And Gary Gait has moved onto the next round and into the Round of 32 in the King of Baltimore Sports.
Along with Bert Jones, Ken Singleton and a late charge from Paul Blair that pushed him past Mike Curtis, they’ll match up this way for the first round of the KOBS competition:
Paul Blair vs. Johnny Unitas
Ken Singleton vs. Ray Lewis
Gary Gait vs. Cal Ripken
Bert Jones vs. Brooks Robinson
Keeping with the spirit of crossing sports legends in the first round, we think these are interesting match-ups and the “dropoff” from 1 to 32 when we can find so many All-Star Games, Pro Bowls, championships and class amongst the four “play in” guys speaks volumes for how great of a sports tradition we have. Jones, Gait, Singletn and Blair can all play on my team any day!
Gary Gait is the rage of the lacrosse boards (and I wished I’d had the foresight to see the passion on that community but we’re certainly feeling it and welcoming more positive discussion of lacrosse). I’ve been trying to do a lacrosse show on Saturdays on WNST for two years. I can’t find anyone who wants to do one or anyone who will sponsor it! So, if you guys love lacrosse so much, we should find a way to do a show on lacrosse and have it be popular, sponsored and loved by the lacrosse community. I’m all for ir!
Bert Jones and Ken Singleton were extremely strong and consistent over the last week and Paul Blair (Bob Haynie’s all-time favorite Oriole, no less) edged out a bunch of greats as well.
I guess that’s the most disappointing part of this tournament thus far – the extreme negativity I’m feeling about comparing these athletes. Sure, you can be critical of Brooks Robinson’s speed in the 1970’s or the fact that Johnny Unitas didn’t win a championship after 1959 or mention Ray Lewis’ transgressions or Cal Ripken’s batting average in the late 1980s, but this tournament was set up to HONOR these great men for all of the thrills they’ve given us through the years.
Really, they’re the reason we all love sports.
So, be fair, be critical, be honest, be all that your memories are — good and bad.
But remember, as David Modell once said with aplomb:
“Don’t Be a Jerk!”
FINAL TALLY
(and yes, we expect to have a LOT more people voting every day…I think people were worn out from last week when we had more than 10,000 votes).
Mark Belanger (43) 5%
Paul Blair (88) 10%
Peter Boulware (61) 7%
Mike Curtis (82) 9%
Rick Dempsey (47) 5%
Gary Gait (153) 17%
Bert Jones (169) 19%
Tom Matte (68) 8%
Earl Monroe (54) 6%
Ken Singleton (140) 15%
We’ll have all of the King of Sports bracket details coming very soon!
