Babe Ruth was the greatest baseball player of all time. Some might say he was the greatest athlete of all time. But in a poll of New Yorkers, The Babe lost out to Derek Jeter (!) as New York's Greatest Athlete ever. Who voted in the poll -- Casey Close?
Here's the breakdown of the Top Ten Greatest New York Athletes ever, according to a Siena College Research Institute poll of 801 New York State residents:
Derek Jeter: 14%
Babe Ruth: 11%
Joe DiMaggio 4%
Mickey Mantle 4%
Joe Namath 4%
Patrick Ewing 3%
Carmelo Anthony 3%
Lou Gehrig 2%
Jakie (sic) Robinson (yes, that's the way the report spelled his name!): 2%
Jim Kelly 2%
What is wrong with these people? Did they find people who never watched a moment of sports in their lives? Actually, that's not that far off -- 41% of the people in the poll described themselves as not being sports fans! Why those 41% percent were asked a single question after that admission is beyond me.
Aside from the ridiculousness of Jeter winning this honor (by the way, he won the women's vote with 17%), how about Carmelo Anthony, who has been on the Knicks for less than a month, being No. 7? Outrageous, even if you add in 'Melo's Syracuse heroics. These are the most short-sighted and embarrassing poll results I've seen since Britons picked Princess Diana over Winston Churchill for that country's Person of the Century.
It gets worse on this New York poll. According to Siena's press release, "Among Yankee fans, Derek Jeter holds a commanding lead, 21 percent to Babe Ruth's 13 percent for New York's greatest athlete. Tied for third are DiMaggio and Mantle with Namath continuing in fifth."
I don't want to be the fan police here. But if you call yourself a Yankee fan, and you really think Jeter is a better player than Babe Flipping Ruth, I don't even know what to say to that. Sheesh. Our fan base prides themselves as being loyal and knowledgeable, but Jeter winning that poll is just plain sad.
What do you think? Tell us about it!
1 comment:
This poll is completely stupid. I guess I should be surprised that the Mount Rushmore of Baseball (Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio & Mantle) got any votes, seeing as how none of them played a game in the last 40 years, and my generation only knows DiMaggio as the Bowery & Mr. Coffee man and Mantle as the guy telling drinking stories on Letterman.
I guess I should be pleased that Lawrence Taylor isn't here, and I totally back up Lisa's unhappiness that Carmelo Anthony is on the list having played, what, 4 games for the Knicks? Sure, he was born in Brooklyn, but he grew up in Baltimore, and Syracuse, while in the State of New York, is actually further from Midtown Manhattan than Baltimore. The 'Cuse is NOT a "local school."
And Jim Kelly? He played for the Buffalo Bills! Okay, before that he was signed by the New Jersey Generals, but the USFL folded before he could take a snap for them.
No Reggie Jackson? No A-Rod? No Mariano? No Tom Seaver? No Mark Messier? (I guess I should be glad about that.) No Martin Brodeur? No Mike Bossy or Denis Potvin? Where's Walt Frazier or Willis Reed? Patrick Ewing never won a title -- I guess the truly shocking thing is that Don Mattingly isn't on the list.
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