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Father’s day is a day to honor and reflect on good times. On a day like today, it brings to mind sports. I remember watching football games with my dad when I was younger, and to this day, we always talk about football regardless of season. Sports are a great way to bond with your father or son, and in honor of the impact sports has on our lives, I’d like to post today about great father-son combinations in sports.

First off, and certainly one of the more prolific on my list, is the Griffey family. Ken Sr. gained fame as a consistent contact hitter in the mid to late 1970s as a part of the Cincinnati Reds and their “Big Red Machine”. His oldest son, Ken Jr., was drafted first overall by the Seattle Mariners in 1987, and due to his success in the major leagues has often been considered as the greatest first overall pick in baseball history. He made his debut in 1989, and was joined in 1990 by his father, making them the first father-son combination to play on the same MLB team at the same time. On September 14^th of that year, they homered back-to-back in a game against the Kansas City Royals.

Overall, their combined statistics and awards are staggering. Between them, they have a regular season and All-Star Game MVP (regular season for Jr., All-Star for Sr.), 16 All-Star appearances (3 for Sr., 13 for Jr.), 7 Silver Slugger Awards (all by Jr.), 10 consecutive Gold Gloves (all by Jr. from 1990-1999), 2 World Series championships (1975 and 76 by Sr.), and 770 home runs (152 by Sr., 618 currently by Jr.). It’s also interesting to note Jr. wore #30 during his first 5 years in Cincinnati (in honor of his father), and hit his 500^th career home run on Father’s day with Ken Sr. in attendance. It also tied them on the all-time hits list for the time being. All things considered, the Griffeys are one of the great father-son teams in baseball history.

I wrote earlier in the week about the Earnhardts in racing, so I’ll talk about the Petty family this time around. The first family of NASCAR, it doesn’t begin with The King. Modern NASCAR fans don’t remember his father, Lee Petty, who began his career at age 35. He was part of the first ever NASCAR race at the old dirt track Charlotte Speedway in 1949, finishing outside the top 10. He would go on to win the championship three times (1954, 58, and 59), and won the inaugural Daytona 500, literally in a photo finish. Lee Petty won 54 career races, but his true legacy lives on because of his son, Richard.

He began racing in 1958, and looking at the numbers is without question the greatest driver in NASCAR history. Richard Petty won 200 races in his career, a record harder to break than Joe DiMaggio’s hitting streak (2^nd on the list is his contemporary, David Pearson, with only 105 career wins). He won 7 Winston Cup championships, a record matched only by Dale Earnhardt Sr. He won the Daytona 500 an unheard-of 7 times. In 1967 alone he won 27 races, including 10 in a row. To paint a clearer picture, Bobby and Terry Labonte, Jeff Burton, Kurt Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Matt Kenseth, and the late great Benny Parsons never won that many in their careers. Those numbers are just staggering, and to add further to the legacy of Richard Petty, he and his family founded Victory Junction, a camp to bring joy to children with terminal illnesses. Coincidentally, the camp opened June 20^th, 2004, the same day Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 500^th career home run. Also, Richard’s son, Kyle Petty, and his son, Adam Petty, were NASCAR drivers. Adam died in 2000 during a wreck at New Hampshire, and it was his dream to found the camp that became Victory Junction. He has two other children, Austin and Montgomery Lee, who will no doubt continue the family’s legacy.

Moving the conversation to hockey, the Hull family comes to mind first. Bobby Hull began play in 1957 and is considered one of the greatest left wingers of all time. He finished second in rookie of the year voting, and later became the first player ever to score more than 50 goals in a single season. His slapshot was once recorded at 118 mph and he could skate at nearly 30 mph. Along with Maurice “The Rocket” Richard, he was one of the greatest players of the Original Six era. Hull scored 610 goals and 560 assists over his career, won the Stanley Cup in 1961, won the Art Ross Trophy (most points in a season) three times, back to back Hart Memorial Trophies (league MVP) in 1965 and 66, and the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy (awarded to the league’s best sportsman) in 1965.

His son, the great Brett Hull, may be even better. Brett played in the NHL from 1986 til 2005, scoring 741 goals. Only Wayne Gretzky and Gordie Howe have scored more than that. He has 650 career assists, and is the only person other than Gretzky to score 50 goals in his first 50 games more than once. He has won both the Hart Memorial Trophy and the Lady Byng Memorial trophy. He scored 33 career hat tricks, 38 power play goals in the playoffs (which is best all-time), 24 playoff game-winning goals (also best all-time), scored 70+ goals in a season three straight years (86 being his career best in 1990-91), and is the only player in hockey history to score 50 goals in a season in the NCAA, minor league hockey, and the NHL. Not to mention two Stanley Cup victories in 1998-99 with the Dallas Stars, and 2001-02 with the Detroit Red Wings.

Combined, Bobby and Brett Hull hold several hockey distinctions. They are the only father-son combination in any professional sport to both have their numbers retired. They are the only father-son team each with 50 goals in a season and 600 career goals, and the only combo to win the Hart Trophy and Lady Byng Trophy. Brett also honored his father by wearing his number 9 jersey for the last five games of his own career, with the Phoenix Coyotes, formerly the Winnipeg Jets that his father had played for late in his own career. Brett has a young son, Jude, that plays goaltender. Chances are the Hull family name will continue to thrive in the NHL.

I don’t want to make this too long, so I’ll start to wrap it up. Regardless of what sport you bonded with your dad over, whether it’s baseball, hockey, basketball, football, racing, golf, etc, it’s a memory worth holding on to. Go throw the football around, play a game of HORSE, sit down and watch the race. Do something to commemorate today if you’ve got the means to. Make Father’s Day special this year.

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Whether conscious or subconscious, all men try to live up to the legacy of their fathers. The world of sports is no exception, with more father-son sports combos than one can name off the top of their head. Family tradition in auto racing is particularly impressive, with the offspring of Richard Petty, Bobby Allison, Mario Andretti, Al Unser, and many others following in their father’s footsteps. Dale Earnhardt Jr. is no exception, and while he is one of the highest earners in all of NASCAR, it’s because of his endorsements and family name, not his success on the track.

His career began in 1996, running a limited amount of races in the Busch series. He became a full-time driver in 1998, moving up to a full-time Winston Cup driver in 2000. Racing on his father’s team, Dale Earnhardt Inc, Dale Jr. finished an impressive 16^th his rookie year, with wins coming at Texas Motor Speedway and Richmond International Raceway. After the shocking and untimely death of his father on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500, Dale Jr. became the only Earnhardt driver for DEI.

In the years since, Dale Jr. has proven himself to be a consistent driver, winning at least one race every year except 2007, and finishing every season in the top 20. Unhappy with team ownership and issues involving his stepmother, Teresa Earnhardt, Dale Jr. left the team to join powerhouse Hendrick Motorsports in 2008. He had finished in the top ten of the standings four times previously, as high as third place in 2003. With this move, it seemed a Nextel Cup championship would be in his near future.

But it hasn’t happened yet. Not only that, he’s not even close right now. With just one win and a 12^th place finish last year, Jr.’s first season with the highest-profile team in all of racing was a massive disappointment. This year isn’t an improvement, with just one top 5 finish and currently 18^th in the standings.

Why isn’t Dale Jr. living up to expectations? He has great teammates, which include Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon, and Brad Keselowski. The sad thing is they’re all more successful than Dale Jr. as of this point in the season. Johnson, Martin, and Gordon are all higher than Earnhardt in the standings, and Keselowski, in spite of being in 41^st right now, has won a race this year – Dale Jr. hasn’t.

I may be judging him too early, but I can’t help but be concerned. His father, the great Dale Earnhardt Sr., won 7 Winston Cup titles, the first of which at the age of 29. Dale Jr. is 34 and hasn’t so much as sniffed a title, so you can’t defend him with the argument of he’s still too young. Dale Jr. has, however, matched his father’s career Daytona 500 win total – six years to the day after his father won his only 500.

Maybe Dale Jr. won’t ever be as good as his dad. But maybe he’s content not to be. Each man needs to leave behind his own legacy. Maybe Dale Jr.’s legacy isn’t to be a multi-time NASCAR champion. Maybe he’s not meant to win 76 races. His career is far from over, and he still has time to find greatness in his own way. A piece of advice for Dale, and to anyone else out there – whatever you do, make your dad proud. You’ll be successful in that regard, and it’s more valuable than any trophy or award.

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