# Greatest Sports Photos? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [August 9, 2012, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-sports-photos/630992 "2012-08-09T19:41:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-sports-photos/630992/21 "2012-08-10T16:31:49Z")
> [@minlokwat](#): > > [here](http://blog.gettyimages.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Michael-Jordan-1998-game-winning-shot-Fernando-Medina-NBAE-Getty-Images-56382473-e1339524361424.jpg) > > I’ve kept the Sports Illustrated fold out shot which shows remarkable clarity. The thing about it, which you can’t really see off a computer monitor, is the look of anguish on most of the crowd. In that the moment that the ball is in the air, you can see most of the Utah crowd bracing themselves in anticipated horror and thinking, “Damn. The one thing we didn’t want to happen –Jordan taking an uncontested shot at the buzzer- just happened. And we all know what’s coming next.” Jordan shoved that Jazz player to get clearance for the shot. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-sports-photos/630992/22 "2012-08-11T01:37:15Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](#): > > [Mary Decker after getting tangled with Zola Budd](http://www.google.com/imgres?q=mary+decker&num=10&um=1&hl=en&client=safari&rls=en&authuser=0&biw=1309&bih=720&tbm=isch&tbnid=cMPaNW69QZKE2M:&imgrefurl=http://articles.businessinsider.com/2011-03-30/tech/30010700_1_latest-iphone-google-s-android-android-platform&docid=6sRzwwJ7ABaaaM&imgurl=http://static8.businessinsider.com/image/4d9342f2cadcbb9a350c0000/mary-decker.jpg&w=477&h=362&ei=OCwlUMD5IKGoiAKN14CADQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=317&vpy=136&dur=1321&hovh=196&hovw=258&tx=143&ty=120&sig=110613411553980730078&sqi=2&page=1&tbnh=154&tbnw=202&start=0&ndsp=21&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0,i:128) The reason that photo sticks out in my mind is it was brought up in a story I was reading about the ethics of retouching news photos. Apparently, someone went and blotted out the antenna because the way it appeared to be coming out of her chin looked goofy. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-sports-photos/630992/23 "2012-08-11T01:45:20Z")
> [@Snooooopy](#): > > The reason that photo sticks out in my mind is it was brought up in a story I was reading about the ethics of retouching news photos. Apparently, someone went and blotted out the antenna because the way it appeared to be coming out of her chin looked goofy. See, I REMEMBER this photo. Half the photos in the list of 30 I’ve never even seen before. To my mind the Ali-Liston photo might be the best sports photograph of all time. The rest of the photos are a mixed bag. In many cases they aren’t even the most memorable photo of the event in question; it’s the wrong photo of the Miracle on Ice, as pointed out. The list also refers to Willie Mays as “Willy.” Twice. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_jeffrey_lebowski/32/215_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Jeffrey_Lebowski)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-sports-photos/630992/24 "2012-08-11T02:50:59Z")
I highly recommend looking though [Neil Leifer’s site](http://216.117.181.169/). He had such beautiful composition - for a real beauty there’s an [overhead shot of an Ali knockout](http://216.117.181.169/picture.php?pict=1102&page=1) - and a real knack for getting the decisive moment - for this, obviously the Liston photo. In fact, [watch the knockout here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNdmySLkqyI), the moment comes in the 20th second. Great point regarding that shove on Bryon Russell, **FGIE** , but Jordan made the move so masterfully that watching it in real time you might not notice anything. [See here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdPQ3QxDZ1s). ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-sports-photos/630992/25 "2012-08-11T04:30:00Z")
One of the nicest baseball pictures I’ve ever seen is one that ran in (IIRC) Sports Illustrated and I have no been able to find it on the Web. It’s a picture taken in Game 5 of the 1992 World Series, immediately after Lonnie Smith of the Braves hit a grand slam to make the game 7-2 and effectively end it. But instead of being a picture of Smith, it is a shot taken from the Skydome roof of where the ball ended up, and so you have a perfect shot from above, with the outfield fence bisecting the photo. On the far side of the fence, the ball sits there, just a few feet away. On the close side, immediately opposite it, Blue Jays outfielder Joe Carter is standing with his head leaning against the wall, his shoulders slumped in defeat, unable to see the ball he couldn’t get to but knowing it’s there. The photograph is so wonderfully composed and was so lucky to be taken. But all the great photos are luck. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-sports-photos/630992/26 "2012-08-11T04:54:03Z")
There is an element of luck, but some photographers are luckier, more frequently than others. Part of being a journalistic photographer is predicting where to be and when. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-sports-photos/630992/27 "2012-08-11T05:04:26Z")
The trouble is with the medium. Still pictures are woefully bad at showing sports action, so the iconic pictures are of sports reactions. The best of those shots doesn’t always correspond to the best of sports moments. Out of those 30 I think the photo of Ali standing over Liston best illustrated the actual sport and the emotion of it’s participants. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-sports-photos/630992/28 "2012-08-11T05:24:08Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > but the Ali-Liston shot is pretty much the tops. Yep. I’m not a boxing fan, but when I think of “Great sports photos” that’s the first one that comes to mind. Personally, I think still photography is AMAZING for sports action. There’s just something in a frozen moment in time that you can stare at and deconstruct that is lacking from a motion pictures account of the same event. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-sports-photos/630992/29 "2012-08-11T05:28:58Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > But all the great photos are luck. You are obviously not a photographer if you think this. I don’t discount luck as an element in great photos. But there’s a whole lot more to it. Predicting where the action will be, where you should be to capture that action, and being able to have the right camera, the right lens, etc., on you to capture that moment is as much a part of it. Luck is just the icing. To say “all the great photos are luck” is insulting to the skill involved in photojournalism. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-sports-photos/630992/30 "2012-08-11T05:35:36Z")
They should have Ben Hogan’s one-iron at Merion. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-sports-photos/630992/31 "2012-08-11T05:38:38Z")
Anyhow, I do have to agree–there’s some shitty choices there. About half those photos I would not consider iconic. The Bobby Orr one, though. I forgot about that. What an awesome picture. Conspicuously absent is Nat Fein’s portrait of [the Babe](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_0YZjvlQulOU/TMhUa5TKZzI/AAAAAAAAA-0/4ASm_xelp60/s400/Picture_3.png). ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-sports-photos/630992/32 "2012-08-11T06:43:34Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > To say “all the great photos are luck” is insulting to the skill involved in photojournalism. I agree. One of my favorite sports photographers is British ex-pat Tim Clayton, who lives in Australia and has spent most of the past two decades as a sports photographer for the Sydney Morning Herald. Look at [this collection](http://timclayton.photoshelter.com/gallery/Best-Sports-Photography-Single-Images/G00003ZxRePqDgLo/C0000TO.ksWwqYWE), and some of the others on his site, and tell me it’s just luck. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-sports-photos/630992/33 "2012-08-11T12:43:06Z")
I don’t know if this one qualifies as iconic or not, and it is another Ali photo, also taken by Neil Leifer, but I’ve been quite fond of [this overhead shot.](http://bermangraphics.com/images/Ali_Williams-p143.jpg) I shot sports for AFP for a little spell back in the late 90s (baseball, basketball, and football.) Sports photographers are incredibly accomplished photographers technically and the greats have a kind of sixth sense about them. When you’re shooting sports (and really, shooting anything photojournalistic), you’re always trying to predict what’s going to happen next, and where to be to catch that moment from just the right angle. Often times, you’re just wait, wait, waiting for that shot to come to you. Sometimes, you have the opportunity to preplan, so you stake your spot out hours in advance, or you set up remotes to give you more angles and a higher percentage possibility of a great shot. Look at the Leifer overhead. That required forethought and preplanning. There is an element of serendipity involved, of course. But Leifer knew that eventually, something interesting would come of that angle, and he worked it. Yes, one can say that the actual moment is “luck” in a manner of speaking. But then all moments are. You don’t know what the moment is going to be, where exactly it’s going to be, whether something in the background is going to ruin your shot, etc. But that’s exactly the skill you refine as a photojournalist. You learn to anticipate, predict, and compose on the fly, instinctually, to give yourself the highest percentage chance of getting that great shot. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-sports-photos/630992/34 "2012-08-11T14:28:12Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > You are obviously not a photographer if you think this. I don’t discount luck as an element in great photos. But there’s a whole lot more to it. Predicting where the action will be, where you should be to capture that action, and being able to have the right camera, the right lens, etc., on you to capture that moment is as much a part of it. Luck is just the icing. To say “all the great photos are luck” is insulting to the skill involved in photojournalism. Yeah, actually, it was. I really didn’t mean to phrase it that way (it was late.) All the greatest photos contain an _element_ of luck - that’s what turns them from good to great - but an amateur is never going to take those photos. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-sports-photos/630992/35 "2012-08-11T14:31:23Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Yeah, actually, it was. I really didn’t mean to phrase it that way (it was late.) All the greatest photos contain an _element_ of luck - that’s what turns them from good to great - but an amateur is never going to take those photos. OK, I’m not going to disagree there. “Serendipity,” as I like to call it, is what takes a really good photo into a great photo. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-sports-photos/630992/36 "2012-08-11T14:56:05Z")
I think there need to be a distinction made between a photo of an iconic _sporting moment_, and an iconic _sporting photo_. Taking stumpy cheat Maradona for example. One could say that[this one](http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?hl=en&sa=X&biw=1280&bih=637&tbm=isch&prmd=imvns&tbnid=SVy18bjHt3zyFM:&imgrefurl=http://rwany.sibaja.net/HOGmultimedia/HOGmultimedia.html&docid=G1sQjVhNkB7ChM&imgurl=http://rwany.sibaja.net/images/HOGLarge.jpg&w=1193&h=800&ei=VnAmULbFB4Wt0QXL1ICoCg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=957&vpy=342&dur=759&hovh=184&hovw=274&tx=146&ty=102&sig=117011067653210371474&page=1&tbnh=121&tbnw=162&start=0&ndsp=19&ved=1t:429,r:18,s:0,i:156) was an iconic moment, but the original one included in the list, with him against multiple Belgians, tells a more complete story. Keeping with football, the Pele-Moore handshake says it all, not a championship final but a meeting of gentlemen sporting giants. Same with the Ali-Liston photo. Nothing too shocking about Liston on the floor or Ali winning the bout but the implied narrative behind it is what gives it the power. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-sports-photos/630992/37 "2012-08-11T18:34:08Z")
Tossing out a few hockey-centric ones: [Henderson](http://headtothe.net/wp-content/gallery/nhl/henderson.jpg) [Dryden](http://infinit8monkeys.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Top-10-Hockey-Ken-Dryden.jpg) [Crosby](http://www.delcotimes.com/content/articles/2010/03/01/sports/doc4b8b974d1e347057854506.jpg) (with bonus Niedermayer) I think any discussion of iconic photos needs to consider _what fans of the sport_ consider to be iconic, rather than just fans of a country or team. The original list in the OP is more a “photos of sports stories I like” rather than anything iconic, and even when the author got it right, he often chose the wrong photo…! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_jeffrey_lebowski/32/215_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Jeffrey_Lebowski)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-sports-photos/630992/38 "2012-08-11T19:01:52Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I don’t know if this one qualifies as iconic or not, and it is another Ali photo, also taken by Neil Leifer, but I’ve been quite fond of [this overhead shot.](http://bermangraphics.com/images/Ali_Williams-p143.jpg) I think that’s a pretty good shot, too. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![MadTheSwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MadTheSwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadTheSwine)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-sports-photos/630992/39 "2012-08-11T19:44:15Z")
I came in to post #26,didn’t really think it would be on the list.It was my wallpaper for many years. If you don’t feel like looking, it is the Mike Jones tackle of Kevin Dyson in SB XXXIV. Go RAMS! ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-sports-photos/630992/40 "2012-08-12T01:12:22Z")
Some great baseball pics: [http://www.posternation.com/image/view/babe-ruth-batting-action-2-227901](http://www.posternation.com/image/view/babe-ruth-batting-action-2-227901) [http://blogs.rep-am.com/time\_out/files/2011/05/WK-AQ323\_COVER\_\_G\_20090702181737.jpg](http://blogs.rep-am.com/time_out/files/2011/05/WK-AQ323_COVER__G_20090702181737.jpg) [![](https://asset.zcache.com/assets/graphics/design/err/blank.gif) ](https://asset.zcache.com/assets/graphics/design/err/blank.gif) [http://www.freewebs.com/baseballhound/photos/paige.jpg](http://www.freewebs.com/baseballhound/photos/paige.jpg) [http://www.room111heroes.com/robinson08.jpg](http://www.room111heroes.com/robinson08.jpg) [http://www.myhero.com/images/guest/g174473/hero42048/g174473\_u46519\_clemente\_i.jpg](http://www.myhero.com/images/guest/g174473/hero42048/g174473_u46519_clemente_i.jpg) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-sports-photos/630992.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-sports-photos/630992.md?page=3)