http://www.life.com/Life/essay/hakeem/hakeem05.html From Time Magazine,But Hakeem's conscience will not let him endorse a product he considers harmful. "How can a poor working mother with three boys buy Nikes or Reeboks that cost $120?" he asks. "She can't. So kids steal these shoes from stores and from other kids. Sometimes they kill for them." He worked with Spalding to develop his namesake shoe, which sells for $35. "A worthy effort," says Alvin Poussaint, the Harvard professor and social commentator. "Sports figures see marketing sneakers as a job. That Olajuwon accepts a larger responsibility is commendable." The third of six children, Hakeem acquired his basic values from his parents, middle-class Muslims who owned a cement business in Lagos, Nigeria. "They taught us to be honest, work hard, respect our elders, believe in ourselves," he says. But he was born stubborn. "When I wanted something," he says, "I tormented my mother until I got it." At school he was a troublemaker: bored in class, mad about soccer, ready to fight when he was teased for being tall and skinny. "But my parents knew I had a good soul," he says. Though devout, they never urged religion on their children. "Yet I remember hearing the call to prayer and feeling my heart beat faster." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What a money grubber
Oh please. Hakeem is a very savvy business man. After 2 unsuccessful shoe ventures, he went with this one. Why not. It wasn't selling anyways. Are you telling me Hakeem is not about the money? That's why he's toiling in Toronto. For the Love of the game.
First off you made an assertion that was proven wrong, he was not always about money, unless you want to call him a liar on the Spalding issue. Second of all, Earl Campbell has his name on some overpriced unhealthy sausage selling around the state, so if you want to make your point revolving around Hakeem being a business man, you are still wrong, because Earl is one also. Third, Earl was toiling around in New Orleans, looking quite un Earl like. And fourth, Hakeem put the Spalding shoe out after he won a championship which was a prime opportunity to try another expensive shoe venture but he chose not to.
I'd prefer to call it a marketing opportunity. Just like Hakeem insisted he was "injured" when negotiating a new contract or it was all about "respect" when he bolted for Toronto. Please. Hakeem was much more business-like in his approach and therefore I prefer Earl. Earl was traded. Hakeem left on his own. When we won the championship, Hakeem was hardly a marketable item. His age and language skills limited his endorsement opportunities.
Jim Brown said that Earl Campbell is the greatest running back ever. I agree. Nobody could tackle Earl one on one in his prime. He would carry 6 guys an extra 5 yards. My vote is for Earl and I'm a bigger basketball fan than football fan. Hakeem got it done though. He brought the rings to Houston. I will also say that Earl may have gotten a trophy for the Oilers as well if it weren't for the Mike Renfro endzone call against the Steelers (who were one of, if not the greatest football team ever assembled.) GO #34
Not trying to sound like an old fart or anything, but I wonder how many of the people that picked Hakeem actually saw Earl play.
being 21, i obviously didn't see earl play, but i think most of us know football is king down here, luv ya blue was huge, and earl was the man back then, after already being the man at UT, and have taken that into consideration. of course the question is who was the greatest, not who is your favorite. i wonder how many of the people that picked earl actually used their heart and not their head. there can be no doubt who had the greater houston career and who was greater. earl at his peak was a monster, but then again, hakeem's best 4 years belong up there with anybody who has ever played in the nba and hakeem had a lot more 20/10 years on top of that and brought us two rings, one singlehandedly. i love knowing earl was a horn, and love hearing about him b/c he was an oiler, but greater than hakeem he was not. and nolan might be the guy i like more than either of them (though i don't ever remember seeing him play for the stros, only the rangers) but i wouldn't put him up there with those two for what he did in houston. and to whoever asked if he won any cy youngs, i believe he did lead the league in ERA twice in 9 years with us, not too shabby. of course the first time he lost out to fernando-mania, and the second time, in one of the great sport stats of all time, he led the league in era and strikeouts and yet went 8-16. did he piss our hitters off that year or something?
Dream, no question...... Earl Campbell never carried our team anywhere, Dream took us to 2 championships, that counts for a lot IMO......
Perhaps. I must admit I'm very sentimental about the whole Luv Ya Blue era because I was a kid at the time. Lot's of great memories. Maybe that influenced my vote, but I'm still going with Earl. Nolan would be my favorite if McMullen didn't throw him away like yesterdays garbage. He should have retired as an Astro.
What BS. Earl Campbell carried us to 2 AFC championship games where they were beaten by one the greatest teams in NFL history. The Oilers had Earl, Earl, Earl, and Earl. The 1978, 1979 Steelers had 9 future Hall of Fame players on that squad, winning 4 Super Bowls in 6 years. Those people who have never seen Earl play can only rely on statistics. Statistics do not tell the whole story. Earl was the heart of the Luv Ya Blue Oilers and the Luv Ya Blue Oilers were the heart of the city. Those who were not there can't even imagine what it was like back then. The Oilers were Houston and vice a versa. 50,000 people jammed the Astrodome to welcome the team after they lost the AFC Championship game. Houston has some of the most fickle sports fans in the country and to see that type of unity and excitement for a team that had just lost was amazing and will probably never be duplicated in this town. None of that would have happened without Earl.
