Of course, this is a subject open to opinion. I think the only way to say which was the greatest is to get the greatest from each sport (that is, the one who dominated/s their sport the most) and then put them all together. From this, you decide which one dominated their sport by the largest margin. What are your thoughts?

Sports to consider (you can add more):
Football
Soccer
Baseball
Basketball
Boxing
Snooker
Pool
Billiards
Tennis
Golf
Formula 1
Rallying
Athletics

And many more
Mick

Mick, I'm not really a person that loves sports, but I love F1.With a sport as F1 its impossible to say who's best, because it has changed tremendously over the last decades. The best personalities have to be: Juan Manuel Fangio and Aryton Senna. Although Schumacher seems better in statistics than Senna, I don't think he shouldn't be in that list, he may have won his 4 world chapionships, but still, he's an asshole.

Football: Many...Barry Sanders, Jerry Rice, Dick Butkus, Jim Kelly, Ronnie Lott, Walter Payton, Joe Montana, Bruce Smith, Reggie White, OJ Simpson, and so many, many more.


Soccer: I don't follow soccer, sorry.

Baseball: Babe Ruth, Roberto Clemente, Whitey Ford, Joe Dimaggio, Phil Rizzuto, Pete Rose, Barry Bonds, Yogi Berra, Don Mattingly, Mickey Mantle (just about all of the Yankees )

Basketball: Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing, Charles Barkley, Dr. J, Wilt Chaimberlain, et al.

Boxing: Casius Clay, Rocky Marciano, Sugar Ray Robinson, Sugar Ray Leonard, Joe Louis, et al.

Snooker: What in the blue hell is 'snooker'???

Hockey: Gordie Howe, Maurice Richard, Dominik Hasek, Wayne Gretzky, Eric Lindros, et al.


Golf: Jack Nicklaus, Tom Kite, Tiger Woods, et al.

Auto Racing: Richard Petty, Darrell Waltrip, Alan Kulwicki, Jeff Gordon (boo!), Dale Earnhardt (both), Rusty Wallace (back in his heyday), Mario Andretti, AJ Foyt, et al.

Pro Wrestling: Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, Triple H (old school).

Gazza, what hero, he's a legend.

Frank Bruno.

Kriss Akabusi.

For more pro wrestling (that a few of the youngsters might not know): Ricky Steamboat, Ric Flair, Jimmy Snuka, Iron Shiek, Mick Foley/Cactus Jack/Dude Love/Mankind, Terry Funk, Tito Santana, Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, et al.

Basketball- Michael Jordan
Boxing- Muhammad Ali
Wrestling- Stone Cold Steve Austin
Billiards- Efren "Bata" Reyes
Bowling- Paeng Nepomuceno
Cycling- Lance Armstrong, Miguel Indurain(Spain) and Greg LeMond(he has the most endorsements) means more money.
F1- Michael Schumacher

GoodFella

Efren Reyes, Oggie? The Phillipines sure do produce some great pool players, don't they.

Pro wrestling, you say?
As for legends in that, I'd say: Bob Backlund--nobody dominated the game more than him. World Champion for five years, and one of the best submission holds ever (I actually nearly broke my friend's arm by trying that. We are no longer friends. ).

Boxing: Rocky Balboa

Double J, Snooker is similar to pool, but requires a lot more skill, and is more mental than physical. My favourite sport.

Mick

The Chicken Wing headlock...very dangerous...

Can't narrow it down to one for each sport but the best are:
(in no particular order)

Football - Joe Montana, Brett Favre, Walter Payton, Emmitt Smith, Bary Sanders, Jerry Rice, Terry Bradshaw, Dan Marino, John Elway, Steve Young, Reggie White, Cris Carter, Bronko Nagurski, Lawrence Taylor, Thurman Thomas...

Soccer - Pele, Diego Maradona, Ronaldo, Franz Beckenbauer, Johan Cruyff, Michel Platini, Gabriel Batistuta, Zinedine Zidane, Romario, Giuseppe Meazza, Geoff Hurst, Luis Figo, Raul Gonzalez, Hakan Sukur, Roberto Carlos...

Baseball - Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Nolan Ryan, Cy Young, Reggie Jackson, Mickey Mantle, Roberto Alomar, Carlos Delgado, Lou Gehrig, Cal Ripken, Willie Mays...

Hockey - Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Gordie Howe, Bobby Orr, Patrick Roy, Terry Sawchuck, Brett Hull, Bobby Hull, Maurice Richard, Jacques Plante, Frank Mahovlich, Howie Morenz, Mark Messier, Ed Belfour, Dominik Hasek...

Basketball - Michael Jordan, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, John Stockton, Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson, Larry Bird, Wilt Chamberlain, Julius Erving, Bill Russell, George Mikan, Pete Maravich, Charles Barkley, Scottie Pippen, Clyde Drexler...

Boxing - Muhammad Ali

Tennis - Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Boris Becker, Ivan Lendl, Jimmy Conners, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, Serena Williams, Martina Hingis, Jennifer Capriati...

Golf - Tiger Woods, Mike Weir, Jack Niklaus, Ben Hogan, Lee Trevino...

F-1 - Gilles Villeneuve

It's impossible to name the "greatest player" in a single sport. There are different generations in sports, and each generation has different rules, game styles ect. ect. I'm going to just list a few athletes who I think were the best of their generation. And I only feel like doing baseball. Sorry.

Baseball
Honus Wagner, Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Tris Speaker Walter Johnson, Cy Young, Christy Matthewson

Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Stan Musial, Bob Feller, Bob Gibson, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Mickey Mantle

Josh Gibson, Cool Papa Bell, Satchel Paige, Buck Leonard, Oscar Charleston

Pete Rose, George Brett, Rickey Henderson, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Steve Carlton, Nolan Ryan

i belive so Mick, "The Magician" is the best billiard player. THis is one sport that height is not a disadvantage.

GoodFella

Maybe I shouldn't even give an answer since I am not a sport's enthusiast. However, I figure if someone who is not into sports knows these people, they must be good in their field.

In no particular order

Mohammad Ali
Joe Frazier

Mickey Mantle
Joe DiMaggio
Babe Ruth

Tiger Woods
Arnold Palmer

Joe Namath
Joe Green

Shac O'Neill
Michael Jordan
Wilt Chamberlain


Aren't all these people exceptional in their sport? My two cents.


TIS

Best sports personality of all time? A few names come to mind:

Babe Ruth
Jim Thorpe
Pele
Secretariat
Muhammad Ali
Michael Jordan
Wayne Gretzky

Each one of them dominated their sport and their era. If I had to choose ONE name, I'd pick Babe Ruth....he was larger than life itself.

SC, who is Secretariat? Sounds like a Greek secretary!

Mick

i think Secretariat is a "Horse", am i right SC?

GoodFella

The only reason I dislike Goldberg is because of his lack of respect for the business. He admits that he's only in it for the money. The worst part is that he can't really wrestle...guys like Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho...they can make it look like it hurts and not injure the guy...Goldber makes it look like it hurts because it does because he has little or no respect for the other guy...(see the Bret Hart incident)...

Other than that...I can tolerate him as a wrestler. His promo skills leave alot to be desired...he can't "talk"...I think the longest sentance he's ever uttered is "Who's next?!?!" and then left the ring. :p

Three other wrestlers deserving credit for their domination and skills at their game: Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart (my favourite of all time, ahead of Austin) and Bruno Sammartino.

Mick

Um, wrestling is not a sport guys. But if it was, I'd pick Bruno Sammartino and the Hulkster.

I believe the qualifier in the original question was "who dominated thier sport the most?"

Baseball--Babe Ruth, easy
Basketball--Michael Jordan, easy
Hockey--Wayne Gretzky, easiest
Football--The toughest of the majors, but I'd go with Jim Brown
What we Americans call "Soccer"--Pele
Boxing--Tough choice; Ali or Joe Louis
Golf--Jack Nicklaus up to now, but Tiger could wind up in the top spot eventually

You're sure right about that! This girl I know used to do makeup for some "pro wrestlers". I don't know his name, but some guy who had a scar on his forehead, had it applied before each match. :rolleyes: It's entertainment, and that's just fine. But no way is it "real" -- everything is choreographed. But y'all know that. And if you didn't, there's no Easter Bunny either :p

Baseball - Babe Ruth, could have made the Hall of Fame as a pitcher as well had he stuck with it.

Basketball - Bill Russell. 13 NBA seasons, 11 NBA titles. 22 rebounds a game, could dominate a game without scoring a single point.

Football - Jim Brown. 9 seasons, led NFL in rushing 8 times. Career averages of over 100 yards per game and 5.2 yards per carry.

Hockey - Wayne Gretzky. NHL record book is dominated by #99.

Golf - Jack Nicklaus. 18 majors. Tiger's got a long way to go to catch that record.

Soccer - Pele. If Americans know about him, then he MUST be the greatest.

Boxing - Ali is the best heavyweight, Sugar Ray Robinson is the best non-heavyweight.

Tennis - Rod Laver. Two grand slams.

The only one we disagree on is basketball, DC.

I'd suggest that Jordan's six rings are a more impressive accomplishment because in Russell's heyday there were only eight teams, and two rounds of playoffs required to win a title.

Also, the game wasn't nearly as athletic as it is today. Russell was a great defender and rebounder, but he couldn't score a lick. Jordan did everything. And look Russell'ssupporting casts; First Cousey & Sharman at the guards, then the Jones boys. Not to mention Heinsohn, Havlicek, and a host of others. Jordan had Pippen, and that's about it.

Russell was definitely the dominant player of his time and for a longer period than Jordan, but Jordan dominated under much, much tougher conditions, IMO.

Football- Joe Montana
Baseball- Babe Ruth
Basketball- Michael Jordan
Overall athelete- Jim Thorpe

I'd suggest that Jordan's six rings are a more impressive accomplishment because in Russell's heyday there were only eight teams, and two rounds of playoffs required to win a title.

An argument can be made that with only 8 teams, the talent level of each team was greater. With more than 30 teams, the talent level is diluted.

Also, the game wasn't nearly as athletic as it is today. Russell was a great defender and rebounder, but he couldn't score a lick. Jordan did everything. And look Russell's supporting casts; First Cousey & Sharman at the guards, then the Jones boys. Not to mention Heinsohn, Havlicek, and a host of others. Jordan had Pippen, and that's about it.

Russell averaged over 15 points per game for his career. I wouldn't exactly say that he "couldn't score a lick". And he averaged 22 rebounds a game along with what many people estimated to be anywhere from 8-10 blocks per game. A lot of people make a big deal about Oscar Robertson's 61-62 season where he averaged a triple double. It's quite possible that Russell averaged a triple double for his entire career, had blocks been an official statistic in those days. And the reason that Russell had such a talented supporting cast was due in large part to the higher level of talent that I mentioned earlier. Every team, not just the Celtics, had loaded rosters. Wilt played with Hall of Famers Billy Cunningham and Hal Greer, as well as all-stars Chet Walker and Luke Jackson when he was on the Sixers, yet they still could not get past Russell.

Russell was definitely the dominant player of his time and for a longer period than Jordan, but Jordan dominated under much, much tougher conditions, IMO.

Jordan also did not play in an era where there were several top-flight players at his position. Russell had to go against great centers such as Chamberlain, Dolph Schayes, Walt Bellamy, Nate Thurmond, Willis Reed, Elvin Hayes and Wes Unseld. Jordan never really had a hall of fame-caliber 2-guard that he had to face, other than maybe Clyde Drexler.

Admittedly, I was not born until 8 years after Russell retired, but I have read a lot and looked at the statistics and I would have to say that you can't argue with 11/13 championships.

We definitely know pro wrestling is not real (in fact you could make an argument that the industry has actually been promoting that idea over the last few years)...but to not give credit to these guys who bust their asses to put on a good show is really disrespectful.

Mostly fair arguments, Don C.

I don't agree at all with your point about more teams necessarily meaning a dilution of talent, though.

Back then, you were filling the rosters of 8 teams with talent from the USA only, and the USA had a much smaller population. Today the NBA draws the best players from all over world.

So while there are four times as many times, the population pool that the players are being drawn from is probably four times as great as it was in the 60's, hence no dilution of talent.

I would also add that the conditions Jordan played under were much tougher.

The original 8 team league that Russell played in was Boston, New York, Syracuse, Cinncinatti, Detroit, Minneapolis (then L.A.), St. Louis, and Philly (then San Fran). There was not nearly the amount of travel as there is today.

But the biggest factor for me is still 4 rounds of playoff games vs. only 2.

Mick, when I first read the subject I thought you meant Sports figures who have the best personality, so I'm going to give you my list based on that. Or did most to promote their sport and impact society by performance and personality.

Football - Joe Namath, his guanatee and flashy personality put the AFL in the forefront and contributed to the merger of the AFL/NFL.

Soccer - Pele, in his time he was also recognized by non-soccer Americans.

Baseball - Babe Ruth, his accomplishments put baseball in the forefront of American sports.

Basketball - Michael Jordan, he could fly, smile and charm the crowds. Even my mother liked him.

Boxing - Muhammed Ali, international star, charisma, brash yet lovable.

Tennis - For men, Arthur Ashe, a quiet champion of tennis and race relations. For women, Billie Jean King, helped put womens tennis on a higher plain by beating Bobby Riggs.

Golf - Arnold Palmer, brought golf to the common man. Arnie's Army.

Olympics - Jesse Owens, stuck it to Hitler.

plawrence,

I think when we're comparing eras, it's an argument that's going on forever. First, I think it's amusing that I'm taking the side of the guy from the 60s, while you're taking the side of the guy from the 90s. But I think one of the main reasons I pick Russell is because everyone else is so quick to pick Jordan.

In terms of travel, the modern teams do have to travel more. They have to go out to L.A., whereas the teams from before rarely had to travel west of the Mississippi. But traveling is much better now. I would much rather take the team's private jet with custom-built seats and all of the luxuries in the world than some train that goes from St. Louis to Boston. The players stay in MUCH nicer hotels, and all of their accommodations are better.

John Havlicek once described the Boston Garden HOME locker room as "two nails per player", meaning that each stall was just two nails in the wall to hang their coats and their pants. Nowdays, locker rooms are luxurious, some having DVDs, TVs, and video game consoles at each stall.

I think Russell was the ultimate team player. If I was starting a team, I think I would take him first. He can fit into any team, while with Jordan, the team must fit around him. But I do think that Jordan is also a great player, obviously one of the greatest. But I think that some of that is due to the fact that he was a media darling and was hardly ever portrayed in a negative light (much like Kobe was until this most recent incident). He also came around at the right time in terms of marketing and promotion, and he's probably the most recognizable athlete in the world. Russell, on the other hand, was not very accommodating to the press, and it may have altered a lot of people's opinions of him.

But Russell or Jordan, Jordan or Russell. I'd say that they're the top two guys.

Secretariat was the greatest racehorse who ever lived. He won the Triple Crown back in '73, winning the last event (The Belmont Stakes) by 31 lengths, setting a course record that still stands today. Also known as "Big Red", he had more heart than any other athlete I've ever seen. Sports Illustrated magazine ran a list of the top 100 athletes of the 20th century, and Secretariat was the only non-human to make the list (I think he placed #31).

This statement can be taken both literally and figuratively. After Secretariat's death, an autopsy revealed that his heart was more than twice the size of a normal horse's heart! That's like driving a Volkswagen with the engine of a Ferrari in it!