There is a discussion going on about the Mt. Rushmore of Sports from each state:
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/sport...ory?id=3879785

I was wondering who YOU would put on your state's 'Mt. Rushmore of Sports'? Who would you put on it if it didn't involve just sports figures.

In ESPN's discussion, the person doesn't have to come from your state, just have played there. I would like it to keep it to those people that are a native of your state.

Idaho:
Picabo Street
Harmon Killebrew
Philo T. Farnsworth - invented the TV
Frank Zamboni- invented the ice resurfacing machine.

 

Texas:

Doak Walker
Bobby Layne
Nolan Ryan

(Giant DUH. Why did I think the Williams were from Texas?)

 

^
Martha I would add one more to your list if I may, Slingin' Sammy Baugh.

 

^ That gets a big Amen!

 

Mississippi Sports:
Dizzy Dean
Charles Connerly
Archie Manning
Brett Favre

Mississippi Musicians:
Ray Charles
Elvis Presley
Jimmy Rogers
B.B. King.

Mississippi Writers:
William Faulkner
Tennessee Williams
Eudora Welty
John Grisham

Actors:
Dana Andrews
Morgan Freeman
Jim Henson
James Earl Jones

Radio/TV:
Oprah Whinfrey
Red Barber
Shephard Smith
Robin Roberts

 

^Now that is a comprehensive list.

 

We all know that Texas is bigger

How about the world of politics, statesmanship and government and military leadership? Where would the world be without the likes of Lyndon Baines Johnson, Sam Rayburn, Sam Houston, Stephen F. Austin, John Nance Garner, Tom C. Clark, George Bush(s), Jesse H. Jones, Oveta Culp Hobby, John Connally, Dwight Eisenhower, Edward M. House, Leon Jaworski, Ann Richards, Lloyd Bentsen, Barbara C. Jordan, James Wright, John Tower, Mirabeau Bonaparte Lamar, Anson Jones, James Allred, John H. Reagan, Sandra Day O'Connor, James Stephen Hogg, Miriam A. "Ma" Ferguson, James E. Ferguson, Audie Murphy, Chester Nimitz, Claire Chenault, Benjamin Foulois, Oliver North, Louis T. Wigfall, James Earl Rudder, Roy Bean, George Patton, Jr., and other great Texas figures?


And music! How could you live without Willie Nelson, George Jones, Buck Owens, Buddy Holly, Ernest Tubb, Z.Z. Top, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimmie Vaughan, Bob Wills, Tina Turner, Janis Joplin, Trini Lopez, Selena, Kenny Rogers, Roger Miller, Freddie Fender, Johnny Rodriguez, Charlie Pride, Waylon Jennings, Benny Goodman, Tex Ritter, Teddy Wilson, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Albert King, Freddie King, Harry James, Jack Teagarden, Scott Joplin, Big Al Dupree, Roy Orbison, Barry White, Johnny Winter, Edgar Winter, Boz Scaggs, Robert Earl Keen, Gene Autry, Johnny Mathis, Guy Clark, Meatloaf, George Strait, Michael Nesmith, Lyle Lovett, Steve Miller, Lou Ann Barton, Johnny Copeland, King Curtis, Little Joe Hernandez,Vikki Carr, Lighting Hopkins, Steven Fromholz, Nancy Griffith, Flaco Jiminez, Delbert McClinton, Van Cliburn, Mac Davis, Larry Gatlin, Vanilla Ice, Don Henley, Nora Jones, Tom Jones, Kelly Clarkson, Michelle Shocked, Ray Price, Jim Reeves, T-Bone Walker, Joe King Carrasco, Joe Ely, Kris Kristofferson, Stephen Stills, Angela Strehli, Hank Thompson, Beyonce Knowles, Billie Preston, Lloyd Maines, Tanya Tucker, Marcia Ball, Christopher Cross, Lefty Frizzel, Jimmy Dale Gilmore, James Brown, Joe Tex, Boxcar Willie, Johnny Horton, Barbara Mandrell, Jeanie C. Riley, Ashlee Simpson, Jessica Simpson, B. J. Thomas, Floyd Tillman, Destiny's Child, Question Mark and the Mysterians, The Big Bopper, Doug Sahm, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Charlie Sexton, Eric Johnson, Robert Shaw, the Dixie Chicks, Edie Brickel, and others?


Just a few names in the entertainment industry that hail from Texas: Carol Burnett, Mary Martin, Tommy Lee Jones, Larry Hagman, Debbie Reynolds, Joshua Logan, King Vidor, Margo Jones, Nina Vance, Farah Fawcett, Joan Crawford, Spanky MacFarland, Cyd Charisse, Rip Torn, Billy Bob Thorton, Dennis Quaid, Randy Quiad, Audie Murphy, Gene Autry, Kathy Baker, Dooley Wilson, Tenessee Williams, Pedro Gonzales-Gonzales, Dan Blocker, Sissy Spacek, Tex Avery, Joe Don Baker, Powers Boothe, Gary Busey, Kate Capshaw, Thomas Haden Church, Michael Dorn, Haley Duff, Sandy Duncan, Shelly Duvall, Dale Evans, Morgan Fairchild, Horton Foote, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Woody Harrrelson, Ethan Hawke, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Gene Roddenberry, Robert Rodriguez, Irene Ryan, John Hillerman, Carolyn Jones, Eva Longoria, Matthew McConaughey, Bill Paxton, Anne Sheridan, Anna Nichole Smith, Jaclyn Smith, Brent Spinner, Nick Stahl, Patrick Swayze, Sharon Tate, Henry Thomas, Tommy Tune, Isaiah Washington, Jo Beth Williams, Chill Wills, Owen Wilson, Luke Wilson, Forest Whitaker, Robin Wright Penn, Renee Zellweger, Steve Martin, and Aaron Spelling.


We could continue breaking it down for you, from famous tough guys like Red Adair to outstanding business leaders like Howard Hughes, Mary Kay Ash, Michael Dell, Tom Ford and Ross Perot. There have been eight Miss USAs, three Miss Americas and one Miss Universe from Texas.


In fact, the list of famous Texans seems to be endless. So we'll just list a few more for now, and follow up inthe months ahead as more and more Texans make their marks in the world. Here are a few names you should recognize:


J. Frank Dobie, O. Henry, Robert E. Howard, Larry McMutry, Dr. Denton Cooley, Dr. Red Duke, Dr. Micheal DeBakey, Bryce Dewitt, Steven Weinberg, Gus Grissom, Ed White, Kenneth Cockrell, Spencer Wells, Alan Bean, Douglas "Wrong Way" Corrigan, Wiley Post, Jeana Yeager, Clyde Barrow, Bonnie Parker, John Wesley Hardin, Belle Starr, Sam Bass, Tara Lipinski, Michael Johnson, Randall Tex Cobb, Phyllis George, Walter Cronkite, Sam Donaldson, Dan Rather, John Henry Faulk, Bob Schieffer, Kinky Friedman, Ima Hogg, Lady Bird Johnson, Jeb Bush, James Fannin, William Travis, Thomas Jefferson Rusk, Lorenzo de Zavala, Jose Antonio Navarro, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Quanah Parker, Cynthia Ann Parker, Emily West Morgan, Edna Gladney, Jim Morris, Cheryl Swoopes, Kathy Whitworth... and so on.

 

^^^ I didn't read the part about "other than sports figures". Another Duh. I just picked my favorites in sports. You've done an amazing job of listing a lot of other interesting Texans. Thanks!

 

Red Barber used to do a once-a-week spot on NPR. It was wonderful. I miss the man.

My favorite was the story of how he was the only broadcaster in history to be traded for a player.

 

Red was the most low key funny guy I ever heard on the radio, in sports or any other broadcast field. I used to listen to him too.

mns2k, you're gonna need a bigger mountain.