Philly March Madness: (1) Reggie White vs. (16) Hersey Hawkins

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Over the next few weeks at The700Level, we'll be posting pollmatchups as part of our Philly March Madness competition.Examine thecases of the two fine Philadelphia athletesbelow,andcastyourvote atthe bottom as to which youthink shouldadvance tothe nextround. Andas always,feelfree to explainyourselectionand/ordebate thechoicesin the comments section.


(1) Reggie White

One of the most disruptive players in NFL history, Reggie White finishedhis NFL career as the all-time leader in sacks. Bruce Smith eventuallypassed him, by two, and only after spending an additional three years inthe league. The Minister of Defense began his career in the USFL,spending two seasons there before signing with the Eagles in 1985. Hewas an instant star, earning Rookie of the Year honors, and going on tobecome a first team All-Pro in six consecutive seasons from '86 and '91.In 1987, he set a team record with 21 sacks in a mere 12 games played,and followed up with an 18 sack campaign in '88 to earn a pair ofDefensive Player of the Year Awards. At 6'5", 300 lbs., White hadunrivaled burst to go along with scary strength. When NFL players wonthe right to unrestricted free agency in 1993, coming about through alawsuit in which White was a plaintiff, the future Hall of Famedefensive end had many suitors. Unfortunately, then Eagles owner NormanBraman refused to pay him a fair a salary, and White departed for GreenBay. During his eight seasons in Philly, Reggie had 124 sacks in 121games. He was a member of both the 80's and 90's All-Decade teams, theNFL's 75th Anniversary team, and recently was voted the 7th greatestplayer in league history. His image and number 92 continues to adorn theonly individual player banner at Lincoln Financial Field. -Kulp


(16) Hersey Hawkins

Hersey Hawkins was drafted sixth overall in 1988 by the Clippers afterbeing named the National College Player of the Year. He was acquired bythe Sixers on draft day and started off his first season in Philadelphiaby being named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team in 1989. He was amember of the infamous late 80s/early-90s Sixers teams that featured theRound Mound of Rebound who once famously assessed the 1990 squad assuch, "There's only two people we can't do without and that's me andHawk. Anybody else we can replace." Not exactly a lot to work with backthen. Hersey scored 22.1 ppg in 1991 and was selected to his onlyAll-Star game. According to a Bradley University website, Hawk reflectedback on his career as not being a selfish enough player, "The onlything I would do differently is I probably would have been a little moreselfish offensively. I think I could have scored a lot more points andmade a couple more All-Star teams." There's no 'I' in Hersey. Hawkinsplayed in Philly from 88-93 before stints with the Hornets, SuperSonics(RIP), and Bulls. My fondest memory of Hawk is the mental image of himgunning up three pointers while wearing those wonderfully awfulshooting-star Sixers jerseys (RIP). -Enrico

Who should advance to the next round?online survey

Results So Far:

East Bracket:

(1) Julius Erving (91.8%) over (16) Von Hayes (8.2%)
(8) SimonGagne (77.9%) over (9) Seth Joyner (22.1%)
(5) Eric Lindros (70.3%)over (12) Eric Allen (29.7%)
(4) Randall Cunningham (77.6%) over(13)Shane Victorino (23.4%)
(11) Cole Hamels (82.1%) over (6) MarkRecchi (17.9%)
(14) Tug McGraw (51.1%) over (3) Moses Malone(48.9%)
(7)Darren Daulton (74.0%) over (10) Andrew Toney (26.0%)
(2)ChaseUtley (93.5%) over (15) Andre Waters (6.5%)

Midwest Bracket:

(1) Mark Howe (60.2%) over (16) David Akers (39.8%)
(9) RodBrind'Amour (73.6%) over (8) Rick Tocchet (26.4%)
(5) Brian Westbrook(93.3%) over (12) Jayson Werth (6.7%)
(4) Mike Richards (85.1%)over(13) Trent Cole (14.9%)
(6) John LeClair (89.2%) over (11)ClydeSimmons (10.8%)
(3) Jimmy Rollins (75.8%) over (14) John Kruk(24.2%)
(7) Lenny Dykstra (51.9%) over (10) Dave Poulin (48.1%)
(2) Allen Iverson (83.1%) over (15) Jeremiah Trotter (16.9%)

West Bracket:

(1) Mike Schmidt (96.9%) over (16) Keith Byars (3.1%)
(9) Wilbert Montgomery (59.4%) over (8) Jeff Carter (40.6%)
(5) Ron Jaworski (83.5%) over (12) Bobby Abreu (16.5%)
(4) Ron Hextall (94.1%) over (13) Andre Iguodala (5.9%)
(6) Mike Quick (59.8%) over (11) Hugh Douglas (40.2%)
(3) Brian Dawkins (98.3%) over (14) Scott Rolen (1.7%)
(7) Maurice Cheeks (51.9%) over (10) Eric Desjardins (48.1%)

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