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Greatest Buckeye Multi-Purpose Player

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Greatest Buckeye Multi-Purpose Player

  • Howard "Hopalong" Cassady

    Votes: 19 19.8%

  • Ted Ginn, Jr.

    Votes: 32 33.3%

  • Chic Harley

    Votes: 33 34.4%

  • Les Horvath

    Votes: 2 2.1%

  • Vic Janowicz

    Votes: 1 1.0%

  • Other

    Votes: 9 9.4%
  • Total voters
    96
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That's a hell of a list.

Here's some Youtube links:

Howard Cassidy: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDLZhRiKIAc&feature=related"]Howard "Hopalong" Cassidy - YouTube[/ame]

(note that he throws a spiral :tongue2:)

Chic Harley: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMZ-DIS9BUU&feature=related"]LOST LEGEND: The Chic Harley Story- OSU's first great football player- TRAILER - YouTube[/ame]

Vic Janowicz, 1950 Rose Bowl:[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwG3qDGksfk"]Football bowl games 1950 - YouTube[/ame]
 
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Here is a serious question... How do people vote for players they have never seen before? I mean being raised a Buckeye fan from birth from family that were die hard Buckeye fans I would hear the stories etc but in all of these polls a large number are comparing people I have never seen.

Take the RB poll. Seems to be a no brainer with Archie, but there are a lot of fans who never saw him play. Just on hardware alone you could vote him but I am not sure if I watched him in all his games I would vote for him over Eddie or Keith.

Then on this list from the 10's 40's, 50's..... I am thinking a large number of posters never saw these greats...

Curious to see peoples thoughts on this.
 
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craigblitz;2017116; said:
Here is a serious question... How do people vote for players they have never seen before? I mean being raised a Buckeye fan from birth from family that were die hard Buckeye fans I would hear the stories etc but in all of these polls a large number are comparing people I have never seen.

Take the RB poll. Seems to be a no brainer with Archie, but there are a lot of fans who never saw him play. Just on hardware alone you could vote him but I am not sure if I watched him in all his games I would vote for him over Eddie or Keith.

Then on this list from the 10's 40's, 50's..... I am thinking a large number of posters never saw these greats...

Curious to see peoples thoughts on this.
Click to expand...
And then there's this question - how would the old timers do today? Chic Harley was 5' 10", 158 pounds; Les Horvath was 5' 10", 157 pounds; Vic Janowicz was 5' 9", 185 pounds; Hopalong Cassady was 5' 10", 172 pounds. Not exactly ideal size for Big Ten running backs, and none of them had to deal with 300-pound linemen, and 250-pound linebackers with 4.5 speed. With their talent, and with modern training and nutrition, all four guys might still have been able to play today, but would they have been legends?

On the other hand, what would Ted Ginn have done had he been around in 1916? Would people be arguing whether he or Jim Thorpe was the greatest athlete ever?

Which is why these polls are fun.
 
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LordJeffBuck;2015814; said:
Chic Harley: All American (1916, 1917, 1919); career record of 21-1-1; charter member of College Football Hall of Fame; half back, defensive back, place kicker...
Click to expand...
punter, kickoff returner, punt returner...

Direct cause of the building of the third largest (at the time) stadium in the country.
 
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LordJeffBuck;2017306; said:
And then there's this question - how would the old timers do today? Chic Harley was 5' 10", 158 pounds; Les Horvath was 5' 10", 157 pounds; Vic Janowicz was 5' 9", 185 pounds; Hopalong Cassady was 5' 10", 172 pounds. Not exactly ideal size for Big Ten running backs, and none of them had to deal with 300-pound linemen, and 250-pound linebackers with 4.5 speed. With their talent, and with modern training and nutrition, all four guys might still have been able to play today, but would they have been legends?

On the other hand, what would Ted Ginn have done had he been around in 1916? Would people be arguing whether he or Jim Thorpe was the greatest athlete ever?

Which is why these polls are fun.
Click to expand...

I believe the athletic differential between the modern day players and players of the past would be unfathomable. Ginn with his athleticism could of won the Heisman three times if he played back in the 60's.
 
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Could have. The fucking word is Could've. It means could have.
Thank you.

I always go with the "all things being equal" approach to thinking about how guys like Chic would fare in the modern era. That's why Babe Ruth's HR record was so remarkable. His last 500 or so HRs were him extending his own record. In any case, Harley and others probably would be too small to play today.... if you picked him up out of 1916 and set him down in 2011. Likewise, Ginn, if we picked him up out of 2004 and set him down in 1916, would be virtually unstoppable. But... that's not the way it would really work. So... I compare people against their own peers. Harley was X% better than his peers. Ginn was Y% better than his. What's the difference?

If that makes sense.

Again, if ANYTHING I've said makes sense... Could've. The fucking word is could've
 
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I voted for TGII because he would have been remarkable with his speed and athletic ability in any age!
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJmV0XcJg3A&feature=related"]Ted Ginn's First Punt Return - YouTube[/ame]

But Chris Gamble and what he did in the National Championship year deserves special props! :bow:
 
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Best Buckeye;2017514; said:
Chic Harley, and btw Ginn never accomplished half the things Harley, Janowitz, Horvath, or Cassidy did.
Click to expand...

Ginn never played as many plays as those guys! Give Teddy the same amount of touches and imagine the number of TDs! No one would have touched him most of the time!
 
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Buckeyeskickbuttocks;2018954; said:
Could have. The fucking word is Could've. It means could have.
Thank you.

I always go with the "all things being equal" approach to thinking about how guys like Chic would fare in the modern era. That's why Babe Ruth's HR record was so remarkable. His last 500 or so HRs were him extending his own record. In any case, Harley and others probably would be too small to play today.... if you picked him up out of 1916 and set him down in 2011. Likewise, Ginn, if we picked him up out of 2004 and set him down in 1916, would be virtually unstoppable. But... that's not the way it would really work. So... I compare people against their own peers. Harley was X% better than his peers. Ginn was Y% better than his. What's the difference?
Click to expand...

X minus Y.
 
Upvote 0
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