40 LONGISLANDPRESS.COM • JUNE 2019
THE A LIST: PRESS HEALTH
LI'S BIG NAME SPORTS PROS -Alex Mitchell
NAME LOCAL TIE SPORT NOTES
1 Sue Bird Syosset WNBA Four Olympic gold medals, three WNBA titles, and two NCAA championships at UConn…not to mention she’s an 11 time all-star
that’s been the thunder and lightning of the Seattle Storm since 2002.
2 Jim Brown Manhasset NFL The last time the Cleveland Browns won it all they had Jim Brown to thank in 1964. The three time MVP and Nassau County
raised fullback is considered one of the greatest NFLers of all time with his nine year, exclusively orange and brown career.
3 Wayne
Chrebet
Hofstra
University NFL
Technically a Jersey boy, Chrebet earned his Long Island stripes as a wide out for Hofstra University’s football program (yes that
existed) from 1991-94. After going undrafted in 1995, Chrebet walked on to the New York Jets during the team’s training camp at
Hofstra. He put up 10 standout years with gang green before being inducted into the Jets’ ring of honor after his 2005 retirement.
4 Bob Costas Commack Sports
Broadcasting
It seems as if every captivating sporting event in the past 40 years has been narrated by this Suffolk County hall of fame
broadcaster. Costas’ own trophy case includes National Sportscaster of the Year in addition to over 20 Emmy Awards. Achieving
his own triple crown, Costas is also the only broadcaster in history win an Emmy for sports, news, and entertainment.
5 Julius Erving East Meadow NBA/ABA
After crossing over from East Meadow to both Roosevelt in Hempstead in adolescence, the four times MVP small forward
would later return to the turnpike when he had a stint with the New York Nets at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum from
1973-76. Erving won it all in 1983 with the Philadelphia 76ers, the team he would retire with four years and over 30,000 points
later. Dr. J was known for his raucous slam-dunks and inducted into the hall of fame in 1993.
6 Boomer
Esiason East Islip NFL/ Sports
Radio
Long before he commanded the morning airwaves on WFAN, Norman Julius Esiason was quarterbacking the New York Jets as
well as the Cincinnati Bengals and Arizona Cardinals from 1984-97. Although Boomer never won a Super Bowl, he was a four
time pro-bowler and won the AFC with Cincy in 1988.
7 Mike
Francesca Long Beach Sports Radio
If you couldn’t tell by the way he takes ‘cawlers’ on his afternoon show, Francesca is about as Long Island as it gets. After Mike
found his years upon years of success on WFAN he remained in Nassau County, relocating to Manhasset. Known best for being
a know it all, Mike is arguably the most known voice in sports radio worldwide.
8 Alan Hahn Smithtown Sports
Reporting
This St. Anthony’s High School grad has been the studio face of the New York Knicks on MSG Network for years. Additionally,
Hahn had gone back and forth with ex-Islanders goalie Rick DiPietro during their ESPN radio show, ‘Hahn and Humpty’ for
some years as well.
9 Tobias Harris Dix Hills NBA
Born in Islip and later moving to Dix Hills, Harris split his high school career between Half Hollow Hills High School West and
Long Island Lutheran School in Brookville. The 2010 high school All-American forward would get drafted by the then Charlotte
Bobcats in 2011 before bouncing around the NBA and landing with the Philadelphia 76ers this season.
10 Danielle
Henderson Huntington
Olympic
Softball Gold
Medalist
After advancing from Huntington to Commack, Henderson graduated from Commack high school in 1995 before pitching
at UMass Amherst the following year. She would go on to toss two no hitters during her four seasons with the Minutemen,
boasting a 0.96 ERA her freshman year. Henderson then donned the Stars and Stripes during the 2000 Olympic Summer games
in Sydney where she pitched a shutout against Cuba on the way to gold.
11 Sarah Hughes Great Neck
Olympic
Figure Skating
Gold Medalist
Hughes took home the gold in Salt Lake City during the 2002 Winter Olympic Games before finishing even her term at Great
Neck North High School in 2003 when she would then call Yale University her new academic home. Following the gold, Hughes
began giving free figure skating lessons to inner city children in Harlem and has been an outspoken advocate from breast
cancer awareness.
12 Steve Janaszak Babylon The Miracle
on Ice
Do you believe the backup goalie is just as important as any other teammate? Yes! The native Minnesotan decided to call Long
Island home after playing a role in the greatest sporting event in the 20th Century when the 1980 United States Olympic Hockey
team defeated the Soviet Union and winning gold at Lake Placid. After a four-year career in the NHL, nowadays Janny spends
more time saving money than he does pucks as an investment manager.
13 Steven Matz Stony Brook MLB
The New York Mets southpaw ace spent his high school career pitching and holding down first base for Ward Melville High
School where he would go toe to toe with fellow current major leaguer for the Toronto Blue Jays, Marcus Stroman of Patchogue-
Medford High School. Matz was drafted by the Mets in 2009 and got his call to the majors in 2015 where’s he has been since.
14
Charlie
Mcavoy Long Beach NHL
As of press time it is not determined if McAvoy hoisted Lord Stanley’s hardware with the Boston Bruins, but he is only two wins
away from that coveted feat. Drafted by Beantown in 2016, McAvoy earned his stripes in this year’s Stanley Cup playoffs when
he heroically and selflessly blocked a potentially game tying shot against the Columbus Blue Jackets in the second round.
15 Al Oerter New Hyde Park
Olympic
Discus Gold
Medalist
Born in 1936 and standing at a towering 6’4’’, Oerter is one of few to claim four Olympic gold medals in the history of the games.
He was active in Olympic discus from 1956-1968, where he won gold once every four years for the red white and blue. Oerter also
carried the Olympic torch in 1996 before passing in 2007 at age 71.
16 Rob Scuderi Syosset NHL
Scuderi started his career in black and gold while playing with the St. Anthony’s Friars, continuing to wear those colors with
the 2009 Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins. In 2012 the defenseman would trade that gold for grey when he joined the
Los Angeles Kings, raising the cup for a second time personally but also a first time ever for the west coast franchise.
17 Chris
Weidman Baldwin MMA
This fighter is the pride of Long Island as well as Hofstra University, where he had wrestled from 2006-07 after transferring
from Nassau Community College. Weidman became an MMA sensation after his second round KO of 2-1 favored Anderson
Silva in 2013 where he was crowned UFC Middleweight Champion. He currently runs an MMA gym just around the corner
from his alma mater. Weidman is also an avid Islanders fan, making multiple appearances during the team’s 2019 playoff run
at the Nassau Coliseum.
18 Jay Wright Hofstra
University
NCAA Men’s
Basketball
Head Coach
You can thank this now national champion for Hofstra University’s last two appearances in the NCAA tournament in 2000-01.
Before being snatched by the Villanova Wildcats the following year, Wright was leading Hofstra to victory in the America East
Conference. When the two teams met for an out of conference game at the Nassau Coliseum in late 2017, Wright had nothing but
love for the Pride of Long Island.
19 Carl
Yastrzemski Southampton MLB
Carl grew up on the east end playing sandlot ball before playing more competitively at Bridgehampton High School. From there he
would go onward to victory at the University of Notre Dame before being drafted to the Boston Red Sox organization in 1959. When
he reached the big leagues in 1961, Yastrzemski was filling the large cleats of Ted Williams in front of the Green Monster. He silenced
any doubters in 1967 by winning the American League’s Triple Crown and later joining the coveted 3000 hit club and retiring as an
18 time all-star in 1983. Yastrzemski was inducted into Cooperstown in 1989, having won just about everything but the World Series
with Boston. The Suffolk County Baseball Coaches Association named an MVP award after Yastrzemski, which Matz had won.
/LONGISLANDPRESS.COM
