The big three

[GalensGhost 0]

Saw this on another board and it's an interesting thought:

When it comes to the big three professional sports -- basketball, baseball and football -- is there an SEC school with a better pedigree than Auburn?

Football: Bo Jackson (Rudi, Carnell, Takeo, Karlos, Carlos, Ronnie)

Baseball: Frank Thomas (Tim Hudson, Scott Sullivan)

Basketball: Charles Barkley (Chuck Person, Chris Morris, Wes Person, Marquise Daniels).

Would any SEC school come close?

[vatz22au 142]

Who knows, you might be able to add Gabe Gross to that list... Heard he was doing alright in the majors.

[auwallace 6]

in the sec i see no one, i thought maybe georgia could compete but they lack the big time baseball talent. I'm working on the rest of the country.

[smokies 0]

[RadioWryn 0]

Florida:

FB: Rex Grossman, Reche Caldwell, Fred Taylor, Ike Hilliard, Jevon Kearse, Lito Sheppard, Ben Troupe, Kenyatta Walker

Basketball: Mike Miller, Donnell Harvey, Jason Williams, Vernon Maxwell, Matt Walsh (and a host of them on the way from the NC team)

Baseball: David Eckstein, Brad Wilkerson, Josh Fogg, Mark Ellis

----

LSU:

FB: Domanick Davis, Michael Clayton, Alan Faneca, Tory James, Eddie Kennison, Chad Lavalais, LaBrandon Toefield

NBA: Shaq, Stromile Swift (Seimone Augustus will be a star in WNBA), and Bob Pettit, Pete Maravich from yesteryear

MLB: Albert Belle, Paul Byrd, Brad Hawpe, Todd Walker, Kurt Ainsworth

Golf: David Toms

[auwallace 6]

UCLA

Football- troy aikmen, jim brown

Baseball- jackie robinson

Basketball- reggie miller, kareem, bill walton

I love AU but this is pretty freakin impressive

[RadioWryn 0]

UCLA

Football- troy aikmen, jim brown

Baseball- jackie robinson

Basketball- reggie miller, kareem, bill walton

I love AU but this is pretty freakin impressive

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Are we going on current ability or past name recognition?

[GalensGhost 0]

LSU lacks the big football name.

Georgia is missing the baseball pedigree.

Alabama has no real baseball names

Ole Miss has nothing but Archie

MSU really only has baseball

Florida see above

Kentucky has some dusty stuff except in basketball

Vandy has nothing

South Carolina? No idea

Arkansas? No idea

Tennessee? Nobody in basketball.

Barkley is HoF material. Bo was a national icon. Frank or Tim may still make the HoF.

[saniflush 0]

Florida:

FB: Rex Grossman, Reche Caldwell, Fred Taylor, Ike Hilliard, Jevon Kearse, Lito Sheppard, Ben Troupe, Kenyatta Walker

Don't forget Emmit Smith on the list. hard to leave off the all time leading rusher.

[TitanTiger 20,499]

Jim Brown didn't play for UCLA. He went to Syracuse.

[auwallace 6]

Jim Brown didn't play for UCLA.  He went to Syracuse.

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that is correct, i wasn't even paying attention, they must have some other jim brown that they listed. But still, i think they win. Insert Ken Norton Jr. and Johnathon Ogden

[GalensGhost 0]

Jim Brown didn't play for UCLA.  He went to Syracuse.

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that is correct, i wasn't even paying attention, they must have some other jim brown that they listed. But still, i think they win. Insert Ken Norton Jr. and Johnathon Ogden

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SEC only, please.

[SKCAUB 0]

Uh,,,Bo Jackson played a little baseball too...was the MVP of the All Star Game....

[AFTiger 282]

Actually when you think about it, the four most recognizable names in professional sports are, in no particular order,

Michael Jordon-UNC

Bo Jackson-Auburn

Charles Barkley- Auburn

Tiger Woods-Stanford

Tain't bad.

[bammanmr 0]

Actually when you think about it, the four most recognizable names in professional sports are, in no particular order,

Michael Jordon-UNC

Bo Jackson-Auburn

Charles Barkley- Auburn

Tiger Woods-Stanford

Tain't bad.

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To us, yes, but bo and barkley won't pop up on anyone else's radar. Now a days, more people are probably more familiar with Shaq than barkley.

[RadioWryn 0]

Actually when you think about it, the four most recognizable names in professional sports are, in no particular order,

Michael Jordon-UNC

Bo Jackson-Auburn

Charles Barkley- Auburn

Tiger Woods-Stanford

Tain't bad.

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To us, yes, but bo and barkley won't pop up on anyone else's radar. Now a days, more people are probably more familiar with Shaq than barkley.

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Tim Duncan also makes my list, as does Alex Rodriguez (Miami) .. Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire, and Randy Johnson .. I would put all those above Bo in fame.

[auwallace 6]

Actually when you think about it, the four most recognizable names in professional sports are, in no particular order,

Michael Jordon-UNC

Bo Jackson-Auburn

Charles Barkley- Auburn

Tiger Woods-Stanford

Tain't bad.

232137[/snapback]

To us, yes, but bo and barkley won't pop up on anyone else's radar. Now a days, more people are probably more familiar with Shaq than barkley.

232140[/snapback]

Tim Duncan also makes my list, as does Alex Rodriguez (Miami) .. Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire, and Randy Johnson .. I would put all those above Bo in fame.

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maybe now but in his prime the "Bo Knows" campaign was everywhere, he even had his own shoes which were very popular.

[Nay4AU 2]

Jim Brown didn't play for UCLA.  He went to Syracuse.

232122[/snapback]

that is correct, i wasn't even paying attention, they must have some other jim brown that they listed. But still, i think they win. Insert Ken Norton Jr. and Johnathon Ogden

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There was a Jim Brown who was an all american guard at UCLA in 1955.

[mcgufcm 4,107]

if you're talking the most recognizable names in the sports today it would look a little more like this:

basketball

michael jordan (still, unc)

kobe (hs)

lebron (hs)

shaq (lsu)

sir charles (int'l star from dream team and inside the nba on tnt, auburn)

football

favre (southern miss)

peyton manning (ut)

tom brady (michigan)

then you might add TO or moss or vick, but those are the biggest stars in the nfl

baseball

jeter (michigan)

big papi (dominican)

bonds (arizona state)

then i'd probably add guys like arod, schilling, or pujols

and tiger trumps them all in the sports name list.

personally, i think michigan could take this thing down for current players with brady (future HoF), jeter (future HoF), and webber (fab five and multi-all-star games).

as far as the sec, sir charles, bo, and the big hurt (no way hudson makes the hall by the way) are pretty top notch.

lsu has: shaq, billy cannon (arguably the best player in the history of the afl) or jim taylor/y.a. tittle (two hallers), and surprisingly albert belle is the biggest name from baseball

florida: gives you eckstein (the face of the series winning anahiem angels) or al rosen (former al mvp), emmitt smith, but they fall way short in ball with mike miller (soon to be 6th man of the year) as their biggest name... joakim noah may change that soon.

alabama: they headline with the bear in football (unless the list is confined to players of note instead of just big names) or joe namath or bart starr... take your pick, big shot rob (horry, six time champ and frequent hitter of the "big shot"), baseball falls a little flat... joe sewell is a HoF player from the 20's.

tennessee: peyton manning would be the guy in football i think but reggie white is close, bernard king in basketball, and todd helton is the biggest baseball name (legit potential for the hall if he plays long enough). that's a great three, but it doesn't stack up to the shear fame of auburn's list.

msu could rival anyone for infamy in sports names: smoot brought you the sex boat scandal last year, palmeiro is one of the two enduring images of baseball's 'roid era, and dampier once called himself the second best center in the nba. so they've got that.

so in the sec, no one comes terribly close to auburn although it seems like lsu is due a bigger name guy in baseball after being so dominant my whole life. that or a hall run by helton would put ut up there.

outside of the sec, ucla (aikman, kareem, and jackie), michigan (jeter, brady, and webber), and usc (the juice, the big unit, and brian scalabrine... famous for talking danny ainge into giving him 18 million dollars last summer) stack up pretty well against us but auburn is definitely in the discussion.

[SKCAUB 0]

Actually when you think about it, the four most recognizable names in professional sports are, in no particular order,

Michael Jordon-UNC

Bo Jackson-Auburn

Charles Barkley- Auburn

Tiger Woods-Stanford

Tain't bad.

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And there's that Ali guy...the fighter...not to mention George Foreman...and his grill.

[Nay4AU 2]

LSU lacks the big football name.

There have been some in the past.

Steve Van Buren - NFL hall of famer, ended his career as the NFL all time rushing leader.

Y.A. Tittle - NFL hall of famer

Jim Taylor - NFL hall of famer, member of the great Packer teams of the 60's

Billy Cannon - Although more known for his college career, his pro career wasn't all that bad.

[BamaGrad03 0]

Actually when you think about it, the four most recognizable names in professional sports are, in no particular order,

Michael Jordon-UNC

Bo Jackson-Auburn

Charles Barkley- Auburn

Tiger Woods-Stanford

No way man. You mean to tell me Bo Jackson and Charles Barkley are more powerful/recognizable names than:

Kobe Bryant

Jack Nickalaus

Derek Jeter

ARod

Shaq

Arnold Palmer

Ali

Foreman

Dale Jr

Dale Sr

Tim Duncan

Wayne Gretzky

Dont get me wrong...Bo and Charles were great athletes. But neither will go down as top 5 at their position. Bo had the potential to before he was hurt. But his career...when its all said and down...wont be as impressive as Rudi's in cincy.

[GalensGhost 0]

Dont get me wrong...Bo and Charles were great athletes. But neither will go down as top 5 at their position. Bo had the potential to before he was hurt. But his career...when its all said and down...wont be as impressive as Rudi's in cincy.

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Bo won't. Not going to argue the "didn't have enough time" point because it's moot. He didn't have enough to really know.

Charles will. Ever heard of the NBA Top 50? Top 50 players of all time? Top 50 regardless of position? Recognized by the league? Barkley's on that list.

He's one of only four players in NBA history with 20,000 points, 10,000 rebounds and 4,000 assists.

[mcgufcm 4,107]

yeah, bo's fame is that he, along with michael jordan, was the first to really push nike into pop culture. "bo knows" is still seen as one of the biggest marketing success in shoe history (hellooooo marketing class). then he was on pro stars the cartoon. then he made the pro bowl. then he won all-star mvp. he was the biggest star (jordan included) of the early 90's b/c he was a freak (the likes of which we've never seen since, until maybe lebron) and he was the face of nike.

chuck's fame comes from his game (easily one of the top five power forwards in the history of the game. don't really see a leg to stand on in a debate against that. it's basically: karl malone, charles barkley, and everyone else. there are some guys like duncan and dirk that may make a run at those two, but no way you can put mchale or petit over barkley), his mouth, his books, and his presence. he may be even more famous now than when he played, and he was one of the 4 faces of the league in the early 90's (jordan, bird, magic, and chuck). crazy to debate him.

and yes, i'd say both are more recognizable names than palmer, anyone who ever drove a car for a living, and certainly any hockey player no matter how great they were (although the great one did have a guest starring spot in the pro stars). and chuck was/is more famous than duncan b/c of his personality.

[SouthLink02 8]

Guys, people say we are missing the baseball pedigree...where is our basketball pedigree outside Dominque?