The Disgustingly Impressive Success of James Harden

I turned in my dissertation today so that means its the glorious return of Ethan to the ASD!

While watching James Harden's success during these playoffs I have been bothered by the idea that a Sun Devil may be better at basketball than a Wildcat. Then I started thinking about all the major sports (not you hockey, though thank you for being interesting during the playoffs) and wondering, of all the Wildcats and Sun Devils in the pros which school has produced the most dominant player in the different sports. Lets define dominant by awards, all-star teams, all-pro teams, and championships. Here are the candidates as I see them (please feel free to chime in if you think I have screwed this up)...

Basketball
James Harden versus Andre Iguodala

Before Gilbert Arenas went completely insane he would have given James Harden a run for his money as the best basketball player to come from UofA or ASU. There is a case to be made for Sean Elliot (2 All-Star teams, 1 championship) and Byron Scott (3 championships) but neither of these players was the go to guy on their team. Harden may not be the go to guy but he would be on most NBA teams, right? Jason Terry has as many sixth man of the year awards (1) as Harden and more championships (1) but I don't know if he ever was as dominant as Harden. Iguodala is the go to guy on the Sixers, a dominant defender (All NBA Defense Second Team), an All-Star and a member of the Olympic team. I am biased so I am going to give the edge to Iguodala but the way Harden is playing he may soon surpass him.

Baseball
Barry Bonds v Trevor Hoffman

On the surface this is a no-brainer as Bonds is a 14x All-Star, 8x Gold Glover, 12x Silver Slugger, 7x NL MVP, and holds the home run record but he is a steroid cheat and such an unlikeable guy that his own franchise (which he helped build a stadium for) doesn't even want him on the team as a hitting coach. By contrast Hoffman holds the MLB save total, is a 7x All-Star, and donated $200 for every save to the National Kidney Foundation, and annually paid for game tickets and meals for 1,000 members of the military and their families. Advantage Hoffman!

Football
Terrell Suggs v Lance Briggs

This is a tough one, Suggs NFL Rookie and Defense Rookie of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, 5x Pro Bowler, First Team and Second Team All-Pro but he screwed his team this season by blowing out his knee playing basketball (he isn't even that good a basketball player as Robby Byrne dominated him when they went head to head in high school). Briggs on the other hand 7x Pro Bowler, 3x All-Pro, and he left the scene of an auto accident he created by driving drunk, allegedly. Both despicable characters and great ball players, certainly better than some of the alternatives - Ricky Hunley, Chuck Cecil, Tedy Bruschi (3 championships, Pro Bowl, 2 All Pro Teams), Mike Thomas, Antoine Cason, Chris McCalister, Dennis Northcutt, Rob Waldrop, Rob Gronkowski or Jake Plummer, Danny White, Adam Archuleta, Todd Heap, Zach Miller, Pat Tillman, Darren Woodson, Eric Allen. Of this list Gronk has the best upside lets just hope his penchant for porn stars doesn't derail his career.

So by my count that's 2-1 Wildcats, Bear Down!