Guess
Feb 17th, 2006, 08:05 PM
Question: Who is the sports equivalent of Mariah Carey? Don't forget the fact that she's only 36 and could crank out a couple more platinum albums before completely fading out. Is there anyone from the sports world that even comes close?
I would hesitate to call anyone "The Michael Jordan of" their respective profession, but Mariah creates some interesting parallels. From Jordan's game-winner for UNC in '82 to the six titles with the Bulls to his "I'm going to play minor league baseball" phase to the most recent comeback, you could make a case for Jordan. Except for two things: One, he doesn't have much chance of impacting sports now that he's retired for good (we think); and two, Mariah's early success far [exceeded] what she did later in her career, which is inverse to Jordan's career arc. The 1985-1990 "Great Dunker, Great Scorer, No Titles" Jordan would compare a lot more favorably to the 1995-2000 "Fantasy"/"Butterfly" Mariah. I think I've spent enough time on this, it's your turn now. - Gavin, Waverly, Iowa
Sports Guy: I wouldn't compare Mariah to MJ because there was never a time when everyone agreed, "Wow, we're watching the greatest singer of all time, I'm going to be telling my grandkids about this." Roger Clemens is a much better comparison. Think about it.
1. They both exploded onto the scene: Mariah with the "Vision of Love" single on her self-titled album in 1990, Clemens with the 20K game and the 24-4 season in 1986. But in those early years, Mariah was always overshadowed by Whitney Houston, and Clemens was always overshadowed by Doc Gooden ... both of whom ended up destroying their careers because of drugs.
2. Mariah has won five Grammys, Roger has won seven Cy Young Awards, but there was never a time in either of their primes when you thought you were watching the most successful pitcher/female singer of the past 50 years ... it just kind of happened.
3. They both looked completely different at the start of their careers than they do now, to the point where it almost feels like they were two different people -- like how "1970s Al Pacino" was replaced by "'Sea of Love'/'Scent of a Woman' Al Pacino" in 1989.
4. Both of them fluctuated in weight over the years, to the point that my Dad has made the "They look like you when you came back from San Francisco" joke about both of them (obscure reference for anyone who has read my book).
5. Both have dodged rumors for the past 10 years that they've had some, um, enhancements.
6. If you call Mariah "hot," any self-respecting female within earshot goes crazy. If you call Clemens "clutch," just about every self-respecting baseball fan goes crazy.
7. They both hit rock bottom in a sense. For Roger, it happened when he mailed it in with the Red Sox from 1993 to 1996, made a contract push at the tail end of the '96 season, then signed with a team in Canada and never thanked the Boston fans on his way out. For Mariah, it happened after the "Rainbow" album in 1999, leading to the legendary "Cribs" episode (a Hall of Famer on the Unintentional Comedy Scale), two dreadful movies and everyone writing her off as fat and crazy.
8. They both slept with Derek Jeter. (All right, I made that last one up.)
Source: ESPN (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/060217&campaign=rss&source=bill_simmons)
I would hesitate to call anyone "The Michael Jordan of" their respective profession, but Mariah creates some interesting parallels. From Jordan's game-winner for UNC in '82 to the six titles with the Bulls to his "I'm going to play minor league baseball" phase to the most recent comeback, you could make a case for Jordan. Except for two things: One, he doesn't have much chance of impacting sports now that he's retired for good (we think); and two, Mariah's early success far [exceeded] what she did later in her career, which is inverse to Jordan's career arc. The 1985-1990 "Great Dunker, Great Scorer, No Titles" Jordan would compare a lot more favorably to the 1995-2000 "Fantasy"/"Butterfly" Mariah. I think I've spent enough time on this, it's your turn now. - Gavin, Waverly, Iowa
Sports Guy: I wouldn't compare Mariah to MJ because there was never a time when everyone agreed, "Wow, we're watching the greatest singer of all time, I'm going to be telling my grandkids about this." Roger Clemens is a much better comparison. Think about it.
1. They both exploded onto the scene: Mariah with the "Vision of Love" single on her self-titled album in 1990, Clemens with the 20K game and the 24-4 season in 1986. But in those early years, Mariah was always overshadowed by Whitney Houston, and Clemens was always overshadowed by Doc Gooden ... both of whom ended up destroying their careers because of drugs.
2. Mariah has won five Grammys, Roger has won seven Cy Young Awards, but there was never a time in either of their primes when you thought you were watching the most successful pitcher/female singer of the past 50 years ... it just kind of happened.
3. They both looked completely different at the start of their careers than they do now, to the point where it almost feels like they were two different people -- like how "1970s Al Pacino" was replaced by "'Sea of Love'/'Scent of a Woman' Al Pacino" in 1989.
4. Both of them fluctuated in weight over the years, to the point that my Dad has made the "They look like you when you came back from San Francisco" joke about both of them (obscure reference for anyone who has read my book).
5. Both have dodged rumors for the past 10 years that they've had some, um, enhancements.
6. If you call Mariah "hot," any self-respecting female within earshot goes crazy. If you call Clemens "clutch," just about every self-respecting baseball fan goes crazy.
7. They both hit rock bottom in a sense. For Roger, it happened when he mailed it in with the Red Sox from 1993 to 1996, made a contract push at the tail end of the '96 season, then signed with a team in Canada and never thanked the Boston fans on his way out. For Mariah, it happened after the "Rainbow" album in 1999, leading to the legendary "Cribs" episode (a Hall of Famer on the Unintentional Comedy Scale), two dreadful movies and everyone writing her off as fat and crazy.
8. They both slept with Derek Jeter. (All right, I made that last one up.)
Source: ESPN (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/060217&campaign=rss&source=bill_simmons)