Let's be honest, Mt. Rushmore is cool. It was a great concept executed brilliantly and now it's a unique landmark of splendid grandeur. I went to see it once and it did not disappoint; it was every bit as awe inspiring as I suspected it would be when I first saw photos of it as a kid.
I like to use the Mt. Rushmore ideal in other realms as well. That is, I like to think in terms of "who would be represented on the Mt. Rushmore of ________". For example, who would be on the Mt. Rushmore of medicine? of film directors? of Standford University? of philanthropy? All difficult questions that are fun to consider. Such an exercise is surprisingly hard and makes me wonder how much debate and negotiation went into the design of the mountain.
Here are my thoughts on a couple that are sure to inspire disagreements among the imaginary readership:
Mt. Rushmore of the Boston Red-Sox:
Ted Williams, Cy Young, Babe Ruth, Carl Yastrzemski
Mt. Rushmore of the NFL:
Jim Brown, John Madden, Al Davis, Joe Montana
Mt. Rushmore of the NBA
Wilt Chamberlain, Red Auerbach, Julius Erving, Michael Jordan
Mt. Rushmore of Golf:
Jack Nicholas, Arnold Palmer, Ben Hogan, Tiger Woods
Mt. Rushmore of Rock and Roll:
Mick in the 60's, Mick in the 70's, Mick in the 80's, Mick in the 90's
Of course there are no right answers here; I look forward to any thoughts you care to share.
For the NFL it's tough to leave off George Halas and/or Paul Brown, two of the most infuential men in the history of the league. You almost need two categories; one for players and one for 'others'. So here you go. Players: Sammy Baugh, Jim Brown, Dick Butkus, Jerry Rice. Other: George Halas, Paul Brown, Vince Lombardi, Don Shula. If you insist of only one then its: Brown, Butkus, Halas, Lombardi. RF
ReplyDeleteDinner at Burger King with Auggie anyone ?
ReplyDeleteWhere is Jim Rice, Red Sox HOF? Babe Ruth is a yankee...Bobby Doerr, Joe Cronin, Schilling and his bloody sock?
ReplyDeleteJoe Montana? C'mon...not to show your bias or anything. Bradshaw? Brady? How about those Al Davis led Raiders anyway? I think a helmet with the star on the side would be appropriate for Mt. Rushmore.
Dr J.?? Bird, Russell, Magic, Kareem?
Golf...how about Francis Ouimet?
Ummm....Beatles? Elvis? ...JD
that was a long set-up for a rolling stones joke.
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