Presenting The Bowling Green MACwood Squares

MACwood Squares is our summer reading series on the best athletes in Mid-American Conference sports history. This week features Bowling Green. Looking for your MAC school? Consult our schedule for other teams and please submit your nominees as well.

This week we got a lot of necessary pent-up fanboy feelings out. We all learned a lot about ourselves. We also had to go pretty far back to find the best athletes, if that tells you anything about the state of some of these programs. Nonetheless, here they are, with punchier descriptions of them all after the jump.

Rob Blake (hockey)

One of the best on the BGSU ice, and an Olympic gold medal-winner as well. Plus he will be in the NHL Hall of Fame someday.

Bernie Casey (football)

All-American running back, Pro Bowl halfback, Hollywood actor, artist. The total package.

Orel Hershiser (baseball)

I didn't get to baseball this week, but Hershiser was not only great with the Falcons, but two of his teammates in the rotation were current Detroit Tigers bullpen coach Jeff Jones and notable baseball umpire Jim Joyce. He was first team All MAC in 1979 along with the last Falcon to throw a complete-game no-hitter, but more of his good stuff came in the pros. Hey, 204 wins, a Cy Young, and 59 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings can't be wrong.

Omar Jacobs (football)

An erratic throwing motion may have cost him a pro career, but it still executed some blazing numbers in Doyt Perry Stadium.

Scott Hamilton (figure skating)

He's synonymous with Bowling Green, Ohio, and he didn't participate in BGSU-sanctioned athletics, since figure skating isn't an NCAA sport. However, it's hard to leave him out, because of how much attention he brought to the BGSU Ice Arena on which he started to skate. The 1984 Olympic gold medal and his subsequent devotion to both the sport and to cancer awareness is plenty enough to Center Square this man.

George McPhee (hockey)

From Hobey Baker to NHL general manager, and everything in between.

Lauren Prochaska (women's basketball)

A natural sweet shooter, and the Seattle Storm are gonna be sorry they cut her.

Nate Thurmond (men's basketball)

Needs to be said again: because of him, BGSU has more NBA Hall of Famers than Duke University.

Dave Wottle (track and field)

Wottle won two NCAA Championships: The 1972 1,500-meter and the 1973 mile. The men's T&F program doesn't exist anymore (scrapped as a result of Title XI) but if it ever comes back, you'd bet that all the athletes would wear caps like Wottle, who won the 1972 Olympic gold medal in the 800-meter sprint while wearing one:

And if you're doing the math: yes, Wottle won this while still enrolled at "Bowling Green State."

Thus concludes Bowling Green's week. I can finally sleep. Next week: Akron. Consult our schedule for your favorite team.