Which sport stars were you on the playground?

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coolhandgopher

coolhandgopher

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As I began to listen to Joe Posnanski's Podcast with Bob Kendricks (the President of the Negro Leagues Museum), Kendricks mentioned he was always Hank Aaron when playing with his friends as a kid. It sparked a memory, and hence this thread. . .

For football, I was Sammy White (my cousin was Ahmad Rashad). Sammy was my first favorite Viking, I think because I liked his name.

Baseball. . .can't quite remember-I was 12 years old when Kirby Puckett debuted, so while he took me through my teenage years, I was a bit old to mimic his game. I do recall imitating Brian Downing's batting stance often and as I type this, Willie Stargell's bat-wagging was another I imitated often (to very little success, alas).

Basketball. . .TWolves came into existence when I was a junior in HS, so my earliest wannabe star was Trent Tucker. From age 12, when Jordan debuted with the Bulls, I (along with millions) stuck my tongue out as I practiced my shooting.
 

Baseball: I copied George Hendrick's stance for some reason. Then Steve Garvey.

Basketball: I copied Roland Brook's jump shot for a short while. Bad choice as his form was awkward.

Football: I was JJ Jefferson with a Itza Ball.
 


Tommy Kramer or Ahmad Rashad, depending on what position I was playing that play.
 

Bad Gopher said:
Tommy Kramer or Ahmad Rashad, depending on what position I was playing that play.
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Damn, I loved Two-Minute Tommy. That man could drink too.

Larry Bird

Football; Dan Fouts, and sometimes Morten Anderson/Jan Stenerud; spare me your kicker jokes, f'rs, I could probably still make a 40-yarder at my advanced age
 


Ogee Oglethorpe said:
Damn, I loved Two-Minute Tommy. That man could drink too.

Larry Bird

Football; Dan Fouts, and sometimes Morten Anderson/Jan Stenerud; spare me your kicker jokes, f'rs, I could probably still make a 40-yarder at my advanced age
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Where’s the Rick Danmeier love? I have to admit, I channeled Greg Coleman every time I was in punt formation.
 


coolhandgopher said:
Where’s the Rick Danmeier love? I have to admit, I channeled Greg Coleman every time I was in punt formation.
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Danmeier was old school straight-on, square toe; I was soccer-style, like Morten Andersen. I recall a little known tidbit at the time, Andersen kicked with a special custom made shoe that cost him $5,000 to make or some damn thing. Crazy shit. He was really one of the first to elevate the quality and caliber of NFL kickers. 75% FG used to be pretty damn good, now you need to be around 85-90%
 




JP Parise
Joe Senser
Butch Wynegar/John Castino depending on what position I was playing, though I found Rod Carew's stance/swing very effective when playing whiffle ball. Didn't translate well to real baseball.
 

Ogee Oglethorpe said:
Damn, I loved Two-Minute Tommy. That man could drink too.

Larry Bird

Football; Dan Fouts, and sometimes Morten Anderson/Jan Stenerud; spare me your kicker jokes, f'rs, I could probably still make a 40-yarder at my advanced age
Click to expand...

Hate to nitpick, but the man's nick name was not "Two minute Tommy", at least not at my house, where he was always referred to as Tommy "The bottle" Kramer.
 


Costa Rican Gopher said:
Hate to nitpick, but the man's nick name was not "Two minute Tommy", at least not at my house, where he was always referred to as Tommy "The bottle" Kramer.
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Hey man, I was naive to such things as a young man growing up in rural MN. I prefer to keep my heroes the way I remember them. Soooo, I guess in this case, that would be....... sober?
 



Baseball - Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Tony Oliva, Ernie Banks
Football - Gayle Sayers, Johnny Unitas, Lance Alworth
Basketball - Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, Oscar Robertson
Hockey - Bobby Orr, Bobby Hull, Yvan Cournoyer
Golf - Arnold Palmer, Tony Lema
 
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There's still time to meet your hero. Tommy will be signing autographs at Route 47 in Fridley this Sunday.

Kramer.jpg
 

Football: I was Fran Tarkenton (I caught the end of his career) or Ahmad Rashad, depending on what position. Also loved Earl Campbell growing up.

Basketball: With no NBA team, there were only 3 teams that mattered in my neighborhood. The Lakers, the Celtics & the 76'rs. My school/neighborhood was mostly Black, so the Black guys always argued over who got to be Magic & Dr J, while I was happy to be Larry Bird.

Hockey: Dino Ciccarelli

Baseball: We sucked back then, but I liked Bombo Rivera's name, plus the Ballad of Bombo Rivera was catchy.
 

Charles Barkley
Ken Griffey Jr
Deion Sanders - although as a kid i didn't have a favorite football player...just remember high stepping into the end zone
 

Ozzie Smith
Cris Carter
Gary Payton
I hadn’t really thought about it before, but I see why I ended up with good hands.
 

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