*The Greatest Sportsman of All Time*

messi?

A topic like this is entirely subjective, but Federer is miles clear for me. Broken just about every record in the game and could still reach new heights. He is a gentleman who wins and loses with style and grace. On and off the court, he is a fantastic role model to young, aspiring sportsmen.

Ironic that is thread is on the football forum as no footballer should even make the shortlist.

eh i said messi

erogenous zone Joined: 05 Oct 09
Replies: 3441 19 Jul 12 00:01   


phil taylor

bob nudd

chuck norris

Chuck Norris was only named Chuck Norris because the name Lemmy was already taken!

Bradman probably - good one to mull over a few pints.

L.Piggott    A.P.McCoy

Haile Gebrselassie - top of his game for 20 years in a sport where the brightest usually last 5-6 years tops.
Dozens of world records from 5000m up to marathon.  Almost 40 and still running with the best around.

Never understood the Ali obsession.  Loudmouth who lost several high profile fights. Agree that the trash talk is part of the game, but showed little humility, respect or dignity imo.  Compare with champions like Federer who are a class act both on and off the field of play.

Pilsudski,

The horse is the real champ, jockeys don't come close on the list

joe louis
tiger
schumi
usain bolt
jacques kallis
lance armstrong
zidane

Usain Bolt, not fit for that list yet
Lance Armstrong- could be found guilty of doping from his tour de france wins
Zidane? you having a laugh

BruceWillis  19 Jul 12 15:12   

Usain Bolt, not fit for that list yet - yes he is
Lance Armstrong- could be found guilty of doping from his tour de france wins - don't care.. they're all at it
Zidane? you having a laugh - yes hahaha...aint i funny?

It has to be Ali - the greatest boxer of all time. He transcended the sport and became the worlds biggest star in his day. Notice I say star - not boxing star - not sports star - he was the biggest star in the world and not just for a couple of years - I mean for a couple of decades.

Olympic Gold Medalist
World Heavyweight Champion (when that division was full of great boxers)

All that and he was a very clever, very funny man and looked like a movie star to boot.

Good post highlander
He's in my 'top 3'

Aguero
Mancini
Eubank
mansell
faldo
seve b!!
henman
Nadal

Snooker has to be the hurricane the whirlwind or the rocket.

henman

DON BRADMAN

THREAD CLOSED

muhammad ali , or sugar ray robinson . footbal, tennis , golf, racing, etc dont compare to boxing in my opinion, and the era they were in , brutality one on one. hwo the **** can creme de la creme of tennis come near to the best of boxing .

no1 mentioned robbie keane?

Robbie Keane mentioned in the sportswoman thread

the undertaker

20-0 at mania

it's fake you cretin

usual thickos in the net

Michael Jordan did wonders for Basketball, he's the greatest player of all time in his sport. He popularized the NBA to a worldwide audience in the 80's and 90's

n 1991, he won his first NBA championship with the Bulls, and followed that achievement with titles in 1992 and 1993. Although Jordan abruptly retired from basketball at the beginning of the 1993–94 NBA season to pursue a career in baseball, he rejoined the Bulls in 1995 and led them to three additional championships (1996, 1997, and 1998) as well as an NBA-record 72 regular-season wins in the 1995–96 NBA season.


Jordan's individual accolades and accomplishments include:
- five MVP awards
- ten All-NBA First Team designations
- nine All-Defensive First Team honors
- fourteen NBA All-Star Game appearances
- three All-Star Game MVP awards
- ten scoring titles, three steals titles, six NBA Finals MVP awards, and the 1988 NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award.

-- He holds the NBA records for highest career regular season scoring average (30.12 points per game) and highest career playoff scoring average (33.45 points per game).

In 1999, he was named the greatest North American athlete of the 20th century by ESPN.

He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009.

Not to mention how he was marketed, made so much money for himself and Nike
Air Jordan trainers

And last but not least.... Space Jam

in the net?

I don't think u are fishing TMO, you did travel halfway around the world to watch a wrestling event & stay up silly hours watching it on tv, you probably have wrestling t shirts like your best match Hornets (sad ****). so obviously you think it is real. it doesn't surprise me at all that you have selected The Undertaker as the greatest sportsman of all time.

amazing

well said dawsy

why do u hate me so much dawson? us gayers should stick together

Why don't you bumders meet up in the middle somewhere, book into a travelodge for the night and compare todgers. Would sort all this mess out.

because i'd smash his face in

id love to meet him

we are both gayers, one day we will hook up and get it on

boy tmo owns dawsy pretty bad

OK it's of a bygone era , but C. B. Fry stands head and shoulders above most .
Sugar Ray Robinson , I.V.A. Richards , Pele , Ellery Hanley , John Eales , A.P. McCoy ;all masters of their art .
Gareth Edwards , Top rugby player and caught a record breaking Pike .
Tony Ward , Top rugby player and played football in a European club football competition .
Jackie Stewart , F1 World Champion and international standard marksman ( clay pigeon ? ).

i dont know about smashing his face in but dawsy would certaintly smash his back doors in

Nobody comes close to how far Bradman was ahead of his contemporaries. His batting records are way ahead of his nearest competitor.

michael jordan for me. just so much better than everyone else, remarkable .

watch this video, it will amaze you!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOgEArGskW8

...

ali

messi

m .johnson

fed

would be my top 5. no particular order for others but prob ali 2nd.

Peter Collins - 1976 World Speedway Champion and a brilliant, courageous entertainer on two wheels who won most races from the back, passing other riders almost at will.

Tried to defend his title on one leg (there were about 100 stitches in the other one following a freak crash six days before the World Final, and, defying medical advice, he had to ride with an enlarged protective plastic boot), but could 'only' finish second on a very treacherous track in Sweden in '77.

Was England's all-time leading points scorer in the World Team Cup and also won three World Pairs titles too.

Down to earth Mancunian who rode in the British League for Belle Vue Aces, before going on to manage the club.

Awarded the MBE for services to speedway racing.

Bolt or Tiger Woods.

phuck Tiger Woods, he's a seriously damaged individual he can't be the greatest sportsman of all time, he ain't even the greatest golfer of all time

Muhammad Ali
Pele

These two will be icons forever and Ali for me is the tops

struggling to come up with anyone that matches up

yes the likes of Nicklaus, Bradman and Senna are incredible performers of course but they don't have the global recognition of the other two

Jul 19, 2012 -- 12:02AM, erogenous_zone wrote:

one for arronh:wasnt Booker T 5 times world wrestling champ or something??

John Cena has 10 WWE titles

WG Grace.

No way Federer, has a comprehensive losing record to his main contemporary in Nadal, so can't even be the greatest Tennis player let alone sportsman. Tiger easily the greatest golfer of all time and deserves to be right in the mix with Jordan, Ali and Armstrong. I don't buy all this doping rubbish re Armstrong, they been chasing him for years, was the most tested athlete who ever lived and now they got him? Rubbish.

What absolute nonsense. Nadal is the greatest clay court player by a country mile, but his record on other surfaces doesn't come close to Federer's. Nadal 12/14 on clay, Federer 8/14 on other surfaces. Federer is arguably playing in the strongest era of tennis ever and when he has lost, it has usually been in the latter stages of major events. I'm not even the biggest tennis fan, but his consistency and attitude mark him down as an icon and have ensured his legacy as a sporting great.

Bradman deserves just as much plaudits, if not more than Jordan, as Basketball is hardly a global brand.

As for claiming Tiger is the greatest golfer, Lord give me patience.

feds record on clay is woeful so that rules him out. nadals record on hc poor, grass it not to bad. cud be better tho

Yes, being runner-up 4 times and winner once is absolutely shyte.

Dominik Hrbaty has a winning head to head against Federer and Nadal, he is the real GOAT

Rainier Wolfcastle Joined: 26 Dec 06
Replies: 682 20 Jul 12 10:33   


Yes, being runner-up 4 times and winner once is absolutely shyte. 

In the context of the discussion of the Greatest Sportsman of All Time, I'm afraid it is.

Would that we could all be so unsuccesful.

yes never mind the 17 slams

Jul 20, 2012 -- 7:40AM, Rainier Wolfcastle wrote:

What absolute nonsense. Nadal is the greatest clay court player by a country mile, but his record on other surfaces doesn't come close to Federer's. Nadal 12/14 on clay, Federer 8/14 on other surfaces. Federer is arguably playing in the strongest era of tennis ever and when he has lost, it has usually been in the latter stages of major events. I'm not even the biggest tennis fan, but his consistency and attitude mark him down as an icon and have ensured his legacy as a sporting great.Bradman deserves just as much plaudits, if not more than Jordan, as Basketball is hardly a global brand. As for claiming Tiger is the greatest golfer, Lord give me patience.

the head to head will always skew the figures

Nadal is the best on clay, Federer is better on the other surfaces imo.

If they'd play 14 times on clay, 14 times on grass, 14 times on hard court I can't imagine the h2h would be as skewed as it was.

If Fed had the chance to play Nadull 3/4 times a year on inside hard courts he'd soon catch up

Ali wasn't just a sports star he transcended all sports, age-groups and nations. He was the worlds biggest star for a couple of decades. I don't think anyone else comes close to that. Plus his larger than life personality, wit and charm on top of his ability as a boxer. And he was the World Heavyweight Champion at a time when the competition was extremely fierce.

fed would be beat 14 times on clay. id say grass be pretty even. hc gota favour fed

Babe Ruth

Lou Gehrig

Joe Nameth

Dan Marino

John Ellway

Oj Simpson

Phil Taylor is a must on the list, if his darts talent where in say, golf, it would be like hitting below 60 rounds every week, they guys amazing!

And also Bernard Hopkins, like Taylor, has amazing longevity at the top of his chosen sport

taylor is a freak. i mean that in nicest way possible. unreal talent

Joe DiMaggio

Joe still holds a record from 1941, a 56 game hitting streak

therhino
20 Jul 12 04:22
Joined:
12 Jul 10
| Topic/replies: 1,738 | Blogger: therhino's blog
No way Federer, has a comprehensive losing record to his main contemporary in Nadal, so can't even be the greatest Tennis player let alone sportsman. Tiger easily the greatest golfer of all time and deserves to be right in the mix with Jordan, Ali and Armstrong. I don't buy all this doping rubbish re Armstrong, they been chasing him for years, was the most tested athlete who ever lived and now they got him? Rubbish.



how can he be EASILY the greatest please?

nicklaus has won 4 more majors for a start!

Nadia Comaneci.

Her first score came up on the scoreboard as 1.00

The crowd couldn't believe it.

Turns out, the scoreboard wasn't designed to show a perfect 10.

its still the undertaker

the claim that Tiger is the greatest golfer is just freaking hilarious and clearly made by someone less than 40 years old

for the so called greatest golfer to be taking irons off the tea in the Open because he can't hit it straight with a wood is a joke

combined with his 'personality' and off course behaviour he is miles from being the greatest anything

no one else with me in thinking ryan giggs?

What makes Giggs a worthy candidate?

Since when has that stopped him winning an award?

I see your Giggsy and raise you Paul Scholes.

his balls

imogen would vote for giggs as being the best

cavendish

Read the thread title.

Giggs and Cavendish wouldnt be in the top 1000 athletes of all time.

WrestleMania     Opponent     Streak     Notes
VII     Jimmy Snuka     1–0     [16]
VIII     Jake Roberts     2–0     [16]
IX     Giant González     3–0     Won via disqualification[16]
XI     King Kong Bundy     4–0     [19]
XII     Diesel     5–0     [16]
13     Sycho Sid     6–0     For the WWF Championship in a No Disqualification match[24]
XIV     Kane     7–0     [25]
XV     Big Boss Man     8–0     Hell in a Cell match[126]
X-Seven     Triple H     9–0     [16]
X8     Ric Flair     10–0     No Disqualification match[16]
XIX     Big Show & A-Train     11–0     Handicap match[16]
XX     Kane     12–0     [48]
21     Randy Orton     13–0     [51]
22     Mark Henry     14–0     Casket match[16]
23     Batista     15–0     For the World Heavyweight Championship[127]
XXIV     Edge     16–0     For the World Heavyweight Championship[72]
XXV     Shawn Michaels     17–0     [16]
XXVI     Shawn Michaels     18–0     No countout, no disqualification, Streak vs. Career match[91]
XXVII     Triple H     19–0     No Holds Barred match
XXVIII     Triple H     20–0     Hell in a Cell match with Shawn Michaels as Guest Referee

Cavendish has won a total 23 Tour de France stages putting him 4th on the all-time list and 9th on the all-time list of Grand Tour stage winners with 36 victories.

How many Tour de France's has he won?

Or Olympic medals?

cycling not exactly a real sport either

and wrestling fu cking is

phil taylor

Piggott
Clay
McCoy
Bradman
Ed Moses

lester - won top races over 5 decades

riding a push bike? fack off that don't earn you greatest anything

Fwiw Cavendish won the Tour De France green jersey last year.

I would like to argue against the inclusion of golfers, snooker players and dart throwers.  A sport should involve a certain amount of physical exertion.  Federer gets my vote with honourable mentions to Armstrong and Gebreselassie and Messi.

and Ali needs to be added and Pele

just these youngsters thinking anything that happened before they were aware can't have been great

let me tell you these guys were the best

I'm sorry but I can't include anyone who I've never seen perform.  I'm sure Ali and Pele were great but I can only judge on what I've seen.

Also, Michael Johnson is one that no-one has mentioned yet who should definitely be involved in this discussion.

carl lewis

babe ruth

ernest hemingway did write, I believe, there are only sports in which you risk all, meaning your life
he cited boxing, mountain climbing, bull fighting, motor racing
In that spirit i nominate finland rally driver Henri Toivonen

I'm sorry but I can't take anyones opinion seriously who is too young to know why Ali is the greatest, universally acclaimed, of all time

Add Gretzky to the list

The greatest sportsman of All Time, that would be someone who dominated his sport or even took it to the next level and also had a huge personality. So there are not random footballers like Scholes or whoever on this list.

Jesse Owens
Tiger Woods
Muhammed Ali
Mike Tyson
Michael Jordan
Roger Federer
Wayne Gretzky
Michael Schumacher
Lionel Messi
Pele
Michael Phelps
Magic Johnson
Jackie Robinson
Larisa Latynina (google her)
Carl Lewis
Mark Spitz
Franz Beckenbauer

prele; How can you have Tiger Woods before Jack Nicklaus? Jack has won 18 majors Tiger only has 14.
Where is Diego Maradona? Widely regarded as the greatest footballer of all time.

emile heskey surely?

Phil Taylor or Denman imo

judorick     22 Jul 12 23:15 
I'm sorry but I can't take anyones opinion seriously who is too young to know why Ali is the greatest, universally acclaimed, of all time

Ali did alot for the sport,but still far from being the greatest boxer ever imo

ali lost 5 times no one gived a toos till he got ill. floyd mayweather jr the man

or big bucks

Phil Taylor

Marouane Fellaini