Saturday, August 9, 2008

Greatsky! The Phat One!

This day in sports history...

Wayne Gretzky was traded from Edmonton to LA.


My neighbor and I are sitting on my back deck playing some sng's and watching 9 little girls try to sleep out in the tent tonight.

Of course this leads to some alcohol consumption, and that leads to discussions of sports history. To which he mentioned that today is the day when Gretzky was traded from Edmonton to LA.

That begged the question of why. Edmonton got a ridiculous deal with McSorley, two other guys, like 47 first round picks, and 15 million in cash.

His deduction, which I defer to always because he is a sports history GOD, was that 1) Gretzky's wife had something to do with it, 2) The NHL had something to do with it, and 3) That Edmonton just couldn't pass up the cash and the draft picks.

Gretzky's wife was obviously an actress and was probably right near the prime of her career. Wanting to be in LA was probably a big part of Wayne trying to get the deal done. Or at least receptive to it, if not the one who requested the intiation of a deal.

The NHL back in those days were on a marketing drive because the game had seen some growth through popularity and were probably interested in driving some traffic on the west coast.

Any of you canuks out there remember this? any thoughts on why he was traded?

And this begs another question...

If there was a Mount Rushmore of sports icons, who would they be?

Our picks are:

1) GREATsky
2) Babe Ruth
3) Muhammad Ali
4) Michael Jordan


9 comments:

Shrike said...

I agree with that top four list.

The Gretzky and Babe Ruth trades are clearly the two biggest trades in North American sports history.

lightning36 said...

Save a space there for Tiger.

BamBam said...

Wayne was traded solely in the interest of two items.

1) Making the NHL viable in the US.
2) Peter Pocklington'e ultimate greed and money grubbing nature.

The deal that Janet was an actress in Hollyweird, was nothing but a softening blow for Wayne.

Please understand, Wayne is Canadian through and through. 65% of his time is still spent here at home, with his entire family.

His was not a "crying" retirement farewell. Wayne was crushed to leave the history, friends and team he helped develop with the oilers.

As for the list.....

Based on being a coplete player in the game, (as the other three are)I offer Cal Ripken as a contender for Ruth. But the other three are right on the money.

46D, 23:24 !!!!!!!! BOOOOOOOM !

Riggstad said...

Lightning, I actually had Tiger on the list, but the fact remains that he would be only added to this list if and when he accomplishes everything he is expected to.

If he gets hit by a bus tomorrow, I don't think he makes it. That would have to go Nicholaus. And he ain't making it at all.

Bam - Are you kidding??? Cal Ripken???

Really???

Good lord man... you want the spokes person of baseball to be CAL RIPKEN?????????!!W@#$@%#%^@#%!%!@$!@$!@#%@%@#%@

Me thinks you need to be a little more americanized to figure out baseball if you are picking that sled over a million other baseball players... namely, ted williams, mickey mantle, Pete Rose, Ozzie Smith, and these aren't even ahead of others.....

Good Lord do we need to have a discussion when you get down here!!!!

Anonymous said...

Jim Thorpe.

Shrike said...

Amusing trivia: at random, when presented with a list by the Dodgers upon being traded there last week, Manny Ramirez chose to wear #99. Now, I love Manny, one of the best 2-3 right-handed hitters I've ever seen, and a bona fide no-doubt Hall of Famer, but there's only one 99: Wayne Gretzky.

Completely agree re: Cal Ripken. He's not even in the discussion (cue Homer Simpson quote here).

Hammer Player a.k.a Hoyazo said...

Two words:

Chase Utley.

Astin said...

Pretty much all Pocklington for why Gretzky was traded. He needed the cash. The league even reviewed if the largely-cash deal was valid. This is why he (Pocklington) went from being loved to hated in Edmonton almost overnight.

At least the Oilers had one more Cup in them post-Gretz, but that was it.

And yah - really Bam? Cal Ripken? All he did was not get hurt longer than anyone else. Sure, he was a consistent player and multi-time all-star, but he's nowhere near the pantheon of greats.

Anonymous said...

Add Kelly Slater to the list. Still dominating surfing (working on his 9th title) and pretty much broke every record out there. I know that surfing isn't considered one of the "great" sports like football, boxing etc.... but in terms of fitness, skill, stamina etc, it's probably tougher than most other sports. And no one has dominated their sport like Slater. The only sport you have to be in better shape for is poker (kidding of course). I agree with the rest of the list, + I think Tiger will have his chance to be on it soon enough...