It's been only about the past decade or so that the Mount Rushmore debates have supplanted nearly all other sporting debates, and I'm OK with that. They can be started from thin air, they can apply to virtually any subject under the sun, they're flexible in offering four options rather than one or two and, above all, they're a blast.
Except when it comes to the Penguins, of course.
I mean, look at that photo up there.
The team snapped that Sunday at PPG Paints Arena, part of the Jaromir Jagr number retirement ceremony, and it was put to the public yesterday, with Jagr flanked by Mario Lemieux, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. And I'll bet was welcomed with the same awe I expressed myself, and take that from someone who's known all four of these gentlemen for a very long time. It was ... obvious, but at the same time breathtaking regardless. Because, in part, seeing them all in the same frame, all wearing the same sweater, all at the same point in time, might serve as the starkest reminder yet of what they've represented to both the franchise and the city since Mario's arrival in 1984:
• Stanley Cup rings: 10
• MVPs: 7
• Playoff MVPs: 5
• Scoring titles: 15
• Goals: 2,524
• Points: 6,471
And get this: These four represented 15 of the NHL's scoring champs in a 27-season stretch, from 1987-2014.
Any questions?
Any other candidates for inclusion, even with the franchise also having been blessed with the illustrious likes of Jean Pronovost, Rick Kehoe, Tom Barrasso, Kevin Stevens, Ron Francis, Kris Letang, Marc-Andre Fleury and so many others?
Nope. Thought not.
In fact, I'll carry it further and put forth that my all-time hockey Mount Rushmore of Mario, Wayne Gretzky, Bobby Orr and Gordie Howe could easily, reasonably someday see Sid replacing Mr. Hockey as the fourth name there. And that's ignoring that Jagr remains second only to Gretzky in career points despite having spent three seasons in Siberia professionally.
Would the hockey world ever entertain two Penguins being on an all-time hockey Mount Rushmore?
Heck no. Not any more than they'll ever entertain Alexander Ovechkin being part of it, not because Ovi's largely one-dimensional but, rather, because he's not Canadian. Which, by the way, all of the above foursome are. These conversations, like the Hockey Hall of Fame's bizarre ongoing omission of Alexander Mogilny, remain almost as much within Canada's grip as they did four or five decades ago.
But it's still fun, right?
So hey, let's keep it going. Light sports day 'n' at.
My Steelers Mount Rushmore over the years has morphed, I'm proud to say, as opposed to being stuck in the 1970s like way too many of us in this corner of the world. But it's never been easy, and it sure isn't any easier now.
My only slam dunk, then and now, remains Mean Joe Greene, the greatest of all Steelers. Every list starts with him, and here's hoping it always does no matter who else might come along. None of what's followed Greene would've happened without him. And from there, my next choice has been Terry Bradshaw because it's tough to top quarterbacking four Super Bowl championships and having been MVP in two of those.
But after that ... my God, how to whittle down from Mel Blount, Jack Lambert, Franco Harris, Mike Webster, Rod Woodson, Troy Polamalu and Ben Roethlisberger?
It's not just that a compelling case can be made for any of them. It's that a compelling case can be made for even more. And I'm willfully not even acknowledging T.J. Watt since he's still active.
Well, gun to my head, I'll go with Troy and Ben and take whatever bullets come my way. Recency bias is a thing. I marveled at these two. And in Troy's case, specifically, he did stuff on a football field we'd never seen and might never see again.
My Pirates Mount Rushmore tends to tick the most people off, since I wouldn't include Barry Bonds with an actual gun to my head. And believe it or not, that's not because he cheated, since he didn't cheat while in Pittsburgh but, rather, because there simply are not four but several candidates more qualified.
As with Mean Joe, every list of mine regarding the baseball club starts with Honus Wagner, still the greatest of all Pirates, and here's hoping it always does no matter who else might come along. It's impossible to outdo Wagner having been part of the original class inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1936, along with Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Christy Mathewson and Walter 'Big Train' Johnson. Those represented nothing less than the first half-century of the sport's existence.
Roberto Clemente's just as obvious a choice, and it should always be stressed that it's even more for how he played baseball than how he lived or died. He was a brilliant ballplayer in all facets. Five tools and then some. And by the way, he'd have hit a ton more home runs if he'd ever de-emphasized hits, but he didn't believe in it.
Willie Stargell's right there, as well. The number of players throughout history who had markers bearing their name or number to show how far they'd hit a ball was ... just the Captain. A giant of the game in every way.
But the fourth ... man, there isn't a greater challenge to be had with any of our three teams.
I could run through all the Hall of Famers, notably Pie Traynor, Arky Vaughan, Paul Waner, Ralph Kiner, Dick Groat and, principally on seismic historical impact, Bill Mazeroski. I could offer respectful cap tips to Babe Adams, Dave Parker and, sure, Andrew McCutchen. I could even stomach including Bonds in this paragraph since, as noted, he didn't cheat here while twice winning MVP.
I'll take a different route, though, and complete my Mount with Josh Gibson, seen by many as the greatest catcher who ever lived. It wasn't Gibson's fault that he couldn't play for the Pirates but instead was across town with the Pittsburgh Crawfords or Homestead Grays of the Negro Leagues. In 1972, he became only the second member of the Negro Leagues to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, following only the legendary Satchel Paige.
So there: It's Wagner, Clemente, Stargell and Gibson. My list, my rules. Fight me.
All-time Pittsburgh sports?
I've got Wagner, Clemente, Lemieux, Greene ... and I'm sick to my stomach over who's left off.
Oh, and one more: I once came up with a Mount Rushmore of just plain old Pittsburghers. This was 10 years ago in authoring Chuck Noll's obituary for the Tribune-Review, and it was, in no order at all, Noll, Andrew Carnegie, Jonas Salk and Fred Rogers. Read this to learn why Noll might've defined our city's future as much as anyone.
Don't be surprised if one individual in that photo above contends in this category, as well.
• I'll be covering Penguins-Islanders tonight at PPG Paints Arena with a full column.
• Thanks, as ever, for reading this one. Which, by the way, was perfect and allows no room for disagreement on any single stance I took. :)
• Audio files for audiophiles:
