Kevin Garnett

Not many players have the ability and talent to come straight out of high school and start as a rookie for an NBA franchise. But Kevin Garnett did and in 2008, all of his hard worked paid off when he won an NBA title with the Boston Celtics.

Kevin Garnett was drafted with the fifth overall pick in the 1995 NBA Draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves, who weren’t known for their championship ways. Garnett became the first player to be drafted directly out of high school since Moses Malone in 1974.

The Timberwolves still struggled initially when Garnett came on board, but they did find a measure of success when he became their franchise player in 1997. Even though the team was heavily criticized for signing Garnett to a six-year, $126 million contract in 1997, he continued to improve his game, averaging 18.5 points, 9.6 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.8 blocks and 1.7 steals per game. He also led Minnesota to the playoffs, although they lost in the first round to the Seattle SuperSonics.

Through all the trials and tribulations, Kevin Garnett remained a Minnesota Timberwolve. But frustration finally settled in and in the midst of yet another rebuilding year, the team traded Garnett to the Boston Celtics in exchange for multiple players.

In just one season, Garnett and teammates Paul Pierce and Ray Rice transformed the Celtics into the best team in the NBA. Not only did they finish with the best record in the NBA in 2007, but they also won the NBA Finals, defeating Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers.

On top of finally being an NBA Champion, Kevin Garnett also won the NBA Most Valuable Player Award in 2004, the NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 2008 and is a four-time All-NBA First Team selection.

He is an 11-time NBA All-Star, has been a nine-time All-NBA selection and won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award in 2008. He has also been a nine-time All-Defensive selection, which proves he’s much more than just a top offensive playmaker.

Kevin Garnett is the definition of an all-around player. In a league where offense gets all of the attention, Garnett is one of the best defenders in the NBA, as well as a top scorer year in and year out. When the Timberwolves were struggling through down years, Garnett continued to produce outstanding numbers and never took a play off. Now that he’s an NBA Champion, he is truly a legend in the game of basketball and considering the Celtics are still stacked with talent, Garnett might win a few more titles before his career is finished.

Dan Marino

The NFL has not been kind to rookie quarterbacks who become starters in their first years.

Ryan Leaf is often referred to as the biggest bust of all time. Joey Harrington was booed out of Detroit and still hasn’t recovered. Even the great Peyton Manning suffered major growing pains in his rookie season.

That’s why what Dan Marino did as a rookie is something made only for legends.

Dan Marino was selected by the Miami Dolphins with the 27th overall pick in the first round of the 1983 NFL Draft. After biding his time behind David Woodley in his first year, Marino posted a 96.0 passer rating, which was a record for a rookie quarterback that wasn’t broken until Pittsburgh Steelers’ quarterback Ben Roethlisberger posted a 98.1 rating in 2004.

The very next season, Marino had one of the best seasons for a quarterback in NFL history. He was named the NFL’s MVP after breaking six single season passing records, including most touchdown passes with 48 and most passing yards with 5,084. He led the Dolphins to the Super Bowl that year, but Miami fell to Joe Montana and the San Francisco 49ers 38-16. Marino was 29 for 50 in the game for 318 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.

Dan Marino never reached the Super Bowl again, but his career was nothing short of legendary. He played from 1983 to 1999 and compiled a 420-252 touchdown to interception ratio. He also threw for 61,361 yards and complied a QB rating of 86.4.

During his career, Marino was a nine-time Pro Bowl selection, an eight-time All-Pro selection and holds 31 Miami Dolphins records. Along with winning the 1984 NFL MVP award, he also won NFL Offensive Player of the Year that year and the 1998 Walter Payton Man of the Year in 1998.

Dan Marino played his entire career for one franchise, which is almost unheard of nowadays. He was arguably the greatest quarterback in Miami Dolphins history and his rifle arm and quick release is only rivaled by present day quarterbacks Brett Favre and Peyton Manning.

Marino led the league in completions six separate times during his career and led the NFL in pass attempts on five separate occasions. He also led the league in passing yards on four separate occasions.

Even though he never won a Super Bowl, Dan Marino is easily considered one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history. And if it weren’t for Favre and Manning, a lot of Marino’s career and single-season records would still stand today.  

Tom Brady

Update: Tom Brady out for Season!
http://www.sportsline.com/nfl/story/10968803

You want a Hollywood story? Check out Tom Brady’s.

When Brady enrolled at the University of Michigan, he was seventh on the depth chart and was more likely to hit the lottery than step on the playing field. After seeing a sports psychologist to help himself cope through the frustration of not playing, Brady eventually started every game in 1998 and 1999 and even set Michigan records for most pass attempts and competitions in a season.

Even though he finished his Michigan career on a high note, he lasted all the way into the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft. In need of a backup and developmental starter behind Drew Bledsoe, the New England Patriots selected Brady with the 199th overall selection.

Not even expected to play that day, on September 23, 2001 (his second season in the NFL), Brady was thrust into the starting lineup after Bledsoe suffered internal bleeding after a collision with Jets linebacker Mo Lewis.

Brady went on to lead the Patriots on a tear that found them playing against the heavily favored St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI. Brady’s magical season fittingly ended when he took the Patriots’ from their own 15-yard line down to the Rams’ 31 and setting up Adam Vinatieri’s game-winning field goal as time expired. Brady was named Super Bowl MVP.

All Tom Brady has done since then is become a four-time Pro Bowl selection, a two-time All-Pro selection and three-time Super Bowl champion. He just missed winning his fourth Super Bowl in 2008 when the New York Giants upset the Patriots in Arizona.

Brady is a two-time Super Bowl MVP, was the Sportsman of the Year in 2005 and the AP’s Male Athlete of the Year in 2007. He’s also the New England Patriots’ all-time leader in passing touchdowns and was the AP NFL MVP in 2007.

Even though his career is far from finished, Tom Brady is already a quarterback legend and a national superstar. He’s often featured on the cover of magazines, in commercials and is one of the NFL’s poster boys. Along with Peyton Manning, he’s easily the best quarterback in the NFL and with him under center, the Patriots are often favored to win the Super Bowl on a yearly basis.

Not bad for a guy that wasn’t picked until the sixth round and who once was the seventh-best quarterback on his college team.

Greg Maddux

When a highly touted pitching prospect out of high school or college lands on a Major League Baseball team’s radar, the first thing that’s usually mentioned is how hard he throws.

But instead of concentrating on how fast the young man can throw, maybe scouts and baseball executives should see what the pitcher has between the ears.

Greg Maddux never had a dominating fastball. He barely registers over 85 mph on a radar gun, but yet he’s complied over 350 wins in his career and is now pitching past 40 years old.

How has he found so much success? Because perhaps no other pitcher that has taken the mound thinks like Greg Maddux. His knowledge of the game and hitters is profound and his mastery of hitting the outside corners of the plate is unrivaled.

Greg Maddux’s MLB debut came with the Chicago Cubs on September 3, 1986. At 42 years old, Maddux is still pitching and to date has complied a win-loss record of 353 and 222. He also owns a career ERA of 3.14 and has compiled 3,349 strikeouts.

Maddux currently ranks 11th all-time in career strikeouts, but numbers don’t mean much to him. His ability to outwit hitters his how he’s made his living and his accuracy has always been amazing.

Hall of Famer Wade Boggs once said of Greg Maddux, “It seems like he’s inside your mind with you. When he knows you’re not going to swing, he throws a straight one. He sees into the future. It’s like he has a crystal ball hidden inside his glove.”

Maddux has pitched for four different organizations, with two stints coming with both the Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers. He gained national attention with the Atlanta Braves from 1993 to 2000, winning a World Series in 1995. Along with John Smoltz, Steve Avery and Tom Glavine, Maddux was part of one of the best starting rotations in MLB history throughout the early to mid 90s.

Greg Maddux has never been considered a superstar. If you were to see him on the streets, he would resemble your classic “average Joe.” But that’s part of what makes him so special. He just goes out to the mound every fifth day, never complains and always does his job.

Greg Maddux is a pitching legend.

LaDainian Tomlinson

Before the 2001 NFL Draft, the San Diego Chargers were faced with a dilemma.

The Chargers had the No. 1 overall pick and Virginia Tech quarterback Michael Vick was arguably the best overall player in the draft. San Diego had a great need for a signal caller, but just four years prior it had selected former Washington State QB Ryan Leaf with the second overall pick and it wound up being a disaster. Leaf quickly became one of the biggest busts in NFL history and fearing Vick would wind up a bust as well, they traded the top pick to the Atlanta Falcons in exchange for multiple picks and wide receiver Tim Dwight.

One of the multiple picks the Chargers acquired from Atlanta was the fifth overall selection, in which they used to select Texas Christian running back LaDainian Tomlinson.

Tomlinson won the MVP award in 2000 for the Mobile Alabama Bowl, as well as the Doak Walker Award for being the nation’s top running back and the Senior Bowl MVP in 2001. But even with those accomplishments on his resume, some scouts felt he wouldn’t be able to sustain the pounding NFL running backs take throughout an entire year.

The San Diego Chargers weren’t scared off, however, and made Tomlinson their top pick in the 2001 NFL Draft. It turned out to be a fantastic decision and LT has become one of the franchise’s best players of all time.

Since 2001, LaDainian Tomlinson has earned five trips to the Pro Bowl and is a four-time First-team All-Pro selection. He also holds the all-time NFL record for single season touchdowns at 31, as well as the all-time NFL record for single season rushing touchdowns with 28.

Questions about whether or not he could withstand the pounding of being an NFL back were quickly erased when LT flashed his toughness while running in-between the tackles. His quickness and elusiveness has also led to big gains and highlight reel plays. He’s still one of the most athletic players in the league and certainly one of the most explosive players in the NFL.

LaDainian Tomlinson holds the all-time NFL record for the most points cored in a single season at 186. He also holds the all-time NFL record for most consecutive games with a rushing touchdown (18), most consecutive multi-touchdown games (8) and is tied for third place for most career 200-yard rushing games with multiple players (4).

Tomlinson is the most prolific back in San Diego Chargers’ history. He holds the all-time San Diego Chargers record for most career touchdowns at 111, as well as the record for most career rushing yards at 10,650 (2001-2007).

LaDainian Tomlinson’s career isn’t finished, but he already can be mentioned with other NFL greats Jim Brown, Barry Sanders and Emmitt Smith.

Derek Jeter

From Mickey Mantle to Lou Gehrig to Joe DiMaggio, the New York Yankees have had their fair share of legends don the pinstripes. Soon enough, shortstop Derek Jeter will be mentioned in the same breath as the names previously mentioned. That is, if his name already isn’t currently being mentioned among those greats.

In his first year as a full-time player, Derek Jeter was named the starting shortstop of the New York Yankees, a role he has yet to relinquish. He was named an Opening Day starter in 1996 and as a rookie, he hit .314 with 10 home runs and 78 RBI. Those numbers were good enough to earn him the 1996 AL Rookie of the Year.

Jeter never looked back after having an incredible rookie campaign. He’s currently a nine-time All-Star, a three-time Gold Glove Award winner and a two-time Silver Slugger Award winner. He was also honored with the Babe Ruth Award in 2000, was the MLB All-Star Game MVP in 2000 and won the AL Hank Aaron Award in 2006.

Perhaps more important than his career stats is that Jeter has helped the Yankees win four World Series titles. After winning a championship as a rookie in 1996, the Yankee captain has helped the Bronx Bombers win three-consecutive titles in 1998, 1999 and 2000.

Derek Jeter is one of the most recognizable players in baseball, if not of any sport in the U.S. He’s a born leader and has a charismatic personality that the New York media eats up. Many players have been chewed up and spitted out by the “Bronx Zoo,” but not Jeter.

Even though some consider him overrated as a defender, nobody can argue that Jeter gives his all on every single play. Multiple times he’s given up his body on plays, which includes diving head first into the stands to produce outs. He’s the ultimate team player who always appears focused and determined.

Other shortstops might have better numbers or more awards, but arguably none of them mean as much to their teams as Derek Jeter has meant to the New York Yankees. If he’s not considered a legend now, he will be in due time.

Super Bowl Legends debunked

Every heard of the legend that Super Bowl Sunday is a good time to visit Disneyland because nobody is at the park? Or how about the legend that two-thirds of all avocados sold in the USA are bought within three weeks of Super Bowl Sunday?

The Super Bowl not only brings football, excitement and arguably the best commercials shown all year, but it also raises some crazy legends.

Snopes.com uncovers some of these Super Bowl legends and also debunks them in detail.

Claim: Super Bowl Sunday is a good time to visit Disneyland, because the park is virtually deserted.

Status: False

Origins: No red-blooded American would miss the Super Bowl just to spend the day at an amusement park, right? Okay, maybe a few women who don’t understand football might pass on watching the game, but women don’t generally visit places like Disneyland without their husbands or boyfriends or children in two, and most of them are watching the game. Must be a great day for the people who so desperate to experience a rare uncrowned weekend afternoon at Disneyland that they’ll risk ridicule and skip the big game in favor of the Magic Kingdom, eh?

Not quite. January does tend to be one of the slower periods of the year at amusement parks, a winter lull between the Christmas and East holidays, but crowds at Disneyland on Super Bowl Sunday are comparable to any other Sunday in January. If you want to spend a leisurely Sunday at Disneyland, you’re better off picking a different weekend in January or February.

Ty Cobb

Former Detroit Tiger Ty Cobb, nicknamed the Georgia Peach, was as much of a menace on the field as he was off it.

 By the time Ty Cobb retired in 1928, he had set more than 90 MLB records. He still holds the record for career batting average at .367 and his 12 batting titles are also unrivaled. Ty Cobb hit at least .320 for 23 consecutive seasons and also scored 2,245 runs.

Cobb was a danger (literally) on the base paths, too. He stole 892 bases in his career and rumor has it, he used to sharpen the metal spikes on the bottom of his cleats so that they would cut into any infielder that impeded his progress. (Cobb debunked that rumor after he retired, however.)

Ty Cobb led the American League in slugging percentage and hits a total of eight times in his career. He also led the AL in steals six times, runs scored five times, triples and RBI four times, doubles three times and home runs once. On three separate times during his career, Cobb batted above .400 and in one four-year span he averaged .401 – an incredible feat in the game of baseball. And if it weren’t for Pete Rose, Cobb’s record of 4,191 hits would still stand today, as well.

For as much as Ty Cobb was revered for his game, he was hated for the way he treated teammates, fans and the general public. Cobb was a racist who hated blacks, Catholics and northerners.

In one incident during his career, Cobb fought a black groundskeeper over the condition of a Tigers’ spring training field and then choked the man’s wife when she tried to break up the fight. Cobb was also a real treat to deal with when he drank, and apparently was abusive to teammates, waitresses and anyone else who pissed him off.

 As the legend goes, only four people from baseball showed up at his funeral. Still, Ty Cobb was one of the best baseball player s in the history of the game.

Tim Duncan

It’s funny how things work out sometimes.

In 1996, the San Antonio Spurs were one of the worst teams in the NBA after their All-Star center David Robinson missed most of the season due to injuries.

The following year, the Spurs hit the jackpot after winning the No. 1 pick in the NBA lottery. With the pick, the selected highly touted Wake Forest power forward Tim Duncan and with David Robinson ready to return to action, the Spurs featured one of the best frontcourts in the entire league.

The pair was deemed the “Twin Towers” because each of them stood 7-foot tall and was a dominating presence in the post. Robinson and Duncan led the Spurs to the 1998 NBA Playoffs, but eventually lost in the second round to the Utah Jazz. Thanks to a monster first year, Duncan was named the 1998 NBA Rookie of the Year.

The following year, Duncan helped the San Antonio Spurs top the New York Knicks to win an NBA title during a strike-shortened season. In just his second year, Tim Duncan was not only a NBA champion, but also an NBA Finals MVP.

It would be the first of four NBA Finals championships Tim Duncan would win, as he and the Spurs repeated the feat in 2003, 2005 and 2007. Along with the 1999 NBA Finals, Duncan was Finals MVP in both 2003 and 2005, as well.

Tim Duncan was one of only four players to receive All-NBA First Team honors in each of his first eight seasons from 1998 to 2005. He was also the only player in NBA history to receive All-NBA and All-Defensive honors in his first nine seasons (1998-2006).

Duncan was named by the Association for Professional Basketball Research as one of the “100 Greatest Professional Basketball Players of the 20th Century” and was also named on of the Next 10 Greatest Players on the tenth anniversary of the release of the NBA’s 50th Anniversary All-Time Team by television network TNT.

Among all of the accomplishments he’s achieved on the court, Duncan continues to be a great humanitarian off the court as well. His Tim Duncan Foundation raised more than $350,000 to help fight breast and prostate cancer between the years of 2001 and 2002. He continues to be heavily involved in multiple charities.

When his playing career is finally finished, Tim Duncan will be known as one of the greatest power forwards of all time. He’s often referred to as one of the most fundamentally sound players in the NBA and also one of the classiest. He’s a future NBA legend.

Peyton Manning

At the time, many scouts and football pundits didn’t believe he was the best quarterback in the draft. At the time, many believed Ryan Leaf of Washington State would turn out to be the better signal caller and therefore the Indianapolis Colts had made a grave mistake.

Or not.

With the first overall selection in the 1998 NFL Draft, the Indianapolis Colts selected Tennessee quarterback Peyton Manning. Some loved the selection while some loathed it because they thought Ryan Leaf was going to be the superstar, while Manning would struggle with his mechanics.

What the Colts knew and what many didn’t was that Peyton Manning was the ultimate student of the game. When asked what the first thing he would buy with his rookie signing bonus, Manning responded that he wanted to purchase a high-end video system so that he could better watch game film. Leaf wanted to use his money on a new car.

Ten years later, Peyton Manning is a Super Bowl winner, a two-time league MVP and is the all-time leader in passing touchdowns and passing yards for the Indianapolis Colts. He’s also been selected to eight Pro Bowls, is a six-time All-Pro selection and has broken countless NFL records.

Ryan Leaf, on the other hand, was out of the league in five years after playing for four different teams including the San Diego Chargers (who drafted him in second overall behind Manning in the 1998 draft), Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Dallas Cowboys and Seattle Seahawks.

But back to Manning, he currently holds the records for consecutive seasons with at least 4,000 passing yards (6), most season with at least 4,000 pass yards (8) and most consecutive seasons with a t least 25 touchdown passes (10). He also holds the records for most games with a perfect passer rating (4), most consecutive games started to open a career by a quarterback (160) and has the highest passer rating in one season (121.1 in 2004).

He’s also still playing. Peyton Manning is already a legend to the Indianapolis Colts and given his historic career to this point, a sports legend as well. He might go down as the best quarterback to ever played the game.

So much for those who said Ryan Leaf would be better.

Sports legends doing legendary things

Most sports legends have a legendary story to share. Most of these stories are embellishments of the original tale, but some are unexplainably true.

THE BLEACHER REPORT has complied some of these legendary stories for your amusement. Did Deion Sanders really run the fastest time at the NFL Combine? How many goals did Pele average during his career? How many reverse dunks did Earl “The Goat” Manigault pull off to win a $60 bet? Find out below.

Soccer

Pele

At the age of 17, the great Pele, established himself as the definition of Brazilian football, as he scored a hat trick in his first World Cup Tournament. During a time when the game was much more physical and bookings were much less frequent, its said that Pele put the ball in the net 1280 times in 1363 career fixtures with international and club teams. That’s nearly a goal per game!

Pele won a total of 32 titles during his career. Perhaps his most amazing feat was bringing soccer to a new level in America in the 70’s while playing for the Cosmos.

Baseball

Satchel Paige

Negro League pitcher Satchel Paige is best known for his long career and high salary.  While Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams were overseas fighting with the armed forces, Satchel was the highest paid athlete in America.

However, Satchel is a legend for intentionally walking loaded bases in the 1942 Negro World Series to face the most feared slugger of his time, Josh Gibson.

Paige went on to strike Gibson out in 3 pitches. Gonads, my friends, gonads!

And rumor has it, Page won 104 out of 105 games in 1934.

Josh Gibson

Now Josh Gibson’s story will make Paige’s tale even more unbelievable.
Josh Gibson was known at the time as “The Black Babe,” because of his home run power.  Sadahara Oh from Japan is known as the all-time baseball home-run leader with over 800. Behind him there’s Barry Bonds, Hank Aarons, Babe Ruth, and the list goes on.

There are no precise numbers, but Gibson was said to have hit 962 homers in his career, with 84 in 1936!
The first thing fans usually say to discredit Gibson’s accomplishments is, “He was playing in the Negro League.”  However, Paige played in both the Negro League and the majors.
During his MLB career, Paige had an era of 3.29. That’s not bad even by today’s standards.

Football

Deion “Prime-Time” Sanders

I think we all know how great of an athlete Deion was. He played pro baseball and football, excelling at both. In college he was also a track and field star, while being named an All-American three times in football.

But the Deion story most fans forget, that I love the most involves his 40 yard dash at the NFL Combine.
Legend has it, in 1989, Prime Time walked on to the field with nothing but a pair of gym shorts, flip-flops, a t-shirt and a gold chain. Sanders proceeded to slip off his sandals and run a 4.12 40 yard dash - barefoot!

Enough said!

There are many more sports legends that have redefined expectations.

Earl “The Goat” Manigault, a 6-foot-2 guard from Harlem, is known to have done 36 consecutive reverse dunks to win a $60 bet. He also set the record in New York City for most points scored by a junior high student with 57.

Manigault’s other accolades involve a double dunk, where he’d finish one dunk, grab the ball after it goes through the net while still in the air, only to slam it one more time before landing. His acrobatics were on display for money once again, when he leapt to the top of a backboard to snatch $20 someone had stuck to a piece of bubble gum.

It’s amazing what some sports legends can do. How about the NIKE commercial where Tiger Woods continuously bounces a golf ball off one of his clubs and then drives it into the distance?

Bride-in-Seek

As the urban legend goes…

A young couple from Palm Beach, Florida got engaged in 1975. The father of the bride was a wealthy man so he was able to afford a big wedding and a reception in an old, secluded house.

After the wedding, the reception kicked off and things got pretty crazy. People were having plenty to drink and as the night wound down, the groom had an idea to play hide-in-seek in the old house. Since he thought of the game, the groom was “it” first.

After a short while, everyone had been found except for the bride. The groom and the rest of the people playing the game began to look for her, but she was nowhere to be found. After spending hours on end calling her name and tearing the house apart, the bride was still missing.

The groom began incredibly angry and upset and thought that his new bride either ran out on him or was playing some kind of cruel joke. So he and the other patrons left the house that night and returned to their hotels.

In the morning, the bride still had not returned to the hotel and the groom started to worry. So he filed a missing persons report, but after a few weeks went by, he decided that maybe she had left him and it was time to move on.

Several years had gone by and a little old woman had set out to clean the house used for the wedding reception. As made her way through the house, she walked up into the attic and found an old trunk. Curiosity got the best of her, so she opened the trunk and screamed at the top of her lungs at what was inside.

During the hide-in-seek game at the young couple’s wedding reception, the bride had decided to hide inside the trunk. While she was getting into the trunk, however, the lid bumped up against a wall and as it was slamming shut, knocked the bride unconscious (and locked her inside).

When the little old lady found the bride, she had been rotting inside and her mouth was open like she had been screaming for someone to let her out.

Top 10 Rock Music Myths

Webster’s Dictionary states that the word “myth” is an, “unusually traditional story of ostensibly historical events that serves to unfold part of the world view of a people or explain a practice, belief or natural phenomenon.”

In other words, the word “myth” essentially means that people make things up to try to explain the unexplainable. And myths typically grow bigger through folklore before they’re debunked and claimed as what they are: a false statement.

The world of rock has thousands of myths. There’s the one that Michael Jackson owns the rights to all The Beatles’ songs. Then there’s also the one about Roy Orbison being blind and another one about the plane that crashed and killed rockers Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper being named the “American Pie.”

About.com put together a list of the top 10 Rock Music Myths of all-time, including the ones about Elvis Presley and Jim Morrison being alive and Mama Cass dieing from choking on a ham sandwich.

About.com’s Top 10 Rock Music Myths:

1. Paul McCartney, Lou Reed and Ginger Baker are dead
Myths:
McCartney died in an auto accident in 1966 and was replaced by an impersonator. Reed and Baker died of drug overdoses.
Facts:
The McCartney and Reed myths started with what looked like legitimate wire service reports being fed to radio stations. The fact that it took McCartney a while to deny the rumour added fuel to it. The Reed hoax came shortly after the death of fellow punk rocker Joey Ramone, which gave it an additional touch of plausibility.
Baker was addicted to heroin throughout most of the ’60s and ’70s. After Cream disbanded in 1968, he dropped out of public view, leading some to believe that he had died a drug-related death. He kicked the habit in the early ’80s and is quite alive, as are McCartney and Reed.

2. Elvis Presley and Jim Morrison are alive
Myths:
Elvis didn’t die in 1977 but used that as a cover to go into seclusion and get out of the public spotlight. Jim Morrison is alive and someone else’s body is in his grave.
Facts:
In spite of extensive and largely irrefutable evidence to the contrary, there are still those who believe that Elvis is alive and is periodically spotted in convenience stores, restaurants and trailer parks all over the world.
Some people still don’t believe that Morrison’s body is the one buried in his grave in a Paris cemetery. The official cause of Morrison’s was listed as a heart attack — believed by many to have been drug related — in 1971. One enterprising gentleman has even produced a video (for $24.95 plus shipping) that he claims is Morrison living the life of a cowboy in the Pacific Northwest. People who have seen the video say the man in it bears no resemblance whatsoever to Morrison, and other than the fact that many of his song lyrics had mystical themes, there is no evidence to suggest that his death was faked.

3. Cass Elliot choked to death on a ham sandwich
Myth:
Mama Cass died when she choked on the sandwich she was eating, the uneaten remains of which were found near her body.
Fact:
There may have been a partially eaten sandwich somewhere in the vicinity, but she died of heart failure brought on by the effects of obesity and crash dieting. The coroner found no evidence of anything, ham sandwich or otherwise, blocking her windpipe.

4. Grace Slick named her daughter “god”
Myth:
Shortly after her baby was born, Slick told a hospital attendant that the baby would be named god, with a small “g” out of respect for the religious significance.
Fact:
Slick admits that she made the remark to a nurse who was wearing a crucifix, but says she meant it as a joke. Given her well known drug use and her prominent role in the pioneering Psychedelic Rock group Jefferson Airplane, it wasn’t hard to believe that she was serious. Slick’s daughter’s name is and always has been China Kantner (her father being Jefferson Airplane guitarist/vocalist Paul Kantner.)

5. Mr. Greenjeans was Frank Zappa’s father
Myth:
The gentle, kindly character on the children’s TV show, Captain Kangaroo was the father of Frank Zappa, who specialized in absurd humor and not-so-gentle social satire in his many song lyrics.
Fact:
Zappa was the son of a Sicilian immigrant named Francis Zappa, who lived in Baltimore. The fact that among Zappa’s many songs were two titled “Mr. Green Genes” and “Son of Mr. Green Genes” no doubt served as the basis of the myth. Coupled with the fact that Zappa’s persona was such that you could easily believe most anything about him, it isn’t hard to see how this myth started and lasted.

6. The Beatles smoked dope in Buckingham Palace
Myth:
Prior to the ceremony in which they received Member of the British Empire (MBE) awards, the Beatles smoked a joint in one of the Palace’s bathrooms.
Fact:
It was actually John Lennon who made this claim, saying that the band’s members were nervous and smoked a joint to calm down. Paul McCartney later refuted this as a joke, with its probable basis being in the fact that the boys did share a cigarette of the tobacco variety to calm their nerves before meeting the queen.

7. Keith Richards had his blood replaced
Myth:
Prior to a European tour in 1973, the Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards went to Switzerland to have his blood removed and replaced with a supply that was devoid of drugs and alcohol.
Fact:
He did undergo a procedure that removes impurities from the blood, but it was a far cry from having his entire blood supply replaced. Richards eventually admitted that he got tired of answering questions about the procedure and made up the story himself.

8. Robert Johnson made a deal with Satan
Myth:
Robert Johnson, a mediocre blues guitarist, sold his soul to the devil in exchange for being able to master the instrument.
Fact:
Johnson had a profound influence on artists like Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Jimmy Page and Bob Dylan. True, he didn’t start recording until three years before he died, and he recorded songs with titles like “Hellhound On My Trail” and “Me and the Devil Blues.” A vast improvement in his playing was accomplished by incessant practice, not a pact with Lucifer.

9. Gene Simmons had a tongue transplant from a cow
Myth:
KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons, famous for wagging his considerable tongue as part of his onstage antics, had a cow’s tongue surgically attached to his own.
Fact:
Simmons’ tongue is abnormally long, and he has learned to use it in ways that draw abnormal attention to it. The fact is that ’70s medical technology didn’t extend to successfully attaching animal parts to humans, and a cow’s tongue looks nothing like Simmons’ or any other human’s.

10. Ozzy Osbourne bit the heads off of live bats on stage
Myth:
Osbourne routinely bit the heads off of live bats as part of his outrageous live performance antics.
Fact:
Given his trailblazing efforts in achieving a high shock value with his live concert shenanigans, this myth isn’t too hard to swallow. The fact is, Oz did bite a live bat onstage – once, and by accident. He thought it was a prop made of rubber. The fact that the bat bit back, requiring Osbourne to undergo rabies treatments, kept him from ever attempting it on purpose.