So who's the greatest athlete of all time?

[Dis]

that japanese hot dog eating guy creeps me out. that can't be healthy. one day I suspect his stomach will explode- it's not like it could possibly be that large. how could someone do that to themselves?

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui

That's not to say Wilt Chamberlin is better than Michael Jordon . that's far from the truth.

Why? Defense non-existant? Tell that to Bill Russell. For my money, I'd put Wilt the Stilt over Jordan.

And put me down for Lance Armstrong.

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by Dissident
I suspect you are trolling, but celebrities don't deserve any hero status (same with Pat Tillman), there are millions of other people doing the same thing as the guy in the picture.

That's not really true. Reeves has used his celebrity status to greatly further the cause of research. He's personally responsible for a great upsurge in funding for spinal injury research and a lot of media focus on it. To many there, he is quite a hero.

Of course, he's also being villified for advocating stem cell research.

[Dis]

Has he cured it yet?

but supporting stem cells is really the only shot they have of curing that disability. I can't see them being able to cure it any other way.

[lord of the mark]

Don May.

[Hot Mustard]

I find it strange that some think American football is the most demanding sport. They play only 13 games with brief stints of activity (not prolonged), and except for the quarterback, are not responsible for passing anything.

While I agree with a previous post that said cycling requires less athleticism, you have to remember that it is a non-stop, all-day event, for weeks on end. The endurance and stamina of these guys will blow most other athletes away.

For those pimping Armstrong - history has far greater cycling champions, who won more convincingly, without the assistance of today's technologies.

Speaking of non-stop endurance sports, I am surprised no one has mentioned Pele. Football (aka soccer) is a far more impressive athletic sport than anything with shifts and downtime.

[reds4ever]

Originally posted by East Street Trader


But I agree that track and field is the place to look for the all time best athlete and I would also go for a pentathlete.

So I will nominate Daley Thompson for his Olypic wins in 1980 and 1984.

A hell of an all round athlete and a really nice guy.

DECathlete

[SlowwHand]

If we're considering those that revolutionized a sport, then...


Fosbury, Dick (1947- ), American track-and-field athlete, who won the gold medal in the high jump event at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City. At the 1968 games Fosbury revolutionized the sport of high jumping with a new technique, which became known as the Fosbury Flop. Instead of leaping facing the bar and swinging first one leg and then the other over the bar in a scissoring motion—the dominant method of the time—Fosbury turned just as he leapt, flinging his body backward over the bar with his back arched, following with his legs and landing on his shoulders.

[OzzyKP]

I want to learn more about CB Fry.

[Shogun Gunner]

Originally posted by dejon
I find it strange that some think American football is the most demanding sport. They play only 13 games with brief stints of activity (not prolonged), and except for the quarterback, are not responsible for passing anything.

16, not 13 games -- unless you make the playoffs then it could be 19 or 20 games in a season.

Does that change your mind now?

[Hot Mustard]

Originally posted by Shogun Gunner


16, not 13 games -- unless you make the playoffs then it could be 19 or 20 games in a season.

Does that change your mind now?

Oops - I guess that shows how closely I follow the sport! And...no.

[Sikander]

Originally posted by dejon
I find it strange that some think American football is the most demanding sport. They play only 13 games with brief stints of activity (not prolonged), and except for the quarterback, are not responsible for passing anything.

While the QB may do the lion's share of the passing, the other nine players (other than the receiver) are typically blocking, which requires a good deal of athletic ability and skill. Most other sports have nothing like it.

Originally posted by dejon
While I agree with a previous post that said cycling requires less athleticism, you have to remember that it is a non-stop, all-day event, for weeks on end. The endurance and stamina of these guys will blow most other athletes away.

Stamina is laudable, but pure stamina sports tend to be dull. I prefer to mix action with stamina, which describes basketball, football or soccer quite well. Baseball has the excitement of a stamina sport without the stamina, except perhaps for the pitcher and of course the poor fans.

Originally posted by dejon
For those pimping Armstrong - history has far greater cycling champions, who won more convincingly, without the assistance of today's technologies.

Yea, it's unfair that Armstrong is kicking the asses of all those cyclists from previous eras with his high tech rather than engaging in a fair competition with those of his own era. Those guys he's beating must be 60 years old by now.

Originally posted by dejon
Speaking of non-stop endurance sports, I am surprised no one has mentioned Pele. Football (aka soccer) is a far more impressive athletic sport than anything with shifts and downtime.

Yea no one has mentioned him except for you and four others. I love soccer. I played in high school and college and was pretty good at it at those levels. But I won't diss football or hockey, which I have also played. They take endurance as well, just not necessarily a purely aerobic sort of endurance. They take a lot of strength repeatedly, which puts a lot of pressure not only on one's muscles all over the body (as opposed to primarily the legs in a lot of endurance sports) but on one's cariovascular system as well. As with a lot of duel sports like judo, boxing, karate etc. an immense amount of energy is being expended in a short amount of time.

Another thing football and hockey share with the duel sports mentioned above is the strong likelihood of injuries both temporary and permanent. This requires another type of endurance and level of skill. You have to be able to adjust your game constantly to limitations you suffer from inury and lost practice from injury. Avoiding injury in these sports is a major factor in success, and unfortunately one which is all too often neglected when they are being taught or talked about.

[East Street Trader]

During my time referees at soccer have become steadily better and better at protecting skilled players from those who are reduced to just hacking them down.

But Pele played before that happened. It was standard practice to play one or two hard and unscrupulous men against him whose task was to kick him as often as they could.

But he was not an easy target.

He did miss most of one set of world cup final games from injuries collected from such opponents but got wiser and wiser to the tactic as time went on.

The spirit in which he took all this was exemplary.

Such are the demands of the DECathlon that competitors pick up an injury of some kind virtually every time they compete. Nursing minor injuries through the demanding two day schedule is one of the skills required.

When Daley Thompson was at his best, British TV fed us a regular diet of decathlon. Sad to say this did not continue. It is natural to give prominence in TV coverage to events in which your country has strong contenders but the blue riband events - the hundred metres, the 1500 metres and the marathon - get prominent coverage whoever makes the final. For me the decathlon would be another such. In which other event is Citius, Altius, Fortius so well encapsulated?

[Hot Mustard]

Originally posted by Sikander
Yea, it's unfair that Armstrong is kicking the asses of all those cyclists from previous eras with his high tech rather than engaging in a fair competition with those of his own era. Those guys he's beating must be 60 years old by now.

You know what I mean.

Originally posted by Sikander
Yea no one has mentioned him except for you and four others.

Doh! Sorry, I must have missed them.

Question on hockey vs. basketball vs. American football: If they all require similar athleticism with regards to endurance, strength, athleticism, etc, doesn't hockey get the extra nod for performing on skates?

[Dis]

but the skates are on ice.

How easy is that. Ice is slippery, the ice is doing all the work