The waning moments of the century are now upon us. Sports fans, it’s time for you to come out and nominate athletes for the Best Athlete of the Century award.
Hopefully, this won’t turn into a Bob-George argument about whether or not the players from the 60s are better than the players now. Just nominate a few athletes (they don’t even have to be human–I was considering Secretariat for my list), and give the reasons why you think they are the best.
I’ll bet this debate becomes a slugfest between Jim Thorpe and Michael Jordan. Thorpe excelled in many arenas. As for Jordan; anybody remember his less than successful flirtation with Professional baseball?
Elmer J. Fudd,
Millionaire.
I own a mansion and a yacht.
It would have to be Thorpe. There have been better than him in most of the sports he participated in, but M. Jordan, D. Sanders, and a host of others over the years have made it clear that he was the one man that could excel in more than one sport.
Dan O’Brien
1996 Olympic Games Gold Medal - Decathlon; World Record Holder - Decathlon, 8891 points, established Sept. 5 and 6, 1992, DecaStar Meet, Talence, France; 1991, 1993 and 1995 World Champion - Decathlon; 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995 and 1996 United States Track & Field Champion - Decathlon; 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995 and 1996 Ranked Number One in World in Decathlon; World Record Holder - Pentathlon, 4497 points, established 1992, at U.S. Indoor Championships, Moscow, Idaho; 1991 and 1992 United States Champion - Pentathlon; World Record Holder - Heptathlon, 6476 points, established March 13 and 14, 1993, at IAAF World Indoor Games, Toronto, Canada; 1993 World Champion - Heptathlon; 1994 Goodwill Games Gold Medal - Decathlon, St. Petersburg, Russia; 1990 Goodwill Games Silver Medal - Decathlon, Seattle, Washington
“It is lucky for rulers that men do not think.” — Adolf Hitler
yeah, but dan o’brien ruined it with those stupid dan/dave commercials.
I vote for jim thorpe, or jesse owens for his inspiration.
but in reality the best athlete is probably some farm boy in iowa who’s never left home.
We live in an age that reads to much to be wise, and thinks too much to be beautiful–Oscar Wilde
Wayne Gretzky. He dominated his sport like no other professional athlete this century. The only strike against him is that Hockey isn’t as popular as basketball.
I think the criterium should be “being the best at ones sport”. So, there are several possibilities:
Coldfire
“You know how complex women are”
If we include the heart necessary to excel in the face of huge cultural pressures against even pursuing a sporting life, Babe Didricksen (sp?) has to be near the top of the list. Her sports? Track, Basketball, Baseball (Softball?), and Golf, at least. Throw in her exploits so soon after recovering from cancer, and the ‘heart’ part looms even larger.
And this was during an age when mothers who read reports of her exploits prayed that their daughters wouldn’t grow up to be “like Babe.”
I cast my vote for either Jim Thorpe or Babe Didrikson-Zaharias. Both of them clearly excelled in multiple sports that are not commonly linked (Thorpe’s Olympic events and Babe with things like golf and track).
Michael Jordan may be one of the the best basketball players ever, (along with leader, competitor), but he never proved that his athleticism could cross sporting boundaries.
There is also something to be said for an athlete being the best in the face of various adversities (Jesse Owens, Jackie Robinson, Ali), but I still think a broad range of skills tends to win out.
I prefer to give the best athlete award to someone who proved they were able to excel at multiple sports, not someone who excelled at one.
Well, shut my mouth. It’s also illegal to put squirrels down your pants for the purposes of gambling.
Jan-Michael Vincent. THE WORLD’S GREATEST ATHLETE.
Uke
If you count piloting a supersonic helicopter while playing the cello as a “sport”.
(Airwolf. Bah.)
Vincent was also a stuntman…
you know Hooper
Muhammad Ali.
No one else ever endured a higher caliber of competition for as long a period.
For some reason, I think they’ll ignore Jordan’s baseball foray. He’s far too popular not to top a lot of those “Athletes of the Century” lists.
I would have to agree with Libertarian and vote for a decathlete: speed, strength, agility and endurance. Jim Thorpe and Ali would fit this mold as well.
On a lighter note, what about Bo Jackson? Bo knows . . .
On His Airness, he is nothing without a basketball.
“Quoth the Raven, ‘Nevermore.’”
E A Poe
The question is too ill-defined to really be answered properly. How do you determine the ‘best athlete’? There’s no objective measure for ‘best’ when you’re evaluating athletes from many different sports. Hell, people still argue over who the best baseball player or basketball player was. So if you can’t agree on that, how can you agree on the overall best?
Does impact on society count? Popularity? Who knows? What if there was a Jai-Alai player that was orders of magnitude better than any of his peers? Would we care?
In terms of team-sport atheletes, for me it’s a toss-up between Michael Jordan, Babe Ruth, and Wayne Gretzky.
All three dominated their sport. All three led their teams to multiple championships. All three revived and grew interest in their sport.
why are they voting for the athlete of the century now? since historically speaking the century doesnt end until 2000/2001.
anyway…
best athlete of this century, all sports:
bj0rn - 4
This is a tough one to call because the term is so ambiguous. It requires some kind of definition of the word “Athlete” and “Best” even.
From Merriam-Webster On-Line:
Main Entry: ath·lete
Pronunciation: <tt>'ath-"lEt, ÷’a-th&-"lEt</tt>
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Latin *athleta, *from Greek *athlEtEs,
*from *athlein *to contend for a prize, from *athlon *prize,
contest
Date: 15th century
: a person who is trained or skilled in exercises, sports, or
games requiring physical strength, agility, or stamina
Taking this into consideration, it is insanely difficult to say whom is “the best person trained or skilled in excercises, sports or games requiring physical strength, agility or stamina” since it is tough to even say whom is, for example, the best athlete playing cornerback in the NFL right now.
Jason Sehorn is considered by many to be the best athlete at his position, but by the way he is sucking at doing his actual job (covering wide recievers so well the ball is not thrown to them, preventing people from catching the ball if it is, making tackles and interceptions), one has to be reluctant to say he’s the best at anything.
Hershell Walker is a “better athlete” than Walter Payton was - Who would you want in your backfield?
I would sumbit, then, that we change this thread to “The Most Important Athlete Of The Century,” and use “Important” to base things on their accomplishments, which are less subjective (not by much, but it’s a starting point) and could also take into account their importance off the field as well.
If we do take into account off the field important things, I would vote for Jackie Robinson. His impact on the field was far from negligible, and his impact in our culture was greater than most non-athletes you could mention.
If we’re talking strictly achievements that took place on the field, I would nominate a few worthy candidates:
Babe Ruth.
Jim Thorpe.
Mark Spitz.
Michael Jordan.
Muhammah Ali.
Discuss…
Yer pal,
Satan
Also must include Pele to my short list.