Posted by Teddy Panos, Sun Staff
Remember the old joke about going to a fight and having a hockey game break out? Well, Monday night, Carmine Frongillo and I went to a debate and a pep rally broke out!
We’d come up with the idea of doing a SunTalk Live show asking who was the best athlete ever to come out of the Merrimack Valley. On the surface, the debate seemed rather simple.
When you have Tom Glavine, a 300-game/2-time Cy Young winner who hails from Billerica, Westford native Pat Bradley, who is one of only 25-women ever inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame, and a world class boxer from Lowell named Micky Ward, who will soon have Academy Award nominee Mark Wahlberg portraying him in an upcoming flick, you wouldn’t think there’d be much room for others to enter the discussion.
The first hint that the topic created a buzz came Sunday, when wedding goers at my church stopped to offer the their suggestions before going on to greet the bride and groom in the receiving line. Thankfully for the bride’s sake, her new hubby wasn’t one of them. It continued Monday, when names I hadn’t even considered were thrown out during a golf outing. (Poor Tom Fitzgerald gets overlooked on two counts: once for being from Billerica, which we all know is the new legal first name of Billerica’s Tom Glavine, and once for not winning two Stanley Cups, something Acton-Boxboro legend Tom Barrasso accomplished)
Yet the fun really began once we opened up the phone lines Monday night. (You can watch the broadcast by visiting the SunTalk Live link at lowellsun.com) One lady made a passionate case for a boxer whose existence I’ve yet to verify. Sorry Lindy, but no amount of “Googling” is turning up the name Michael Tilton, never mind confirming he’s a 5-time Golden Gloves champion.
One chap brought back memories by voting for Dwayne Artis. The caller’s name? None other than Dwayne Artis himself. Sorry Dwayne, but while a 5-foot-9 high schooler who could dunk in games when dunking was still a big deal is quite impressive, you weren’t even the best player on your team. We’ll give that honor to Tracey Mitchell, who almost made the Celtics roster in the days when a guy named Bird presided over training camp at Hellenic College.
As Carmine and I continued to banter about all the locals who’ve gone on to athletic greatness, the discussion became more of a celebration. It’s safe to say both of us, already fully aware of the area’s rich sporting history, ended up truly amazed at just how deep the region’s talent pool is.
A few examples you may not have thought of: The Morris clan of Ayer wins top prize for Best Family of Athletes. It’s easy to recall Joe winning a Super Bowl with the New York Giants, but how many of you realize brother Jamie, besides being a champion sprinter, is also the University of Michigan’s career receptions leader for running backs, not to mention holder of the NFL record for carries in a single game by lugging the pigskin 45-times for the Redskins on December 17, 1988?
How about the contributions from the ice wars, where the aforementioned Fitzgerald and Barrasso are joined by Chelmsford’s Phil Bourque (another 2-time Cup winner) and Keith Aucoin. Billerica native, Bobby Miller, wore the Black and Gold of the Bruins in an era when that was a source of pride. Heck, you can even include Craig MacTavish in the discussion, even though he only played in Lowell rather than being born here.
There are others, too many to list here. What we’ve done however, is set up other avenues for those of you who missed out on Monday’s broadcast to chime in and tell us about your favorite. You can post comments here, as always. There’s a pretty good debate taking place on topix.net. Just type in “MVC best athlete” to find that one. And of course, you can let your thoughts be known on the online version of this article.
So let the debate begin…or should I say, continue!
Comments (9)
Being from Chelmsford this is difficult to admit but Tom Glavine wins hands down. A 4th round draft pick in the NHL. Potentially the last pitcher to reach 300 wins (judging from the way Randy Johnson has been pitching). Five 20-win seasons, 1 world series MVP. Micky was great to watch but he never reached the top of his division like Tom has and although Pat Bradley's accomplishments are impressive they were achieved at a time when womens golf was on the outside looking in (no fault of her own). The sport has reached a whole new level within the last 10 years and she would struggle for victories against these more finely tuned athletes of today.
Posted by Shane Falco | July 2, 2008 4:00 PM
Posted on July 2, 2008 16:00
All great points Shane. My only argument with you would be that Bradley's club is much more exclusive than the one Glavine will join.
The baseball Hall of Fame is loaded with starting pitchers, and Glavine would rank near the bottom of the pack. The LPGA Hall of Fame however, only includes 25-members, and Bradley is in the upper tier at this point.
You can't punish her for playing in a different era, no more so than you can diminish Babe Ruth and the rest of the early century ballplayers for not playing against African-American athletes. You can only play the competition that exists in the conditions that exist in your era. Hey, I'm sure Bradley faced golf course conditions that weren't as conducive to low scoring as there are today, and had nowhere near the high-tech clubs that these women are using now, either. So let's not argue about the eras.
What we can say, for certain, is that Bradley was a trail blazer in her particular sport, helping pave the way for the game to become what it is today. For that, she has to get extra credit in this discussion.
You can't say the same for Glavine. 100 years from now, they won't remember Glavine for having done anything to change or build baseball. They will remember Pat Bradley.
Posted by Teddy P. | July 2, 2008 5:45 PM
Posted on July 2, 2008 17:45
Mike Mastrullo, Billericca. Drafted into the MLB, became injured and was backup QB for BC before being injured again. His senior year in high school the top football players in the nation were in order: Peyton Manning, Mike Mastrullo,Randy Moss.
Think of the career he could have had in either sport if he wasnt plagued by injuries
Posted by tyngtiger | July 2, 2008 6:32 PM
Posted on July 2, 2008 18:32
I'm not really sure of this one even as I throw his name in but he certainly accomplished alot more than most football players from the area did. Anyone remember Mike Esposito ???
Posted by 75 Grad | July 5, 2008 9:09 PM
Posted on July 5, 2008 21:09
I'd like to nominate my son Joe Nazzaro as the best athlete ever to come out of Dracut. Joe won 12 letters in 4 years at DHS, starting in three sports as a freshman. He was captain of the basketball team for three years, in addition to being captain of both the soccer and volleyball teams his senior season. As a senior, the soccer team won its third MVC title in four year, the basketball team reached the state tourney for the first time in a dozen years, and the volleyball team posted its best record ever.
In college at Vassar, he played both soccer and basketball. He started all but two games as a sophomore in basketball and was captain of the soccer team as a senior, finishing his career as the 9th leading scorer in Vassar history. After three years of serving as an assistant soccer coach at Norwich and Vassar, he took time out to donate a kidney to me. He now is enrolled in the Sports Management Master's Degree program at the University of San Francisco.
Posted by Steve Nazzaro | July 5, 2008 9:45 PM
Posted on July 5, 2008 21:45
Espo was an outstanding high school player and a good college player. I remember him very well. I do think he falls in line behind the Morris boys, whose NFL careers are more memorable.
Posted by Teddy P. | July 7, 2008 6:42 PM
Posted on July 7, 2008 18:42
Steve, while your son is no doubt a good athlete, it sounds like he's an even better human being.
Posted by Teddy P. | July 7, 2008 6:44 PM
Posted on July 7, 2008 18:44
Solid argument Teddy. Even as I wrote about Bradley I knew my thoughts on comparing eras could be easily debated. The mention of Bradley being a trailblazer is a bit unfair in its own right because most trailblazing occurs early on in a sports existance, Tommy had 100 years of baseball to contend with before he even picked up a glove. So for him to change or build baseball is much more difficult to do. I do believe however that Tommy's style of pitching would have been equally successful if not more successful in any generation the game has been played in. Can the same be said about Pat Bradley? Maybe. But truthfully, what makes Tommy stand out above the rest in my eyes is that not only is he a Hall of Fame baseball player but he could very well have been the same in hockey if he choose that route instead.
Posted by Shane Falco | July 10, 2008 9:34 PM
Posted on July 10, 2008 21:34
In all honesty, if you pin me down and force me to vote for one, it'd be Glavine.
The point I was trying to make in playing "Devil's advocate" was that it's not necessarily as cut and dried as most people I spoke with thought. A legit case can be made for Bradley, and I can probably make one for Micky as well. While Glavine might be a hero in the States, Ward's fame is world-wide and will only grow once the movie is made. He's probably a bigger star than Glavine, and the athletic skills he needs to survive are much more impressive than Tom's.
Just more food for thought.....
Posted by Teddy P. | July 11, 2008 2:36 PM
Posted on July 11, 2008 14:36