Wayne Gretzky

Tuesday was a sad day for the NHL hockey world, as long time player, coach and broadcaster Barry Melrose, who has strong ties to the Capital Region, announced he was retiring from the broadcast booth, as a result of complications from Parkinson's Disease.

It doesn't always work out when players want to play on a specific team. If it did, the Buffalo Sabres would have had one of the NHL's greatest.

He changed a franchise. He changed a community. The New York Islanders were building a great franchise but when Mike Bossy came along, something clicked. The Islanders had a goal scoring machine. Two years later, #22 was hoisting the Stanley Cup, the first of four straight for the Long Island NHL franchise.

If TNT's goal was to score some of the biggest names in hockey for their NHL coverage next year, then getting the best goal scorer ever certainly won't hurt.

It has long been the stereotypical view that academia and athleticism don't mix. Like oil and water or Kanye and Techno (see "Yeezus"), scholars and jocks have rarely blended well. And yesterday night, this was on full display once more. I don't want to spoil the video for you, so I won't tell you the priceless answer that this Jeopardy contestant gave to the question “100 plus assists i

LeBron James (now), Sidney Crosby, Albert Pujols (while with the Cardinals), baseball's Giants as a team, Derek Jeter through the years, Mariano Rivera, Eli Manning, Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Mark Messier, Wayne Gretzky, Michael Jordan, Henrik Lundqvist and plenty more.  You get the picture.  When these guys step-up, their teams win and advance.

Since 1996, the face of the most famous American sports team has been one man.  The shortstop.  The eventual captain.  #2.  The future Hall of Famer.  Derek Sanderson Jeter.  2013 seems like such a strange year without him.

A 9-year old boy named Tyson Greencorn channeled his inner Wayne Gretzky when he made a center-ice shot for a cool $5,000.

The Great One does a series of amazing trick shots, so good you would almost say they were “fake”, but then you remember its Wayne Gretzky.

Planet Earth is celebrating the 50th year that Wayne Gretzky has graced it with his presences. The Great One has meant allot to the world of hockey, and by proxy meant a lot to the fan in me.