Friday Detour: They Walk on Water

Starting today every Friday we will take a little detour off the regular course of this blog to talk still talk about sports, but with a different twist. Instead of helping to get you to the top of the standings we will take a look at the world of sports, either what has happened in the last week, what is the big headline of the day or other lists, stats and information.

I was driving behind a car in Denver yesterday and it had a John Elway Autos decal on the back. Obviously the person had purchased the car from the dealership baring the Hall of Fame QBs name. It got me thinking that John Elway is easily the biggest sports personality in Denver’s history. Then I wondered who the biggest sports personalities in each of the 15 largest US cities were. Some cities have such an illustrious background that it was difficult to select just one, so in that case I chose a few. Below is a list of who I believe are the biggest former and current athletes in each of the top US cities (population numbers from Wikipedia):

New York City population 8,274,527

• Current BMOC: Derek Jeter
• Past BMOCs: Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio

Los Angeles population 3,834,340

• Current BMOC: Kobe Bryant
• Past BMOCs: Magic Johnson, Sandy Koufax, Tommy Lasorda, Jerry West

Chicago population 2,836,658

• Current BMOC: Brian Urlacher
• Past BMOCs: Michael Jordan, Ernie Banks, Bobby Hull, Walter Payton

Houston population 2,208,180

• Current BMOC: Yao Ming
• Past BMOCs: Hakeem Olajuwon, Nolan Ryan, Earl Campbell

Bay Area (San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland) combined population 2,106,364

• Current BMOC: Tim Lincecum
• Past BMOCs: Jeff Garcia, Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Bo Jackson, Barry Bonds, Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Bash Brothers, Howie Long

Phoenix population 1,552,259

• Current BMOC: Shaquille O’Neal
• Past BMOCs: Randy Johnson

Philadelphia population 1,449,634

• Current BMOC: Ryan Howard
• Past BMOCs: Allen Iverson, Charles Barkley, Mike Schmidt, Steve Carlton

San Antonio population 1,328,984

• Current BMOC: Tim Duncan
• Past BMOCs: David Robinson

San Diego population 1,266,731

• Current BMOC: LaDainian Tomlinson
• Past BMOCs: Tony Gwynn

Dallas population 1,240,499

• Current BMOC: Tony Romo
• Past BMOCs: Troy Aikman, Emmit Smith, Dirk Nowtizki

Detroit population 916,952

• Current BMOC: Nikolas Lindstrom
• Past BMOCs: Isiah Thomas, Barry Sanders, Hank Greenberg, Steve Yzerman, Joe Louis

Jacksonville population 805,605

• Current BMOC: Fred Taylor
• Past BMOCs: Mark Brunell, Tony Boselli

Indianapolis population 1,328,984

• Current BMOC: Peyton Manning
• Past BMOCs: Reggie Miller

Columbus, OH population 747,755

• Current BMOC: Jim Tressell
• Past BMOCs: Eddie George, Archie Griffin

Austin population 743,074

• Current BMOC: Colt McCoy
• Past BMOCs: Vince Young, Rickey Williams

I know there are plenty I have missed, so please feel free to chime in in the comments section.

Keep sporting!
- Who’s In First