Tom Jones, of the St. Petersburg Times recently wrote up a list of the ten most Influential sports figures of the last 50 years. We haven’t even heard of most of the guys on the list, but down there at the bottom of the list in a six-way tie for number ten is Tony Hawk. Here’s what Jones said:
Coming up with a list of 10 is impossible, so here’s a six-way tie for 10th. Among those are Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and, later, Michael Jordan for saving the NBA in the 1980s; skateboarder Tony Hawk for helping extreme sports join the mainstream; Nike founder Phil Knight for creating the most popular shoe and apparel company in sports; and the unnamed person who created the major sports story of our generation — the man or woman who introduced steroids to sports.
Aside from the steroid thing, not bad company. But then Tony is good that way.
[Link: The Post-Tribune]
