Today on our English Language website The National Herald begins its presentation of the TOP 20 Greek-American Athletes. Four spots will be presented each day over the next five days. Today you will see six names, however, due to a tie and the presence of twins. Our list begins with the renowned and revered Spanakos brothers of Brooklyn.
(Who Are the Top 20 Greek-American Athletes? TNH Countdown to #1 Begins March 11)
20-NICK and PETE SPANAKOS – Boxing (TIE)
Around the time that the Dodgers cruelly abandoned Brooklyn and left its three million residents fearing they would never again celebrate champions and championships, two young Greek-American men brought glory to their borough through their boxing prowess.
On April 17, 2014 identical twin brothers Petros (Pete) and Nicholas (Nikos) Spanakos were among the first inductees into the Daily News Golden Gloves Hall of Fame at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.
From 1955 to 1964 Petros was a ten-time undefeated Golden Gloves Champion – an unprecedented feat – and Nikos won seven times. Pete won a bronze medal at the PanAmerican Games in Chicago in 1959 and Nikos represented the United States at the 1960 Olympics in Rome.
Those achievements sufficed to guarantee their induction that night, but the brothers were also lauded for their character and lifetime of community service, showing appreciation for their God-given gifts by giving back.
Nothing in their biographies is accidental. Michael and Stella Spanakos left Mani province at sixteen in 1912 and six years old in 1908, respectively. They were married in 1927 and had seven sons who survived childhood, all of whom appreciated the sacrifices and lessons they learned from their parents.
The family’s story was featured in a 1981 B’Nai Brith/PBS documentary called ‘American Story – The Spanakos Family’.
Stella didn’t want to be in the film, but Pete said “Mama you have to do it. There are a lot of Greek women who are not being recognized for what they do and you have to represent Greece.”
In 1962 she was honored as NY State Mother of the Year by Governor Nelson Rockefeller. In 1964 she was runner-up for National Mother of the Year, and Grand Marshal of the Greek Parade.
GOD WAS IN THE RING
America opens wide the doors to success and prosperity to hardworking talented people, but immigrants often don’t land in the best of neighborhoods. Peter and Nicholas were the youngest of very bright boys – they have the PhDs and law degrees to prove it – but at 14 they realized that in order to survive in Brooklyn’s dangerous Red Hood district and realize the American dream, toughness had to be added to their mix of talent.
They learned to box, a sport they love, and as the newspapers reported their victories in the ring, “the guys who once looked for us now crossed the street when they saw us coming,” Nikos told the Daily News.
Asked how they started boxing, Pete said it was something between an accident and a miracle. “In 1952 we were asking God how we could defend ourselves and we were delivered into boxing.”
Their father didn’t see it that way. “Oshi!” he said in his thick Maniatiko accent “you mustn’t fight.” He wanted them to be gentlemen. “I said ‘Patera, every day I get my — kicked. I hate to be disrespectful but I have to fight back.’”
They were so good they had the privilege of experiencing a more refined danger.
Pete was quoted saying “I was more of a banger…if it looked like I could put a guy away, I would go for the knockout. Nick was more of a boxer. There were times when he could get the knockout, but he kept boxing.” Why did Nikos prolong victory? “It’s fun, I love the movement. It’s too much fun.”
The Hall of Fame induction was held during the intermission of the championship round of the 2014 Golden Gloves.
From a distance, spectators make mental notes to keep their distance should they ever bump into a boxer in a bad mood, but it is different up close: Punches land on chests with frightening thuds and spit flies from punches to the helmets (do they really protect?).
At ringside, the experience is more visceral, the reality more dangerous – the jabs are lightning quick.
In the blink of an eye a man could be killed, twice.
Their mother’s icon lamps must have been burning overtime.
But the Spanakos brothers are a tribute to the Greek excellence of body, mind, and spirit.
Following examples set by their older brothers, Pete earned a JD from Brooklyn Law School and spent most of his career as a counselor for the NYC Board of Education, and Nikos has a doctorate in Business Administration. He taught in the CUNY system for 26 years.
The twins’ five other brothers, Bill, John, Ernie, George, and Charles, served their country in the military while also distinguishing themselves athletically. Four of them also have law degrees.
The second American-born generation produced six more attorneys – one a judge, and others earned MAs, MBAs, and PhDs from top universities.
The twins’ lives also demonstrate the importance of mentors and inspiration from outside the family. Gene Rossides, a star quarterback for Columbia University who later distinguished himself in government and as founder of the American Hellenic Institute, was one of the first Greek names to become famous in America.
The brothers cannot thank him enough for his moral support and guidance. Nikos told TNH “Gene is a legend, and Pete said, “he was our hero and told us he would do ‘anything you want.’ He helped every Greek he could.”
Legendary boxing promoter George Parnassus was another important mentor.
After following nearly identical paths through life, today Peter and his wife Stratoniki live in Brooklyn and Nicholas and Barbara Spanakos reside in Florida, but the latter returns often to his beloved borough.
Products of Brooklyn’s public schools, they attended the College of Idaho, for which they both expressed deep gratitude. The professors, whom they still see as “walking icons,” gave them makeup tests so they could compete, and they feel privileged to be able to donate to their alma mater.
The excellent liberal arts college was a far cry from Red Hook, however, a neighborhood dominated by the docks and gangs.
Peter told the story of coming home from Sts. Constantine and Helen Cathedral where they were altar boys. They got off the trolley car and some Italian guys were making fun of them. “We walked our parents’ home and then we ran out of the house and went after them. The first guy started hitting us and the other guy ran away. Then we ran away because they came back with a gang,” Pete said.
The next day the infamous gangster Joseph ‘Crazy Joe’ Gallo came into Red Hook saying “we’re going to kick those Greeks’ —es.”
But they ran into two big Italian American families, the Pepitones (one of them, Joe, played first base for the Yankees) and the Montfortes. “They loved my father. He was very generous with them during and after the war,” Pete said.
In the cross-country competition for the 1960 Olympics “some Greek would always get up and shout ‘come on patrioti’ and cheer us on.”
In Chicago “all the Greeks came out like crazy,” he said, but their victories made them targets for city thugs. The Greek policeman and taxi drivers looked out for them, however.
At the Pan American games in Chicago in 1959, Cassius Clay was his roommate. Pete said he inspired the future Muhammad Ali’s “GOAT – Greatest of all time,” tagline. Pete was the first GOAT – “I was ‘The Greekest of all time’.”
Clay was also Nick’s Olympics roommate, but he feels his brother belonged with him in Rome, where he experienced profound loneliness. “I thought he was well-qualified.”
Pete first went to Greece on his honeymoon in 1966. “My wife was great and she’s still great,” adding, “her name is Stratoniki and she is from Lemnos. My mother forgave me for not marrying a Maniati.”
Nikos took his time and finally – at age 73 – found his Greek bride: Barbara Stamatopoulou.
Asked what it felt like for a Greek-American to be in Rome representing America in the Olympics as a 22 year-old recent college graduate, Niko’s answer was clear: “That was the highlight of my life.”
One of the high points was meeting the Greek team. “I was very surprised; they knew all about me and we hugged each other, and I even got to be their coach because they did not have one,” Nikos said.
20 – DEAN KARNAZES Ultramarathoner (TIE)
Dean Karnazes running during the Navarino Challenge. (Photo by Navarino Challenge/ Elias Lefas)
The epitome of athleticism is running and no one has run further than ultra-marathoner Dean Karnazes, 63, author of ‘Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All-Night Runner’, which details ultra endurance running for the general public. He was born in Inglewood, CA to parents of Greek ancestry; Nick and Fran Karnazes. He had two siblings; brother Kraig and a sister, Pary, who died in an automobile accident at the age of 18, which deeply affected him.
The younger Karnazes brother grew up in Diamond Bar, CA and San Clemente, CA which he said gave him a love of the outdoors, and an appreciation of its small-town feel.
While attending kindergarten, Karnazes began running home from school. He took up running for fun, first running direct routes from school to his home – later, he began to run diversionary routes that would extend his run and take him into uncharted territory.
By third grade, he was participating in and organizing short running events with other children. As Karnazes grew older, he began testing his limits: by age 11 he had hiked rim-to-rim across the Grand Canyon and had climbed Mount Whitney, the highest mountain in the contiguous United States.
In junior high school, Karnazes met Jack McTavish, a track coach who became Karnazes’ mentor and introduced him to the appeal of long-distance running. McTavish’s basic running instructions were simple: “Go out hard and finish harder.”
In 1976, as a high school freshman at San Clemente High, Karnazes joined the cross country team under Benner Cummings, whose running theory was that running is about finding your inner peace; his motto was “run with your heart.”
That season, Karnazes was awarded ‘Most Inspirational’ team member. Karnazes also ran his first endurance event that year, a fundraising run on a track for underprivileged children, finishing in just under six hours and raising a dollar a lap from his sponsors. While most students ran only 10-15 laps around the track, he ran 105, a full marathon. When the cross-country season ended he signed up for the track team but did not get along with the coach. After walking off the track team, he stopped running for 15 years before rediscovering his love of running at the age of 30.
Karnazes has completed a number of endurance events, mostly running events, but also a swimming event. His most notable achievements include: • Ran 350 miles (560 km) in 80 hours and 44 minutes without sleep in 2005 • Completed a 199-mile (320 km) run from Calistoga to Santa Cruz • Ran a marathon to the South Pole in −13 °F (−25 °C) temperatures without snowshoes in 2002 Other athletic achievements include: • Winner, Badwater Ultramarathon (135 miles (217 km) across Death Valley in 120 °F (49 °C) temperatures), 2004 (with five other top-10 finishes from 2000 to 2008) • Winner, Vermont Trail 100 Mile Endurance Run, 2006 • Overall Winner, 4 Deserts Race Series, 2008 [14] • American Ultrarunning Team, World Championships, 2005, 2008 • 148 miles (238 km) in 24 hours on a treadmill, 2004[15] • Eleven-time 100-Mile/1 Day Silver Buckleholder at the Western States Endurance Run (i.e., better than ten twenty-four-hour finishes), 1995–2006 • Ran 3,000 miles (4,800 km) across the United States from Disneyland to New York City in 75 days, running 40 to 50 miles (65 to 80 km) per day, 2011 • Swimming across the San Francisco Bay Other honors include: • Competitor magazine Endurance Athlete of the Year Award winner, 2008, 2006, 2005 • ESPN ESPY Award winner, Best Outdoor Athlete, 2007 • Men’s Journal, Adventure Hall of Fame, 2007 • Outside magazine, Ultimate Top 10 Outdoor Athletes, 2004
In 2006, Karnazes ran 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 consecutive days. Beginning with the Lewis and Clark Marathon in St. Louis on September 17, 2006, the endeavor finished with the New York City Marathon on November 5. Eight of the 50 races were conventional marathon races.
The adventure was the primary subject of film director JB Benna’s 2008 film titled ‘UltraMarathon Man: 50 Marathons, 50 States, 50 Days’, which was the first feature film about Karnazes. He has his detractors who say he’s more a self-promoter than a great runner – but he put up the miles. It’s hard to beat what Karnazes has done.
19 – KURT RAMBIS Basketball
Rambis as a freshman at Santa Clara. Photo: Wikipedia/Public Domain
Before Giannis Antetokounmpo swept through the NBA like a pterodactyl that couldn’t be stopped there were other Greek players – Lou Tsioropoulos with the Boston Celtics was the first, and then Nick Mantis for the St. Louis Hawks (1960-64).
In 1978, David Stergakos, a 6-8 forward from New Jersey was drafted by the Boston Celtics but decided to play in Greece and the same year Dave Caligaris, who played for Northeastern University in Boston, also went to Greece and became a legendary player for Sporting Club in Boston.
Then came Kurt Rambis. Yes, Kurt Rambis is Greek-American. He was born in Terre Haute, Indiana, to a family of Greek descent. His family moved to Cupertino, CA, where he graduated from high school.
He attended and graduated from Santa Clara University, playing basketball for the Broncos. During his senior year, he was named Player of the Year in the West Coast Conference. He was the team’s second leading rebounder and all-time leading scorer with 1,736 points. His jersey #34 was retired on Dec.29, 2008.
In the 1980 NBA draft, Rambis was drafted by the New York Knicks. But he was waived and went to Greece to play for AEK Athens – under the name Kyriakos Rambidis – helping the team win the Greek Cup in 1981, and becoming a Greek citizen. A 6-8 forward, he was known for his mustache, big, horn-rimmed glasses, and appeal to the lunch bucket crowd for his hardnosed play.
The Knicks re-signed him in 1981 but never played a game for them. His success as an NBA player started when he was signed as a free agent by the Los Angeles Lakers in 1981, spending most of his 14 years with the team and winning championships in 1982, 1985, 1987, and 1988 with the ‘Showtime’ teams – although he was the blue-collar favorite.
He was known for his defense and rebounding and took no guff, jumping up to go after Boston Celtic forward Kevin McHale, who clotheslined him when Rambis was driving for a layup – that set off a fracas between the teams.
“Known for his defensive and rebounding skills, he was remembered in Los Angeles for his all-out effort and willingness to do the ‘dirty work’ that many players do not embrace,” wrote Cosmos Philly, adding: “Rambis was a favorite among the Lakers fans because of his status as an overachieving underdog and ultimate team-player.”
Lakers announcer Chick Hearn tagged Rambis with the nickname Superman, because of the glasses that were likened to those of Clark Kent, although Rambis was also sometimes called Rambo.
At the Lakers home arena a ‘Superman’ fan club (also known as Rambis youth) was formed where the courtside spectators wore glasses styled similar to the ones used by Rambis in admiration.
Lakers head coach Pat Riley once complained to a reporter: “Other guys have sharp Adidas bags. (Rambis)’s got this black satchel, like the kind you would have a bowling ball in. And it’s, like, vinyl. He doesn’t ever bring a garment bag or a suitcase. That’s all he ever brings, could be a week.”
He also played for the Charlotte Hornets, Phoenix Suns, and Sacramento Kings before returning to the Lakers in 1993. He retired as a player with the Lakers in 1995.
Rambis became an NBA coach in 1994 and was head coach for the Lakers, Minnesota Timberwolves, and the Knicks. He won two league championships as an assistant coach with the Lakers. In 2018, Rambis joined the Lakers as a senior basketball advisor.
Off the court, Rambis has had roles in several television series including, ‘7th Heaven’ as Coach Cleary, ‘Sweet Valley High’, ‘The Commish’, ‘Married with Children’, ‘It’s Garry Shandling’s Show’, and ‘Malcolm & Eddie’. He is also mentioned in lyrics of several songs, including ‘Blao!’ by rapper Hot Karl, where he raps, “I’m wearing the goggles that Kurt Rambis used to sport.”
In September 2018, Rambis rejoined the Lakers as a senior basketball adviser where it was said he had become “one of the most influential members of the organization since returning to the franchise.” His wife Linda serves as the Lakers Executive Director of Special Projects and is one of owner Jeanie Buss’s longtime friends.
18-GEORGE SAIMES Football
Picture of George Saimes.
He wasn’t big at 5-10 and 186 pounds, but George Saimes was tough and fast and fearless and he played all-out on the football field, becoming an All-American running back for Michigan State, where he was also a defensive back before going on to a stellar career as a safety with the Buffalo Bills of the American Football League, who drafted him in 1963.
Saimes was selected Michigan State’s Most Valuable Player in both 1961 and 1962, and was eventually picked to the Spartans’ all-time defensive team and is still remembered as one of the best players in the school’s history.
Saimes became a three-time letterman for Duffy Daugherty from 1960-62 and helped the Spartans to a combined record of 18-8-1 (.685). He served as team captain as a senior in 1962.
As a junior, Saimes led the Spartans in rushing with 82 carries for 451 yards (5.5 avg.) and eight touchdowns. He was selected United Press International Midwest Back of the Week after rushing 14 times for a career-best 142 yards and two scores as top-ranked MSU defeated No. 6 Notre Dame, 17-7. Saimes scored on runs of 24 and 25 yards against the Irish.He finished seventh in the Heisman Trophy balloting and earned First-Team All-America honors as a senior from The Associated Press, UPI, Football Writer’s Association, Football Coaches Association, New York News, The Sporting News and CBS-TV.
In 1962, he led the team in rushing with 122 attempts for 642 yards (5.2 avg.) and scored nine touchdowns, while registering three interceptions from his safety position. In addition, Saimes was presented the Cleveland Touchdown Club’s Joe Fogg Memorial Trophy as the Midwest’s Collegiate Player of the Year.
A two-time All-Big Ten selection and two-time team MVP (1961-62), Saimes finished his collegiate career with 1,253 rushing yards, 18 rushing TDs and six interceptions (33 yards).
Following his senior season, he was selected to play in the East-West Shrine Game, Hula Bowl and Coaches’ All-America Game.
Saimes, who made five-straight Pro Bowl appearances from 1964- 68, was named to the AFL’s All Time Team in 1970 and the Bills’ 50th Anniversary All-Time Team in 2009. He was born in Canton, OH – home of the National Football League Hall of Fame – and he died there from leukemia at 71 years old in 2013.
He made The Sporting News All AFL Team in 1964, 1965, and 1967. Former Pro Football writer and President of the Pro Football Writers Association, Larry Felser, calls Saimes “the finest open-field tackler in the league.”
He is a member of the American Football League All-Time Team, the Buffalo Bills’ Wall of Fame, and the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame. He won AFL championships with the Bills in 1964 and 1965 – before the league merged with the NFL in 1966.
Selected by Buffalo in the sixth round of the 1963 draft, Saimes spent seven seasons with the Bills. He was then reunited in Denver with his former Bills coach, Lou Saban, in playing three more seasons with the Broncos.
He was known as a hard-hitting tackler, who finished with 22 interceptions in 121 career games and was named to Michigan State’s All Time Defensive Team. His Bills teammate, cornerback Booker Edgerson said, “George Saimes was one of the surest tacklers I ever saw. If he got his hands on you, more than likely, you were going to go down.”
He was solid in defending passes, too, except, as Edgerson recalled, that Saimes wasn’t as sure-handed when it came to interceptions. “We used to kid him about it and say, `If you had great hands and great eyesight, you could’ve had at least 50 or 60 interceptions,” Edgerson said with a laugh. “At least he knocked the ball down.”
Edgerson said, Saimes was an elite safety then, and would’ve been one today as well – and he did have 22 interceptions. “We know there wasn’t a better safety before him, and I don’t think there’s been any since, especially in terms of tackling the intelligence of playing in the secondary with the receivers,” Edgerson said.
“I think that there should’ve been some consideration for him going into the Hall of Fame. Unfortunately, a lot of defensive backs in the `60s and `70s never really got that consideration,” he said.
He was inducted into the MSU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2000. Saimes was selected as the team’s honorary captain for the Spartans’ 10-7 victory at Ohio State in 2011.
Former MSU teammate Sherman Lewis, a halfback, said, “George Saimes was the best football player I played with in college. He played both ways and never came off the field. He played fullback on offense and roverback (strong safety) on defense. George was the heart of soul of our team – on both sides of the football. He was a tough, hardnosed player. Since he never came off the field, he’d be black and blue after every game, but he’d bounce back the next week and come back for more.”
After his playing days, Saimes stayed in football as a scout, including a 15-year stint with the Washington Redskins. He also worked as a scout with Tampa Bay and the Houston Texans.
Former Michigan State assistant coach Henry Bullough said, “there are many of us who believe George should be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. One of his defensive coaches from the Buffalo Bills once told me that George might have missed three or four tackles during his entire career. The assistant told me `George was like gold’ as a safety.” Another Golden Greek.
17-JIMMY CARSON Hockey
JIMMY CARSON. (Photo: https://www.nhl.com/)
He’s known as Jimmy Carson but he was born Demetrios Kyriazopoulos, his Greek father having changed the family name as so many did, and it would have been tough to put his real name on the back of his hockey jersey anyway.
And Carson, besides being a stellar hockey player – he was named to the National Hockey League All Rookie team in 1987 and the AllStar game in 1989 – is forever known as being involved in one of the most infamous trades in league history.
That was on Aug. 9, 1988 when the Edmonton Oilers, who had won four Stanley Cup championships in five years behind Wayne ‘The Great One’ Gretzky and was known, with Gordie Howe and Bobby Orr, as the best player ever, traded him to the Los Angeles Kings for a couple of players, the Kings’ first draft choices in 1989, 1991, and 1993, and $15 million. It was seen as treason in Canada and it didn’t make it easy that one of the players coming from the Kings was Carson, despite his prowess. Only Gretzky, by 76 days, scored 100 goals at a younger age than did Carson.
While there was ferocious heat on Gretzky in Los Angeles, the pressure was on Carson too because he had impossibly big skates to fill, but he lived up to it, although not at Gretzky’s level – because nobody could. Carson had scored the most goals ever by a teenager in NHL history, with 92.
He was drafted 2nd overall in the 1986 NHL Entry draft by the Kings after two successful junior seasons with the Verdun Junior Canadians of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, where he was an offensive powerhouse, scoring 44 goals and 116 points in 68 games in his first season, and following that up with 70 goals and 153 points in 69 games in his second.
Carson jumped immediately to the NHL and made his debut for the Kings during the 1986-87 season, scoring 37 goals and 79 points in 80 games – but he narrowly missed winning the Calder Trophy for Rookie of the Year, which went to his teammate, left-wing Luc Robitaille. Carson followed up his strong rookie season with an even stronger season, scoring 55 goals and 107 points, in what would be his last season in Los Angeles before ‘the trade’. That set a single season NHL record for most goals by a United States-born player.
The pressure was immense in his first year with Edmonton and while he scored 49 goals and 100 points in 80 games, it wasn’t enough for the fans. Carson told the Los Angeles Times why: “The end analysis was, I was not Wayne Gretzky.”
The bitter taste couldn’t get out of his mouth, nor being under the gaze of fans who didn’t want him despite his skills. Only four games into the second season, he requested and got a trade to the Detroit Red Wings, his hometown team, where he played with superstars Steve Yzerman and Sergei Federov, who overshadowed him. He shares with Bob Kudelski the NHL single-season record for games played with 86 in 1992–93, the year he was traded from the Red Wings to the Kings.
He was then traded again – back to the Kings – to play behind Gretzky before being traded to the Vancouver Canucks. He then played for the Hartford Whalers, then in Switzerland, finishing with the Detroit Vipers of the International Hockey League.
When his career ended, he became a financial advisor, which fit him. Former Los Angeles Kings owner Bruce McNall told the Los Angeles Times of Carson’s decision to quit hockey: “In a weird way, I knew Jimmy’s heart was not as much into it. He was an intellectual, multidimensional guy, read the Wall Street Journal, and so many other players just don’t have his opportunities and interests. So I always thought, deep down, that maybe long-term hockey wouldn’t be for him.” Carson, who came from a financially well-off family, earned his fortunes through many investments and white collar work instead of as a hockey superstar and still lives in Michigan, about 45 minutes outside of Detroit.
He wound up playing 10 seasons in the NHL with five teams. As a youth, Carson played in the 1980 and 1981 Quebec International Peewee Hockey Tournaments with the Detroit Compuware minor ice hockey team.
Carson represented the United States in the 1986 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships and the 1987 World Ice Hockey Championships. He came back for an exhibition game, playing in the Red Wings vs. Toronto Maple Leafs alumni game before the 2014 NHL Winter Classic .
