lanyard wrote:Fish Felon wrote:Yeah, maybe the most amazing part is that he didn't fukc it up.
Typically, this.
Another 16 yr old SI cover of this generation is Bryce Harper (baseball). He didn't **** it up, but the discussion of whether he met expectations or not is likely legitimate.
For basketball- easier to have a 5- man roster not entirely **** up your shit. Baseball, JFC, you don't have pitching or catching and it won't matter how well you perform individually.
The flame outs get lost in time.... Sean Salisbury was anointed coming out of high school for both football and basketball, ended up undrafted. No SI cover, but I don't think the media hype was quite as tuned-up in the '80s as it is now.
For that matter....Joe Mauer. I'd say he lived up to the hype and should be in the HOF, but then again I have no problem he won't be... he's very, very, very borderline. He is the greatest hitting catcher of all-time, but the second half of his career as a non-catcher was so mediocre.....the lack of any and all post season success after that unexpected run in 2002.
But hey, at least he'll always have being the ending scene in 'Moneyball.' The only time a MN sports team got to play the spoiler/villain role in a huge Hollywood blockbuster.
With Harper.......who would've ever thought the shift could be so effective to where it mitigated guys like Harper into becoming mere mortals?
I also think it helped Bryce Harper that he was flashy and from Vegas.....had he been from Iowa? Probably not getting on the cover of SI.
