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Hearing Band of Horses
Top 40 Sports Figures of 2006
Of the countless annual lists that come and go in the Decembers of our years, one in particular catches my eye. It's Information Leafblower's Top 40 Bands in America, which features many of my favorites artists and is decided upon collectively by the music indie rock blogging community. It also inspires what's gathered here for the first time ever: The Top 40 Sports Figures of 2006.
I asked upwards of 50 sites from all walks of the sports blogosphere -- football, hardball, roundball, college ball, hockey, racin', etc. -- to share the 10 figures (athletes, coaches, media types, etc.) that they covered the most on their sites this year. Three dozen bloggers responded -- voting for 226 different figures -- and the full results along with their commentary are found below.
Of course, "top" in this case is a subjective term, but the 40 people (well, 39 plus one hobbled horse) represented here are, on some level, the most interesting the sports world had to offer in 2006. Embattled Manning brother Eli makes the cut over pitch-perfect Peyton. Tiger Woods and Roger Federer, both on SI's Sportsman of the Year shortlist, get no support -- or at least interest -- from bloggers. And when I informed Bob Costas on this week's SBL that T.O. tops the list he compared it to Saddam Hussein being named Time's Person of the Year.
But enough with the back story. Thank you to all of the bloggers who participated here and have entertained all year long. Thank you to everyone out there who reads these sites and makes this medium a two-way conversation. And thank you to the sports figures we've come to know, love and loathe in equal measure. I hope you all enjoy the list and have happy holidays.
The Participants:
Diecast Dude, NFL FanHouse, Hoops Addict, Mistake by theLake Sporting Times, WBRS Sports Blog, The Offside, True Hoop, The Big Lead, Deadspin, The 700 Level, Sunday Morning Quarterback, Free Darko, The Sports Pulse, The Big Picture, Kissing Suzy Kolber, Baseball Musings, With Leather, NCAA Football FanHouse, Rumors and Rants, DC Sports Bog, Dave's Football Blog, The Basketball Jones, Every Day Should Be Saturday, The Hater Nation, Dan Shanoff, Awful Announcing, Sportz Assassin, Paul Katcher, Knuckle Curve, Off Wing Opinion, No Mas,Savedby the Blog, Lush Factor, We Are the Postmen, The Association and me, Mr. Irrelevant
1. Terrell Owens
"He's given us 25 million reasons to blog." -- NFL FanHouse
"He signs with a Tuna coached team, sits on a bike on the sidelines for most of training camp, has an overdose with more theories than the JFK shooting and he writes a kid's book about sharing and apologizing." -- WBRS Sports Blog
"The Eagles defeating the Cowboys in the return of T.O. was one of the most hyped games Philly has seen in years." -- The 700 Level
"The one man I hope to see injured every week. An abomination of a professional sportsman."-- Paul Katcher
2. Dwyane Wade
"Wade became the posterboy for the NBA when the Heat won a NBA Championship and he was one of the stars on Team USA this summer." -- Hoops Addict
3. LeBron James
"The guy captivates us with just about every move he makes. And those commercials are sweet." -- We Are the Postmen
4. Alex Rodriguez
"I have never felt more sympathy for a man with a $252,000,000 contract ... Watching him hit in the 8 spot in a playoff game was just embarrassing to watch and served as a nice way of summing up what A-Rod went through this past season." -- WBRS Sports Blog
"The SABRmetric fans argue — using the most modern of formulas — whether he's an under-appreciated commodity or a choker galore. The Photoshoppers plaster his face on every gay porno box cover they can find. The MySpace fraternity sets F5 on their keyboard to automatically spit out "A-Rod sucks." ... A-Rod = sports blog crack." -- Paul Katcher
5. Matt Leinart
"Instead of going pro, Leinart stays in school for his senior year only to watch his teammate win the Heisman, lose to Vince Young in the Rose Bowl, and have his draft stock pummel all the way to #10. He dates ParisHilton, impregnatesUSC women's basketballplayer BrynnCameron andalmost knocks off the Bears in what would have been the biggestNFLupset in years." -- WBRS Sports Blog
"Like Joe Namath, but with curly hair. And thanks to Paris Hilton, herpes." -- Every Day Should Be Saturday
6. Ben Roethlisberger
"Never mind that he won a Super Bowl. He smashed his face on a Chrysler at high speed, lost his appendix, got beat up behind a weak offensive line and JUST WON'T DIE!!!" -- Dave's Football Blog
7. Kobe Bryant
"He had that amazing 81 point game ... He hit a huge shot to win a playoff game. He changed his jersey number to 24. His Black Mamba photos were in Slam." -- Sportz Assassin
8. Gilbert Arenas
"Endlessly entertaining, an enthusiastic part of the blogosphere, actually answers his myspace messages, willing to take off his shirt to show bloggers his tattoos and has adopted a moniker bestowed by deranged Eastern Europe-obsessed blogfolks. What more could you want? Plus, he honestly believes he's just a normal guy. And sometimes I believe him. Plus, he's one of the greatest basketball players in the world." -- DC Sports Bog
9. Zinedine Zidane
"The headbutt heard round the world. We here at No Mas applaud. Any MFer calls your sister a whore, whether it's on the pitch of the World Cup final or in the bathroom at Yankee Stadium, you headbutt the [spit] out of that MFer. Word." -- No Mas
10. Barry Bonds
"Barry went drag, had a TV show, had it cancelled, lied in court, endured syringes tossed at him and no one really cared much if he hit some more home runs." -- The Sports Pulse
"His story becomes sadder with each passing day; why does someone that great need to saddle himself with so much baggage?" -- Knuckle Curve
11. Vince Young
"Started the year with a national championship but might be most remembered for scoring a 6 out of 50 on the Wonderlic test. A third-grader did better." -- The Sports Pulse
12. Isiah Thomas
"Imagine Reggie Jackson taking over the St. Louis Cardinals and turning them into such an irrelevant disgrace that you almost forgot he was a Hall of Fame player." --Paul Katcher
13. Harold Reynolds
"Hugs, fast-food chains, ESPN andprivate detectives.What's not to love?" -- The Big Lead
14. Reggie Bush
"Who bought the house? Who really cares who bought the house? Not going #1 to Houston, now that was the shocker." -- WBRS Sports Blog
15. Eli Manning
"The "lesser Manning" is far less talented, far less media savvy and just far less likeable ... We love covering the fall of Elisha, it's one of the greatest sports comedies of all time." -- Rumors and Rants
16. Barbaro
"Wow, this has Lifetime movie written all over it, except for the fact that we are talking about a horse, not a human being." -- WBRS Sports Blog
17. Dirk Nowitzki
"I was a Nowitzness! To this, this, this ..." -- The Basketball Jones
18. Ron Artest
"He got in the pool and kicked a year-long freestyle." -- The Basketball Jones
19. Alex Ovechkin
"In addition to being a wondrous hockey talent and money quote, he scored a hole-in-one the first time he ever set foot on a golf course. I'm serious when I say this: if he stays in Washington his entire career, the Caps will win at least one Stanley Cup." -- DC Sports Bog
"[He and Sidney Crosby] have the potential to do something special that you've never seen before every time they touch the ice." -- Off Wing Opinion
20. Albert Pujols
"Great player, probably shouldn't talk so much or staresolong at his home runs." -- Knuckle Curve
21. Michael Vick
"I nevermiss an opportunity to knock him, because he deserves it for spreading his disease among the women of Atlanta." -- Dave's Football Blog
22. Clinton Portis
"He gave Redskins fans everywhere at least one day of happiness this season when he became Dolemite Jenkins. Number 26 in your program on your injury report, number one in my heart." -- Saved by the Blog
23. Derek Jeter
"His overall worth a subject of debate for years, Jeter came through with what many considered an MVP season. Still up in the air: whether he did enough to quiet the storm surrounding A-Rod." -- Paul Katcher
"He got robbed of the MVP ... but ... his ever impressive stable of women added Jessica Biel." -- Lush Factor
24. J.J. Redick
"In a year filled with so much hate, Redick was my number one target. The guy writes poems, raps and played for Duke. What a perfect combo for mockery." -- Saved by the Blog
25. Jenn Sterger
"The quickest way to get an SI column? Skimpy clothes and plastic surgery." -- The Big Picture
"Instead of being the bigger people, we take her columns apart paragraph-by-paragraph. Hey, we're not proud of it, but therapy is often times embarassing, yeah?" -- We Are the Postmen
"Her SI advice columns have changed my life. I couldn’t tell you the topics of any of them, but they always include at least one photo of her." -- Saved by the Blog
26. Troy Smith
"I'm a Michigan fan. I don't want to talk about it." -- NCAA Football FanHouse
27. Jim Larranaga
"Larranaga is the only man in the history of Fairfax, Va. who is more important than George Mason himself." -- Saved by the Blog
28. Chris Berman
"Branyan ... GONE! Padres ... GONE! Cardinals ... GONE! ... to home!".......I couldn't understand this if my life depended on it." -- Awful Announcing
29. Art Shell
"He came out of retirement for a disastrous 2006 season that included hiring a bed-and-breakfast manager as his offensive coordinator and a bunch of guys wholook like they should be bed-and-breakfast managers ashis offensive linemen." --NFL FanHouse
"I wasthe first person on the anti-Art Shell bandwagon, starting the day he was hired." -- The Hater Nation
30. Chad Johnson
"Celebrations are down this season but the personality stands out as much as his yellow mohawk. I wish there were more like Chad in the NFL." -- The Sports Pulse
31. Bill Simmons
"I've bashed him to the point that it's not even fun anymore. Reading him back peddle after the World Series and David Eckstein won the MVP was priceless." -- Awful Announcing
32. Joe Buck
"If a sports blog could have a villain, Buck would be ours." -- The Big Picture
33. LaDainian Tomlinson
"Unless you live anywhere outside of America, LaDainian Tomlinson is the greatest football player there is." -- Rumors and Rants
35. Alfonso Soriano
"If it wasn’t for this man, I probably would’ve gone to about half the amount of Nats games as I did last season. Actually, they still serve beer and have $5 tickets, right? Nevermind, I’ll keep going even now that he’s gone, but I’ll miss the ‘Fonz." -- Saved by the Blog
36. Brett Favre
"Retire? Or not to retire? The best waswhen he had a press conference to say he stillwas not sure yet. Have a feeling the same situation will arise this offseason." -- The Sports Pulse
"A nation holds its breath as he approaches one of the most hallowed records in NFL history—the all-time interception record. Wrote that in July. It appeared on Deadspin. Tony K. reads Deadspin, and he finally broke that out on Monday night [in November]." -- The Hater Nation
37. Dennis Green
"The speech alone is more than enough for consideration. Throw in his actual coaching and you're looking at a dynamic comedic presence." -- Kissing Suzy Kolber
38. Mark Cuban
"A graduate of the very university we attend, Cuban wasoneofour idolsevenbefore we met him in a Bloomington, IN bar and snapped offafew hilarious photos. We had heard rumors aboutthis sort of behavior before. They were all true; the man was really, really drunk, flirting harmlessly with a few different college girls jocking him because, well, he's Mark Cuban. What a life." -- We Are the Postmen
39. Rex Grossman
"We've spent most of this year making fun of him because he's going to cost his otherwise outstanding team a shot at the Super Bowl title with his awful play." -- Rumors and Rants
"He's crazy, he cheated and he's f*cking awesome." -- Kissing Suzy Kolber
Others Receiving Votes (in Order):
Reggie Nelson, Tiger Woods, Tony Kornheiser, Allen Iverson, Bob Knight, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Ed Orgeron, Floyd Mayweather, Joe Theismann, Landon Donovan, Michael Irvin, Peter King, Peyton Manning, Roger Goodell, Ryan Howard, Sidney Crosby, Albert Haynesworth, Alecko Eskandarian, Bill Cowher, Bruce Arena, Carl Monday, Clint Dempsey, David Ortiz, Don Cherry, Donovan McNabb, Ellis T. Jones, Greg Schiano, Joe Gibbs, Leigh Bodden, Steve Nash, Tony Stewart, Charlie Weis, Chris Henry, Chris Paul, David Stern, Don Mattingly, Drew Gooden, Floyd Landis, Gary Bettman, Jeff Gordon, Larry Coker, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Sam Cassell, Sean Taylor, Skip Bayless, Steve Smith, Steve Spurrier, Team USA, Tiki Barber, Tony Romo, Trevor Hoffman, Urban Meyer, Will Clark, Amare Stoudemire, Anna Benson, Aramis Ramirez, Brady Quinn, Buck O'Neill, Darren McFadden, Jaromir Jagr, Jeff Bowden, Jered Weaver, Jimmie Johnson, Johan Santana, Kris Benson, Mark Shapiro, Norv Turner, Sal Fasano, Tom Brady, Adam Morrison, Bobby Boswell, Brandon Webb, Bryan Colangelo, C.C. Sabathia, Calvin Johnson, Denny Hamlin, Floyd Patterson, Galactus, Jake Plummer, Jason Giambi, Jason Whitlock, Johnny Wier, Lamar Odom, Michael Strahan, Sean Payton, Stephen Walkon, Stephon Marbury, Tim Tebow, Travis Hafner, William Wesley, Aaron Rowand, Adrian Peterson, Brandon Roy, Chris Bosh, Chris Simms, Daniel Snyder, Dwight Gooden, Hines Ward, Jake Peavy, Jarome Inginla, Jhonny Peralta, Kevin Harvick, Mike Cooper, Ramone Taylor, Scott Boras, Shaquille O'Neal, Shaun Alexander, Yao Ming, Arturo Gatti, Bill Lester, Brett Myers, Carmelo Anthony, Chad Hedrick, Charlie Frye, Joe Girardi, Joe Thornton, John L. Smith, Kenny Rogers, Lamarr Woodley, Marcus Vick,Pau Gasol, Paul Tagliabue, Roger Clemens,Shani Davis, Steve Hutchison, Tim McCarver, Andy Reid, Brian Urlacher, Chris Leak, Chris Pronger, David Beckham, Emmitt Smith, Erin Andrews, Erin Crocker, Giorgio Chinaglia, Grady Sizemore, Kevin Garnett, Manu Ginobili, Mark Brunell, Marques Colston, Nomar Garciaparra, O.J. Simpson, Ozzie Guillen, Pat White, Randy Johnson, Ricky Manning Jr, Rockies SP, Steve Slaton, Bode Miller, Braylon Edwards, Chase Utley, Duke Lacrosse Team, Jerome Bettis, Kenny Chesney, Kirk Herbstreit, Matt Kenseth, Matthew McConnaughey, Robert Sarver, Rod Brind'Amour, Ted Leonsis, Tony Parker, '86 Mets, Bill Walton, Brent Musberger, Carlos Beltran, Damon Jones, Jerry Porter, Jimmy Rollins, Joakim Noah, Joey Porter, John Buccigross, John Daly, Lou Holtz, Mike James, Mike Leach, Pedro Martinez, Randy Moss, Ricky Williams, Ryan Pontbriand, Scarlett Johansson, Steven A. Smith, T.J. Ford, Terry Labonte and Tracy McGrady
Wait, Is T.O. the 'Sportsman of the Year'? [Dan Shanoff]
T.O. Is No. 1 [Philadelphia Inquirer]
Sports Figures I Blogged About Most in 2006 [Paul Katcher]
Top 10 Athletes of the Year [Saved by the Blog]
Terrell Owens: Top Sports Figure of 2006 [NFL FanHouse]
The Top Ten Figures In College Football, 2006 [NCAA Football FanHouse]
End of the Year Top 10 [Lush Factor]
Welcome, Mr. Irrelevant Readers [Knuckle Curve]
AOL's Top 40 Sports Figures of 2006 [The Sports Pulse]
Top 40 [Yanksfan vs. Soxfan]
Bloggers Top 40 Sports Figures in 2006 [The 700Level]
Mr. Irrelevant's Top 40 Sports Figures of 2006 [Sports by Brooks]
A Post Used as a Shoutout [We Are the Postmen]
Top 40 Sports Figures of 2006 [Detroit Bad Boys]
Top 10 Athletes of the Year [Sportz Assassin]
Top 40 Sports Figures of 2006 [The Big Picture]
THN Sports Figure of the Year [The Hater Nation]
Top 10 Sports Figures of the Year [WBRS Sports Blog]
NASCAR Fans, We Still Get No Love [Diecast Dude]
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What about Lovie Smith? Or Tony Dungy, for that matter. -
The fact that a 3rd grader could beat Vince Young on the Wonderlic test made him top 10 material for me. After that, it was "Can do this do any worse preparing for the draft?" I guess it was all uphill after that.
Great list Jamie. Thanks again for the invite to contribute.
The Sports Pulse -
There was once a time where Jamie would go to me for stuff like this. Those days are no longer.
Christ... I have nowhere left to go but Mommy Blogging. When they no longer care, I'll be the first AOL Journaler to go full circle and return to keeping a private pen/paper diary. -
Where the hell is Manny Ramirez? If there ever was a more no-speaking guy who gets attention for both his play on the field and curious antics on the field, and has more said about him with absolutely NO re-buttal by him, I can't believe that Nomar Garciaparra is on this list and Manny is not.
11/5/07 2:32 AM