ABC Series Part III – Sports Figures

I was driving recently and you know how car thoughts can be, random as hell. I don’t know why it popped in my head but I started thinking about a year long project my 5th grade Reading/English teacher had us do. It was an ABC booklet where we picked something that started with the corresponding letter and each Friday we presented our selection until we made it to Z.

We had to draw a picture and tell the class five facts about it. I had a lot of fun doing. All these years later, I still remember it so clearly it meant something to me. I decided to do an entire ABC series if you will, I am going to dive into several subcategories and list the first one that pops in my head from A-Z (first or last name). Then, I will list 5 thoughts about them. Part III will be sports figures.

A – Al Michaels

• Do You Believe in Miracles?
• One of the best broadcasters to ever do it.
• How much longer is he going to announce?
• I hope until the very end.
• Even at 74, dude still has it.

B – Barry Bonds

• Steroids or not, he was an amazing player.
• 73 Homeruns, a season I will never forget.
• The amount of times he walked is ridiculous.
• I would argue he was a better player before steroids.
• He played in the most pitcher friendly park.

C – Chad Johnson

• Ocho Cinco.
• He was my favorite receiver growing up.
• I love his cameo in the league.
• Child Please.
• Deangelo Fall.

D – Derek Jeter

• El Capitano.
• The greatest shortstop of all time.
• My wife and I witnessed a walk off hit through first and second during his farewell tour. That was an awesome moment to witness.
• My wife and I absolutely love him.
• He had the greatest send off of any athlete ever.

E – John Elway

• I wonder how he would be discussed if he didn’t win his second Super Bowl.
• He was one of the best scramblers ever.
• He was a gunslinger through and through.
• He has done terrible with the Broncos as an executive.
• I honestly am not a big Elway fan.

F – Leonard Fournette

• He is the only reason I watched LSU in recent years.
• He was an absolute stud in college.
• I would have never played my final season before being draft eligible.
• He was a man among boys.
• I wonder what he does this year for the Jags.

G – Tom Glavine

• Quite possibly my favorite pitcher ever.
• I love that he didn’t throw gas and made guys look silly.
• He knew how to get that backdoor 2 seam.
• I always felt like his game was my archetype growing up because I had no arm power.
• Crazy to think what pitchers are doing now.

H – Devery Henderson

• Speed demon.
• I still remember in 2008-09 season when he caught the wide open TD on primetime against the Pats.
• I remember how excited my mom and dad were when he was drafted in round 2 after missing Michael Clayton in round 1.
• I am glad he finished his career with the Saints.
• Thank you Devery!

I – Zlatan Ibrahimovic

• What a stud.
• I love his trash talk.
• I love his cheekiness.
• I love his tenacity.
• I love his quotes.

J – Michael Jordan

• I loathe him as a person.
• Without him, I wonder where the NBA would be.
• He is the GOAT to me by a slight margin.
• Most people suck at the Jordan/LeBron debate.
• He is a terrible owner.

K – Kevin Harlan

• My GOAT for announcing.
• Look up his video calling the streaker on prime-time football.
• There is never a moment too big for him.
• They should have him announce every championship.
• I want him to announce my life.

L – LeBron James

• I am excited to see what he does for LA this year.
• He will forever be one of my favorite players.
• I always wonder what would happen and how people would view the two if you put Jordan under the microscope of today’s NBA and LeBron in the 80s/90s.
• Ditto on talking about him and Jordan.
• He and Jordan are in a class of their own.

M – Lionel Messi

• The guy is a human cheat code.
• His scoring rate is absolutely insane.
• I actually watched a video of his handling and best goals the other day and he’s just so mesmerizing.
• Messi > Ronaldo
• I do wish he had more success in the World Cup though.

N – Steve Nash

• Speaking of crafty athletes like Messi, Nash is certainly one of them.
• Those Suns squads were so much fun to watch.
• He is another case of an athlete I wish hit his stride when I was a little older.
• I wanted the Lakers squad to work with him, Kobe and Howard. What a let down.
• Plus Kobe Beef and Nash Potatoes was a dope nickname.

O – Odell Beckham Jr.

• He is a complete enigma, but one of my favorite guys in the league.
• His one handed catch will forever be one of my favorites and one of the best holy shit moments in NFL history.
• I actually got a great picture of him doing one handers with Jarvis Landry during MPA.
• I don’t fault him for shitting on the Giants.
• Bring on the DAWG POUND!

P – Michael Phelps

• He is the best Olympian ever.
• I remember watching the last Summer Olympics closely with my wife which was awesome.
• It actually made the last Summer Games a lot of fun due to us both being super invested, which was mainly because of Phelps.
• The meme that came from it with his pouting face is legendary.
• If you want to see something insane, look up his diet and lactic acid deficiency. He is a total freak.

Q – Quentin Nelson

• He should have been offensive rookie of the year last year.
• O line never gets the love.
• But most of all…
• Never. EVER. Let anything distract you from the fact that…
• Quentin Nelson is the youngest of 39 cousins.

R – Alex Rodriguez

• He has always been one of my favorite players.
• I actually watched the home runs of his legendary playoff run back in 2009 recently.
• He was clutch as can be that entire playoff.
• I always hated how much Yankee fans loathed him.
• Dude better go to the hall of fame.

S – Sammy Sosa

• What a controversial career from the steroids (who cares) to the cork bat.
• The home run race between he and Mark McGuire was fantastic.
• It would have been great to see him win one with the Cubs.
• The real Sammy Sosa was Cory Matthews’ uncle.
• Maybe this is wrong but I feel like every time I go to a wedding in a church, I do the Sammy Sosa home run sign.

T – Tim Tebow

• He is number 15 in your programs, but number one in your hearts.
• In my opinion, he is the greatest college football player of all time.
• He was unbelievable with his play and confidence.
• His speech after losing is still one of the most legendary moments in college football.
• Yes, I was buying in hard on Tebow mania.

U – Usain Bolt

• He fast.
• He makes fast people look…not fast.
• I love his celebration pose.
• I still remember the first Olympics he competed in against Asafa Powell and the torch was passed.
• I wonder what his records would look like if he wasn’t slowing down to celebrate them as they were happening.

V – Vlad Guerrero

• When I think of Vlad, I think of moon bombs.
• He is one of the best baseball has ever seen and such a likable dude too.
• His son making waves is one of my favorite things happening in the sports world right now.
• Nothing in the vicinity of the plate was safe when he was at bat.
• I still can see him just digging balls out of the dirt for hits.

W – Wesley Sneijder

• The guy is a pitbull.
• I still contest he is one of the most underrated players ever.
• I remember his 2010 World Cup vividly because that was when I found out about him.
• To be able to outshine an international squad with guys like Robin Van Persie and Arjen Robben among others is fantastic.
• Don’t see me in FIFA if I have him on my team.

X – Xabi Alonso

• The first memory I have of Alonso was when we was kicked by Nigel De Jong in the 2010 World Cup.
• I just realized that 2010 was when I started knowing more futbol players with it being the first Men’s World Cup that I followed religiously.
• The Spain teams he was part of weren’t that exciting but effective. They were much like the Floyd Mayweather of futbol.
• “Only assholes call it Soccer.” -Rafi, The League
• His name is one of the most fun to scream while playing FIFA.

Y – Yasiel Puig

• Screw the unwritten rules of baseball.
• It needs more guys like Puig.
• I love that he is a total wildcard in a sport filled with mouth breathers.
• I am hoping he will finally crack the 30 home run mark this year.
• The dude has an absolute cannon.

Z – ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC

• I said what I said.
• He is on here twice because ZLATAN.
• No one is better than Zlatan.
• He is THE alpha of life.
• Welcome to ZLAtan.