Favorite New York athlete of all time and why

Paul O'Neill was my favorite player during the Dynasty years and then early/mid 00s I began to appreciate Mo's historic dominance and he became my favorite player on the Yanks.

But as year after year went by, the more I realized that Derek Jeter was simply the man. The best player on a Dynasty (Bernie/Mo/Jeter are tough to choose between, but he's my choice), the leader of the team since he was 21, a guy who handled the NY media and spotlight to perfection, a guy who was a perfect face to not only the team but the entire sport.

3600 career hits, 5 rings, countless legendary moments. Sucks that he's no longer going to be a Yankee.

Eli is right there. One more ring and he's 1st place easy.

Harry Carson

Class personified.

out of past Giants, I was a huge huge fan of Rodney Hampton. Other sports, I'd throw in Mike Tyson, Paul O'Neil, and Darryl Strawberry.

Eli and John Tavares to me are my current.

All time? Potvin, Bavaro and randomly Robin Ventura.

issues have been a huge disappointment to me.

Standouts for me are: John McEnroe, Chris Mullin, Mike Bossy, Bernard King, Bernie Williams, Bavaro, Mark Collins...

Don Mattingly...

my game after Andy. Being from Brooklyn I liked the old Dodgers

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Manning.

He has given me my greatest sports memories. Hes done it with class and style in the face of adversity. I laugh when people try to diminish his efforts in both superbowls runs...i realize that some people are just born haters. if you dont like Eli you really are just hating... Hes not a fantasy QB hes a real football quarterback.

Gehrig. Born a New Yorker. Lived a New Yorker. Made a huge contribution to the humane reform of the New York prison system in the two years between leaving the Yankees and dying a New Yorker.

Mo. Yogi.

Messier.

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Eli

Eli
Messier
Willis Reed

I would say it's close between Eli Manning and Jason Sehorn.

Hands down. Eli Manning a close second

Baseball - Mookie Wilson
Football - Fran Tarkenton
Hockey - Ed Giacomin
Basketball - Julius Erving (the ABA NY Nets)

it would have to be #2. He was NY from the first day he set foot in Yankee Stadium and it a pleasure to have him representing my team for all those years. No one athlete in my lifetime epitomized the greatness of the franchise like Jeter. He is the DiMaggio of his day.
I loved LT, I loved Patrick, and I am a huge Islander fan but NY is a baseball town and Jeter is the king. Eli will always get respect but in a different sort of way. Jeter grew-up before our eyes on the biggest stage in the world and matured into everything we needed him to be. His absence will leave a gulf that might not be filled in my lifetime. (I can still hear Bob Shepard)

Mark Bavaro, Dave DeBusschere, Thurman Munson.

In comment 12112296 Scott in Montreal said:

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Harry Carson Class personified.

Couldn't agree more. I had the opportunity to meet and speak with him at a professional convention and thought of him as "most admired" but couldn't see him as best athlete.

should give consideration to Kareem (previously Lou) of Power Memorial.

The only way I could do it is if I picked my favorite from each sport then narrow it from there.

Baseball - I go back a ways. It would have to be Roger Maris. I idolized him when he was a Yankee and cried when they traded him.

Football - no ifs ands or buts, LT. What more can you say about what he meant to the Giants.

Basketball - Patrick Ewing. Hated him as a Hoya. Loved him as a Knick.,

Hockey - Steady Eddie Giacomin. He was the standard bearer for all other goalies who followed him as a Ranger.

And the winner is, LT. His impact was like no others in any of the four major New York sports.

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He was so much fun to watch as a Knick along with Clyde.

Never been a Yankee fan, but Reggie Jackson was electrifying and Thurman Munson was tough as hell.

For football I'll go with Eli, LT and -- for his football accomplishments only, not his big mouth -- Tiki.

and quit all the equivocating you punks.

of LT

Grew up watching him, though I loved Simms too. As bad as this list is for me to write Eli at #3, I will be honest, he is a hair away from #1 for me.. I love 10ball

1. LT
2. Donnie Baseball
3. Eli
4. Jetes
5. Mo
6. Ewing

it starts and ends with the Yankee Trio of Mariano, Jeter and Posada. 3 guys I can use to show my son that there are good guys in sports and show him how you can still be loyal to a team.

Eli is up there as is Ewing and Bernard King. King might seem strange, but he's the first Knick I really wanted to watch and Ewing was the last.

I do have a soft spot for King Henrik, too.

this creates another question.....who was more valuable, Derek or Mo?

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having Jeter and Mo there at the same time. I think they were equally as valuable. Jeter was the cornerstone on the field and locker room while Mo was the finisher.

cared any less about who had class.

Baseball: Dwight Gooden and Daryl Strawberry and then Arod
Football: LT
Hockey: Chris Chelios
Basketball: Larry Bird

Now that I'm no longer a child, I don't deify athletes, and couldn't pick a favorite if you paid me in any sport. I root for laundry exclusively - in all sports.

In comment 12112519 pjcas18 said:

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cared any less about who had class. Baseball: Dwight Gooden and Daryl Strawberry and then Arod Football: LT Hockey: Chris Chelios Basketball: Larry Bird Now that I'm no longer a child, I don't deify athletes, and couldn't pick a favorite if you paid me in any sport. I root for laundry exclusively - in all sports.

whoops, Chelios and Bird are not NY athletes, obviously, but I don't root for NY teams in those sports.

In comment 12112447 Jay in Toronto said:

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should give consideration to Kareem (previously Lou) of Power Memorial.

r

I lived two blocks away from Power Memorial and often had to take the Amsterdam bus uptown for auditions held in the 72nd Street rehearsal hall. He saw me a number of times and, of course, how could you miss him. We got to talking and we asked one another about what was happening, etc. He liked school, he was smart and articulate for a kid that age. He loved hearing about auditions and the shows I had been in.

I was all baseball and football when I grew up but back then I think baseball was much bigger than football at least from my young and ignorant perspective.

Whenever we visited the grand parents my grandpa was always glued to a tiny B/W TV watching the Yankees. They didn't have Color TV back then.

Of all the players who have put on a NY uniforms (in the 60's to day) these guys just represented their respective franchise so well both on and off the grand stage. Clyde played the game to win and allowed the guys on the floor to excel even while remaining somewhat in the background. What can you say about the Sandman his list of outstanding performances could fill any street in NY.

I saw DR. J and LT live but the DR left town not his fault and as great as LT was his post career and secret career are not anything to bring pride to a franchise.

Harry Carson is also someone I would go to war with or for proudly any day or night. He was the silent killer while LT made all the splash hits but Carson was the Captain. Just for those who may not know this Bill Belichick calls him the best all around LB he ever coached.

There's something to that. Part of what hit me so hard was that Mo was the last of what I would consider my childhood heroes. I wasn't quite a child at the start of his career, but I wasn't quite a man yet either. I was 19 during the 1996 season when Mo's career took off. Looking at the list I made, Ahmad Bradshaw is the only player whose career started after my teen years. I doubt I'll ever get so attached to individual players like that again.

The guy was from another planet. The way he could run down runners from the back end was other worldly.

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In comment 12112737 Greg from LI said:

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There's something to that. Part of what hit me so hard was that Mo was the last of what I would consider my childhood heroes. I wasn't quite a child at the start of his career, but I wasn't quite a man yet either. I was 19 during the 1996 season when Mo's career took off. Looking at the list I made, Ahmad Bradshaw is the only player whose career started after my teen years. I doubt I'll ever get so attached to individual players like that again.

Agree completely. for me growing up it was all about the sports cards, jerseys, etc. and for me it was pre internet which made it more difficult or fun to try and collect stuff from your favorite players.

As you grow older, maybe it's a little cynical but you learn the majority of these guys don't care even a little bit about you, they care about money, themselves, their stats, maybe their teammates and winning, but not always.

So, I still have Giants and Mets gear, but I never get anything with a number on it and I really don't care even a little what these guys do off the field.

Jason Kidd - his years as point guard on Nets were unreal
Ahmad Bradshaw - for his toughness
Phil Simms - great memories
Don Mattingly - unstoppable

First, nobody played first base like Hernandez, then or since. He did things in the field that are still mind-blowing when I think of them. If you didn't see Hernandez play first in the mid-1980s, it's hard to even understand how unique he was. He wasn't doing what other people were doing, but better; he was playing an entirely different position.

They say Picasso, great as he was, didn't really have successors. The great painters who followed him didn't go down the trail he blazed. So it is with Hernandez as a first baseman. Nobody does what he did. He was unique. Which is a shame, I think.

Before Gary Carter joined the team, Hernandez even resumed the ancient tradition of the first baseman kind of handling the pitchers. That was somethin'.

Second, Hernandez was kind of a troubled guy -- some of that became public later -- and he brought more of himself onto the field than any other ballplayer I can remember. If you watched him, day after day, you could really see his personality, including some of the cracks. It was like a reality show shot at a distance.

In comment 12112447 Jay in Toronto said:

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should give consideration to Kareem (previously Lou) of Power Memorial.

Played versus Power when in La Salle... Walking into the gym his shirt was hung over the gym door, what an inspiration. Beat the crap out of Power also, LOL...
Back in 1970...

In comment 12112526 Montreal Man said:

Quote:

In comment 12112447 Jay in Toronto said: Quote: should give consideration to Kareem (previously Lou) of Power Memorial. r I lived two blocks away from Power Memorial and often had to take the Amsterdam bus uptown for auditions held in the 72nd Street rehearsal hall. He saw me a number of times and, of course, how could you miss him. We got to talking and we asked one another about what was happening, etc. He liked school, he was smart and articulate for a kid that age. He loved hearing about auditions and the shows I had been in.

Grew up on 67st and Amsterdam... You?

Baseball-- Mantle, Yogi, Munson, Jackson, Mattingly, Jeter, Rivera

Football-- Gifford, Shofner, Tittle, LT, Bavaro, Simms, Eli, and, soon to be, OBJ

Basketball-- Each Knick on early '70's team, Ewing

Hockey-- Gilbert,

that given Ewing was a great talent he didn't make the team as good as it should have been. I don't remember him ever making an outlet pass (probably did when I wasn't looking) and too many times saw him miss at the buzzer with three defenders on him rather than pass to a teammate. Maybe I expected too much, but I was always frustrated watching his play.

In comment 12112928 81_Great_Dane said:

Quote:

First, nobody played first base like Hernandez, then or since. He did things in the field that are still mind-blowing when I think of them. If you didn't see Hernandez play first in the mid-1980s, it's hard to even understand how unique he was. He wasn't doing what other people were doing, but better; he was playing an entirely different position. They say Picasso, great as he was, didn't really have successors. The great painters who followed him didn't go down the trail he blazed. So it is with Hernandez as a first baseman. Nobody does what he did. He was unique. Which is a shame, I think. Before Gary Carter joined the team, Hernandez even resumed the ancient tradition of the first baseman kind of handling the pitchers. That was somethin'. Second, Hernandez was kind of a troubled guy -- some of that became public later -- and he brought more of himself onto the field than any other ballplayer I can remember. If you watched him, day after day, you could really see his personality, including some of the cracks. It was like a reality show shot at a distance.

Good call.

Keith could really hit.

We did have to give up Dougie Sisk to get him (sarcasm on).

watching him as a kid was a real hoot.

During my years as an Islander season ticket holder I loved watching Bossy. And Bobby Nystrom-great brawler and great clutch goal scorer. And for his too brief career, Tucker Fredrickson- I think he was rated the top prospect at 6 positions when the Giants drafted him.