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Buffalo's Four Major Sports - Mount Rushmore

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bighorn_zilla

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I recently read an article on how Larry Bird, during the National Anthem, would look at Bobby Orr’s banner and think how great Orr was and what Orr meant to Boston.  Which got me thinking of Boston’s Mount Rushmore of the Four Major Sports – Baseball, Basketball, Football and Hockey.

 

So it could be argued that the following are Boston’s Mount Rushmore:

 

Baseball – Ted Williams

Basketball – Bill Russell

Football – Tom Brady

Hockey – Bobby Orr

 

But who would be Buffalo’s representatives?

 

Baseball – Connie Mack?

Basketball – Bob Lanier? / Christian Laettner?

Football – Jim Kelly?

Hockey – Dominic Hasek?

 

Thoughts?

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Bleeding Bills Blue All Pro

Bleeding Bills Blue

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Probably give the basketball nod to McAdoo - the Braves weren't around very long and he's the only player of note worth mentioning.

 

For baseball - Warren Spahn?  I know he never played in Buffalo, but he was from here.  

 

Fine with Kelly... for now.  I think Allen will take the spot someday.

 

Hockey - Hasek 

Edited by dneveu
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machine gun kelly All Pro

machine gun kelly

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We don’t have an MLB or NBA team and history.  We had the Braves, but Laettner nor Lanier didn’t play for that team.  This doesn’t make any sense.  
 

I guess only you’re trying to link where these guys grew up.

 

So if you’re linking where they grew up ok, I understand, then consider these points.

 

Ted Williams home, CA

Bill Russell home, Louisiana

Tom Brady home, CA

Bobby Orr home, Canada

 

I honestly don’t know the correlation.  We have two major sports and you know Hasik and MGK (the real one) is PA.

 

Im not trying to give you a hard time,

but there is no real correlation between the cities.  We’re a small market area that if you want to only count playing here ok, then it would be Kelly, Gilbert, and Bob Macadue.  We’ve never had MLB so irrelevant.

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machine gun kelly All Pro

machine gun kelly

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Just now, Motorin' said:

Baseball - Warren Spahn, South Park HS graduate

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Spahn

 

Winningest Left Handed pitcher of all-time, also took three years off in his prime to fight WWII. 

 

Basketball - Bob McAdoo

 

Hockey - Gilbert Perrault

 

Football - soon to be Josh Allen 

 

I like the Allen prediction.  We’ll dun Motorin!  I hope in 10 years we all say that one and maybe he considers living here post career even if 50% of the time.

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First Round Bust RFA

First Round Bust

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great topic - thanks - you had me do a look-up on Connie Mack thanks to this...his Buffalo link is that he purchased shares in the players league and lost it all when the league folded...one and done with Buffalo...

 

Baseball - Warren Spahn - best left-handed pitcher in MLB history, served in WWII - Battle of the Bulge....then Joe McCarthy - Yankees manager during the early glory years

 

Basketball - Bob Lanier - the best baller the area has ever produced - followed by either by Bob Mcadoo - the best Brave ever - or Randy Smith - second best

 

Football - Ralph Wilson - I know, I know... but he brought the NFL to our fair city (who else would have ?) and more importantly kept it here when he could have easily sold-out; and his passing allowed the Pegulas to do the same for years and decades to come hopefully..then OJ (then he ducks).

 

Hockey - its a hockey town - so I am going with four for hockey.. (Gil is my boyhood idol) - lets go with the Knox family (see Wilson, Ralph above), the French Connection,  the Dominator, and RJ or Ted Darling....

 

now excuse me whilst I step out for a cigarette (and I dont smoke).

 

 

 

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dwight in philly Veteran

dwight in philly

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1 hour ago, Motorin' said:

Baseball - Warren Spahn, South Park HS graduate

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Spahn

 

Winningest Left Handed pitcher of all-time, also took three years off in his prime to fight WWII. 

 

Basketball - Bob McAdoo

 

Hockey - Gilbert Perrault

 

Football - soon to be Josh Allen 

 

Nailed it with Spahn!

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chongli Veteran

chongli

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28 minutes ago, billsfan1959 said:

Baseball - No professional team. Not relevant to this discussion.

 

Well, technically speaking, all minor league teams are considered professional, so the Bisons should count; but I understand your point. 

 

If we are talking about all pro teams from WNY and not just Buffalo, for baseball, the Rochester Red Wings, the Syracuse Mets, the former Jamestown Jammers, and Batavia Muckdogs when they were Minor League Baseball (MiLB) should be considered. Am I forgetting any baseball team?

Edited by chongli
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Bill Murray Rookie

Bill Murray

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For football its hard to argue against Jim Kelly for a number of reasons, but the best bills player of all-time at their position is undoubtedly Bruce Smith.  Remains (in debatable order) top two or three defensive ends of all time.  

 

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chongli Veteran

chongli

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4 minutes ago, Haslett_Stomp said:

Agree with most here regarding Kelly and Perrault.  Don't follow baseball so can't really venture a guess there.  McAdoo or Adrian Dantley for basketball.

 

I'd have to say McAdoo is a good choice. Dantley was here only for his rookie year in 1976-77; otherwise he would clearly win over McAdoo.

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Big Turk Hall of Famer

Big Turk

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2 hours ago, bighorn_zilla said:

I recently read an article on how Larry Bird, during the National Anthem, would look at Bobby Orr’s banner and think how great Orr was and what Orr meant to Boston.  Which got me thinking of Boston’s Mount Rushmore of the Four Major Sports – Baseball, Basketball, Football and Hockey.

 

So it could be argued that the following are Boston’s Mount Rushmore:

 

Baseball – Ted Williams

Basketball – Bill Russell

Football – Tom Brady

Hockey – Bobby Orr

 

But who would be Buffalo’s representatives?

 

Baseball – Connie Mack?

Basketball – Bob Lanier? / Christian Laettner?

Football – Jim Kelly?

Hockey – Dominic Hasek?

 

Thoughts?

 

Warren Spahn for Baseball

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Buffalo716 Hall of Famer

Buffalo716

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2 hours ago, First Round Bust said:

great topic - thanks - you had me do a look-up on Connie Mack thanks to this...his Buffalo link is that he purchased shares in the players league and lost it all when the league folded...one and done with Buffalo...

 

Baseball - Warren Spahn - best left-handed pitcher in MLB history, served in WWII - Battle of the Bulge....then Joe McCarthy - Yankees manager during the early glory years

 

Basketball - Bob Lanier - the best baller the area has ever produced - followed by either by Bob Mcadoo - the best Brave ever - or Randy Smith - second best

 

Football - Ralph Wilson - I know, I know... but he brought the NFL to our fair city (who else would have ?) and more importantly kept it here when he could have easily sold-out; and his passing allowed the Pegulas to do the same for years and decades to come hopefully..then OJ (then he ducks).

 

Hockey - its a hockey town - so I am going with four for hockey.. (Gil is my boyhood idol) - lets go with the Knox family (see Wilson, Ralph above), the French Connection,  the Dominator, and RJ or Ted Darling....

 

now excuse me whilst I step out for a cigarette (and I dont smoke).

 

 

 

Sure it's a hockey town..  but they're still more fans of the Buffalo Bills than the Buffalo sabers 

 

It's just as much of a football town if not more.. doesn't have to be just one or the other 

 

But if you asked 200,000 people in Buffalo(actual city).. you'll get a lot more people who are interested in the bills than the sabres.. 

 

The sabers have a hardcore following since 1970. The bills since 1960.. and there are more Buffalo Bills fans

 

 

Edited by Buffalo716
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RoyBatty is alive Veteran

RoyBatty is alive

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2 hours ago, First Round Bust said:

great topic - thanks - you had me do a look-up on Connie Mack thanks to this...his Buffalo link is that he purchased shares in the players league and lost it all when the league folded...one and done with Buffalo...

 

Baseball - Warren Spahn - best left-handed pitcher in MLB history, served in WWII - Battle of the Bulge....then Joe McCarthy - Yankees manager during the early glory years

 

Basketball - Bob Lanier - the best baller the area has ever produced - followed by either by Bob Mcadoo - the best Brave ever - or Randy Smith - second best

 

Football - Ralph Wilson - I know, I know... but he brought the NFL to our fair city (who else would have ?) and more importantly kept it here when he could have easily sold-out; and his passing allowed the Pegulas to do the same for years and decades to come hopefully..then OJ (then he ducks).

 

Hockey - its a hockey town - so I am going with four for hockey.. (Gil is my boyhood idol) - lets go with the Knox family (see Wilson, Ralph above), the French Connection,  the Dominator, and RJ or Ted Darling....

 

now excuse me whilst I step out for a cigarette (and I dont smoke).

 

 

 

Great call on Bob Lanier. I guess you could even throw in Calvin Murphy,  For a couple years Buffalo was the epi-center for College Basketball,.

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Bobby Hooks Veteran

Bobby Hooks

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49 minutes ago, billsfan1959 said:

 

Football - Jim Kelly

Hockey - Gilbert Perreault (slightly over Dominik Hasek)

Basketball - Bob McAdoo

Baseball - No professional team. Not relevant to this discussion.

I mean, I guess you can start your own thread minus baseball. But the creator of the thread added baseball so it’s 100% relevant to the discussion. 
 

Because, you know, the OP made it relevant. 

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First Round Bust RFA

First Round Bust

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34 minutes ago, Buffalo716 said:

Sure it's a hockey town..  but they're still more fans of the Buffalo Bills than the Buffalo sabers 

 

It's just as much of a football town if not more.. doesn't have to be just one or the other 

 

But if you asked 200,000 people in Buffalo(actual city).. you'll get a lot more people who are interested in the bills than the sabres.. 

 

The sabers have a hardcore following since 1970. The bills since 1960.. and there are more Buffalo Bills fans

 

 

depends on your perspective - the true fan goes to games wouldnt you say ? .but there are over 80 hockey games per year compared to 17 football games - so the math based on 100% capacity is 800k versus 560k for sellouts in favor of Sabres...you have to include Ontario as well for hockey which makes up approx 15-20 percent of the Sabres STH base, not sure the Bills match this but there are some no doubt..the fans of the 1960s are dieing off sad to say and I know and remember quite a few including STH...the loyalty, passion and money-spending ebbs and flows with the cycles of winning and loosing...I think the best numbers would be counted during respective championship victory parades in the city of Buffalo...as an ex-pat always on mind for planning purposes...hope to see you there

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Buftex Hall of Famer

Buftex

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44 minutes ago, chongli said:

 

I'd have to say McAdoo is a good choice. Dantley was here only for his rookie year in 1976-77; otherwise he would clearly win over McAdoo.

Clearly win?  Both guys had very good careers.  Dantley is somewhere around #30 all-time in scoring. Both HOF'ers.  Both were NBA rookie of the year....but McAdoo led the league in scoring 3 times...league MVP once, and a major contributor on 2  NBA championship teams.  Whatever slight edge Dantley had on McAdoo offensively, McAdoo was a defensive presence (shot blocker and rebounder) that Dantley never was.  BM was the last player in NBA history to average 30 pts/15 rebounds for an entire NBA season. I realize they played different positions (AD was a small forward, Mac was a power forward/center), but you may be underestimating how good McAdoo was a little.  McAdoo was the 

Edited by Buftex
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billsbackto81 Veteran

billsbackto81

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2 hours ago, buffaloaggie said:

If it's that someone played Professionally in Buffalo, I'd go with:

 

Football - Bruce Smith

Hockey - Dominik Hasek

Basketball - Bob McAdoo

Baseball - Johnny Bench

Agree with the first 3 but don't see the Johnny Bench connection?

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Buffalo716 Hall of Famer

Buffalo716

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59 minutes ago, First Round Bust said:

depends on your perspective - the true fan goes to games wouldnt you say ? .but there are over 80 hockey games per year compared to 17 football games - so the math based on 100% capacity is 800k versus 560k for sellouts in favor of Sabres...you have to include Ontario as well for hockey which makes up approx 15-20 percent of the Sabres STH base, not sure the Bills match this but there are some no doubt..the fans of the 1960s are dieing off sad to say and I know and remember quite a few including STH...the loyalty, passion and money-spending ebbs and flows with the cycles of winning and loosing...I think the best numbers would be counted during respective championship victory parades in the city of Buffalo...as an ex-pat always on mind for planning purposes...hope to see you there

No you don't have to include Ontario. Because Ontario's not a part of Buffalo

 

And I don't think you could use the 80 games as an example because hockey just plays more games

 

If you went to Buffalo today. The actual City not the suburbs.. and asked everybody you met who they like more the bills or sabers.. you would get more bills by far

 

Don't get me wrong the sabers have a big following. But I've lived in the city my entire life

 

I know way more people who don't follow the sabers than who don't follow the bills 

 

Yeah more people play hockey in Western New York at a high level. But Buffalo is not all of Western New York.. and inside Buffalo the bills are absolutely King 

 

I'm talking the actual City of Buffalo.. not from Dunkirk to North Tonawanda

 

 

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ticketssince61 RFA

ticketssince61

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1 hour ago, chongli said:

 

Well, technically speaking, all minor league teams are considered professional, so the Bisons should count; but I understand your point. 

 

If we are talking about all pro teams from WNY and not just Buffalo, for baseball, the Rochester Red Wings, the Syracuse Mets, the former Jamestown Jammers, and Batavia Muckdogs when they were Minor League Baseball (MiLB) should be considered. Am I forgetting any baseball team?

 

Niagara Falls Pirates and later Niagara Falls Rapids

 

 

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ticketssince61 RFA

ticketssince61

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if you don't factor in the # of games/minutes played with a Buffalo team, you could add the following HOF'ers to the discussion of best Brave ever

 

Nate Archibald  - 0 games / 0 minutes / 0 points

 

Moses Malone - 2 games / 3 minutes / 0 points 

 

Had we not made trades based on $, we would have had possibly the best starting front line in NBA history with 3 HOF'ers: Dantley / McAdoo / Malone

 

 

 

 

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billsbackto81 Veteran

billsbackto81

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3 minutes ago, RoyBatty is alive said:

Johnny Bench played for the Buffalo Bisons for two years.

Thanks👍 I know it's slim pickings for baseball but I wouldn't but a player with a stint in the minors on Buffalo's Mount Rushmore of sports.

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Solomon Grundy Hall of Famer

Solomon Grundy

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18 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

For Buffalo natives:

Baseball: Warren Spann

Hockey: Pat Kane

Basketball: Randy Smith

Football: Gronk

I’d have to disqualify Randy Smith as a Buffalo native in terms of birth. He did spend his collegiate and professional days here though. I’d insert Bob Lanier. I’d also would replace Gronk with Jaws, Ron Jaworski.

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T&C Veteran

T&C

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Football- Jack Kemp, 2 championships. Kelly had none.

Basketball- Bob McAdoo

Hockey- The French Connection, maybe the best front line of all time.

Baseball- Have to go with Bench.

 

 

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chongli Veteran

chongli

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1 hour ago, Buftex said:

Clearly win?  Both guys had very good careers.  Dantley is somewhere around #30 all-time in scoring. Both HOF'ers.  Both were NBA rookie of the year....but McAdoo led the league in scoring 3 times...league MVP once, and a major contributor on 2  NBA championship teams.  Whatever slight edge Dantley had on McAdoo offensively, McAdoo was a defensive presence (shot blocker and rebounder) that Dantley never was.  BM was the last player in NBA history to average 30 pts/15 rebounds for an entire NBA season. I realize they played different positions (AD was a small forward, Mac was a power forward/center), but you may be underestimating how good McAdoo was a little.  McAdoo was the 

 

You are correct. Thanks for the quick education. I guess it's called recency bias on my part (if you consider Dantley "recent", lol). McAdoo was on the downside of his career when I started watching the NBA.

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