Bobby Orr Skates Past Bill Russell to Become Boston's Biggest Sports Legend

Bobby Orr Skates Past Bill Russell to Become Boston’s Biggest Sports Legend

by John Beattie on Mon, Jun 7, 2010 at 12:03PM

Bruins legend Bobby Orr topped Celtics legend Bill Russell to become Boston's Biggest Sports Legend.

Orr, who also is arguably hockey's greatest player of all time, captured 67 percent of the votes in the final round of the 64-legend bracket in a competition that lasted six weeks and received well over 100,000 votes.

Russell and Orr's journey to the final round was an interesting one to say the least.

The No. 1 seed Orr took down No. 16 Harry Agganis (93 percent to 7 percent), No. 9 Dwight Evans (91-9), No. 13 Cy Young (87-13), No. 3 John Havlicek (88-12) and No. 1 Ted Williams (56-44) before taking down the mighty Russell.

Russell, also a No. 1 seed, went through No. 16 Drew Bledsoe (87-13 percent), No. 8 Manny Ramirez (92-8), No. 5 Adam Vinatieri (91-9), No. 2 Carl Yastrzemski (70-30 percent), and No. 2 Larry Bird (58-42).

Some notable upsets went down throughout this tournament as No. 14 Terry Francona defeated No. 4 Johnny Bucyk, No. 13 Cy Young bested No. 4 Bob Cousy and No. 10 Curt Schilling ousted No. 7 Robert Parish — all in the first round.