Well, I had forgotten about ESPN’s “Mt. Rushmore of Sports” deal.  You know, the thing following the greatness that is “Who’s Now?”  Anyways, I was reminded of it while watching Sportscenter tonight.  The first thought that ran through my mind: “Boy, somebody from Syracuse has to be on here.”  Hey, I was right.

There was a worry when Riley began running down Jeter, Taylor, Parcells, Messier, George (not the curious one, the owner one), Joltin’ Joe etc. 

But amongst all the greats I still felt there were a couple people that needed to be on the Mt. Rushmore for New York – after all, it is for the state, not the city.  There were some obvious choices and my first inkling was correct…

1. Jim Brown – the guy made the list (thankfully).  He’s the greatest running back ever.  He’s the greatest lacrosse player ever (hands down – as much as Gary Gait and Mikey Powell put on shows in Syracuse, rules were never changed to try and stop them – only to make the game safer and prevent jumping over the net to score).  They guy is in the Canton, South Bend and the Lax HOF.  He very well may be the best athlete ever.  The banner at the Carrier Dome says so – “Greatest Player Ever.”

2. Ernie Davis – He was the first black Heisman winner. 

3. Jim Boeheim – He is synonymous with Central New York and Syracuse basketball.  It is one of the greatest coaches to ever roam the college hoops sidelines and is enshrined both Springfield and Kansas City (college hoops HOF).

All in all, they got it right with Brown.  Kudos to ESPN for not keeping it focused on the Big Apple – I mean, they left off Mays for Brown.