What player was your favorite in each sport

that made you love the game and made you want to watch them every time they played.

I will start with football since its on football board:

Barry Sanders would be that guy for me. Watching him run all over the field with the Lions was amazing he didn't get crippled with the team he had around him all those years.

Baseball- Pete Rose would be my guy. He played every second hard and gritty. It was never about himself, but how to make his team win.

Basketball- That would be a tie for me. Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, Dennis Rodman and probably by a hair Len Bias. I think he would have been "the goat".

Tennis- Andre Agassi and John McEnroe. When was the last time America embraced tennis.

Soccer- Would be Pele, he was what made America first notice soccer.

I love all of our Clemson guys and girls that have went on to star in professional sports. I wish we had a few more in basketball. Anyways, Go Tigers and for those of you fortunate enough to attend Spring game tomorrow, due a cadence count for me.

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What? McENROE? "You cannot be serious!"

Apr 15, 2023, 8:38 AM

I was never a huge fan of Superbrat, but, tennis with him vs Borg at Wimbledon or the US Open is about as good as it ever was, in my book. Such a clash of styles. McEnroe going for the quick volley kill, and Borg being content to run the baseline and hit shots back forever.

Basketball for me is easy. Lebrun can call himself all the superlatives he wants, but GOAT will always belong to one Air Jordan. I base my case on something that doesn't get mentioned all that often in the conversation. Lebron, Magic, Bird, all of them had size. It is much easier to dominate a game if you are physically as big or bigger than everybody you face. That was how Wilt Chamberlain did it, back in the day. But Michael Jordan is the ONLY relatively small player I have ever seen who could, and did, just take over the game whenever he had to, or wanted to, and just dominate. Opponents might call him arrogant, obsessive, a$$hole, whatever. I just call him GOAT. End of discussion.

Football: For me it was the passing game of the old AFL, and in particular one Joe Willie Namath, that got me hooked on pro football. Sadly, the running back that was beautiful to watch around that same era, or slightly later, was one Orinthal James Simpson. How tragic that he became what he became later.

Baseball, I grew up in the infancy of Ted Turner's Superstation TBS, and thus watched a whole lot of Braves baseball. Back then, that still meant Hank Aaron, even though he was well past his prime by then. Those wrists could still flick a mistake out of the ballpark, though. I still consider him the true Home Run King. Dam.n Barry Bonds and his Steroids, I hope he is never allowed into the Hall of Fame. For those who say he should be there for the numbers he put up prior to Steroids, I say, that is the penance he should pay for making a mockery of the game.