Thursday, May 19, 2005
Atlanta's Ultimate Sports Hero
So the AJC's got this poll up, asking the fine people of Atlanta who they think the city's greatest athlete is. Of course there are only two serious candidates, and frankly I find it impossible to pick between Murph and 'Nique. Okay, you can make a case for pretty much everybody on there, of course, but you could also make a case against all of them. Like Aaron, yeah, he's got that flashy record, and he's been visible in the city for decades, but he spent far more time in Milwaukee than Atlanta. Deion's a dick, Bartkowski and Nobis never stood out in their sport like Dominique did, and Vick's still got a few years 'til earning the title. I love me some Smoltzie (looking like I might be seeing him at Fenway this Sunday, btw), but you just can't elevate him over Glavine or Maddux. Niekro and Chipper are/were great players, but there's nothing exciting about either of them. And Evander done fucked his legacy up, first by refusing to retire with dignity, and secondly by appearing on that ballroom show alongside such "celebrities" as the fake J. Peterman and, well, a bunch of people I don't even recognize. Realistically Bobby Jones should probably get it, and since the people who don't know who he is don't read papers anyway (ie, the kidz), maybe he's got a shot. But for me, and I'd think for most anybody who came of age in the '80's, Murphy and Wilkins are the benchmarks for athletic excellence in Atlanta. Murphy was the king shit of baseball throughout all the southeast in the mid-'80's, and my first favorite player, so it's impossible to not vote for him. But 'Nique went to Georgia, and was pretty amazingly kick-ass most of the time, so it's also hard to not give him the nod. Sweet Jesu, what a moral conundrum!
I'm really surprised neither Glavine nor Maddux made it on the list.
So the AJC's got this poll up, asking the fine people of Atlanta who they think the city's greatest athlete is. Of course there are only two serious candidates, and frankly I find it impossible to pick between Murph and 'Nique. Okay, you can make a case for pretty much everybody on there, of course, but you could also make a case against all of them. Like Aaron, yeah, he's got that flashy record, and he's been visible in the city for decades, but he spent far more time in Milwaukee than Atlanta. Deion's a dick, Bartkowski and Nobis never stood out in their sport like Dominique did, and Vick's still got a few years 'til earning the title. I love me some Smoltzie (looking like I might be seeing him at Fenway this Sunday, btw), but you just can't elevate him over Glavine or Maddux. Niekro and Chipper are/were great players, but there's nothing exciting about either of them. And Evander done fucked his legacy up, first by refusing to retire with dignity, and secondly by appearing on that ballroom show alongside such "celebrities" as the fake J. Peterman and, well, a bunch of people I don't even recognize. Realistically Bobby Jones should probably get it, and since the people who don't know who he is don't read papers anyway (ie, the kidz), maybe he's got a shot. But for me, and I'd think for most anybody who came of age in the '80's, Murphy and Wilkins are the benchmarks for athletic excellence in Atlanta. Murphy was the king shit of baseball throughout all the southeast in the mid-'80's, and my first favorite player, so it's impossible to not vote for him. But 'Nique went to Georgia, and was pretty amazingly kick-ass most of the time, so it's also hard to not give him the nod. Sweet Jesu, what a moral conundrum!
I'm really surprised neither Glavine nor Maddux made it on the list.
