Carl Joseph Rules

I guess this is "Endorse Other People Day" at PSaMP. What with HHR before and Carl Joseph now.

I recently exchanged notes with Carl, a man you probably have never heard about. Unless you saw him on sites like Deadspin and With Leather back in November. Carl is an amazing athlete that you need to know about.


"Born into poverty on a north Florida tobacco farm in 1961, Carl Joseph didn't stand much of a chance in life, even if he'd had a left leg. But through strength in God and unyielding perseverance, he led not only a normal life, but an extraordinary one.

When he removed his bulky prosthesis or dropped his crutches to play sports, he morphed from a gimp into a powerful competitor. In going where no one-legged human had gone before, he sacked quarterbacks, dunked basketballs and soared to victories in the high jump...by hopping on one leg!

In his heroic journey, he transformed himself from the object of pity and ridicule as a child to one of respect and awe in high school, winning over incredulous couches at each hop along the way.

The improbable athletic exploits of this bashful honor student were credited with bringing Madison's black and white communities together during the tense early years of forced integration."


It's not everyday that you hear inspirational stories of one-legged athletes defying the odds. It's even rarer when the story actually relates to Pittsburgh.

In the early 80s, Pitt football coach Jackie Sherrill brought Carl in for a tryout. I asked Carl to recall his time in Pittsburgh for use here. The following is from Carl himself:


"I first met Coach Sherrill, Mark May and Dan Marino when they unexpectedly showed up in my little hometown of Madison, FL, to take part in "Carl Joseph Appreciation Day" in May of 1980. Coach Sherrill then invited me to fall football camp to be a member of the team and inspire his players.

I was at Pitt for about five weeks. I was allowed to suit up and take part in exercises, warmups and drills, but no contact. I was treated as part of the team and had the same rules as the players. The player I was closest with at that time was Rickey Jackson. He showed me a lot of Pittsburgh and he gave me the name "Jackie Sherrill's Boy" because he felt Coach gave me more freedom. That may have been true, but I really couldn't do anything with that freedom. My mobility at Pitt was severely limited by the hills. I wore an artificial leg on campus and had several falls, which was a humiliating thing for me.

So while I loved my time with the Panthers, I was glad to get back to the flat farmland of northern Florida. I don't know how much my presence at Pitt inspired the players, but they did have an 11-1 season."


Sherrill was touched by Carl enough to write a letter of recommendation for the Florida High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame, for which Carl was recently nominated. Hopefully, the love Carl has recently gotten from the blogosphere will help in the selection process. Carl and the other nominees should find out the results next month.

Below is video of Carl. PSaMP endorses Carl's selection into the Florida High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame!

Congrats To Goose Gossage

I wanted to make a quick mention to send congratulations to former Pirate Rich Gossage, who was inducted into the HOF this past weekend.

Buccos.com was the only info you'll ever need about Goose's one year in the Burgh:


A fan favorite in Pittsburgh, "Goose" Gossage perhaps had his best MLB season his only year as a Buc in 1977: 151 strikeouts in 133 innings, with a superb 1.62 ERA.


Exactly. All the congratulations in the world go to Gossage. Although you were only in town for a year, Pittsburghers are happy to have shared in your success.

Sidney Crosby Is Featured In An Exhibit

Sidney Crosby has his own exhibit.

Kudos to the Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame for prominently featuring Sid in his own exhibit.

This is information overload for yours truly. Being a history buff (that's what I have my degree in), having worked in several museums and being a die hard Pittsburgh sports fan, this is entirely overwhelming. It looks like I might have to make a pit stop in Canada one of these days (road trip)!

The NSSHoF now holds (for a limited time) the trifecta of trophies won by Sid last season. The trophies won and displayed include:

...the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL’s top scorer, the Hart Trophy for the league most valuable player and the Lester B. Pearson Award for MVP as selected by the players.

Also on display will be the Lou Marsh Award — Canada’s male athlete of the year, which Crosby won in 2007 — and the Canada Cup, won by Team Canada in 1976.

If trophies aren't your deal, then at least check out the clothes dryer (pictured above) that Sid used to practice his shot as a tyke.

Now if only I could get someone to make an exhibit strictly about me. Can't be hard, right? I know I have a 3rd place trophy from a backgammon tournament somewhere, as well as a medal for successfully completing Mary Lou Retton's The President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports from like 1st Grade at St. Edward Elementary School. Those have gotta count for something.

I demand an exhibit.

Dick LeBeau, Cockblocked Again

Apparently, this sign of defensive solidarity was not enough to get Dick LeBeau onto the Senior ballot for the Hall of Fame. LeBeau's name was left off the list of 17 greats. Those 17 will be whittled down to 2 players who will forever be enshrined in Canton.

I was excited to see the team unite around LeBeau by wearing his Lions jersey to the Hall of Fame game against the Saints, and hoped it would have been enough to get the attention of the seniors committee. LeBeau's time as a defensive back are only rivaled by his career as an assistant coach who ushered in the era of the zone blitz.

Unfortunately, the committee felt that at least 17 guys were better than LeBeau. Those numbers aren't too positive for LeBeau, as 15 of those will be denied this year, but will most likely be back in the coming years. It seems like Dick has been waiting forever, and there is no end to that wait in sight.

Ed Bouchette also bring sup LC Greenwood as a name that should be HOF-worthy. Greenwood made it onto the seniors committee 17 this year, as last year was LC's final year of modern eligibility. Hopefully, LC makes it into Canton soon, thus opening a potential spot on the seniors committee for LeBeau.

It really is a travesty that guys like Greenwood and LeBeau aren't already in those hallowed halls. Art Monk as well (see, I'm not always a major homer). The Steelers get a lot of flak for having so many enshrinees. However, if a team is as dominant as the Steelers, they deserve all the HOFers they can generate.

All the support goes to Greenwood, and PSaMP has high hopes for Dick LeBeau next year.