Position in the Spotlight: New Orleans

The city of New Orleans, home of the Superdome, plays host to some of the premier sporting events on the calendar. Depending on the year, it could see the BCS National Title, the NCAA Final Four, or the Super Bowl. The Superdome, at the very least, is home to the Sugar Bowl, Tulane University, a few games from LSU, and the New Orleans Saints. If I could pick a stadium as the position to spotlight, I would. The Superdome definitely has the history, and frankly, the sports franchises in New Orleans don't share it.
Up the road, however, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana State University is fraught with athletic history. As I mentioned, the football team plays in the Superdome occasionally, but on top of that LSU, just an hour and a half from the heart of New Orleans, is the states beloved, premier university. Of course, while the LSU football team is one of the elite programs in the country they have not always been so, and there is no position on the team that has always maintained the glamour enjoyed by positions in other towns. The basketball team, however, has seemingly always been among the best, starting with Pete Maravich in the 60s. Of course, anyone who follows college basketball knows that LSU has been renowned for producing big men, centers and power forwards (there are some years that the team doesn't have any true centers, or any that see the floor). That being said, the choice for New Orleans' Position in the Spotlight is LSU Men's Basketball 'Big Man'.

The most famous of all LSU big men was Shaquille O'Neal, who was a two time All American and an SEC Player of the Year during his time Baton Rouge in the early 90s. He also get s a spot on this list for starting an era of prominent big men at LSU. We would be remiss, however, if we failed to include Bob Pettit, the first Hall of Famer from the LSU basketball team. Pettit was a power forward who played for the Tigers from 1950-1954.

The past 20 years or so have been the halcyon days for LSU Bigs. After Shaq, Stromile Swift (also the 2nd overall draft choice in 2000), Brandon Bass and Glen "Big Baby" Davis won SEC Player of the Year honors from either the power forward or center position. Yes, most people would have gone with Shaq for an image, but I wanted the Stro Show off on the right.

Not only that, former and current NBA players Geert Hammink, Jabari Smith (now playing in Iran!) and Tyrus Thomas have all donned the purple and gold in an effort to keep opponents from going inside against the Tigers. While, admittedly, the quality of players that filled this role may not match future installments, there is no doubt that LSU has consistently fielded a team with a dominant presence in the middle.

Honorable Mention: New Orleans Saints quarterback. Two names dominate this list; Archie Manning, who on top of being the face of the franchise for many years, also raised two elite quarterbacking sons, and Drew Brees, the present record breaking quarterback on the team. Of course, when the all team touchdown passing leader is Aaron Brooks, this can hardly be considered much of a spotlight position.

(Next up... Steve with Milwaukee/Green Bay)