Saw this article on ESPN and thought I'd create a poll to see what ya'll thought about it. Ford's # wasn't even "retired" that long, so seems like a slap in the face to me. I thought once a jersey was retired, that's it. I didn't know you could undo it. Granted certain exceptions may apply, like if you later found out he was a boyraper or terrorist or something. So what do you guys think? They say they are doing it to honor him. Also there are only so many #'s available, so eventually they will either have to quit retiring #'s or have to find a way to put #346456456435 on a jersey. What do you guys think?
Location: Live in Rockwall, TX but from da Wessbank brah
Age: 41
Posts: 21,908
I don't like the idea of retiring numbers in any sport. Have a wall of fame or something like that instead to honor former players, coaches or other contributors. I don't have a problem with it.
I don't like the idea of retiring numbers in any sport. Have a wall of fame or something like that instead to honor former players, coaches or other contributors. I don't have a problem with it.
I like the idea for truly GREAT players like Shaq or Pistol Pete, but think it should be extremely, extremely rare.
Having a star president alumni seems worthy of retirement, because how many presidents would you have play for you?
Location: Live in Rockwall, TX but from da Wessbank brah
Age: 41
Posts: 21,908
Quote:
Originally Posted by VVextreme
I like the idea for truly GREAT players like Shaq or Pistol Pete, but think it should be extremely, extremely rare.
Having a star president alumni seems worthy of retirement, because how many presidents would you have play for you?
But then you'll get into the argument of who is a truly great player? Is it based on statistics? Is it based on championships, w's/l's? What do you base the greatness on? Is it if the player goes on to be inducted in their professional sports own Hall of Fame? But then you could get into a situation like the Yankees where they have almost no single-digit numbers left because they are all retired, or will be when Derek Jeter retires and is inducted into Cooperstown. That's why I'm more inclined to have a Wall of Fame, or Ring of Honor or something like that. Just because another player may wear #8 for the Saints, doesn't mean any true Saints fans will forget that Archie Manning wore it. Or that Rickey Jackson wore #57.
If you retire a number it should stay that way. In the NFL you obviously can't retire to many numbers as certain positions are required to wear certain numbers and eventually you'll run out. In College players can basically wear any numbers they want and in Baseball you have 20 something players and 100 numbers so it's a little easier.
All ring of honor, wall of fame, whatever you want to call it seems to be a much better idea.
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But then you'll get into the argument of who is a truly great player? Is it based on statistics? Is it based on championships, w's/l's? What do you base the greatness on? Is it if the player goes on to be inducted in their professional sports own Hall of Fame? But then you could get into a situation like the Yankees where they have almost no single-digit numbers left because they are all retired, or will be when Derek Jeter retires and is inducted into Cooperstown. That's why I'm more inclined to have a Wall of Fame, or Ring of Honor or something like that. Just because another player may wear #8 for the Saints, doesn't mean any true Saints fans will forget that Archie Manning wore it. Or that Rickey Jackson wore #57.
You have all of those questions regardless of the forum you choose to honor them. It's obviously very subjective, but you can generally figure it out. I actually like the retired jersey concept for truly exceptional athletes. I'm not talking about someone really gifted like a rueben randle or patrick peterson. I'm talking about guys that really define the history of your program, such as a pistol pete. The untouchable guys like a Babe Ruth that really transcend the sport. Tim Tebow at Florida would be a candidate. And it shouldn't be more than just a few guys, tops, for each program. The true faces of your school's history. I dunno, I just enjoyed going to the LSU games and seeing Shaq's and Pistol Pete's jerseys up there. I think it's great marketing and a great way to connect with the past. Wall of fames are nice, but the average fan doesn't really spend a lot of time studying it or learning about it. But college sports, in particular, are nothing without their tradition and history. We want recruits to come to LSU and see Shaq's # hanging in the rafters. Good gosh, we want them to look at anything BUT what's on the court today. haha
I dunno, I enjoy them, but I guess that's just me. They should be the ultimate holy grail of sports accomplishments. Many will dream, practically no one will achieve...
And yes, a thousand years from now... you might run into some issues with too many jerseys retired. So at some point in the future, I could see un-retiring a #. However it should be way after everyone connected that player has long died away at the very least.
I can understand why you feel differently though. No big. I just think it's fun and a nice way to connect with your fanbase though.
If you retire a number it should stay that way. In the NFL you obviously can't retire to many numbers as certain positions are required to wear certain numbers and eventually you'll run out. In College players can basically wear any numbers they want and in Baseball you have 20 something players and 100 numbers so it's a little easier.
All ring of honor, wall of fame, whatever you want to call it seems to be a much better idea.
Doesn't colleges have certain # ranges for each position? I'd actually think this would be a much bigger problem for colleges as they have wayyyyyy more players. But sometimes two players wear the same # as it is I think, so it can get confusing at times.
If you retire a number it should stay that way. In the NFL you obviously can't retire to many numbers as certain positions are required to wear certain numbers and eventually you'll run out. In College players can basically wear any numbers they want and in Baseball you have 20 something players and 100 numbers so it's a little easier.
All ring of honor, wall of fame, whatever you want to call it seems to be a much better idea.
Am I the only one who thinks the NFL numbering system is dumb? You make a good point and the Chicago Bears
already have this problem with Linebackers. Dick Butkus # 51 and Bill Dickeys #56 have already been retired.
If they retire Mike Singletary's #50 and Brian Urlachers # 54 in the future,there won't be enough 50-59's to give players
who make the final roster. I know Urlacher is a stretch,but I hope you get my point.
Imho, the best solution is to let the players or teams choose any number they want regardless of position. If that were the case
teams with long and storied histories wouldn't be having this trouble. I personally like the idea of retiring numbers for special players.
I don't know about anyone else,but I'd feel uncomfortable seeing another Qb in the future wearing # 9.
With the exception of #2 and #6, the NY Yankees have retired every number between 1-10,but since Baseball doesn't
have the same rigid numbering system NFL football has,they'll never have to worry about running out of #'s to give current players.
Derek Jeter wears #2 and Joe Torre wore #6 when he was the Yankees MGR. I wouldn't be surprised if both those numbers are
retired eventually and we'll see no player wearing a single digit for the Yankees in the future.
We never should have retired should have retired Ford's number. He was a star athlete, but we retired it because he was a US President (how many schools can say that their star athlete went on to be Commander-in-Chief). He had a great career, but Charles Woodson had a better one, yet we aren't retiring his number 2 any time soon.
I say unretire it, and put Ford's name somewhere on the Big House. He was a great player, but thats about as far as he went as a player. He didn't change the game like a Jackie Robinson or Roberto Clamente.
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We never should have retired should have retired Ford's number.
I say unretire it, and put Ford's name somewhere on the Big House. He was a great player, but thats about as far as he went as a player. He didn't change the game like a Jackie Robinson or Roberto Clamente.
No, but by the same token Clemente and Robinson didn't go on to become POTUS either. Again, Like Extreme I believe in
retiring numbers for those truly special players even if it's due to what they accomplished after their playing days. What Gerald Ford became
is far more difficult than winning a Heisman trophy and eventually becoming a member of the Pro Football HOF. Let's say a former LSU back up
later becomes a research biologist and his work leads to a cure for cancer and he wins the Nobel prize for medicine. Retiring his number
is the least the school could do Imo.
I get that. But there are a number of other things you can do to allow people to use a number, while still honoring the legacy. Name the field after him. Name the stadium after him. Name the AD building after him. Name a college after him...oh wait, they did that.
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If you say something trivial and want it to sound important, just say your age before it.
"I'm 45, and I want a sandwich!"
I voted no because once retired they shouldnt bring it back
The shouldnt need to retire a number anyway....but the shirt up in hall of fame/roof/where ever you put it and everyone knows its the number they owned
But its impractical to retire numbers not to mention how much of an honor is it to be able to wear the same number as a hall of famer/somones whos shirt is .....for a young guy
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