Is Federer the greatest sportsman ever?

M

MuseFan

Banned
Better then Ali, Pele, Jordan, Thorpe, Tiger? Not yet IMHO. BUT, if he can go on a tear the next 3-4 years and win maybe 20 slams plus 7 YE#1, 330+ weeks #1, 75 titles along with turning around his H2H against Nadal IN slams, then yeah he will be the greatest of all sportsman.
 
so, you don't think he's anywhere near the greatest sportsman ever (whatever that means) . . . but you thought you'd start a thread on it anyway?
 
The problem is he’s from Swiz., which doesn’t have same the recognition as Jordan or Ali b/c they are from America. And tennis is not the biggest sport on the planet.
 
No. And he'll never be. Among the greatest sportsmen are so many greats. Some lots of americans have never even heard off (Eddy merckx, Johan Cruyff, Schumacher, Phil Taylor etc. etc.). It's just all incomparable. He's a great athlete, great player. But you just can't compare. He's in the running for athlete of the decade, but that's hardly comparable either.

I think he'll just have to settle for 'unforgetable sportsman'. That's not bad either.
 
In terms of global dominance, yes he is. Federer is soo humble and gracious. He always says the right things and admires past champions. Jordan never had those qualities. Federer also plays the game beautifully, in an artistic way. I dont think there ever has been an athlete who played the game at such a high level that is the model for every kind of motion in the game. Just think about modern tennis instruction--every magazine article and book and training academy bases its principles around Federer's game.
 
To me he definetely is, has anyone won the Laureus Sportsman Of The Year award 4 times??
I grew up idolizing Michael Jordan, Mike Tyson, Stefan Edberg/Mats Wilander but i think Roger Federer is just in a league of his own.
 
Donald Bradman, avg. 99.94, among many other sporting legends of parochial renown unknown to the rest of the world.
 
i'd say he's earned a place in the top tier pantheon of sporting legends. it would be certainly hard to have a legitimate conversation concerning general tennis superlatives without mention of his name.
 
love it that when federer totally destroys someone and doesn't fall to his knees congratulating the loser he is criticized for being a poor sportsman:confused:
 
How is Roger a worse sportsman then Ali??? Ali was hardly as dominant as Federer, and he was a complete ******** to his fellow competitors. Jordan was probably just as dominant as Fed, but also was somewhat of a scumbag off the court.

Pele, probably the greatest sportsman ever. Federer is right up there with the rest though IMO.
 
edmondsm said:
How is Roger a worse sportsman then Ali??? Ali was hardly as dominant as Federer, and he was a complete ******** to his fellow competitors. Jordan was probably just as dominant as Fed, but also was somewhat of a scumbag off the court.

Pele, probably the greatest sportsman ever. Federer is right up there with the rest though IMO.
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I can really say that Stevie Nash and Federer brought soo much to their sport. Theyre like global ambassadors. Nash a two time MVP does a lot of charity work and is soo humble and is very gracious to growing any sport around the world. The same can be said about the great roger federer. Just two class act human beings.
 
Conquistador said:
I can really say that Stevie Nash and Federer brought soo much to their sport. Theyre like global ambassadors. Nash a two time MVP does a lot of charity work and is soo humble and is very gracious to growing any sport around the world. The same can be said about the great roger federer. Just two class act human beings.
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Nash has ZERO titles. He's not even in the same stratosphere as Federer.

It's an interesting concept. All these guys have reasons why they weren't, Fed's arrogance/crying, Tiger's anger problems, Jordan's gambling and being an arrogant ass, Ali being an arrogant ass.

I'd agree with Edmondsm that it's probably Pele, but I'd also throw a guy like Jackie Robinson in there as well, seeing what he went through and what he accomplished.

Fed is up there though, he's on the short list without a doubt.
 
BigServer1 said:
Nash has ZERO titles. He's not even in the same stratosphere as Federer.

It's an interesting concept. All these guys have reasons why they weren't, Fed's arrogance/crying, Tiger's anger problems, Jordan's gambling and being an arrogant ass, Ali being an arrogant ass.

I'd agree with Edmondsm that it's probably Pele, but I'd also throw a guy like Jackie Robinson in there as well, seeing what he went through and what he accomplished.

Fed is up there though, he's on the short list without a doubt.
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But look how humble Steve Nash is. Hes soo good that you put a new player with him--that player leaves and makes millions more than what they are worth. Nash has been "giving money out" for a long time--call him the Loaner--Nash is such a personable guy...everyone loves steve because he kind fits into every sterotype, he has such a love for sports that he thinks on a global perspective.
 
Conquistador said:
But look how humble Steve Nash is. Hes soo good that you put a new player with him--that player leaves and makes millions more than what they are worth. Nash has been "giving money out" for a long time--call him the Loaner--Nash is such a personable guy...everyone loves steve because he kind fits into every sterotype, he has such a love for sports that he thinks on a global perspective.
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Yeah, and that's all fine and good, but if you look at the other guys on this list, they're all big time WINNERS. Steve Nash has never even played in the NBA finals, let alone won a ring.

He's also a one sided player. Nash is a tremendous ball handler, passer and shooter, but is an absolutely atrocious defender...Someone like that will never even be close to the greatest sportsmen ever.
 
MuseFan said:
Better then Ali, Pele, Jordan, Thorpe, Tiger? Not yet IMHO. BUT, if he can go on a tear the next 3-4 years and win maybe 20 slams plus 7 YE#1, 330+ weeks #1, 75 titles along with turning around his H2H against Nadal IN slams, then yeah he will be the greatest of all sportsman.
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Did you forget Michael Schumacher?
Michael Schumacher is the best ever,no comparison
 
At this point, I'd vote for Michael Jordan in terms of global impact on a big Sport. He transformed the sport of Basketball and transcended the sport as well.

He is the one that is largely responsible for making Basketball of real interest throughout the World. It's very hard to find a competitor like him. I'll never forget how he took over the game on both Offense and Defense for about the last seven minutes of a game to beat Utah and win his 6th NBA title (6 MVP's in those Finals he won). He played that game as if he was hungry for his FIRST TITLE. The guy was an absolute "killer" on the Court. He hated to lose more than almost ANYONE I've ever seen compete in Sport.

See video of him in that game:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJmNrGSXpgA

Some of his best dunks:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2psHn4Qd0-g

As a Houston Rockets fan, I'll say Hakeem Olajuwon could give him a run for his money when he was at the top of the Game, but man, every team so feared facing that guy, especially down the stretch. His athleticism and competitive spirit were amazing.
 
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borg number one said:
At this point, I'd vote for Michael Jordan in terms of global impact on a big Sport. He transformed the sport of Basketball and transcended the sport as well.

He is the one that is largely responsible for making Basketball of real interest throughout the World. It's very hard to find a competitor like him. I'll never forget how he took over the game on both Offense and Defense for about the last seven minutes of a game to beat Utah and win his 6th NBA title (6 MVP's in those Finals he won). He played that game as if he was hungry for his FIRST TITLE. The guy was an absolute "killer" on the Court. He hated to lose more than almost ANYONE I've ever seen compete in Sport.

See video of him in that game:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJmNrGSXpgA

Some of his best dunks:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2psHn4Qd0-g

As a Houston Rockets fan Hakeem Olajuwon could give him a run for his money when he was at the top of the Game, but man, every team so feared facing that guy, especially down the stretch. His athleticism and competitive spirit was amazing.
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That combination of athleticism and competitive drive is nearly unmatched. 1 in a billion probably. Thanks for posting. I'm from Chicago, and got goosebumps watching that clip against Utah. Talk about good memories. Sorry Karl.
 
Very great sportsmans but clearly not the Greatest because the Greatest sportman went missing many years ago.:)
 
Well,Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods have said before of how good Michael Schumacher was,they said he was the greatest athlete ever.
 
Buckethead said:
Well,Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods have said before of how good Michael Schumacher was,they said he was the greatest athlete ever.
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Driving a car is not a sport, no matter how fast you drive it; hence, Michael Schumacher is not a sportsman and can't be the greatest sportsman. Neither is billiard player Mike Massey a sportsman; nor are bowlers "sportsmen". These are not sports. These are games. You can call them competitors, though.

Sports needs to involve significant physical exertion.

Federer is up there among the greatest sportsmen ever. Not sure I could choose. Definitely in the same league as Jordan, Ali, Ruth, etc.
 
dh003i said:
Driving a car is not a sport, no matter how fast you drive it; hence, Michael Schumacher is not a sportsman and can't be the greatest sportsman. Neither is billiard player Mike Massey a sportsman; nor are bowlers "sportsmen". These are not sports. These are games. You can call them competitors, though.

Sports needs to involve significant physical exertion.

Federer is up there among the greatest sportsmen ever. Not sure I could choose. Definitely in the same league as Jordan, Ali, Ruth, etc.
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What an idiot!LOL
I guess they run (some of them) 5 miles a day,work out,have a huge neck to tolerate 7,8 G Force during 1 and 1/2 hour for nothing,
I'm stopping right here with you.You are too ignorant to even argue with you.
But i am going to help you to learn the definition of sport:
a. Physical activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively.
b. A particular form of this activity.
2. An activity involving physical exertion and skill that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often undertaken competitively.
3. An active pastime; recreation.
LOL,guys who lose up to 10 pounds in races at 100F degrees ,have cardiac rate up to 160,170 at the start,don't have any phisical exertion.
 
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hey borg fan, isnt it the greatest pitty of all to not been able to watch two houston vs chicago nba finals in a row when mj pseudo retired?
one can only imagine...
 
Buckethead said:
What an idiot!LOL
I guess they run (some of them) 5 miles a day,work out,have a huge neck to tolerate 7,8 G Force during 1 and 1/2 hour for nothing,
I'm stopping right here with you.You are too ignorant to even argue with you.
But i am going to help you to learn the definition of sport:
a. Physical activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively.
b. A particular form of this activity.
2. An activity involving physical exertion and skill that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often undertaken competitively.
3. An active pastime; recreation.
LOL,guys who lose up to 10 pounds in races at 100F degrees ,have cardiac rate up to 160,170 at the start,don't have any phisical exertion.
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That they train for it and have "thick necks" doesn't mean they are sportsmen when racing cars. I guess your also going to call jet-fighter pilots sportsmen? Idiotic.

And do you have any evidence for car-racers enduring g-forces of up to 7 or 8 G's? Because that's as much as fighter-jet pilots endure during harsh maneuvers; I think you are full of it.

A sport is a game or competition where the outcome is determined almost solely by the human body, like football, basketball, tennis, soccer, etc. In car-racing, it is basically a bunch of men controlling a big machine. And the entire thing would be just as entertaining if the cars were controlled remotely from virtual-reality stations; again, arguing for it not being a sport.

Putting race-car drivers alongside tennis, basketball, football, soccer, and baseball players as "sportsmen" is almost as ludicrous as putting bowlers or billiards players there.

PS: Put the average person in a race-car and into a race. Sure, they'll lose against professional race-car drivers. But it won't be by orders of magnitude. They won't look like three-year olds against grown men. That's how badly the average person would lose to a professional tennis player. We are talking not even being able to win a single point, not even being able to get a racket on the serve, and always losing one's first-serve off of the return-shot of the pro.
 
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dh003i said:
Driving a car is not a sport, no matter how fast you drive it; hence, Michael Schumacher is not a sportsman and can't be the greatest sportsman. Neither is billiard player Mike Massey a sportsman; nor are bowlers "sportsmen". These are not sports. These are games. You can call them competitors, though.

Sports needs to involve significant physical exertion.

Federer is up there among the greatest sportsmen ever. Not sure I could choose. Definitely in the same league as Jordan, Ali, Ruth, etc.
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I would love to see you drive a formula one car for about 1 1/2 hours at race speed and then say that. They lose about 5+ kg a race and need to constantly hydrate and would be fitter than most tennis players.

Worst post ever...

Valentino Rossi has to be up there for the greatest sportsman too. But he wouldn't be a sportsman according to num nuts criteria.
 
chaddles said:
I would love to see you drive a formula one car for about 1 1/2 hours at race speed and then say that. They lose about 5+ kg a race and need to constantly hydrate and would be fitter than most tennis players.

Worst post ever...

Valentino Rossi has to be up there for the greatest sportsman too. But he wouldn't be a sportsman according to num nuts criteria.
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Racing a car is not a sport, irrelevant of the amount of physical exertion it requires or how much weight they lose or hydration they need.

Nor is motorcycle racing a sport.
 
We need to better define what a "sportsmen" is.
Are we talking about the domination of a sport or are we talking about a
"character" issue... i.e. a person can be a superlative athlete but not a nice person...and the converse being someone who is a mediocre althlete but is selfless, does great charity work, is very humble etc.

I was confused by what we were looking for here
 
kenshireen said:
We need to better define what a "sportsmen" is.
Are we talking about the domination of a sport or are we talking about a
"character" issue... i.e. a person can be a superlative athlete but not a nice person...and the converse being someone who is a mediocre althlete but is selfless, does great charity work, is very humble etc.

I was confused by what we were looking for here
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Yes. This is like an episode of Three's Company.

In The US, sportsman relates to sportsmanship, humility and dignity in victory, defeat and in general. (Steve Nash and Arthur Ashe come to mind).
In many other countries, sportsman means practitioner of sport... world class athlete. Steve Nash and Arthur Ashe are great, but do not enter into the GOAT debate.

I think most sports fans would agree that Roger is in both conversations, no matter how confusing it might be.
 
chaddles said:
I would love to see you drive a formula one car for about 1 1/2 hours at race speed and then say that. They lose about 5+ kg a race and need to constantly hydrate and would be fitter than most tennis players.

Worst post ever...

Valentino Rossi has to be up there for the greatest sportsman too. But he wouldn't be a sportsman according to num nuts criteria.
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Dh003 is so ignorant man,you should not try to continue with him,he's ignorance,dumbness is contagious LOL,be carefull,your IQ my decrease significantly.He may be an older person,that his culture is 2 miles range only,that's why he doesn't know any better,we can't blame him LMAO,let's blame the environment where he grow up.

I'd puy Rossi there too,impressive how many Championships he won too.
 
Salsainglesha, Yes!! I would have loved to see Houston vs. Chicago at least once in the Finals. That first year, I believe Chicage lost to Orlando in the Eastern Finals. Hakeem vs. Jordan would have been a titanic struggle.

Posters are right when they try to better define "sportsman". You have to look at pure athletic skill/accomplishment, "sportsmanship", but ALSO I would include think "global impact".

As far as Tennis goes, Bjorn Borg in my opinion, ranks above Federer based on those 3 criterion. He exhibited greater sportsmanship than Federer HANDS DOWN, was a better athlete, is in the "greatest tennis player conversation" along with Laver, Sampras, and Federer (you can make arguments for all 4). PLUS, during his time he was more famous around the world compared to Roger Federer. He transcended the sport, when tennis was at the height of its popularity around the Globe.
 
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I'd say you can name him in the same breath as jordan, schumacher, ali, woods, armstrong or whatever they're called.

in attitude, I would rank him on top upon those names.
 
Buckethead said:
Dh003 is so ignorant man,you should not try to continue with him,he's ignorance,dumbness is contagious LOL,be carefull,your IQ my decrease significantly.He may be an older person,that his culture is 2 miles range only,that's why he doesn't know any better,we can't blame him LMAO,let's blame the environment where he grow up.

I'd puy Rossi there too,impressive how many Championships he won too.
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Actually, I'm 28. And having a different opinion does not make one ignorant. Although I readily admit that I find Nascar incredibly boring and idiotic (but I also find baseball and soccer incredibly boring, yet don't say they're not sports). I do not think that a competition where the primary factor is a machine can be a sport.
 
borg number one said:
Salsainglesha, Yes!! I would have loved to see Houston vs. Chicago at least once in the Finals. That first year, I believe Chicage lost to Orlando in the Eastern Finals. Hakeem vs. Jordan would have been a titanic struggle.

Posters are right when they try to better define "sportsman". You have to look at pure athletic skill/accomplishment, "sportsmanship", but ALSO I would include think "global impact".

As far as Tennis goes, Bjorn Borg in my opinion, ranks above Federer based on those 3 criterion. He exhibited greater sportsmanship than Federer HANDS DOWN, was a better athlete, is in the "greatest tennis player conversation" along with Laver, Sampras, and Federer (you can make arguments for all 4). PLUS, during his time he was more famous around the world compared to Roger Federer. He transcended the sport, when tennis was at the height of its popularity around the Globe.
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1. Fed is much more of a house-hold name than Borg ever was. It could be due to a variety of reasons, chief of which, I think is satellite television. so no, Fed has more of a global impact than Borg

2. Name an athletic dept that Fed is lacking, that makes Borg "HANDS DOWN" better than Fed?

3. You can make arguments for all 4, but unfortunately, only Laver & Fed have the best cases, IMO. The other two have really big holes in their resumes to compete with Laver & Fed.

4. Again, you are WRONG as far as global popularity goes. Fed is much more well-known in the developing countries (china, india, etc.) NOW than Borg ever was. And the more than half the world's population lives in the developing nations.
 
Borg did exhibit great sportsmanship in general, but he wasn't perfect either. IIRC, he walked off of the court after a USO final. No ceremony, no congratulations to McEnroe, just left and quit tennis.
 
Is this really true. I saw the last uso match and do not remember him walking off the court with the handshake.

Do you have any evidence of that
 
kenshireen said:
Is this really true. I saw the last uso match and do not remember him walking off the court with the handshake.

Do you have any evidence of that
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See wikipedia:

Borg went on to lose to McEnroe at the 1981 US Open, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-3, and the defeat effectively ended Borg's career. After that defeat, Borg walked off court and out of the stadium before the ceremonies and press conference had begun. It would turn out to be the Swede's last Grand Slam final. Although he felt in good condition physically, he recognized that the relentless drive to win and defy tour organizers had begun to fade.[10]
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The reference is to this article.
 
MuseFan said:
Better then Ali, Pele, Jordan, Thorpe, Tiger? Not yet IMHO. BUT, if he can go on a tear the next 3-4 years and win maybe 20 slams plus 7 YE#1, 330+ weeks #1, 75 titles along with turning around his H2H against Nadal IN slams, then yeah he will be the greatest of all sportsman.
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He's not even top 10.

Without a Grand Slam, Federer will never be the greatest at his own sport so he can hardly rate as the greatest sportsman of all time.
 
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