One Player You Wish You Could've Seen in His Prime

[Jackalope1977]

Yes! I tried thinking of other athletes who missed time in their prime during my lifetime and definitely overlooked iron Mike. He missed four years in the middle of his prime (25 y/o to 28 y/o), and was obviously never the same after time in prison.

Exactly. I really feel he could've been the best fighter ever, (please don't attack me Ali fans.)

 

[Jackalope1977]

Michael Jordan. Only remember Wizards Jordan.

Muhammad Ali.

Too many football players to name. Rice, Montana, Bo, etc.

Hank Aaron.

Wayne Gretzky.

Man is that sad, I'm sorry Beau.

 

[NDWorld247]

Exactly. I really feel he could've been the best fighter ever, (please don't attack me Ali fans.)

Speaking of Ali...another boxer who missed three years in his prime due to his refusal to serve the US military. Tyson would have knocked him the F out though.

 

[Irish2155]

Man is that sad, I'm sorry Beau.

You beat me to it. That is a shame. Jordan was Jordan, the rest played basketball on his court. Simply amazing...this coming from a Knicks fan. I should hate the man.

 

[Grahambo]

Exactly. I really feel he could've been the best fighter ever, (please don't attack me Ali fans.)

Would absolutely love to have seen some type of boxing tournament featuring Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano, Ali, Tyson, Foreman, Joe Frazier, etc.

 

[rtrn2glory]

You beat me to it. That is a shame. Jordan was Jordan, the rest played basketball on his court. Simply amazing...this coming from a Knicks fan. I should hate the man.

patrick ewing dunk facials by jordan and pippen are best two dunks i've ever seen.

 

[Irish2155]

patrick ewing dunk facials by jordan and pippen are best two dunks i've ever seen.

I like John Starks dunk on Jordan and Grant, still lost the series though. MJ gave the Knicks (Ewing) a two year window to get their title...didn't take advantage.

 

[Bogtrotter07]

There was a Ralph Beard that played basketball for Kentucky in the late 40's. He and two others were banned from basketball for point fixing. He was 5-10. His jersey hangs in Rupp Arena.


There was another Ralph Beard that was 6-5, 200 pounds, a RIGHT hander that pitched for the Bearcats in 1954. He signed a MLB contract that year and lasted one season. He was 0-4 with one memorable extra inning gem with no decision. He died of Parkinson's as an old man, I believe.

I will try to ask my friend the next time I see him. That was not this guys name. Are you sure the guy you are thinking of had a first name of Ralph? Because his name and story seems familiar.

 

[RyCo1983]

I'm 30...when I was a kid, I really didn't care much for watching sports on television. It was live, or I'm outside playing in the woods or flying around town jumping shit on my pedal bike.

NBA-Kareem Abdul Jabbar
MLB-Ted Williams
NFL-Walter Payton

 

[Jackalope1977]

Speaking of Ali...another boxer who missed three years in his prime due to his refusal to serve the US military. Tyson would have knocked him the F out though.

I didn't have the balls to say it, but I agree.

 

[alohagoirish]

Tyson , an entertaining boxer with a huge punch but against Ali, please. He was dismantled by a journeyman boxer with a good performance and a fine jab , namely Buster Douglas. He was handled by Holyfield who needed everything he had to beat a 40+ year old George Foreman. Tyson didn't even want the fight with an AGED Foreman. Ali knocked out the TWO most unbeatable heavy hitters in the 20th century , Sonny Liston in 62 & George Foreman in 74ish, he did that with a three year layoff and almost 13 years apart. The idea that Tyson, who ran out of gas after 6 rounds could have dealt with Ali is IMO fanciful.

 

[Irish2155]

I didn't have the balls to say it, but I agree.

I don't know about that. If Tyson caught him early with a BIG one then maybe. Goes over 6 rounds advantage Ali. Either one can deliver a hit but Ali proved he could take one, and stand...then win.

 

[Jackalope1977]

Damn it I didn't want to get involved in this debate. I knew better and I did it anyways. Ali is for sure a better boxer but after seeing a 20 year old Tyson landing those uppercuts I have a hard time believing any man has the chin to hold up to that. If it went 6 rounds Ali wins for sure, if it goes 3 rounds Ali almost certainly wins. But it's that first couple rounds where I'm taking Iron Mike.

 

[Irish2155]

Damn it I didn't want to get involved in this debate. I knew better and I did it anyways. Ali is for sure a better boxer but after seeing a 20 year old Tyson landing those uppercuts I have a hard time believing any man has the chin to hold up to that. If it went 6 rounds Ali wins for sure, if it goes 3 rounds Ali almost certainly wins. But it's that first couple rounds where I'm taking Iron Mike.

No debate here. I agree.

 

[Jackalope1977]

Back to the player who I would most like to watch play again. I won't argue against Mario Lemieux or Wayne Gretzky being the best scorers ever. But I got goose bumps on many occasions watching Steve Yzerman play the game. Towards the end he was gimping around on bad knees and still scoring huge game winners. In the 80's my sisters thought he was the hottest dude ever, towards the end of his career it looked like he'd put his face in a blender. That dude was amazing and I'd give anything to watch him play again.

 

[Grahambo]

Back to the player who I would most like to watch play again. I won't argue against Mario Lemieux or Wayne Gretzky being the best scorers ever. But I got goose bumps on many occasions watching Steve Yzerman play the game. Towards the end he was gimping around on bad knees and still scoring huge game winners. In the 80's my sisters thought he was the hottest dude ever, towards the end of his career it looked like he'd put his face in a blender. That dude was amazing and I'd give anything to watch him play again.

If not for injury but a young Pavel Bure was a beauty to watch. Not in the class of Gretz or Mario but a beauty on the ice. Jagr too.

 

[gkIrish]

<----- faced much better competition. The other best fighter in Tyson's generation (Holyfield) beat him both times IIRC.

 

[Cackalacky]

Wilt Chamberlain's hotel room

 

[Irish2155]

Wilt Chamberlain's hotel room

Minus Wilt...I'm there. Just jump in pile.

 

[Cackalacky]

Wilt Chamberlain's hotel room

Minus Wilt...I'm there. Just jump in pile.

 

[Fbolt]

Butkus
Sayers

 

[PLACforever]

As much as I love Brady Quinn....i can't disagree with that.

He's so dreamy.

 

[irishog77]

I think Tyson was the better talent...but Ali was the better boxer, if that makes sense. Tyson fights were must see TV-- how fast is he going to knock out and destroy this chump? Tyson's foes knew they couldn't beat him-- the dude was literally feared by his opponents. I loved watching Tyson. It was said Tyson was never the same after prison. I say Tyson was never the same after the one mature person in his life that could exert focus and discipline on him died, Cuss. Cuss' death was the beginning of the end for Tyson.


OMM's post made me think way back. One dude I would have paid to watch run (yes, run) was Louis Zamperini. Actually, I'd probably watch that dude do about anything-- he was the man. A great "what if" in history due to the outbreak of WWII. He spoke in Nashville a couple years ago and I wasn't able to attend. I'll regret it the rest of my life.

 

[Rack Em]

I wish I could have seen Irishog77 picking up fat chicks in his prime. Nothing like watching a short, black dude walk out of the bar with a whale.

 

[Rack Em]

Michael Jordan. Only remember Wizards Jordan.

Kayne agrees.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/iOnwdzabL1M" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[irishog77]

I wish I could have seen Irishog77 picking up fat chicks in his prime. Nothing like watching a short, black dude walk out of the bar with a whale.

It is a glorious sight to see.



























I still pick up plenty o' fat chicks-- I'll never pass my prime when it comes to that. The secret is always having a bag of flour of in your car-- you never know when you may need to throw it on a big broad to find the wet spot.

 

[dshans]

...The secret is always having a bag of flour of in your car-- you never know when you may need to throw it on a big broad to find the wet spot.

I may never bake another loaf of bread in my life.

Let me know where to send my stash of flour: unbleached white, whole wheat, graham, rice and cake.

Do you need any yeast? Quick Rise and regular.

 

[BGIF]

I will try to ask my friend the next time I see him. That was not this guys name. Are you sure the guy you are thinking of had a first name of Ralph? Because his name and story seems familiar.

I don't know if Ralph is your man or not.

I found your post interesting and wondered for many guys from the same college team signed MLB contracts the same year with one lefty and the other righty?

So I searched for UC rosters which wasn't much help but I found Ralph's name with an impressive ERA.

I then searched by his name and found lots about the UK basketball player but no mention of UC.

I then searched MLB and found a couple of references but most were very brief. I said he played ten seasons which seemed strange because all the others only had one year of stats. Then the light came on. For your story the righty felt he was better than Koufax at the time. Koufax had a powerful arm as a young man but was wild. In some games he walked as many as he struck out. Anyway if the righty showed more control he probably got a signing bonus like Koufax. Back in the 50's rookies that signed with a bonus were required by MLB rules to be on the big club's roster. They had to spend a season or two in the majors before they could be sent down for training and instruction. These rooks were known as Bonus Babies. Ralph the righty like Sandy struggled in the majors but unlike Sandy he didn't prevail. Arm trouble? Fed up? Didn't find out.

I did read an obit that talked about his death due to Parkinson's a debilitating disease that to the lay person particularly 50 years ago could be confused with adult polio another debilitating disease.

Recapping, Ralph was the only right hander from UC in 1954 that signed a MLB contract. He was also good enough to play his first season in the bigs, his career ended quickly so his name wouldn,t be common knowledge, and he died from a debilitating disease. An awful lot of coincidences.

 

[BGIF]

... The secret is always having a bag of flour of in your car-- you never know when you may need to throw it on a big broad to find the wet spot.

You need to start carrying gluten free flour so you don't cause white chicks of northern European descent (think Viking/Irish) to have an adverse reaction. Celiac disease is common among those people. It's the thing a new millennium guy would do.

I've heard that Sherm has had good experiences with Quinoa. He's mentioned it's gluten free, comes in various textures for variety, is high in fiber and protein, and doesn't leave a "Got Milk!" mustache.



















I still pick up plenty o' fat chicks-- I'll never pass my prime when it comes to that. The secret is always having a bag of flour of in your car-- you never know when you may need to throw it on a big broad to find the wet spot.[/QUOTE]

 

[connect the dots]

Would absolutely love to have seen some type of boxing tournament featuring Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano, Ali, Tyson, Foreman, Joe Frazier, etc.

You left out Jack Johnson. A boxer who could stand his ground with the determined and fearless mindset of a Medgar Evers.