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Baseball Primer Newsblog— The Best News Links from the Baseball Newsstand
Monday, June 11, 2007
9 of these are baseball stories.
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That list was really bad.
I'd say a top 10 has to be Alexander Karelin, being upset by Rulon Gardner in the 2000 Gold Medal match in Greco Roman wrestling. Karelin, was undeafeted in international competition in for 14 years... the last 6 without giving up a point. One of the most dominant figures in any sport in modern sports history. Of course since it's grecco roman wrestling, it's not given much play. But as a story it is second to few.
When I think "greatest sports story" of the last 25 years, I guess I think of the OJ trial. It transcended sports. It interrupted the freaking NBA Finals. The Red Sox winning the World Series was a big deal I guess, but it didn't make the lead of ABC World News tonight every night.
I don't think the pervasiveness of ESPN is really a story. I certainly don't recall ever reading an article on it.
Jordan' last shot against Utah? I barely remember that.
No Mike Tyson biting Evander Holyfield? Really? No 1996 Olympic bombing?
Also kind of interesting that Lord Football didn't make the list once. College football had just one entry. No World Cup or Super Bowl, despite all those viewers.
The Cal-Stanford play qualifies (November 1982) but that may be more of a moment than a story.
Ted Williams's head was a big story.
- The only thing "great" about the Red Sox winning the WS was that they were the Red Sox, or, as we pronounce it here in the Midwest, "Yankees".
- Jordan trying baseball was a far bigger story than anything he did on the basketball court. (I remember Jordan's shot against Utah...what can I say? 8-) But I remember the awful call by Hue Hollins more. Bulls fans know what I'm talking about.)
- Where's John Rocker? The whole nation was talking about him.
- Greco-Roman wrestling is not much of a story if a German or Chinese wrestler beats Karelin. Actually, what happens in Greco-Roman wrestling isn't much of a story at all.
They forgot:
1984 Soviet Boycott
Pete Rose breaks Ty Cobb's record
I feel like the 1986 Bears should be on the list somewhere. They're probably the most memorable TEAM of the last 25 years, except for maybe the 2004 Red Sox.
I also love the sidepar poll where "BALCO-steroids in baseball" is one of the "choose your favorite sports moment" choices. Nice droll touch there, although I have to admit that McGwire's HOF vote last year might have made my top 5 moments, however temporary a thrill that it might turn out to have been.
According to Jeff K it isn't.
They didn't have room for everybody who's died during races. Also didn't have room for the guy who stabbed Monica Seles.
Personally I am just glad Bartman didn't make the list.
Because ESPN is not located in Evanston.
As was Barry's.
Best Regards
John
"The catch" was >25 years ago. Has anything more recent been that memorable?
No Summer Olympics either.
That's surprising. Ben Johnson?
Because the White Sox didn't even have the biggest drought in their own city.
God, her perkiness bothered me. No idea why, but she could find something upbeat in a guillotine.
Best Regards
John
really? you "honestly" dont know?
coming back from 0-3 in the ALCS might have something to do with it.
also game 7 losses in the world series in 86, 75, 67, and 46 might be a factor.
...and the order of the Sox's wins was a factor. if Chicago had done it first it would have been a bigger story than it was happening on the heels of 04.
And this list came from the USA Today, which is located in Virginia.
The absence of the White Sox has little to do with the city they're located in and more to do with their place in the conscience of the average sports fan. If it had been the Cubs who followed up the Red Sox triumph with a WS victory in 05, you can bet they'd have been on the list. In fact, it likely would have been trumpeted as a single story. Red Sox-Cubs Buck Curses kind of thing.
The absence of the White Sox has little to do with the city they're located in and more to do with their place in the conscience of the average sports fan. If it had been the Cubs who followed up the Red Sox triumph with a WS victory in 05, you can bet they'd have been on the list. In fact, it likely would have been trumpeted as a single story. Red Sox-Cubs Buck Curses kind of thing.
My point was, that ESPN has hyped the Red Sox, because of their proximity to the Red Sox, and the East Coast in general, the the point where the entire nation now turns its attention to the Red Sox, while the White Sox, a franchise with arguably as much history and a longer drought, gets the shaft. Were ESPN based in Chicago and more midwest-centered as opposed to east coast-centered, the White Sox World Series drought would probably be considered a much bigger deal.
Magic Johnson's AIDS announcement lower than Jack Nicalus?
- Monica Seles stabbing. Oh, someone beat me to that one.
I feel like the 1986 Bears should be on the list somewhere. They're probably the most memorable TEAM of the last 25 years, except for maybe the 2004 Red Sox.
I think the 1985 Bears were more memorable personally. If they're going to put the Sox in first, the '85 Bears definately belong somewhere - the hype, challenging the '72 Dolphins mark, the Fridge, the playoff dominance, McMahon's headbands, a song that peaked at #41 on the charts (still the best selling single to not make the Top 40).
I had such a crush on her in 1984.
The White Sox had a great run of wins and the WS after a long dryspell as well, but it wasn't anywhere near as dramatic...and it lacked much of the surrounding details. Some of that is ESPN, but a lot of it isn't too.
And I'm saying your argument would have a lot more merit if you really believe a Cubs World Series would have been treated the same way as a White Sox one. I suppose ESPN's Bristol location and Red Sox-Yankee focus (which really didn't start until they first met in the playoffs. Until then, ESPN's national baseball coverage was much more broad) may have raised the Red Sox story a few places on this list, but the bigger reason behind the White Sox's absence is that not that many people care about the White Sox, long history and longer drought or not.
And for the record, I live in one of the few places on earth where the White Sox are the team of choice. This is nothing against the White Sox, just that for whatever reason, they are simply not a glamour team, and have maintained a lower national profile than the Red Sox for longer than ESPN has existed.
Officials refusing to call blatant holding is one of the 25 greatest stories of the last 25 years?
I take it the Pats were holding in Super Bowl Whatever The Hell Roman Number That Was when they beat the Rams. I was expecting a "tuck rule" diatribe, so this one took me by surprise.
Real men don't tuck.
Best Regards
John
I'm not a Pats fan Sparkles, nor did I watch much of the game. And unlike the tuck rule, which I remember clearly and is still talked about, this really was the first I'd heard this particular complaint. (In fairness, I didn't realize you were talking about defensive holding, which I find eminently believable).
I found it funny that in January of 2006 there were more "buy your Red Sox world series memorabilia" commercials on ESPN than there were for the White Sox.
1. Barry Bonds took steroids.
2. Hank Aaron won't show up.
3. Barry wouldn't sign for Ron Kittle.
4. Jeff Kent is not a fan.
5. Remember when Sid Bream outran Jerkarm? Ha, ha! That rocked!
6. Why the 1966 Cubs didn't win it all (a ringer, from Steve Treder!).
7. Big head! Big head!
8. Is The Rocket coming back?
9. The Rocket came back!
10. Will the Rocket please stop coming back?
11. Curt Schilling just said something.
12. Derek Jeter just dove at something.
13. Kerry Wood just broke something.
14-24. Barry Bonds is washed up/fully recovered/a total cripple/still the best/on steroids, in case you didn't know.
25. I hate you, Barry!
Up until this moment, I had never heard of Ayrton Senna.
In fairness, that did rock.
Who dares to soil the memory of Dave Johnson?
Dan was the one who didn't qualify. Dave won the bronze.
1985-1986 Bears. Come on they had a hit song!
Michael Jordan retiring the first time
The Indy-CART split that destroyed the INDY 500 for awhile.
XFL
Joe Montana
Dan was the one who didn't qualify. Dave won the bronze.
Having been corrected twice (and I was going to question myself in my original post...damn you, confidence!), I can only say that I was blinded by memories of Dan's success at later Olympics. I guess I just assumed that he was the one that qualified.
Yeah, I think maybe I saw one once. It was about Sandy Koufax and why his statistics were less impressive in context. He should've taken some of them steroids.
Wow. Just wow. At the time of his tragic death, he might have been the second most popular athlete in the world, behind only Michael Jordan.
Kerri Strug was a pretty big story.
Shouldn't that be the end of the second part of his NBA career? And I don't think that was Jordan's greatest story or moment.
Sorry -- never heard the name either. What did he play, cricket or soccer or curling or figure-skating or something?
Actually, this was a critical sports moment for me in that through the hokey penalty kicks, it was guaranteed that I would continue to believe that international soccer is not actually a sport for another couple of decades.
Don't get me wrong--I love soccer. But if they decided tie baseball games by playing a couple of rounds of pepper, I probably wouldn't take it seriously either...
By the same reporter.
The Red Sox world title in '04? That is a major league homer choice if you ask me. The home run chase in '98 was much more exciting and more entertaining for people all over the place.
And Ripken's record #2...zzzzzzz. Let me guess, the reporter who picked this list was there. I mean this is bigger than 62 HR or 70 or 73 HR? No way.
I guess it was being divvied up in two parts: his Bulls career and his equally memorable run with the Wizards.
Well now you have. I suppose there are people in Europe and South America who have never heard of Barry Bonds or Albert Pujols.
"for awhile"?
Any random NASCAR race is more popular than Indy nowadays.
Don't feel bad, I never heard of Dale Earnhardt until the day he croaked. Same with that French nascar guy who just died a few days ago. You've got to be at least semi-retarded to begin with if you get off on watching cars endlessly circling around a track. You can see that kind of shlt every day on the Beltway.
Hey, I like reserve Met outfielders as much as the next guy, but this is entirely too high for Johnson. I can see Endy ahead of Buster Douglas, of course.
I actually remember Senna dying a lot more than Earnhardt. The former was a Formula One racer, which is like a billion times cooler than NASCAR.
By the same reporter.
Napster, Nirvana, MTV's all-pervasiveness in the 1980s, is the key-tar 25 years old?
25-year-olds were only 9 when Nevermind came out. Ouch.
Dude, Senna was arguably the best driver of any type of race car EVER. This is easily the equivalent of Dale Earnhardt dying (which did make the list), and probably more so since Senna was still in his prime when he died so imagine Jeff Gordon dying or something like that. Even more so because it was such an inexplicably black weekend in F1. No one dies at a race weekend for 12 years, then Rubens Barrichello nearly dies on the Friday, Roland Ratzenberger dies on the Saturday, and then the best driver ever dies on the Sunday while leading the race.
I love Mario Andretti, but Senna was three times as good as Mario. He was absolutely the most brilliant race car driver of his era in any type of racing, and hence him dying while leading a Grand Prix is shocking stuff. He got a state funeral in Brazil and three days of national mourning (and Brazil isn't exactly a piddling little country bereft of heroes) and the World Cup team dedicated its victory to him.
My point was, that ESPN has hyped the Red Sox, because of their proximity to the Red Sox, and the East Coast in general, the the point where the entire nation now turns its attention to the Red Sox, while the White Sox, a franchise with arguably as much history and a longer drought, gets the shaft. Were ESPN based in Chicago and more midwest-centered as opposed to east coast-centered, the White Sox World Series drought would probably be considered a much bigger deal.
Sorry homes, but this is crap on so many different levels. OK, obviously ESPN's proximity to the East Coast gives it a natural Red Sox bias, since most of their workforce probably comes from the Northeast and is NY/Boston fans.
But the White Sox have as much history? Come on. The White Sox were a consistent second-division club before the divisional period and had exactly one playoff appearance from 1919-1983. That's why they didn't get as much attention for their slump. Add to it that they've always been the second most popular team in their own city (with the second biggest drought), and it's easy to see why they weren't as well known as the Red Sox. The Red Sox had a prodigiously talented team in the 1940s that blew a World Series they were heavily favored in, could never quite get the advantage over the Yankees. They got a surprise pennant in 1967 beating out three other teams, had a continued period of success in the 70s that included playing in the greatest ever World Series and blowing a 14 game lead to the Yankees, and then came within one strike of the World Series.
Ted Williams. Carl Yastrzemski. Luke Appling. Nellie Fox. Not quite the same...
The Red Sox have had a strong fanbase since the late 60s. Lots of kids go to Boston for college and come away fans. New England transplants are scattered throughout the country.
Good rule of thumb: if the word "whilst" is used in the first two sentences of someone's Wikipedia entry, the subject will not be anyone that Americans care about.
Cricket - Australia vs. South Africa in the 1999 World Cup, also England winning the Ashes in 2005.
Rugby - England Winning the World Cup in 2003 or France upseting the All Blacks in the 1999 Semi Final.
Football - How about the success of the 1994 World Cup in the USA or Beckhams massive deal to play for LA??
Michael Phelps should be there for his performance in the World Champs this year. HE IS AWESOME.
BTW, great stuff on Senna, Flynn.
England Winning the World Cup in 2003
Glad to see you give credit where it is due, Phil!
The biggest story in World Football in the last 25 years is arguably, sadly, the Heysel or Hillsborough disasters. The Biggest on the pitch moment? Not sure, but Maradona's "Hand of God" and his superb 2nd goal in the same game were a pretty big deal.
And you could probably fit all of the people in Europe who have heard of Albert Pujols inside Busch Stadium, but that's Europe's loss, not Alberts
The Rolling Stones Farewell Tour.
True, but the thread's article was printed in USA Today.
Also, I'm sorry that Mr. Senna died, but I'm not entirely comfortable with the idea of auto racing as a "sport". Mentally, I kind of group it in with things like chess and competitive eating, which also require training and specialized equipment, but aren't really sports.
It may be the most boring television sport on earth this side of soccer, but any activity that takes place at well over 100 MPH, where death can come in an instant, where your only breaks in the action last about a minute or so, where the reflexes of a cat are a job requirement, and when your competitors are breathing down your neck at all times----that ain't like moving a bishop or eating a hot dog. Those drivers are athletes every bit as much as Tim Duncan or Albert Pujols.
Similarly, the possibility of imminent death means that drivers are tough and/or brave, but there are lots of non-sports activities that can get you killed, too.
But when you combine all those elements, you do have a sport.
I have a hard time considering it a "sport" when the results are determined by a panel of judges (ballroom dancing, figure skating) or by critics (ballet performances), purely on the basis of aesthetics. Baryshnikov has every bit as much grace and athleticism in him as Michael Jordan, but being body slammed in the middle of a leap and having to maneuver around it isn't part of Baryshnikov's job description.
Actually
1) They included no NFL stories
2) I was the one who mentioned the Pats. I forgot about the Niners. However, I think that the Patriots had a tougher salary cap regime to deal with (I could be wrong, but isn't that what brought SF down?)
3) Now that I think of it, the '85 Bears might be a bigger NFL story. If not, Payton breaking Jim Brown's record might be it.
You don't think boxing is a sport?
Also, I'm sorry that Mr. Senna died, but I'm not entirely comfortable with the idea of auto racing as a "sport". Mentally, I kind of group it in with things like chess and competitive eating, which also require training and specialized equipment, but aren't really sports.
Preach on, brother.
1) If it's judged, it's not a sport.
2) If it doesn't involve a ball (or a puck, whatever, some object d'play) it's not a sport.
3) If, during the course of play, you never move faster than walking, it's not a sport.
4) If it involves batting something back and forth over a net, it's not a sport.
Boxing is the only known exception.
Same here, not that it matters. Transportation ain't a sport, period. Or maybe Princess Di's death was a major sports story & I didn't realize it ...
MMA?
That's just silly.
Meh. I suppose all that crap is in, under protest.
George Mason, on the other hand, should have been on the list.
Who, you?
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