Sick of showboating athletes? Sick of ME first guys? Sick of hearing about all the negativity in sports today? Yeah, me too.
Not having any interesting ideas to write about, I think I'll give this a shot. Having just read mtmarinerfan's post asking where the classy athletes have gone, inspired me to write a series on the good guys. My objective here is to take a look at the guys who made headlines for what they did on the field and the way they carried themselves off of it.
So no talk of scandals, steriods or stupidity. We're going to talk about the guys who clearly made a difference. I'm going to start with David Robinson, with future write-ups including Cal Ripken, Joe Dumars, and I'll gladly take suggestions as to more guys who should get praise for the way they carried themsleves on and especially off the field or court.
David Robinson was one of my favorite athletes to watch. There was something different about him. Maybe it's because he was left-handed. Maybe it's because he has one of the best nicknames,"The Admiral". Maybe it's because he was underappreciated playing in the same generation as Patrick Ewing, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Shaquille O'Neal. I can't really pinpoint one reason as to why David stood out to me, probably because there are so many.
Make no mistake, this guy was dominant. So dominant that the San Antonio Spurs drafted him knowing that they would have to wait 2 years for him to play an NBA game. ( Robinson attended the Naval Academy and honored a 2 year commitment after his graduation to the Navy) So dominant he once blocked 14 shots in one college game. So dominant he once scored 71 points in an NBA game. So dominant he turned around the San Antonio Spurs franchise.
The thing I appreciate the most about David Robinson is the way he spoke. There was no um, uh, duh, yeah, yup when he spoke. I'm not ripping on anyone who uses those words, I've used them all today. When you want an athlete to represent your city, you want him or her to be well spoken and be articulate. If you remember Robinson interviews or press conferences, he was always able to get his point across and have you say to yourself " I wish more athletes spoke and acted like him."
On the court, his accomplishments are many:
Olympic gold medals in 1992,1996 and a bronze medal in 1988 playing for U.S.A. basketball
2 time NBA champion for the San Antonio Spurs in 1999 and 2003
Rookie of the Year in 1990
Voted one of the 50 greatest players in N.B.A. history in 1996
Recipient of the N.B.A. Sportsmanship Award in 2001
Defensive Player of the Year in 1992
10 time N.B.A. All Star
4 time All-N.B.A. First team
2 time All-N.B.A. Second team
4 time All-N.B.A. Third team
4 time All N.B.A. Defensive first team
4 time All N.B.A. Defensive second team
Recorded the rare quadruple double against Detroit with 34 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assisits and 10 blocks on February 17 1994
N.B.A. Scoring Champion in 1993-1994
For a guy who accomplished so much on and off the court, I salute David " The Admiral" Robinson as one of the good guys in sports.
Nice blog hoit! Robinson was a great player and human! Always professional, articulate and genuine. I'm a sonic fan but you had to love the admiral! One of my favorites is Edgar Martinez-same type of player/person. Good read
Agreed, with all of the media focus on outrageousness and other forms of generally tiresome behavior (and a lot of fans seeming desire to hear it), it is nice to hear about decent character. Thanks for providing one such example.
That sad part is, I think there are probably a ton of good people in sports, but they always seem to get passed over for media attention in favor of someone throwing a tantrum or otherwise acting the fool.
Again, good job in highlighting a positive story. Keep up the good work.
Hoit, good post. Refreshing to read about the guys that made the news for positive reasons. Yea, David Robinson was always and still is a class act. For your future columns, a few that come to mind:
Tony Gwynn
Walter Payton
Jerry Rice
Good call, although he didn't win a title until Timmy came to town. There's no debating the man's character, however.
I got matched up in that Greenspire competition and my topic this week was Tony Gonzalez. I wrote a similar post about him, what kind of person he is and how it's rare to find athletes like that these days.
Thanks Nooch and I'm with you 100%. All we hear about is the negativity, you know there are good stories out in the sports world today, we just never hear about them.
Great choices loan, Rice I know was one of my favorites.
Great read for sure. I'm an ex-Navy guy and I loved how The Admiral represented himself on and off the courts. He was the perfect roll model for Tim Duncan. I think Duncan is another class act.
Hoit!! nice post..I utterly agree with you,Robinson is a gentleman..The focus is not so much when they retired but they are actively playing as well..I think Tim Duncan will also be part of that club on and off the court...Bill Paxon, former chicago bulls' guard, Bill Walton, former Celtics and currently NBA broadcaster to name a few..........
Thanks for posting this. I'm a Spurs fan, and as such, a David Robinson fan. He started a school here in San Antonio called the Carver Academy named after one of his heroes, George Washington Carver, for underprivileged children. A great player, and more importantly, a very good man.
For future consideration might I suggest Craig Biggio or Jeff Bagwell?
Last edited by onesouthernlion on October 19th at 4:44 PM.
Born and raised in the great state of MEE-CHI-GAN. Had a one year stint in Indianapolis where I grew to love all things Hoosier and watched the Colts bring home a Super Bowl trophy. My primary teams remain the Tigers, Pistons, Lions, Red Wings, and Wolverines and I wouldn't trade any of them. Still follow NASCAR, but it's not the same without the black number 3. My favorite sport by far is college basketball. I'll watch pretty much any game between November-Febr uary and March is the pinnacle of it all with the MADNESS. It can't be beat.
