Please see post # 1047 - my hapless attempt to begin a new thread on the subject of Rice’s greatest athletes of all time.

Owlman70

(06-03-2019 04:08 PM)owlman70 Wrote:  Was wondering who those familiar with Rice athletic history would consider the greatest athlete?

Names such as ... Berkman...

Are you asking who was the best performer in their sport? Or the best actual athlete (thinking of things like speed, strength, quickness, etc.)?

If you are asking about the best pure athlete, certainly not Berkman at least not a great "athlete" by traditional standards. He was certainly more athletic than he looked, but there are a lot of track athletes and football players who were more "athletic" by any standard measure than Berkman. Notwithstanding his superhero names of The Blue Dart or The Big Puma, either of which would be a nice addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

(06-04-2019 09:36 AM)mrbig Wrote:  

(06-03-2019 04:08 PM)owlman70 Wrote:  Was wondering who those familiar with Rice athletic history would consider the greatest athlete?

Names such as ... Berkman...

Are you asking who was the best performer in their sport? Or the best actual athlete (thinking of things like speed, strength, quickness, etc.)?

If you are asking about the best pure athlete, certainly not Berkman at least not a great "athlete" by traditional standards. He was certainly more athletic than he looked, but there are a lot of track athletes and football players who were more "athletic" by any standard measure than Berkman. Notwithstanding his superhero names of The Blue Dart or The Big Puma, either of which would be a nice addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Either way, I am going with Fred Hansen.

(06-04-2019 10:18 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  

(06-04-2019 09:36 AM)mrbig Wrote:  

(06-03-2019 04:08 PM)owlman70 Wrote:  Was wondering who those familiar with Rice athletic history would consider the greatest athlete?

Names such as ... Berkman...

Are you asking who was the best performer in their sport? Or the best actual athlete (thinking of things like speed, strength, quickness, etc.)?

If you are asking about the best pure athlete, certainly not Berkman at least not a great "athlete" by traditional standards. He was certainly more athletic than he looked, but there are a lot of track athletes and football players who were more "athletic" by any standard measure than Berkman. Notwithstanding his superhero names of The Blue Dart or The Big Puma, either of which would be a nice addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Either way, I am going with Fred Hansen.

Hard to argue w that choice, IMO.

In addition to her All-America and conference championship honors in college, Rosey Edeh competed for Canada in three Olympic Games (1988, 1992 and 1996) in two different events (400m hurdles and 4x400m relay). I think she deserves a mention.

I saw her in person at 400m hurdle finals in Atlanta.

I have to vote for King Hill. Football--1st team All America, he played QB, DB, punter and placekicker. Played basketball for 3 years and lettered in golf. Great all-around athlete.

It's fun to look over the programs for Rice's Athletic Hall of Fame inductions: https://riceowls.com/sports/2019/1/23/ha...ctees.aspx

The original (1970) class featured:

Tony Bell '19, football, basketball, baseball, track
Eddie Dyer '22, football, baseball
Wash "Little Heavy" Underwood '27, football, baseball
Emmett Brunson '29, track, coach, administration
Claude Bracey '30, track
Jake Hess '32, tennis
Bill Wallace '36, football
John McCauley '36, football
Fred Wolcott '40, track
Bob Kinney '42, basketball
Bill Henry '45, basketball
Weldon Humble '47, football, track
James (Froggie) Williams '50, football
Dicky Maegle '55, football
Fred Hansen '63, track

Frank Ryan was inducted in 1973; King Hill in 1974.

(06-04-2019 11:56 AM)HawaiiOwl Wrote:  

(06-04-2019 10:18 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  Either way, I am going with Fred Hansen.

Hard to argue w that choice, IMO.

From the wikipedia entry...

Going into the 1964 Olympics, the United States had never lost an Olympic pole vault competition. In the final, the last remaining American was Hansen, who at the time was also the world record holder. The field included two other previous world record holders and decathlete C. K. Yang. Hansen cleared 5 meters on his first attempt, but so did three German athletes. Hansen then passed the next height, watching as only Wolfgang Reinhardt was able to clear. Re-entering the competition at 5.10, Hansen failed his first two attempts, but so did Reinhardt. Hansen then sailed over his final attempt, while Reinhart could not. Hansen continued the American streak, which would survive through one more Olympics until the 1972 pole vault controversy, when defending champion Bob Seagren had his pole confiscated at the games and had to compete on an unfamiliar, borrowed pole.

Besides pole vault Hansen competed in the long jump. He was also an avid golfer and played at the 1980 U.S. Amateur golf championship

(06-04-2019 01:32 PM)NYNightOwl Wrote:  

(06-04-2019 11:56 AM)HawaiiOwl Wrote:  

(06-04-2019 10:18 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  Either way, I am going with Fred Hansen.

Hard to argue w that choice, IMO.

From the wikipedia entry...

Going into the 1964 Olympics, the United States had never lost an Olympic pole vault competition. In the final, the last remaining American was Hansen, who at the time was also the world record holder. The field included two other previous world record holders and decathlete C. K. Yang. Hansen cleared 5 meters on his first attempt, but so did three German athletes. Hansen then passed the next height, watching as only Wolfgang Reinhardt was able to clear. Re-entering the competition at 5.10, Hansen failed his first two attempts, but so did Reinhardt. Hansen then sailed over his final attempt, while Reinhart could not. Hansen continued the American streak, which would survive through one more Olympics until the 1972 pole vault controversy, when defending champion Bob Seagren had his pole confiscated at the games and had to compete on an unfamiliar, borrowed pole.

Besides pole vault Hansen competed in the long jump. He was also an avid golfer and played at the 1980 U.S. Amateur golf championship

Awesome!

(06-03-2019 06:04 PM)owlman70 Wrote:  Please see post # 1047 - my hapless attempt to begin a new thread on the subject of Rice’s greatest athletes of all time.

Owlman70

Here's a link to that post (#1047 in the "Mike Bloomgren's 2nd Rice recruiting class" thread): https://csnbbs.com/thread-847779-post-16...id16131430

Kareem Street-Thompson...one of only two men to run under 10.00 for the 100M and long jump 28 feet (Carl Lewis is the other). Three time Olympian...NCAA Champion...great athlete and a really good guy.

(06-04-2019 03:03 PM)Houston Owl Wrote:  Kareem Street-Thompson...one of only two men to run under 10.00 for the 100M and long jump 28 feet (Carl Lewis is the other). Three time Olympian...NCAA Champion...great athlete and a really good guy.

Definitely agree with all of that, especially the really good guy part.

(06-04-2019 03:03 PM)Houston Owl Wrote:  Kareem Street-Thompson...one of only two men to run under 10.00 for the 100M and long jump 28 feet (Carl Lewis is the other). Three time Olympian...NCAA Champion...great athlete and a really good guy.

We should update his Wikipedia page!

(He's now UTSA's Associate Head Coach for sprints/relays/jumps.)

I define athlete not in terms of accomplishments but raw, physical skills/tools. Bo Jackson will always win that conversation with me vs. guys/gals that have gold medals, rings, etc. In today's world, guys like Giannis have those freaky characteristics.

Using that logic, Nigel Codrington was best raw athlete I have ever seen at Rice. 40+ inch vertical, 4.3 speed, high-jumped 7 ft. and 6'3 and jacked. Reinvented the play of blocking kicks from behind center vs. trying to block off-the-edge due to height combined with vertical. After what he did, all teams in college (and some NFL) copied Rice with whoever was their best jumper/tallest person. If memory serves correct, he played in CFL for awhile but could not stay healthy long enough to showcase/maintain that raw athleticism at professional levels.

Others in the conversation from that era...Bert Emanuel, David Willie, Rosey Edeh (mentioned above), and Courtney Hall (being able to bench press like Tony Mandarich w/out the steroids..strongest guy I have seen)

You had me looking up his post-Rice stats.

I found that he spent a year on the roster of the Ohio Glory in the WLAF (remember that league?). He's listed as a WR, but his only stat is for an interception.

https://www.footballdb.com/players/nigel...-codrini01

This site fills things in a little better, noting he played for the BC Lions (in the CFL) in 1991, the Ohio Glory (in the WLAF) in 1992, and the Charlotte Rage (in the Arena League) in 1994.

https://www.statscrew.com/football/stats/p-codrinig001

I also stumbled on this recap of the Baylor/Rice nailbiter from 1990, where Rice fell a two-point conversion away from ending the losing season streak. Codrington had the reception that brought it to 16-17 with just over a minute left.

https://www.upi.com/Archives/1990/11/17/...658818000/

And his kick blocking was highlighted in this book of seemingly random trivia (USA Today College Football Encyclopedia) that mentions him blocking 2 Notre Dame extra points in that 1988 game.

https://books.google.com/books?id=Rykyvd...e+football

Also noted from the Football Foundation: https://footballfoundation.org/news/2006...50946.aspx

He also still holds the Rice record for the indoor high jump, set in 1989 at 7-1.75 feet/2.18 meters. (Last available track fact book: https://riceowls.com/documents/2015/1/5/...d_Book.pdf )

(06-05-2019 07:29 AM)owl40 Wrote:  I define athlete not in terms of accomplishments but raw, physical skills/tools. Bo Jackson will always win that conversation with me vs. guys/gals that have gold medals, rings, etc. In today's world, guys like Giannis have those freaky characteristics.

Using that logic, Nigel Codrington was best raw athlete I have ever seen at Rice. 40+ inch vertical, 4.3 speed, high-jumped 7 ft. and 6'3 and jacked. Reinvented the play of blocking kicks from behind center vs. trying to block off-the-edge due to height combined with vertical. After what he did, all teams in college (and some NFL) copied Rice with whoever was their best jumper/tallest person. If memory serves correct, he played in CFL for awhile but could not stay healthy long enough to showcase/maintain that raw athleticism at professional levels.

Others in the conversation from that era...Bert Emanuel, David Willie, Rosey Edeh (mentioned above), and Courtney Hall (being able to bench press like Tony Mandarich w/out the steroids..strongest guy I have seen)

I remember Codrington. He'd jump about three feet off the ground from behind the line to block field goals. He got several. Since then, I've never seen anyone else do it so effectively, and that was over 25 years ago.

As far as pure athleticism is concerned, Bert Emmanuel must be in the top three. He's the quickest and most agile athlete that I've seen in a Rice uniform, in any sport.

Ryan Harlan - NCAA Decathlon Champion.

I’m surprised Thor, aka James Casey, hasn’t at least been mentioned.

Paraphrasing Toad (or his staff?), let’s go get this guy, we don’t have anybody who looks like that.