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Man myth legend Jackie robinson

Watching tv last night and the announcer said Jackie robinson played 4 varsity sports at ucla. True. And was an all American in all 4. Not true.

Here's some help. He was a long jump champion ncaa. So I'm assuming that makes him an Aa there.

Leading scorer on a bad Bruin basketball team. Think he played one year. No aa there

Batted like 092 in baseball. Shockingly. No aa there. Surprised he didn't get cut.

Might have been an aa or all conference in football. He was only at ucla a year and a half. Left before graduation like Tanya Harding.

Played 3 professional sports interestingly. And served in the military. Amazing guy. Just a case of we tend to make people myths When we should just accept their greatness as is

10 comments

10 Comments

San Clemente

Sep 05, 2023

must have been the first affirmative action college baseball player.

Isn't the mendoza line 200? I guess the utla Jacky Robinson line is less than 100. sc

thesquat

Sep 04, 2023

Robinson was no saint

rwc1952

Sep 04, 2023

He was AA in football and led the nation in punt returns, lettered in 4 sports and left Ucla his senior year for financial reasons.

Java

Sep 04, 2023

Replying to

actually left shortly before graduation. Which makes me wonder if it was truly financial or if he didn't have the stuff in order to graduate. With all those sports it would be hard to imagine he could have

thesquat

Sep 04, 2023

he had a checkered history in Pasadena, some not so good

Java

Sep 04, 2023

Replying to

Maybe. Just reading the internet and what people write on wiki. Younknow how it is. He is a racial pioneer so he was born of a virgin and all that.

Mlk never did anything wrong either. Never mind the fact he was killed on the balcony of a Memphis hotel room with his mistress inside

Waldorf

Sep 04, 2023

Replying to

You're pretty much right about Robinson. He had a bad temper, got in some trouble during his youth, and was was quite bitter about racial inequality. This led to a court martial in the Army for refusing to sit in the back of a base bus (he was acquitted), and having to swallow his anger (over the constant verbal abuse and death threats) when he was with the Dodgers only made his bitterness worse, something he reportedly never got over. But in sports, he was a fierce competitor.

He is the only athlete in UCLA history to letter in four sports. It was said that he was a good bet to make the 1940 Olympics in the broad jump, but the games were cancelled because of WWII. Baseball was his worst sport at UCLA, ironically. He was an All-American in football, his specialty being punt returns (he lead the nation in punt return average in 1939 and 1940), and his 12.2 ypc as a halfback was a record at the time, although he only carried about 40 times from scrimmage that season (1939).

Java

Sep 05, 2023

Replying to

So he was a two sport aa? Thsts what I seem to gather.

I don't have a real ax to grind other than some gushing reporter declaring him an aa in 4 sports.

My mind started spinning and I thought "I don't think Jim Thorpe was a 4 sport all American, and Jim Thorpe was probably the greatest athlete of the last century".

So I figured I'd start digging. I think he was obviously a great baseball player. his poor showing at ucla probably had more to do with the fact that he had just gotten done playing football. and was trying to juggle a spring schedule of track baseball and basketball. Clearly we saw for the rest of his life. That baseball was not his worst sport.