gretzky played over 500 more games. The numbers you have to look at are the averages over a career. You can't simply look at total numbers because everyone doesn't play the same amount of time. There is something to say for longevity but also something to say for Mario going through cancer and returning to play hockey after it. When comparing averages, there isn't much difference between the two.

                                                                   Wayne Gretzky                             Mario Lemieux

Points Per Game:                                               1.92                                             1.88

Goals Per Game:                                                   .60                                              .75

Assists Per Game:                                              1.32                                             1.13

Game Winning Goal Percentage:                   6%                                               8%

Shooting Percentage:                                       17.6%                                          19%

I'm from Pittsburgh so my childhood was spent watching Mario Lemieux and my adult life still involves a lot of time being spent watching Lemieux because he's such a staple in Pittsburgh history. But, I believe I can make a fairly strong case for Mario being the better player. No. 66 played with guys you probably never heard of if you're not a die-hard hockey fan or Pittsburgher. No. 99 played with guys that are Hall of Famers. Mario also accomplished something nobody else ever has. He scored 5 goals in 5 different ways. He scored even-strength, power play, empty net, penalty shot, and short handed goals. Add to it the accomplishments made after their career and Lemieux adds another Stanley Cup as a team owner in 2009 with the Penguins. Gretzky didn't have quite as much success in the front office realm. While the debate will go on of 66 or 99 for decades, it's obvious that they are the two best players to ever play. Now, let's check the rest of the list.

Am I Missing Something?

Upon first entertaining the idea of the Mt. Rushmore of hockey players, I leaned toward Gordie Howe and Bobby Orr being my 3rd and 4th choices. Then I did some research. My favorite statistic: points per game average showed me that Gordie Howe didn't have a very impressive number. He has the 37th best PPG average. "He accomplished things at all levels of the game. Look at the Gordie Howe Hat Trick." You mean the feat that he only accomplished twice? Yeah, that's right. I'm not sure why it was named after him like he did it every game. He wasn't even the first to do it. The first time it was recorded was in the 1920s and it probably happened a few times before that. The all-time leader in Gordie Howe Hat Tricks is Brendan Shanahan with 17. Rick Tocchet and Brian Sutter are tied for second with 15. Maybe we should call it the Shanahan Hat Trick? After reviewing the numbers, Gordie Howe was definitely a top talent but he doesn't have the numbers to be on the Mt. Rushmore. My Mt. Rushmore isn't solely about the early founders of the game. It's about the greats of the game. Whether they still play today or if they retired 30 years ago, I look at the numbers and the contributions. When I looked deeper into Bobby Orr's numbers, he stacks up. He makes my list. Orr played 12 seasons and has the 5th best PPG average of all-time. I'm sure someone along this list you said, "Hey your PPG average is negative toward the top defensemen to ever play the game." Well, you're right. It is discriminatory. However, if you're not hockey educated, Bobby Orr was a defensemen. He is the only defensemen with 9 career hat tricks. (Real ones, not Gordie Howe ones). Orr was the first defenseman to lead the league in scoring, the first player to record 100 assists in a season, and the only player to ever win the Norris Trophy, Hart Trophy, Conn Smythe Trophy, and Art Ross Trophy in one season. I still question if I'm missing something with Gordie Howe and maybe a reader will properly inform me, but Bobby Orr is someone everyone needs to know about, and he's on my list because of it. 

The Kid Makes the List

As I have done with my first two sports Mt. Rushmore's, I am choosing a current player who I undoubtedly believe will finish with career numbers worthy of being an all-time great, or the greatest ever. I don't think Sidney Crosby will ever pass Mario or Gretzky on the list of the greatest NHL players but his numbers show that he's already one of the best ever. His PPG average is 4th all-time at 1.40, which is a few points better than Bobby Orr had. He's already secured one Stanley Cup and has a solid career ahead of him. The only concern with Crosby is the fact that he has had injury issues throughout his career. The upside to that is if he can remain healthy for complete seasons in a row, his numbers will stack up even more impressively. You can say I picked another Pittsburgh guy because this is where I'm from but it's the numbers that I'm looking at. No other current player stacks up. The only one that comes close is another guy who started as a Penguin, too: Jaromir Jagr. While Sid the Kid still has a long career ahead of him, he's on the Mt. Rushmore today. 

The Frozen Four

We should probably make this Mt. Rushmore out of ice. If we did that then it would be the easiest to melt down and rebuild if a major change needed to be made. I took care of that and made sure Sidney Crosby was given a spot. The other guys beside Crosby are unarguable choices. Mario Lemieux, Wayne Gretzky and Bobby Orr dominated the sport and posted numbers and records that have stood for years and don't look like they'll be broken anytime soon. Tomorrow we'll dive into the MLB Mt. Rushmore and Friday you'll get one selection from each sport for the American Pro Sports Mt. Rushmore.