Some on the list are no brainers like Jim Brown, Bo Jackson, Dave Winfield, Marion Jones and Charlie Ward. Using the criteria that SI developed for this list, I would've put Winfield at #1 for being drafted in 4 sports. But that's neither here nor there.
My question: How can you list Jeff Samardzija in the Top 15? Be serious. Herschel Walker was an Olympic level sprinter in the 100 meter dash, and he doesn't make the list?
No word on where Larry Brown falls on the list. Image georgiadogs.com.
pwd
9 comments:
Three Notre Dame athletes? Three?
That's insulting to anyone who follows collegiate athletics ... particularly listing Samardzija as one of the 15 greatest of all-time.
The SI people have long been pinheads, and if you want to live a longer life with less stress, you must learn to take what they write with a grain of salt.... I know, I know, they paid you a compliment, but so have many others, so maybe they were just lucky in that case.
3 domers should'nt surprise anyone when its the national media involved. Samardzia - JOKE!! Not even an All America WR - doesn't mean he's not good but not in top 16 of ALL TIME!!! Not in top 50 of ALL TIME.
Then 3 UNC and 2 FSU?
Every school could make the case for someone. I'd argue that Willie Gault could be on the list if Samardzia is. (Although I don't think Willie is top 16 of ALL TIME). Todd Helton was AA baseball and starting QB.
The list including someone as marginal as Samardja insults the ones on their list as deserving.
Jeff Samardzija???? I don't mean to sound like a hopeless shill for the home team, but Herschel was a better athlete that him even if you only considered his second sport as jogging around campus saving little old ladies from car wrecks.
I have nothing against the kid. He's a good WR, and he must be a pretty good baseball player, but the best 15 of all time? Baffling.
Using whatever standards SI used, it's ridiculous to have Rocket Ismail at number 9 and leave Herschel off the list. Herschel was a much better collegiate player, actually won the Heisman, and also led his team to a national title and three SEC titles. He was also an All-American in two different events in track and field.
That said, I think for what what the intent of this list seems to be, it's not really fair to just throw in track and field events to give someone another sport. I'd argue it's much more difficult to be succesful in football and baseball, football and basketball, basketball and baseball, etc. than to use your natural athletic talent that helps you succeed at your primary sport and then be successful in a track and field event specializing in that very talent. So when Wilt Chamberlain wins the Big 8 high jump I'm not as impressed as Samardzija being a Biletnikoff finalist and a 5th round pick by the Cubs.
Not that I think Samardzija is one of the top 15 college athletes of all time, but his inclusion on this list is more fair IMO than some of the other athletes listed.
And in the name of being a hypocrite I think it's fair to include Joyner-Kersee and Jones because they excelled so highly in both sports, and also because it seems track was their primary focus, while they were merely All-Americans in basketball as an "afterthought."
I'm also disappointed that Jimmy Clausen wasn't included for his football and hair care prowess.
Parker - you get bonus points for working in a shot at Clausen.
pwd
Parker:
Good point about Jimmy "Emu" Clausen. Anyone who thinks full contact male modeling isn't a sport has never seen that documentary about Derek Zoolander.
Ironically, I think young Jimmy's in for four years of what Derek experienced when he tried to "go monk" in that walkoff with Handsel. The Emu's hair will look fabulous, though, no matter how far up his ass the Southern Cal D-line deposits his underwear.
Let's not forget: Herschel was also an Olympic Bobsledder.
Annoying, but not really surprising given the current state of sports punditry, in which everyone was prepared to declare last year's Notre Dame-USC game the "best ever" before the final gun had even sounded.
I've got a real bad feeling about this season -- it would be a shame if we got to see Southern California suffer three or four losses and fall off the national radar for a season or two, only to see the fellatiary impulses of the ESPN/SI/Sporting News triumvirate shifted part-and-parcel over to the Irish. It just doesn't do for a Catholic to hate Notre Dame, but thanks to people like SI, I'm getting close.
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