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I am not a Jazz fan, but have lived in UT my whole life. ESPN was doing a special on each states "Sports Mt. Rushmore."

Who would you put in Utah's? Stockton and Malone are no brainers, but who else? I would think Larry would be on there. I am too young to put any older players, but maybe a guy like Dantly?

It sucks only having one major sports team in your state.

Stockton, Malone, Steve Young, Larry Miller or Keith van horn

Stockton, Malone, Larry Miller, Lavell Edwards, Steve Young

Larry Miller, LaVell Edwards, Ron McBride or Rick Majerus, Sloan (possibly)
I wouldn't say that Stockton and Malone are no brainers.

hoops4life wrote:Larry Miller, LaVell Edwards, Ron McBride or Rick Majerus, Sloan (possibly)
I wouldn't say that Stockton and Malone are no brainers.

Then you must be a no brainer. 4 gold medals between the two of them, streets named after both of them, statues of both of them. Sure fire first ballot hall of famers, endless records between the two of them.

They are pretty clearly the two first names on any Utah Mt. Rushmore.

Then how about the Gymnastics coach at the U of U. Some absurd amount of championships and top 3 finishes. I think he has like 10 national championships in 20 years, a god of the sport.

I'm calling Kyle Whittingham right now. And F*** it, make room for Brian Johnson, Alex Smith, and Urban Meyer, too

Stockton, Malone, Steve Young, and Ty Detmer. Does anyone at all remember what a freak Ty Detmer was? He was dominant.

Blue Edwards, John Crotty, Adam Keefe, Delaney Rudd

John Stockton

Karl Malone

Steve Young

LaVell Edwards

Johnny Miller (Yes, Johnny not Larry)

Dell Schanze

Other names to consider:

Merlin Olson
Stein Ericksen
Alf Engen

Whats up with all of these Zoob lovers?

DelaneyRudd wrote:Other names to consider:

Merlin Olson
Stein Ericksen
Alf Engen

Yeah, Olson is a legend. If you are mentioned by name in Anchor Man you are pretty bad ass as it is.

Then of course you would have to put a skier on there, Engen would be the obvious choice being such a pioneer.

I'm not quite so quick to put Stockton and Malone on the Utah Mount Rushmore. Yes, they had a great run, but If Deron Williams and Company wins a championship, then they will be greatly diminished. Mount Rushmore should be for those who achieved at the very pinnacle, in my opinion. Of course, if there was a Utah basketball MtRushmore they would be on it. Also, I think guys who are actually from Utah, and not just temporary residents (in College or the Pros) should have a greater presence.

This is my Utah Sports Mount Rushmore: LaVell Edwards, Jonny Miller, Merlin Olson, Larry Miller. Its really hard for me to include an owner on this list, but the Jazz have to be represented, and Larry is the constant guiding force of that organization. Merlin Olson is probably the most successful Utahn on the pro level of any sport that has called Utah home for most of his life. Jonny Miller needs no explanation and neither does LaVell.

JDubJazz wrote:I'm not quite so quick to put Stockton and Malone on the Utah Mount Rushmore. Yes, they had a great run, but If Deron Williams and Company wins a championship, then they will be greatly diminished. Mount Rushmore should be for those who achieved at the very pinnacle, in my opinion. Of course, if there was a Utah basketball MtRushmore they would be on it. Also, I think guys who are actually from Utah, and not just temporary residents (in College or the Pros) should have a greater presence.

This is my Utah Sports Mount Rushmore: LaVell Edwards, Jonny Miller, Merlin Olson, Larry Miller. Its really hard for me to include an owner on this list, but the Jazz have to be represented, and Larry is the constant guiding force of that organization. Merlin Olson is probably the most successful Utahn on the pro level of any sport that has called Utah home for most of his life. Jonny Miller needs no explanation and neither does LaVell.

to the bolded part.

To the underlined part, I don't understand how you can exclude Stockton and Malone for not winning a championship, but subsequently include the owner of the championshipless team.

Whats up with the mormon sports hall of fame?

JStockLivesOn wrote:To the underlined part, I don't understand how you can exclude Stockton and Malone for not winning a championship, but subsequently include the owner of the championshipless team.

I think its a pretty easy argument to make that Larry should be there rather than John and Karl. First off, Larry transcends just "The Jazz." He's literally an institution in this state. It is highly probable that Utah would have NO major sports teams without him.

Stockton and Malone, while amazing, never won championships, despite numerous opportunities to do so. I'm not convinced that either will be remembered as even the best players the Jazz have ever had. Additionally, both guys couldn't leave Utah fast enough once their playing careers were finished. Everyone on my Utah Sport MT Rushmore is a longtime Utah resident who has greatly impacted the world of sport. I'm not trying to diminish Stockton and Malone's careers at all, but I would suggest that viewed through the lens of time and distance, perhaps their greatness (especially as local sports heroes) wasn't as much as we thought at the time.

I still don't see a credible argument for why Miller should be on there for "transcending" the Jazz. Yeah, he's a good guy and has done a lot for the state of Utah, but that doesn't have much bearing on this discussion, in my opinion.

And, respectfully, I think you're crazy to have a borderline-assumption that Stockton and Malone are going to be surpassed.

Mr. Williams, I knew John Stockton. I watched John Stockton. John Stockton was a point guard of mine. You, sir, are no John Stockton.

You don't see why LHM should be up there? How about owning/running the most popular pro team in the state and having it sustain a high level standard for so long. He also owns the AAA baseball team in the state and Miller Sports Park Racing. I am probably forgetting other stuff as well. The state would have the Jazz, the Bees, Car Racing, and probably the Flash without him and an even smaller possibility of RSL(because he helped Checketts become what he is and then pissing him off so Checketts stayed to try and stick it to him).

Mt Rushmore only has 4 people on it. Stockton and Malone would be half of it right there for only one sport. There would be no stockton and malone most likely without LHM. You could make almost a better argument for Sloan over the two of them. I would be fine with them on it. I just said it would be with 100% certainty.

JStockLivesOn wrote:I still don't see a credible argument for why Miller should be on there for "transcending" the Jazz. Yeah, he's a good guy and has done a lot for the state of Utah, but that doesn't have much bearing on this discussion, in my opinion.

And, respectfully, I think you're crazy to have a borderline-assumption that Stockton and Malone are going to be surpassed.

Mr. Williams, I knew John Stockton. I watched John Stockton. John Stockton was a point guard of mine. You, sir, are no John Stockton.

There has never been a player I have rooted for more than John Stockton. He's my all time favorite. That being said, he never won an NBA championship. Even in the two years when MJ "retired" he still couldn't win one. Same for Mailman.

My Mount Rushmore logic goes like this: One, its permanent. Once your face is on Rushmore, its there forever. Second, there is only room for four faces on Rushmore. No more. Four is the limit. Third, Stock and Malone have to be together, you can't have one or the other.

That leaves me with the choice of putting two guys up there who ultimately failed at their goal of winning an NBA title, left town as soon as they could afterwards, and leaves only two spots left for other Utah sports legends.

I can understand the arguement for Stockton and Malone, but I think that when you look back twenty years from now, there would be some major regret at including them on a Mount Rushmore of Utah sport.