MoverofFridge2
Helluva Engineer
- Joined
- Aug 29, 2003
- Messages
- 2,274
espn.com by accident a little while ago. It was intersting to see Coach Curry's picks.
Was glad to see he put several of his former players on his list. I was amazed to see RM was on there.
Cograts lil brother. Although you really were not worth a DANG!!
There weren't many hard-and-fast rules. We asked the panel to name the 11 best players they ever saw, either live or on television, selecting one player from each of the main position groups, then adding four more wild-card choices from any position (denoted by an "x"). The other 11 bests and favorites are self-explanatory, entirely subjective, occasionally idiosyncratic and always deeply, passionately felt.
Bill Curry
Player, coach, ESPN color commentator
Georgia Tech, 1965
Curry's Best 11
POSITION PLAYER
QB Byron Leftwich, Marshall
RB Bo Jackson, Auburn
WR Larry Fitzgerald, Pittsburgh
OL John Davis, Georgia Tech
DL Derrick Thomas, Alabama
LB Maxie Baughan, Georgia Tech
DB Charles Woodson, Michigan
x-LB Mike Curtis, Duke (also a FB)
x-DL Pat Swilling, Georgia Tech (also a LB)
x-QB Peyton Manning, Tennessee
x-WB Johnny Rodgers, Nebraska (also a KR)
Curry's 11 Best
Best Team: Alabama, 1961. They refused to lose. Gritty, lightning quick, near perfect in their fundamentals.
Best Season: 1997, my first year as an ESPN analyst, when Michigan and Nebraska were co-national champions. We broadcast four Michigan games, and I got to see Lloyd Carr surface as a big-game coach, Brian Griese become a championship quarterback and Charles Woodson win the Heisman by starring in all three phases of the game.
Best Game: Arkansas at Ole Miss, 2001. Arkansas won in seven overtimes, and the score was so big I don't even remember it. [Ed.'s note: It was Razorbacks 58, Rebels 56, Coach.]
Biggest Upset: North Carolina 31, Miami 28, 2004. Going in, Miami was 60 and ranked No. 4, while the Tar Heels were 0-37-1 against Top 5 opponents. Now they're 1-37-1.
Best Bowl Game: 2001 Rose Bowl: Washington 34, Purdue 24. A perfect Pasadena day. It's the only Rose Bowl I've ever attended. Nothing else in college football matches it. Purdue's Drew Brees and Washington's Marques Tuiasosopo were the marquee players, but the event itself was the star.
Best Stadium: Tiger Stadium, Baton Rouge, at night. I first encountered this magical venue in 1961, when I was a Georgia Tech sophomore. I'd never heard a sound like that crowd. I've gone back as coach of two programs and as an analyst. I've only attended night games, and don't wish to be there in the light of day. The spirits would surely vanish.
Best Fans: Bobby Bowden told me a story, one echoed by other Nebraska rivals, about a time in the 1980s when he took an upstart Florida State team to Lincoln. Somehow FSU escaped with a win, and Bobby said he worried about getting his players out of the stadium without incident. To his amazement, the people in red stood and escorted the Seminoles off the field to a standing ovation.
Best Uniforms: Penn State. Simplicity and tradition. That says what JoePa believes, and what he believes is the truth.
Best Book: Bootlegger's Boy, by Barry Switzer. No artifice, no self-flagellation, no self-aggrandizement. It's unvarnished truth, and it's compelling. And it explains the basis for Switzer's amazing success at Oklahoma.
Favorite Coach: Bobby Dodd, with no close second. My college coach was light-years ahead of his time. In 22 years at Georgia Tech, 92% of his players graduated from one of the country's toughest schools. He won big, but so did his student-athletes. Bear Bryant often said, "Saturday, I'd rather look across the field and see anybody other than that damn Dodd. He can beat you with his brain!"
Favorite Player: After my first two years at Georgia Tech, our record was 2-19-1. Two kids I was recruiting, linebackers Ted Roof and Pat Swilling, could have gone almost anywhere. They were persuaded to join us by the idea of building a unique team. Four years later, we were a Top 20 program. That wouldn't have happened without Ted and Pat. Roof's now head coach at Duke. Swilling had a long career in the NFL and later served as a state representative in Louisiana.
Was glad to see he put several of his former players on his list. I was amazed to see RM was on there.
Cograts lil brother. Although you really were not worth a DANG!!
There weren't many hard-and-fast rules. We asked the panel to name the 11 best players they ever saw, either live or on television, selecting one player from each of the main position groups, then adding four more wild-card choices from any position (denoted by an "x"). The other 11 bests and favorites are self-explanatory, entirely subjective, occasionally idiosyncratic and always deeply, passionately felt.
Bill Curry
Player, coach, ESPN color commentator
Georgia Tech, 1965
Curry's Best 11
POSITION PLAYER
QB Byron Leftwich, Marshall
RB Bo Jackson, Auburn
WR Larry Fitzgerald, Pittsburgh
OL John Davis, Georgia Tech
DL Derrick Thomas, Alabama
LB Maxie Baughan, Georgia Tech
DB Charles Woodson, Michigan
x-LB Mike Curtis, Duke (also a FB)
x-DL Pat Swilling, Georgia Tech (also a LB)
x-QB Peyton Manning, Tennessee
x-WB Johnny Rodgers, Nebraska (also a KR)
Curry's 11 Best
Best Team: Alabama, 1961. They refused to lose. Gritty, lightning quick, near perfect in their fundamentals.
Best Season: 1997, my first year as an ESPN analyst, when Michigan and Nebraska were co-national champions. We broadcast four Michigan games, and I got to see Lloyd Carr surface as a big-game coach, Brian Griese become a championship quarterback and Charles Woodson win the Heisman by starring in all three phases of the game.
Best Game: Arkansas at Ole Miss, 2001. Arkansas won in seven overtimes, and the score was so big I don't even remember it. [Ed.'s note: It was Razorbacks 58, Rebels 56, Coach.]
Biggest Upset: North Carolina 31, Miami 28, 2004. Going in, Miami was 60 and ranked No. 4, while the Tar Heels were 0-37-1 against Top 5 opponents. Now they're 1-37-1.
Best Bowl Game: 2001 Rose Bowl: Washington 34, Purdue 24. A perfect Pasadena day. It's the only Rose Bowl I've ever attended. Nothing else in college football matches it. Purdue's Drew Brees and Washington's Marques Tuiasosopo were the marquee players, but the event itself was the star.
Best Stadium: Tiger Stadium, Baton Rouge, at night. I first encountered this magical venue in 1961, when I was a Georgia Tech sophomore. I'd never heard a sound like that crowd. I've gone back as coach of two programs and as an analyst. I've only attended night games, and don't wish to be there in the light of day. The spirits would surely vanish.
Best Fans: Bobby Bowden told me a story, one echoed by other Nebraska rivals, about a time in the 1980s when he took an upstart Florida State team to Lincoln. Somehow FSU escaped with a win, and Bobby said he worried about getting his players out of the stadium without incident. To his amazement, the people in red stood and escorted the Seminoles off the field to a standing ovation.
Best Uniforms: Penn State. Simplicity and tradition. That says what JoePa believes, and what he believes is the truth.
Best Book: Bootlegger's Boy, by Barry Switzer. No artifice, no self-flagellation, no self-aggrandizement. It's unvarnished truth, and it's compelling. And it explains the basis for Switzer's amazing success at Oklahoma.
Favorite Coach: Bobby Dodd, with no close second. My college coach was light-years ahead of his time. In 22 years at Georgia Tech, 92% of his players graduated from one of the country's toughest schools. He won big, but so did his student-athletes. Bear Bryant often said, "Saturday, I'd rather look across the field and see anybody other than that damn Dodd. He can beat you with his brain!"
Favorite Player: After my first two years at Georgia Tech, our record was 2-19-1. Two kids I was recruiting, linebackers Ted Roof and Pat Swilling, could have gone almost anywhere. They were persuaded to join us by the idea of building a unique team. Four years later, we were a Top 20 program. That wouldn't have happened without Ted and Pat. Roof's now head coach at Duke. Swilling had a long career in the NFL and later served as a state representative in Louisiana.
