My OFFICIAL FINAL TOP THREE............IN ORDER!Fishhead said:This is for you Wilheim.
Your right.
It would not be fair to leave Bob Feller off of ANY Iowa athlete list such as this.
Hence, my top three goes to a FINAL FOUR!
So in no particular order, here they are.
NILE KINNICK
BOB FELLER
DAN GABLE
FRANK GOTCH
I can make a case for any of these being #1 on any given day.
[This message was edited by FISHHEAD on January 03, 2004 at 10:40 AM.]
[This message was edited by FISHHEAD on January 03, 2004 at 10:40 AM.]
1. NILE KINNICK
2. FRANK GOTCH
3. BOB FELLER
1. NILE KINNICK
The Iron man of Iron Men: Iowa football wasn't exactly a power in the world of college football in the 1930s as its neighbor to the north, Minnesota, was busy owning the Midwest. After going 2-13-1 and scoring a total of 82 points in 1937 and 1938, Dr. Eddie Anderson took over the head coaching job and Iowa went on to have a season for the ages winning games in dramatic fashion with a group of two way players outlasting several big-time powerhouses with specialists on offense and defense.
Kinnick had a flair for the dramatic making the game-winning play against Indiana choosing to throw for a fifteen yard touchdown pass rather than try the game-tying field goal. After an early 27-7 loss to Michigan, he took care of Wisconsin on a late touchdown pass for 19-13 win. Losing player after player to injury, Iowa had only 14 healthy players late against Purdue in the 4-0 win. Iowa upset No. 1 Notre Dame 7-6 using only 15 players with Kinnick punting 16 times for 731 yards including a 63-yard boot under a heavy rush pinning the Irish on the six-yard line late in the game. Many still consider it the greatest clutch punt in college football history. Kinnick also scored Iowa's only touchdown. The following week the "Iron man" team of Iowa upset the might Minnesota squad 13-9.
The Iron Man of the Iron Man team played 402 consecutive minutes before getting knocked out of the Northwestern game with a separated shoulder. Kinnick was the star of the show all year throwing for 638 yards and 11 touchdowns on only 31 passes and ran for 374 yards. In his career he gained 1,674 yards returning kickoffs for 604 yards. As a kicker, Kinnick punted 71 times in his career for a 39.9 average and hit 11 of 17 drop kicks. In 1939, Kinnick was involved in 16 of the 19 touchdowns (11 passing, 5 rushing) Iowa scored and responsive for 107 of Iowa's 130 points.
The Heisman speech: In perhaps the most eloquent Heisman speech ever given, Kinnick finished with this epic passage. "If you will permit me, I'd like to make a comment which in my mind is indicative, perhaps, of the greater significance of football, and sports emphasis in general in this country, and that is, I thank God I was warring on the gridirons of the Midwest, and not on the battlefields of Europe. I can speak confidently and positively that the players of this country, would much more, much rather struggle and fights to win the Heisman award, than the Croix de Guerre."
The "big" man on campus: Along with being the star of the football team, Kinnick was senior class president, a Phi Betta Kappa and a member of the national scholastic honor society.
The World War II fighter: Following his Iowa career, Kinnick chose to go to law school and join the Naval Air Corps Reserve. In 1943, Kinnick's fighter plane went down in the Caribbean sea on a training flight. In 1972, the University changed the name of Iowa Stadium to Kinnick Stadium to honor their hero.
Honors:
- College Football Hall of Fame - 1951
- Heisman Trophy - 1939
- Walter Camp Award - 1939
- Maxwell Award - 1939
- All-America - 1939
- Big Ten MVP - 1939
- No. 24 Iowa jersey retired
- Selected the greatest player in Iowa history by the fans - 1989
Gotch became an athletic super star for his times. He was in demand for public appearances everywhere. He starred in a play called "All About A Bout," and whenever he walked on stage he was greeted by a standing ovation. He was invited to the White House by President Teddy Roosevelt, and wrestled a Japanese jui jitsu expert in the East Hall, making the Japanese expert submit. He attended a Chicago Cubs baseball
Gotch traveled overseas with his play and was a huge hit. It seemed everywhere he went, fans wanted to see him. He made wrestling "big time" almost over night.
The fans clamored for a rematch between Gotch and Hackenschmidt, and it was held
"Disappointed as I was at Hack's defeat, I was pleased with the way the match had been conducted. I could see no fault with it. I had thought Hack would win but I had been wrong. The better man won." (The Ring, June 1931, page 45).
Earlier, in 1910, Gotch had defeated the great Polish wrestler Stanislaus Zbyszko in Chicago. The extremely powerful Zbyszko, who stood 5-10 and weighed nearly 245 pounds, was said to have won over 900 consecutive bouts before entering the ring against Gotch. Gotch won the first fall in seven seconds with a lateral drop, and the second fall in 27 minutes and 33 seconds. After beating Hackenschmidt a second time, Gotch was considered invincible. He was without question the top box-office draw in all of sports. He continued to wrestle until April 1, 1913, when he defeated another Russian strong man, George Lurich in Kansas City.
What Others Said About Gotch
Gotch is generally (but not unanimously) considered to be the greatest wrestler of all time. Here is what some of the other wrestlers and some of the writers of his era had to say about him:
- "In my opinion, Frank A. Gotch was the greatest professional wrestler of all time. I make this statement after seeing in action all the topnotch wrestlers of America and Europe from the time I began my sports writing career in Minneapolis in 1903 until my retirement in 1957.
"Gotch, standing five feet eleven and one-half inches and weighing 212 pounds in his prime, was a remarkable physical specimen. He was tremendously strong, amazingly fast and catlike in his movements. Frank was the master of all holds on offense and blocks for those holds on defense. He also mastered leverage to the nth degree and was the last work in courage." - George Barton, sports editor, Minneapolis Tribune. - "He was fast and quick as a lightweight. His speed was often the dominating factor in his toughest matches, and with this he had determination and utter disdain of opponents, fear and pain. There has never been his equal." - Sec Taylor, Des Moines Register, considered the dean of Midwestern sportswriters in the 1920s and 1930s.
- "The story of American wrestling at its greatest is the story of its most illustrious champion, Frank Gotch. He dominated the field. Through his extraordinary ability, he gained for wrestling many converts. It was Gotch's victories over the hitherto invincible Hackenschmidt that made him the post popular mat star in America and started a movement among college men to take up wrestling." - Nat Fleischer, publisher of The Ring magazine and author of the book From Milo to Londos. He ranked Gotch the No. 1 wrestler of all time.
- "The game and the fans had been good to me. I wasn't a Frank Gotch, but then no one else was either. I tried to come closest and maybe I did. I hope so." - Ed "Strangler" Lewis, in an interview in Sport Magazine, August, 1961.
- "As the idol of millions in he United States, Canada and Mexico, Gotch made wrestling a big-time sport in his day. He drew larger audiences than did the heavyweight champion of boxing when defending his title." The author called Gotch "the farm boy who had become the greatest wrestling champion of all time." - Mac Davis in his book 100 Greatest Sports Heroes.
- "Always I have freely admitted that Gotch is the greatest catch-as-catch-can wrestler of any time, past or present. Hackenschmidt agrees with me on this." - Dr. Roller, in a newspaper article in 1911.
- "No breath of suspicion ever attached itself to Frank Gotch. But by 1913 Gotch had run out of opponents and retired. When he left the ring, the golden age of wrestling came to an end." - Graeme Kent, The Pictorial History of Wrestling book.
- "To go back in wrestling history --- while I never saw Frank Gotch perform, I have, over the years, met several men who met him in the ring. They were Charley Cutler, Tom Jenkins, Farmer Burns, Charley Olson, Dr. B.F. Roller, Dan McLeod and Hjalmar Lundin. They were unanimous in that he had no peer." - author in article about Colorado wrestlers in the October 1974 issue of Denver Westerners' Roundup (page 17).
- "The best wrestlers I ever saw were Stecher, Caddock, Jenkins and of course Gotch," said George Hackenschmidt in 1958. He was walking down the street in New York City, and was spotted by Sec Taylor, sports editor of the Des Moines Register, who conducted a hasty interview and got this quote from the legendary Russian Lion.
- Tom Jenkins told Dr. Lloyd Appleton that Gotch was the greatest wrestler of them all. "He beat me and Hack, and that about tells it all," Jenkins told Appleton when he was the head coach at West Point, and Appleton was his assistant. Appleton related the story to Mike Chapman when Chapman interviewed him for a book in the 1980s.
- Though promoter Jack Curley often said Hackenschmidt was the greatest of all wrestlers (they were close friends), he apparently thought Gotch was even better. Here is what Curley wrote in the June 1931 issue of The Ring magazine about the second Gotch-Hackenschmidt match, in 1911: "Disappointed as I was at Hack's defeat, I was pleased with the way that match had been conducted. I could see no fault with it. I had thought Hack would win but I was wrong. The better man won." (page 45) He also wrote: "I have been asked, incidentally, whether I thought Gotch feared Hack. I do not. I believe Gotch feared nobody." Jack Curley, The Ring, June 1931).
This farm boy from Van Meter, Iowa was only 17 when he struck out eight members of the St. Louis Cardinals in three innings of an exhibition game. After this awesome display of pitching, Feller was advised to seek voluntary retirement from high school in order to sign a professional baseball contract. For 20 years, the teenage phenomena was known as "Bullet Bob" and "Rapid Robert." As a rookie, he struckout 15 batters in a single game, which at that time was an American League record. In 1940, Bullet Bob became the first American League pitcher to throw a complete game no-hitter on opening day.
At age 23, his career was interrupted by his four-year enlistment in the Navy. Upon entering the Navy, Feller became an anti-aircraft gunner aboard the U.S.S. Alabama and came out a highly decorated war veteran. He then re-entered Major League Baseball to regain his dominance on the mound. Even though his military career consumed four prime baseball years, Feller ranks 28th in history with 266 wins. He remains the Indians all-time leader in shutouts (46), strikeouts (2,581), innings (3,828) and All-Star appearances (8).
To this day, baseball historians speculate that Bullet Bob might have won 350 games and recorded nearly 3,500 strikeouts had he not joined the military. In 1962, this bullet hit the bulls-eye with an induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
What Others Said About Gotch
Gotch is generally (but not unanimously) considered to be the greatest wrestler of all time. Here is what some of the other wrestlers and some of the writers of his era had to say about him:
Gotch is generally (but not unanimously) considered to be the greatest wrestler of all time. Here is what some of the other wrestlers and some of the writers of his era had to say about him:
- "In my opinion, Frank A. Gotch was the greatest professional wrestler of all time. I make this statement after seeing in action all the topnotch wrestlers of America and Europe from the time I began my sports writing career in Minneapolis in 1903 until my retirement in 1957.
"Gotch, standing five feet eleven and one-half inches and weighing 212 pounds in his prime, was a remarkable physical specimen. He was tremendously strong, amazingly fast and catlike in his movements. Frank was the master of all holds on offense and blocks for those holds on defense. He also mastered leverage to the nth degree and was the last work in courage." - George Barton, sports editor, Minneapolis Tribune. - "He was fast and quick as a lightweight. His speed was often the dominating factor in his toughest matches, and with this he had determination and utter disdain of opponents, fear and pain. There has never been his equal." - Sec Taylor, Des Moines Register, considered the dean of Midwestern sportswriters in the 1920s and 1930s.
- "The story of American wrestling at its greatest is the story of its most illustrious champion, Frank Gotch. He dominated the field. Through his extraordinary ability, he gained for wrestling many converts. It was Gotch's victories over the hitherto invincible Hackenschmidt that made him the post popular mat star in America and started a movement among college men to take up wrestling." - Nat Fleischer, publisher of The Ring magazine and author of the book From Milo to Londos. He ranked Gotch the No. 1 wrestler of all time.
- "The game and the fans had been good to me. I wasn't a Frank Gotch, but then no one else was either. I tried to come closest and maybe I did. I hope so." - Ed "Strangler" Lewis, in an interview in Sport Magazine, August, 1961.
- "As the idol of millions in he United States, Canada and Mexico, Gotch made wrestling a big-time sport in his day. He drew larger audiences than did the heavyweight champion of boxing when defending his title." The author called Gotch "the farm boy who had become the greatest wrestling champion of all time." - Mac Davis in his book 100 Greatest Sports Heroes.
- "Always I have freely admitted that Gotch is the greatest catch-as-catch-can wrestler of any time, past or present. Hackenschmidt agrees with me on this." - Dr. Roller, in a newspaper article in 1911.
- "No breath of suspicion ever attached itself to Frank Gotch. But by 1913 Gotch had run out of opponents and retired. When he left the ring, the golden age of wrestling came to an end." - Graeme Kent, The Pictorial History of Wrestling book.
- "To go back in wrestling history --- while I never saw Frank Gotch perform, I have, over the years, met several men who met him in the ring. They were Charley Cutler, Tom Jenkins, Farmer Burns, Charley Olson, Dr. B.F. Roller, Dan McLeod and Hjalmar Lundin. They were unanimous in that he had no peer." - author in article about Colorado wrestlers in the October 1974 issue of Denver Westerners' Roundup (page 17).
- "The best wrestlers I ever saw were Stecher, Caddock, Jenkins and of course Gotch," said George Hackenschmidt in 1958. He was walking down the street in New York City, and was spotted by Sec Taylor, sports editor of the Des Moines Register, who conducted a hasty interview and got this quote from the legendary Russian Lion.
- Tom Jenkins told Dr. Lloyd Appleton that Gotch was the greatest wrestler of them all. "He beat me and Hack, and that about tells it all," Jenkins told Appleton when he was the head coach at West Point, and Appleton was his assistant. Appleton related the story to Mike Chapman when Chapman interviewed him for a book in the 1980s.
- Though promoter Jack Curley often said Hackenschmidt was the greatest of all wrestlers (they were close friends), he apparently thought Gotch was even better. Here is what Curley wrote in the June 1931 issue of The Ring magazine about the second Gotch-Hackenschmidt match, in 1911: "Disappointed as I was at Hack's defeat, I was pleased with the way that match had been conducted. I could see no fault with it. I had thought Hack would win but I was wrong. The better man won." (page 45) He also wrote: "I have been asked, incidentally, whether I thought Gotch feared Hack. I do not. I believe Gotch feared nobody." Jack Curley, The Ring, June 1931).
Fishhead said:
Sanderson dominated like NO OTHER WRESTLER BEFORE HIM. There is simply not one other instance where a wrestler dominated like he did. Then he went on the win the Olympics in his first try.
Sanderson is unrivaled. Plus he's the absolute definition of class and work ethic.
He's what every athlete in america should strive to be.
