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Archive for the tag “Mount Rushmore”

02 Apr 2015
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Updated with Poll: The College Basketball Active Coaching Mount Rushmore

Update: As you may recall, we are trying to decide the active coaching Mount Rushmore (see below or click here).  So far, we have selected Coach K, Tom Izzo, and Rick Pitino.  We need help deciding the fourth member of the group.  We have had good arguments for Jim Boeheim, John Calipari, Billy Donovan, and Roy Williams.  We will decide via the following poll.  As they say in Chicago, vote early and often… ha ha ha.  Thanks in advance.

Thanks again!

Original article:

In the past, the Confidential had some fun with Mount Rushmores for each ACC school.  We picked three spots and let fans pick the 4th spot.  Today, the focus is on college basketball as a whole–specifically, the active coaches.  It should be pretty easy to guess a few of the names, but rounding out the 4th (and eliminating the others in the process) may be difficult.  In any event, here is the list… you can vote on who gets #4.

The first spot… Coach K.

There is no need to reinvent the wheel here.  This is how we described him over a year ago:

If it needs to be explained, you haven’t been following sports since Jimmy Carter was running the country.  You want longevity?  30+ years at Duke.  You want success?  The most wins of any mens’ basketball coach ever.  You want national titles?  How about four of them for Duke in his tenure.  Throw in some gold medals and the absence of serious controversy, and you’ve got yourself one of the easiest Mount Rushmore spots ever.

This applies to active basketball coaching as well.  More recently, he is now over 1,000 wins and is back in the running for another national title.

The second spot… Tom Izzo. 

Sure, this is a bit knee-jerk.  But Izzo just took a 7-seed to the Final Four.  “Only” one national championship, but how about seven Final Fours in 20 years of coaching.  And 9 Elite Eights and 13 Sweet Sixteens.  Other than Coach K, who else has that kind of resume?

Well, maybe the next guy.  The third spot… Rick Pitino.

Pitino has two championships, one with Kentucky and one with Louisville.  Pitino also has seven Final Fours, including one with Providence.  Like Izzo, there is a sense (well-founded) that Louisville will be a better team in March than December.

The fourth spot?  The Confidential will leave this to you.  Here are some names to consider voting for the 4th spot:

  • Jim Boeheim
  • Roy Williams
  • John Calipari
  • Billy Donovan
  • Bill Self
  • Thad Matta
  • Bob Huggins
  • Anyone else?

Anyway, let us know who deserves the 4th spot and why…

 

Posted by acaffrey in Mount Rushmore, Opinion, Poll and tagged , , , , , , ,
30 Mar 2015
11 Comments

The College Basketball Active Coaching Mount Rushmore

In the past, the Confidential had some fun with Mount Rushmores for each ACC school.  We picked three spots and let fans pick the 4th spot.  Today, the focus is on college basketball as a whole–specifically, the active coaches.  It should be pretty easy to guess a few of the names, but rounding out the 4th (and eliminating the others in the process) may be difficult.  In any event, here is the list… you can vote on who gets #4.

Read more…

Posted by acaffrey in Mount Rushmore, Opinion and tagged , , , , , , ,
19 Feb 2014
6 Comments

ACC School Mount Rushmores: Syracuse’s Most Hated!

Once upon a time, we had some fun with Syracuse’s Mount Rushmore (as we did with all the school Mount Rushmores).  The final Syracuse Mount Rushmore: Jim Boeheim, Jim Brown, Ben Schwartzwalder, and Ernie Davis.  You can go there to read the reasons why those four were chosen.  But if Syracuse was to create a “most-hated” Mount Rushmore, who would be on it?

Read more…

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Mount Rushmore, Opinion, Poll and tagged , , , , , , ,
01 Oct 2013
3 Comments

The ACC School Mount Rushmores: Louisville FINAL

The Louisville Mount Rushmore was a tough one.  The general consensus was that–while Johnny Unitas was a superstar–his star was so NFL-related as to question his inclusion in a Louisville Mount Rushmore.  The Confidential is not too bold as to ignore criticism.  Where, as here, there is a legitimate beef, the Confidential listens.  We removed Unitas from the list.

With two holes to fill, the decision becomes a bit easier.  Darrell Griffith is beloved to Louisville hoops fans.  Unlike Unitas, he did most of his real damage in college–benefiting the program directly.  He left school as the all-time leading scorer.  His jersey has been retired.  He won a national championship.  He even earned the moniker Dr. Dunkenstein–an exciting player coming before Phi Slamma Jamma and Michael Jordan.  He would have been #4, but now he is #3.

The battle for #4 becomes tougher.  On the one hand, Rick Pitino just won a national championship.  On the other hand, Rick Pitino is at Louisville because of athletic director Tom Jurich.  Although the Confidential’s initial thought was to defer Jurich for a later edition, the fan outcry was significant.  Jurich hired Pitino.  He hired Charlie Strong. Both of those programs are top 10 and headed to our beloved ACC.  He has been in charge of Louisville’s rapid climb in revenue–despite the paltry sums generated by the TV revenue from Big East (and lesser conference) membership.  Louisville sports is as powerful as it has ever been–and most of that is due to the efforts of Tom Jurich.  Someday he will have a field, arena, or stadium named after him.  For now, he will have to settle for a spot on the Confidential’s Louisville Mount Rushmore.

The Final Louisville Mount Rushmore: Denny Crum, Howard Schnellenberger, Darrell Griffith, and Tom Jurich.

Other Mount Rushmores:

  1. Maryland Preliminary   Maryland Final
  2. Boston College    Boston College Final
  3. Wake Forest   Wake Forest Final
  4. Miami   Miami Final
  5. Virginia Tech   Virginia Tech Final
  6. Syracuse   Syracuse Final
  7. Virginia   Virginia Final
  8. Pittsburgh  Pittsburgh Final
  9. North Carolina State  North Carolina State Final
  10. Clemson   Clemson Final
  11. Georgia Tech  Georgia Tech Final
  12. Louisville
  13. Notre Dame
  14. Duke
  15. North Carolina
  16. Florida State

For more on the Louisville decisions, see the original discussion…

Read more…

Posted by acaffrey in Mount Rushmore, Opinion and tagged , , , , , , , ,
30 Sep 2013
3 Comments

The ACC School Mount Rushmores: Georgia Tech FINAL

We left it up to the fans to decide the final two spots.  And we are not ready to announce the final Georgia Tech Mount Rushmore.

There was a clamoring of support for John Heisman, of Heisman Trophy fame.  Fair enough.  The trophy alone is a reason to give him some consideration.  Although he spread out his work over several schools, he did win 100 games for Georgia Tech–in an era of 9 game seasons.  And he spent most of his time with the Yellow Jackets.  That’s good enough for the Confidential to land the third spot.

The fourth spot is tougher.  But Bobby Cremins really put Georgia Tech on the hoops map–especially during the glory days of the 1980s.  Moreover, he took over a struggling program–and yet made it nationally relevant.   Nine straight Big Dance appearances during one particular span.

So that gives us a Georgia Tech Mount Rushmore of: Dodd, Price, Heisman, and Cremins.

Other Mount Rushmores:

 

 

  1. Maryland Preliminary   Maryland Final
  2. Boston College    Boston College Final
  3. Wake Forest   Wake Forest Final
  4. Miami   Miami Final
  5. Virginia Tech   Virginia Tech Final
  6. Syracuse   Syracuse Final
  7. Virginia   Virginia Final
  8. Pittsburgh  Pittsburgh Final
  9. North Carolina State  North Carolina State Final
  10. Clemson   Clemson Final
  11. Georgia Tech
  12. Louisville
  13. Notre Dame
  14. Duke
  15. North Carolina
  16. Florida State

For more on the Georgia Tech decisions, see the original discussion…

Read more…

Posted by acaffrey in Mount Rushmore, Opinion and tagged , , , , , , , ,
04 Sep 2013
2 Comments

The ACC School Mount Rushmores: Florida State

Continuing with our Mount Rushmores… the last school left… Florida State.  Look, we all watched the game Monday.  Obviously, we are going to have Jameis Winston on the Florida State Mount Rushmore.  See who joins him…

Read more…

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Mount Rushmore, Opinion and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
29 Aug 2013
3 Comments

The ACC School Mount Rushmores: Virginia Tech FINAL

This was a tough one to finalize.  On the one hand, Michael Vick was an outstanding player–and an outstanding athlete.  On the other hand, has any player brought more negative attention to himself, criminally, short of murdering someone?  On yet one other hand, however, Michael Vick did his time, as they say.  And nobody has ever suffered a more severe punishment for animal abuse issues.  And then you have to factor in an absence of a true candidate for the fourth spot.  There are some decent athletes, but nobody with much real oomph.  So… despite his issues, the Confidential has to pick Michael Vick for the fourth spot.

The Final Virginia Tech Mount Rushmore:  Frank Beamer, Bruce Smith, Dell Curry, and Michael Vick.

The original article…

Read more…

Posted by acaffrey in Mount Rushmore, Opinion and tagged , , , , , , ,
19 Aug 2013
5 Comments

The ACC School Mount Rushmores: Clemson FINAL

The Clemson final spot did not prove to be overly difficult.  Although there was some debate over Larry Nance, with Horace Grant being suggested, it is hard to overlook Nance’s taking Clemson farther than anyone else AND having a stellar NBA career.

For the fourth spot, however, we are going with Banks McFadden. Although his name sounds like it should be in a movie… like Dodgeball… the guy was a stellar athlete a long time ago.  Consider this biography:

He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1959 . . . McFadden is widely considered to be the greatest athlete in Clemson University history, lettering in three sports (football, basketball and track). In 1939, McFadden was voted the Associated Press’ “Athlete of the Year”. McFadden was also a two-time All-American in basketball (1938 and 1939) and lead the Tigers basketball team to a Southern Conference championship in 1939. Upon graduating, McFadden played football for the National Football League’s Brooklyn Dodgers. McFadden fought in World War II and upon returning to the United States went into coaching.

On September 19, 1987, Clemson University retired his basketball No. 23 and football No. 66.

So, there you go, a retired jersey in TWO sports.  Not many players get that type of recognition.

The Final Verdict for the Clemson Mount Rushmore:  Danny Ford, Frank Howard, Larry Nance, and Banks McFadden!

Read more…

Posted by acaffrey in Mount Rushmore, Opinion and tagged , , , , , ,
17 Aug 2013
5 Comments

The ACC School Mount Rushmores: Pittsburgh FINAL

Well, there were not too many comments on the Pittsburgh Mount Rushmore, making it a challenge for the Confidential.  Ultimately, the Confidential is going with Mike Ditka.  People forget how good he was a Pitt–an All-American tight end that led the team in receiving for all three years.  From there, he solidified his name as a NFL player and coach.  While he has had some controversially dumb things to say, there is no question that he is the epitome of “toughness,” which is an attribute that is associated with Pittsburgh, in general.

Pop Warner had great success, but he had success in a lot of places.  And his replacement had even more success.  Johnny Majors had a great peak with a National Championship, but then departed for his alma mater.  Hugh Green was the real challenger to Ditka.  But Green’s college dominance is offset by notable lack of accomplishment on or off the field thereafter.  Great player, but falls slight short of being an icon.

The Final Pittsburgh Mount Rushmore:  Tony Dorsett, Dan Marino, Jock Southerland, and Mike Ditka.

Read more…

Posted by acaffrey in Mount Rushmore, Opinion and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,
15 Aug 2013
8 Comments

The ACC School Mount Rushmores: Virginia FINAL

Well, there were not too many comments on the Virginia Mount Rushmore, making it a challenge for the Confidential.  Ultimately, the Confidential is going with Claudio Reyna.  For those who are not soccer fans, Reyna had a pretty dominant tenure at Virginia:

Highly recruited out of high school, Reyna elected to attend the University of Virginia from 1991–1993 on a full-ride scholarship. While at Virginia, he spent three seasons on the men’s soccer team, coached by future U.S. national team coach Bruce Arena. The Cavaliers would go on to win the NCAA championship each of his three seasons. On an individual level, Reyna won the Hermann Trophy in 1993 and the MAC Award in 1992 and 1993; and was named the 1992 and 1993 Soccer America Player of the Year. In 2000, the magazine placed him on its Team of the Century and named him the male player of the century.

That’s a pretty darn impressive three years of college.  His post-Virginia career has been full of accolades, as well.  He is considered one of the all-time best American soccer players ever.

The Final Virginia Mount Rushmore:  Ralph Sampson, Dawn Staley, Herman Moore, and Claudio Reyna.

Read more…

Posted by acaffrey in Mount Rushmore, Opinion and tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

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