Media Voting Open for Greatest Athlete of Dutch Heritage***Bas Rutten among greats on ballot***

Posted on | June 13, 2010 | No Comments

Grand Central Oyster Bar And Heineken Kick Off Balloting To Select Greatest Athlete Of Dutch Heritage During Holland Herring Festival At Iconic Seafood Restaurant

New York—Who’s the Greatest Athlete of Dutch Heritage? New York City’s historic Grand Central Oyster Bar has kicked off a media ballot to answer the question, as part of the Holland Herring Festival at the iconic seafood restaurant. Among the standout Dutch sportsmen on the ballot include former big league hurlers the “Dutch Master” Johnny “Double No Hit” Vander Meer, Burt Blyleven, Jim Kaat and Curt Schilling, NBA sharpshooters Rik Smits, Kiki Vandeweghe and Keith Van Horn, soccer great Johan Cruyff, U.S. Open Tennis champ Tom Okker, track and field wizards Fanny Blankers-Koe and Cornelius Warmerdam, football tight end Jay Riemersma, and mixed martial artist Bas Rutten.

Accredited media representatives can participate in the selection (only one vote per person) by emailing Jerry.Milani@yahoo.com, no later than Tuesday, June 15, 2010, at 5 p.m. ET. The Holland Herring Festival featuring “nieuw maatjes” herring air-expressed from the Netherlands runs through Friday, June 25. The voting was launched last night as part of the Heineken Salute to Dutch Sportsmen event.

Candidates are listed below. Voters are asked to select the overall champion, and may also pick one athlete from each sport. Write-in candidates will be accepted.

BASEBALL: David Aardsma; Bert Blyleven; Lenny Dykstra; Shea Hillenbrand; Jim Katt; Mark Mulder; Kirk Nieuwenhuis; Curt Schilling; John Vander Meer; Andy Van Slyke; Justin Verlander
FOOTBALL: Jay Riemersma
BASKETBALL: Rik Smits; Kiki Vandeweghe; Keith Van Horn; Jeff Van Gundy
SOCCER: Edgar Davids; Johan Cruyff; Ruud Gullit; Marco Van Basten; Johan Neeskens; Robin Van Persie; Dennis Bergkamp; Frank Rijkaard
Mixed Martial Arts: Bas Rutten
TRACK AND FIELD: Fanny Blankers-Koen; Cornelius Warmerdam
SWIMMING: Matt Grevers; Julia Smit
TENNIS: Tom Okker
BOXING: Jean Pierre Coopman; Ray Joval
SKATEBOARDING: Ryan Sheckler

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