A lot of great nominations......guys like Spitz and Bubka slipped by most but definitely need their props.
Lance Armstrong, Carl Lewis and Michael Johnson do a good job of representing Texas!!
Our office Top 5 were Ali Jesse Owens Jim Thorpe Michael Jordan Jim Brown
I think Pele could be in there as well.
Question to all the Soccer fans...... As big as Futbol/Football/Soccer is all around the world, with incredible athletes from every country, was Pele the best there ever was???
At work we did disqualify one guy when he voted for Dale Earnhardt!!
This is a question with no "right" answer and can be debated forever but apparently Sports Illustrated compiled a list a few years back and according to them the greatest athlete of all time was......
As far as Pele goes... He wasn't just the greatest player. He was just an all around amazing man.
Ha, I remember when I was a really young kid and I saw that Stallone movie that Pele was in. And when Pele did that bicycle kick... I went out side and tried to do it for hours. It's probably what got me into the game.
And on Ali. No doubt in my mind he's #1. And when I saw him light that torch at the olympics... His whole body shaking, except for the arm lighting the thing. Arm, solid as a rock (Cause you just know he was putting all his might into getting it done). Was just a great human moment for me.
Question to all the Soccer fans...... As big as Futbol/Football/Soccer is all around the world, with incredible athletes from every country, was Pele the best there ever was???
Ah, the age old question. It's pretty tricky to judge considering how much the game has changed in the last 40 years with lighter balls, far better defenders, better equipment etc. If you're looking at the player who had most impact on the world of soccer then it's probably Pele purely for the impact he, and the rest of that Brazilian team, had in the 70 World Cup.
Then there's Eusebio who was one of the first real superstars of world soccer and introduced many of the flair tricks to the game.
Johan Cruyff who captained arguably the greatest ever team not to win the World Cup and introduced total football to the world.
George Best who never really had the chance to prove himself at international level but offered an amzing amount of power with his skill (remember, he played in England in the seventies where an average match consisted of defenders kicking the shit out of his legs)
Personally I lean towards Maradona, his combination of speed, skill, strength and, above all that, ability to take a match and change it singlehandedly is what every single young talent is always compared to. Though that may be more to do with having memories of watching him play in live matches (on tv).
Due to the team nature of football it's just too hard to tell.
I would probably say Michael Johnson is the greatest athelete in my lifetime merely because his running was more than a class above his opponenets, it was a whole different world.
Aw man, I used to love his running style. So unique. That peculiar posture with his neck pulled back slightly. Whooosh!
I can co-sign on a lot of the athletes mentioned so far. But my all-time favorite is Muhammad Ali, no competetion.
I would probably say Michael Johnson is the greatest athelete in my lifetime merely because his running was more than a class above his opponenets, it was a whole different world.
Aw man, I used to love his running style. So unique. That peculiar posture with his neck pulled back slightly. Whooosh!
I can co-sign on a lot of the athletes mentioned so far. But my all-time favorite is Muhammad Ali, no competetion.
Michael Johnson's performance in the 1996 Summer Olympics 220m is one of the most dominating sports performances I've ever seen. Truly Facemelt.
Personally I lean towards Maradona, his combination of speed, skill, strength and, above all that, ability to take a match and change it singlehandedly[/b] is what every single young talent is always compared to. Though that may be more to do with having memories of watching him play in live matches (on tv).
Due to the team nature of football it's just too hard to tell.
He beat all his college prof tennis partners with a wicked slice backhand (old school)
His field hockey team from Hamburg toured SE England and whipped the area champs.
Plus he ran an 11.4 100m (age 16), the best I ever managed was 11.9 (age 14) ... maybe I could have challenged him on that, but then I started with the smokes and drinks.
I weary about this one. I want to give this guy all the credit in the world, but every time I watch the old highlights I have a really, really, hard time dismissing the possibility that he was all jacked up on something during his peak. Plus the his fucked up life also makes me think this dude has always been shady.
Coulda went pro in football.....coulda had a nice career in track and field as well.
When you combine athletic prowess with soclial significance, I think the conversatin gets a lot smaller...Jackie, J. Thorpe, Babe D-Zaharais, and Muhammed Ali are the Mt. Rushmore of that list.
I'm not trying to get too corny here, but seriously, when it comes to knowing the limits of your own body to the point where you are challenging people's idea of what is physically possible, you got to give it up to the skateboarders. I can't say I know the history of the sport well enough to make a credible claim as to who's the best, but I think folks' views tend to be pretty organized sport centric.
"Kazu" responsible for making soccer popular in Japan. Fedor Emelianenko. The best the world has ever seen in MMA fighting. 2 time WBC World Bantam-weight Champion, Tatsuyoshi Joichiro. Legendary in Japan.
If we're gonna count impact on society outside of sports you have to include...
Curt Flood ushered in free agency for professional sports. His stand for economic freedom still shows in today's market. A truly slept on hero in America.
Comments
Lance Armstrong, Carl Lewis and Michael Johnson do a good job of representing Texas!!
Our office Top 5 were
Ali
Jesse Owens
Jim Thorpe
Michael Jordan
Jim Brown
I think Pele could be in there as well.
Question to all the Soccer fans...... As big as Futbol/Football/Soccer is all around the world, with incredible athletes from every country, was Pele the best there ever was???
At work we did disqualify one guy when he voted for Dale Earnhardt!!
This is a question with no "right" answer and can be debated forever but apparently Sports Illustrated compiled a list a few years back and according to them the greatest athlete of all time was......
Muhammad Ali
Ha, I remember when I was a really young kid and I saw that Stallone movie that Pele was in. And when Pele did that bicycle kick... I went out side and tried to do it for hours. It's probably what got me into the game.
And on Ali. No doubt in my mind he's #1. And when I saw him light that torch at the olympics... His whole body shaking, except for the arm lighting the thing. Arm, solid as a rock (Cause you just know he was putting all his might into getting it done). Was just a great human moment for me.
Ah, the age old question. It's pretty tricky to judge considering how much the game has changed in the last 40 years with lighter balls, far better defenders, better equipment etc. If you're looking at the player who had most impact on the world of soccer then it's probably Pele purely for the impact he, and the rest of that Brazilian team, had in the 70 World Cup.
Then there's Eusebio who was one of the first real superstars of world soccer and introduced many of the flair tricks to the game.
Johan Cruyff who captained arguably the greatest ever team not to win the World Cup and introduced total football to the world.
George Best who never really had the chance to prove himself at international level but offered an amzing amount of power with his skill (remember, he played in England in the seventies where an average match consisted of defenders kicking the shit out of his legs)
Personally I lean towards Maradona, his combination of speed, skill, strength and, above all that, ability to take a match and change it singlehandedly is what every single young talent is always compared to. Though that may be more to do with having memories of watching him play in live matches (on tv).
Due to the team nature of football it's just too hard to tell.
Aw man, I used to love his running style. So unique. That peculiar posture with his neck pulled back slightly. Whooosh!
I can co-sign on a lot of the athletes mentioned so far. But my all-time favorite is Muhammad Ali, no competetion.
Michael Johnson's performance in the 1996 Summer Olympics 220m is one of the most dominating sports performances I've ever seen. Truly Facemelt.
No, the other Babe.
PORT ARTHUR, TEXAS, STAND UP:
Bonus Round: When I was 15, I accidentally sunk a golf cart in a pond on the 17th hole of the Babe Didrikson Zaharias Memorial Golf Course.
Sometimes being the greatest means more than just winning.
haha. Then we've got to include Steve Davis, who's also a bit of a 45 collectro.
Bobby Riggs of course.
Most winningest athlete in professional sports.
ALI
JORDAN
JIM BROWN
All these cats are interchangable.
Nobody compares to him as a pure athlete.
Coulda went pro in football.....coulda had a nice career in track and field as well.
He beat all his college prof tennis partners with a wicked slice backhand (old school)
His field hockey team from Hamburg toured SE England and whipped the area champs.
Plus he ran an 11.4 100m (age 16), the best I ever managed was 11.9 (age 14) ... maybe I could have challenged him on that, but then I started with the smokes and drinks.
And this was before all that X-training bullshit.
AND I KNOW HE NEVER JUICED UP!
I weary about this one. I want to give this guy all the credit in the world, but every time I watch the old highlights I have a really, really, hard time dismissing the possibility that he was all jacked up on something during his peak. Plus the his fucked up life also makes me think this dude has always been shady.
When you combine athletic prowess with soclial significance, I think the conversatin gets a lot smaller...Jackie, J. Thorpe, Babe D-Zaharais, and Muhammed Ali are the Mt. Rushmore of that list.
I'm not trying to get too corny here, but seriously, when it comes to knowing the limits of your own body to the point where you are challenging people's idea of what is physically possible, you got to give it up to the skateboarders. I can't say I know the history of the sport well enough to make a credible claim as to who's the best, but I think folks' views tend to be pretty organized sport centric.
"Kazu" responsible for making soccer popular in Japan.
Fedor Emelianenko. The best the world has ever seen in MMA fighting.
2 time WBC World Bantam-weight Champion, Tatsuyoshi Joichiro. Legendary in Japan.
hey, and if we're gonna let Maradonna shine, I say why not this guy?
for real though:
Roberto Clemente
Jesse Owens raced for an entire country, an entire race--that's
As much as I'm a fan of dude, he doesn't hold "best ever" title, until he beats Fedor.
Curt Flood ushered in free agency for professional sports. His stand for economic freedom still shows in today's market. A truly slept on hero in America.