From The G-Man: Michael Jordan, Do the Right Thing!
Feb 2nd, 2008 by admin
The G-Man: Born In NC,Now Reppin’ In The NYC
In 1999, a highly regarded 48-member panel from ESPN’s “SportsCenter” selected the greatest North American athlete of the 20th century. The distinguished honor went to former Chicago Bulls superstar Michael Jordan. Baseball icon Babe Ruth finished in second place. Truth be told, there were many celebrated athletes that were given serious consideration because of their contributions on and off the field or court. However, I did not agree with this choice at all! While Jordan does indeed deserve “props”, I strongly feel the athlete that defined the 20th century, without question, was Jesse Owens. What Owens accomplished in the 1936 Olympic Games, in track and field competitions and symbolically, was nothing short of remarkable.
What separates Owens as a sports icon, and the true athlete of the century, is the fact that he achieved Olympic glory against Adolph Hitler’s so-called Aryan or “Master” race of athletes. Moreover, Owens didn’t obliterate them on American soil, but in Berlin, Germany! The Aryans were supposed to be the best, strongest, and fastest athletes on the face of the earth because of their “pure German blood”, but Owens ran twice as fast and jumped three times as high as any of Hitler’s Master Race participants. I’ll take this argument to another level entirely by stating the following. Owens’ legendary and unprecedented performance served as an eerie premonition for Hitler, and the Aryan Nation, that they could and would be defeated in World War II.
I don’t care whose name sports analysts throw out there, be it Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, the late Florence Griffith-Joyner, Joe Montana, Tiger Woods, Althea Gibson, Muhammad Ali, Arthur Ashe, Summer Sanders, Marc Spitz, Jack Dempsey, Rocky Marciano or my favorite QB of all time, Terry Bradshaw. No one will ever come close to the level of greatness and historic significance of Jesse Owens. Don’t get me wrong. I respect his stats and championship rings, but if Michael Jordan was real, he would’ve said the same thing regarding Owens, publicly, and dedicated the ESPN award to Owens’ memory and legacy. To this very day, The G-man thinks Jordan should “man-up”.
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