Greatest Athlete Of All-Time Is...

Mr. Obvious wrote:Anybody get the impression Ventolin's life consists of watching sports on TV? I've seen him opine about athletics, tennis, golf, chess, cricket, and horse racing (at least) and on every one he claims to be an expert watched based on how much he has seen on TV

go fetch a job paying inflation-adjusted 175 balloons/hour past 25y+...

then surmise why i have spent mosta last 25y+ watching individual sports on tv/satellite...

i'm relaxed nowdays as i have maybe finally worked out the "holy grail" of flat-running tables

to know that "mathematically"

1'42.00 = 3'28.25

& sequelae

has chilled me out

Dr Doctor wrote:

To put an athlete in this discussion they have to have the accomplishments first, they must be incredible feats. Then look at the other categories. He/she had to dominate over a long period of time. Been durable and consistent.

Athletes like Sugar Ray Robinson, Pele, Jordan, Gretzky, Karelin

Ashton Eaton is a great athlete, but he's only been at the top for a couple years. And, let's face it, decathletes are only decathletes because they weren't competitive enough to dominate an individual event.

Compare Eaton to Geb. Eaton does 10 events, but he is not ranked in the top 100 in the world in any of those events and never will be. Geb has broken WR's in 11 different events. On the road, track, indoor and outdoor. Case closed.

The topic is greatest athlete, not runner, Geb obviously wins that one, but if you put Geb in the multi, Eaton beats him in 9 of 10 events... that sounds like a beat down, and I love Geb! World Record and Gold Medal in the decathlon equals greatest athlete, in the history of the world.

And I believe Eaton would have been 2nd in the long jump at the trails when he set the world record. That probably qualifies as competitive in an individual event.

OJ Simpson. Wide range of skills on and off the field. If not OJ, then Kato Kaelin himself

Oh and to add on to that, Eaton's 8.23 would have been good for Silver in London, I'm not sure if that gets him in the top 100 in the world in an individual event or not...but I'm no genius.

Dr Doctor wrote:Carl Lewis? First of all, he was a steroid cheat

bullsh!t

what steroid ???

Eugene the Ex-Drinking Machine wrote:

Wilt Chamberlain.

His combination of strength and athleticism is unmatched by any other athlete, ever. Don't believe me? Do some research and educate yourself.

this. Chamberlain was the ultimate freak of nature.

Bo Jackson was also a truly amazing combo of strength and speed but given his size Chamberlain takes the cake. Lebron is not in the discussion (in terms of pure athleticism) in comparison to these two, although he definitely is one of the GOAT basketball players Lebron is not tall enough at 6'8 for his height to be an adjusting factor in comparison to others and has not proven his "pure athleticism" beyond the court/some HS football. (Calvin Johnson is way more athletic than Lebron [legitimate 4.3 40yd at 6'5/only 3 inches shorter with equal if not superior vertical jump/leaping ability])

How many 7 footers can run a sub 50 400m? Take any clumsy NBA center 7'+ and there might be a couple sub 60.

see:

Dr Doctor wrote:Carl Lewis? He broke 3 indv WR's in his career, all in the 100M and all by a mere fraction

you have no clue

he ran 10.06 into a -2.2 on same games track prior meet in '84

that's 9.9-mid basic

& with a decent + wind wouda been

9.8-high

helluva lot better than calvin's 9.93A wr

Jim Brown. He's in the Hall of Fame in two different sports.

Pretty good analysis.

I think of those names listed the following are reasonable (by implication, others are not):

Wilt Chamberlain

Lebron James

Bo Jackson

Jim Thorpe

One that should have been added is Jim Brown. A man amongst boys in the NFL. Led the league in rushing 8 times (in 9 year career). Prior to the NFL he was an All-MF-American in Lacrosse. etc. etc.

Jordan was by far the best basketball player of all time but his overall athleticism was limited as witnessed by his baseball career.

No distance runner should be considered in the top one million for this list.

ventolin^3 wrote:

Dr Doctor wrote:Carl Lewis? First of all, he was a steroid cheat

bullsh!t

what steroid ???

growth hormone thyroid and steroid probably

Reggin Reggi wrote:

Jim Brown. He's in the Hall of Fame in two different sports.

Sorry, I overlooked your post.

I agree.

Pippi Longstuffing wrote:

Bill Russell and Haile G. are both one-dimensional. They each only did one sport. How can they be the greatest when only good at one sport? I am tons better than both of them. I played Div. 1 basketball, I was a competitive swimmer. I am a very good golfer. I ran Div. 1 track and cross country. I am a very good martial artist. I am a very good tennis player. I was a decent high jumper and long jumper. I was also high school chess champion. How is anyone lister here a better athlete than I?

Bill Russell was more than a decent high jumper, he was a world class high jumper, once ranked #3 in USA and #7 in the world.

Another vote for Wilt here.

The range of things he participated and excelled in at a high level is unmatched. The problem with so many of the athletes people bring up is that they have only every really done one thing. Lebron and Pele are a couple of perfect examples. Possibly the best ever at their sports, but we have no idea if they really would have any range of ability.

Jordan, Bo Jackson, even someone like Ashton Eaton ... we have some sense of how they do in various different situations, so they are better possibilities.

Wilt Chamberlain was a freak of nature, but he doesn't have the longevity or the depth of competition. He played in an 8 team league where the average opposing center was 6'8", about the same size as Hedo Turkgolu. He also won only 2 titles, one was late in his career when he was more or less a role player.

He doesn't have durability either, he started breaking down in his late 20's. Jabbar would be a better argument than Wilt.

Jim Brown deserves to be in the discussion, but he elected to end his career early, in his prime. Same as Barry Sanders. They can't be rewarded for what might have been.

This guy who said distance runners are not great athletes, shoot yourself. You're too stupid to live.

These arguments have to be based on achievement. You're basing it on stuff like vertical lift? That's stupid. Sotomayor had probably a full foot higher vertical than any LeBron, maybe more.

Dr Doctor wrote:Longevity for Lewis? He remained competitive as a long jumper for 12 years (and never broke the WR once)

more bull

beamon jumped 8.90 @ ~ 7,500' with his toe right on board with unbelievable + 2.0 m/s wind which lotta jumps had

the belief is some chump was judging that session & rounded down anything 1.0 - 1.9 to 1.0, 2.0 - 2.9 to 2.0

there is only 1/10 chance beamon's jump was legit for record purposes

King in seoul had a toe-sand jump with legal wind measured at

8.90

he was ~ 1' behind take-off line

he also had a likely 30' jump fouled by an incompetent judge, a jump i believe was 30' as i saw lotta King's jumps on tv & he was a flat-angle guy

on this jump he got a height i never ever saw before/after for him :

Jordan

Not even close. Statistically its Wayne Gretzky. The amount of records he holds/held and by the amount of room he has over second place.

I would argue that Alexander Karelin, a terrifying monster whose story you should read, is the greatest of all time. He dominated greco-roman wrestling for decades. People would run out of the ring because they were too afraid of him. He could pick up and throw men in the heaviest weight class. His only loss ever was very controversial because of the way it was scored and is the only reason he retired after an already long career - he was still by far the best in the game.

Darry wrote:

Brett Favre.

This. /thread