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Al Bundy
Aug 11, 2013
Published in
The 2020 Fictitious Athlete Inductees
Al Bundy was one of the greatest (or sorriest) television characters of all time, and along with the Simpsons, helped to establish a new television network in Fox. The question here is did the show delve enough into the sports world for Al Bundy to legitimately qualify?
Corporal Luis Fernandez
Aug 11, 2013
Published in
The Athletes
Victory (or ‘Escape to Victory’ as it was known in Europe) boasted a cornucopia of famous soccer stars who were cast as the Allied Prisoners of War. A small sample of these players included:
Bobby Moore, the Captain of the 1966 England World Cup winning team, and considered to be one of the best defenders of all time.
John Wark, the Scottish star who led Ipswich Town to the UEFA Cup that year.
Osvaldo Ardiles, an Argentine star who was then a skilled midfielder for the Tottenham Hotspur.
Kazimierez Denya, who was then starring for Manchester City and is one of the best Polish players of all time.
We could have continued with a roll call that would mean something to Europeans, but to the North American market in 1981, only one soccer player was known in this film; Pele. Actually, Pele was probably the ONLY soccer player that most Americans could have named back then. The Brazilian was an international superstar who transcended the sport. Three times, he led Brazil to the World Cup, and was the star (though way past his prime) that propelled the NASL to then relevance. Truthfully, he made soccer known to a degree in the United States, and though the NASL would eventually fold, his name remained in the American sporting mind.
Captain Chaos Victor Prinzi
Aug 11, 2013
Published in
The Athletes
Jamie Blake (Dean Martin playing off his alcoholic and womanizing image) said it best when he warned his partner Fenderbaum (Sammy Davis Jr.) to watch out for the “Blimp”. Once the rotund Victor Prinzi (played by Dom DeLuise) felt the need to defend himself or his friends, the sound of “Dun Dun Dunnnn” would fill the air and suddenly Captain Chaos would emerge with his cape and mask to save the day. It wasn’t a traditional looking superhero (although much of mannerisms were ripped from a comic book), but it didn’t matter. Considering this was an All Star cast (in a B-Grade movie), Captain Chaos stood tallest of all.
Butch McRae
Aug 11, 2013
Published in
The Athletes
This may seem disrespectful to Anfarnee “Penny” Hardaway, but while compiling our ballot we forgot about his role in “Blue Chips”. It was not that he did a bad job, as he was perfectly effective as Butch McRae, the Point Guard recruited by Nick Nolte whose mother received help from Western University boosters. However, when you think of the basketball performances in the film, McRae is a distant second to Shaquille O’Neal’s “Neon Boudeaux”, which coincidentally would foreshadow Hardaway being in the shadow of Shaq as a pro in Orlando.
Come to think of it, when you think of Penny Hardaway’s career, often the first thing that comes to mind is “Lil Penny” the loud talking puppet in the shoe commercials. If he is overshadowed (and he was) by a puppet, is this a viable Hall of Fame candidate?