Daily Oklahoman's 100 greatest Sooner State Athletes

[tulsaoilerfan]

Sorry if this was posted elsewhere, but i didn't see it; the list had quite a few Sooners in both football and basketball on their list and is in today's Sunday Oklahoman http://newsok.com/centennial/topathletes

the link is above, feel free to discuss

[goingoneight]

I'd put Troy and Barry neck-and-neck, with a slight edge to Barry. Both guys proved to be versatile and hushed their critics consistently. Regardless of what the whiners say, OUr team would have been outstanding even if Hollieway never played with Troy. Did they mention he could actually throw it, too? :D

Trammel is just bored again. He does these comparison articles all the time when nothign worthy of mention is going on in sports.

[Sooner24]

98. Byron Houston (Oklahoma City, OSU): Leading scorer in OSU hoops history and only person on the list that is a registered sex offender.

[SoonerDood]

This list is worthless without AD. If Bewwy is going to have the #3 athlete be from Kansas, as well as half the list, he could make room for for Peterson.

[stoops the eternal pimp]

what about oh say...THE ALL TIME WINNINGEST LEFT HANDED PITCHER IN MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL WARREN FREAKIN SPAHN!

[critical_phil]

I'd put Troy and Barry neck-and-neck, with a slight edge to Barry.


not even close.


and i would put john smith at #2. he was dominant at the world level for a long time - beating the russians at their own national sport.

[John Kochtoston]

Dan Hodge is WAAAAY too low on that list. Same for Bart Connor.

[SoonerDood]

Chris Paul?! I love the guy to death, but he has no business on that list.

[Seamus]

WTF No. 1


62. Desmond Mason (OSU): Played more games as an Oklahoma City Hornet (145) than as an OSU Cowboy (129).

over

64. Mookie Blaylock (OU): Billy Tubbs taught him well; Blaylock 11th in NBA career steals.



No clue on this one. The Mook was the first NCAA player to get 200 steals and 200 assists.


WTF No. 2




67. Walt Garrison (OSU): Sixth in NFL rushing in 1969, 818 yards, as a fullback

over

68. Steve Owens (Miami, OU): Fourth in the NFL in 1971 rushing.


Ever hear of something called the Heisman?

[virginiasooner]

Excuse me, but Alvan Adams was a Putnam City Pirate! And yes, Bart is waaaay too low. More dates would have been helpful.

[stoopified]

oSu athletic department must be involved.There are way too many ags on here.

[BoomerJack]

what about oh say...THE ALL TIME WINNINGEST LEFT HANDED PITCHER IN MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL WARREN FREAKIN SPAHN!

I'm not trying to be argumentative but what is Spahnie's connection to Oklahoma? I know he was a long time resident of Hartshorne and managed the Tulsa Oilers minor league club for several seasons.

[Kray]

Agree with 1-4 in a different order:

1: Thorpe
2: Mantle
3: Smith
4: Sanders

That's a lot of OSU at the top, but Sanders and Smith were simply the best ever at their sports and they belong there. I can't argue it.

Basketball top 10 are:

12. Bob Kurland
18. Mark Price
21. Marques Haynes
27. Alvan Adams
28. Wayman Tisdale
35. Geese Ausbie
38. Chris Paul
43. Jack McCracken
46. Dennis Rodman
58. Jim Barnes

Wayman is the best basketball player in state history and should top the basketball list. I'd probably go Tisdale/Adams/Kurland as my top 3. Whether Chris Paul even belongs at all is sketchy. 62. Desmond Mason, 64. Mookie Blaylock, and 79. Bryant Reeves are too low. Mason is the most successful recent NBA player the state has produced. Reeves and Blaylock were the cornerstones of Final Four teams.

Reduce Paul, Barnes & McCracken and move those 3 guys up.

How is Brian Bosworth not listed? Not the greatest at his position, but he was so influential and good for the team.

The other Selmon brothers belong.

Joe Washington is too low. Most exciting runner ever. Not as good a runner as Sanders, but more exciting than anyone.

Pete Incavilia, maybe.

Howard Twilley, probably.

Bob Tway, maybe.

[jk the sooner fan]

steve davis was left off the list

that list should be oklahomans only imo

[critical_phil]

that list should be oklahomans only imo

exactly.


and i think you'd have to be pretty athletic to keep up with angelina jolie in the sack, so i'd put brad pitt on the list.

[jk the sooner fan]

i emailed Trammel, here is what he said


The primary reason is what I weighted heavily on how an athlete did at the highest level of competition. Therefore, a football player who did not excelt in the NFL had very little chance of making the list. Jason White won a Heisman and darn near another, and he was what, No. 80something

[virginiasooner]

Hey, Uwe Von Schamman isn't on the list! and you can't use the excuse that he wasn't born in the U.S. -- Stacey Dales is Canadian.

[tulsaoilerfan]

steve davis was left off the list

that list should be oklahomans only imo
Agreed, but Trammel would have probably had to work too hard to figure that out. :D

[tulsaoilerfan]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Josh Heupel yet; should have won a Heisman, and was the main catalyst for the resurrection of the OU football program.

[SOONER STEAKER]

Ray Hayward, 2 position All American at OU,. 1st RD draft pick of the Rangers, Should be OU baseball coach!!

Brad Penny, LA Dodgers, Broken Arrow HS, 2X All Star

Ricky Bryan, Coweta HS, OU, Star for Atlanta Falcons

Bobby Murcer, Southeast HS, NY Yankees

Darrell Porter, Southeast HS, Kansas City Royals

I would add these guys to the lists.

[King Crimson]

how can Tisdale be below Mark Price? Price had a nice NBA career, but no way. Price's career had little or no impact/influence on or in the state of Oklahoma outside maybe Enid.

Largent over Johnny Bench, pfft. Bench all but ruined a generation of catchers trying to imitate him and didn't have the big ability or freakish hands. my granddad used to tell a great story about coaching a Legion team that played Binger and Bench. needless to say, after pitching to him once, it ends with "either hit em or walk him. and if you are gonna hit em, don't give him anything he can swing at".

Largent was a nice receiver for an expansion team. versus one of the key cogs on the Big Red Machine?

and with all the "old timey", "i know my state history" picks, Charlie Coe should be higher. simply one of the finest amateur golfers of all time not named Bobby Jones.

and i agree about Danny Hodge. should be higher. Olympic medalist....and i used to shake hands with him a lot as a kid as he was in my g-paw's bible study group in Perry.

Desmond Mason ahead of Billy Vessels?

Scott Verplank: US Amateur Champion and last amateur to win a PGA tour Event (will it ever be done again?). "hole in one"? nice try Tramel.

terrible list.

[Soonerus]

Mickey Tettelton...duh...

[Big Red Ron]

Jim Thorpe is clearly #1 and AD should be in the top 10 in a few years.

[King Crimson]

Desmond Mason ahead of Billy Vessels?

Nolan Johnson makes Mason his (rhymes with twitch).....in the last game at the old GIA.

[birddog]

that was awful.

[picasso]

28. Wayman Tisdale


Wayman is the best basketball player in state history and should top the basketball list. I'd probably go Tisdale/Adams/Kurland as my top 3. Whether Chris Paul even belongs at all is sketchy. 62. Desmond Mason, 64. Mookie Blaylock, and 79. Bryant Reeves are too low. Mason is the most successful recent NBA player the state has produced. Reeves and Blaylock were the cornerstones of Final Four teams.




Wayman was also the first consensus true freshman All-American.

[King Crimson]

Barry Sanders (OSU): The notion that Sanders played on bad Detroit Lions teams is false. The Lions were 78-82 in the regular season during Sanders’ career but made the playoffs in five of Sanders’ 10 seasons.

less than .500 in a division that included the scuffling Packers and Vikings seems pretty bad to me, Barry. ooh, 5 times in the playoffs in 10 years. still sounds like a bad team to me.

[King Crimson]

Wayman was also the first consensus true freshman All-American.

if he had come back for his senior year, he would have likely been the NCAA all-time scoring leader. IIRC.

[picasso]

if he had come back for his senior year, he would have likely been the NCAA all-time scoring leader. IIRC.
and the first 4 time AA.

Billy Sims played on worse Detroit teams.

[royalfan5]

I find it interesting that they included Non-Oklahoma natives that played sports in Oklahoma. The Omaha paper did a list for Nebraska a couple years ago, and only did natives of the state.

[King Crimson]

I find it interesting that they included Non-Oklahoma natives that played sports in Oklahoma. The Omaha paper did a list for Nebraska a couple years ago, and only did natives of the state.

Man, Nebraska is SO awesome. and the journal star and the omaha rag are paragons of integrity. the blow jobs the Lincoln and Omaha papers give NU football are an embarrassment to sentient humans. at least, our paper sucks in both directions.

and it's not "they", it's Barry Tramel.

[royalfan5]

Man, Nebraska is SO awesome. and the journal star and the omaha rag are paragons of integrity. the blow jobs the Lincoln and Omaha papers give NU football are an embarrassment to sentient humans. at least, our paper sucks in both in both directions.

and it's not "they", it's Barry Tramel.
All I said was I was surprised he did it that way. No need to get all bunched up over it. Also on the Nebraska list, there were only 2 NU football players in the top 10, and Scott Frost's mom was much higher rated than him.

[King Crimson]

maybe, maybe, i overreacted but i do live in Colorado and Nebraskans are ****ing inexcusable morons here. sorry, i've come to feel that way in the last 15 years. and the Nebraska papers do fellate/pardon anything NU football.

[royalfan5]

maybe, maybe, i overreacted but i do live in Colorado and Nebraskans are ****ing inexcusable morons here. sorry, i've come to feel that way in the last 15 years. and the Nebraska papers do fellate/pardon anything NU football.
Maybe, but the still put Bob Gibson, Gale Sayers, Grover Cleveland Alexander, and Bob Boozer at the top the list. Also, in case you missed it, both the LJS, and OWH have run afoul of the current administration, and aren't nearly as supportive of the company line as they used to be.

[Big Red Ron]

I would bet a million dollars that a list of native Oklahoman's would pwn3 any list of native Nebraskin's.

just sayin...

[royalfan5]

I would bet a million dollars that a list of native Oklahoman's would pwn3 any list of native Nebraskin's.

just sayin...
You also have double the population too, but at least we have a higher per capita income.

[Newbomb Turk]

lets not turn this into a damn thread about Nebraska.

and I think Will Shields should be removed from that list - cause he went to Nebraska.


;)

[Newbomb Turk]

but at least we have a higher per capita income.

if we could count the income from meth labs, we would pwn Nebraska in that department too.

[royalfan5]

if we could count the income from meth labs, we would pwn Nebraska in that department too.
You don't think we have a bunch of meth labs too?

[Big Red Ron]

You also have double the population too, but at least we have a higher per capita income.We have more Native Americans and African Americans. I think is what you mean. Neb has to import them.

[King Crimson]

Maybe, but the still put Bob Gibson, Gale Sayers, Grover Cleveland Alexander, and Bob Boozer at the top the list. Also, in case you missed it, both the LJS, and OWH have run afoul of the current administration, and aren't nearly as supportive of the company line as they used to be.


who wouldn't run afoul of the current administration? Callahan has embarrassed the university and state a couple times with his 3rd grade comments and throat-slash, never beat a good team (worst Michigan team in 20 years), plays not to lose like a coward against top teams, has a mediocre average against .500 and bowl teams.....

and he'll leave for the NFL first chance if you guys ever make a BCS bowl.

[royalfan5]

who wouldn't run afoul of the current administration? Callahan has embarrassed the university and state a couple times with his 3rd grade comments and throat-slash, never beat a good team (worst Michigan team in 20 years), plays not to lose like a coward against top teams, has a mediocre average against .500 and bowl teams.....

and he'll leave for the NFL first chance if you guys ever make a BCS bowl.
Of course Solich didn't leave him with much in the way of depth, and off-field incidents are way down under Callahan, Purify notwithstanding. Plus, Callahan does a lot more charity work than Solich ever did too, which is great. If he leaves after a BCS bowl that's fine with me, because who wouldn't want to take over a program coming of a BCS appearance?

[OSUAggie]

Bill Callahan has a losing record against Mike Gundy.

[Big Red Ron]

Bill Callahan has a losing record against Mike Gundy.:O

That just sorta says it all, doesn't it folks?

[stoops the eternal pimp]

I'm not trying to be argumentative but what is Spahnie's connection to Oklahoma? I know he was a long time resident of Hartshorne and managed the Tulsa Oilers minor league club for several seasons.


Spahn moved to Oklahoma in his second year in the majors which was 46 following WW2 and he pitched another 19 seasons after that. Mr Spahn always considered himself an Oklahoman and spent a lot of time at his 800 acre ranch he bought in 49.

I know he wasnt born here but I think I would consider him more of an Oklahoman than quite a few people on that list.

Tramel told me in an E mail he didnt consider An Oklahoman because he didnt get his start here which I disagree..

Also left of his list was A former Hall of Fame baseball player that got his start in Ponca City...Any guesses?

[royalfan5]

Bill Callahan has a losing record against Mike Gundy.
1 game hardly constitutes a track record, and let me know when you guys get to 5 wins in the series.

[Newbomb Turk]

Also left of his list was A former Hall of Fame baseball player that got his start in Ponca City...Any guesses?

Billy Williams

[stoops the eternal pimp]

Billy Williams

WINNAH! Seems like Mr Williams fit the criteria he explained in his email but not on the list

[BoomerJack]

"Also left of his list was A former Hall of Fame baseball player that got his start in Ponca City...Any guesses?"

Just now got back to this site to check your response to my Warren Spahn query and would have said Billy Williams as well.

Another point: My baseball encyclopedia says that Willie Stargell was born in Oklahoma. (Boling I think.) And as to successful MLB lefthanders, Steve Carlton played for the Cardinal farm team in Tulsa a year or two, quite possibly when Spahn was manager.

I think Tramel's list accomplished what lists like these all do. Start folks talking/debating/arguing about who should be on/off or higher/lower.