| Was one athlete so prominent that his career can be linked to every major sports icon of the 20th Century, from Jim Thorpe to Tiger Woods? Can one athlete's career possibly span Babe Ruth and LeBron James? In Deion Sanders and the Sports Universe, Joe Nye takes a fun, informative look at how 'Primetime' can be connected, through teammates, to a variety of sports legends using the six degrees of separation format. A two-sport star that played for eight different professional teams, Sanders was the quintessential modern athlete whose career connected him directly to the likes of future Hall of Famers such as Jerry Rice, Emmitt Smith and Barry Bonds and indirectly to players dating as far back as Ty Cobb, Sammy Baugh and Wilt Chamberlain. For example, Sanders played on the 1989 New York Yankees with Don Mattingly, who had earlier played with Phil Niekro on the 1985 Yankees. In 1969, Niekro played on the Atlanta Braves with the great Hank Aaron. Over the course of Deion Sanders and the Sports Universe, Nye takes you through connections to more than 400 superstars in a variety of categories, and ponders the ultimate question: Is Deion Sanders really the center of the sports universe? |
