Posted By:
DavidMcDonaldAny of you geniuses ever heard of Lionel Conacher?
The Big Train played all the tough sports and he was damn near awesome at all of them. He scored three touchdowns in the 1921 Grey Cup game. He played outfield for the Toronto Maple Leafs when they won the Little World Series in 1926 and received major league contract offers. He was Canadian light-heavyweight boxing champ in 1920 and went three rounds in an exhibition against Jack Dempsey in 1923. He was acknowledged as the best lacrosse player in the game at the time and wrestled strong men when wrestling was not the televised comedy hour it has become. And in hockey, which was his third-best sport because he didn't learn to skate until he was 16, he was an NHL-all-star defenceman three times and played on two Stanley Cup winners (Chicago and Montreal). Some called Jim Thorpe "the Lionel Conacher of America."
He was named Canada's Athlete of the Half-Century in 1950. He was a charter member of the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame in 1955, the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1963 and the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1966. In 1994 he was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame.
http://www.legendsofhockey.net:8080/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/LegendsMember.jsp?mem=p199401&type=Player&page=bio&list=
