There are a lot of ways to debate the "greatest" athletes in Chicago sports history, but they're all subjective, especially when you throw a bunch of different sports into the mix. So how do you decide? The answer to that question (and many others): Hold a fantasy draft. The criteria we used? Entirely up to the owner. The only restrictions are below:
-12 spots for players, 1 for a coach. If someone played and coached in Chicago, you have to designate which you're picking them as.
-The last two rounds are an anti-draft, where you pick two players/coaches/GMs/owners to erase from Chicago history.
-You can pick any player that actually played a game for a Chicago team. Thus someone like, oh let's say...LaMarcus Aldridge, is ineligible.
That's basically it. Vote for the team you like best down below, again, the criteria you use is up to you. Later we're going to go round by round and defend our picks, so we'll keep voting open until we get through every round. Come back if you're curious why certain players went in certain rounds, not that I'm pointing any elbows (points elbow at Cliff Floyd).
Here are the results. We went snake style, so for example, Will's first round pick was #1 overall, and his 2nd pick was #18 overall. Gomez had #2 and #17, and so on and so forth.
*= coach
Will:
1. Michael Jordan (Bulls)
2. Frank Thomas (Sox)
3. Luol Deng (Bulls)
4. Joel Quenville* (Hawks)
5. Stacey King (Bulls) (This is a good time that it's completely legit to give a player credit for post-playing-career announcing goodness)
6. Paul Konerko (Sox)
7. Joakim Noah (Bulls) (6 of Will's first 7 picks from Reinsdorf owned teams)
8. Thomas Jones (Bears)
9. Dewayne Wise (Sox)
10. Denis Savard (Hawks)
11. Darnell Autry (Bears) (We said you couldn't draft players who only spent time in Chicago in college, but there's nothing against giving Autry credit for his Northwestern success)
12. Luis Aparicio (Sox)
13. Bobby Jenks (Sox)
Banished:
14. Hawk Harrelson (Sox)
15. David Wells (Sox)
Gomez:
1. Derrick (Bulls)
2. Phil Jackson* (Bulls)
3. Julius Peppers (Bears)
4. Anti Niemi (Hawks)
5. Robbie Gould (Bears)
6. Steve Kerr (Bulls)
7. Jermaine Dye (Sox)
8. Bill Cartwright (Bulls)
9. Craig Hodges (Bulls)
10. Jon Garland (Sox)
11. Juan Uribe (Sox)
12. Willie Gault (Bears)
13. Tony Amonte (Hawks)
Banished:
14. Vinny Del Negro (Bulls)
15. Ben Gordon (Bulls)
Ron
1. Walter Payton (Bears)
2. Ron Santo (Cubs)
3. Mike Singletary (Bears)
4. Norm Van Lier (Bulls)
5. Lou Brock (Cubs)
6. Carlton Fisk (Sox)
7. Harold Baines (Sox)
8. Bobby Douglass (Bears)
9. Brian Piccolo (Bears)
10. Tony LaRussa* (Sox)
11. Ozzie Guillen (Sox)
12. Bruce Sutter (Cubs)
13. Sammy Sosa (Cubs)
Banished:
14. Shoeless Joe Jackson (Sox)
15. Mike McCaskey (Bears)(Accepting on behalf of the McCaskey family all together)
Conall
1. Scottie Pippen (Bulls)
2. Mike Ditka* (Bears)
3. Jeremy Roenick (Hawks)
4. Patrick Sharp (Hawks)
5. Horace Grant (Bulls)
6. Billy Williams (Cubs)
7. Joe Crede (Sox)
8. Dustin Byfuglien (Hawks)
9. Bob Love (Bulls)
10. Otis Wilson (Bears)
11. Dave Bolland (Hawks)
12. Bobby Thigpen (Sox)
13. Ronnie Brewer (Bulls)
Banished:
14. Bill Wirtz (Hawks)
15. Jerry Angelo (Bears)
BJ
1. Ryne Sandberg (Cubs)
2. Dick Butkus (Bears)
3. Patrick Kane (Hawks)
4. George Halas* (Bears)
5. Greg Maddux (Cubs)
6. Fergie Jenkins (Cubs)
7. Mark Grace (Cubs)
8. Red Grange (Bears)
9. Jim McMahon (Bears)
10. Jerry Sloan (Bulls)
11. Robin Ventura (Sox)
12. Steve McMichael (Bears)
13. Jud Buechler (Bulls)
Banished
14: Tim Floyd (Bulls)
15. Dave Wannstedt (Bears)
Sam
1. Bobby Hull (Hawks)
2. Jonathan Toews (Hawks)
3. Brian Urlacher (Bears)
4. TT* (Bulls)
5. John Paxson (Bulls) (Did you know John Paxson's middle name is MacBeth?)
6. Derrek Lee (Cubs)
7. William Perry (Bears)
8. Taj Gibson (Bulls)
9. Shawon Dunston (Cubs)
10. Bill Wennington (Bulls)
11. Dan Hampton (Bears)
12. Andrew Ladd (Hawks)
13. Jimmy Butler (Bulls)
Banished:
14. Dick Jauron (Bears)
15. Todd Collins (Bears)
Ethan
1. Kenny Lofton (Cubs)
2. Dennis Rodman (Bulls)
3. Lance Briggs (Bears)
4. Cliff Floyd (Cubs)
5. Carlos Lee (Sox)
6. Mike Brown (Bears)
7. Amaris Ramirez (Cubs)
8. Magglio Ordonez (Sox)
9. Olin Kreutz (Bears)
10. Kevin Tapani (Cubs)
11. Tyson Chandler (Bulls)
12. Reuben Brown (Bears)
13. Scott Skiles* (Bulls)
Banished
14. Ben Wallace (Bulls)
15. Adam Archuleta (Bears)
Katz
1. Stan Mikita (Hawks)
2. Mark Buehrle (Sox)
3. Richard Dent (Bears)
4. Sid Luckman (Bears)
5. Toni Kukoc (Bulls)
6. BJ Armstrong (Bulls)
7. Johnny Red Kerr* (Bulls)
8. Johnny Morris (Bears)
9. Pierre Pilote (Hawks)
10. Ed Walsh (Sox)
11. Will Perdue (Bulls)
12. Matt Forte (Bears)
13. Bill George (Bears)
Banished
14. Milton Bradley (Cubs)
15. Adam Dunn (Sox)
Tristan
1. Ernie Banks (Cubs)
2. Gale Sayers (Bears)
3. Chris Chelios (Hawks)
4. Andre Dawson (Cubs)
5. Ron Harper (Bulls)
6. Devin Hester (Bears)
7. Ed Belfour (Hawks)
8. Kerry Wood (Cubs)
9. Artis Gilmore (Bulls)
10. Rod Beck (Cubs)
11. Gary Fencik (Bears)
12. Neal Anderson (Bears)
13. Jim Riggleman* (Cubs)
Banished
14. Alfonso Soriano (Cubs)
15. Cade McNown (Bears)
Happy voting! Look for the justifications for each pick later this week.
In case you missed it, the poll is actually off to the right over there.
ReplyDeleteSince this is awesome and I love the thought, here is my breakdown:
ReplyDeleteWill - Best 1-2 punch of anybody by far with MJ and the Big Hurt. Good role players as well but went a little too crazy with some of the Sox guys toward the end especially when there were some legit guys from the early 90s teams still on the board (Lance Johnson, Tim Raines, Ron Karkovic).
Gomez - I love this team and I think if Derrick Rose can win 1 championship, his legacy IN CHICAGO, not worldwide but in Chicago, will be comparable to MJ's. This team loses it for me though when you put Ben Gordon on the erased list especially when Rex Grossman among other former Bear QB's were sitting out there.
Ron - Very very strong in name recognition and great choices for the erased list. I would challenge the coaching pick since Tony LaRussa didn't do much as the White Sox manager.
Conall - You just can't pick Joe Crede while Robin Ventura is on the board. That gets an automatic DQ.
BJ - Nice pedigree with the legendary Bears and overall solid squad. I don't like picking Jud Buechler though when nobody picked Luc Longley.
Sam - The first 4 picks were solid and then it seemed like he didn't take the rest of the draft seriously which I just can't support with something this monumental.
Ethan - Unless he is was using some advanced sabermetrics that I am not privy to, this is team is not a contender. But I did like Moneyball so I appreciate the effort.
Katz - Pretty good team with some great choices for erased players but I still don't get how Will Perdue gets picked and Luc Longley doesn't.
Tristan - Probably the strongest top 4 of anyone and overall solid team...but Jim Riggleman as your coach when he had a .427 winning percentage with the Cubs is not a great choice no matter how cool he is. Would have been better off going with Dusty or even Lovie.
2nd Runner-up: Tristan
1st Runner-up: Will
Champion: Ron