In the late 1970s and during the 1980s, the NHL saw the rise of two new dynasties in the New York Islanders and Edmonton Oilers – both teams were blessed with a plethora of Hall of Fame forwards (e.g. Bryan Trottier and Mike Bossy for the Islanders, Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, and Jari Kurri for the Oilers, just to name a few), star goalies (Billy Smith in New York, Grant Fuhr/Andy Moog in Edmonton), and on the blue line, offensively gifted defensemen in Denis Potvin (Islanders) and Paul Coffey (Oilers). With multiple Norris Trophies and over 1,000 career points apiece, these two Hall of Fame blueliners are among the greatest defensemen in league history – from their jaw-dropping statistics to individual accolades to team successes, it is only natural to compare the pair and ask:
Though it has become devalued in the NFL in recent years, the running back position used to be the centerpiece of a football team’s offense, with many franchises using top draft picks on potential workhorse backs. Before he became infamous as an alleged murderer, O.J. Simpson was a #1 overall draft pick and would go on to become the first player to rush for 2,000 yards in a season; a few years later, another #1 overall pick in Earl Campbell would take the league by storm with his bruising and powerful running style, and nearly match Simpson’s 2,000-yard season. As two of the greatest #1 overall picks ever, running backs of the 1970s, and running backs in NFL history overall, let us set aside off-the-field issues and compare these two Hall of Famers to answer the question:
Though the NBA in the 1970s may not have had the transcendent superstar power and great rivalries of the decades directly before and afterwards (Wilt Chamberlain vs. Bill Russell in the 1960s, Larry Bird vs. Magic Johnson in the 1980s), and faced a legitimate competitive threat in the upstart American Basketball Association (ABA), it was nevertheless a high-flying era with no shortage of legendary players. At the point guard position, two flashy floor generals who stood out during this time were Nate “Tiny” Archibald and Walt “Clyde” Frazier – one was a dynamic playmaker and explosive scoring threat in his prime, while the other was an early prototype “big” point guard who was as colorful off the court as on it. Both Hall of Famers, let us reminisce on this pair of brilliant 1970s point guards and pose the question:
While Mike Schmidt was the dominant third baseman in the NL during the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s (and arguably the best at the position in all of baseball), the AL also had its share of elite players at the hot corner during this time, chief among them Wade Boggs and George Brett. Even though their careers overlapped for more than a decade and both are members of the rarified 3,000-career hit club, the two were very different types of players – Boggs the ultimate hit machine and Brett more of an all-around hitter. Nevertheless, as two of the greatest third basemen in MLB history, the question that thus arises is:
During the 2011 NFL season, Jared Allen of the Minnesota Vikings and DeMarcus Ware of the Dallas Cowboys were engaged in a fierce race to break Michael Strahan’s single-season sack record of 22.5 sacks. While both players would ultimately fall just short of surpassing that mark (22.0 and 19.5 sacks, respectively), this sack race was a microcosm of each player’s greatness as a pass rusher. For the better part of a decade each, Allen and Ware were among the most feared pass rushers in the NFL, wreaking havoc in the backfields of opposing offenses – given their almost perfectly overlapping playing days and similar career sack totals, it makes sense to line them up side-by-side and pose the question:
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