The best sportsman of all time!
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Category: Topics not related to music
Forum Name: General Polls
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URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=60464
Printed Date: December 02 2024 at 13:24
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Topic: The best sportsman of all time!
Posted By: clarke2001
Subject: The best sportsman of all time!
Date Posted: August 14 2009 at 20:16
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I know it's like comparing apples and oranges, but surely you have an opinion. Also, you'll probably disagree with those listed here..but I was trying to be as objective as possible - they're not necessary my favourite ones. Otherwise I would put Dražen Petrović and Goran Ivanišević there  . |
Replies:
Posted By: progkidjoel
Date Posted: August 14 2009 at 20:17
Way too hard of a choice - I won't be voting, sorry  ------------- 
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Posted By: Easy Money
Date Posted: August 14 2009 at 20:19
| If Ali wasn't here I was going to close the thread, ha ha. Second Michael Jordon and third Joe Montana. |
Posted By: JJLehto
Date Posted: August 14 2009 at 20:20
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Impossible to determine. But since this is for fun: Babe Ruth |
Posted By: Stooge
Date Posted: August 14 2009 at 20:26
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I'll choose Ali. Since you left off a hockey player, I'll say Mario Lemieux is the most influential hockey player. He didn't quite put up Gretzky's record point totals, but he didn't shy away from physical play, and his battle with Hodgkins was truly inspiring. I remember watching his first game after coming out of retirement when he scored twice against my Leafs. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ziRI1uemCk&feature=fvst - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ziRI1uemCk&feature=fvst |
Posted By: clarke2001
Date Posted: August 14 2009 at 20:31
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Hm...speaking of most influential sportsmen perhaps I should mention both Jesse Owens and Lutz Long, for the achievements and true sporting spirit. Or going even further, up to Pheidippides. |
Posted By: Chris H
Date Posted: August 14 2009 at 20:36
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I'm for sure alone on this thought, but it has to be Tim Richmond. He was really the first person that made it "cool" to be an auto racer. He commanded just as much respect as Petty and Pearson and Allison and was really putting up the numbers before his career ended short. He could have been one of the greatset drivers in the sport. Not only was he exceptionally gifted behind the wheel, like I said before, he really pioneered the social aspect of auto racing in America, he wasn't just another "grease monkey".
And also, yesterday was the anniversary of his death. He succumbed to the AIDS virus in 1989. ------------- Beauty will save the world. 
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Posted By: Logan
Date Posted: August 14 2009 at 20:39
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In hockey, I would have said Rocket Richard. Jason Leonard would be worth noting in Rugby. And I would have included Roger Bannister (first man to break the four minute mile). But I have to go with Hercules! Actually, I'll go with Pele. ------------- https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXcp9fYc6K4IKuxIZkenfvukL_Y8VBqzK" rel="nofollow - Duos for fave acts |
Posted By: LinusW
Date Posted: August 14 2009 at 20:43
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It would be illegal for me not to vote for Stenmark
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Posted By: JJLehto
Date Posted: August 14 2009 at 20:45
That is a very interesting pick alright. When it comes to influential he was without a doubt a big influence in NASCAR. He went from open wheel to stock car......and we see how that trend is playing out. He also brought a touch of "hollywood" to NASCAR. Truly a big influence and a great driver, too bad his career ended so soon. Even worse is how he was completely ignored by NASCAR due to his having AIDS. We know how misunderstood it was at the time especially among those old NASCAR fans.... Even now he's hardly spoken of |
Chris H wrote:Posted By: Atkingani
Date Posted: August 14 2009 at 20:53
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I think some guys in the past are the best candidates: Jim Thorpe, Jesse Owens, Emil Zatopek, Paavo Nurmi, ect. I'll go with others and vote for Abebe Bikila, the giant Ethiopian marathon winner (2 Olympic gold medals).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abebe_Bikila - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abebe_Bikila
PS: should we open a poll for the sportswomen too?  ------------- Guigo ~~~~~~ |
Posted By: Chris H
Date Posted: August 14 2009 at 21:03
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No need for a poll there Guigo, it wouldn't be fair if Babe Zaharas didn't win! ------------- Beauty will save the world.
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Posted By: OzzProg
Date Posted: August 14 2009 at 21:52
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No mention of Phelps!?
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Posted By: rileydog22
Date Posted: August 14 2009 at 22:06
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I gotta go with Jim Brown. Not only was the guy arguably the greatest football player of all time, he was almost certainly the greatest lacrosse player of all time! As far as I'm concerned, there's no way in hell that the greatest athlete ever is Babe Ruth or Tiger Woods or any other one-sport juggernaut. There's too many Jesse Owens, Bo Jacksons, and Jim Browns in the world for that. However, if you take only the "influential" part of the question, it's gotta be a boxer, probably Ali. If you go with most influential athlete in team sports, it's probably the Babe, who more or less turned professional sports from an occasional weekend distraction to a big-money business. Honorable mention to Jackie Robinson, for reasons that should be apparent. -------------   |
Posted By: A Person
Date Posted: August 14 2009 at 22:48
| The Homestar Runner of course. |
Posted By: valravennz
Date Posted: August 14 2009 at 23:13
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I have to go with "Other" - that being, Roger Federer, closely followed by Tiger Woods and Lance Armstrong. ------------- 
"Music is the Wine that fills the cup of Silence" - Robert Fripp |
Posted By: The T
Date Posted: August 14 2009 at 23:15
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I jjust hope nobody chooses a golf player as best sportsman of all time (?!)
Pele or Schumacher or Jordan... ------------- 
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Posted By: TheProgtologist
Date Posted: August 14 2009 at 23:23
HUGE Pens fan here and I totally agree with what you wrote.Mario would be my second choice though.I am a Baltimore resident and die hard Orioles fan and my pick goes to the Iron Man himself Cal Ripken Jr.I met this man many,many times and his sportsmanship and class is almost unparalled in professional sports. -------------  |
Posted By: JJLehto
Date Posted: August 15 2009 at 00:08
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Jim Brown was pretty beastly....AND a multi sport athlete... I might have to rescind my answer and go with him |
Posted By: Any Colour You Like
Date Posted: August 15 2009 at 00:34
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Sir Donald Bradman. So far ahead of any other Cricketer ever, it is almost ridiculous. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/27/sports/sir-donald-bradman-92-cricket-legend-dies.html - http://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/27/sports/sir-donald-bradman-92-cricket-legend-dies.html |
Posted By: rpe9p
Date Posted: August 15 2009 at 02:21
maybe its just cause its 3am but I cant stop laughing |
Posted By: Icarium
Date Posted: August 15 2009 at 04:16
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what no crosscountry skiiers, where is Bjoern Deahli or Ole Einar Bjoerndhalen? they are and where miles aheed of ther game in there sports, Ole Einar have 91 world cup victories in Biathlon a sport combining Skiing and shooting . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biathlon - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biathlon but from the list it gotte be Pele aka Edison Arantes do Nascimento |
Posted By: BaldJean
Date Posted: August 15 2009 at 04:53
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how about Paavo Nurmi? or Jesse Owens? and how about some sportswomen? my vote goes to Steffi Graf there -------------  A shot of me as High Priestess of Gaia during our fall festival. Ceterum censeo principiis obsta |
Posted By: akamaisondufromage
Date Posted: August 15 2009 at 05:25
^^ A vote for Steffi for the ladies from me (Or maybe Anna Kournikova  )
Ali from the list, but I've always thought Michael Johnson was the greatest but maybe not anymore?
 ------------- Help me I'm falling! |
Posted By: Atkingani
Date Posted: August 15 2009 at 07:59
I mentioned both (Owens & Nurmi) in my post and asked for a sportswomen poll too. ------------- Guigo ~~~~~~ |
Posted By: MFP
Date Posted: August 15 2009 at 08:39
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Ali
Jordan
Federer Honorable mention: Enzo Francescoli |
Posted By: manofmystery
Date Posted: August 15 2009 at 10:51
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best all around athlete of all time was probably Jim Thorpe
Rocky Marciano was the greatest boxer of all time, not ali
as for....
Baseball: you got it right with Ruth but arguments can also be made for Ty Cobb and Ted Williams in the greatest hitters category
Golf: at least for a few more years Jack Nicklaus will hold on to the "greatest to ever play" title while no one, and I don't care how popular Tiger is , no one will ever surpass Arnold Palmer's importance to the game
Football and Hockey were left off while Tennis and Soccer were included?
this polls silly -------------  Time always wins. |
Posted By: akamaisondufromage
Date Posted: August 15 2009 at 11:01
tsk tsk! You know nothing manofmystery. ------------- Help me I'm falling! |
Posted By: MovingPictures07
Date Posted: August 15 2009 at 12:26
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Roger Federer. ------------- 
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Posted By: Ricochet
Date Posted: August 15 2009 at 12:34
Jo-Wilfred Tsonga. ------------- 
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Posted By: Tony R
Date Posted: August 15 2009 at 12:46
Marciano fought mainly has-beens and light-heavies. As Larry Holmes once famously commented Marciano was not fit to carry his jockstrap, never mind Ali's. |
Posted By: crimson87
Date Posted: August 15 2009 at 16:53
Roger Federer
On the other hand , how can Pele be the best sportsman when he isn't even the best at what he does???
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Posted By: Evolutionary Sleeper
Date Posted: August 15 2009 at 17:00
Agreed and agreed. ------------- 
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Posted By: rileydog22
Date Posted: August 15 2009 at 18:05
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The best baseball player of all time was definitely Ruth, and you could argue that he was, compared to the talent around him, the most dominant single-sport athlete of all time. However, I think it's safe to say that he would get his ass kicked in a sport that required more athleticism than baseball.
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Posted By: akamaisondufromage
Date Posted: August 16 2009 at 15:00
USAIN BOLT!!!  ------------- Help me I'm falling! |
Posted By: Tony R
Date Posted: August 16 2009 at 15:08
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Yeah, what an astonishing performance!! 9.58, new world record, destroyed Tyson Gay who ran a "paltry" 9.71. Phenomenal. Bring on the 200m |
Posted By: akamaisondufromage
Date Posted: August 16 2009 at 15:20
I feel a bit sorry for Tyson (not for being called Tyson) for a National record bu still being a metre or so behind - and he seems such a nice chap
But Bolt is unbelievable. WAs funny watching Michael Jonsons reaction on BBC  ------------- Help me I'm falling! |
Posted By: tszirmay
Date Posted: August 16 2009 at 15:22
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The Swiss tennisman , not only a first rate athlete but by all accounts (ALL) an absolute gentleman . That alone deserves the highest marks ! ------------- I never post anything anywhere without doing more than basic research, often in depth. |
Posted By: Chris H
Date Posted: August 16 2009 at 15:31
Zing! ------------- Beauty will save the world.
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Posted By: Tony R
Date Posted: August 16 2009 at 15:35
Yeah, he knows something remarkable could happen in the 200m. As it stands Bolt's 19.30 WR is just 200th of a second faster than Johnson's best. By the end of the week he could be tenths of a second faster! |
Posted By: Ricochet
Date Posted: August 16 2009 at 16:00
First of all: 100m - 9.58 - words cannot describe it. Bolt's 200m record second correction (with full power running) makes me believe the limits of that distance remain around those two times achieved by him and Johnson (gah, I was actually pissed he erased Johnson from the Golden Book there). So maybe we'll see another correction, but not by much. I fully wish, though, to stand corrected.  -------------
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Posted By: Tony R
Date Posted: August 16 2009 at 16:47
| On the face of it you are correct, Bolt ran flat out to beat Johnson's record so we could be talking about 100ths of a second. However Johnson took the record down by 3/10ths in 1996 so who knows? |
Posted By: JJLehto
Date Posted: August 16 2009 at 17:14
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Usain Bolt Sure, maybe he's not the greatest sportsman ever....but he's a runner....and his last name is Bolt!! EDIT: Damn, someone beat me to it....I love Bolt though! |
Posted By: Drew
Date Posted: August 16 2009 at 17:19
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Lance Armstrong get my vote easy
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Posted By: JJLehto
Date Posted: August 16 2009 at 18:10
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This Guy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wftuosM4KIk&feature=PlayList&p=5E8B1C7D0EBB36DE&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=55 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wftuosM4KIk&feature=PlayList&p=5E8B1C7D0EBB36DE&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=55 |
Posted By: Chris H
Date Posted: August 16 2009 at 18:51
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Also, one of my other weird nominees...
how about David Belle, the father of parkour? It may not be a sport, but you can't watch this video and say he's not an athletic guy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x98jCBnWO8w - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x98jCBnWO8w ------------- Beauty will save the world.
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Posted By: KoS
Date Posted: August 16 2009 at 18:57
 Although, the 500 era riders were much more "crazy" considering they had no electronics on their bikes. |
Posted By: JJLehto
Date Posted: August 16 2009 at 19:00
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Ah yes, Parkour.....the French sport of running away But really....isn't that all it is. Running. I did something like that once. A friend and I invented "extreme walking" we would run and jump/spin off walls. Skateboarding...but with our legs |
Posted By: The T
Date Posted: August 16 2009 at 19:08
Well soccer is the most popular sport on the planet and by 348920918201 miles so maybe it's not so silly to include it over two sports that are enjoyed mostly in northamerica and by 87 people in the rest of the world... -------------
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Posted By: Matthew T
Date Posted: August 16 2009 at 19:15
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I went for Carl Lewis off the list. Amazing athlete. Can't see any Aussie Rules Players or Cricketers ------------- Matt |
Posted By: valravennz
Date Posted: August 16 2009 at 22:56
Just a small "blip" for Mr Federer - He is still the greatest!-------------
"Music is the Wine that fills the cup of Silence" - Robert Fripp |
Posted By: timothy leary
Date Posted: August 16 2009 at 23:17
| Walter Payton.......Chicago Bears running back |
Posted By: JJLehto
Date Posted: August 17 2009 at 00:28
Well, no doubt he was the beast football player ever. Not to mention an athlete that was TRULY a good human being. |
Posted By: manofmystery
Date Posted: August 17 2009 at 00:31
well, Payton might have been the beast but Jim Brown is still the BEST ------------- Time always wins. |
Posted By: Passionist
Date Posted: August 17 2009 at 10:43
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yelena_Isinbayeva - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yelena_Isinbayeva
I think the stats speak for themselves: 2 olympic gold medals, 2 world championships + one soon to come, 3 indoor championships, European indoor + outdoor champion, youth + junior champion and 26 World records. Oh, and unlike in swimming, in other sports you don't get a gold medal from every mouse you run over while riding the bus to the swimming hall! |
Posted By: Ricochet
Date Posted: August 17 2009 at 10:58
Good choice, I only don't agree with the 26 worlds records - they're more like 26 corrections of a world record. I really think she's doing too many centimeter by centimeter corrections (so did Bubka for that matter). -------------
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Posted By: Passionist
Date Posted: August 17 2009 at 11:18
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True. Quite true. But I don't see anyone else do that. I mean, a lot of people have broken a world record, but not their own so many times. Could be different with the sport in question though. Bubka's got his hands deep in pole vault nowadays though, he's making it sure, that no-one will have the equipment, nor the possibility to top his records. I mean, he's basically the leading act and the one who decides how the poles are made and used these days
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Posted By: JJLehto
Date Posted: August 17 2009 at 12:10
I said best FOOTBALL player. Since Payton could run, catch, block, pass, even kick.He could do anything. Best pure running back...still Barry But neither is the best sportsman......since you should be able to play multiple sports In that aspect I think Jim Brown should get some votes for this poll... He was not only inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame but also the Lacrosse Hall of Fame and was also quite good at basketball |
Posted By: akamaisondufromage
Date Posted: August 20 2009 at 15:07
Once again!!! ------------- Help me I'm falling! |
Posted By: SentimentalMercenary
Date Posted: August 28 2009 at 09:16
Exactly my choice. Good pick sir.
Almost 2pts per game avg over an injury-riddled carreer.
Turned every amateur winger he had into scoring machines.
Played with chronic back pain that had other people tie his skates.
Defeated Hodgkin's disease (and played on the day of his last radiation treatment, scored a goal and an assist)
Lead Canada to World Championship and Olympic Gold.
Saved the Penguins from bankruptcy and from moving from Pittsburgh.
Retired for 44 months, returned and was still the best at age 35.
 ------------- Those who promise us paradise on earth never produced anything but a hell. - Karl Popper |
Posted By: markosherrera
Date Posted: August 28 2009 at 22:46
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Lance Armstrong
------------- Hi progmaniacs of all the world |