POLL QUESTION - JUNE 7 - It's Sports! Magazine

POLL QUESTION – JUNE 7
By Leo Haggerty

POLL QUESTION

First of all, and I will start EVERY article with this paragraph, sports pales in comparison with what is occurring with the Coronavirus. Hopefully, the columns that I, and the rest of our correspondents, provide you is a momentary escape from the trials and tribulations that Americans, and the rest of the world’s population, are experiencing. The COVID-19 is not a video game that you can press reset and get a new life. This is real and dangerous so, above all, be prudent and stay safe.

It’s Sunday, ladies and gentlemen. That can only mean one thing as it applies to Its Sports Magazine and that’s our weekly poll question.

This week’s one calls for a little bit of thought as well as soul-searching. The question is:

WHAT SPORTS RECORD DO YOU THINK WILL NEVER BE BROKEN?

As you will see below, there are a plethora of ways you can answer our weekly query and our group took full advantage of combing the different sports to come up with their answers. So, without further delay, here’s our 17 different opinions. Enjoy

JOHN LENTZ – NCAA MEN’S BASKETBALL ANALYST
Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 points.

JEFF FOX – PUBLISHER OF ITS SPORTS MAGAZINE
Miami Dolphins perfect 17-0 season.

STEVE JACOBSON – PHOTOJOURNALIST
NFL Touchdown record of Jerry Rice with 208 TD’s. Emmitt Smith is a distant second with 175 and there are only two players in the top 20 that are still playing (Larry Fitzgerald is 12th with 120 and Adrian Peterson is 13th with 117) and both are in the final seasons of their career. So, Rice is safe holding this one for all time.

GABRIEL DIBIASE – NCAA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL ANALYST
Cal Ripken’s 2,632 consecutive games played streak.

MIKE GORMAN – GUEST CONTRIBUTOR
Offensive tackle Jim Shaw’s Freshman 440 Yard Run/Dash which I believe was 54 seconds. On the other side, Ted Williams who was the last MLB 400 hitter with a 406 batting average.

T.J. SHARPE – AFC CHEF
There are so many old pitching ones that I am not even going to attempt to use them, although Cy Young’s 511 wins are probably transcendental enough to include. So I will go just in my lifetime, and say that that the 30 complete games thrown by Catfish Hunter in 1975 won’t be toppled. James Shields was the last one to hit double digits in 2011, and even Roy Halladay never got to 10 in a season. Schilling in 98 threw 15 and that’s the closest anyone has gotten since the 80’s where the leaders had mid-to-upper teens and Bert Byleven hit 24.

ANGELO DIBIASE – NCAA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL ANALYST

UConn women’s b-ball 12 straight final 4’s (and is still going)…incredible.

MIKE SCHULZE – GUEST CONTRIBUTOR

Major PGA championships. Jacks record will hold.

BARRY JENKINS – GUEST CONTRIBUTOR

Wilt Chamberlin scoring 100 points in a game

JASON RUBIN – AFC EAST CORRESPONDENT

Joe DiMaggio, New York Yankees: 56 game hitting streak, 1941. This will never ever be broken.

AL CURTISS – NFC EAST CORRESPONDENT

Joe DiMaggio 56 game hitting streak in 1941. The quality of pitching and the speed and size of today’s players make it tough to eke out at least 1 hit a game for 56 straight games.

ROB KRIETE – SENIOR WRITER FOR ITS SPORTS MAGAZINE
56

WILL SMITH – AFC EAST CORRESPONDENT
Now, this is a tough question, so many choices. Wilt’s 100 point game would be right there but If I were to have to choose one I would have to say Cal Ripken’s consecutive games streak. Just don’t see another player committed enough to break that record and, now with GM’s worried about resting players more than ever, I don’t know if the player will even have a choice.

JEROME VICKERS – NFC WEST CORRESPONDENT
No pitcher in the future will ever come close to 511 career wins record that Cy Young has.

LARRY DIBIASE – NCAA MEN’S BASKETBALL ANALYST
I think the sports record that will never be broken is Joe DiMaggio’s 56 consecutive game hitting streak!

There are so many more variables in the game of today; managers will bring in one after another pitcher to pitch based on whether they are a right or left-hand hitting batter. Pitchers are more “fresh” and able to lay it out on one batter. In the old days, there were fewer pitchers and they were expected to, in most cases, pitch a complete game. Fewer relievers; whereas now, anywhere from the 5th inning on, the manager will bring in a reliever. Thus, a batter won’t have the luxury of “knowing” the pitcher and be ready for him in his last 2 appearances at the plate, as the pitcher will be more tired and maybe not have the command of his pitches he had at the beginning of the game as well as a significantly lower velocity. Add to the fact of a “new” variety of pitches, split-finger fastball, cutter, etc.

SHAUN HAGGERTY – NFC SOUTH CORRESPONDENT

Cal Ripken… So much load management and Joe D because everyone swings for homers and strikes out so much now.

LEO HAGGERTY – EDITOR OF ITS SPORTS MAGAZINE
As you have already read, there’s a lot of records that our contributors believe will stand the test of time. To be honest, there isn’t one that I would disagree with myself.

Still, I’m going to go at it from a different direction and look to the National Hockey League for an accomplishment that has stood for 38 seasons. I’m going to say that the record I believe will never be broken is the 212 points recorded by Wayne Gretzky in the 1981-82 NHL season. While playing for the Edmonton Oilers, “The Great One” lit the lamp 92 times and had 120 helpers in 80 games. If you are a hockey aficionado, you know those numbers border on the absurd.

To show this wasn’t a fluke, #99 posted 208 points in 1984-85 as well as a 205 points in 1983-84 while still a member of the Oilers. Those have been the only three times where anyone has exceeded the 200-point plateau.

To show you how dominant Gretzky was that season, the closest anyone has come to that milestone was Mario Lemieux in 1988-89. The Pittsburgh Penguins star notched 85 goals and 114 assist for 199 points which still leaves “Super Mario” 21 points shy of the top spot.

As you, my loyal readers know, I always encourage you to do the math and here’s another example of that. The 212 points in 80 games equated to just over five points every two contests. That’s stupid good.

I believe no one will even come close to eclipsing that record. So, as you can see, “The Great One” has earned that moniker.

POLL QUESTION – JUNE 7

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