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The GOATs of Sport


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Following on from the thread on the RL forum, I thought it'd be worth discussing other sports. Here's mine in a select few. 

NFL - Brady made it easy by going to a losing team and making them SB winners. 

Football - Ronaldo. His impact across different clubs wins it for me.

Boxing - It's an odd one because it's basically been retired with Ali, even if it's justified on a boxing level or not. The memorable nature of his fights and what he stood for basically ends any discussion. I can't think of anyone I'd definitely put above him.

Basketball - no comment needed. 

Athletics - Bolt. The nature of his victories makes it hard to choose anyone else. 

Darts - Phil Taylor. Bit of a given that one. 

Don't know enough about other sports tbh. 

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28 minutes ago, Maximus Decimus said:

Athletics - Bolt. The nature of his victories makes it hard to choose anyone else. 

The trouble with picking the best of Athletics is that it is a load of different events bundled together because they can all take place in the same stadium. He's certainly one of the greatest, and a massive personality to boot.

Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

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33 minutes ago, Maximus Decimus said:

Boxing - It's an odd one because it's basically been retired with Ali, even if it's justified on a boxing level or not. The memorable nature of his fights and what he stood for basically ends any discussion. I can't think of anyone I'd definitely put above him.

 

Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

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1 hour ago, Maximus Decimus said:

Following on from the thread on the RL forum, I thought it'd be worth discussing other sports. Here's mine in a select few. 

NFL - Brady made it easy by going to a losing team and making them SB winners. 

Football - Ronaldo. His impact across different clubs wins it for me.

Boxing - It's an odd one because it's basically been retired with Ali, even if it's justified on a boxing level or not. The memorable nature of his fights and what he stood for basically ends any discussion. I can't think of anyone I'd definitely put above him.

Basketball - no comment needed. 

Athletics - Bolt. The nature of his victories makes it hard to choose anyone else. 

Darts - Phil Taylor. Bit of a given that one. 

Don't know enough about other sports tbh. 

Cricket - Bradman 

Tennis - Federer

squash - Elshorbagy (Mo)

f1 - Hamilton

RL - Hanley

Golf - Nicklaus

 

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44 minutes ago, bobbruce said:

f1 - Hamilton

Hard to compare eras, though. The likes of Nuvolari, Fangio, Clark, etc. would also compete for and win titles in other forms of motorsport as well as Grands Prix. And the cars they drove would present drastically different demands on their skill and stamina.

Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

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1 hour ago, bobbruce said:

Cricket - Bradman 

Tennis - Federer

squash - Elshorbagy (Mo)

f1 - Hamilton

RL - Hanley

Golf - Nicklaus

 

Hamilton ? 😂 , No chance , Senna , Schumacher or Lauda , that is if you are dismissing the real drivers who drove the death traps of the 50s and 60s 

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7 minutes ago, GUBRATS said:

The boxing one is difficult 

Ali , just incredible 

Tyson ,brutal 

Plenty of other heavyweights 

But , the conundrum is weighting 

So it really is undoable 

The Cuban Olympic legend Teofilo Stevenson did enter into talks with Muhammad Ali about a fight. It never happened, but the idea was an Olympic-style contest. Stevenson was a real talent, but under Castro, he could never turn professional unless he defected. But he had the speed, the style, the skill and the power that would have made him a star if he'd "gone West".

 

Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

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10 hours ago, Maximus Decimus said:

Following on from the thread on the RL forum, I thought it'd be worth discussing other sports. Here's mine in a select few. 

NFL - Brady made it easy by going to a losing team and making them SB winners. 

Football - Ronaldo. His impact across different clubs wins it for me.

Boxing - It's an odd one because it's basically been retired with Ali, even if it's justified on a boxing level or not. The memorable nature of his fights and what he stood for basically ends any discussion. I can't think of anyone I'd definitely put above him.

Basketball - no comment needed. 

Athletics - Bolt. The nature of his victories makes it hard to choose anyone else. 

Darts - Phil Taylor. Bit of a given that one. 

Don't know enough about other sports tbh. 

For me, I'd put Maradona as the greatest player I've seen. Not only was he insanely talented but he also single-handedly carried teams that had no right to be carried. Ronaldo is a close second.

I never saw Cruyff play nor Puskas or Di Stefano but they're the ones I'd add from what I know. The footage you can find of Duncan Edwards shows that, had he lived, he would definitely have been part of the conversation. Then you can decide which Brazilians from 1970 you want to bring in.

Bradman ... no idea how to compare him now so we'll just say he's the Pre-Modern Greatest. Yorkshire's Sachin Tendulkar would be the one I'd put forward. James Anderson is staking a late claim to be considering one of the best bowlers of all time although there are probably a lot of Australian bowlers who want a word about that.

Agree with whoever said Hamilton on the F1 but it's not a particularly romantic or exciting era for the sport so he's always going to lose out in the wider chat to drivers from other ages.

Tennis? Men's Federer and Women's Serena Williams?

 

Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life. (Terry Pratchett)

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17 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

For me, I'd put Maradona as the greatest player I've seen. Not only was he insanely talented but he also single-handedly carried teams that had no right to be carried. Ronaldo is a close second.

I never saw Cruyff play nor Puskas or Di Stefano but they're the ones I'd add from what I know. The footage you can find of Duncan Edwards shows that, had he lived, he would definitely have been part of the conversation. Then you can decide which Brazilians from 1970 you want to bring in.

Bradman ... no idea how to compare him now so we'll just say he's the Pre-Modern Greatest. Yorkshire's Sachin Tendulkar would be the one I'd put forward. James Anderson is staking a late claim to be considering one of the best bowlers of all time although there are probably a lot of Australian bowlers who want a word about that.

Agree with whoever said Hamilton on the F1 but it's not a particularly romantic or exciting era for the sport so he's always going to lose out in the wider chat to drivers from other ages.

Tennis? Men's Federer and Women's Serena Williams?

 

I was surprised how far we got down before Brandman came up. Clearly the best batsma to the extent that debate is silly.

And boxing is Ali. If he were to be beatenn, a hypothetical well trained Sonny Liston who had a prime would be the only one I would back.

"You clearly have never met Bob8 then, he's like a veritable Bryan Ferry of RL." - Johnoco 19 Jul 2014

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21 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

For me, I'd put Maradona as the greatest player I've seen. Not only was he insanely talented but he also single-handedly carried teams that had no right to be carried. Ronaldo is a close second.

I never saw Cruyff play nor Puskas or Di Stefano but they're the ones I'd add from what I know. The footage you can find of Duncan Edwards shows that, had he lived, he would definitely have been part of the conversation. Then you can decide which Brazilians from 1970 you want to bring in.

Bradman ... no idea how to compare him now so we'll just say he's the Pre-Modern Greatest. Yorkshire's Sachin Tendulkar would be the one I'd put forward. James Anderson is staking a late claim to be considering one of the best bowlers of all time although there are probably a lot of Australian bowlers who want a word about that.

Agree with whoever said Hamilton on the F1 but it's not a particularly romantic or exciting era for the sport so he's always going to lose out in the wider chat to drivers from other ages.

Tennis? Men's Federer and Women's Serena Williams?

 

I notice you left out handball! 😉

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1 minute ago, Gerrumonside ref said:

I notice you left out handball! 😉

Cheeky get.

Of the players I've seen it would Nikola Karabatic or Mikkel Hanson in the men's game, Christina Neagu or Anita Görbicz in the women's. Soft spot for Thierry Omeyer and Mattias Andersson in goal as well.

Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life. (Terry Pratchett)

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I agree with many of the ones we’ve had already (and some of the counter opinions too!)

Baseball has an interesting debate on it’s all time greatest player due to the colour barrier being accounted for.  Due to that, it’s generally accepted that white players were playing in a less competitive era with segregation in baseball and thus a stats based assessment can’t be used in pure terms to compare different eras.  In fact many baseball pundits/historians tend to put a slight asterisk against some of that games legendary names.

Even accepting that, Babe Ruth’s performances generally tend to see him at number one almost Bradman style by the numbers.  With Willie Mays undoubtedly number 2 as the all round greatest baseball player who could do everything (hitting, fielding, catching, base stealing etc) at an unbelievably high level for a very long period of time.

 

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40 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

Cheeky get.

Of the players I've seen it would Nikola Karabatic or Mikkel Hanson in the men's game, Christina Neagu or Anita Görbicz in the women's. Soft spot for Thierry Omeyer and Mattias Andersson in goal as well.

I’m just a bitter man because you’ve got your very own thread title saying you were right! 🙂

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Footy... Pele

Cricket DG Bradman

Boxing.... Ali... no-one close. Probably the easiest to define (for me)

Union.... don't think I know enough about the historical game down under.... Gareth Edwards in NH.

Rowing... got to be Redgrave 

NFL.... that decisions has been settled for a couple of years now.

 

 

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13 hours ago, wilsontown said:

Cycling - there will never be another Eddy Merckx. Won basically everything there was to win in the sport. The title of his biography by William Fotheringham - "Half man half bike" - gives an idea of what any rivals were up against.

He also tested positive for drugs 3 times. That is the trouble with cycling achievements generally, many are tainted and those that are not have to have question marks by virtue of them beating others that certainly were.

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2 minutes ago, Damien said:

He also tested positive for drugs 3 times. That is the trouble with cycling achievements generally, many are tainted and those that are not have to have question marks by virtue of them beating others that certainly were.

On the same tack, someone on Twitter referred to the late Hank Aaron as one of the greatest un-asterisked batters in Baseball.

Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

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I've never particularly been a Basketball fan but recently watched the last dance on Netflix. It was a great watch and very compelling. Michael Jordan was incredible and the series was a fantastic insight into the mindset of that level of athlete. That is before the sheer skill and ability that he had.

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