… is George Amores, who actually rightly identified every person in the above video. I asked if he used Google image search, and George promised me he did not. I’ve known the man as a colleague for years, and believe him 100 percent. Especially because, as a day job, he works in Sports Illustrated’s images department.
Congrats, George. And for those who are curious, here are the athletes, listen in order of appearance (and why I included them) …
Malik Rose—former Spur forward. When I attended Delaware he routinely terrorized the Hens as Drexel’s star center.
Alan Wiggins—former Padre second baseman. Died young, always struck me as a tragic figure.
Lyman Bostock—also died young. Great hitter shot in Gary, Indiana. Wrote an ESPN.com piece on him about five years ago.
Alberto Salazar—greatest American marathoner and my boyhood hero.
Nuu Faaola—Jet running back when I was a kid. Not very memorable, but awesome name.
Kirby Puckett—Hall of Famer.
Hosken Powell—Journeyman outfielder. I loved his baseball card as a kid.
Yinka Dare—Tragic Net. Always thought he’d be good. No.
Garry Templeton—Cardinal shortstop traded for Ozzie Smith. One of my all-time favorites.
Dave Fleming—Former Mariner pitcher, grew up up the street from me in Mahopac, N.Y.
Len Bias—The greatest of sports tragedies.
Sugar Ray Leonard—Watching him beat Marvin Hagler with my dad is an all-time life thrill.
Joe Barry Caroll—Underwhelming NBA center, no reason.
Keith Van Horn—I thought he was going to be an all-time great. Not even an all-time great Net.
Kevin Mench—Former Blue Hen, Ranger slugger. Huge head.
Tony Eason—Took a beating via the Bears in Super Bowl XX.
Tim Foli—I always loved his last name. OK shortstop.
Ray Rice—Super Bowl winner lives in my hometown.
Rick DiPietro—When hype trumps reality, we get the Islander goalie.
John Rocker—Needs no explanation.
Rodney Hampton—Giant halfback and team’s former all-time rushing leader. Just because.
Sammy Sosa—Fraud, phony.
Shawn Green—My favorite Jewish ballplayer, and a former Quaz.
Steve Sax—Dodger/Yankee second baseman always seemed cool to me.
Walter Payton—The greatest.
J.R. Rider—The worst.
Earnest Givens—I used to love the run ‘n’ shoot. And he was wickedly good.
Rebecca Lobo—Wife of Steve Rushin.
Babe Ruth—Had to throw a freebie in here.
George Rogers—Always thought he could have been better than he was, but still a boyhood fave.
Butterbean Vaughn—No reason.
Mike Scott—A star of my book, “The Bad Guys Won!”
Orlando Woolridge—Classic ’80s shooter who played no D while averaging 20. Loved him.
Ron Guidry—Yankee ace during my boyhood. At his best, as good as I’ve seen.
Spud Webb—My wife is 5-feet. She loves Spud.
Brian Sipe—I was a big New Jersey Generals fan back when the USFL reigned. Sipe was our QB.
Art Schlichter—I wanted him to be great. He wanted to gamble. Sad.
Ron LeFlore—Saga of prison-to-MLB inspired me as a boy.
Joe Rudi—No reason.
Mike Piazza—New book out this week placed him in my head.
Bo Jackson—Best athlete I’ve ever seen.
Jose Uribe—I wish I had a cool Spanish name like this.
Danny Schayes—Another tall Jew. That makes seven of us.
Popeye Jones—Big, big, big ears and a friendly guy.
J.D. Drew—I once saw “Passion of the Christ” before interviewing him, just for research’s sake.
