There was an article on yahoo today that got me thinking. Supposedly a lot of historians are gathering together to make up a new list of the 7 wonders o f the world since all (with the exceptions of the great pyramids) of the original wonders have been destroyed over the years.
Then I thought to myself "if I had to make a list of the 7 wonders of the sports world, what would they be."
These 7 wonders of the sports world must be something that not only defines sports. It must be something used when trying to tell the history of sports in general. These 7 wonders can be players, teams, stadiums, symbols or events. Here we go (In no particular order):
1. John Wooden - He has to be used when not only defining college basketball, but college sports in general. The man did coach the Bruins to 11 NCAA titles and win 88 games in a row. We know all the stats. But he was an ambassador for the sport as well. He wrote many books was honored by the president of the united states, has awards named after him and the list goes on. He's not just a sport coach but a life coach.
2. New York Yankees - I am a boston fan and I hate to say this but you can not tell the story of baseball without mentioning the New York Yankees. The heritage, the players (gherig, ruth, dimaggio, etc) and the pinstripes. They have redefined how the sport is run (for good or for bad) in recent past with their enormous spending. But without a salart cap, can they be blamed. Admit it, you wish your owned was Steinbrenner too.
3. Jackie Robinson - I really dont' want to have to put people on this list, but this is a no brainer. The man broke the color barier for all sports, not just baseball. He was an incredible athlete, person and human being (are person and human being the same? It sounded good when I wrote it, so I'm sticking to it). The man is so great that EVERY team in the MLB retired his number so that nobody can use his number, and rightfully so.
4. Vince Lombardi trophy - I wanted to put this up here for the sole reason as it is the only trophy that anyone can name. As you should becuase its named after a person that I wanted to put on this list, but I'm going to go a different route to spice up things. If you want a description of him, just look at Wooden's.
5. St. Andrews golf course - This is where I'm going to start to offend some "sports" fans becuase I'm putting golf on here. But I don't care. Golf arguable is older than almost all professional sports with the exception to soccer. It is where the sport was born and created. Known by most pro golfers as their favorite course. You can feel the history when you see it on TV. It almost feels like you can feel the past and see if before your very eyes. Pretty amazing to think that this course has been played on for hundreds of years and its still difficult to break par. If you were offended though by this one.... just wait till you see the next one.
6. The number "3" - Is for the 3 pointer being created? Nope. Is it for the number of periods in hockey? Nope. Its the number that Dale Earnheart had on his car for his entire career. Yeah I know its Nascar. But here me out. Seriously. Here me out. Your probably already saying that I should have Don King for boxing, or "insert name" for ultimate fighting championship, hulk hogan for wrestling or even the "ace of spades" for poker because they are all deserving to be a sport if Nascar is. Well believe me.... I've been trying to come up with a definition for defining a sport for a long time. And an article is sure to come in the near future that will end this argument hopefully forever. But... back to my point. It is the most watched piece of entertainment that does require some physical activity on TV AND in person. That does say something. I'll tell you this much as well. If you ever watch a Nascar event, like I emplore most sport fans to do. You shouldn't judge a sport if you've never watched it. Sit through the Daytona 500, its always on the same weekend as the NBA all star game. If you watch is from start to finish and say you didnt' find it entertaining, then your opinion stands. I was dared to by my girlfriend who I will refer to as the Sports Queen as she is a huge Nascar fan. "Are you scared that you might like it?" was her question. And she was right, I did like it.
7. The World Cup - This event can not be defined. Its magnitude is amazing. It is an event that just captivates the world. Its so huge that the rating of the World Cup final in 2006 was over 3 TIMES that of the Super Bowl. Thats pretty amazing. I myself did find myself watching it sparsely. Its a great event that captivates the world. Its sad becuase this is how the olympics should be because its about friendly competition between all countryies where every country really feels like it has a chance to do something special. With scores mostly being 1-0 or 2-1, it really only takes a break here or there for an upset to occur and for a smaller country like Camaroon, Liberia or Tabego to take out a champion like England, Brazil and France. Just amazing.
Almost but not enough to make the list:
1. Olympic Rings
2. Michael Jordan
3. Mahamed Ali
4. Super Bowl
5. ESPN
