Who was your favorite athlete as a kid?

Baseball: Biff Pocoroba and Dale Murphy
Football: Jimmy Streater and Golden Richards
Basketball: Ernie & Bernie
Nascar: Darrell Waltrip

 

Baseball: Mickey Lolich
Football: Bob Thornbladh (former Michigan fullback from my hometown)
Basketball: A high-school kid named Earvin Johnson
Hockey: Alex Delvecchio
Soccer: Trevor Francis
Boxing: Tommy Hearns
Tennis: Andre Agassi
Golf: Jack Nicklaus

 

Amendment:

Wrestling: Bruno Samartino

 

Baseball: Harmon Killebrew
Football: NFL: Bart Starr, AFL: Billy Cannon, CFL: Leo Lewis
Basketball: Bob Cousy
Hockey: Rod Gilbert
Boxing: Tony Zale (retired before my time but my Dad told me stories)
Tennis: Ken Rosewall
Golf: Jack Niclaus
Car Racing: Juan Manuel Fangio

 

I'm still a kid, really. Comparatively.


I mean, as a kid, not as a teenager. Who is the first player who really got you interested in a sport?

Here's the shell

Baseball: Sid Bream because he made my dad and I happy people with one slide.
Football: Antonio Langham (First guy I remember just always rooting for)
Basketball: Larry Bird
Hockey: Hated Hockey
Soccer: Hated Soccer
Boxing: Mike Tyson
Tennis: Andre Agassi
Golf: Hated Golf
NASCAR: Davey Allison (had to add Davey )

 

Baseball: Duke Snider, Gil Hodges
Football: Sam Huff
Basketball: Bill Russell
Hockey: Andy Bathgate
Tennis: Rod Laver
Boxing: Floyd Paterson, then Ali

 

Joe Montana
Dwight Evans
Larry Bird
Cam Neely

 

Damn, I had you taking Rabbit Maranville in the pool.

 

Baseball: Ken Griffey, Jr.
Football: Steve Largent
Basketball: Xavier McDaniel and Dale Ellis
Tennis: Andre Agassi
Golf: Fred Couples (my dad always liked him)

 

Baseball: Nolan Ryan
Football
: O.J. Simpson
Basketball
: Jerry West
Hockey: Marcel Dionne
Soccer: none
Boxing: Joe Frazier
Tennis: Jimmy Conners
Golf
: Jack Nicklaus

Auto racing: Bobby Unser

 

Love this thread.

Baseball: Cal Ripken Jr.
Football: Rocky Bleier
Basketball: Manute Bol
Hockey: Mario Lemieux
Soccer: N/A
Boxing: Sugar Ray Leonard
Tennis: Jennifer Capriati/Gabriela Sabatini
Golf: N/A

 

Baseball: Tim Raines
Football: Steve Largent
Basketball: Michael Jordan
Hockey: Trevor Linden
Soccer: Carl Valentine
Boxing: Lennox Lewis
Tennis: Boris Becker
Golf: Greg Norman