Greatest Records Recap

The Sporting News recently came out with their Top 10 “Great Records” written by Steve Greenberg. In an 11 part series, I will breakdown each record, why the record is impressive (or not), and if the record could ever be broken.

Here’s a recap of his top 10 list.

10 Pete Maravich’s 44.2 Career Points Per Game in NCAA Division 1

9 Bill Russell’s 11 NBA Championships

8 Pete Rose’s 4,256 Career Hits in Major League Baseball

7 Wayne Gretzky’s 215-Point NHL Season

6 Jerry Rice’s 208 NFL Career Touchdowns

5 Nolan Ryan’s 7 No-Hitters

4 Cy Young’s 511 Career MLB Wins

3 The UCLA Bruins’ 7 Consecutive National Titles

2 Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 Point NBA Single Game Scoring Record

1 Joe DiMaggio’s 56-Game Hitting Streak

Steve Greenberg’s overall list was not too bad but four of the records listed are outdated and from a different era. Apples and oranges my friends.

1) Bill Russell’s 11 championships will be difficult to match much less break. The NBA was a different league then without Free Agency, the 3-point line, and paid off refs. Keeping a dynasty together and being able to find quality players later in the draft will prove to be too difficult for any team to do 11 times in one player’s career.

2) Cy Young’s 511 career wins during the “dead ball” era will never be broken nor will his 749 complete games. Players no longer pitch in a 3-man rotation and they now have pitch counts per outing. MLB has the same principles of the game, but it’s a completely different game now. The records should count but I feel asterisks may be needed for some of these records. Is “fast” Ms. Pac Man the same as “slow” Ms. Pac Man?

3) UCLA Bruins’ 7 consecutive national championships is another dated record. Their run helped usher in the modern era of basketball along with the National Championship game featuring Larry Bird vs. Magic Johnson in 1979. But freshman were not allowed to play at the start of UCLA’s run, underclassmen did not leave school early for the NBA, and the college game was not as developed then as it is now. I compare their run to University of Connecticut’s current women’s basketball team. Great for them but the game is unbalanced.

4) Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 point NBA game in 1962 has the feel of an expansion game not a NBA game. Anytime someone scores 100 points in a game they deserve credit (here comes the but!), but Kobe Bryant’s 81 points in a NBA game is a little more impressive to me; like him or not. Even with the 3-point shot. Maybe because I saw it happen it means more to me or validates the accomplishment more?

Greenberg lists 5 honorable mention records… I guess this is a “Greatest top 15 list" not top 10??? Here’s his next 5:

11) Joe Paterno’s 401 NCAA Football Wins

12) Oklahoma’s 47-Game Winning Streak

13) Archie Griffin’s Two Heisman Trophies

14) Barry Sander’s NCAA Division1 2,628 Rushing Yards in A Season

15) Nebraska’s 35-Game Bowl Streak

I have a couple of thoughts about his “best of the rest”.

Joe Paterno deserves to be on this list somewhere. He has transitioned from “old school” football to the modern era having coached for 61 years. You can argue that he should’ve been forced to retire years ago and he is only a figure head at Penn State, and I would say you are probably right. I was more impressed with Bobby Bowden’s run than Joe Pa’s but wins are wins, and Joe Pa, Penn State, or whoever is their coach keeps on winning.

Oklahoma’s winning streak is impressive. It could be broken but not by a SEC team anytime soon. That conference is too tough. A Big East team or PAC-10 team could do it as their conference schedule would be easy enough for them to win out. If said team doesn’t schedule tough non-conference games and are forced into weaker BCS Bowl games by the BCS brain trust. Playing 13 games per season, a 3 ½ year run of undefeated football could be accomplished.

Archie Griffin’s two Heisman Trophies are great for him and Ohio State but that record should’ve been tied a couple of times over the past few years. Darren McFadden’s two Heisman runner up’s were crimes. He should’ve beat Troy Smith in 2006 and Tim Teabow in 2007. As it turned out, Tim Teabow should’ve won twice as well. The old bloods voting on the Heisman will let Griffin keep his record if a current player deserves it or not.

Barry Sanders record should be on the top 10 list somewhere. He hit the 2,628 yard mark in 11 games, not the 13 game season the NCAA now plays and his bowl game numbers didn’t count like they do now. He would’ve rushed for over 3,000 yards in 1988 all things being equal.

Nebraska’s 35-game bowl streak has lost its muster over the past few years. There are far too many bowl games now. If a team can go 6-6 during the season and make a bowl… is it really that special of a season to reward said team? This record could be broken in… I don’t know the next 35 years?

Greenberg sneaks in another record, Cal Ripken’s MLB streak of 2,632 consecutive games played. This streak means different things to different people. Blue collar workers can relate to him because he got up and did his job everyday. Fans in Baltimore could appreciate him because they knew if they put their money down for a ticket they would get to see him play. This is a selfish streak not a team streak. Sure the Orioles profited monetarily by his streak but I think the team lost more in the long run. He did win the AL MVP in 1983 and 1991. However, in the years when he was not hitting so well and they had a decent team, what type of numbers could he have put up if he would have sat a game or two here or there? This is just speculation but I believe he may have hurt the Orioles more in the long run as a player than help them as a teammate.

Just to clarify, missing from the list is MLB’s career home run record and single season record. I understand why it was bypassed but I think it’s cowardly to do so. Barry Bonds owns the career record (762) and single season record (73). Bond’s is an admitted performance enhancing user and steroid user so how does one go about acknowledging this record? You don’t but you have to talk about the record because it is one of the most important sports records of all time.

This is a slippery slope to go down but I don’t think Bonds deserves this record or any memorabilia in the Hall of Fame; same for Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire. Maris’ record should have an asterisk by it as he performed in a season with 8 more games than Ruth. Different game, different era, different rules. This doesn’t take away from either man’s accomplishments. It just puts each one in a different perspective.

Greenberg missed on the biggest record of them all… shame on him. John McDonnell deserves recognition for his achievements at the University of Arkansas as the men’s track and field coach. From 1978 until he retired in 2008, he won 42 NCAA Division 1 Championships; winning his first in 1984!!! This includes 5 Triple Crowns (Indoor, Outdoor, and Cross Country). 42 Championships and no mention of this record from Greenberg, what was he thinking?