TheIntrovert
Hall of Fame
Quoted for future reference.
Sport Bible ranks 50 Greatest Sports Athletes of All Time
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Mike Sams
G.O.A.T.
The author Adnan Riaz must've been on serious drugs when he made this joke list.Some very questionable choices like having Venus Williams ahead of Pele!! And Nastase ahead of Borg? And no freaking Pete Sampras on the list even though they have named quite a few tennis players.
Roger Federer comfortably ahead of all tennis players, as should be for now, at #3. Nadal at #18 and Djokovic makes the top 40 at #32.
What do you guys think of it?
The 40 Greatest Footballers Of All Time Have Been Named And Ranked By Fans
From Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi to Diego Maradona and Pele, the best of the best in football history have been ranked by fans.www.google.com
Poisoned Slice
Bionic Poster
Some crackin little players on this list but it can't be taken seriously if I'm not there fighting Messi for first place. And for the record, quite a few times did I score more 180s' in one night than Messi career hat-tricks. Just think about that for a second. This is a sham. Where is Ronnie?
Wander
Hall of Fame
No-one made this list. It's taken from ranker.com. Go check how that website operates and everything will make sense.
Mike Sams
G.O.A.T.
Looks like more of a popularity contest the way the system works.
Beckerserve
Legend
If Sport Bible is run by same clowns who run Lad Bible if i were a player id want to be off the list. So Sampras is happiest i guess.
RelentlessAttack
Hall of Fame
It’s the only sport better than tennis.
And Gretzky is literally the GOAT of GOATs, no other athlete has dominated their sport the way Gretzky dominated his. Some records don’t even exist because there’s no one who can compete - for instance “most 200 point seasons”. Gretzky has 4, no one else has 1.
Aussie Darcy
Bionic Poster
Venus was the biggest proponents for equal pay in tennis, she mentioned it to the men and women way back in 1998 when the only slam that had equal pay was the USO. She wrote op-eds in national papers, spoke out about it for years and discussed it the day before the 2005 Wimbledon final. That final ended up being the longest in Wimbledon history at 2 hours and 45 minutes. An entire hour longer than the mens final of Federer/Roddick which was 1 hour and 41 minutes.
She definitely deserves to be in this list.
She definitely deserves to be in this list.
Aussie Darcy
Bionic Poster
11 basketball players and 11 football players?
Not one cricketer?
Only one short distance swimmer?
Definitely a terribly American-centric list.
Not one cricketer?
Only one short distance swimmer?
Definitely a terribly American-centric list.
Aussie Darcy
Bionic Poster
Did I miss something? Is Billie Jean King seriously not on this list?
But you’ve got Lindsay Vonn?
Come on.
But you’ve got Lindsay Vonn?
Come on.
Venus deserves to be there? Steffi, Billie Jean and maybe Chris Evert and Margaret Court deserve to be there but definitely not Venus, yet she is but they aren't. That makes the list lose all credibility alone, not even counting some glaring men's omissions.
CYGS
Legend
Maybe on SJW list, she does. Definitely not on a top 50 list about GOATs in all sports.
Aussie Darcy
Bionic Poster
Of course you don't think so, your list would be full of 50 men because you have no respect towards women.
Aussie Darcy
Bionic Poster
I'll admit I read the posts here before I read the full list and didn't realize that players like Steffi and Billie Jean weren't on the list. They definitely belong there over Venus. For all I said about Venus being a champion of equal pay, Billie Jean has that category by far. Graf should get there for her statistics. Don't think Evert or Court should be on the list as you suggest.
Poisoned Slice
Bionic Poster
I do think at times that Sugar Ray Leonard is the best boxer I've seen. Is best the right word? I don't know. Just something about the way he did it. I wonder how it would all look for him if he had one of those long careers with no interruptions.
Bobby Jr
G.O.A.T.
Fair, and he was an insane athlete. But then squash in the 1980s had 4 or 5 players who could make enough money on the tour to make a decent living and only about 20 total players earning even average money. A guy at my tennis/squash club in the late 80s was ranked around #20 in the world and he had to have a job most of the time during his career to make ends meet.
Bobby Jr
G.O.A.T.
Yep, saved me putting half of those. There's so much flawed in the list, especially the omission of Graf, and the Mike Tyson inclusion.
CYGS
Legend
Wrong again. Court and Graf should be there instead of Venus.
canta_Brian
Hall of Fame
Sliding sports are fun, but take luge, the difference between world champ and a novice is about 3 10ths of a second.Did I miss something? Is Billie Jean King seriously not on this list?
But you’ve got Lindsay Vonn?
Come on.
PrinceMoron
Legend
Federer is most affected due to his age, if this goes on until 2021.
Fate has conspired to deny him Olympic singles gold and 2 more slams.
Then again Federer might be playing FO this year after all.
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FranzS
Semi-Pro
What do you expect from a BIBLE?
Wow it could be me writing that! Except for the Aamodt part (where I agree with whom you were answering to [Jaitock1991]).
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titoelcolombiano
Legend
Love these things. You can tell it is just a big wankfest when Fed ends up at number three (highest tennis player) when he isn't even the greatest athlete in his own sport.
PDJ
G.O.A.T.
Samuel Johnson?
I don’t even disagree! I only tried to explain why some people might see Aamodt as the greatest. But I also think he wasn’t that consistent and rather in the right form at the right time quite often. Or maybe he was just less nervous than other greats at big events.
An addition to Daehlie: Some people think he was equaled or even surpassed by Petter Northug. I strongly disagree. Northug wasn’t versatile. He could only dominate in the mass start era for a while because he delayed the pace and then made it a sprint race every time. He would have been not much more than a good final runner in a relay during Daehlie’s era.
To be fair, on the other hand Daehlie would never win a modern 1.5 km sprint race, but Northug would win none of the old normal interval 10/30/50 km races while Daehlie could win them in modern mass starts by attacking and breaking away from the field.
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FranzS
Semi-Pro
I've heard about Northug but I'm still stuck in the 90s as far as cross country skiing
As an Italian, I still remember our Silvio Fauner beating Daehlie at the final sprint for Olympic gold, that seemed unbelievable. Daehlie best ever for me too, but - as said - no longer follow the sport, though
FranzS
Semi-Pro
And, by the way, I'd rank X-country skiing above NHL by far, but that's about me being an 'average European'. It all depends on sports culture and habits, can't blame Americans for that best 50 list since in the end it's destined to an American audienceI've heard about Northug but I'm still stuck in the 90s as far as cross country skiing
Same with me for "daily" wintersport, but I still watch everything at the Olympics. After the 90s much was changed in cross-country skiing. Sprint competitions (1.5 km) were introduced and most of the normal-distance races became mass starts.I've heard about Northug but I'm still stuck in the 90s as far as cross country skiing
Northug was basically a sprinter who was a clever tactician. He was able to hide in the field and just profit from slipstream while delaying the pace of the whole field, even in 50 km races. Then during the last km he was superior to anyone and mainly won.
So likely he would have been the man to beat Fauner in the Lillehammer relay (as did Alsgaard 4 years later by the way in an even closer although somewhat forgotten race), but wouldn’t beat anyone of the top guys in the old interval races, no matter if it would be 10/30/50 km.
The 90s were great for any kind of sport. And it was before the computer/internet era, so it was either about doing sport yourself or just running around outside or when inside the house watching sport on TV (I never watched child trickfilms or so). I had an idol in almost any kind of sport.
FranzS
Semi-Pro
Couldn't agree more. Actually, 90s were better in almost everything (not only sports).... good times and great memories (I turned 16 in 2000)
Then I’m one year younger than you. And I also agree here. I’m just not sure if it’s something objective or if childhood/youth is just always the best (if someone is lucky enough to have a decent one that is).
Of course I don’t want to say everything is bad today, it’s just not that carefree (in a positive sense) anymore.
Backspin1183
Talk Tennis Guru
He is the greatest tennis player right now. He has the Slam record as well as weeks at #1. Until he is surpassed by Nadal or Djokovic, he will remain the greatest. At least on paper.
Shangri La
Hall of Fame
Says who??
Poisoned Slice
Bionic Poster
titoelcolombiano
Legend
He's really not though. He leads the slam count courtesy of a transition era. Both Novak and Rafa have dominated him in the H2H and when slams are adjusted for age Rafa is well ahead and Djokovic is equal with all of this year left to pull ahead (assuming tennis is played this year). Fed is one of the greatest myths in world sport, I'll give him that.
KingGrayskull
Rookie
This list is so incredibly bad.
Jordan not being top 3, if not #1, shows immediately how ignorant of the past people can be. He dominated in a way nobody had or likely will again. He was literally the biggest star in the world, and even now, after being gone for the better part of 2 decades, has a legacy no athlete can match.
Messi that low?
Kobe?
Tiger Woods?
Tom Brady?
Jerry Rice?
Jim Brown?
Floyd Mayweather? Tyson has no business being where he is. None. Zero.
Same with Dirk. Being from Dallas I’m a huge Dirk fan, but he’s not top 20 all time NBA, let alone all of sports.
Zero athletes from MMA, likely the most athletic competition of them all? George St Pierre, Anderson Silva, Jon Jones, Fedor Emelianenko should ALL be on this list. GTFO with the skiers.
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Jordan not being top 3, if not #1, shows immediately how ignorant of the past people can be. He dominated in a way nobody had or likely will again. He was literally the biggest star in the world, and even now, after being gone for the better part of 2 decades, has a legacy no athlete can match.
Messi that low?
Kobe?
Tiger Woods?
Tom Brady?
Jerry Rice?
Jim Brown?
Floyd Mayweather? Tyson has no business being where he is. None. Zero.
Same with Dirk. Being from Dallas I’m a huge Dirk fan, but he’s not top 20 all time NBA, let alone all of sports.
Zero athletes from MMA, likely the most athletic competition of them all? George St Pierre, Anderson Silva, Jon Jones, Fedor Emelianenko should ALL be on this list. GTFO with the skiers.
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Jordan was the biggest star of the US leagues and he did it in the only really international sport of them (Basketball). I agree he should be higher, surely above Gretzky. So far, so good.
But the biggest star in the world? I disagree. Maybe in the USA, but surely not in Europe. I’m from Germany and his great days with Chicago (especially the finals against Utah) came exactly during those years when my classmates were at a typical age when someone is searching for idols. I would say 2 or 3 people were somewhat interested in him (one of them even was kind of a "hater"), but that’s it. Most did hardly know who he was.
Apart from America the US leagues have no big value, and that’s why it looks so strange if many of those lists are so extremely US-centric. Someone like Carl Lewis on the other hand was a more well-known name during my early childhood than any Basketballer, Baseballer or American Footballer. He was a bit like the Bolt of the 90s.
Also it’s difficult to judge a team sport in such a list. The Chicago team was good without Jordan, and IIRC guys like Pippen and Rodman retired from the team at the same time, just as the famous coach Phil Jackson. It would have been interesting to see how good they would have been "only" without Jordan in the next year.
I agree about Tiger Woods. He should be there.
I also agree that Tyson is definitely not the 2nd best boxer of all time. Mayweather is a different thing though. He is extremely lucky to have weight classes in his sport. I mean, in most other sports having the perfect body is just a requirement to have chances. Having Mayweather at the top for being the best in a range of some 3-4 kg of body weight would be the equivalent to listing Schwartzman for being the best tennis player of a height from 1.68 to 1.72 or so. Or to introducing ski jumping for fat people.
No, I think it’s fair to only list heavyweights here. To prove me wrong Mayweather would have to knock out a heavyweight, but he clearly couldn’t. I agree that he could be technically better than them, but as I said, in many other sports nobody asks for that.
Talking about fighting sports in general, Alexander Karelin should be there. He was undefeated in graeco-roman wrestling for over 10 years, in heavyweight! He was arguably the strongest man on earth.
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