OK, before we get going with our Rushmores of the week, we have to share this story and apologize for not bringing this to the light of day earlier.
Here's the story of a small Swedish soccer team with a gloriously brave sportsman with the upset stomach and the will and ability to assuredly make social etiquette and sporting history.
Meet Adam Lindin Ljungkvist, a defender on one of those European teams with punctuation marks over their city and a couple of capital letters as their team name.
He's now assuredly the most famous Jarna SK's reserve team after getting a second yellow card last month for being "unsportsmanlike." And since the soccer math is two yellows = one red, Ljungkvist's unsportsmanlikedness meant he was done for the match.
As for the shot that ended Ljungkvist's day, well, he was booted for an on-field fart. He was cut for cutting the cheese. He got pinched for pinching one off. Yes, he got the boot for a toot.
As for this week's Rushmores:
Rushmore of TV and movie success - George Clooney (great call gang), Bruce Willis, Steve Carell and Will Smith. On the female side, we'll go Demi Moore, who was a soap opera star before going big time, Jennifer Lawrence, Mila Kunis and Sally Field. (There are a ton of sketch comedy folks from Carrey to Bill Murray to Mike Myers to Eddie Murphy but those seem a little different, you know?)
Rushmore of 'summer' - Suzanne Summers; Summer Lovin'; Boys of Summer and of course the Mark Harmon classic "Summer School" which narrowly edges Donna Summer.
Rushmore of Cleveland - LeBron, Jim Brown, Drew Carey and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rushmore of best inventions - Printing press, the automobile, indoor plumbing and the TV remote control. (Man this one is tough.)
From Phil
Not sure if you knew this or not, but this week was the 30th anniversary of Lenny Bias' death. How good of an NBA player do you think he would have been and what would it have meant for my Celtics?
Thanks, and I love the 5-at-10.
Phil -
Thanks for reading and for the question. I actually was at a basketball camp when that happened and learned of the tragic news from then UGA basketball coach Hugh Durham during a morning clinic.
I think Bias was closer to LeBron James, physically than any player before or since. He was a 6-foot-8 guard in a power forward's frame.
He was great with the ball in hands, with his back to the basket and on the glass. He was special, and a decade or more of Bias vs. MJ in the East would have been joyous.
As for the Celtics, those great Boston teams were aging, and the 1986 title was the last of the great Larry Bird years, but remember that 1986-87 team went 40-1 at home for Pete Maravich's sake, and was topped in the Finals with a long list of injuries.
Bias would have helped on all fronts of that. With his presence there, Bird and McHale and the rest of the aging stars could have gotten more rest. Plus, was there a better pre-LeBron body perfectly designed to defend Magic Johnson than Len Bias? Not really.
If Bias could have played a decade, here's betting it would have altered the championship histories of the Pistons, the Lakers, the Bulls and the Celtics.
He was so amazing.
From Scott
I heard Bill Pullman on ESPN radio this week, and with another Independence Day coming out this week, was wondering if you have ever done a Rushmore of movie presidents.
Thanks and keep up the good work.
Scott -
We talked briefly about this on Press Row some this week, but no, we're pretty sure, we've not done a movie president Rushmore.
Let's give it a roll.
First, we'll do acting jobs of actual presidents. Daniel Day Lewis as Lincoln, Anthony Hopkins as Nixon in "Nixon" (and he gets bonus points as John Adams in "Amistad" too) Frank Langella in "Frost/Nixon" and Bruce Greenwood as JFK in "13 Days" who gets bonus points for also being the president in "National Treasure 2." (Although the acting and portrayals of Travolta and Emma Thompson in the almost-too-real-to-be-denied job as the Clintons in "Primary Colors" is overwhelming.)
As for fictional presidents, we'll go Michael Douglas in "American President," Kevin Kline in "Dave," Peter Sellers in "Dr. Strangelove," (who famously offered the magical ironic quote of "Gentlemen, you can't fight in here; this is the War Room.") and we'll go way back with Donald Pleasence in "Escape from New York."
Great question.
From Terence
Man, I heard read what you wrote about Will Smith this week and I think you didn't give him enough props.
You know considering all he's done - TV, music and movies - he has to be one of the biggest stars of this generation.
Yes he turned down a great movie like Matrix but he has done a ton of great things don't you think.
Terence -
Smith's overpowering eight years from 1990 to 1998 were staggering.
There were multi-platnum albums. There was the hit TV Show "Fresh Prince." There was a run of box office mega hits Bad Boys, Independence Day, Men in Black and Enemy of the State.
But the last decade has been relatively awful.
Take out a 2005-06 island of mediocrity that was Hitch and The Pursuit of Happyness, Smith has been a catalyst for more bombs than a B-52. Check out his imdb page and the results are not pretty.
You have to wonder would it have been different if he had taken the role as Neo in the "Matrix" since the first one was so amazingly successful but the last two were positively dreck. With that in mind, here's a mini-Rushmore of movie roles actors wish they would have taken:
Burt Reynolds turned down the role that won Jack Nicholson an Oscar in "Terms of Endearment" so Reynolds could drink beer with his buddies and film "Stroker Ace." No, "Stroker Ace" was not nominated for any awards. Surprisingly.
Molly Ringwald, who reportedly turned down Julia Roberts' character in "Pretty Woman." Wow, to borrow a line from the movie, "Big mistake. Huge." (Side note: Ringwald was not alone though as Darryl Hannah, Meg Ryan and Michelle Pfeiffer also said no thanks before Smyrna's Roberts got the breakthrough part.)
Speaking of Pfeiffer, she reportedly also turned down the part of Clarice Starling in "Silence of the Lambs."
The last spot will be shared by the trio of John Travolta, Bill Murray and Chevy Chase, each of whom allegedly said no to a little part Tom Hanks turned into a gold statue in "Forrest Gump."
From Jason G.
Hey man thanks for the gift card and for all the contests. Those are cool.
So my buddy and I were talking about LeBron, and we get the nickname. But aren't there like too many "Kings" in sports? What's your ranking of the various Kings?
Thanks and love the 5-at-10.
Jason G. -
Congrats and thanks for playing along with the craziness.
Fair question. For the most part, the name is truly reserved for sport royalty.
Richard "The King" Petty is regarded as the best NASCAR driver ever. Arnold "The King" Palmer was the guy that brought pro golf to the masses. Pele was known as "The King of Football" and he's pretty highly thought of.
And it goes beyond sports, too. Elvis was the King. Michael Jackson was the King of Pop. There's King George Strait as well as old school wrestlers The King Jerry Lawler and The King Harley Race. (They can settled that in the squared circle at a time to be named later.)
Currently there is King Felix, who is right there as the best pitcher in baseball not named Clayton Kershaw. (Which begs should we call Kershaw the emperor, or what exactly is a step up from a king? The right answer most times is the queen of course, but that doesn't hardly seem appropriate.) There's also King Henrik Lundquist in hockey, too.
As well of course as some dude who goes by King James. As for a ranking, well, that seems somewhat impossible.
Let's do name recognition first, and the first ones we thought of were, in order, Elivs, Petty, LeBron and George Strait, but that has some to do with personal tastes and name recognition
to try and honor them for their contributions in sports we'll go Pele, Palmer, Petty and James in that order.
Great question, and enjoy the weekend friends.