I cannot thank all of you enough who wished me a happy birthday either through facebook, through a card, or by the phone. Much love is returned. A special thanks goes out to those who made the trek down to Athens last Saturday. You know who you are, and it was great seeing you there. From what I can remember, it was a good time had by all. Thanks again.
I think this is a good time to share my thoughts on the BCS. I hate this system, but instead of bitching about it, I’ll let you know how I think it is all going to play out. First off, Notre Dame still has an outside shot of making it to the national championship game. They need USC to keep winning and maybe 2 bigger upsets to take place in front of them. If they end the season with just that one loss to Michigan, they will be in the top 4. Realistically, the winner of the Ohio State vs. Michigan game is in. The loser, not so much. Who gets the second spot though? USC? Louisville? Auburn? Unfortunately, the answer is going to be West Virginia. They will be undefeated and sitting in third place when the Wolverines play the Buckeyes. I don’t care if it takes a last second field goal to win that game. The Mountaineers will jump into the second spot, and will get smoked out of the water in the national championship.
Over the past months I have shared with you my favorite athletes and coaches throughout my lifetime. How bout if I could start over with this list right now? Would I change anything? Well, as a matter of fact, I would. First off, Grady Sizemore would be on here somewhere. Also, tennis players Marcos Baghdatis and James Blake would make an appearance as well. I’m a little surprised I didn’t say anything about Chris DiMarco. I didn’t put any commentators on the list. If I would have thought about it, Gus Johnson and Bob Costas would have gotten due recognition. Oh well. It is what it is. Maybe in 5 years I will look back and re-do this list. I bet it would change dramatically, especially at the bottom. However these next five have been set in stone for a long, long time. Enjoy as I share numbers five, four, and three to you.
#5 - Norm Duke
I was a bowling prodigy, at least in my mind I thought I was. Like I have said many times before, my home away from home was the bowling alley. I entered into a Saturday morning Junior league when I was a year too young to actually do so. It’s nice when the owner and your dad are best friends. Anyways, at the young age of 7, bowling against ages 8-14, I turned some heads. My run it up and throw it down with two hands approach was funny to look at, but my scores were no laughing matter. I bowled my first 200 game that year, and my first 450 series. I earned a trophy for having the 3rd best average in the league. I stayed in that league for just 3 more years, picking up a trophy each year. However, I quit the two handed approach when I was 11. At that time it was more important to impress the girls then it was to beat the guys. If only I knew how that was going to turn out! I kind of stopped bowling and really didn’t pick it up until I turned 16.
Well, after that long rant, you now understand that I was a pretty good bowler, and that it would only make sense that I would have a bowler on this list. I picked Norm Duke out at a young age. Duke kept right on bowling as I followed him constantly on television, and he just kept right on moving up my list in the process.
Bowling has been on television for as long as I can remember. Currently, they show it on Sunday afternoons. Back in the day they showed it on Wednesday nights. The format today is that they have two semi-final matches, with the winners bowling off in the finals. The old format, and my personal favorite, included four bowlers as well, but the #4 and #3 seeds would bowl against each other, with the winner facing the #2 seed. The winner of that match would face the #1 seed in the finals. I loved that format because it placed much more importance on your qualifying scores. Either way, that has nothing to do with Norm, but I just thought I would share with you. Come on, it’s been like 3 weeks since I have written anything.
Why did I pick Duke out? Well when you watch every Wednesday nights like I did, you tended to see the same bowlers each week. Duke was one of those bowlers. He was not that big of a guy, which I liked, but the clincher came when he let go of the bowling ball. The crowd would all start screaming “DUUUUUUUKE” when he released the ball down the lane. It sounded so much like my name, and it was fun to do, so next thing I know, I’m rooting passionately for the guy. I was lucky that he was good for a long period of time.
There were a couple of moments that stuck out for me with Norm Duke, some happening just as recently as this year. Duke won his first PBA title in 1983, but did not win his second until 8 years later in 1991. I remember that match. What is scary is that I could tell you who he beat. It was Dave Husted. Bring it on Schwab. Duke was getting so close to winning that year that it was frustrating for me to watch at the age of 6. It’s scary to think that was 15 years ago. Duke won the 1994 Tournament of Champions and the 2000 PBA Masters, his only 2 major victories. In 2000, Duke rolled a perfect game against Walter Ray Williams Jr. I was lucky enough to watch that special feat on TV, and got pretty involved into it as well. I felt it was necessary that I do the exact same thing on every single ball. It must have worked.
Staying with great Duke moments, he is the current record holder for the highest game in a losing effort on television. He rolled a 280 in a losing effort to Bryan Goebel, who rolled a 296. Duke got a spare in the first frame, and then struck out. Goebel, struck all the way to the last frame, until the last ball. He threw a terrible shot, picking up only 6. I remember thinking after that match how unlucky all my favorite athletes were.
Just this past year he won a different kind of title, the PBA Skills competition. It is pretty much like trick shot pool, but for bowlers. Not the greatest of accomplishments, but nonetheless, I was rooting hard for Duke.
I was glad that I could share with all of you my love for bowling. It gets a bad rap sometimes, but its definitely a favorite of mine. The 2006-2007 season has just gotten underway. I will be there watching, waiting, for “DUUUUUUUKE.”
#4 - Mike Tyson
Well, after a long day of bowling, what would be the perfect ending? Go back to the bar and watch the fights on the big screen TV. Who was the guy that everyone wanted to watch? “Iron” Mike Tyson was the answer. He became one of my favorites instantly.
The bowling alley has changed dramatically over the last decade. It has done a great job of upgrading and becoming more modern. The old look still has a place in my heart. There was a sign near the door that said “18 and older only.” I was 7 and felt right at home sitting at that bar. It’s going to be strange to go back there now that I’m 21. What a long, strange road. Anyways, back to Tyson.
When I heard that one of Tyson’s nicknames was “Baddest Man on the Planet,” I was intrigued to say the least. Then I saw one of his fights. Unbelievable. I’ve been watching boxing ever since and I can honestly say that I’ve never seen anyone with that much power.
Now, Tyson was in jail from 1992-1995, so I don’t remember watching any of his fights prior to 1995. However, I do remember watching the highlights. People watch boxing to see the knockouts, and occasionally they are rewarded with one. With Tyson, he was pure violence, pure power, and knockouts were commonplace.
My father knew that I enjoyed watching Mike Tyson, and so did the owner of the bowling alley. When Tyson came back from prison, he was right back to business. He was knocking people out and creating a buzz about the sport of boxing again. The owner, Smut, hated Tyson just about as much as I liked him. I watched Tyson defeat Peter McNeeley and Buster Mathis at the bar and won two Pepsi’s each time. Smut would bet on whoever Tyson was facing. Then, with Tyson having regained two heavyweight belts, he fought against Evander Holyfield in 1997. The winner would be the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. Holyfield had defeated Tyson 8 months earlier, and I, unfortunately missed that fight.
I was lucky enough to have a table for the rematch. Smut reserved a table for me and my dad right in front to watch this enormous event. I remember thinking that I’ve never seen the bar this crowded before. It was at that time where my dad taught me how to yell at people when they were blocking my view. It must have been pretty funny for these drunk men to be getting yelled at by a 12 year old. Either way, a Pepsi was on the line for this great bout.
I was sure that Tyson would win. I would have bet 50 cases of Pepsi that Tyson would not lose. Well, I was disappointed and shocked. In one of the most bizarre sporting events I’ve ever witnessed, Tyson bit Holyfield’s ear not once, but twice. I sat there in amazement as Smut cracked open a Pepsi right in front of me.
I got to watch Tyson fight Andrew Golota in 2001, which was a good time. I also watched Tyson get destroyed by Lennox Lewis, which was a difficult fight for me to watch. I saw for the first time with my own eyes what I had been refusing to see. It was that Tyson was old, slow, and no longer the same fighter I wanted him so desperately to be.
I don’t know what it is about Tyson, but there is just a feeling of excitement in the air when he is getting ready to fight. My mother absolutely despises him, but I’m a fan of his boxing, not of his life. You just look in his eyes and it is nothing but pure intimidation. At least it used to be until Lewis knocked his career out of him.
Regardless, I don’t think I’ll ever feel that same excitement for a sporting event again. Tyson fights were one of a kind, and I would like to thank my dad and Smut for allowing me to take part in them. Maybe one day there will be another big shot fighter that my son and I will be able to watch together.
#3 - Tiger Woods
I didn’t bowl because of Norm Duke. I didn’t take up boxing because I liked Mike Tyson. I did, however, golf, because of Tiger Woods.
I picked up the game around the age of 10. It just happened to be around the very same time that Tiger turned pro. Tiger made his debut at the Greater Milwaukee Open in 1996. It was a short time after Tiger had won his third consecutive U.S Amateur. Next thing you know, I’m outside in the backyard trying to figure out this complicated game.
As you may have already figured out, most of the people on my list, especially those near the top are older. They peaked when I was a young child, and have since faded as I have grown up. Not the case with Tiger. I grew up at the same pace as Tiger. I’ve watched him every step of the way, at least professionally.
He burst out on the scene in 1997 winning the Masters and in the process breaking the course record. If you didn’t know him before that win, you did afterwards. Nike quickly grabbed him up, and he was bouncing golf balls off his clubs in commercials. I must have tried for hours after hours to mimic that commercial, no dice though.
Tiger has continued to win, including a run I doubt I’ll ever witness again. He won 4 consecutive majors starting in 2000, and ending in 2001. He won six straight titles in 2000, and currently is close to matching that streak again in 2006.
I got to see Tiger at the 2000 Memorial Tournament. My father took me and we planned it out when Tiger would be coming up. My dad grabbed a great spot in the front row, right by the tee box, and in about 20 minutes, Tiger would be coming. Unfortunately, some stupid ass caddy for another player decided it was great to stand right in front of me. My dad still remembers this event taking place. I didn’t get the greatest look at Tiger, but I saw him nonetheless.
My father and I go back and forth a lot when they are showing Tiger on TV. He feels as if they show too much of Tiger and that it is not giving golfers who are playing well a fair look. I agree with him to the point that they do show a lot of Tiger, and they probably do show him too much, especially when he is not in contention. However, I justify that by saying that people like Tiger, and that a lot of people want to know how Tiger is doing. Also, Tiger is usually not that far out of contention anyways. This conversation happens a lot.
Tiger won two majors this year bringing his total to an even dozen. He is just 6 behind the all-time total of 18 held by Jack Nicklaus. There was a time when no one thought that anyone would get close to that mark. I think Tiger is going to fly right by that mark and that he is going to double his current 12 to make a total of 24 career majors. He is just that good. He doesn’t get tired of winning, and he doesn’t get tired of becoming better.
Tiger Woods is the best golfer I will ever get the pleasure of watching. When I was a kid you think that your favorite athletes are going to play forever. Then you wake up one day and they are gone, just like that. I am aware now that Tiger is not going to be golfing forever. I no longer take for granted his presence. I appreciate Tiger, and it is my dream that one day, we will play a round of golf together. Hey, why not?
Well, one of my longer columns, especially just for three players, but the closer we get to the top, the more I have to say about each player. I’m very excited to write about my next two, and it should be out before the end of the week. Thanks again for all the birthday wishes, and thanks for joining me on this ride to the top of the list. The hardest part will be trying to figure out what to write about when I’m done. Suggestions are always welcome. Until next time, “Read it, roll it, hole it.”
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