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Warning: Another entry with low-to-no comment potential dead ahead...
Most people I know had normal childhood sports
idols. For example, if you grew up here in the D.C. area, John Riggins
may have been your idol or else maybe someone like Wes Unseld
if you're a little older (or even Walter Johnson if you're really
old). Beth's sports idol was--and still is--Cal Ripken, which is a good
choice (although her other hero, Steffi Graff, is a little suspect). Like
I said, most people had fine upstanding sports stars that they emulated
in their youth.
And me? Well, I'm not most people.
The first of my two favorite sports stars
growing up wasn't even really a star. Check that. He wasn't even a
starter. Although he did return punts regularly (which I suppose
counts as a starting position), he rarely ever played at the position
listed for him on the roster, which was free safety. But no matter, I
loved the guy just the same.
I am, of course, talking about punt returner
extraordinaire, Mike Fuller! He would be #42 in your Chargers program,
if you had a program--from 1980.
Yeah, I was a weird kid.
Equally as weird is my other favorite sports star: Kaz Deyna. That's
right, his name was Kaz Deyna (right now, only my dad and Justin are
nodding their heads in recognition--or not). Not only did Deyna play a
marginalized sport (indoor soccer), but he played on a team that no
longer exists today (the
San Diego Sockers). And just like Mike Fuller, Deyna wasn't the star
of the team. That distinction goes to
"Double-Deuce, Triple E, The One-And-Only" Juli Veee (don't ask, if you
know what's good for you).
(Speaking of the Sockers, those were definitely
the glory days of the 10-time world champions! Juli Veee was the star,
but I remember the others too: Brian Quinn, Ade Coker, Branko Segota, Alan Mayer, Cha Cha Namdar,
Jean Willrich, and the rest. But I'll save them for another obscure
blog entry.)
(And as a sad sidenote, I just Googled "Kaz Deyna" and I
found out that he died in a fiery car crash in San Diego back in 1989. He was
43. Wow, how horrible.)
So what's the moral here? Why did I like these
two fringe role players when I was a wee lad? Well, maybe it's a
reflection of what kind of kid I was: kinda quiet, stayed out of the
way, wasn't particularly great at anything, and definitely not the star.
Which brings up another question: What does it
say about me now since my current idol is Tony Gwynn? |
2000-2006