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Yesterday column: Philly team’s Mount Rushmore

Looking at today’s Philadelphia sports landscape, can you pick a current Mount Rushmore among the four teams? It may be difficult.

With the Flyers, is it Travis Sanheim, Travis Konecny and Matvei Michkov? As far as the Sixers, is it Joel Embiid or Tyrese Maxey? Does Jalen Hurts or Saquon Barkley top the list for the Eagles? And is it Zack Wheeler or Bryce Harper for the Phillies?

There doesn’t seem to be a clear-cut favorite for any of the teams.

Back in the day, was it easier to name four players?

In this version of my Yesterday column — reminiscing about sports and pop culture in the 1960s, 70s, 80s and sometimes before and beyond — I’ll look back at possible candidates for a Philly Mount Rushmore as well as a WWWF version.

And how many of you can recall a 1970 sports quiz show with then current players?

Frequent Flyers ... With the Flyers, the first two players that come to mind for most of us are Bobby Clarke and Bernie Parent. Clarke was the quintessential captain and team leader for the famed “Broad Street Bullies.”

Clarke was a three-time Hart Trophy winner (MVP) and also led the league in games played (80) four times in his 15-year career that began in 1969-70. He is the team’s all-time leading scorer (1,210) and also in games played and assists.

If you remember, Clarke played with his diabetic condition.

Parent, who spent 10 years with the Flyers, holds the team marks for shutouts (50) and goals against average with a 2.43 mark (more than 200 games). He is second behind Ron Hextall (240) in games played with 231.

During the first Cup year in 1973-74, Parent had a magical year in which he led goalies in games played (73), wins (47), goals against average (1.89) and shutouts (12).

How many of you had — or still have — the T-shirt titled “Only the Lord Saves More Than Parent?”

Flying High ... Besides Clarke and Parent, who else comes to mind in the Orange and Black?

You can make a case for all-time leading goal scorer Bill Barber, or maybe Brian Propp, who was known for his timely goals.

There’s Rick McLeish, who was a prolific scorer in the 70s and 80s. Tim Kerr also comes to mind as being a true grinder with his size, and he is among team leaders in several categories.

Eric Lindros was a high-profile Flyer with his youth background and monumental trade to the club.

If you’re a recent fan, you can make the case for Claude Giroux, who is the team’s second-leading scorer (900 points), and had a 15-year career that began in 2007-08. At 38, he is still active.

On the blue line, Mark Howe is the first defenseman that likely enters your mind for his scoring prowess. Eric Desjardins also could find the net on a regular basis. Tom Bladon and Behn Wilson were complete players on both sides of the ice. Legendary captains Barry Ashbee and Ed Van Impe — along with the wily Joe Watson — were true defenseman in every sense of the term.

As far as in the nets, you can make a strong argument for Hextall over Parent based on his numbers. Hextall leads the team in most wins and games played (489). He played 10 seasons with the Flyers and he led the league once in games played, goals against average and wins.

Pelle Lindbergh appeared destined to be mentioned in the same sentence as Parent and Hextall until his tragic death in 1985.

Speaking of goalies from yesterday, where have you gone Don McLeod, Doug Favell, Bobby Taylor, Mark LaForest, Pete Peeters, Garth Snow and Rick St. Croix?

Eagles’ Nest ... Evaluating the all-time Eagles, the likely first choice will be linebacker/center “Concrete” Chuck Bednarik, the game’s first “60-minute man.” His heroics, highlighted by knocking out Frank Gifford in a November 1960 game and later leading the Birds to the NFL Championship, have been previously documented here.

In his 14 seasons in Philly, Bednarik missed only five games — none in his last five seasons. A Bethlehem native, Bednarik was instrumental in leading Liberty to an undefeated season in 1942.

Beyond Bednarik, who are the next three? For you graybirds, you can recall running back Steve Van Buren, and for you contemporaries, there’s defensive lineman Reggie White, who had a seven-year window with the Eagles, and also was a valuable Packer. White had some outstanding Eagles’ stats and plenty of honors.

Safety Brian Dawkins was a gamechanger during his playing days.

As far as quarterbacks, Ron Jaworski, Randall Cunningham, Donovan McNabb are in the mix, and Wilbert Montgomery, LeSean McCoy, Brian Westbrook and Duce Staley are the top running backs. Barkley needs more years to be prominent.

Harold Carmichael leads the wide receivers, and Tommy McDonald was his predecessor.

Linemen Jason Peters and Jason Kelce were very good, but they aren’t one of the top four Eagles. To me, Kelce is an overplay on TV.

Along with Bednarik, you can go with White and Carmichael, and probably Dawkins.

High Hoops ... When speaking about the Sixers, the two most highlighted players are Wilt Chamberlain and Julius “Dr. J” Erving.

What about Hal Greer? He is the team’s all-time leading scorer, and leads in eight team categories. The 10-time All-Star spent all of his 15 seasons as a Sixer. Dolph Schayes played 14 seasons with Syracuse and only one when the team moved to Philly in the 1963-64 season.

Chamberlain only played three years in Philly and helped them to a championship, while Erving had 11 years and a title. “Wilt the Stilt” heads seven team categories.

You may consider Charles Barkley, who had an eight-year run in Philly, and topped the team’s rebounding lists. Barkley had slightly better points per game average (23.3) than Erving (22.0) as a Sixer.

Allen Iverson had a 11-year stay before he left and then returned for his final year. He holds team marks for three-pointers and those attempted, turnovers, and averaged 27.6 points a game in Philly, tied with Chamberlain for the top spot.

For the final spot, I have to go with Greer for his longevity and grit as a player.

Phillers ... For the Phillies, it’s Mike Schmidt — hands down — as the top Phillies. His cavalcade of numbers and honors alone put him there.

Steve Carlton can also be mentioned in the same sentence, and he and Schmidt can be a one-A and one-B.

Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley will find out Tuesday if either or both of them will be elected to the Hall of Fame. Richie Ashburn’s, Chuck Klein’s and Jim Bunning’s memories should still be kept alive as being in the discussion. Tony Tayor is a sentimental favorite.

As for me, Schmidt is the top Phillie followed by Carlton, Rollins and Klein.

Quick Quiz ... What team did Parent begin his career? Answer below.

Readers Write

More Good Reads (in response to the Dec. 31 column)

Dear Jeff,

I was a John Feinstein fan and enjoyed The Last Amateurs and The Punch. Another book I like (not written by Feinstein) is Game Six, which is about the 1975 World Series.

As a Cowboys’ fan, there’s Tom Landry, an autobiography of the coach.

Rod Heckman

Times News sportswriter

WWWF/WWE Wrap ... In each column, I will review the career of a pro wrestler we likely watched in our youth.

In keeping with the theme of the column, here is a list of wrestlers who could be on Mount Rushmore.

Let’s start with Bruno Sammartino and Buddy Rogers, the latter who was Sammartino’s predecessor. Hulk Hogan was at the podium in the 80s and beyond, but where do we go from there?

Candidates can be Pedro Morales, Bob Backlund, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, The Undertaker, Andre the Giant, Ken Patera, Ivan Koloff, Killer Kowalski and Billy ‘Superstar” Graham to mention a few? What about George “The Animal” Steele?

In terms of our yesterday, you would have to give serious consideration to Morales and Backlund for their championships, and Andre the Giant for his presence.

What do you think? Let me know.

On the Tube ... Over the years, the debate about the best TV shows can be a controversial and lengthy one.

Here is one-man’s view keeping in the usual date parameters of this column.

How about “All in the Family, “ The Andy Griffith Show,” “The Cosby Show,” and “Cheers?” We probably all have some good memories about all of them.

If you dip into the 2000s, my favorite is “The Sopranos.”

If you strictly look at sports shows, there’s “Wide World of Sports,” “CBS Sports Spectacular,” “Sports Challenge,” and “White Shadow” with “Coach” right there.

How many of you remember “Sports Challenge” with host Dick Enberg, and how about “Bowling for Dollars?”

Quick Quiz Answer ... Parent began his career with Boston in 1965-66.

Tidbits ... Do you remember Charles Barkley playing his last four years with Houston? And Bednarik was drafted as a catcher by the Philadelphia A’s in 1949.

Your thoughts are always welcomed and will be published; email them to tnsports@tnonline.com