True to your school II

Posted: June 18th, 2009 | Filed under: Baseball, Other Sports, Pop Culture | 120 Comments »

OK, here’s the next installment of “True to your school” — 25 more schools. I have no idea how much longer I will have the strength.

Remember: For each college you have to pick the best (1) Basketball player; (2) Football player; (3) Baseball player and (4) WIldcard, which could be any sport, anything semi-involving sport or if it’s good enough a cool alumni who has nothing at all to do with sports.


Ball State

Basketball: Bonzi Wells
Football: Blaine Bishop
Baseball: Merv Rettenmund! (This is only the first plug for 09/09/09. There are more — hey, if I’m stuck doing this, the least you can do is buy the book)*.
Wildcard: Jason Whitlock. Of course.

*Thinking about making 07/08/09 the official blog “Buy the book” day. I know many of you already have bought the book … and so anyone who buys the book by 07/08/09 would qualify for … something. I don’t know what yet. I’ll work on it.

Boston College

Basketball: Dana Barros
Football: Doug Flutie
Baseball: Tony Sanchez
Wildcard: The amazing Bob Ryan — my hero, because I’ve never met anyone who has kept his enthusiasm for sports like Bob Ryan.

Cal

Basketball: Jason Kidd
Football: Tony Gonzalez
Baseball: Jeff Kent
Wildcard I: Helen Willis (tennis)
Wildcard II: Leigh Steinberg (superagent)
Wildcard III: Wesley Walker and Issac Curtis, and I put them as Wildcards for this reason … if you asked the me the question: “Which two wide receivers have you seen get more wide open than any other,” I almost certainly would have said Wesley Walker and Ike Curtis. It was unbelievable, both of those guys would get like TWENTY steps behind the defensive back. I didn’t know if this was because they were the two fastest men on earth or what … the fact that both went to Cal might help explain it.

Charlotte

Basketball: Cornbread Maxwell
Baseball: Bryan Harvey
Football: Jon Busch (Futbol, anyway — 2008 goalkeeper of the year in MLS)
Wildcard I: Matt Hardy (wrestler) and Clay Aiken (non-wrestler)

Cincinnati

Basketball: Oscar Robertson
Baseball: Sandy Koufax
Football: Sid Gillman
Wildcard I: Kennesaw Mountain Landis
Wildcard II: Tony Trabert, tennis star
Wildcard III: George Clooney, who is only included here because he LOVED the 1975 Reds and I’m looking to see how many places promote this. Movie, George?

Connecticut

Basketball: Ray Allen
Basketball: Diana Taurasi
Football: Brian Kozlowski
Baseball: Charles Nagy … special mention for the remarkable Walt Dropo
Wildcard: Sam Rutigliano (coach of Kardiac Kids Browns) and Leigh Montville (sportswriting idol), two heroes at one school. Almost impossible to believe the awesomeness.

Duke

Basketball: Grant Hill
Football: Sonny Jurgensen
Baseball: Dick Groat
Wildcard I: Real Crash Davis … wasn’t as good a player as movie Crash but had nickname.
Wildcard II: Art Wall, winner of the Masters in ‘59.
Wlldcard III: Jeff Mullins, coach at Charlotte when someone was sports editor of 49er Times.
Wildcard IV: John Feinstein
Wildcard V: Annabeth Gish. No sports connection. Had a huge crush on her after Mystic Pizza.

Florida

Basketball: Joakim Noah*
Football: Emmitt Smith
Baseball: Al Rosen
Wildcard: Andy North (won two U.S. Opens despite not being able to hit his drives 200 yards. I say that with admiration).

*Florida is the only school I’ve run across (so far) where someone feels the need to have each sport’s alumni list represented by its own Wikipedia page. I’m not saying this says anything about Florida but, for the record, it doesn’t work for basketball yet. Football, baseball, sure. Basketball … no.

Georgia Tech

Basketball: Mark Price
Football: Pat Swilling
Baseball: Kevin Brown*
Wildcard: Bobby Jones

*I know Georgia Techers would probably rather have Jason Varitek or Nomah as the choice here … feel free to put either there. It’s your college. But, as surly as he was, Brown was probably the best baseball player to come out of Georgia Tech. Mark Teixeira should pass them all.

Holy Cross

Basketball: Bob Cousy
Football: Gordie Lockbaum
Baseball: Louis Sockalexis (first native American; player that Cleveland officials claimed to name the Indians after)
Wildcard I: Dan Shaughnessy and Bill Simmons as a paired entry.
Wildcard II: Dave Anderson, sportswriter, winner of the Pulitzer Prize.
Wildcard III: Edward Bennett Williams, owner of Orioles and Redskins*.

*How many owners have won two major championships in the same year the way EBW did in 1983 when his Orioles and Redskins won? This is not something I particularly want to study; I’m just curious.

Illinois

Basketball: Eddie Johnson
Football: Dick Butkus*
Baseball: Lou Boudreau
Wildcard I: Avery Brundage, by pretty much all counts an IOC jerk.
Wildcard II: Steve Stricker, golfer.
Wildcard III: Roger Ebert and I put him here because, in my mind, Roger Ebert may be the most versatile newspaperman of his generation. He could have been a great sportswriter. He could have been a great political voice. He could have been a renowned features writer. Talent to burn. Instead, he won a Pulitzer as a brilliant movie reviewer. His fellow alum George Will proves how difficult it is to be that versatile … Will certainly has been a brilliant political writer. But as a sportswriter, well, I think Ebert would kick his butt.

*Red Grange probably should go here, but doesn’t Butkus better suit Illinois? Also: Bobby Mitchell, Ray Nitschke, Simeon Rice, Bob Trumpy and the noble Doug Dieken.

Kansas State

Basketball: Bob Boozer with Mitch Richmond as a modern backup.
Football: Larry Brown, though Steve Grogan probably pierces the memory more.
Baseball: Elden Auker
Wildcard I: Earl Woods.
Wildcard II: Margo

Kent State

Basketball: John Edwards (Antonio Gates played basketball)
Football: Jack Lambert (With James Harrison coming on fast … how ‘bout that for Linebacker U?)
Baseball: Thurman Munson
Wildcard I: Ben Curtis (golfer)
Wildcard II: Coaches — Nick Saban, Gary Pinkel, Lou Holtz.
Wildcard III: Funny people — David Sedaris, Drew Carey, Joe Walsh, Don King.

Kentucky

Basketball: Dan Issel
Football: George Blanda
Baseball: Brandon Webb
Wildcard: Happy Chandler

LSU

Basketball: Pistol Pete Maravich*
Football: Jim Taylor … though doesn’t it HAVE to be Billy Cannon?
Baseball: Joey/Albert Belle
Wildcard: David Toms, golfer.**

*Shaq is better, much better, and again I’ll leave LSU fans to make the decision. But the Pistol seems to BE LSU in a way Shaq is not.

**When I first started writing for the Augusta Chronicle, it was my job (of course) to write endless preview stories for the Masters. So, I wanted to find an unknown guy, someone who was just starting out on the tour, someone who had not qualified for the Masters but undoubtedly hoped that someday he would. I chose David Toms because (1) He was almost exactly my age — born four days before me; (2) He seemed nice and approachable (and was); (3) Something about the name, David Toms, struck me as a potential golfing star. In interviewed him, wow, I guess it had to be 1992. And we really hit it off, at least I thought so, and so David Toms became my favorite golfer.

For years, this meant absolutely nothing … Toms did not win a single event, he was one of those guys always just scuffling along to stay on the Tour. An admirable thing. But it was funny, I always followed along just to see how David was doing … I followed him around a couple of times. I remember at the U.S. Open one year — 1996, probably — I followed him, and it was like me and a couple of family members for each of the golfers in the group.

Then, a funny thing happened … David Toms got good. He won twice in ‘99, again in 2000, and in 2001 he beat Phil Mickelson at the PGA Championship. it was cool to see but weird too … sort of like seeing your favorite bar band hit it big.

North Carolina

Basketball: Hmm. Michael Jordan.
Football: Lawrence Taylor
Baseball: Brian Roberts
Wildcard I: Mia Hamm
Wildcard II: Jim Beatty (first to run the four minute mile indoors)
Wildcard III: Peter Gammons
Wildcard IV: S.L. Price, one of the great sportswriters in the world.
Wildcard V: Marty Brennaman (voice of The Machine).
Wildcard VI: Andy Griffith (What it was, was football)
Wildcard VII: Lewis Black (I was watching the Super Bowl this year …)
Wildcard VIII: Jim Lampley (“Mike Tyson has been knocked out!”)

Northwestern

Basketball: Don Adams
Football: Otto Graham
Baseball: Joe Girardi
Wildcard I: A million sportswriters led by Mike Wilbon.
Wildcard II: You are looking live at Brent Musberger
Wilcard III: Warren Beatty (Pendleton … he’s looking awful good).

Penn State

Basketball: Frank Brickowski (best basketball name ever?)
Football: Franco Harris and Jack Ham as Steeler double-entry.
Baseball: John Ward
Wildcard: Rosey Grier

Purdue

Basketball: John Wooden
Football: Len Dawson
Baseball: Bob Friend or Moose Skowron — too close to call.
Wildcard I: Ryan Newman (NASCAR)
Wildard II: Ted Allen (food guy from Queer Eye … I thought of that show as sport. Especially the part where they ALWAYS ripped the guy for shaving too fast).

San Diego State

Basketball: Michael Cage
Football: Brian Sipe (or if you’re not me, Marshall Faulk)
Baseball: Tony Gwynn until Stephen Strasburg wins 40 games next season
Wildcard I: Ted Giannoulas, The San Diego Chicken turned The Famous Chicken.
Wildcard II: Carl Weathers as Apollo Creed.
Wildcard III: Raquel Welch as Raquel Welch
Wildcard IV: Cradle of coaches West: Don Coryell, Joe Gibbs, Herm Edwards, John Fox.

Stanford

Basketball: George Yardley
Football: John Elway
Baseball: Mike Mussina

And then, yeah, I think the best group of wildcards in college sports …

Wildcard I: Tiger Woods
Wildcard II: Tom Watson
Wildcard III: John McEnroe
Wildcard IV: Janet Evans
Wildcard V: Eric Heiden
Wildcard VI: Michelle Wie
Wildcard VII: Debi Thomas
Wildcard VIII: Kerri Walsh
Wildcard IX: Summer Sanders
Wildcard X: Casey Martin
Wildcard XI: Ted Danson as Sam Malone
Wildcard XII: Trombone guy

St. Bonaventure

Basketball: Bob Lanier
Football: Ted Marchibroda
Baseball: John J. McGraw and Hughie Jennings
Wildcard I: Mike Vaccaro, brilliant sportswriter at the New York Post.
Wildcard II: Adrian Wojnarowski, brilliant author and sportswriter.
Wildcard III: Yes, Vac and Woj are two close friends so I had no choice in the matter.

Virginia

Basketball: Ralph Sampson
Football: Probably Tiki Barber, but for undisclosed reasons I’m choosing Ronde Barber instead.
Baseball: Eppa Rixey
Wildcard: Tina Fey and Chuck Culpepper, hard to believe once school could graduate two people that cool.

West Virginia

Basketball: Jerry West
Football: Sam Huff
Baseball: Steve Kline
Wildcard: Billy Mays (former football player, one helluva pitcher now)

Wisconsin

Basketball: Michael Finley
Football: Alan Ameche
Baseball: Addie Joss
Wildcard I: Chris Chelios
Wildcard II: Bud Selig
Wildcard III: David Maraniss, who gave us “When Pride Still Mattered” AND “Clemente.”
Wildcard IV: Jim Pedley, my friend, founder of this racing site. Lots of racin’ on there and also an ad telling you how to make electricity!
Wildcard V: Phil Helmuth, world’s most annoying poker player.
Wildcard VI: D. Wayne Lukas, world’s most annoying horse trainer. Is this a class at Wisconsin?


120 Comments on “True to your school II”

  1. 1: Bill Bixby said at 9:58 am on June 18th, 2009:

    Circle Me Bert!

  2. 2: Mac said at 10:03 am on June 18th, 2009:

    Al Horford is better than Joakim Noah.

    Also, I think LSU has a third basketball candidate who should be mentioned, Bob Pettit. Does anyone, even UNC and Kansas, have a trio that compares to Shaq-Maravich-Pettit?

  3. 3: Mikey said at 10:03 am on June 18th, 2009:

    Anybody ready to take this to a new level of ridiculousness?

    Let’s do high schools.

    I’ll start with Crenshaw in south central LA

    Baseball – Darryl Strawberry
    Football – Wendell Tyler
    Basketball – Marques Johnson
    Wildcard – Ice-T

  4. 4: Tim said at 10:04 am on June 18th, 2009:

    Purdue’s wildcard should be Neil Armstrong!

  5. 5: Noel said at 10:04 am on June 18th, 2009:

    Pretty cool exercise. One minor edit is to add David Letterman as a wild card to Ball State.

  6. 6: EdB said at 10:05 am on June 18th, 2009:

    Man, Stanford has a hell of a wildcard list.

    How about Columbia (yes, Columbia):

    Football: Sid Luckman
    Basketball: Jim McMillian or Chet Forte (who was player of the year the same season that Wilt Chamberlain was a junion at Kansas — Wilt never returned for his senior year, but went to the Globetrotters)
    Baseball: Lou Gehrig

    Columbia also had Eddie Collins too, the Joe Morgan of his day (only without the meager broadcasting skills)

    And one other wildcard: Barack Obama, the king of March Madness bracketology.

  7. 7: Andy said at 10:06 am on June 18th, 2009:

    Neal Walk is better than Noah/Horford. I did forget Al Rosen, though.

  8. 8: Bellwether Johnson said at 10:06 am on June 18th, 2009:

    I played golf with a guy one time (he was added to our three-some) who, every time I shanked a shot (which was quite often), would comment that I “really Munson’d that one.” I thought he was referring to Roy Munson, Woody Harleson’s character in Kingpin. When I asked if it was, he said:

    “Nah, Thurman Munson.” And why? “‘Cause, that shot was just like him…a Dead Yank.”

    …classy…

  9. 9: Michael said at 10:12 am on June 18th, 2009:

    I think Bill Davidson won the NBA championship (owning the Pistons) and the Stanley Cup (with Tampa Bay) in 2004, so he’s another owner with two titles in the same year.

  10. 10: ErnieAdams said at 10:12 am on June 18th, 2009:

    Providence College

    Basketball: Lenny Wilkens
    Baseball: Birdie Tebbetts
    Hockey: Hal Gill
    Wildcard: Peterman

  11. 11: John Griffin said at 10:13 am on June 18th, 2009:

    Syracuse:

    Football: Jim Brown or Ernie Davis

    Basketball: Jim Boeheim or Carmelo Anthony

    Baseball: Jim Kostanty (Alot of Jims)

    Lax: Gary Gait, Mike Powell

    Other: Mike Tirico, Bob Costas

  12. 12: John Griffin said at 10:14 am on June 18th, 2009:

    ah, missed part 1

  13. 13: Spud said at 10:15 am on June 18th, 2009:

    “Does anyone, even UNC and Kansas, have a trio that compares to Shaq-Maravich-Pettit?”

    U. of Houston has Olajuwon-Hayes-Drexler. Elvin Hayes was a great, great player.

  14. 14: MarkWIDX said at 10:17 am on June 18th, 2009:

    If there was an “annoying” class at Wisconsin, I’m pretty sure I know what Allan H. Selig got in it…

  15. 15: Devin McCullen said at 10:17 am on June 18th, 2009:

    I don’t like being the nitpicker, but Joe, you still haven’t corrected the trivia question in the last post. South Florida is also a school in a BCS conference, and they haven’t met any of the 8 criteria.

    Editor’s note: Corrected.

  16. 16: lar said at 10:17 am on June 18th, 2009:

    William Davidson was the owner of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Detroit Pistons in 2004, when they won their respective championships. What’s more, in September 2003, the Detroit Shock, also owned by Davidson, won the WNBA title (so they were reigning, offseason champs when the Lightning and Pistons won). Pretty good year for him.

  17. 17: Eddo said at 10:18 am on June 18th, 2009:

    Hugh Hefner would make a good wildcard for Illinois; Playboy has always devoted entire issues to sports.

  18. 18: Regis said at 10:21 am on June 18th, 2009:

    On the Cincinnati list, the Bearcats wish they could claim George Clooney. He went to Northern Kentucky University just across the river.

  19. 19: Brett said at 10:30 am on June 18th, 2009:

    University of Iowa
    Baseball: Jim Sundberg (3-time All-Star, starting catcher for 1985 World Champion Royals), Mike Boddicker (All-Star, 108 ERA+ in 14-year career), Mace Brown (All-Star, 110 ERA+ in 10-year career during 30s and 40s)
    Basketball: B.J. Armstrong (NBA All-Star, 3 time NBA Champion); Acie Earl (really good in college, at least)
    Football: Nile Kinnick (Heisman winner, all-around great guy who forewent professional football to attend law school, joined the Navy during WWII, and died during a training exercise), Alex Karras (4-time Pro Bowl selection, played George on “Webster”), Bob Sanders (2007 Defensive Player of the Year), Reggie Roby, Dallas Clark, Shonn Greene, Nate Kaeding, Chuck Long, etc.
    Wildcard: Dan Gable (coached Iowa wrestling team to one of the greatest sports dynasties); Tom Brands (three-time national champion while wrestling at Iowa, Olympic gold medalist, returned to coach Iowa and has won last two team championships); W.P. Kinsella (earned Master’s degree at Iowa Writer’s Workshop, wrote “Shoeless Joe,” which was the basis for “Field of Dreams”); Tom Arnold (just kidding, although he was on Best Damn Sports Show Period)

  20. 20: The Oriole Way said at 10:39 am on June 18th, 2009:

    I can’t believe we’ve gotten this far and (potentially) missed the school with the best 1-2 punch: Wake Forest. Sure, their baseball and football entries are a bit weak, but for basketball and wild card, it’s really tough to beat Tim Duncan and Arnold Palmer.

    Baseball: Dave Bush
    Football: Brian Piccolo
    Basketball: Tim Duncan
    Golf: Arnold Palmer

  21. 21: Gorgeous Terry said at 10:44 am on June 18th, 2009:

    Mikey – S.H.A.T:

    Junipero Serra HS, San Mateo, CA

    Basketball:

    Baseball: Barry Bonds (Jim Fregosi and Gregg Jefferies)

    Football: Tom Brady (Lynn Swan, John Robinson)

    Wildcard I: Bill Keller, NYTimes Editor

    Wildcard II: Greg Gutfeld, Host of Red Eye on FNC (said the other day on the Adam Carolla podcast that Barry – who was in the same graduating class of ‘82 – used to always kick his chair in Spanish class, wanting to cheat off of him).

  22. 22: JeffSol said at 10:44 am on June 18th, 2009:

    I’ll take UCLA (Kareem, Walton, Marques Johnson) over LSU.

    On a separate note, choosing Bob Ryan as the Wild Card for BC over Brian Leetch is a travesty. Leetch is one a of a handful of candidates for greatest American-born hockey player ever and we’re choosing Bob Ryan because of his enthusiasm? Not to mention, Hockey is BC’s BEST program, and Joe has effectively chosen a group of 4 people, NONE of whom is as accomplished as Leetch. I love Joe, but geez…

  23. 23: Eman said at 10:49 am on June 18th, 2009:

    Baylor University

    Basketball: Vinnie “The Microwave” Johnson
    Football: Mike Singletary
    Baseball: David Murphy
    Wildcard: Michael Johnson, Jeremy Wariner and Darold Williamson (Olympic Gold Medalists)

  24. 24: Owen said at 10:50 am on June 18th, 2009:

    Remaining WCC schools that someone hasn’t done yet:

    Saint Mary’s College (CA):

    Baseball: Harry Hooper (Mark Teahen also went there)
    Basketball: Tom Meschery (maybe Patty Mills in the future)
    Football: John Henry Johnson
    Wild Card: Tony Martin

    Two hall of famers (Hooper and Johnson) and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame ain’t bad for a tiny school in Moraga.

    Portland

    Baseball: Bill Krueger/Tom Lampkin
    Basketball: Erik Spoelstra
    Football: Jim Sweeney
    Wild Cards: Kasey Keller, Steve Cherundolo, Tiffany Milbrett, Christine Sinclair (yeah, it’s a soccer school)

    U. of San Diego

    Baseball: Brady Clark (best of a surprisingly bad lot)
    Basketball: Eric Musselman, Mike Brown
    Football: Ken Zampeze
    Wild Card: Theo Epstein (law degree)

  25. 25: Devin McCullen said at 10:50 am on June 18th, 2009:

    Thanks for fixing that, Joe. I know it’s kind of an unfair answer, but what are you going to do? And to show my appreciation, I’m ordering the book today.

  26. 26: mr matt said at 10:51 am on June 18th, 2009:

    San Jose State
    Basketball: Darnell “Dr. Dunk” Hillman
    Football: Jeff Garcia
    Baseball: Ken Caminiti
    Wildcard(s): Bill Walsh, Dick Vermeil, Peter Ueberroth, Tomie Smith and John Carlos (raised fists at the Olympics), Julie Inkster

  27. 27: Andrew said at 10:57 am on June 18th, 2009:

    How about Fordham University?
    Football- Vince Lombardi
    Baseball- Frankie “The Fordham Flash” Frisch, or Pete Harnisch
    Basketball- PJ Carleisimo, the immortal Smush Parker, or former freshman team member/father of Jesus Shuttlesworth/LA Laker fan Denzel Washington
    Wild Card- Wellington Mara, Vin Scully and Capt. Kangaroo

  28. 28: Mike S said at 11:04 am on June 18th, 2009:

    St. John’s (NY)

    Baseball: John Franco (edging Frank Viola)
    Basketball: Chris Mullin (over Dick McGuire, Mark Jackson, Ron Artest)
    Football: Les Caywood (the school is hardly known for its football program)
    Wild Card: Lou Carnesecca and his sweater
    Wild Card II: Darryl “Run D.M.C.” McDaniels
    Wild Card III: Al McGuire
    Wild Card IV: Bob Shepherd, Yankee Stadium’s “Voice of God”
    Wild Card V: Mike Frances-er, local sports radio dope turned national loudmouth thanks to YES

  29. 29: True to your school II said at 11:05 am on June 18th, 2009:

    [...] News Sources wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptOK, here’s the next installment of “True to your school” — 25 more schools. I have no idea how much longer I will have the strength. Remember: For each college you have to pick the best (1) Basketball player; (2) Football player; (3) Baseball player and (4) WIldcard, which could be any sport, anything semi-involving sport or if it’s good enough a cool alumni who has nothing at all to do with sports. Ball State Basketball: Bonzi Wells Football: Blaine Bishop Baseball: Merv Retten [...]

  30. 30: Algonad said at 11:24 am on June 18th, 2009:

    I love these but enough with the journalists already! A journalist should only be listed if you can’t think of any athletes/coaches from outside the big 3 sports.

  31. 31: sean lahman said at 11:58 am on June 18th, 2009:

    Someone can correct me if I’m wrong, but I think there are only three schools on either of these lists who can claim Hall of Famers in all three sports: Cincinnati, Minnesota, and UCLA. Cincinnati is the only one that also has a HOF wildcard at a different sport.

  32. 32: mike said at 12:09 pm on June 18th, 2009:

    OK, I haven’t even heard of half of these schools. Can we do Rutgers now?

    Basketball: Jim Valvano
    Football: Deron Cherry
    Baseball: Jeff Torborg
    Wild Card 1: David Stern
    Wild Card 2: Dick Vitale (former assistant coach)
    Wild Card 3: Mr. Magoo
    Wild Card 4: James Gandolfini (on air a lot during games when RU football was good that one year)
    Wild Card 5: Alexi Lalas (U.S. National Soccer Team)
    Wild Card 6: Tom Emanski
    Wild Card 7: Joe Borowski
    Wild Card 8: Wizards coach Eddie Jordan
    Wild Card 9: Jets founder Sonny Werblin
    KC Wild Card 1: David DeJesus

  33. 33: Handshakes said at 12:11 pm on June 18th, 2009:

    Boston University:
    Baseball – Mickey Cochrane
    Football – Henry Agganis (could also qualify for baseball – next best is Billy Brooks)
    Basketball – Raja Bell (he did transfer though)
    Wildcard I (all Hockey) – Mike Eurozine, Jim Craig, Jack O’Callahan, Dave Silk (1980 USA Olympics Team), Chris Drury, Tony Amonte, Shawn Bates, Rick DiPietro, Mike Grier, Shawn McEachern,
    Wildcard II – Shawn and Stephanie McMahon (WWE)
    Wildcard III – Mr. Michelle Pfeiffer (David E. Kelley) leads a whole consortium of Hollywood figures.

  34. 34: Arob said at 12:18 pm on June 18th, 2009:

    How did Ball State and St. Bonaventure get into the second installment and not Villanova?

  35. 35: Dan said at 12:26 pm on June 18th, 2009:

    Re Boston College

    How about Art Donovan for football? I know Flutie won the Heisman, but Donovan is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and should receive extra kudos for his Tonight Show appearances.

    I’m still not sure how you choose between Dana Barros and Michael Adams. Their pro careers are remarkably similar.

    There are umpteen Bonus alum that I would have gone with over Bob Ryan, but I’m happy to defer to Joe.

  36. 36: Matt said at 12:52 pm on June 18th, 2009:

    Haven’t seen an entry for the University of Georgia

    Football: Herschel Walker (I guess it could be Fran Tarkenton if you’re looking at post-collegiate success)
    Basketball: Dominique Wilkins
    Baseball: Glen Davis – surprisingly tough to find someone (obviously, because that’s how I wind up with Glen Davis)
    Wild Card: Teresa Edwards? Chip Beck? Bubba Watson? Bill Goldberg?

  37. 37: B.E. Earl said at 12:55 pm on June 18th, 2009:

    Let’s try my school, Siena College (gulp!)

    Basketball – Matt Brady (current head coach at James Madison)
    Baseball – John Lannan (just beat the Yankees on Wednesday!)
    Football – Charlie Taaffe (offensive coordinator at U of Central Florida)
    Wildcard – William J. Kennedy (wrote “Billy Phelan’s Greatest Game” about a pool hustler, oh…and “Ironweed”)

    So, um, yeah.

  38. 38: Adam said at 1:16 pm on June 18th, 2009:

    Clemson University

    Football – Brian Dawkins (Biggest = William “Refrigerator” Perry)
    Basketball – Larry Nance
    Baseball – Jimmy Key
    Wildcard – Strom Thurmond
    Wildcard II – Banks McFadden (Football and Basketball All American in 1939)
    Wildcard III – Shawn Crawford (Olympic Track and Field Medalist)
    Wildcard IV – Oguchi Onyewu (World Cup Soccer Player)

  39. 39: Bull E. Vard said at 1:21 pm on June 18th, 2009:

    Wichita State has a pretty strong list, as should be expected;
    Baseball – Joe Carter
    Football – Bill Parcells
    Basketball – Xavier McDaniel or Antoine Carr
    Wildcard – The Carney brothers, founders of Pizza Hut
    Wildcard II – Paul “Big Show” Wight
    Wildcard III – Dennis “BTK” Rader

  40. 40: Neil said at 1:34 pm on June 18th, 2009:

    Two egregious errors here in the Wildcard categories:

    North Carolina: Jack Palance – had a great collegiate football career and a HOF acting career.

    Illinois: Hugh Hefner – no bio required.

  41. 41: Jim in DE said at 1:43 pm on June 18th, 2009:

    #20 … Wake Forest got hit a couple of times in the original thread. I think they stack up pretty well, particularly if you bump Piccolo (sorry, Jimmy Caan) for Bill George, who was a Hall of Fame linebacker for the Bears and one of the first middle linebackers that pioneered the NFL’s shift from the 5 man line to the 4-3.

    Brian Piccolo might fit better as a wildcard (though after Arnie Palmer) than as the football representative.

  42. 42: Dane said at 1:45 pm on June 18th, 2009:

    I live in Madison, WI and I agree they must offer a course in being the most annoying at stuff. It’s not in the catalog though so I suspect it’s a super-secret freshman orientation course.

  43. 43: Michael W. said at 1:57 pm on June 18th, 2009:

    Has the University of Akron somehow been neglected? That seems…appropriate, actually.

    Football: Jason Taylor
    Basketball: Bill Turner
    Baseball: Mike Birkbeck
    Wildcard: Everyone associated with LeBron James, assorted kangaroos

  44. 44: Patrick said at 2:35 pm on June 18th, 2009:

    Going back to the first post regarding this topic, should James Earl Jones be the wildcard for the University of Michigan rather than Michael Phelps? I mean, Phelps is pretty famous and all, but Darth Vader, Field of Dreams, The Sandlot, etc.

  45. 45: Brenna said at 2:39 pm on June 18th, 2009:

    I like that you used your wife as a wildcard from K-State. Nice. :)

  46. 46: Mac said at 2:59 pm on June 18th, 2009:

    I’d probably go with Spud Chandler over Davis as the UGA baseball representative. Ernie Johnson Jr. as the wildcard.

  47. 47: Shawn said at 3:00 pm on June 18th, 2009:

    Because of the success of his senior year team, I think you have to put Bill Curley ahead of Dana Barros at BC. Michael Adams, Danya Abrams and Craig Smith all almost definitely were better than Barros as well.

  48. 48: Paul White said at 3:13 pm on June 18th, 2009:

    Did you pair Bill Simmons and Dan Shaughnessy on the Holy Cross entry to make Simmons’ head explode or Shaughnessy’s? Or were you hoping for both?

  49. 49: kcsaluki said at 3:14 pm on June 18th, 2009:

    Southern Illinois

    Basketball: (this is easy) Walt Frazier

    Football: Jim Hart, although Brandon Jacobs deserves mention

    Baseball: Dave Stieb or Richard “Itch” Jones (738-345-5)as head coach but also played four years at SIU.

    Wildcard: William McAndrew(Father of Saluki Athletics)

    Wildcard II: Dennis Franz (NYPD Blue)

    Wildcard III: The original Shaft, Richard Roundtree

  50. 50: Bobby A said at 5:15 pm on June 18th, 2009:

    Tulane University:

    Basketball: John “Hot Rod” Williams
    Football: Max McGee
    Baseball: Micah Owings
    Wild Card: Jerry Springer

  51. 51: Jonathan A. said at 5:38 pm on June 18th, 2009:

    Army – West Point

    Football: Glenn Davis or Doc Blanchard (Class of 1947)
    Basketball: Mike Krzyzewski (Class of 1969)
    Baseball: Abner Doubleday (Class of 1842 Graduate, invented game)
    Wild Card: Bobby Knight (coach), Bill Parcells (coach), Robert Reese Neyland Jr. (Class of 1916 – Tennessee Football coach)

  52. 52: PWHjort said at 5:45 pm on June 18th, 2009:

    There’s another one that may pass them all from Georgia Tech. His name is Matt Wieters. Also, Micah Owings spent the first 2 years of his Collegiate career at Tech. Does he count (not that he will likely be relevant to the discussion).

  53. 53: EO said at 6:26 pm on June 18th, 2009:

    Dayton

    Basketball: Jim Paxson (two-time NBA all-star, averaged 20+ ppg in back to back years)
    Baseball: Garry Roggenburk (all-time UD leader in career ERA (0.75) and career batting (.362); pitched five years in MLB)
    Football: Mark Kasmer (21 INT in three years-20 in two years as a starter; 5 career INT return TD-one off the NCAA record; two-time all-american)
    Wildcard: Chuck Noll, Jon Gruden, Dan Patrick

    Roggenburk narrowly edged out Biff Schlitzer, who played three seaons for the Philadelphia A’s and Boston Red Sox from 1908-1914. On the ‘08 A’s, Biff played with Ossee Schreckengost, Toppsy Hartsel, Rube Oldring, Socks Seybold, Amos Strunk, Shag Shaughnessy and several hall of famers with names too common to list here.

  54. 54: Matt said at 6:29 pm on June 18th, 2009:

    Here’s a high school for you: Omaha Tech (now closed)

    Football – Johnny Rodgers
    Baseball – Bob Gibson
    Basketball – Bob Boozer
    Wild Card – Johnny Rosenblatt (namesake of the home of the CWS for last 50+ years)

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technical_High_School_(Omaha,_Nebraska)

  55. 55: astorian said at 6:47 pm on June 18th, 2009:

    University of Texas

    Baseball: Roger Clemens

    Football: I take Earl Campbell, though old-timers will prefer Bobby Layne

    Basketball: Kevin Durant

    Wild Card 1: Ben Crenshaw, winner of two Masters tournaments (just ahead of Tom Kite)

    Wild Card 2: Tom Landry

    Wild Card 3: Rick Carey, who won 3 gold medals in swimming at the 1984 Olympics

  56. 56: Tampa Mike said at 6:50 pm on June 18th, 2009:

    Abner Doubleday did not invent the game of baseball. There is absolutely no evidence whatsoever to support that claim.

    Did someone really list BTK as a notable alum?

  57. 57: Eric said at 6:50 pm on June 18th, 2009:

    Basketball: Carol Blazejowski
    Football: Sam Mills
    Baseball: Paul Mirabelli
    Wildcard: Mike Fratello

    (Not awful for a small school)

  58. 58: Eric said at 6:51 pm on June 18th, 2009:

    Montclair State University

    Basketball: Carol Blazejowski
    Football: Sam Mills
    Baseball: Paul Mirabelli
    Wildcard: Mike Fratello

    (Not awful for a small school)

  59. 59: JO'C said at 7:14 pm on June 18th, 2009:

    I haven’t seen my alma mater mentioned…The University of Delaware Fighting Blue Hens:

    Football: Rich Gannon, Joe Flacco, Jeff Komlo http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1156473/index.htm
    Baseball: Kevin Mench
    Basketball: I knew Delaware had a lousy BB tradition but I didn’t know that no player from the U of D has ever played 1 minute in the NBA. Their best college player was probably Mike Pegues.
    Lacrosse: Lax is actually more of a 3rd sport at Delaware…John Grant Jr, Richie Mills, Alex Smith
    Wildcard*: Tom Mees, Dave Raymond (Better known as the Phillie Phanatic. Also a punter on the football team and son of then coach Tubby Raymond), Joe Biden (gas bag who spoke at my college commencement and is currently a heart attack away from being the President of the USA. Yikes!).

    * Attention knuckleheads…the Wildcard is someone who is NOT from one of the 3 major sports. The 3rd best football player from Podunk U is NOT a Wildcard.

    HS edition…

    Point Loma High School (Wifey’s alma mater)
    Baseball: David Wells
    Football: Eric Allen, JJ Stokes, LaRoi Glover
    Basketball: Don Larsen (went on to play baseball and threw a perfect game in the World Series), Terri Mann (one of the best female HS players ever. Broke some of Cheryl Miller’s HS records).
    Wild Card: Dennis Conner, Marion Ross (Mrs. ‘C’).

  60. 60: NS said at 7:25 pm on June 18th, 2009:

    Will certainly has been a brilliant political writer.

    I frequently laugh out loud at this blog, but this has to be the funniest thing Joe has ever written.

  61. 61: ajnrules said at 7:57 pm on June 18th, 2009:

    A few more potential wildcards for UVA:

    -Woody Wilson and Bobby Kennedy were both at UVA Law
    -Edgar Allen Poe, author of The Raven

  62. 62: Anthony Z said at 8:07 pm on June 18th, 2009:

    I second Arob’s vote to include Nova.

    Basketball-Paul Arizin (Hall of Fame)
    Football- Howie Long
    Baseball- Mickey Vernon (7 time all-star)
    Wildcard- Jim Corce (singer/songwriter)

  63. 63: Johnny K said at 8:30 pm on June 18th, 2009:

    Southern Miss

    Basketball: Clarence Weatherspoon
    Football: Brett Favre
    Baseball: Kevin Young
    Wildcard I: Courtney Blades, first softball pitcher to record over 600 strikeouts in a season
    Wildcard II: Jimmy Buffett, only singer I know to rename stadiums and get kicked out of nba games
    Wildcard III: Ray Guy (punters can’t count as football players, but if they do, then USM has had two football players that were the best at their positions)

  64. 64: True to your school II said at 10:06 pm on June 18th, 2009:

    [...] to do with sports. Ball State Basketball: Bonzi Wells Football: Blaine Bishop Baseball: Merv Retten click for more var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : [...]

  65. 65: Brian said at 10:41 pm on June 18th, 2009:

    Joakim Noah, really? I think you’d have to go with Neal Walk, Horford, and, taking into account pro impact as much as you have in these lists, David Lee has been a great pro so far. I think Vernon Maxwell even edges out the big ugly.

  66. 66: Hugh Jorgan said at 11:12 pm on June 18th, 2009:

    Geez if you are going pre 1980’s then cincy wins it hands down, 3 all-time, slam dunk HOFer’s in their respective sports…

  67. 67: Dave said at 11:35 pm on June 18th, 2009:

    I really think Texas Tech has to be the answer to the trivia question.

  68. 68: Jamie said at 11:46 pm on June 18th, 2009:

    Just in response to the schools that have HOFers in each of the 3 sports, it is a travesty that Joe did not put Oregon in the second post. Just to repeat what rich said:
    Basketball: Howard Hobson and Lauren Gale (Both in the Hall of Fame)
    Football: Dan Fouts and Norm Van Brocklin (Also, both in)
    Baseball: Joe Gordon (maybe not officially in yet, but elected by the Veterans committee and will be in later this year)
    Wild Card: Steve Prefontaine

    Shockingly impressive for my old school.

  69. 69: Briggs said at 11:54 pm on June 18th, 2009:

    Stanford does have the sickest wild-cards.

  70. 70: Dave H said at 12:36 am on June 19th, 2009:

    OK, this will be ugly – my alma mater of Oakland (Mich.) University.

    Basketball: Rawle Marshall (only OU player to play in the NBA)
    Baseball: Don Kirkwood (only OU player to play in the majors)
    Football: None – OU has never had a football program
    Wildcard I: Robert (Freddy Krueger) Englund
    Wildcard II: James Norrod (CEO of Segway)
    Wildcard III: Brian Gregory (Dayton’s basketball coach)
    Wildcard IV: Regina Carter (Brilliant jazz violinist and winner of a MacArthur genius grant)

    NOT MAKING THE LIST: David Hasselhoff – he only attended the school for one semester, and we aren’t counting him.

  71. 71: Christopher Bates said at 2:49 am on June 19th, 2009:

    “Someone can correct me if I’m wrong, but I think there are only three schools on either of these lists who can claim Hall of Famers in all three sports: Cincinnati, Minnesota, and UCLA. Cincinnati is the only one that also has a HOF wildcard at a different sport.”

    Can’t verify that it’s only those three schools, but I can tell you that Cincinnati is not “the only one that also has a HOF wildcard at a different sport,” as UCLA has Hall of Famers in at least nine sports:

    Baseball: Jackie Robinson

    Football: Troy Aikman, Tom Fears, Jimmy Johnson, Bob Waterfield

    Basketball: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Walton, Ann Meyers-Drysdale, Gail Goodrich, John Wooden (as coach)

    Softball: Dot Richardson

    Volleyball: Karch Kiraly

    Tennis: Arthur Ashe, Jimmy Connors

    Track and Field: Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Florence Griffith-Joyner

    Gymnastics: Peter Vidmar

    Swimming: Mike Burton, Karen Moe, Brian Goodell

  72. 72: Christopher Bates said at 2:57 am on June 19th, 2009:

    Also, while their list is nowhere near as impressive as UCLA’s, USC has Hall of Famers in all three major sports, plus at least three others:

    Basketball: Bill Sharman, Cheryl Miller

    Football: Marcus Allen, Morris Badgro, Frank Gifford, Ronnie Lott, Bruce Matthews, Ron Mix, Anthony Munoz, O.J. Simpson, Lynn Swann, Willie Wood, Ron Yary

    Baseball: Tom Seaver (who will presumably be joined by Randy Johnson)

    Auto Racing: Phil Hill

    Swimming: Joe Bottom, Janet Evans

    Track and Field: Frank Wykoff

  73. 73: Chris said at 4:46 am on June 19th, 2009:

    I’ll give Vanderbilt a try (going purely from memory here):

    Basketball: Will Perdue (you would think a traditionally good basketball program like Vandy would have a better representative than Will…no offense Will)

    Football: Bill Wade (honorable mention to Jay Cutler)

    Baseball: David Price

    Wild Card 1: Al Gore
    Wild Card 2: Former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist
    Wild Card 3: Buster Olney

    I’m sure I missed someone…

  74. 74: Owen said at 6:28 am on June 19th, 2009:

    Joey Cora still has to top the list of Vanderbilt baseball alumni.

  75. 75: Owen said at 6:32 am on June 19th, 2009:

    Also, Grantland Rice > Buster Olney for a sportswriter wild card.

  76. 76: michael said at 6:45 am on June 19th, 2009:

    William and Mary:

    Basketball: Curtis Pride (Ok, this is a stretch, but he did start at PG)
    Football: Let’s go with Darren Sharper (with Steve Christie (ouch!), Marv Levy, Lou Holtz and Mike Tomlin receiving consideration)
    Baseball: Vic Raschi (3 time 20 game winner)
    Wildcard: Thomas Jefferson, Jon Stewart

  77. 77: husker in tigerland said at 7:08 am on June 19th, 2009:

    Joe:

    Where’s the love for Nebraska? Nary a mention from you but you do have some other obscure schools.

  78. 78: mark said at 7:49 am on June 19th, 2009:

    Western Michigan University

    Football – John Offerdahl
    Baseball – Mike Squires
    Basketball – Walker D. Russell
    Hockey – John Saunders (ESPN)
    Wildcard #1- Detroit Tiger GMs Dave Dombrowski and Bill Lajoie
    Wildcard #2- Tim Allen

  79. 79: harrisburghusker said at 8:19 am on June 19th, 2009:

    Come on Joe, I’ll have to take a stab myself at Nebraska if you won’t.

    Football – You should be able to appreciate Will Shields
    Baseball – Richie Ashburn didn’t attend college, so I’d go with Darin Erstad, hopefully Alex Gordon can crack this list
    Basketball – Tyronn Lue…meh
    Misc – Johnny Carson, Warren Buffet

  80. 80: Gerry said at 10:03 am on June 19th, 2009:

    For HS:
    St Francis Prep, NY
    Football: Vince Lombardi
    Baseball: Joe Torre
    Hoops:__________

    Wildcard: Frank Serpico, Julie Chen etc.

  81. 81: Matt said at 10:41 am on June 19th, 2009:

    Joe,
    Missed Purdue wildcard: Neil Armstrong

  82. 82: Steve S. said at 11:43 am on June 19th, 2009:

    Montana State University:
    Football: Jan Stenerud (NFL Hall of Fame)
    Basketball: Craig Kilborn
    Basketball Old School: John “Cat” Thompson-led the Bobcats to the national title (Helms) in 1929. (Basketball Hall of Fame)
    Baseball: You’ve got to be kidding. The campus altitude is nearly 4,500 ft.
    Hockey: Not a single Montanan has made it to the NHL. Ever! WTF?
    Wild Card: Sarah Vowell, Maurice Ralph Hilleman
    Go Bobcats!

    Washington State University
    Football: Mark Rypien
    Baseball: John Olerud
    Basketball: Craig Ehlo
    Wild Card Broadcasters: Keith Jackson (Whoa, Nelly!) and Edward R. Murrow
    Wild Card Chemistry: Timothy Leary and Bill Nye
    Wild Card Artists: Gary Larson, The Game, and Roy Orbison
    Go Cougs!

  83. 83: Fred said at 12:30 pm on June 19th, 2009:

    Marshall University

    Football: Randy Moss
    Baseball: Jeff Montgomery (with Rick Reed for bonus depth)
    Basketball: Hal Greer
    Wild Card: Robert C. Byrd

    Also, WVU’s baseball rep should probably be Charlie Hickman.

  84. 84: Reb said at 3:41 pm on June 19th, 2009:

    Northeastern University

    Football – Dan Ross (caught 11 passes in Super Bowl, a record)
    Basketball – Reggie Lewis
    Baseball – Carlos Pena
    Wildcard – Jim Calhoun (coach)
    Wildcard – Don Orsillo (Red Sox broadcaster)

  85. 85: Reb said at 3:48 pm on June 19th, 2009:

    UMass Amherst

    Basketball – Dr. J
    Baseball – Mike Flanagan, Jeff Reardon
    Football – Marcel Shipp
    Wildcard – Rick Pitino (coach)
    Wildcard – Marcus Camby, John Calipari (joined at hip)
    Wildcard – Bill Cosby
    Wildcard – Taj Mahal
    Wildcard – Frank Black and Joey Santiago of the Pixies
    Wildcard – David Foster Wallace, author
    Wildcard – Raymond Kennedy, author
    Wildcard – Richard Gere (did not graduate – no way, man!)

  86. 86: Jomo said at 4:13 pm on June 19th, 2009:

    Boston College:
    Wildcard Hockey – Future Hockey Hall of Famer Brian Leatch
    Wildcard Sideline Reporter – Lesley Visser
    Wildcard pompous selfimportant children’s author – Mike Lupica

  87. 87: Grebs said at 5:20 pm on June 19th, 2009:

    UNLV:

    Football: Randall Cunningham
    Basketball: Stacey Augmon, Larry Johnson, Greg Anthony
    Baseball: Cecil Fielder
    Wildcard: Kenny Mayne
    Wildcard: Jimmy Kimmel
    Wildcard: Suge Knight

  88. 88: JeffSol said at 6:02 pm on June 19th, 2009:

    @Christopher Bates (#72) Agreed that USC has impressive list, although not as impressive as UCLA, but Janet Evans went to Stanford, not USC.

  89. 89: Pete said at 7:02 pm on June 19th, 2009:

    I’m glad David Maraniss was included in the Wisconsin list. What a fine writer he is. I’ve not yet read the Lombardi or Clemente biographies, but his Rome 1960 and They Marched into Sunlight are two of my favorites.

  90. 90: John from north of Cincinnati said at 7:08 pm on June 19th, 2009:

    Saw that someone wrote up Bowling Green a couple of days ago, but as an older alum, I can add something to this subject…

    Baseball: Orel Hershiser
    Basketball: Nate Thurmond
    Football: Bernie Casey
    Wild Card: Scott Hamilton
    Wild Card: Dave Wottle (1972 Olympic gold medalist)
    Wild Card: Nick Mileti (owned the Tribe, Cavs and Crusaders)
    Wild Card: Tim Conway (not an athlete or owner, but he did do Dorf on Golf)

    Ay Ziggy Zoomba…

  91. 91: james said at 8:54 pm on June 19th, 2009:

    No one have done my alma yet so

    Yale
    Baseball:Ron Darling
    Football: Calvin Hill
    Basketball:Chris Dudley (pretty weak)
    Hockey: Mike Richter (Rangers Goalie)
    Wild Card: Frank Shorter Olympic runner
    Really wildcard: Renee Richards as Richard Raskin, captain of the tennis team
    Wildcard: George Bush, owner Texas Rangers
    Wildcard: Theo Epstein

  92. 92: Go Owls! said at 9:04 pm on June 19th, 2009:

    Somebody in one of the other posts put up University of Houston, which came to mind. But the first was my alma mater, Rice. Yes, the smallest Division one school. The school with the football stadium that probably still holds more people than students it’s graduated (alive or dead). A few bright spots, but for sake of completeness:

    Rice University
    Baseball- Lance Berkman (Best of the 21 mlbers they’ve had.)
    Basketball- Ricky Pierce (1 allstar game and 2 6th man awards)
    Football- Larry Izzo (3 Pro Bowls, 3 Super Bowls) (although for my Lions friends I want to go with Rote)
    Wildcard- Larry McMurtry (Pulitzer and an Oscar) or if he has to be sport, Harold Solomon (men’s tennis, once ranked #5, 22 singles titles, runner up French Open). But I think I’m missing another sports person.

    Honorable Mentions-
    Baseball: Jose Cruz, Jr., Norm Charlton plus 18 more

    Football: Tobin Rote was QB of the Lions’ last NFL championship in 1957 and an AFL Championship with the Chargers in 1963. “Two Minute” Tommy Kramer (heir to Tarkenton) and N.D. Kalu, Bert Emmanuel, Billy Howton, and Don Maynard also get an Honorable Mention. Probably a few more too.

    Basketball: 11 others are pretty non factors and probably won’t overtake Pierce. Several in the 40s.

    Wildcard: Sports related- Frank Beall Ryan- NFL quarterback, textbook author, Yale athletic director, appeared on cover of Sports Illustrated, January 4, 1965
    Amanda Goad- 1992 Scripps Spelling bee champion (it’s on espn now!), 1996 Jeopardy Teen Tournament Winner

    Non-sports-
    James Baker- Sec. of State and Treasury
    John Doerr- venture capitalist, Forbes Midas List,current Presidential advisor
    Howard Hughes- attended but dropped out to go to Hollywood

    But you should see our Mathletes and Academic Olympians list! Ha!

  93. 93: Sebastian said at 1:35 pm on June 20th, 2009:

    Hey, how about Penn?

    Basketball: Craig Littlepage, or Matt Maloney?

    Football: Tie, for the two guys who have college football trophies named after them: Chuck Bednarik and John Heisman.

    Baseball: Mark DeRosa (was also QB for Penn football team)

    Wildcard: This could also be basketball: John Edgar Wideman (contemporary of Bill Bradley’s, Rhodes Scholar, and noted author)

    Wildcard II: Buzz Bissinger (Friday Night Lights)

    Wildcard III: Walter O’Malley. He moved the Dodgers, of course.

    Wildcard IV: Big Bill Tilden (tennis)

  94. 94: Ben said at 4:05 pm on June 20th, 2009:

    Long Beach State:

    Baseball — Jason Giambi (possibly soon to be Evan Longoria)
    Basketball — Craig Hodges or Bryon Russell
    Football — Terrell Davis
    Wild Card — Mark O’Meara/Misty May-Treanor

  95. 95: Matt said at 10:32 pm on June 20th, 2009:

    Ohio University:

    Baseball: Mike Schmidt
    Basketball: Gary Trent
    Football: Dave Zastudil
    Wild Card: Peter King

  96. 96: JPB said at 10:32 pm on June 20th, 2009:

    University of South Carolina

    Football: George Rogers
    Basketball: Alex English
    Baseball: Bobby Richardson
    Wild Cards: Frank McGuire, Dan Reeves, Alex Hawkins, Josh Wolff

  97. 97: DXMachina said at 10:08 am on June 21st, 2009:

    Seton Hall University

    Basketball: Walter Dukes
    Football: Bart Oates (SHU Law School post NFL career)
    Baseball: Craig Biggio
    Wildcard: Chuck Connors (baseball and basketball)
    Wildcard: Dick Vitale (BS) and Bill Raftery (MS)
    Wildcard: Tony Soprano (did not graduate)

  98. 98: Stosh Barkowitz said at 1:33 pm on June 21st, 2009:

    Illios State Redbirds

    Basketball: Doug Collins
    Baseball: Dave Bergman or Neal Cotts or Dan Kolb (We specialize in part-time player and pitchers)
    Football: Mike Prior

    Wild Cards:

    I. We grow actors in the central Illinois cornfields
    John Malkovich
    Laurie Metcalf
    Gary Sinise (did not graduate but we claim him)
    II. Coach Steve Fisher
    III. D.A. Weibring – Golfer

  99. 99: NMC said at 6:26 pm on June 21st, 2009:

    Southern Illinois University

    Football: Jim Hart (or Brandon Jacobs if you prefer someone more contemporary)
    Basketball: Walt Frazier (1967 NIT Champs!)
    Baseball: Steve Finley

    Wildcard I: John Belushi (OK! OK! He really only took a theater class, but he did have his iconic “College” sweatshirt designed in Carbondale…so we’ll instead, officially, go with his brother Jim, the actual alum…but not as much fun.)

    Wildcard II: Richard Roundtree. “SHAFT’s his name. SHAFT’s his game.”

    Wildcard III: Dennis Franz – TV Cop (occasionally bare-bottomed.)

  100. 100: NMC said at 6:30 pm on June 21st, 2009:

    Oh, and I forgot Wildcard Ultimate for SIU, baseballer Duane Kuiper. :)

  101. 101: Justin said at 8:16 pm on June 21st, 2009:

    Princeton:

    Slim pickins…

    Baseball: Chris Young (P)
    Football: John Dekker?
    Basketball: Bill Bradley
    Wild Card: Mark Shapiro
    W2: Larry Lucchino
    W3: Bruce Wayne
    W4: Michelle, Michelle..

  102. 102: Ken Arneson said at 11:41 pm on June 21st, 2009:

    I would choose Matt Biondi as Cal’s wild card over any of the listed choices.

  103. 103: Jon said at 8:52 am on June 22nd, 2009:

    Rutgers University
    Basketball: Jim Valvano, Cappie Pondexter
    Football: Paul Robeson, Ray Rice (more recent)
    Baseball: David DeJesus!

  104. 104: Koby said at 9:09 am on June 22nd, 2009:

    Mississippi State

    Football: D.D. Lewis or Kent Hull
    Basketball: Bailey Howell
    Baseball: Pick from the 84-85 Diamond Dogs of Rafael Palmerio, Will Clark, Jeff Brantley or Bobby Thigpen. Or go real old school and Boo Ferriss (Red Sox great)
    Wildcard I: Jerry Clower (HOOOEEEEEEEEEEY!)
    Wildcard II: John Grisham
    Wildcard III: Janet Marie Smith (one of the designers of the new ballparks, with Camden Yards being one of her best)
    Wildcard IV: G.V. “Sonny” Montgomery of the Montgomery G.I. Bill

  105. 105: Tagg Romney said at 10:20 am on June 22nd, 2009:

    Brigham Young University

    Basketball: Danny Ainge
    Football: Steve Young
    Baseball: 3 All Stars–Rick Aguilera, Wally Joyner, Jack Morris
    Golf: Johnny Miller
    Wildcard I: Philo Farnsworth, inventor of TV (where would sports be without TV?)
    Wildcard II: Mitt Romney, head of Salt Lake Olympic Committee

  106. 106: Phil said at 2:27 pm on June 22nd, 2009:

    University of Pennsylvania:

    Football: Chuck Bednarik

    Basketball: Corky Calhoun

    Baseball: Doug Glanville

    Wildcard 1: John Heisman and John Outland (both of trophy fame) played football at Penn

    Wildcard 2:UPenn basketball coaches: Dick Harter and Chuck Daly

    Wildcard 3: # 1 US Track meet: Penn Relays

  107. 107: Ben said at 3:03 pm on June 22nd, 2009:

    San Jose State —

    Baseball: Ken Caminiti
    Basketball: Tariq Abdul-Wahad
    Football: Jeff Garcia/Steve DeBerg
    Wild Cards: Peter Ueberroth, Tommie Smith & John Carlos, Dick Vermeil, Bill Walsh

  108. 108: True to your school II » Joe Posnanski | OnlineTalkers - Let technology do the talking said at 3:26 pm on June 22nd, 2009:

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  109. 109: Steve Bratone said at 7:28 am on June 23rd, 2009:

    Re. Syracuse University, the greatest football player ever …
    1. Jim Brown … and maybe the best father/son basketball combo:
    2. Dolph and Danny Schayes; two top quality relief pitchers
    3. Jim Konstanty and Dave Giusti – and a somewhat overly talkative Vice-President
    4. Joe Biden (SU Law School)

    Not bad!!

  110. 110: Patrick said at 11:15 am on June 23rd, 2009:

    University of Texas at Austin..

    1) Lamarcus Aldridge
    2) Earl Campbell (Runner ups Vince Young/Ricky Williams)
    3) Roger Clemens
    4) Three way tie between Bush twins, Ben Crenshaw, Matthew Mcconaughey

  111. 111: MEH said at 3:14 pm on June 23rd, 2009:

    Notre Dame?

    Basketball: Austic Carr

    Football: Could go many directions, but I’ll go with Alan Page for the combination of on and off-field achievements

    Baseball: Carl Yastrzemski (could make a case for Craig Counsell)

    Wild Card I: Hannah Storm

    Wild Card II: Connie Rice

    Wild Card III: Ted Leo and the Pharmacists

  112. 112: corymw said at 1:43 am on June 24th, 2009:

    I’ll take KU, any day…

    Basketball: Wilt; Manning; Lovellette; Dean Smith; oh yeah, some guy named James Naismith… this list can go on for pages.

    Football: Gale Sayers; John Riggins; Stubblefield, Gilbert Brown — 3 of the 4 won superbowls.

    Baseball: Nothin’ here…

    Track: Billy Mills (the only US athlete ever to win an Olympic 10,000m gold medal and a world record holder);

    Wildcards: Bud Adams (owner of the Titans); Kevin Harlan; Don Johnson; Bob Dole; Paul Rudd; Scott Bakula; Rob Riggle (hilarious in The Hangover).

    Don’t forget about UMKC:

    Tony Dumas, Donald Fehr, Harry S. Truman and Walt Disney (he designed the Kangaroo mascot)

  113. 113: J.K. McKay said at 7:04 pm on June 24th, 2009:

    A real USC fan would have Anthony Davis as the football rep.

  114. 114: Dan said at 8:57 am on June 26th, 2009:

    Dartmouth College
    Basketball: Rudy Larusso (http://basketballreference.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=LARUSRU01)
    Football: Reggie Williams
    Baseball: Red Rolfe
    Wildcard: Brad Asmus (one of the 26 current major leaguers with a college degree)
    Wildcard II: Ric Bucher
    Wildcard III: Michael Corleone

  115. 115: Number Three said at 6:49 pm on June 27th, 2009:

    Eastern Michigan University

    Basketball: George “The Iceman” Gervin (also Grant Long, Earl Boykins)

    Football: Charlie Batch (not a football power)

    Baseball: Bob Welch (not as great, but honorable mention for Chris Hoiles)

    Wildcard I: Hayes Jones (hurdler; Olympic Gold medalist)

    Wildcard II: Stan Heath (NCAA mens basketball coach)

    Wildcard III: Greg Mathis–that’s Judge Mathis to you!

    Wildcard IV: Dave Coverly (syndicated cartoonist, ‘Speed Bump’)

  116. 116: Jason said at 7:41 pm on June 30th, 2009:

    Southern Methodist University (SMU)

    Basketball: Jon Koncak (paid more than MJ, Bird or Magic making him Jon Contract).
    Football: Eric Dickerson/Lamar Hunt
    Baseball: Jack Knott
    Football Wildcards: Doak Walker; Don Meredith; Craig James.
    Golf Wildcard: Payne Stewart
    Wildcard: Hacksaw Jim Duggan

  117. 117: The Ford said at 9:27 pm on June 30th, 2009:

    OK, I’m a bit late to this, but I gotta argue with Steve S.’s Washington State athlete picks …

    “Washington State University
    Football: Mark Rypien
    Baseball: John Olerud
    Basketball: Craig Ehlo”

    Olerud yes, Rypien OK (I’d have gone with Bledsoe, but the whole Super Bowl MVP thing probably decides it.)

    But Ehlo? NO. Other than the iconic “getting whupped by Jordan” category, I gotta object.

    Can’t we get Mark Hendrickson or Gene Conley in there? Lesser-known names, but they’re both one of the 12-or-so guls to play in MLB and the NBA. Matter of fact, Conley’s the only guy to win a World Series AND the NBA title.

  118. 118: And the Recipient of the October 7th Writing & Publishing the Short Stuff Class is… | Gadget Look said at 10:01 pm on September 21st, 2009:

    [...] *Thinking about making 07/08/09 the official blog “Buy the book” day. I know many of you already have bought the book … and so anyone who buys the book by 07/08/09 would qualify for … something. I don’t know what yRead more at http://joeposnanski.com/JoeBlog/2009/06/18/true-to-your-school-ii/ [...]

  119. 119: Worst Thirty Game Stretches Ever | Gadget Look said at 9:06 pm on October 19th, 2009:

    [...] *Thinking about making 07/08/09 the official blog “Buy the book” day. I know many of you already have bought the book … and so anyone who buys the book by 07/08/09 would qualify for … something. I don’t know what yRead more at http://joeposnanski.com/JoeBlog/2009/06/18/true-to-your-school-ii/ [...]

  120. 120: sid gillman | U.S Trend Keywords said at 9:15 pm on October 19th, 2009:

    [...] True to your school IIOK, here’s the next installment of “True to your school” ? 25 more schools. I have no idea how much longer I will have the strength. Remember: For each college you have to pick the best (1) [...]


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