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THE REVISED
RANKING
THE SPORTS 100 was published in late 1995
B.T. (Before Tiger). In the book’s introduction, I wrote, “A
revised edition 15 years from now might include a handful of
new names. Perhaps African-American golf prodigy Tiger Woods
will prove to have an enormous impact.” I should have said,
“Cablinasian golf prodigy,” but I was certainly prescient. On
the other hand, the rest of the sentence is: “or Hispanic basketball
star Felipe Lopez might merit inclusion.” Which just goes to
show, you just never know.
Much can change in a decade – both in the
realm of sports and in the perspective of the author. With that
in mind, were I to re-think the rankings, I would do some rearranging.
NASCAR continues to thrive, for instance, so I think Bill France,
Sr. and Richard Petty could be ranked higher. Likewise, the
remarkable Latino presence in baseball (just take a peek at
the league leaders) reaffirms Roberto Clemente’s giant footprints,
and the tennis dominance of the Williams sisters solidifies
Althea Gibson’s legacy.
I would also add a deserving trio, starting
with Tiger, who should be way up there due to his nearly unparalleled
athletic feats, his multi-ethnic background, his pitchman prowess
and the fact that he has helped the PGA grow exponentially in
the past few years. I think Mia Hamm deserves a spot, too, for
essentially being the first female breakout team sport athlete.
Women’s soccer is on the rise; youth soccer is huge among boys
and girls – and Mia is the face of the phenomenon. Finally,
given the emergence of Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant, Lebron James
and the dozens of other NBA stars who have joined the NBA out
of high school or after only a year or two of college, I think
former hoops star Spencer Haywood deserves a spot as the pioneer
who made it possible, for better or worse.
So who to delete? How about A.J. Foyt, Peter
Ueberroth and Eleanora Sears.
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