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 Wednesday, January 17, 2001
Eyeing 101 in 2001
By Marc Connolly
ABC Sports Online
One question to start the New Year: Have anyone else's senses dulled?
If you live by all that is sport, you surely shivered with astonishment (Tiger Woods), pride (Marion Jones), horror (Georgia Frontiere's makeup) and pure delight (The Subway Series meant that one group of New Yorkers would end the year crying) as much as any one calendar year.
We were spoiled. Name another year where "we" dominated the Summer Olympics, American Lance Armstrong beat the French at their own sport and a college football game in Tallahassee in late November took precedence over the Presidential Race.
Now that 2001 is off and running, let's take a look at 101 people who may play a part in making the next 12 months just as satisfying.
1. Michael Jordan -- Come out, come out, wherever you are.
2. The XFL -- Go back, go back, wherever you came from.
3. Mario Lemieux -- A Cup for the Penguins would wrap up "Sportsman of the Year" honors before we hit summer.
4. Jaromir Jagr -- Unlike Scottie Pippen, this second banana can stand on his own.
5. Michael Vick -- Ryan Leaf Part Deux? Impossible.
6. Ryan Leaf -- Someone will take a chance on this former No. 1 pick. Most of us will buy the "I'm a new man" pitch he throws after his first strong outing in the preseason.
7. Bill Parcells -- Could be heading to the booth or the comforts of a network studio.
8. Jerry Glanville -- Could be heading out of the studio. That is, if I had my way.
9. Venus Williams -- Two Grand Slams.
10. Serena Williams -- The other two Grand Slams.
11. Martina Hingis -- Bitter.
12. Anna Kournikova -- Bitter, but, you know, still quite cuter.
13. Major League Soccer -- We hardly knew ye, Lothar Mattheus.
14. U.S. Men's National Soccer Team matches -- a better alternative.
15. Pedro Martinez -- The Perfect Game watch is on.
16. David Cone -- Teach Pedro how to do it.
17. Manny Ramirez -- The Man in Boston.
18. Mike Mussina -- The Man in New Yawk.
19. Roger Clemens -- No matter who he plays for, The Man in neither town.
20. Joe Torre -- The world's most lovable manager goes for his fourth title in a row.
21. Tom Kelly -- The world's second most lovable manager goes for fourth place in the A.L. Central.
22. Juan Montoya -- Where'd you go?
23. John Rocker -- Can you please go?
24. Dozens of college football underclassmen -- Should you really go?
25. Joe Paterno -- When will you go?
26. Michelle Kwan -- Somebody please appreciate her brilliance ... other than USA Today columnist Christine Brennan.
27. Tiffeny Milbrett -- Ditto.
28. WWF -- How 'bout fans of such nonsense get a life?
29. The Rock -- Didn't mean to offend you, man. I love you.
30. Those who may fall prey to the Call of the Wild: 31-39
31. Parcells.
32. Jimmy Johnson -- not that anyone cares.
33. Larry Bird.
34. Magic Johnson -- not in the NBA, as a talk show host.
35. Wayne Gretzky.
36. Jordan -- Only to restore his image.
37. Barry Sanders -- Matt Millen could talk Clint Eastwood into wearing pink if he so desired.
38. Alexi Lalas -- did you know he was gone?
39. Bad News Bears movies -- please?
40. Bobby Bowden -- looking to get to his fourth national title game in a row.
41. Tommy Bowden -- looking to dethrone his dad of the ACC championship.
42. Terry Bowden -- looking for one day of peace when someone on the other end of the phone doesn't ask him about such-and-such coaching job.
43. Pete Sampras -- He'll find time to lend his services to his country this year without being forced.
44. Patrick McEnroe -- perhaps he can finally do something his brother couldn't do as coach of the Davis Cup squad.
45. Sergei Fedorov -- will he marry Miss Anna?
46. Pavel Bure -- Same question.
47. Charles Barkley -- to see if he gets under three bills like he says he will.
48. Shaq -- wondering what he'll say the day the Lakers get bounced from the playoffs.
49. Kobe -- wondering what he'll say the day the media blames him for the Lakers getting bounced from the playoffs.
50. Phil Jackson -- wondering why he's still coaching. He doesn't need this, does he?
51. Rick Pitino -- He needs this. Success is a choice, right?
52. A-Rod -- when will he buy a set of Indonesian islands?
53. Derek Jeter -- when will he buy the island of Manhattan?
54. Drew Rosenhaus -- can we put him on an island?
55. The rest of his agent friends -- ditto.
56. Isaiah Rider -- ditto.
57. Tennis moms -- ditto.
58. Tennis dads -- ditto.
59. Bobby Knight -- ditto.
60 -- 79. The main competitors to Tiger Woods: Ernie Els, Phil Mickelson, David Duval, Lee Westwood, Colin Montgomerie, Davis Love III, Hal Sutton, Tom Lehman, Vijay Singh, Jesper Parnevik, Darren Clarke, Nick Price, Michael Campbell, Sergio Garcia, Jim Furyk, Justin Leonard, Stewart Cink, Thomas Bjorn and John Huston.
80. Tiger Woods -- the aforementioned golfers might combine their tournament victory total to equal that of Sir Eldrick.
81. Curtis Strange -- hoping he won't have to rally his troops at this year's Ryder Cup like Ben Crenshaw had to do on that fateful Friday evening in Brookline, Mass.
82. Ryder Cup wives -- hoping they won't dress alike as they did in '99.
83. Al McGuire -- pray for him.
84. Ted Williams -- ditto.
85. Troy Aikman -- pray he retires to a headset, microphone and an ugly blazer.
86. Toe Nash -- The Guru (aka Peter Gammons) says you should remember this name.
87. Lou "The Toe" Groza -- hopes you remember his.
88. Mike Tyson -- might finally get a shot at Lennox Lewis.
89. Lennox Lewis -- might finally get his due.
90. Evander Holyfield -- might finally hang it up for good.
91. Lawrence Taylor -- deserves an Oscar nod for Any Given Sunday. Hey, who else could have played the complex character of one LT any better?
92. Denzel Washington -- has now been in lead roles as a father to a star high school hoopster in He Got Game, boxer Rubin "Hurricane" Carter in The Hurricane and as Coach Herman Boone in Remember the Titans. In the stretch of his illustrious acting career, he's playing Caucasian wide receiver Ricky Proehl in his next film Remember the Rams.
93. Kirby Puckett -- should get a Hall of Fame nod.
94. Dave Winfield -- should.
95. Bruce Sutter -- should.
96. Jim Rice -- should.
97. Goose Gossage -- shouldn't.
98. Rae Carruth's son, Chancellor Adams -- a happy life full of peace.
99. Violet Antley and mom Natalie -- the same.
100. Paul Tagliabue -- will he finally give Monday Night Football its pick of late-season games?
101. Dennis Miller -- will you be there, babe?
Marc Connolly is a senior writer for ABC Sports Online.
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