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#1
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Here today, forgotten tomorrow
Who do you think was the hugest, massive, biggest deal in their day in any sport -- I'm taking major cultural icon, known to every man, woman and child -- since 1900 that is essentially forgotten today by sports fans. I'd have to say Jack Dempsey. He was huge in his day. Huge. And today? Almost in obscurity.
Any bigger examples? |
#2
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If you're including any sport, how about Dan Patch?
He was definitely bigger that Jack Dempsey, technically speaking...
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Current projects: White Sox prewar type set White Sox T206 Master set 1952 Topps set |
#3
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Never heard of him! Will look him up.
Last edited by Snapolit1; 02-03-2017 at 10:03 AM. |
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Dempsey is a good choice, but mine would be Jack Johnson. After becoming the first black man to win the world heavyweight boxing championship in 1908, he was easily the most recognized athlete on the planet for the next decade. Both Dempsey and Johnson are still revered by hardcore ring enthusiasts, but IMHO the latter is today more "forgotten" by the general public.
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#5
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I think Mike Kelly is another one. No one talks about King Kelly even though he was a huge star, even outside of baseball. If some yahoo on ESPN brings up the name its only to add some kind of antiquity to whatever they're talking about.
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#6
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There were a few great hoopsters in the 50s...if talking about people who people didnt see in their lifetime thats a much larger list than anyone people had watched today
I still think 100 years from now, the average person on the street will know who jackie robinson is over Mickey Mantle Last edited by 1952boyntoncollector; 02-03-2017 at 07:58 AM. |
#7
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Quote:
I've always been troubled with the cross-over nominations of animals as Sportsman of the Year and other awards. True, OP did not specify but, perhaps, it should have been assumed to mean sports icons of the human variety.
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. "A life is not important except in the impact it has on others lives" - Jackie Robinson “If you have a chance to make life better for others and fail to do so, you are wasting your time on this earth.”- Roberto Clemente |
#8
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A horse? Not around here.
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#9
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George Mikan?
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#10
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Major Taylor - in his day one of the biggest sports celebrities, now remembered, but only by people into what's become a bit of a fringe sport.
Same idea, there were a lot of famous cyclists between the late 1800's and the start of WWII. Especially the ones who rode the 6 day races during the depression. Now they're pretty much entirely forgotten. One of the guys I met did a lot of work meeting the few left and interviewing them. I think he did a documentary. All of them were surprised and grateful to be remembered at all, more than one of them had family that didn't know how good they'd been or that they'd been famous at all. That's probably true for most of the top players in any sport that's not one of the big four in the US now. Steve B |
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I'll leave it to others to pick the best candidates, but I agree that boxing and horse racing are the first places I'd look.
I certainly don't think this would be the source of the answer, but I think it's interesting that my father grew up in the 40s in Greenpoint Brooklyn and says many people could name the top matadors in those days.
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#12
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Red Grange
Does the average football fan today know who he was let alone the average person?
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