Oklahoma's Mt. Rushmore of Sport [Archive] - SoonerFans.com Message Boards

tommieharris91

1/19/2009, 02:03 AM

Soooo ESPN is doing something about each state's 4 biggest sports icons, past or present, and they are letting their viewers discuss and decide. I have to go with:

Bud Wilkinson
Barry Switzer
Bob Stoops
Jim Thorpe

I also think any list without my first 3 should be thrown out. OU football is the state's most followed team, and it wouldn't be where it is without those 3 guys.

List is here. (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/sportscenter/news/story?id=3835125)

yermom

1/19/2009, 02:45 AM

Thorpe and Mantle are probably not debatable IMO

i'd probably say Bud and Barry are kind of a tossup, but more than one of them is probably overkill. i'm thinking Bud edges him with the streak

no love for Billy Tubbs?

Fraggle145

1/19/2009, 02:51 AM

So long as none of the cowpukes make it I'm good.

Desert Sapper

1/19/2009, 03:03 AM

Johnny Bench?

Leroy Lizard

1/19/2009, 03:49 AM

The horse pigs!

engineer24

1/19/2009, 08:38 AM

Its Jim Thorpe and its not even close. Dude was a freakin stud in every single sport he attempted.

In 1908, he was so good that he didnt even have to try out for the Olympic Team, they gave him an automatic spot. He proceeded to shatter world records and dominate the competition.

At the medal ceremony, King Gustav IV of Sweden draped the gold medal around his neck and proclaimed "You sir, are the greatest athlete in the world!"

100 years later, Jim Thorpe is still the greatest athlete of all time.

BoomerJack

1/19/2009, 09:35 AM

I'm on the same side with engineer 24. Any list without Jim Thorpe is a joke.

stoops the eternal pimp

1/19/2009, 09:47 AM

Wilkinson
Thorpe
Iba
Mantle

OKC-SLC

1/19/2009, 09:53 AM

Wilkinson
Thorpe
Iba
Mantle

this is exactly the one I was thinking.

XingTheRubicon

1/19/2009, 10:12 AM

Mantle instead of Stoops. You don't lose 75% of your championship games if you want to be carved out of rock......well, other than Nebraska you don't.

BoomerSooner, esq.

1/19/2009, 10:16 AM

I think Jim Thorpe is number one. No questions asked.

What about Barry Sanders??

XingTheRubicon

1/19/2009, 10:20 AM

He's from Wichita

Spray

1/19/2009, 10:31 AM

Would Wayman Tisdale qualify?

Of course, I think pimp's list is pretty right on.

OKC-SLC

1/19/2009, 11:05 AM

The Sanders question got me thinking--do the candidates have to be born in Oklahoma? Raised in Oklahoma? Or do they just have to have accomplished their fame in Oklahoma? Bud was from Minnesota.

stoops the eternal pimp

1/19/2009, 11:10 AM

It just says sports icon for that state..I don't think it matters where they were born

BigBoomerInBigD

1/19/2009, 11:16 AM

Wilkinson
Thorpe
Iba
Mantle

^^^^^

This.

OKC-SLC

1/19/2009, 11:21 AM

It just says sports icon for that state..I don't think it matters where they were born
then i like your list. even if we could include barry sanders, he wouldn't trump any of your four.

Leroy Lizard

1/19/2009, 11:29 AM

The Boz

yermom

1/19/2009, 11:29 AM

bri

1/19/2009, 11:46 AM

I think people respected Sutton out of fear that he'd hit Grandpa's cough syrup and sideswipe them if they didn't.

tommieharris91

1/19/2009, 01:53 PM

as much as i hate to give OSU any credit for anything, it's probably not fair to leave them out

Iba won national championships, right? if you were to choose one person from OSU i don't see how it wouldn't be him. i mean they did name that awful place after him

i've never really understood the respect Sutton got, but i'm pretty new to college basketball for the most part

Yep, Iba did. Problem is that Iba won both of OSU's basketball championships during WWII.

ADD: They were also won in a time when the NIT was considered more prestigious.

DrZaius

1/19/2009, 01:58 PM

Mine would be (they are not in any order)

Thorpe
Mantle
Sanders
Wilkinson

yermom

1/19/2009, 02:03 PM

i could see Sanders

i think basketball probably deserves a nod in the state though

101sooner

1/19/2009, 03:21 PM

i could see Sanders

i think basketball probably deserves a nod in the state though

Sanders I agree with, and basketball deserves a nod, but I can't put Iba over Mantle, Thorpe, Bud or Barry. So a nod is all Iba gets ;) Actually, any one of Billy Tubbs', Eddie Sutton's or Kelvin Sampson's Final Four years are more impressive than an of Iba's NCAA tournament runs. All you had to do was win one game to make the final Four back then (NCAA was an 8 team tournament). Even then, Adolph Rupp's team was playing in the NIT, not the NCAA. No way I put Iba over a man like Barry that won 3 AP Championships and a Super Bowl.

SoonerFaninAZ

1/19/2009, 03:59 PM

Does Warren Spahn count as an Okie?

tommieharris91

1/19/2009, 04:02 PM

Does Warren Spahn count as an Okie?

Mmmmmm, only if he was born here or played here. I know he spent his last few years in Broken Arrow.

stoops the eternal pimp

1/19/2009, 04:07 PM

I live a little ways out from Warren's ranch...cool old man he was...

He wasn't born here

tbl

1/19/2009, 04:17 PM

Mine would be (they are not in any order)

Thorpe
Mantle
Sanders
Wilkinson

Pretty solid...

TXBOOMER

1/19/2009, 07:59 PM

Johnny Bench?

He gets my vote.

tulsaoilerfan

1/19/2009, 08:33 PM

What a bunch of idiots; list says Bud won 178 games in 17 seasons; wonder where the hell they got their info? I know rasslin' isn't that big, but John Smith was a freakin STUD

longbeachjeff

1/19/2009, 09:02 PM

bud wilkinson
barry switzer
bob stoops
blake gideon (a 3 year old coulda made that interception that puts texas in the national championship) lol

Kray

1/19/2009, 09:15 PM

So long as none of the cowpukes make it I'm good.

Does the person have to be a native Oklahoman, or just played in the state? If the criteria is having played here, I don't see how Barry Sanders isn't on it.

sooner59

1/19/2009, 10:22 PM

1. Jim Thorpe (greatest overall athlete of all time)
2. Mickey Mantle (along with only a hand-full mentioned as greatest baseball player ever)
3. Barry Sanders....if he qualifies (greatest RB of all time IMO...."Sweetness" a close 2nd.
4. Take your pick.....Bud or Barry

I could see someone swapping Sanders for the OU coach left out. I would say Thorpe and Mantle and auto-bids. Then pick 2 out of the remaining 3 and its hard to go wrong.

Crucifax Autumn

1/19/2009, 10:34 PM

olevet's a world renowned tiddlywink player...why ain't he on the list?

swardboy

1/20/2009, 05:55 AM

Wilkinson
Thorpe
Iba
Mantle

S.T.E.P. already nailed it. Those four names are at the top of football, basketball, baseball, and all-round sports lists in the state.....but man, there's a great list of names below it.

Sooner70

1/20/2009, 07:24 AM

Is Gideon from Okla? That explains it then.

Anyway, I'm surprised the sportsmen from Henryetta-World Champion Cowboy Jim Shoulders & football man Troy Aikman aren't at least mentioned in the others list.

Does Okla have any name NASCAR drivers? I really don't know.

Xing the Rubicon..your byline brought back memories. I took a philosophy class from Dr. Feaver. Quite a guy. I think his brother was a doctor of theology & pastor of a Presbyterian (?) church in Norman. They were both quite theological as I recall.

mfosterftw

1/20/2009, 12:01 PM

I can't argue with STEP's list, but am just tossing this one out there... Marques Haynes?

TopDawg

1/20/2009, 01:14 PM

If they just have to live in Oklahoma, how about Nadia Comăneci?

;)

soonerfan28

1/20/2009, 01:27 PM

Any list that starts with Jim Thorpe is a good one.

ouwapiti

1/20/2009, 01:48 PM

in texas.....athletes can be in the hall of fame without being born here

BoomerSoonerTexasscks

1/21/2009, 08:41 PM

Wilkinson
Thorpe
Iba
Mantle

Thats the four. I think Bud gets the nod over Barry. He coached so long ago that people forget how great he was and how much he did for OU football. Barry was great and changed the way OU played the game but I still think Bud gets the nod. Bob put OU back on the map but he hasn't done it long enough to make the mountain. Thorpe is a no brainer. When I saw the promo for the list on ESPN that was one of the names I thought of, not just for OKlahoma, but for the national one too. Iba, dude has a gym and an award named after him. Mantle is considered one of the best baseball players of all time. I hate to pollute a thread that is so great but did anyone else think that it was a bit much to put tebow in the promo as belonging on the Mount Rushmore of sports? Made me want to hurl when I saw it. :rolleyes: