Cleveland Sports Mt. Rushmore (expanded)

[gumby73]

Egad! Individual Sport...and not a single vote for the golden bear of Columbus, Ohio... Jack Nicklaus?...  campground rules apply.. "I'll need a cart to carry all this beer" sign me up..

PB//JB//Feller//Lebron//Groza//Jack...   

[ballpeen]

Good point.  The Golden Bear needs to be on the list.

[The Gipper]

@ballpeen said:

Paul Brown, Jim Brown, LeBron James, Bob Feller, Jessie Owens, Freddie Glover...I don't forget the Barons.

Well...I wish we could have included the NHL Barons,  but they only lasted here like 1.5 years.   More of the Barons history was in the minor league AHL.

[The Gipper]

@gumby73 said:

Egad! Individual Sport...and not a single vote for the golden bear of Columbus, Ohio... Jack Nicklaus?...  campground rules apply.. "I'll need a cart to carry all this beer" sign me up..

PB//JB//Feller//Lebron//Groza//Jack...   

Jack is from Columbus.   Columbus is not in NE Ohio.....though I guess maybe we do one of those Trumpian things where we draw a big loop that would include  Columbus in NEOhio , like he included Alabama as a part of Florida.

[The Gipper]

[Canton Mike]

Zombo said:

Paul Brown, Jim Brown, Bob Feller, Lebron James, Lou Groza, Jessie Owens.

Zombo

All I would change here is Jack Nicklaus instead of Lou Groza, so mine would be:

Paul Brown, Jim Brown, Bob Feller, Lebron James, Jack Nicklaus, & Jesse Owens.

Mike

[gumby73]

@the-gipper said:

Stumped by those small Gipper details, is like being Gonged by Chuck Barris on the Gong Show ?... I'm Honored (your honor).. next week can we play Match Game & your Gene Rayburn? 

[The Gipper]

@gumby73 said:

Stumped by those small Gipper details, is like being Gonged by Chuck Barris on the Gong Show ?... I'm Honored (your honor).. next week can we play Match Game & your Gene Rayburn? 

Remember Chuck Barris was a CIA assassin 

[ballpeen]

@the-gipper said:

Well...I wish we could have included the NHL Barons,  but they only lasted here like 1.5 years.   More of the Barons history was in the minor league AHL.n't

It was, when the NHL was maybe 8 teams.  The AHL was top notch.  Just because you aren't in the know doesn't mean it wasn't good hockey.

[SdBacker80]

@the-gipper said:

Idea stolen from a radio thing going on right now:       Give your "Mt. Rushmore" of  Cleveland/Northeast Ohio  sports figures.   Instead of 4 figures, I am going with 6 figures.     There must be the following:

1.  One coach from any team of our pro sports teams....or any coach that came out of NE  Ohio.

2. One Browns player

3. One Indians player

4. One Cavs player

5. One Buckeye.....(I know, not NEOhio...but we will include it...but it would be good if they came from NE Ohio)

6. One Individual sports performer.     (Golf, Tennis, Olympic sports, etc.)

Also....feel free to name   a 1st,  2d and 3rd team.      

When I do my lists it can be an example

1 Don Shula (lots of good ones though)
Nick Saban, Jim Tressel

2. Jim Brown, Otto Graham, Joe Thomas

3. Jim Thome, Bob Feller, Kenny Lofton

4. Lebron, Price, Larry Nance Sr.

5. Archie Griffin, Eddie George, Zeke Elliot 

6. Stipe Miocic, Steph Curry (lol), Bernie Kosar 

[The Gipper]

@ballpeen said:

It was, when the NHL was maybe 8 teams.  The AHL was top notch.  Just because you aren't in the know doesn't mean it wasn't good hockey.

I didn't say it was not good hockey,  I am only saying that it seemed that the stint here for NHL hockey was not long enough for the sport to become established....or for there to be any identification really with players by fans.  Though you seemed to develop some. Very good. 

[The Gipper]

@sdbacker80 said:

1 Don Shula (lots of good ones though)
Nick Saban, Jim Tressel

2. Jim Brown, Otto Graham, Joe Thomas

3. Jim Thome, Bob Feller, Kenny Lofton

4. Lebron, Price, Larry Nance Sr.

5. Archie Griffin, Eddie George, Zeke Elliot 

6. Stipe Miocic, Steph Curry (lol), Bernie Kosar 

Questions:  Are you putting Nick Saban on the list because he attended  college at Kent St.?   (I guess I never considered that.   That would make 9 guys from NEO  that won college national championships) 

But how do you get Steph Curry and Bernie Kosar as being "Individual sport athletes"? 

[Bob806]

@gumby73 said:

Egad! Individual Sport...and not a single vote for the golden bear of Columbus, Ohio... Jack Nicklaus?...  campground rules apply.. "I'll need a cart to carry all this beer" sign me up..

PB//JB//Feller//Lebron//Groza//Jack...   

Richie Giachetti as well...trained Larry Holmes, heavyweight champ.

Mike Durbin, PBA champ from Chagrin Falls.

[The Gipper]

Questions:  Are you putting Nick Saban on the list because he attended  college at Kent St.?   (I guess I never considered that.   That would make 9 guys from NEO  that won college national championships) 

Actually.....make that 10 coaches from NE Ohio who won  National Championships ....as I did not include Paul Brown who won a National Championship in 1942 with Ohio St. 

[ballpeen]

@the-gipper said:

Well...I wish we could have included the NHL Barons,  but they only lasted here like 1.5 years.   More of the Barons history was in the minor league AHL.

Just to clarify that point...at that time the AHL was more than a minor league team.  True, the NHL teams sent players to the AHL, but the AHL teams held their own contracts as well.  It was more like a alternate league.  Kind of like the early days of baseball when the American League was thought of being lesser than the National League or in football when the AFL was looked at as being lesser than the NFL.  You could even go back to the AAFC and the NFL.

Sports was different back then.  There were no real TV contracts, at least on a national level.  All local stuff, mostly radio.  There was a reason why the National League merged with the American League, why the NFL brought in several of the teams from the AAFC, then merged with all of the AFL.  The owners realized they might not have as much of a cod lock on things as they thought.

[The Gipper]

@ballpeen said:

Just to clarify that point...at that time the AHL was more than a minor league team.  True, the NHL teams sent players to the AHL, but the AHL teams held their own contracts as well.  It was more like a alternate league.  Kind of like the early days of baseball when the American League was thought of being lesser than the National League or in football when the AFL was looked at as being lesser than the NFL.  You could even go back to the AAFC and the NFL.

Yes, I like this explanation.   After all, from like the mid 20s to the mid 60s there were only  6 NHL teams.  There were probably fewer combined  NHL and AHL teams then than there are NHL teams now.  So the AHL could be considered say a "Major B" league, rather than a minor league. 

Sports was different back then.  There were no real TV contracts, at least on a national level.  All local stuff, mostly radio.  There was a reason why the National League merged with the American League, why the NFL brought in several of the teams from the AAFC, then merged with all of the AFL.  The owners realized they might not have as much of a cod lock on things as they thought.

Yes, again.  In the 1970s there was  "expansion by merger):   NFL/AFL  merger completed;   NBA/ABA merger;  NHL/WHA  merger.  Not to mention pure expansion. 

I am of the opinion that 32 is almost a perfect number for a North American Major Sports league.   That is what we have in the NFL now.  The NHL is about to complete expansion to 32 teams.   Las Vegas being #31 and Seattle, whose commencement may be delayed by the virus situation will be #32.    That leaves the NBA and MLB to expand by 2 teams each IMO.    Where could they go? 

For the NBA,  I can see them expanding in the west to either   Seattle/Las Vegas or San Diego.    In the East,    a good spot I think would be the Tidewater/Richmond area of Virginia....which has a population of over 3 million.....and no sports franchises (almost as big as  Cleveland metro area).....or the likes of Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Columbus.....or maybe the Lexington/Louisville area...about  2.25 million combined population.   Unless they also want to give Canada another team, then try Vancouver again....though they did that once with the Grizzlies.

For MLB:   Top possibles are  Carolina (either Charlotte or Raleigh), which seems a natural....Portland,  Salt Lake City,   or San Antonio/Austin.

Or...unless they actually wish to expand into Mexico?  Monterrey rather than Mex. City  would be best there IMO. 

32 teams works out well for divisions/conferences/leagues/and playoff set ups.  All in my opinion.