FOFC Draft: The Four Sport Challenge - Best Athletes in History

[DaddyTorgo]

Yeah, I guess so, but this draft has been going on for 13 days. That's just insane. And mostly because people have failed to send their picks in. It's just frustrating.it is frustrating, i agree. very frustrating!!

[Raiders Army]

it is frustrating, i agree. very frustrating!!
It's a lot easier when you do your two picks in a row. ;)

[DaddyTorgo]

and that is true also i'd say

[vex]

Give me a second, I tried to get on, but was at work.

[Schmidty]

Give me a second, I tried to get on, but was at work.

I'm glad I waited. :)

[DaddyTorgo]

yay

(blatant post-whoring)

[vex]

10.5 - Phil Esposito - Hockey

[DaddyTorgo]

nice pick vex. nice pick

[Raiders Army]

Bump?

[kcchief19]

I e-mailed my list to Schmidty -- that was a mistake :) -- but now that I'm here ...

10.6 Roberto Clemente

Arguably the best defensive right fielder in baseball history. Was notorious for being able to hit any pitch thrown to him. I've heard stories that he once hit a pitch that bounced in front of the plate for a triple, but that might be apocryphal. What I do know is that he got his last hit -- No. 3000 on -- on the last day of the season and died during the offseason in a plane crash delivering relief supplies to earthquake victims in Nicaragua. The surge in popularity of baseball in the Carribbean is due in some significant part to Clemente, who is idolized to this day in Puerto Rico and throughout the Hispanic sports world -- and the rest of the sports world to as far as I'm concerned.

Even if he weren't a great athlete, I'd make a spot on this team for him for being a character guy.

[Schmidty]

I e-mailed my list to Schmidty -- that was a mistake :) -- but now that I'm here ...

10.6 Roberto Clemente

Arguably the best defensive right fielder in baseball history. Was notorious for being able to hit any pitch thrown to him. I've heard stories that he once hit a pitch that bounced in front of the plate for a triple, but that might be apocryphal. What I do know is that he got his last hit -- No. 3000 on -- on the last day of the season and died during the offseason in a plane crash delivering relief supplies to earthquake victims in Nicaragua. The surge in popularity of baseball in the Carribbean is due in some significant part to Clemente, who is idolized to this day in Puerto Rico and throughout the Hispanic sports world -- and the rest of the sports world to as far as I'm concerned.

Even if he weren't a great athlete, I'd make a spot on this team for him for being a character guy.

My fault man. I totally forgot that you sent it, saw you were on the board when I went to bed, so I figured you'd be picking. Sorry. :)

[Schmidty]

10.7 Brett Hull

741 career goals don't lie: Hull is one of the greatest snipers ever.

[Schmidty]

Via list, Maple Leafs selects:

10.8 Karl Malone

[General Mike]

there go all my guys.

[kcchief19]

My fault man. I totally forgot that you sent it, saw you were on the board when I went to bed, so I figured you'd be picking. Sorry. :)You know, that's weird. I was online for a few minutes last night when I got home and before I went to bed and I don't remember seeing that Travis had picked. I'm guessing I pulled a brain cramp and clicked on view page 10 instead of view last page and missed the page 11 of replies. My bad too ... I should have seen that.

Hull is one of those guys who I think is tremendously underrrated. He played on a lot of winners, but I think he always gets knocked because he never got St. Louis over the hump. Sniper is the best way to describe him; I think he also gets dismissed because he wasn't much of an assist man. But he played on a lot of St. Louis teams that were just him and nobody else. And if St. Louis had kept him and CuJo together and surrounded them with some talent, they could have won. Instead, Hull goes to other teams as the talent and helps them win some Cups.

Malone was another guy I really liked. Surprised he fell so low -- again, probably because he didn't win the titles. But one of the most consistent players in history and definitely one of the best.

[Raiders Army]

Hull and Malone were excellent picks. (kicks self)

[TazFTW]

With the ninth pick in the tenth round, Team Taz selects

Bob Gibson, wildcard/baseball

[General Mike]

with the tenth pick in the tenth round, the General Mike All-Stars select Schmidty's namesake,

Mike Schmidt, baseball/wildcard

[Schmidty]

with the tenth pick in the tenth round, the General Mike All-Stars select Schmidty's namesake,

Mike Schmidt, baseball/wildcard

You've got my vote. ;)

[ThunderingHERD]

10.11 - <b>Diego Maradona</b> soccer/wildcard

[Raiders Army]

To complete the draft:

John Wooden, Wildcard Basketball Player/Coach. You need someone to hold these athletes together on a team and no one is better than John Wooden.

Three Time All-State in High School
Led his High School to a State Basketball Championship
College Basketball Player of the Year
Basketball Hall of Fame (Player and Coach)
88 Consecutive Victories
10 NCAA Championships
7 Consecutive NCAA Championships
38 Consecutive NCAA tournament victories
8 Undefeated PAC-8 Championships
4 Undefeated full seasons

There is no better coach in history.

[General Mike]

what a draft! And to think of the great not drafted:

Grover Cleveland Alexander, Lefty Grove, Elvin Hayes, Tony Dorsett, and the list goes on and on.

[vtbub]

I was very tempted and had gotten the okay to pick him, but thought he would have been to unknown as a player. The steal of the draft.

[Schmidty]

Great job, guys. Thanks for being patient, and thanks for dealing with my crustiness. :)

I'll have a voting poll up tonight, or tomorrow.

[oykib]

Here's my all-undrafted team:

Baseball
Satchel Paige Perhaps the greatest pitcher that ever lived. Certainly the king of Negro League baseball.
Alex Rodriguez Assuming his career as a shortstop is already over, he's the best or second best shortstop to ever play the game. Assuming a normal career progression, he'll wind up among the top ten of third baseman. When he's finished, people will make the somewhat justified claim that they may have seen the greatest player ever.

Football
Otto Graham 10 years, 10 championship games, 7 titles
Anthony Munoz arguably the greatest Offensive lineman of all time

Basketball
Kevin Garnett the best player in the NBA now. one day he'll get some help and be able to show it on the big stage
David Robinson The most versatile of the modern era big men. His numbers would blow away everyone else's had he nost lost the years he spent in the Navy.

Hockey
Dominik Hasek Many say he's a jackass, but he's also the most talented goalie to ever play
Denis Potvin 3-time Norris winner, the backbone of the Isles when they won their string.

other
Rod Laver Completed the Grand Slam twice (would have gaudier numbers, but lost a bunch of prime years because pros werent allowed to compete in the biggest tourneys)

wildcard
Eric Heiden Greatest Winter Olympian ever (5 golds in 1980, won every speed skating event)

[DaddyTorgo]

satchel paige didn't get drafted?? I thought someone took him. I was considering him instead of Gibson.

and i was actually looking hard at Otto Graham, but I thought that might be a bit too ancient for folks with the people skewing towards recent history

[Sublime 2]

Just taking a quick look at some undrafted athletes brings me to this team:

Basketball:

1. John Stockton
2. David Robinson

Baseball:

1. Jimmy Fox
2. Tris Speaker

Hockey:

1. Dominik Hasek
2. Cam Neely (complete homer pick)

Football:

1. Otto Graham
2. Joe Green

Other:

1. Mike Tyson

Wildcard:

1. Andre Aggasi

Not sure if some of these guys were taken but taking a quick look it seems that these guys were all undrafted...not sure how i did, but i like this team vs. some others.

[ISiddiqui]

Some great baseball talent was left by the wayside, including:

"Shoeless" Joe Jackson
Jimmy Foxx
Johnny Mize
Hank Greenberg
Tris Speaker
Mel Ott
Nap Lajoie
Frank Robinson

Lefty Grove
"Smokey" Joe Wood
Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown
Ed Walsh
Pete Alexander

And that's not even counting active players (like Maddux and Pedro ;))

[vex]

I really wish I would have had room for Tris Speaker.

[oykib]

Don't forget:

Christy Matthewson
Warren Spahn
George Brett
Eddie Matthews
Cool Papa Bell
Joe Morgan
Johnny Bench
Yogi Berra
Frank Robinson
Bob Feller
Steve Carlton
... and so on

Incidentally, I think a lot of the guys we've mentioned in the last few posts were better than guys who were drafted.

[ISiddiqui]

Yeah, I would have taken Lefty Grove over, say, Nolan Ryan. Or George Brett over Cal Ripken, Jr. Though I guess they may have taken them simply based on reputation and believed that the familiarity they breed is more valuable than a better player, who may be lesser known (though the people who post here are pretty sophisticated).

[oykib]

I was going, basically, every pitcher on the list over Ryan.

I think the more direct comparison is Brett > B. Robinson.

And I'd go Speaker/Ott/F. Robinson > Clemente

In hindsight, I believe I was a little too harsh about the Rickey Henderson pick, though. I think Frank Robinson was clearly better. I'd probably have taken Speaker and Ott over him as well. But I can see the Rickey argument vs. all of them.

Pretty much any of the infielders over Rose (the spot at which he has the most value)

You know what's most suprising, though?

No one's even mentioned Ken Griffey, jr. in this thread. Was such an occurence even imaginable five or six years ago?


Among the people in the other and wildcard categories, I was waiting for people to take:

Jackie Joyner-Kersee
Rod Laver
Bobby Jones
Steffi Graf
and Michael Schumacher

[Schmidty]

Among the people in the other and wildcard categories, I was waiting for people to take:

Jackie Joyner-Kersee
Rod Laver
Bobby Jones
Steffi Graf
and Michael Schumacher

Look more closely

[DaddyTorgo]

didn't jackie joyner kearse go early?