Your all time favorite player

[mh2365]

So here is my problem with the NBA ... I can't see any possible way anyone will ever replace Reggie Miller as my all-time favorite player. So it's tough for me to care anymore.

Has anyone else lost your all-time favorite player .. do you still have the same zeal for the sport?

Now Peyton is my all-time favorite NFL player but I could see a scenario where he could be replaced.

MLB I root for the Red Sox and player loyalty is rare anymore so I don't really have an all-time favorite player.

But in the NBA I can't see anyway someone will ever replace Reggie. So while I still root for the Pacers I just can't seem to get into it anymore.

It's cool to see Lebron make his first championship series but when all your favorite moments in a sport are tied to one player and he is gone, it's tough to follow it anymore.

I may just be rambling but is anyone feeling me on this?

[Prodigal Son]

B.J. Armstrong, and I don't see anyone replacing him. But it may happen--I won't actively close my mind against the idea of someone replacing him someday.

[marioh]

Lawrence Taylor.

They don't make 'em like LT anymore....well, they do, but they end up getting suspended or banished from the league(s) nowadays.

[ihatenames]

michael jordan did the same thing for me. I really haven't been able to get into basketball since he retired. I really liked Toni Kukoc as well.

For baseball, I was a huge fan of Ryne Sandberg and Robin Yount. More recently i've been a fan of Kerry Wood and Sammy Sosa. I credit them with bringing my interest back into baseball for their '98 seasons. It's also the last summer I had with my father which makes their moments more special.

My favorite football player would be Brett Favre. This still surprises me considering i'm a bear's fan.

The other football I'd say Hristo Stoichkov, Roberto Baggio and Gianfranco Zola. More recently I've enjoyed watching Michael Owen and Ante Razov but it is still not the same.

For Hockey, it is Chris Chelios. I know he's still playing, but the I can't get into hockey anymore. There is no one on the blackhawks that really makes me want to watch.

[The Professor]

My favorite NBA stars were Kevin McHale, Alex English and Mark Aguirre. I haven't had a favorite player since the last of that trio retired. I watch the NBA - but I have no loyalties or rooting interests. I don't pay enough attention to discover any new favorites, but maybe someday...

As a kid, I loved Goose Gossage and Jack Clark. Ray Lankford was the last MLB player I really called a "favorite". Right now, nobody has displaced Ray.

Dave Krieg was my all-time favorite NFL player. I also really liked Al Toon and Art Monk. Brett Favre is probably the closest thing I've had to a favorite since Krieg retired. Chances are good that Krieg will always be my all-time favorite footballer.

The beautiful game? Alan Shearer, Les Ferdinand, Dennis Bergkamp, Sócrates and, for some odd reason, Matthew Le Tissier among a handful of other players I was a big fan of. Shearer is nearest and dearest, though he could someday be replaced. Not likely, though.

Hockey? Denis Savard, Adam Oates and Ron Francis. I don't watch much hockey, so...these guys are it.

[Luis_Rivera]

Baseball - Growing up it was Cal Ripken Jr. because I played SS and I liked power hitters. I don't think anyone will ever displace Pedro Martinez as my favorite player ever at this point though.

Hockey - Cam Neely became my favorite when I first started watching hockey in the '90 playoffs. He's probably my favorite athlete of all time. My favorite in-person sports moment was going to the game where his number was retired by the B's.

Football - Again, I can't see anyone ever replacing Dan Marino.

Basketball - when I was younger Jason Kidd was my favorite, but I can't say that I have one at this point.

[Spielman]

Baseball - Alan Trammell - I really don't see there being any chance of him being replaced.
Football - Here's a shocker for you all... Chris Spielman. Very little chance of being replaced.
Basketball - Bill Laimbeer. Could definitely be replaced if and when I fall in love with basketball again. Used to be Joe Dumars, and before that was Ricky Mahorn.
Hockey - Steve Yzerman. Will never be replaced. Ever.

[CONN CHRIS]

Baseball: Hank Aaron and Bill Freehan (with a strong dose of Mark Fidrych)
Football: Walt Garrison
Basketball: Larry Bird and Robert Parish
Hockey: Pie McKenzie

[piperclap]

Baseball-Without a doubt, Ryne Sandberg. Although the Hawk hit more homers, Ryno's day-in day-out professional approach to the game really impressed me even as a youngster.

Hockey-Cam Neely, Denis Savard, Tie Domi, Claude Lemiuex, Basil McRae, Tony Twist. Tie Domi would probably be my favorite all time player-I always had a copy of the picture of him dropping Ulf Sameulsson in my locker stall at the hockey rink, and always looked to him and Claude Lemieux as a model on how to be a valuable teammate even without a ton of talent.

[Spielman]

Originally Posted by piperclap

{I} always looked to... Claude Lemieux as a model on how to be a valuable teammate even without a ton of talent.

[mh2365]

I think my last live NBA moment will be to go to Springfield MA to see Reggie inducted into the HOF in 3 years.

If I had to pick an all-time favorite baseball player it would be Ripken ... but like I said the lack of loyalty to a team anymore just has me rooting for the jersey, not the people wearing them.

That said if Beckett were to win a few CY's and retire a Red Sox ......

[piperclap]

Originally Posted by Spielman

True, but ask any of the people he played with/against who'd they'd take on their team during the playoffs...

[bababui]

Magic Johnson...and it was devastating the way he exited the game. And we get the anti-christ Kobe as the new Lakers 'star'. The NBA has lost its way under David Stern. He is great dealing with revenue streams and money but he has been terrible for the sport. Expansion and the decision to market 'stars' instead of teams has lessened my interest in the game.

[millzee53]

Hockey:Ron Francis... just a class act all around.

Im proud to say ill be at his hall of fame induction whenever that happens

[jbergey22]

Kirby Puckett

[bear]

Favorite baseball players, from my youth Minnie Minoso and later Carlton Fisk. Haven't been to a White sox game since Carlton Fisk night in 1993. Haven't forgiven the Sox for cutting him a few days later. My favorite pitcher is Joe Horlen. Joe embodies the Sox teams of my teens.

In football I'm a die hard Bears fan and it is too tough to single out anybody. If I'm forced to choose I'd go with Mike Hartenstine the Bears old DE. He was the first NFL player that I was ever aware of that treated football like it was his full time job. Worked out seriously in the off season rather than pick up a job moonlighting as a car salesman.

In hockey Al MacNeil was my favorite Blackhawk. He was their fifth defenseman and a srcub back in the early 60s but no one messed with him. His off season job was serving as a HW sparring partner for boxers and every tough guy in the league knew it and shied away from him like he was a patch of poison ivy. I was at a Hawk game at the old Stadium when I was a kid and saw Habs tough guy John Ferguson back away from MacNeil, like he had just become an altarboy.

In the NBA one name stands out. Ty Corbin was a dismal freshman player at DePaul. He worked harder than anyone I'd ever seen year after year to make himself a better player. Got drafted and had a decent NBA career, Don't think anyone ever had a greated work ethic.

Bear

[Erik W.]

Football: John Elway. No one else can ever come close.

Basketball: Jordan. I never would've have started watching the NBA if not for His Airness. I like Nash and LeBron now, but I won't turn on a regular season game to watch them like I did MJ.

Baseball: I don't really have a singular all-time favorite.

Hockey: Brendan Shanahan.

[Slackker]

In the NBA I suppose my allegiance lies with the Knicks, although I grew up in a Celtics household. That's where my enjoyment of watching Reggie Lewis play came from, and I'd classify him as my favorite NBA player ever, with an honorary mention to Mitch Ritchmond. Since Lewis died I'm not sure I've watched an entire half of NBA basketball, so.. my passion for that sport has surely died, and even my favorite college player, Tim Duncan, wasn't able to rekindle the NBA for me. Perhaps if he dressed in Celtic green things would have been different. I could see someone replacing Reggie Lewis though, but it's tough given the way he departed.

Baseball we're going the direction of John Olerud (I'm a Mets fan, although I liked Olerud before his stint in New York) and I've lost interest in that sport as well. If I ever get back into baseball I do think there's a chance someone could replace Johnny O.

I don't like hockey. My girlfriend is Canadian, likes hockey, I *think* Tie Domi (sic?) is her favorite player, but I'm not really sure as.. I've spent most of my sporting time lately converting her from the NHL to the NFL. =)

Now, the one sport I'm into just as much as ever is the NFL. Being a Broncos fan who else can I pick but John Elway? Granted, I really like Atwater, Shannon Sharpe, Terrell Davis, Eddie Mac, etc.. but no one will ever be Elway to me.

[mh2365]

My wife gave me crap about not feeling the same about Peyton as I do Reggie. It is highly unlikely that someone could replace Peyton but for an example ...

I'm a bigger Notre Dame fan than anything else and lets say after Peyton retires and a QB leads ND to a title and then becomes a Colt and wins a Super Bowl... I'd probably like him better than Peyton. So I can see a scenario (as unlikely as it is) ... I just can't for the Reggie. Even if someone like Eric Gordon scores 30 a game for IU next year and is the top draft pick of the Pacers .. he'd seriously have to cure cancer while winning 10 straight titles just to be mentioned in the same breath as Reggie for me.

[mh2365]

Originally Posted by Luis_Rivera

Hockey - Cam Neely became my favorite when I first started watching hockey in the '90 playoffs. He's probably my favorite athlete of all time. My favorite in-person sports moment was going to the game where his number was retired by the B's.

All time best ESPN commercial on top of it all