SWC75
Bored Historian
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I've been going over my WORD documents and came up with these two lists I complied ten years ago. I've not attempted to update them but you might find it interesting.
SU Sports Heroes
I dined at Tully’s tonight and spent a lot of time looking at the many pictures they have on the wall of Syracuse sports heroes. I began to wonder how they should rank, (recognizing that lists like this are just a conversation piece and ultimately a tribute to everyone on them). I decided to come up with a top 10 and it became a top 20, 25, 30, and finally, 50:
1) Jim Brown. The greatest ever in two sports. Some definite negatives in his relationship with women and the law but also some positives such as Amer-I-can and his work with gangs and prisoners.
2) Carmen Basilio. The World’s Champ in two divisions and he beat the greatest ever in his sport. A solid, honest guy in a business that doesn’t have nearly enough of them.
3) Jim Boeheim. The creator of the SU basketball dynasty and a great man for the community as well.
4) Ernie Davis. Too good to be true but he was genuine. We just saw what should have been the beginning of a great career.
5) Dave Bing. Brought SU basketball back from the dead, a brilliant business success and now the Mayor of Detroit.
6) Ben Schwartzwalder. Our greatest football coach and the coach of our greatest team.
7) Vic Hanson. The only player in the football and basketball Halls of Fame.
8) Dolph Schayes. The Nats all time player. We were once a major-league town.
9) Carmelo Anthony. He got us the title and didn’t forget where he came from.
10) Dick MacPherson. Brought us back to glory when we thought it couldn’t be done.
11) John Mackey. Named the best NFL tight end of the first 50 years, (over Ditka) and a major force in the player’s union. Now a symbol of the cost of the sport.
12) Floyd Little. A great player and a great leader. “the franchise” in Denver.
13) Larry Csonka. It was fun rooting for a guy they couldn’t stop even if they knew he was coming.
14) Donovan McNabb. Our only NFL star quarterback.
15) Roy Simmons. Nobody contributed more to SU sports
16) Roy Simmons Jr. Creator of the SU lacrosse dynasty
17) Bob Costas. Our most prominent broadcaster
18) Danny Biasone. 24 Seconds to shoot.
19) Dwight Freeney. Is he still the highest paid NFL defender ever?
20) Tim Green. The guy most responsible for bring us back on the field.
21) Donnie McPherson. Should have been our second- or third - Heisman winner.
22) Hank Sauer. The greatest Syracuse Chief.
23) Pearl Washington. Our first #1 recruit.
24) Sherman Douglas. “The General” of SU’s version of showtime.
25) Derrick Coleman. The NCAA’s all time rebounded. He gave us “attitude”
26) Gary Gait. Is he the greatest lacrosse player ever or Big Jim?
27) John Desko. He continued the lacrosse dynasty
28) Hakeem Warrick. The Block and he could dunk from anywhere.
29) John Wallace. Led the miracle run of ‘96.
30) Art Monk. Over Marvin Harrison who I don’t think even wants to be on this list.
31) Dennis DuVal Basketball All-American and the Chief of Police.
32) Marty Glickman. Football star, Olympian, (even if they didn’t let him perform and NYC broadcasting legend.
33) Arnie Burdick. The best sports local sportswriter.
34) Tex Simone. He’s kept baseball alive in Syracuse for 40 years.
35) Paul Pasqualoni. Our second winningest football coach.
36) Mike Messere. Creator of the Wildcat Lacrosse Dynasty
37) Oren Lyons. Lacrosse star and leader of the Haudenosaunee.
38) Al Cervi. Coach of the only major league sports champion we’ve ever had.
39) Dick Rockwell. Mr. Lemoyne Part 2
40) Tommy Niland. Mr. Lemoyne, Part 1
41) Lou Andreas. Winningest basketball coach before JB. Also coached football and long time AD. But Jim Brown said he was a racist.
42) Chick Meehan. Star quarterback who immediately became a great bcoach although his greatest years were at NYU.
43) Billy Gabor. SU All-American who played for the Nats.
44) Jim Ridlon. All-pro defensive back and world class artist. There’s also the Michael Owens sound-bite.
45) Babe Cranfield. Billiards champ.
46) Marty Piraino. Our best bowler.
47) Bob Shawkey. Star pitcher for the Yankees in the Ruth era.
48) Mack Jones. The second greatest Chief, who hit one over the elm trees in the first game I ever went to.
49) Dave Guisti. Long time NL pitcher. I alwsy looked for him in the box scores.
50) Chad Mottola. The best player of the P&C/Alliance Bank Stadium era.
I admit that I’m not a hockey fan so there are no Crunch players here, (or Blazers or Stars). Looking at the Greater Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame Website, (http://syracusehalloffame.com/pages/frame.html ), I see only one hockey player and I’ve no idea who he is. For Chiefs players, I picked the ones who had the three greatest years. Sauer and Mottola both spent several years with the clubs. I probably could have done more with lacrosse or rated them higher. But it’s SU football and basketball that puts this burg on the map so most of the listed is devoted to players and coaches with those programs.
Have I overlooked or over or underrated anybody? I can’t wait to read the replies.
And how about a listing of the greatest CNY sports achievements? I was going to limit this to a top 10 but it became a top 15.
1) SU’s 2003 College Basketball Championship. I think college basketball was bigger in 2003 than the NBA was in 1955 or even college football in 1959. Carmen did us proud but a team represents a community more than an individual does.
2) The Nat’s 1955 NBA championship, the only major league professional sports title Syracuse will likely ever have.
3) SU’s 1959 college football title. Not only our only football national title but one of the greatest teams ever to take the field.
4) Carmen Basilio beating the greatest ever, Sugar Ray Robinson for the middle weight title and then losing a 15 round split decision with one eye open in trying to defending his title from Robinson.
5) 25 straight Final fours for SU lacrosse with 11 national titles
6) 40 straight winning seasons for SU basketball, (primarily the Jim Boeheim era).
7) Mike Messere’s 723-51 record in 35 years as the West Genesee lacrosse coach with 15 state championships
8) 15 straight winning seasons for SU football from 1987-2001. The only other schools to have winning seasons in every one of those years were Florida State, Nebraska and Michigan, all of which had a lot of advantages we didn’t have.
9) Ben Schwartzwalder taking over a 1-8 program that was considering giving up football and having 22 consecutive years from 1950-71 where we never had a losing record. Two entire decades.
10) Jamesville Dewitt’s basketball record of 5 state titles, including the last three in a row. They’ve also won 3 federation titles.
11) The 1970 Syracuse Chiefs who won the International League Pennant, the Governor’s Cup Playoffs and the Junior World Series.
12) Tex Simone, (and others) keeping baseball alive in the smallest AAA city for the last 50 years.
13) Babe Cranfield’s world pocket billiards championship.
14) 22 consecutive winning SU football seasons from 1914-1935.
15) The West Genesee marching band winning 32 state championships.
Feel free to make any corrections.
SU Sports Heroes
I dined at Tully’s tonight and spent a lot of time looking at the many pictures they have on the wall of Syracuse sports heroes. I began to wonder how they should rank, (recognizing that lists like this are just a conversation piece and ultimately a tribute to everyone on them). I decided to come up with a top 10 and it became a top 20, 25, 30, and finally, 50:
1) Jim Brown. The greatest ever in two sports. Some definite negatives in his relationship with women and the law but also some positives such as Amer-I-can and his work with gangs and prisoners.
2) Carmen Basilio. The World’s Champ in two divisions and he beat the greatest ever in his sport. A solid, honest guy in a business that doesn’t have nearly enough of them.
3) Jim Boeheim. The creator of the SU basketball dynasty and a great man for the community as well.
4) Ernie Davis. Too good to be true but he was genuine. We just saw what should have been the beginning of a great career.
5) Dave Bing. Brought SU basketball back from the dead, a brilliant business success and now the Mayor of Detroit.
6) Ben Schwartzwalder. Our greatest football coach and the coach of our greatest team.
7) Vic Hanson. The only player in the football and basketball Halls of Fame.
8) Dolph Schayes. The Nats all time player. We were once a major-league town.
9) Carmelo Anthony. He got us the title and didn’t forget where he came from.
10) Dick MacPherson. Brought us back to glory when we thought it couldn’t be done.
11) John Mackey. Named the best NFL tight end of the first 50 years, (over Ditka) and a major force in the player’s union. Now a symbol of the cost of the sport.
12) Floyd Little. A great player and a great leader. “the franchise” in Denver.
13) Larry Csonka. It was fun rooting for a guy they couldn’t stop even if they knew he was coming.
14) Donovan McNabb. Our only NFL star quarterback.
15) Roy Simmons. Nobody contributed more to SU sports
16) Roy Simmons Jr. Creator of the SU lacrosse dynasty
17) Bob Costas. Our most prominent broadcaster
18) Danny Biasone. 24 Seconds to shoot.
19) Dwight Freeney. Is he still the highest paid NFL defender ever?
20) Tim Green. The guy most responsible for bring us back on the field.
21) Donnie McPherson. Should have been our second- or third - Heisman winner.
22) Hank Sauer. The greatest Syracuse Chief.
23) Pearl Washington. Our first #1 recruit.
24) Sherman Douglas. “The General” of SU’s version of showtime.
25) Derrick Coleman. The NCAA’s all time rebounded. He gave us “attitude”
26) Gary Gait. Is he the greatest lacrosse player ever or Big Jim?
27) John Desko. He continued the lacrosse dynasty
28) Hakeem Warrick. The Block and he could dunk from anywhere.
29) John Wallace. Led the miracle run of ‘96.
30) Art Monk. Over Marvin Harrison who I don’t think even wants to be on this list.
31) Dennis DuVal Basketball All-American and the Chief of Police.
32) Marty Glickman. Football star, Olympian, (even if they didn’t let him perform and NYC broadcasting legend.
33) Arnie Burdick. The best sports local sportswriter.
34) Tex Simone. He’s kept baseball alive in Syracuse for 40 years.
35) Paul Pasqualoni. Our second winningest football coach.
36) Mike Messere. Creator of the Wildcat Lacrosse Dynasty
37) Oren Lyons. Lacrosse star and leader of the Haudenosaunee.
38) Al Cervi. Coach of the only major league sports champion we’ve ever had.
39) Dick Rockwell. Mr. Lemoyne Part 2
40) Tommy Niland. Mr. Lemoyne, Part 1
41) Lou Andreas. Winningest basketball coach before JB. Also coached football and long time AD. But Jim Brown said he was a racist.
42) Chick Meehan. Star quarterback who immediately became a great bcoach although his greatest years were at NYU.
43) Billy Gabor. SU All-American who played for the Nats.
44) Jim Ridlon. All-pro defensive back and world class artist. There’s also the Michael Owens sound-bite.
45) Babe Cranfield. Billiards champ.
46) Marty Piraino. Our best bowler.
47) Bob Shawkey. Star pitcher for the Yankees in the Ruth era.
48) Mack Jones. The second greatest Chief, who hit one over the elm trees in the first game I ever went to.
49) Dave Guisti. Long time NL pitcher. I alwsy looked for him in the box scores.
50) Chad Mottola. The best player of the P&C/Alliance Bank Stadium era.
I admit that I’m not a hockey fan so there are no Crunch players here, (or Blazers or Stars). Looking at the Greater Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame Website, (http://syracusehalloffame.com/pages/frame.html ), I see only one hockey player and I’ve no idea who he is. For Chiefs players, I picked the ones who had the three greatest years. Sauer and Mottola both spent several years with the clubs. I probably could have done more with lacrosse or rated them higher. But it’s SU football and basketball that puts this burg on the map so most of the listed is devoted to players and coaches with those programs.
Have I overlooked or over or underrated anybody? I can’t wait to read the replies.
And how about a listing of the greatest CNY sports achievements? I was going to limit this to a top 10 but it became a top 15.
1) SU’s 2003 College Basketball Championship. I think college basketball was bigger in 2003 than the NBA was in 1955 or even college football in 1959. Carmen did us proud but a team represents a community more than an individual does.
2) The Nat’s 1955 NBA championship, the only major league professional sports title Syracuse will likely ever have.
3) SU’s 1959 college football title. Not only our only football national title but one of the greatest teams ever to take the field.
4) Carmen Basilio beating the greatest ever, Sugar Ray Robinson for the middle weight title and then losing a 15 round split decision with one eye open in trying to defending his title from Robinson.
5) 25 straight Final fours for SU lacrosse with 11 national titles
6) 40 straight winning seasons for SU basketball, (primarily the Jim Boeheim era).
7) Mike Messere’s 723-51 record in 35 years as the West Genesee lacrosse coach with 15 state championships
8) 15 straight winning seasons for SU football from 1987-2001. The only other schools to have winning seasons in every one of those years were Florida State, Nebraska and Michigan, all of which had a lot of advantages we didn’t have.
9) Ben Schwartzwalder taking over a 1-8 program that was considering giving up football and having 22 consecutive years from 1950-71 where we never had a losing record. Two entire decades.
10) Jamesville Dewitt’s basketball record of 5 state titles, including the last three in a row. They’ve also won 3 federation titles.
11) The 1970 Syracuse Chiefs who won the International League Pennant, the Governor’s Cup Playoffs and the Junior World Series.
12) Tex Simone, (and others) keeping baseball alive in the smallest AAA city for the last 50 years.
13) Babe Cranfield’s world pocket billiards championship.
14) 22 consecutive winning SU football seasons from 1914-1935.
15) The West Genesee marching band winning 32 state championships.
Feel free to make any corrections.
