Top 100 Irish America's Finest In Sport "What we talk about is great effort outstanding preparat

Glavine's dad, Fred (a construction worker), added: "Tommy probably gets a lot of that [toughness] from me. I'm very determined and, like me, he isn't a rah-rah guy. It's all business. His trademark is to be tough, no matter what. He might have trouble in the first inning, but he makes adjustments, and finds a way."

For all of his success on the baseball diamond, a very different sport was nearly Glavine's professional calling. He was such a standout hockey player that the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League drafted him after high school. Following his 300th win this year, admirers could not help but note the dignified manner in which he plays the game.

"To watch Tom Glavine pitch a game is to watch a professional athlete who has mastered the art of pitching. No doubt in my mind you'll be a first-round inductee into the Hall of Fame," fellow 300-game- winner Tom Seaver told a roaring crowd at Shea Stadium.

For better or worse, Glavine has moved away from New York and returned to the city where he made a name for himself, Atlanta. He may be 42, but the Braves will still be expecting big things from Thomas Michael Glavine in 2008.

Hurley and O'Brien Guide Young Athletes

An extraordinary meeting of Irish-American minds took place in Springfield, Massachusetts this past January, on Martin Luther King Day.

True, this is not a day people associate with the Irish. But Jack O'Brien and Bob Hurley have spent so much time trying to guide young African-Americans in the right direction that it was only fitting they add their voices to the chorus of Americans discussing race and class - not to mention sports - at Martin Luther King Day events.

O'Brien and Hurley are two of the most dedicated and successful high school basketball coaches in the U.S. Hurley's achievements at St. Anthony's in Jersey City are, by now, well known. He has won over 90 percent of his games over three decades of coaching, and has nabbed over 20 state titles. Hurley, who grew up in Jersey City, is sometimes said to be responsible for "the Miracle of St. Anthony's."

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