Gordie Howe is a Canadian former National Hockey League (NHL) player. During his 33-year professional hockey career, he played right wing for the Detroit Red Wings for 25 seasons (1947-1971) and won four Stanley Cups (1950, 1952, 1954 and 1955). An ambidextrous player, Howe led the NHL in scoring six times and was named MVP six times. He is often referred to as “Mr. Hockey,” and is one of the greatest hockey players of all time.
Bobby Orr is a Canadian former National Hockey League (NHL) player. He played his 12-season career (1966-1978) for the Boston Bruins and the Chicago Black Hawks. A defenseman, Orr used his skating speed and scoring abilities to revolutionize the position. Orr remains the only defenseman to have won the league scoring title. He was named the NHL’s best defenseman eight consecutive times and MVP three consecutive times. With Orr, the Bruins won the Stanley Cup twice, in 1970 and 1972. He is one of the greatest hockey players of all time.
Wayne Gretzky is a Canadian former National Hockey League (NHL) player. He played 20 seasons for four teams (1979-1999), winning four Stanley Cup championships with the Edmonton Oilers and reaching the 1993 Finals with the Los Angeles Kings. Nicknamed “The Great One,” Gretzky is the greatest hockey player of all time. He is the leading point-scorer in NHL history, with more assists than any other player has points, and is the only NHL player to total over 200 points in one season. At the time of his retirement in 1999, Gretzky held 40 regular-season records, 15 playoff records and six All-Star records.
Note: The NHL’s 2012-13 regular season started on Thursday, October 11. Or, rather, it would have, if there hadn’t been another NHL lockout.
Lou Gehrig was a Major League Baseball (MLB) player who spent his entire 17-season career with the New York Yankees. His durability earned him the nickname “The Iron Horse.” Gehrig played first base until his career was cut short by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a disorder now commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. He played in 2,130 consecutive games over a 15-season span (1925-1939). This streak ended only when Gehrig became disabled by the fatal neuromuscular disease that claimed his life two years later. He is one of the greatest baseball players of all time.
Hank Aaron is a retired Major League Baseball (MLB) player who spent most of his 23-season career with the Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves. Aaron made the All-Star Game every year from 1955-1975 and won three Gold Glove Awards. In 1957, he won the NL MVP Award and the Braves won the World Series. His most notable achievement was breaking the career home run record set by Babe Ruth (714) with 755. He holds the MLB records for the most career RBIs, extra base hits and total bases. He is one of the greatest baseball players of all time.
Willie Mays is a retired Major League Baseball (MLB) player who spent the majority of his career with the New York/San Francisco Giants. Known as “The Say Hey Kid,” Mays won two MVP awards, made 24 All-Star Game appearances and hit 660 home runs. He was a center fielder who won a record-tying 12 Gold Gloves from 1957-1968 (despite the award being introduced six seasons into his career). The 1954 World Series won by the Giants is best remembered for “The Catch,” an over-the-shoulder running grab made by Mays. He is one of the greatest baseball players of all time.
Warren Sapp is a retired National Football League (NFL) player who played defensive tackle for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Oakland Raiders for 13 seasons (1995-2007). Sapp played his first nine seasons with the Bucs, where he earned seven trips to the Pro Bowl and a Super Bowl ring in 2002. He has the second-highest career sacks for a defensive tackle. Sapp was a controversial player because of his hard-hitting style and fine-garnering verbal outbursts.
Note: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers wore the infamous orange “Creamsicle” uniforms from the team’s inception in 1976 until 1997.
Troy Polamalu is a strong safety in the National Football League (NFL). He has won two Super Bowls (2005 and 2008) with the Pittsburgh Steelers and has been selected for the Pro Bowl seven times. Polamalu’s hair is his most distinguishing characteristic, allowing him to be easily spotted on the field. He is of American Samoan descent, went to high school in Oregon and has a million-dollar insurance policy for his hair.
Steve Young is a retired National Football League (NFL) player. He played most of his 14-season career (1985-1999) as quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers. He won three Super Bowl titles (two as backup to Joe Montana) and a record six NFL passing titles. Young was named league MVP in 1992 and 1994, and was the MVP of Super Bowl XXIX (1994).
Brett Favre is a retired National Football League (NFL) player. He played most of his 20-season career (1991-2010) for the Green Bay Packers. Favre is the only quarterback in NFL history to throw for over 70,000 yards, over 500 touchdowns, over 300 interceptions and over 10,000 pass attempts. He won one of his two Super Bowl appearances. Favre retired and unretired so many times that everyone lost count and interest.
John Elway is a retired National Football League (NFL) player. He played his 16-season career for the Denver Broncos (1983-1998). At the time of his retirement, Elway had the most victories by a starting quarterback and was the second most prolific passer in NFL history. He led the Broncos to five Super Bowls, winning his last two (1997 and 1998).
Note: Elway is famous for “The Drive,” which was a 98-yard, game-tying touchdown drive in the 1987 AFC Championship Game against the Cleveland Browns. Watch a recap of his clutch performance. Don’t forget that Elway is also Eric Cartman’s father.
Dan Marino is a retired National Football League (NFL) player. He played his 17-season career for the Miami Dolphins (1983-1999). He was one of the most prolific quarterbacks in history, holding or having held almost every major NFL passing record. With his quick release and powerful arm, Marino led the Dolphins to the playoffs 10 times. Despite never winning the Super Bowl, he is recognized as one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history. He was born tomorrow in 1961.
Note: You may also remember Marino for his role in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994) with Jim Carrey. “The laces were out!”
Lawrence Taylor is a retired National Football League (NFL) player. He played his entire professional career as a linebacker for the New York Giants. In his 13 seasons, he won a record three Defensive Player of the Year awards and the 1986 MVP award. As a key member of the Giants’ defense, nicknamed “The Big Blue Wrecking Crew,” he led New York to victories in two Super Bowls (1986 and 1990). Taylor is considered the top defensive player in league history.
Note: During a Monday Night Football game in 1985, Taylor inadvertently ended Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann’s NFL career with a brutal sack that snapped the bones in Theismann’s right leg. For those who can’t look away from horrible things, feel free to (re)watch Theismann’s compound fracture in slow motion. Legs don’t bend like that!
Barry Sanders is a retired National Football League (NFL) player. He played his entire professional career as a running back for the Detroit Lions. Sanders surprisingly retired after only 10 seasons (1989-1998), leaving the game just short of the all-time rushing record. He is one of the greatest and most elusive running backs of all time.
Walter Payton was a National Football League (NFL) player known as “Sweetness.” He played running back for the Chicago Bears for 13 seasons. Payton won two MVP awards as well as Super Bowl XX (1985). He once held the league’s record for most career rushing yards, touchdowns, carries, yards from scrimmage, all-purpose yards and many other categories. He died in 1999 at age 45 from a rare liver disease.
Joe Montana is a retired National Football League (NFL) player. Montana started his NFL career in 1979 with the San Francisco 49ers, where he played for 14 seasons. Traded before the 1993 season, he spent his final two years in the league with the Kansas City Chiefs. While a member of the 49ers, Montana started in four Super Bowl games (1981, 1984, 1988 and 1989) and won all of them.
Note: The 2012 NFL season began on Wednesday, September 5.
Kim Clijsters is a Belgian tennis player. She won four Grand Slam singles titles and two Grand Slam doubles titles. Clijsters retired in 2007 to have a child, but returned to tennis in 2009. In only her third tournament back, she won her second U.S. Open title, becoming the first unseeded player and wildcard to win the tournament, and the first mother to win a major since Evonne Goolagong in 1980. At age 29, Clijsters just retired to have a second child. The U.S. Open in 2012 was her final tournament. I guess I need to choose a new favorite WTA player.
Note: This is 8-bit tennis character #8 of 8 in celebration of the U.S. Open.
Justine Henin is a Belgian former tennis player. She won seven Grand Slam singles titles from 2001-2007. Henin also won the singles gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics. She is a very gifted athlete with the best one-handed backhand in the women’s game (and probably the men’s game too, unless you think the Federer backhand is better).
Note: This is 8-bit tennis character #7 of 8 in celebration of the U.S. Open.
Serena Williams is an American tennis player. She has won 14 Grand Slam singles titles, 13 Grand Slam women’s doubles titles (with her older sister Venus) and two Grand Slam mixed doubles titles. She has also won four Olympic gold medals, one in singles (2012) and three in women’s doubles (2000, 2008 and 2012). Serena’s complete domination (6-0, 6-1) of Maria Sharapova in the gold medal match at the 2012 Olympic Games last month was remarkable. She is one of the greatest tennis players of all time, but can also act appallingly classless and disrespectful.
Note: This is 8-bit tennis character #6 of 8 in celebration of the U.S. Open.
Lance Armstrong – No. 508
Lance Armstrong is an American former professional road racing cyclist who won the Tour de France a record seven consecutive times (1999-2005) after having survived testicular cancer. He is also the founder and chairman of the Lance Armstrong Foundation for cancer support. He was born on this day in 1971.
On August 23, 2012, Armstrong announced he will stop fighting allegations that he used banned substances during his stellar career. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency said it will ban Armstrong for life and recommend he be stripped of his record seven Tour de France titles. Jim Caple said it best: “As far as I can tell no one actually won the Tour de France from 1996 to 2007” due to the rampant use of performance enhancers. “Going after athletes for something they might have done seven to 13 years ago […] does far more harm than good. USADA should have let this one go. The agency exists to police sports, not destroy them.” You don’t have to be an Armstrong apologist to believe in the principle of “innocent until proven guilty.” Throwing your hands up after years of defending yourself doesn’t prove guilt, does it? Though it does suggest evidence against Armstrong.