Making lists such as these is a subjective, bullshit-infused exercise which I enjoy greatly. I would suggest the following guidelines:
[ul]
[li]Any players from franchise history is fair game. For instance, my list contains players from both the Minneapolis and L.A. Lakers[/li][li]Players should be evaluated based on contributions to that team, not their entire career. Babe Ruth is fair game for inclusion on a list of great Red Sox, but maybe not great Braves[/li][li]If you suggest an addition to someone else’s list, you should point out who you would remove from the list.[/li][/ul]
Keep it to ten. You can add a brief supplement if needed, like I have done. The players on my lists are presented in no particular order.
Great Lakers
[ul]
[li]Earvin Johnson[/li][li]Kareem Abdul-Jabbar[/li][li]James Worthy[/li][li]Kobe Bryant[/li][li]Shaquille O’Neal[/li][li]Elgin Baylor[/li][li]Jerry West[/li][li]George Mikan[/li][li]Wilt Chamberlain[/li][li]Gail Goodrich[/li][/ul]
(Sorry, man- Jamaal Wilkes, Norm Nixon, A.C. Green, Jumpin’ Jim Pollard, and others)
Great Hawks
[ul]
[li]Dominique Wilkins[/li][li]Wayne Rollins[/li][li]Bob Pettit[/li][li]John Drew[/li][li]Joe Johnson[/li][li]Kevin Willis[/li][li]Dan Roundfield[/li][li]Lou Hudson[/li][li]Eddie Johnson[/li][li]Mookie Blaylock[/li][/ul]
(Soon, very soon- Josh Smith, Al Horford)
Steve McNair
Eddie George
Albert Haynesworth
Kyle Vanden Bosch
Craig Hentrich
Rob Bironas
Derrick Mason (now with the Ravens)
Frank Wycheck
Drew Bennett (moved on)
Pacman Jones (a tragic case!)
Jevon Kearse
Bruce Matthews
Cortland Finnegan
Keith Bulluck
I can’t trim down from this list. Sorry. If pressed, remove the ones with parenthesized comments.
Fair enough, Zeldar. The Ten limit is not a rule, merely a guideline. You didn’t want to include anybody from the Titan’s earlier incarnation as the Houston Oilers?
Thanks for the leeway. I only became a real fan of the team in 2000, after they had been in Nashville a while. I know the Oilers had some greats, but they were before my time with the franchise.
I interpreted the OP to be looking for my favorites. If the consensus greats are who you’re looking for, then certainly at least half of the all-time 10 would be Oilers.
I used as a memory aid: Tennessee Titans - Wikipedia but only after I had the first 11. Good thing I did check that page, or I might have omitted two of the real greats on the current team: Finnegan and Bulluck. I went there to be sure how Bruce spells his last name.
To Clarify: it can be your favorites, or consensus greats. It might be helpful if you specified which approach you took. Have fun! And I like Bearflag’s addition of non-players.
Roberto Alomar
Carlos Delgado
Dave Stieb
Roy Halladay
Tony Fernandez
George Bell
Lloyd Moseby
Jesse Barfield
Tom Henke
Devon White
Honorable mentions to Joe Carter, Ernie Whitt, Roger Clemens (who only pitched in Toronto for two years and was the best pitcher in baseball both years) John Olerud, Shannon Stewart, Vernon Wells, Jim Clancy, Duane Ward, and Paul Molitor. I’m doing this purely by subjective opinion, no particular system. White’s on the list in part because he was my favourite and he was awesome in the playoffs.
I know it seems weird to some Carter’s not on my list but he wasn’t really that great even when he was good, and when he was bad he was one of the worst regular players in the major leagues.
Derek Jeter
I include asterisks and rank these guys lower than they may deserve SOLELY because, great as these guys were, they only spent a small part of their careers as Yankees.
Jim Brown RB
Otto Graham QB
Paul Warfield WR
Marion Motley RB
Len Ford DE
Bill Willis, G, DL
Mike McCormack T
Frank Gatski C
Ozzie Newsom TE
Gene Hickerson G
Cleveland Indians
Bob Feller P
Tris Speaker CF
Lou Boudreau SS
Manny Ramierez OF
Albert Belle OF
Kenny Lofton OF
Jim Thome 1b/3b
Omar Vizquel SS
Gaylord Perry P
Nap Lajoie 2b
Cleveland Cavs
LeBron James F
Brad Daughtery C
Mark Price G
Hot Rod Williams F
Lenny Wilkens G
Zydrunas Illgauskus C
Ron Harper G
Austin Carr G
Larry Nance F
Craig Ehlo G-F
Orlando Hudson
Wow, that was tough. I can’t really even think of ten players who have spent enough time with the Diamondbacks to count. Of course, the team has only been in existence since 1998 but this team has really churned players.
I was especially tempted to put Buchanan in there instead of Okoye, it was a tough call. I grew up a Chiefs fan in the late 80s and 90s, though, so a lot of my picks were oriented there. A lot of people would have left Nick Lowery off as well, but he was one of the better kickers in the NFL for a long time. I was also a kicker/punter in high school, so I hold a special respect for kickers in general.
