ESPN: Is Federer the Greatest Athlete?
- Thread starter DoubleDeuce
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Russeljones
Talk Tennis Guru
Yes it is. He is far better than Maradona. Goals scored, World Cups. Everything.
Jordan was still giving Kobe problems when he was much older.
Lead one of the most dominate Olympic teams in history to gold.
he is the bench mark..
I remember when it was "tiger woods is the Jordan of Golf"
he had his own style that is so iconic that the logo of him dunking is still one of the most popular of any sport.
Lead one of the most dominate Olympic teams in history to gold.
he is the bench mark..
I remember when it was "tiger woods is the Jordan of Golf"
he had his own style that is so iconic that the logo of him dunking is still one of the most popular of any sport.
Feather
Legend
Diego Maradona took Argentina single handedly to a World cup win (1986)and a world cup final(1990). That's not the case with Pele.
spaceman_spiff
Hall of Fame
Jim Thorpe for the win. National championship in college football, two gold medals in the summer olympics, several years in MLB and NFL, and even a bit of professional basketball thrown in.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Thorpe
Frying Pan Forehand
Rookie
baseball, american football and backetball, says it all really (except basketball those 2 other sports are played in USA and almost nowhere else, at that time they were probably played only in USA and Canada) so you can cut him out of the discussion.
Funny how Americans come with some unknown player of theirs, a sportsman cannot be dominant if it is known in 2-3 countries.
then u miss the point of boxing entirely
boxing n other martial arts are about skill. in combat sports more than any other, size advantage negates the fair evaluation of that skill. that is the reason for weight divisions
if all u care about is who can beat the **** out of whom, u aint a boxin fan. ur a brawlin fan.
only if ur argentinian or a napoli fan
most ppl put him third behind pele n beckenbaur
spaceman_spiff
Hall of Fame
In the 1912 Olympics he won the pentathalon and decathalon, with a decathalon points record that lasted for over 20 years. During the medals ceremony, it is reported that King Gustav told Thorpe that he was the greatest athlete in the world.
So, he had the hand-eye coordination to play baseball, the strength and speed to play in the NFL, he played a bit of professional basketball, he won two gold medals in all-around competitions (wearing someone else's discarded shoes after his had been stolen), and he even won a national university championship in ballroom dancing.
Show me a European/South American footballer or a tennis player who can win medals in the decathalon and I might agree with you. Until then, Jim Thorpe gets my vote.
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Bobby Jr
G.O.A.T.
Close, but it was "...world's greatest athlete."
Thorpe apparently replied to him with "Thanks King." :lol:
spaceman_spiff
Hall of Fame
You would think ESPN would know better.
Ali is the most well known boxer of all time, not the greatest.
sunof tennis
Professional
I am guessing you never played American footbabll.
Don't you ever get tired of being wrong?
F L O B B E R
Rookie
Soccer is correctly called Football (you use your FOOT to kick a BALL)
American Football should be called "Hand Egg" for obvious reasons.
=)
American Football should be called "Hand Egg" for obvious reasons.
=)
Devilito
Hall of Fame
i'd LOOOOOOOVE to see a huge muscular football player play 5 hour best 3-5 set matches with 1 day break and tournaments YEAR ROUND over a career that can span 15 years, the footwork and movement and flexibility required, skill, mental toughness over long matches without team mates or coaches and the constant variation in play and point construction. LMAO ok. After 6 months the football player wouldn’t have won a single match because he’s way to big and would run out of gas after 30 minutes on court. They would be injured to hell and back due to the strain of tennis on such a physical build, they would have burnt out mentally and have to retire. Football players play football, basketball players play basketball and tennis players play tennis. Their builds and fitness and athleticism are optimized for their respective sports and nothing else. Grab Djokovic and bulk him up to 240lbs and train him like a football player and he wouldn’t win another tennis match in his life.
WhiskeyEE
G.O.A.T.
Size negates the fair evaluation of skill in every sport. That isn't unique to boxing.
You maybe right...I'm not a huge soccer fan as other sports. Back then my dad use to talk highly of Pele so that's why I got influenced by him.
Cesc Fabregas
Legend
The 1970 Brazil team is the best team of all time and Pele still stood head above his team mates. He's far better than Maradona.
Cesc Fabregas
Legend
JustBob
Hall of Fame
Jim Thorpe is arguably the greatest all around athlete of all time. What that shows is versatility, not complete and utter dominance in a single sport. While Thorpe's achievements are impressive, they would be impossible to duplicate today because sports have become so specialized.
JustBob
Hall of Fame
Perhaps, but one could argue that the definition of "greatest" is not limited to mere stats and accomplishments in the sport, and that "greatest" also includes popularity and more importantly, being able to transcend your sport and become an iconic cultural figure. Not to mention the impact on the (future of) sport itself.
tistrapukcipeht
Professional
Michael Schumacher was the best ever, no one has dominated his sport like He did.
smoledman
G.O.A.T.
Ferrari engineers = GOAT.
no it doesnt
difference between size bein an advantage n size bein definin factor
you aint know ***** bout boxin brah. philistines like u give the sport a bad rap
TERRASTAR18
Hall of Fame
TERRASTAR18
Hall of Fame
what facts?
Nicklaus is the greatest golfer, not Woods.- wrong in most stats, tw is ahead or on pace.
Eddie Merckx is the greatest cyclist, not Armstrong.- 7 tour de frances, gold medal.
Gretzky is the best in terms of accomplishments but Mario Lemieux was more skilled.-mario(a bigger player can inferior stats in every category compared to gretz).
And comparing team sports to individual sports is a bit silly.- greatness is greatness.
TERRASTAR18
Hall of Fame
on this i agree with you...
WhiskeyEE
G.O.A.T.
Oh shut the **** up you pansy. Size is no more a defining factor in boxing than it is in many other sports. How many average to below average height guys are there in the NBA?
Size is a factor in boxing and athletics in general. Weight classes merely allow inferior athletes to compete. Deal with it.
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10is
Professional
Going by the videos on youtube, Maradona IMO far outstrips Pele in terms of talent, artistry and sheer athleticism.
i see u r highly educated n informed on the matter, n ur opinion should be taken seriously
JustBob
Hall of Fame
Here's a hint, if you're gonna use stats, don't pick and choose which one(s) better suit your opinion and ignore all others. For example, Armstrong's resume/stats pale in comparison to what Merckx has achieved. Look it up.
And comparing individual sports with team sports is silly. One might have the benefit of playing for a good/great team his whole carreer while another might not.
In which parallel universe that happens? The only place where they think that pele is better than Maradona is in the USA probably Japan and Brasil itself, and even most brasilians know that Maradona is better (look for interviews of their players like ronaldinho). Pele is FIFAs and Mastercard face and that's why he was marketed all around the world, he wouldn't have done a thing against 80 and 90 defenses as I said before. Not for nothing he was never bought by any team.
Russeljones
Talk Tennis Guru
Yep Ali transcended the norms of morality and became a champion of segregation. True great. /sarcasm
BauerAlmeida
Hall of Fame
Maradona is the football GOAT for sure.
Pele was a great football player but I don't see any reasons to believe he is better (maybe he wasn't worse either) than Cruyff, Zidane, Messi, Beckenbauer, Platini, and a lot of other legends.
Russeljones
Talk Tennis Guru
Oh oh oh.. you said it then. LOL! I suggest to you to look up the Adidas vs Puma story to learn what Pele meant to the sport (if mere statistics don't work).
But just in case you decide one day to look at achievements instead of hyperbole (your own)
World Cup winner 1958, 1962, 1970
FIFA Player of the Century : 2000
Football Player of the Century, elected by France Football's Golden Ball Winners : 1999
Football Player of the Century, by IFFHS International Federation of Football History and Statistics: 1999
South America Football Player of the Century, by IFFHS International Federation of Football History and Statistics: 1999
99 appearances
77 goals for the national team
12 goals and provided 8 assists in 14 World Cup appearances
Total 1282 goals in 1366 matches.
========
As for Maradona:
8 goals and made 8 assists in 21 World Cup appearances
World Cup: Winner: 1986
91 appearances
34 goals for the national team
311 goals in a total of 590 matches.
To use your words, only in a parallel universe one would consider Maradona better than Pele.
Asked recently if he thought Messi could become better than him Pele answered something along the lines of: "has he won 3 World Cups yet?" then he was asked when the next Pele would come along and he said: "my parents closed the factory years ago".
No debate here, now you know.
Ayrton Senna would have had something to say about that.
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Russeljones
Talk Tennis Guru
We established this 3-4 pages back, thanks though.
dominikk1985
Legend
You mean performance enhancing drugs like cocaine?
I think federer is one of the greatest but he simply didn't reach the level of dominance that ruth or jordan had.
federer had a peer with nadal that was about at the same level as him (maybe a little lower if you adjust for the surfaces).
but ruth and jordan had no one who was even close. to me ruth is the greatest ever. you could argue about phelps and bolt being ahead of fed too.
still fed is a really great of course.
TERRASTAR18
Hall of Fame
the tour de france is the most prestigous event, meryck has five, lance has 7....giros and vueltas are great, but the tour is like the super bowl.
u kno nothin bout cyclin then
tour is great but merckx won everythin there is to win in cyclin. giros, vueltas, tours, classics
merckx coulda won a bunch more tours if he'd concentrated on em to the exclusion of everythin else like fancy pants lance. but it wasnt as important back in the 70s
Limpinhitter
G.O.A.T.
That's because he's too busy sniffing it.
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BauerAlmeida
Hall of Fame
-Maradona is NOT a striker, it doesn't matter how many goals he scored.
-Pele played in a decade where teams played 2-3-5 (formation), do you see that today?? And the level wasn't as competitive as it is now
-NEVER played outside Brasil (except one season in.......USA)
-In one of the 3 WC Brasil won, Pele barely played.
-Football is a team sport, Messi may not win 3 WC but he is scoring 50 goals per season. Pele wouldn't even dream about doing that this times. Last season Messi scored MORE THAN 70 GOALS, that's outrageous, nobody will ever come close to that.
billnepill
Hall of Fame
Rafa is. The only player in history who won slams on clay, grass and hard in a calendar year.
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