Revisionist History in Sports

by John Busacca

Are you ready for the real story?

 There is nothing funnier than sitting at a sports bar throwing back a few beers with Brett Kavanaugh (Hey we like beer!) and listening to casual fans recite history and accounts of super stars that have been revised in their head due to media coverage.   It’s not just in sports but in everything we do and read. For instance, the T-Rex has been called the most fearsome predator to ever walk planet earth and scientists have described his color, hunting habits and mating rituals that have led to 19 Jurassic Park movies.   But what if I told you there are literally less than 50 skeleton remains ever found of this beast that last walked the earth 25 million years ago and many scientists believe now the T-Rex was scavenger who liked to play the guitar and “bang a gong” and eat the remains of somebody else’s kill. But why let a great story get in the way of facts?

Michael Jordan has been revered for two generations as the greatest basketball player of all time. We are reminded that he refused to lose and never lost, even though he did. His freshman year at Carolina he did hit that little jumper to clinch the game against Georgetown. But what if I told you he didn’t sniff another championship for nearly a decade?   Two years in college and 7 in the NBA until, quite frankly, the Pistons and Celtics got old. This is not to say he wasn’t great, but why let facts get in the way of a revised story? In fact, his first few years in the NBA he was considered a ball hog with a suspect jumper who only cared about his stats. As for the teams he beat in his 6 finals? Not one of them would be considered a legendary team like Bird’s Celtics. The Magic Johnson Laker team he beat had already lost Kareem to retirement and Magic was playing with HIV.

Bill Russell vs. Wilt Chamberlain was a great debate for many years and as a kid growing up my Dad and his friends always told me how “Bill Russell owned Wilt”. I accepted as fact since his teams always won. Years later I looked at the actual head to head matchup and my jaw dropped. Russell was DOMINATED by Wilt and often was outscored and out rebounded by double figures in every match up. Did Russell have a better team? Of course, but the narrative he shut down Wilt is pure fiction. This is like Ben Wallace claiming he shut down Shaq in the finals because he only had 35 points and 14 rebounds compared to my 8 points and 10 rebounds!

John Madden has become a folk hero in America for his color commentary with the late Pat Summerall (who apparently liked beer just as much as me and Brett). He really did usher in the age of things like ‘Boom” and “the Red Zone” and the teleprompter that every outlet now uses to illustrate the simplest of plays. Madden had an amazing .760 winning percentage as a coach for the raiders and is a hall of famer. But what if I told you the great John Madden lost five AFC title games in six years, despite having the best record most years?   The one year he finally won the AFC and got to the super bowl, they beat a Steeler team that had a banged up Bradshaw and no Franco Harris or Rocky Blier at running back.   Still think he is one of the all time greatest coaches or did he get lucky? Marty Schottenheimer was fired after going 14-2 and not getting to the big game but Madden proved year after year he could not win when it counted. Marv Levy of the Bills went to 4 straight Super Bowls and Bud Grant of the Vikings went to at least 3 Super Bowls but if you asked casual fans they will tell you those guys were not in Madden’s league. We like him so we just overlook it and continue with the folk story.

John Gruden is so similar to Madden in this example of revisionist history. Gruden looks like the nightmarish doll Chucky and has that scowl on his face and is beloved by some fans (not this one) for his nonstop chatter on Monday night football the last 10 years. While many love his QB camps and him sitting down with potential draft picks, the guy is literally a joke of a coach but the media scoffs at the idea. In one of his QB camps he raved about how Johnny “Red Solo Cup” Manziel was going to change the league. He changed leagues all right; he is in the Canadian football league getting his arse kicked by the Montreal Moose heads and the Ontario Lumberjacks. Gruden did win a Super Bowl with Tony Dungy’s team in 2002 so he deserves credit for that. But his career record as a coach is barely .500!!!   Gruden is also 5-4 in the post season.   One would think he is a legendary coach but this guy, were it not for MNF, and would barely be considered for a job with the Lions. Instead, he is owed $100 million over the next 10 years because the Raiders bought into the revisionist history. The Raiders got a lucky win at home against the Browns yesterday because Hugh Jackson once again snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, but right now, the Raiders should be very concerned and should have taken a closer look at the real history of Chucky Gruden.

-BSB