It's the crutch, the fun topic of conversation, the social media chatter, the fodder for sports talk radio, it's about to be used by some dude in Iowa for his blog post for the week, it's a simple question. Who is on the Mt. Rushmore of (blank)? You can pick anything, Mt. Rushmore of this or that is something that can be talked about and debated for hours on end. I'm going to do a post about the Mt. Rushmore of things, but not the normal schtick, like the Mt. Rushmore of baseball, (Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson, Walter Johnson, and Willie Mays). No let's have a little fun and get into some deep cuts of sports Mt. Rushmore's, four guys who maybe you don't think of that often.
The Mount Rushmore of Brett Favre's back-ups: Ty Detmer, Doug Pederson, Mark Brunell, and Matt Hasselbeck. Apologies to Aaron Rodgers, but he was drafted as the replacement, not the back up. These 4 stallions were brought in to hold a clipboard as Brett worked his magic on the field for 12 of Brett's 16 years as a starter in Green Bay, 16 years where he didn't miss a start. This is one of my favorite things of Brett's career, he was so good, and had such a bevy of back-ups who watched his crazy play and then left and had success in other places. 2 of these guys played for the Eagles (Detmer and Pederson) and 2 of them followed coaches who were with the Packers to new places (Hasselbeck/Holmgren and Pederson/Reid). After hearing how Rodgers was treated by Brett in Green Bay I doubt he taught any of these guys a thing, it was probably more the coaches, but either way it's a fun list. Detmer didn't have much success, started for a couple years in Philly. Brunell was pretty good in Jacksonville, made the AFC Championship game once, and was a lefty so that's noteworthy. Pederson in typical back up QB fashion is a much better coach than QB, he won a Super Bowl while using a back up QB to win it. Hasselbeck had great years in Seattle, lost a Super Bowl also put his foot in his mouth in a playoff game in Green Bay once.
The Mount Rushmore of Guys who were in college for 8 years: Donovan McNabb, Aaron Craft, Luke Recker, and Greg Paulus. Sorry Jess Settles, this category if for guys who "felt" like they were in college for 8 years, not literally in college for 8 years. McNabb was the first guy I remember thinking, damn that dude is still playing. He threw passes to Marvin Harrison in college and then played another 3 years. McNabb also walked onto the hoops team for 2 years, which only made his time seem longer. Aaron Craft is the king of basketball players who seem like they play forever, he is probably the most hated hoops player in recent Big Ten history, he wasn't good, but he was good enough to piss you off. Not a tremendous athlete, but he had a good mind for the game, and played hella good defense. Was a pain in the ass. When Luke Recker was at Iowa I admired him from afar, I wasn't an Iowa fan but he was my favorite player to watch, dude was amazing. Those couple years he was a force at Iowa seemed longer. You could pick any white guy from Duke and put him on this list, but I decided on Paulus because, he sucked so much at basketball, he quit the game and spent a year at Syracuse to play football. He wasn't good at either thing but the fact he got to do it shows how entitled he was.
The Mount Rushmore of great hopes: Brien Taylor, Jimmy Clausen, Daisuke Matsuzaka, and Jake Locker. All sports are hard to gauge how successful a young person is going to be at them, however once people nail a couple they get a feeling like we have to keep doing this. I found this diamond and showed how smart I am, I'm going to dig a little deeper and find another one. Brien Taylor was the first great hope of my youth, taken #1 by the Yankees who obviously weren't very good, he was the arm that was going to turn it around in the Bronx. Well he never panned out, he hurt his shoulder in a fight, had surgery and never fulfilled the prophecies about his talent. When I was a kid Taylor and Todd Van Poppel were the 2 cards we were trying to get, neither was any good. I read about Jimmy Clause when he was in high school, he was heading to Notre Dame to win National Championships and Heisman Trophies. He had 2 brothers who played at Tennessee and he was better than both and had a QB guru that he trained with. Well he was alright, never got close to winning anything. Notre Dame sucked when he was there, but Clausen left early anyway, which lead to this. Still think Mel Kiper should pay us back and retire. Daisuke Matsuzaka came from Japan with 8 pitches including the gyro ball, Major League hitters didn't stanch a chance. He had 2 decent years to start, then he fell apart. Hardly the hype train he was billed as. Jake Locker is bad at football, that's probably why he returned for his senior year after being projected as the #1 pick after his junior year. When Locker finally made the league he didn't do well, drafted by the Titans at pick 8, he was out of the league in 3 years. Not bad for a bigger taller right handed Steve Young.
The Mount Rushmore of side arm/submarine pitchers: Terry Leach, Dan Quisenberry, Darren O'Day, and Byung-Hyun Kim. When I was kid we would emulate hitters and pitchers stances. I loved doing my Griffey or Bonds impression, and when we played catch I would drop down low and throw like Terry Leach of the Twins until after about 2 throws and my arm would hurt. Dan Quisenberry was of the same time frame and was better than Leach. BYK stared for the Diamondbacks in the World Series where they beat the Yankees, he was unhittable that season. Darren O'Day is the best sidearmer around right now, he's had mild success for a few years. I've heard Walter Johnson and Satchel Paige threw side arm, but these guys were true drop down throwers.
The Mount Rushmore of knee injuries ruined my NBA career: Derrick Rose, Grant Hill, Amar'e Stoudamire, and Brandon Roy. I really just wanted to talk about Derrick Rose and Grant Hill. Those 2 were poised to be the best players in the league. Rose was electric, probably the best point guard since Iverson. He could take you off the bounce, dish to anyone, and was amazing. Hill was poised to take the mantle from Jordan and carry the league for 10 years, instead both of these guys knees let them down, and one injury lead to another injury and another and so on. They both had very high highs in the league but their full talent was never seen. Amar'e Stoudamire was a dunking machine, his Suns teams were so fun to watch, then his knee went and so did his explosiveness. Brandon Roy was a good college player and was ready to take his talent to the next level and again never got to fully blossom. Damn shame.
The Mount Rushmore of baseball manager mustaches: Phil Garner, Cito Gasten, Eric Wedge, and Jim Leyland. Baseball players, especially relief pitchers had the best facial hair but these guys crush it in the lip work department. Just look at these glorious men Phil Garner, Cito Gasten, Eric Wedge, and Jim Leyland just beautiful.
That's it, have some fun and come up with your own.
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