Who is the Most 'Loved' Athlete in the History of Your Town

It probably depends on who you ask for Boston. Orr? Williams? Russell? Bird? Brady? I really don't know. And honestly I'm surprised you say Iverson for Philly. Chamberlain, Erving, Schmidt?

There are a few reasons with Marino.  For one, football is the more popular sport in general.  But remember that until 1988, Miami only had a football team.  There was no NBA, MLB or NHL team.  So the Heat, Marlins and Panthers are the much younger brothers in Miami, and still don't get near the attention or respect that the Dolphins get, even though it's been awhile since the Dolphins were competitive.

Next, Marino is still looked at as one of the best quarterbacks ever, especially by Dolphins fans, who don't blame the fact that they never won a championship with Marino on Marino.

Finally, Marino has remained very visibly active in Miami since his playing days, opening a number of businesses in South Florida, being involved with local media, doing promotions for the local teams, doing a crapload of charity work, etc.

With Shula, remember that he was the coach from all the way back to 1970, which means that he was the coach for the Super Bowl victories in 1972 and 1973.  Shula has also remained very active in and connected to Miami to this day.

Shaq and LeBron are certainly respected for their efforts to bring championships to the Heat, but they're both (now) seen as rentals (LeBron being a long-term rental) who were leased just to get the championships.  They're not connected to the community in the way that Marino and Shula are.

Wade was for awhile, but (a) he's gone now, maybe never to return, and (b) basketball just isn't as popular in South Florida.  It's more of a niche thing.  There are certainly some very loyal and crazed Heat fans (I'm one of them), but it's a relatively small community compared to Dolphins fans.  Dolphins fandom is pretty well-entrenched in South Florida culture, kind of like the Yankees in NY--people wear Dolphins stuff who don't even really pay any attention to sports.

From the Heat, Udonis Haslem actually has the best bet of being the most beloved player from this early era, especially if he stays in Miami and stays active in the community once he retires.  He's also a Miami native.

I'm guessing to an extent, because I'm from western Massachusetts so I can't claim to be a Bostonian even if I have a better feel for the local scene than somebody not from around here.  But I feel like Boston/Eastern Mass was always 1. Red Sox  2. Bruins 2a. Celtics (when they're good, otherwise they're 3) 4. Patriots  But I feel like that shifts, depending on where you are.  I think there are pockets of NE that are more into basketball than hockey.  I also think most people didn't give a sh-t about the Patriots before Kraft bought the team.  To this day here in Western Mass we have more Giants (and Yankees for that matter) fans than I'm comfortable with.    

Back on topic, I really think it's too tough to call.  I recently had the 'Mt. Rushmore' conversation with some friends of mine.  We ultimately concluded it would be Williams, Orr, Russell and Brady.  Which kind of seems like a no-brainer, but I'd argue if you're under 30, you'd have to believe David Ortiz is the best player the Red Sox ever had.  Ted Williams is this guy you've heard your grandparents talk about who put up a bunch of numbers and never won anything.  And if you're under 50, Bill Russell is a legendary figure with no real highlights to speak of, while you grew up watching Larry Bird take over games and make clutch play after clutch play.  So maybe you'd be inclined to think Bird deserves more praise than Russell?  (Though it's really hard to argue against 11 rings!) 

Personally I've always been 1. Basketball, 2. Football, 3. Hockey, 4. Baseball.  Even I couldn't say which athlete I appreciate more than all the rest, there's too many to choose from.  As a sports fan, is a fun problem to have.  I'd hate to be in a situation where I have to say Iverson by default.  (Just messing with you, Iverson's a great player even if he isn't my choice for favorite Philly athlete.) 

I rank Philly as follows:

1. Allen Iverson by a lot.
2. Brian Dawkins follows by a lot over everyone else.
3. Chase Utley

Then in some order Doc, Bernie Parent, Reggie White, Moses Malone, Steve Carlton.

My uncle keeps telling me whenever we drive by a certain big house, not far away of where I live that "this is the place of the legendary Knut "Kupper'n" Johannesen"
According to my uncle and dad, he was one of their biggest sport idols of the 50s and early 60s, and was the World Champion, European Champion and Olympic Champion in speed skating of that era. From what I understand he was and still is one of the most beloved and respected Norwegian athletes and has been voted several times as the most popular athlete in the country. 

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
Well, now this guy do not live in the same town as me, but he is Norwegian and probably our most beloved and famous athlete of the past 21 years or so, and while he no longer plays football (retired because of injury in 2008) he is now the head coach/manager of the Norwegian football club, Molde FK for a second spell. 
There are other famous or well known Norwegian footballers like John Carew or John Arne Riise, but Solskjaer is one of those rare names that I have never read any kind of "scandal" or negative stuff about, and the media seems to respect him very much, and also his family's privacy.
While guys like Carew and Riise where both very good players, they were nowhere near as well liked as Ole Gunnar as a person/athlete, maybe because they had a bit more of the "modern" kind of "arrogance" style that very many of todays footballers/players often seem to live by which means lots and lots of tattoos, fast and expensive sport cars, famous (in Norway that is) girlfriends, getting in to trouble (also with each other) and often backed up by a more "cocky" look-at-me attitude than someone like Solskjaer who seemed like a more down to earth kind of guy, and of course it helped being at the right place at the right time, which he so often was both for Molde, Norway (national team), Manchester United (for 11 years) and then coming back to Molde as now the coach and by winning them their first league title (ever) within the same year that the club celebrated their 100th anniversary, and Ole would go on and win another title plus the Norwegian cup title also between 2011 and 2013.

Some people would from time to time joke about that he was nothing more than a "super-sub", always sitting on the bench, coming in and was just "lucky" to be in the right place at the right time, but one of the reasons why he lasted for so long at United was not just because of luck, but he always made sure to study the opposite team/players, and look for any kind of weaknesses which he could then exploit to maximum effectivity when given the opportunity, either it was 1 minute or 20, he would always seek out any chance and then bury it with clinical precision and it become almost like his classic "call card" to come in an secure the winner or the equalizer when things looked rather dark for his team mates.

O.J. Simpson

The problem with some former Flyers is that while they were loved as players, their stints in the front office killed whatever good will they built up. Clarke, Holmgren, and now probably Hextall.

Regarding Doc, I don't know enough about basketball. To say if he was the greatest SF of all time (probably not), but he was iconic. Totally different game than Bird though, but Bird is generally considered to be the superior player.

Moses wasn't here long but he put us over the top. He was what Pete Rose became for us (don't start with your Rose bullshit). Fo fo fo was in the public domain that year.

Carlton's beef was with the media, not the fans. The fans loved him. I saw him pitch in person many times, he was so good that he was simply called Lefty.

Here, I would think it's probably Robin Yount.....a great, gutsy, no-nonsense player, who always seemed to say, but most importantly do, the right thing.  He was, and remains, a class act, who not only stayed in Milwaukee for his entire career, but genuinely seems to enjoy coming back, time and again (Henry Aaron, a GREAT player, and all-time class act, as well as an ambassador of the game, would probably be the 'guy', for the older generation.......however, given the fact that he, along with the entire team, ended up ditching us for Atlanta (though, obviously, not by his choice), probably makes him more "their guy" (i.e., Atlanta's), than ours (Milwaukee's)).

What's odd when thinking about this, is that we've now had a professional basketball team here for 50 years (not including the Milwaukee Hawks in the 50's)........and I can only think of one, possibly two, Bucks players who would even be in the running......Jon McGlocklin, or possibly, Junior Bridgeman (even though many younger Bucks fans probably have never even HEARD of either of them).

Kareem made no 'bones' about not enjoying his six seasons here, and as good, and appreciated as Oscar Robertson was, his time here was too short (4 seasons) for true bonds to form.....though he does come back from time to time, and from all accounts, enjoyed his time spent here.

I'd LOVE to hear from other Milwaukeeans on this subject, since I'm (admittedly) FAR from being an 'expert' on this....  



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"hmmmm... can we cheat here? consider Green Bay 'your area'?"


I would think MOST Packer fans would PROBABLY go with Bart Starr.......but even though the Packers, for many years, played 'home' games here in Milwaukee, I don't think too many Milwaukeeans EVER considered them "our" team........more like, Wisconsin's team (similar to the (University of Wisconsin) Badgers).

Again though, I defer to others, who may have a better 'feel' for this (fascinating) topic than I do....... 



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