I'd imagine most of you have already heard about the story of the 1960 World Series Game Seven videos recently found in Bing Crosby's wine cellar. But today, the city of Pittsburgh got some exciting news about the next step for that long-lost footage.
Legacies. They're a fascinating thing. A person's legacy is the very definition of how they will be remembered. And they're constantly evolving. For instance, the Manning family's legacy just a few years ago would have been that they can't win the big game (or that the only Bowl game Peyton or Eli would ever win was the Pro Bowl). And here we are, coming off of back-to-back Manning family Super Bowl wins, both times beating Tom Brady and the Patriots at some point along the way.
But legacies can go the opposite direction as well. After Isiah Thomas' latest bizarre incident, people started casually throwing around comparisons of Thomas to O.J. Simpson for their falls from grace. That was enough for me. It was list time. What are the top 10 most memorable altered legacies in sports, I wondered?
My thoughts are below. I put a great deal of weight on the subject's past on-field accomplishments, which is why you won't find someone like Rae Carruth on the list. If one incident instantly comes to mind when mentioning these players and coaches, you will likely find them below. And this is not a lifetime achievement award either, so you won't see any Terrell Owenses or Randy Mosses for their collective buffoonery.
And since 10 is a relatively small number, I listed a few after the list that merit some level of consideration. Consider it a mix of a "watch list" and "others receiving votes". So without further adieu, I present...
10 MEMORABLE ALTERED LEGACIES IN SPORTS:
10. RICKY WILLIAMS
Oh, Ricky Williams. Such promise. Such talent. Such a weed problem.
The one-time NCAA all-time rushing king still holds or shares a whopping 20 NCAA records. His pro career got off to an interesting start in 1999 when Mike Ditka went temporarily insane and traded the Saints' entire draft (as well as a 1st and a 3rd in 2000) to get him, followed up nicely by a Master P-negotiated contract and the infamous "Wedding Dress" ESPN: the Magazine cover.
Following a bizarre rookie season in which he gave interviews with his helmet on, Williams was later diagnosed with social anxiety disorder and actually became a spokesperson for the drug Paxil. He finally hit his stride after a 2002 trade to Miami, gaining 1,853 yards to go along with 16 touchdowns. But by 2004, he found himself out of the game of football, retiring due to marijuana-related issues. His abrupt retirement set off a chain reaction in Miami which eventually led (in part) to Dave Wannstedt showing up on the doorstep of the Pitt Panthers.
The story could go on forever, but let's shorten it to the Cliffs Notes version: return to the NFL, 2nd drug suspension, Canadian Football league, broken arm, yoga, holistic medicine, Australia, 2nd return, and torn chest muscle. Not exactly the path we expected for the soft-spoken college superstar.
9. BILL BUCKNER
Contrary to popular belief, Bill Buckner was not a bum. In fact, he played 22 seasons in the bigs, with a .289 career average, over 2,700 hits, and a .992 fielding percentage.
Of course, the only thing people will ever remember about him is his error in the 1986 World Series, which is brilliantly re-created below...in the form of RBI Baseball.
8. JIM MORA, DENNIS GREEN, AND COMING SOON...MIKE SINGLETARY
Jim Mora was a very good NFL coach. Not Hall of Fame-good, but he won 125 career games, gave the New Orleans Saints their first-ever winning season, and turned a rookie named Peyton Manning into a 13-3 record by season two. But all that pales in comparison to your legacy dissolving into fodder for a beer commercial:
Dennis Green was only the second African-American coach in college history when he landed the Northwestern gig in 1981. He later coached at Stanford before graduating to the NFL, where he also became the second African-American coach in their history.
As coach of the Minnesota Vikings, his team landed in the playoffs in eight of 10 seasons. He coached the likes of Daunte Culpepper, Randy Moss, and Cris Carter in their prime. And what is he remembered for? A blowup following a (rookie) Matt Leinart-led collapse as coach of the Arizona Cardinals in 2006.
As for Hall of Fame linebacker-turned-49ers coach Mike Singletary, his legacy could come crumbling down fast with more tirades like the one he gave after, oh, his first game as coach:
7. RON ARTEST
Artest will always be remembered as a talented guy with oodles of screws loose. He's averaged 16 and 5 for his career, which started by being chosen 16th overall in the 1999 NBA draft. He'll also be remembered for asking to take time off from the game to promote his CD, and this little video clip, which pretty much killed the Indiana Pacers organization for the foreseeable future and rocked the world of pro sports in a way that few events ever had.
6. MICHAEL VICK
How the mighty have fallen. I'll never forget watching a young Vick win a 2003 playoff game at Lambeau Field and thinking how the torch had symbolically been passed from Brett Favre.
Almost six years later, Favre has 16 touchdown passes and is playing for first place tonight, and Vick is sitting in the United States Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas for dogfighting-related charges. And honestly, the dogfighting was just the tip of the iceberg. Or did you all forget about "Ron Mexico"?
5. BILL BELICHICK
One word: Spygate. Rightly or wrongly, it called into question anything that Belichick ever accomplished, and it turned every Patriots-Jets postgame handshake into must-see TV. And it got some quality time from the federal government, too.
4. ISIAH THOMAS
You say "crazy", the numbers say "champion". He's one of the 50 greatest players in league history, a 12-time All-Star, and a Playoff MVP. Yet he will be remembered as the human anchor that sank the New York Knicks, with debacles such as the acquisition of Stephon Marbury, $30 million given to 4.3 point per game-scoring Jerome James, the idea that Larry Brown would be a good fit as coach, and the cherry on top, a sexual harrassment lawsuit, on his watch. His latest bizarro incident involving sleeping pills certainly helped vault him up the list.
3. BARRY BONDS, MARK MCGWIRE, RAFAEL PALMEIRO, SAMMY SOSA, ROGER CLEMENS...
Ugh. The talk of steroids in baseball isn't good for anybody. It stained the players for life, it crushed the fans, it took away from the credibility of the game, it showed young ballplayers that (at least for a time) steroids led to huge paydays and swollen statistics, and it made taxpayers angry that the government was spending time on it. I think I've made my case here.
2. PETE ROSE
"Charlie Hustle" always played hard. You'd have to if your plan was to have more hits than anyone else who ever played Major League Baseball. Rose loved the game so much, he returned as a manager and won 412 games, with four consecutive second-place finishes. But despite all of his accomplishments, Rose is on the outside looking in when it comes to the Baseball Hall of Fame due to his involvement in gambling on baseball.
Since discussion of Rose's legacy always leads to this question, what do you think: should Pete Rose be in the Baseball Hall of Fame?
His on-field accomplishments could fill pages. College superstar. Pro superstar. College Hall of Famer. Pro Hall of Famer.
Off the field, there was a filmography 31 titles deep, including The Towering Inferno and three Naked Guns. Monday Night Football. The NFL on NBC. His own production company. Tons of endorsements.
But his 1994 trial for the murder of wife Nicole and her friend, Ron Goldman, changed the way we will forever look at O.J. His 2007 Las Vegas robbery case surprised some, but paled in comparison to the controversy that still grips people today when discussing the first man to rush for 2,000 yards in an NFL season. Unfortunately, when his name comes up in the news, it's usually not about football.
and for good measure...
Take an iconic, Hall of Fame quarterback, stand him on the sidelines, give him some alcohol, force him to watch the Jets fumble their way through another season, then plop Suzy Kolber in his face with a microphone. Watch as a legend's legacy evaporates into a brief YouTube clip:
This list could go on forever, but here are a few who nearly made it, for singular incidents, game screwups, inappropriate comments, or in some cases, their "body of work". I've provided some points of reference as well:
The '70s Steelers (steroids and subsequent deaths), Ed Hochuli (blown call & apologetic emails to angry fans), Scott Norwood, Allen Iverson (Practice?), Najeh Davenport, Onterrio Smith, Shawn Kemp, Travis Henry, Dennis Rodman, Lawrence Phillips, PacMan Jones, Todd Bertuzzi (for ending Steve Moore's career), Nate Newton, Jamal Lewis, Latrell Sprewell (Got a family to feed), Kobe Bryant, Jayson Williams (the Net), Larry Johnson (the Chief), Cedric Benson, Chris Henry, Fred Smoot and Bryant McKinnie (Vikings Love Boat), Koren Robinson, Len Bias, Kellen Winslow (the solider), Ray Lewis, Floyd Landis, Josh Howard, Vince Young (6 on the Wonderlic, shirtless bar photos, bizarre 2008 season), Chris Webber (championship timeout), The Portland Jailblazers, Derek Bell (Operation Shutdown), Albert Haynesworth (stomping on Andre Gurode), Brady Quinn (countless less-than-flattering internet photos) ...
And please, add any obvious oversights in the comments section.
Again, thanks to everyone who participated in Readers Rule Week. Here are a few fresh links that didn't get a chance to run earlier because of our little event, as well as a few breaking stories from this morning.
--Santonio Holmes was busted with some marijuana, but he was so cooperative that Sgt. James Vogel of the Pittsburgh PD thinks he shouldn't be suspended by the NFL. [Deadspin]
--The Pens finished strong, scoring four third-period goals in a 4-1 win over Carolina last night. [PG]
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Robert C. Benner Insurance LLC Greg Nardine Upper St. Clair (Boyce Road) Erie Insurance 724-942-0413 gwn104@gmail.com
Steel City Auctions Signed and unsigned sports and celebrity memorabilia, specializing in Pittsburgh teams. Contact us for non-profit fundraising opportunities! Use coupon code sale25 for 25% off your order of $50 or more!
Jurassic Dog Products Pittsburgh's favorite all-natural dog bones! www.jurassicdog.com
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--The one-man-gang known as "ManRam" takes down the hapless Pirates, 8-2. To add insult to injury, Juan Pierre hit his first home run in more than 1,000 at-bats. Look on the bright side: the season's almost over. [Trib]
--So what is it, Sarah Palin: are you a Seahawk fan or a Steeler fan? [SPORTSbyBROOKS]
--Speaking of Sarah Palin, her portrayal by Tina Fey stole the show from Michael Phelps on Saturday Night Live. [Deadspin]
--Mike Ditka's restaurant is coming to Robinson Twp., and will eventually face off with Bettis' Grille 36 for the title of Greatest Pittsburgh Restaurant Affiliated With a Former Football Player. [Pittsburgh Business Times]
--The pinball world championships recently took place in Carnegie, and ESPN did a feature story. Take a look at this place! Who knew? [ESPN.com]
--Here's a list of 1,000-yard rushers you'd rather forget. I don't know, I had a few good memories of Barry Foster. [on 205th]
--Smooth move, DeSean Jackson. Only a couple million people saw it. [Kiss 96.1]
--Penn State-Illinois will be the ABC prime-time game on Saturday night. And unlike last Saturday night's ABC primetime game, the Big 10 will be guaranteed a winner this time around. [Trib]
--The Bengals' website is finally listing "Chad Ocho Cinco". By the way, he's got a grand total of five grabs for 59 yards for his winless, basement-residing team. I'm sure people would've been rushing to buy those jerseys. [Bengals.com]
--Ashton Kutcher coaching freshman football? Where are the Punk'd cameras? [LA Times]
--Here's the five most baffling spin-offs in TV history. Gotta agree with Golden Palace. [Cracked]
--Stern fans: here's the video of Sal the Stockbroker and Richard Christy pretending to make out in the background of a CNN broadcast on Monday. [Live Leak]
--Who are the 80 most powerful people over 80, and where is Joe Hardy on this list? [Slate]
--Where are homes selling fastest, you ask? I don't know, but I'm going to guess that Pittsburgh isn't on this list, despite the presence of a first-place football team. [Yahoo!]
--MTV's Total Request Live ends its 10-year run in November. Somewhere, Britney and the Backstreet Boys shed a tear. [Yahoo!]
--My W&J Presidents moved to 2-0 with a 49-21 dismantling of Frostburg State. That's 98 points in two games, for those of you scoring at home. [Washjeff.edu]
--And the St. Vincent Bearcats, featuring my very own cousin as the punter, win their first game in 46 years, 23-22, over Gallaudet. (The program was rebooted last year after a long layoff, but it's still cool to say "first win in 46 years" whenever you have a chance). [Stvincent.edu]
--For those of you watching what you eat (that would be about two of you), here are 20 superfoods for weight loss. [Shine]
The Bill Cowher Circus has been a sideshow all year for the coach and his team. Once the season was over, it was expected that Cowher would make a quick, painless decision and everyone involved would move on. The Post-Gazette led their Sunday edition with a "Cowher leaving Tuesday" story, over prominent current-events stories such as the death of a former President and the hanging of a ruthless dictator. Chris Mortensen was all over ESPN on Tuesday, telling anyone who would listen that "The Rooneys demand an answer from Cowher by the end of the day". Speculation was running rampant. Grimm to Atlanta. Whisenhunt to Atlanta. Whisenhunt to Arizona. Rivera to Pittsburgh. Wannstedt to Pittsburgh. That's right, Wannstedt to Pittsburgh. The old rumor, once contrived by profootballtalk.com, gets dug up from the grave once again.
Despite the immaculate credentials of Ed Bouchette and Chris Mortensen, they have been completely incorrect on the Cowher situation so far, because absolutely nothing has happened. And profootballtalk.com somehow keeps getting mentions from national media outlets despite rumor-mongering such as the Wannstedt story and "Moss and/or Jerry Porter to the Steelers" fantasies.
With that in mind, I touched base with all of my contacts in the NFL, in the media, and in the football world to give you the definitive list of coaches who the Steelers are looking at, along with their respective pros and cons. This is the best job in the NFL, so don't be surprised by the big names. I'm sure ESPN will pick up this list and mention it on all of their various outlets tomorrow.
Chuck Noll, former Steelers coach
Pros: 4-time Super Bowl Champion coach
Cons: A guy used to coaching Hall of Famers will struggle to come to grips with a lineup featuring Cedrick Wilson and Deshea Townsend
Dave Wannstedt, head coach, Pitt
Pros: Will recruit the best, most athletic free agents in the offseason and make the Steelers look great on paper
Cons: Don't be surprised if a team leader disappears to smoke pot in a tent in Australia on his watch
Frank Beamer, head coach, Viriginia Tech
Pros: His "Beamer Ball" style will mean great special teams for the Steelers
Cons: He still won't be able to beat Pitt
Jerry Glanville, former head coach, Houston Oilers & Atlanta Falcons
Pros: Showed he has guts by trading a useless rookie named Brett Favre to Green Bay while runnning the Falcons
Cons: Will waste two coveted Steeler tickets per game at will-call for Elvis Presley
Jim Mora Sr. and Jr, former NFL head coaches
Pros: Father-and-son coaching combination would be NFL first; absence of Michael Vick will ensure no coaches are killed
Cons: Playoffs may be a pipe dream; the allure of the Washington Huskies job will always be a distraction
Joe Paterno, head coach, Penn State
Pros: Proven he can display the loyalty to an organization that the Rooneys require; will coach through pain
Cons: Will probably be offered more money to take the Alabama job if Nick Saban passes
John Bunting, former head coach, North Carolina
Pros: 26-45 career record at UNC means he's due for a few winning seasons
Cons: Will continue to bench Willie Parker
John L. Smith, former head coach, Michigan State
Pros: Will never have a boring Tuesday-afternoon press conference
Cons: Will have extremely talented teams that continue to disappoint, year after year
Larry Coker, former head coach, Miami Hurricanes
Pros: Will nurture the ball-hawking, taunting style the 2006 Steelers displayed, thus enabling continunity with the players
Cons: 60-15 career coaching record just not good enough for the Hurricanes or the NFL
Marvin Lewis, head coach, Cincinnati Bengals
Pros: Knows the division, having coached in Baltimore and Pittsburgh
Cons: Probably will turn down the job due to lack of bad-character players he can help "rehab"
Mike Ditka, former head coach, Chicago Bears & New Orleans Saints
Pros: "Pittsburgh guy"; Super Bowl Champion coach, NFL Hall of Famer, Pitt legend
Cons: May trade the entire draft for Adrian Peterson, then make him pose in a wedding dress.
Mike Gottfried, former head coach, Pitt
Pros: Doesn't have anything else going on
Cons: Players won't be able to understand him when he talks; insists on inclusion of Pam Ward on his staff
Neil Gordon, head coach, Penn Hills HS
Pros: Will never draft Anthony Morelli; likes to run the football
Cons: Would still consider Gateway the toughest opponent on his schedule
Nick Saban, head coach, Miami Dolphins
Pros: Highly-respected coach who learned under Bill Parcells
Cons: Will leave Steelers in 2008 to coach Auburn; when asked who he models his career after, he answered, "Larry Brown"
Russ Grimm, offensive line coach, Pittsburgh Steelers
Pros: Assistant head coach on an NFL Champion; Scottdale native; Pitt legend
Cons: Wishes he could erase the 2006 Steelers O-Line tapes from his resume
Tom Bradley, assistant coach, Penn State
Pros: Will write 30 handwritten letters to each highly-coveted free agent on the Steelers radar, just like he did for Justin King
Cons: Insists on bringing Joe Paterno along as the true head coach, just for old times' sake
Walt Harris, former head coach, Pitt Panthers & Stanford Cardinal
Pros: Developed NFL offensive stars like Larry Fitzgerald, Antonio Bryant, and Kevan Barlow while at Pitt
Cons: The consequences of a one-win season as Steeler coach would make Saddam Hussein's treatment look gentle
