Doug Flutie has officially retired, at the age of 43. He was a classy guy. He could have his name on the marquee. Or, he could back-up the starter. He was a team-guy. He did anything the coach asked, including being the first NFLer since WWII to drop-kick the football for a point after touchdown. I bet you didn't know that he and his brother Darren, another Boston College great, have a band called The Flutie Brothers. Also, Darren had a great career in the Canadian Football League. Both Darren and Doug may join Steve Nash as First Ballot Entries into the 6'0" And Under White-Guy HOF. (Throw in John Stockton and 5'10", Whitey Ford.)
ESPN has named its 10 greatest point guards of all time. And, I am in agreement with most of them. But, you can't base a player's importance solely on his numbers, as ESPN does to justify their picks. When I was in college in Boston, Larry Bird played with a point guard, who he referred to simply as the greatest player he'd ever played with: Dennis Johnson. He won championships in Seattle and Boston. He was All-NBA Defensive Team in nine different campaigns, NBA Finals MVP in 1979, and a 5-Time All-Star. DJ was a guy who (like Doug Flutie) was a team-guy, so his numbers weren't flashy. But, the results were pretty fine.
My son Junior's team played a very competitive baseball tournament this past weekend. Junior crushed the ball. He walked once, had a single, triple and double, struck out once and ground-out twice. As a team, the results weren't great as we won one and lost two. But, he made the greatest catch of his life on Saturday, diving for a fly ball on the left field foul line to save a run. This catch was so good, it would have lead-off ESPN all weekend (even if Barry Bonds would have hit his Ruth-tying HR).
