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Jesse Owens (Buckeye Bullet, 4 Time Olympic Gold Medalist, 8-time NCAA Champion)

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DaveyBoy;1874214; said:
this ultimate slap in the face of Jesse Owens and Ohio State is enough to make me wish we would tell the BigTen to find another team to pump more $ and star-power into the conference....and let Ohio State go out into the world and seeks its fame and fortune as an independent.

To not have Chic Harley is a joke
To not have Jerry Lucas higher is a joke
To not have Jesse Owens #1 or at least #2 is a joke
These are 3 absolutes that I can't see how anyone could defend against.

The BigTen wouldn't crumble without OSU but it sure would look a lot weaker. It would basically be the ACC.
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Didn't even realize that Harley wasn't in. ABSURD.
 
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We, of course, have our own biases, and I'm honestly not all that upset about the list being a celebration of all Big Ten schools or about Archie Griffin being #4 (honestly, to me Heismans aren't THAT big of a deal). I only really have three OSU-related beefs:

1. Harley not being on the list. As he played so long ago that non-OSU people generally don't remember him, he doesn't need to be high up as an "icon", but with OSU football having the history it does and the 'Shoe being "the House that Chic built", he has to be on it.

2. Nicklaus at #18 is ludicrous. He has to be top ten at the absolute worst.

3. Owens at anywhere other than # 1 is utterly and completely indefensible: He's unmatched on both pure athletic and iconic criteria.
 
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I've seen the BTN show on Jesse, and overall it was a good episode that highlighted his achievements in Ann Arbor in May, 1935 and in Berlin in August, 1936.

It did mention that he won 4 NCAA Championships in 1935 (in LA) and 4 more in 1936 (in Chicago). There are other aspects of those two track meets that should have been mentioned, in order to fully appreciate Jesse's accomplishments - it's noteworthy that his 1936 NCAA 100-meter title set a World Record that stood for over 20 years. And this:

As an individual (counting his points separately from other Ohio State athletes), he would have placed second in the NCAA Men's Track and Field Team Championship in 1935, and third in the NCAA team event in 1936.

Included in the episode are comments from his 3 daughters: Gloria, Marlene, and Beverly. Marlene was the Homecoming Queen at Ohio State in 1960.
 
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[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6rtTHahux0"]YouTube - jesse owens 1936 olympics adolf hitler[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScERTXCDXYg"]YouTube - SPORTS. JESSE OWENS HURDLE. BROAD JUMP. COLLEGIATE CHAMPIONSHIPS 1936[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOq7cyQ8DQc"]YouTube - OLYMPICS. TRACK AND FIELD JESSE OWENS NATIONAL AAU CHAMPIONSHIPS 1936[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMyZ3XVJhXU"]YouTube - JESSE OWENS AT '36 OLYMPICS BREAKS TRACK RECORD IN 100 YARD DASH / SPORTS[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Zn0zErRckc"]YouTube - JESSE OWENS WINS BROAD JUMP THANKS CROWD AT OLYMPICS[/ame]

1936 - Berlin
Owens ruins Hitler's plan to showcase Aryan supremacy

One man, five days of competition, four gold medals won. That equation should have been enough to make any athlete stand out in a crowd of his contemporaries. Yet Jesse Owens' performances in the Berlin Olympics of 1936 were tainted and are remembered for so much more than his endeavours in athletics.

Admittedly Owens was different to most of his rivals - he was black. A 23-year-old American Negro had marched into Adolf Hitler's den, a place prepared to showcase Aryan supremacy, and stolen the gold and the glory.

When Berlin was chosen in 1931 as the host city for these Olympics few imagined that within such a short period of time they would be imbued with so much political significance given to them by the emergence of Hitler and the Nazi Party.

Hitler oversaw a number of momentous innovations to the Games. It was the first Olympics that introduced the torch relay, where a lighted torch is carried from Olympia in Greece to the site of the current Games. They were also the first Games to be shown on television - on 25 screens set up throughout Berlin and available to the public for free - and to have their own film, Olympia , directed by famous Nazi-propagandist Leni Riefenstahl.

The German leader attended the Berlin stadium daily, fervently celebrating home winners - and in a blatant show of nationalism inviting them up to his private box to celebrate - but refusing to acknowledge the achievements of those he considered "animals".

Owens, of course, among that group, managed to transcend the boundaries maniacally being imposed by Hitler's regime to win over the German people. His performances, not his skin colour, affected the crowd. Huge cheers, much to Hitler's dismay, bellowed forth each time he entered the arena.

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http://insidethegames.biz/history/olympics/1936-berlin
 
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Ohio State to honor Buckeye and Olympic track and field legend Jesse Owens
Scholarship dinner featuring comedian Bill Cosby will benefit Owens Scholars Program

(Media-Newswire.com) - Scholarship dinner featuring comedian Bill Cosby will benefit Owens Scholars Program

Buckeye track and field legend Jesse Owens captured the attention and respect of the world, winning four gold medals at the 1936 Summer Olympics held in Berlin, Germany. The Ohio State University will lead the celebration of his life and legacy on the 75th anniversary of his stellar performance, April 21-24 with a variety of events to engage the campus, alumni and central Ohio communities.

An ambassador of goodwill with a passionate concern for young people and respect for education, Owens will be honored at a statue unveiling at 1:30 p.m. Thursday ( 4/21 ) at Owens Memorial Stadium followed by a scholarship dinner, hosted by comedian Bill Cosby, at 7 p.m. at the Ohio Union. Proceeds will benefit the Ruth and Jesse Owens Scholars program and the Ohio State men?s and women?s track and field programs.

?Jesse Owens was, simply and superbly, the world?s finest runner ? and one extraordinary man,? said Ohio State President E. Gordon Gee. ?By demonstrating his excellence on the most public of stages, he is known around the world for disproving the most venomous, racist assumptions about human ability and for moving us all toward the larger ideals of liberty and equality. We are blessed beyond measure to call him an Ohio State alumnus.?

?The Jesse Owens Spring Game honoring America?s finest? will be played at 1:30 pm Saturday ( 4/23 ) in Ohio Stadium. The football team will wear custom-painted helmets with commemorative decals saluting the 75th anniversary of Owens? Olympic achievement and military men and women. The Ohio State lacrosse game, ?Showdown in the Shoe,? vs. Fairfield University will begin the day?s events at 11 a.m.
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http://media-newswire.com/release_1147549.html
 
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Commemoration: Owens in spotlight
OSU events to honor Olympic track star who frustrated Hitler
Sunday, April 17, 2011
By Leah Wynalek
The Columbus Dispatch
2-jesse-owens-art-gm7cafi5-1germany-athletics-worlds-jesse-owens-2-jpg.jpg

FILE PHOTO
Jesse Owens, center, during the presentation ceremony for his gold medal in the long jump at the 1936 Olympics

In August 1936, Jesse Owens shattered world records and delusions of Aryan supremacy by winning four gold medals at the Summer Olympics in Berlin - a record unequalled until 1984, when Carl Lewis won the same four events

Despite Adolph Hitler's presence at the Games, the German crowd cheered Owens as he won the 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash, long jump and 400-meter relay.

"The crowds loved him. . . . There were women sliding marriage proposals under the door," said David Steigerwald, a history professor at Ohio State University, which Owens attended. "In many ways, he was the toast of the town."

This year marks the 75th anniversary of Owens' record-breaking performance in Berlin. To commemorate his achievements, Ohio State is unveiling a statue of Owens and dedicating four days of events to the athlete.

"I've met people who were super-athletes, but no one even compares to Jesse Owens in track and field - or even in other sports," said Ray Hupp, 61, a former OSU track-and-field captain who met Owens.

"He went over there (to Berlin) and showed them that black athletes were just as good as white athletes."

Gloria Owens Hemphill, 79, one of Owens' daughters, said her father would be humbled by the events in his honor. He never talked about the Olympics to her, she said, but instead motivated others.

"He just was a person who had a love of people," Hemphill said, "and he used his talents to do all that he could."

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http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/life/stories/2011/04/17/owens-in-spotlight.html?sid=101

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLng4K69MWU"]YouTube - Jesse Owens Mini Documentary[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6IHbtyzZJ8"]YouTube - 1936 Olympics Berlin, Germany[/ame]
 
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The other athletes honored are truly Big Ten Icons. And that's a very meaningful achievement, to be a Big Ten Icon.

Jesse Owens was an American Icon. Even more importantly, he was a Human Icon. So where he "ranks" according to the Big Ten Network's list is entirely secondary. Owens provided everyone in the world tangible proof of the lies embodied by the hateful Aryan Nation led by Adolf Hitler and his emissaries of bigotry. For that, he should be remembered forever, and his legacy will live infinitely longer than we will remember the other athletes honored by this series - longer than Red Grange, longer than Earvin Johnson, longer than Jack Nicklaus, longer than Archie Griffin, great as those athletes were for their accomplishments on and off the field.

Jesse Owens third among "Big Ten Icons?" Perhaps. But he looks down on us, I feel sure, aware of what changes he helped to make in the hearts of many, white and black; German, American, African. We're blessed that he chose to attend The Ohio State University, and that we have the privilege and honor to have our track and field stadium named after him.
 
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Ohio State remembers Jesse Owens, a man no American should forget: Bill Livingston
Published: Wednesday, April 20, 2011
By Bill Livingston, The Plain Dealer

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AP photo
Flanked by bronze medalist Naoto Tajima of Japan (left) and Germany's Lutz Long, Jesse Owens saluted the American flag as the Star-Spangled Banner was played during his gold medal ceremony for the long jump at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Jesse Owens was the man of sports' greatest hour.

He also ran and jumped through the most inspirational week in sports history, and he did so on the world's greatest stage.

He could fly. His long jump world record, set in 1935 in Ann Arbor, Mich., at the Big Ten Championships, without the benefit of high altitude, lasted for 25 years, longer than Bob Beamon's epic jump in the 1968 Olympics in the thin air of Mexico City. In 45 minutes that day, Owens broke or tied the world record in four events.

His performance in Berlin in the 1936 Olympics, when he won four gold medals in seven days, represented a transcendent moment for sports and for the ideal of human dignity.

In the sprints, Owens cracked the secret code, solving the mystery of seemingly effortless power and speed. How it must have galled Adolf Hitler and his Nazis to see a black man race with ease past the blond, blue-eyed specimens of Aryan manhood who were supposed to dominate the Olympics.

Nearly 75 years since the week that was forever in Berlin; nearly 76 years since the man met the moment and made it eternal in Ann Arbor, over 31 years since his death -- James Cleveland (J.C., hence "Jesse") Owens will be commemorated Thursday in the unveiling of a statue outside the Ohio State track stadium named for him.

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http://www.cleveland.com/livingston/index.ssf/2011/04/ohio_state_remembers_jesse_owe.html
 
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London 2012 Olympics: US sprinter Jesse Owens leads the field for greatest overseas Olympian
It speaks volumes for the enduring influence of the great Jesse Owens that, a full 75 years after his four gold medals heaped humiliation on the watching Adolf Hitler, the 'Buckeye Bullet? should still be regarded as the greatest overseas Olympian of all time.
London 2012 Olympics: US sprinter Jesse Owens leads the field for greatest overseas Olympian
By Simon Hart
23 Jul 2011

jesse-ownes_1954184c.jpg

Jesse Owens: the greatest overseas Olympian Photo: GETTY IMAGES
Simon Hart

In our unique survey of 2,400 surviving British Olympians, including one or two who competed in the same Olympic Games as Owens in Berlin in 1936, he polled more votes than any other candidate and, significantly, attracted support right across the generations.

The result was considerably closer than Sir Steve Redgrave?s landslide victory in the 'Greatest British Olympian? poll, but Owens?s 19 per cent share of the vote was still enough to cement his status as the greatest Olympic athlete in history.

The reasons cited by the Olympians were twofold. First, he was an extraordinary physical specimen, the first athlete to win four track and field medals at the same games ? the 100m and 200m, the long jump and the 4x 100m relay.

What is more, Owens?s sprint times on a cinder track and without the aid of starting blocks would still pass muster today, while his 1935 long jump world record of 8.13 metres lasted a quarter of a century.

But secondly, and more importantly, Owens, the black son of an Alabama sharecropper and grandson of a slave, struck a blow for plurality and equality at a time when Hitler hoped the Games would be a showcase for Aryan supremacy, setting the tone for the inclusiveness that is such a cornerstone of modern Olympism.

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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/ol...the-field-for-greatest-overseas-Olympian.html
 
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