One of the perks of being an educator (Hint: it’s not the money) is that magical time of year from early June to mid-August when I can refrain from going to work every day and still pull a paycheck.
(Before you commence with the “You’re so lucky!” diatribe, keep in mind that I deal with eighth graders on a daily basis for the other nine months out of the year. Not so appealing any more, is it?)
For each of the past six summers I’ve had the good fortune of working with my buddy Scott at Camp MVP: a series of week-long camps for third through eighth graders governed by the slogan “Compete With Character.” Scott’s mission has always been to educate the players not only on the fundamentals of the game, but also on the characteristics of what is often referred to in sporting circles as a “character guy:” someone who distinguishes himself as a solid individual both on and off the field of play.
In our daily discussions with the kids about character, we inevitably provide examples of professional athletes who demonstrate things like courage, vision, perseverance, leadership, and the like.
And this is where the problem begins.
I am always utterly stunned at how many young sports fans have absolutely no clue about athletes that were household names when I grew up. Sure, the youngsters have an excuse: they’re too busy picking at scabs and experimenting with kitchen utensils and power outlets. But if you’re a football player headed into high school and you don’t know who Jerry Rice is, you should be relegated to playing badminton.
It is with these travesties in mind that I offer you five athletes from my generation that every kid should know about. I have purposely left off the no-brainers (Michael Jordan, etc.) and attempted to tailor the list to players that everyone my age will never forget, even if today’s kids have no clue about who they are.
Bo Jackson
I suppose the fact that most kids “Don’t Know Diddly” about Bo Jackson is not all that surprising given his relatively small body of work. But seriously: if you’re the parent of a lower to middle school-aged athlete that plays either baseball or football and you haven’t threatened to withhold food and water until your child sits down for a YouTube marathon of Bo gunning down Harold Reynolds from the warning track or running down the tunnel after a ridiculous 91-yard touchdown against the Seahawks, you’re failing your child. Miserably.
Jim Abbott
Nobody I knew growing up rooted against Jim Abbott, even if he was throwing against their team. How do you not root for a guy who was born without a right hand and went on to pitch in the major leagues for a decade? Even when he’d been in the league for a while, I don’t recall anyone taking for granted what a remarkable sight it was to see Abbott pitch.
Oh, and then there was that no-hitter that he threw for the most storied franchise in sports history. Sick.
Martina Navratilova
Few athletes dominated their sports the way Navratilova did in the 1980s. She held the No. 1 year-end ranking in women’s tennis for five consecutive years. Her 1983 singles win-loss record was an obscene 86-1, and during a five-year stretch from 1982-1986, she won an astonishing 428 of 442 singles matches (a 96.8% winning percentage). All told, Navratilova won 59 Grand Slam championships: 18 singles, 31 women’s doubles, and 10 mixed doubles.
Navratilova, who came out as a lesbian in the significantly less tolerant climate of 1981, has also distinguished herself through her association with numerous charitable organizations.
Spud Webb
I don’t know about you, but my nine-year old will never tell me that he’s too small to do anything. Ever. Not when highlights of the 5’7” Webb winning the 1986 NBA Slam Dunk Contest over the likes of his 6’8” teammate and defending champion Dominique Wilkins are just a few clicks away.
Webb enjoyed a decade-long career in the NBA and was “largely” responsible (along with his vertically-challenged contemporary Muggsy Bogues) for every short kid in America negotiating for extra time in the driveway shooting buckets despite his parents’ insistence that he was never going to be big enough to go pro.
Barry Sanders
Barry makes the list for several reasons, not the least of which is the fact that he’s my favorite athlete ever. More importantly, in addition to being one of the greatest running backs ever, Sanders was one of the classiest athletes in the history of the NFL. His tossing the ball to the referee and refraining from the “Hey everybody, look at ME!!!” celebrations after scoring a touchdown was pure gold.
(A quick aside: when I tell the kids at Camp MVP how Barry’s toss to the refs was my favorite touchdown celebration ever, some kid inevitably asks, “What’s cool about that?” I then proceed to run that kid until he pukes.)
Grantland writer Andrew Sharp wrote of Sanders: “Barry didn’t work in video games because designers couldn’t program someone who was a cheat code in real life.” Come to think of it, maybe that’s why young sports fans today don’t know him: “Barry Sanders? That guy sucks in Madden!”
Kids these days…
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