Whos is your favorite Milwaukee Professional Sports Athlete of all-time? (Green Bay: coop, title)

[Alim741930]

Being born and raised here in Milwaukee over the years I have attended Packers, Bucks and Brewers games and have seen many good and great players. Here is my Milwaukee All-Time Greats List: Oscar Robertson & Kareem Abdul-Jabbar-Bucks. Paul Molitor and Robin Yount-Brewers, and Brett Farve, James Lofton ,Sterling Sharpe, and Reggie White-Packers.

[Milwaukee City]

The Kid Robin Yount!!!

[south-to-west]

Hammerin' Hank Aaron! He helped to bring Milwaukee the only World Series title that the city has ever seen.

[EnjoyEP]

Milwaukee Braves: Hank Aaron, Eddie Matthews, Warren Spahn

Milwaukee Brewers: Paul Molitor, Robin Yount. Special mention goes to Cecil Cooper, Ben Oglivie, and Rollie Fingers; Coop was near a Hall of Famer, Oglivie not quite in that level but still amazingly good, and Fingers a HOFer that just wasn't in Milwaukee for as long as he was in Oakland.

Milwaukee Bucks: Lew Alcindor (Kareen Abdul Jabbar), Oscar Robertson, Marques Johnson, Jon McGlocklin, Junior Bridgeman, Terry Cummings, Ricky Pierce, Sid Moncrief, Glenn Robinson, Ray Allen.

Green Bay Packers: Brett Favre, Bart Starr, Paul Horning, Sterling Sharpe, Reggie White, James Lofton, ...actually, this list could go on and on and on and on...

*A few observations:

Given the plight of the Bucks in the largely-down / non-competitive Herb Kohl era (outside of the George Karl days), it is so easy to forget just how darn good and competitive the Bucks were for so many years. They won a championship in the early 70s, had good teams through the 70s, and were a really good team in the 80s all the time as well. It is amazing how many very good ballplayers are in the Bucks' history.

Similarly, it is amazing just how few Brewers would really qualify for this list. Given their recent ascendency to competitiveness / relevance, it is easy to forget just how awful they were for so long in their history outside of the late-70s / early-80s.


Overall, I would have to say that the greatest Milwaukee-area athlete would have to be branded either Hank Aaron or, if you truly count the Packers as a Milwaukee-area pro team, then Brett Favre; Kareem obviously would normally be up there as well, but he just wasn't around long enough to be in the caliber.

As for my person favorite? That is hard...I have a few. I first really became a "local sports fan" in the early 80s, so guys like Kareen / Marques Johnson / Aaron, Matthews, etc., are out for me.

Honestly, I think it would come down to Favre (gotta just put these last two fiasco years out of mind), Molitor, and kind of in an "upset"...Ray Allen and Ricky Pierce from the Bucks.

Favre was who he was - so gritty, so durable, played with so much heart, enthusiasm and excitement. If you put out the post-Packers year(s) of mind, it was just so fun to watch and root for #4.

I love the style, grace, and finess that Ray Allen played basketball with. His jump shot was so smooth, so explosive...he was just a tremendous ambassador as well for Milwaukee through the NBA...a legitimate classy, articulate, intelligent NBA superstar who - gasp! - loved the city of Milwaukee (unlike most of the NBA). The Bucks were so foolish to get rid of him, and to this day, that was George Karl's foolish downfall in MKE.

Ricky Pierce is a real darkhorse, however, I loved the guy. He was so underrated in just how dominant offensively he could be. When he was "on", he was a top 5 scorer in the league on any given night. The guy was a machine. Those 80s era Bucks are so underrated - they were so good. Pierce came off the bench as the 6th man, but that meant little to how valuable he was on that team.

Finally though, I think my all time favorite athlete here was Paul Molitor - another #4 - the Ignitor.

I loved how Molly played the game. Like Ray Allen in a different sport, so graceful, so smooth. Like Ray, very articulate, well-spoken, and a great ambassador of the sport for the city of Milwaukee. Molly played so hard.

Yount overshadows Molly, and I certainly understand and appreciate The Kid's career. However, a big reason Yount overshadowed Molitor was because of Molly's injury-proneness for a few years. If not for all of Molly's freak injuries, he would've gone down as one of the all time great hitters. The guy could hit like he was holding a bat in his mother's womb. He was made a hitter.

I will say this...if Ryan Braun keeps going like he is and stays in Milwaukee for some time (at least through his long-term contract and perhaps even for another)...he could easily crack this list as a top 3 all-time Milwaukee athlete; he's amazingly good considering his age. Prince Fielder many expect to leave Milwaukee as a free agent when his contract is up in a few years, however, I think he may sign longer term against what most think at this point, and he'd have then a great shot at landing near the top of this list in time as well.