The Not So Forgotten Man

The greatest, most dominant, sports figures of all time - hm, let's see, in no particular order here, I would probably have to go with Jim Brown, Wilt Chamberlain, Muhammad Ali, Babe Ruth, Pele, Wayne Gretzky, Joe Louis, Michael Jordan, Martina Navratilova, Lance Armstrong, Barry Bonds (yeah, I know, the steroids), Ty Cobb, Roger Federer, Edwin Moses, Jerry Rice, Sugar Ray Robinson, Jack Nicklaus, Bill Tilden, Bill Russell (as a teammate and a winner), Mario Lemieux, Kareem Abdul Jabbar (his early years with the Bucks, especially), George Mikan, Babe Didrikson Zaharias, Rocky Marciano, Ted Williams, Lawrence Taylor, and Bobby Jones.................................................................................................Who, though, is the best of them all, you ask? Let's see, how 'bout - can you say, none of the above? Yeah, that's right, folks, the greatest, most dominant, most influential, athlete, in this blogger's opinion, is none other than Mr. Bobby Orr. Mr. Orr, in spite of his having to retire before the age of 30, dominated and revolutionized his sport (hockey) like virtually no other human being ever. He took a position, defenseman, and literally transformed it into a viable scoring option. Need some proof? Yeah, well, get this. In 1969, Orr set the NHL record for scoring by a defenseman; 64 points. And in 1970, he broke his own record - by nearly doubling it!! Yeah, that's right, he scored 120 points. Talk about some Babe Ruth type numbers, huh? And it wasn't at all a fluke either. This, in that Mr. Orr went on to crack the 100 point barrier FIVE more times. Seriously, though, can you imagine how great this fellow would have been if he hadn't fallen so prey to injuries?..................................................................................................And like I said before, folks, Orr was extraordinarily influential as well. Just in the state of Massachusetts alone, hockey rinks started springing up like wildfire. And, yeah, you got it, virtually every kid in the commomweath wanted to be like number 4. Before Orr, and after Orr. That, folks, is the history of pro hockey in a nutshell. Yep, even Wayne Gretzky says so.