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The best story never told

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Revengeofthenerds, Jul 31, 2018.

  1. Revengeofthenerds

    Revengeofthenerds
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    America loves an underdog story. From Rudy, to The Waterboy, to Shaquem Griffin's bench press to Canada finally looking like a good place to live (though admittedly, "not being us right now" isn't a very high bar to clear).

    There's also something uniquely fascinating about otherwise obscure sports stories. For example, as I think I've said before, my brain tumor completely knocked out my ability to do math. But about a year prior one of my favorite teachers ever (RIP) taught me calculus. And I know he had to work hard, because I'm an idiot, and he got me damn good at it! But that year, in addition to what was on the syllabus, I learned that football players used to play multiple positions, and sometimes they also played both ways. Here's his best friend and older brother:



    Recently my brother in law and I were watching The Big 3, which if you've been living under a rock or have no interest in sports, is a 3-on-3 summer pro league for retired NBA players or those without jobs trying to make a comeback. It's fun as hell to watch, in large part because one of their stars is a 6'1", 59 year old energizer bunny named Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf. Passes like Steve Nash and shoots like Steph Curry, who if you've been living under a rock, they're.... well I just can't help you at this point.

    Point is, my brother in law thought Abdul-Rauf was just some old guy who could play. I tried not to smack the shit outta him (because he's larger and stronger than me) as I explained that Mahmoud was easily one of the Top 5 greatest NBA players ever. He just got blackballed as he entered his prime.



    Focus: What's your favorite underdog story? Or your favorite sports story that most people don't know about?

    Alt. Focus: Which players/teams/story lines get over-hyped? Is there a story line out there you think is a false narrative? Bonus points to everyone who bashes on JJ Watt.

    RIP George Blanda Focus: If you could bring back any retired/dead player, in their prime, and watch them compete with today's players, who would it be and why?
     
  2. Juice

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    I’d bring back Lyle Alzado (and maybe the rest of his shitbag Raiders team) and Deacon Jones just to see them play and try to live in the #MeToo world.
     
  3. Rush-O-Matic

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    Bo Jackson. Making a pro roster in any sport means you are in very select company. Making it in two at the same time? And being a star in both? Very, very select company. He wouldn't have made the baseball HOF, but being charismatic, popping 25 HR and 100 RBI a year is solid play. But, were it not for the hip injury, he could've made the football HOF, never topping 11 games in a year. That's remarkable. Running over linebackers, running sideways on outfield walls, throwing runners out at third, even his "Bo Knows" commercials didn't seem obnoxious or ego-driven. He was often quietly compelling.

     
    #3 Rush-O-Matic, Aug 1, 2018
    Last edited: Aug 1, 2018
  4. Czechvodkabaron

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  5. Crown Royal

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    Pelle Lingbergh. He was a goalie for the Flyers in the 80’s. He could see EVERYTHING. Destined to be maybebthe best of all time. Best goalie in the NHL easily.

    And then he was dead. Killed after that amazing season in a self-inflicted drunk driving accident. I wasn’t even a Flyers fan and I was devastated, he was soooooo damn good. It was the first time I was introduced to mortality, and how life is actually unfair.
     
  6. bebop007

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    Alt-Focus: Funny that Rudy is brought up. I grew up in South Bend, so the story of Rudy is pretty well known.

    Less well known, maybe, is how much is straight up fabricated. My senior year English teacher was at Notre Dame the same time as Rudy. His big scene where the team stands up to the evil Dan Devine to get him into the game? It was actually Dan Devine's idea to put him in, but he let the film screenwriters turn him into a villain to add a little more drama. And nobody really cared during his "big game" moment.

    It was more like:

    "Hey that Rudy guy is playing."
    "Who? Oh......cool."

    And swap all of the scenes of him studying his ass off with drinking heavily in the local bars.

    Pretty much any I've ever met who has had any personal interaction with him has had absolutely nothing good to say about him.

    And he's apparently been spending the past number of years defrauding investors and being investigated by the SEC - http://business.time.com/2011/12/16/feds-charge-rudy-yes-that-rudy-with-stock-fraud/

    Rudy is playing at this well known independent movie theatre here in Chicago and the real Rudy is going to be in attendance. I'm half tempted to go just to see if anyone hassles him or gives him a hard time about his story's "inaccuracies".
     
  7. Revengeofthenerds

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    Reminds me of the death of Drazen Petrovic. If you follow the NBA, he was Manu Ginobili before Manu Ginobili.
     
  8. AFHokie

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  9. Revengeofthenerds

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    On the focus, remember Joey Julius from a few years ago? He was the kicker for Penn State and he liked to light people up on kick returns.

    He went viral because of this:



    Unfortunately, mental health issues got the best of him. But he has a great underdog story and I think and hope he'll prevail in the long run.

     
  10. Durbanite

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    The best underdog story I know has to be Mike Hailwood at the 1978 Isle Of Man TT. 11 year hiatus from professional motorcycle racing, where he was a multiple World Champion with Championships in 125cc, 250cc and 500cc classes so he had nothing to prove, he returned to the TT out of boredom, and got the win. R.I.P Mike The Bike.