Tenzing Norgay & Edmund Hillary
'nuff said
In the post, he said “things like those” aren’t single accomplishments, referring to a 56-game hitting streak, two no-hitters in a season, or Cal Ripken’s consecutive game streak.
If you define narrowly that a “single accomplishment” as only a single event, then that rules out a great number of truly impressive accomplishments, such as 20 strikeouts in a single game. Even then, you must define what “a game” is, in context of (for instance) a decathlon, a track meet, the Summer Olympics, or a multi-game playoff such as the World Series or World’s Cup.
If you rule out (as he seemed to) any multi-game effort, it rules out lifetime batting average, all career stats, or Babe Ruth’s 59 home run season.
Me, I prefer to define great athletic achievements by the changes they wrought on the sport itself. For example, Cy Young was such a fast and dominant pitcher that they had to change the dimensions of the ballpark to give hitters a chance. That doesn’t count as an “achievement” in itself, but there’s no question Cy was one hell of a pitcher for his era.
Flurb, I seriously doubt we’ll even narrow it down to one per sport. “Landmark achievements” works for me, thanks. (I’ve never heard of some of these before now, so I’m perfectly fine with a discussion of truly incredible moments in sports.)
Some candidates:
Everyone remembers Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 points in one game. 100 has become iconic. 100 stands out like nothing else. Which is too bad, because what everyone forgets is his 55 rebounds in that game. Given that 30 was an absolutely phenomenal night for Dennis Rodman, that number is off the charts. Two completely unassailable records. One night.
Dale Earnhardt Sr.'s 7 NASCAR all-around championships. Given the sheer number of races in a NASCAR season, all the different tracks, all the conditions, adding the fact that there are usually 43 drivers in each race, and given all the things that can go wrong…hell, four would be an impressive total.
The Buffalo Bills’ 4 straight conference championships. Lessee…free agency, well-documented post-playoff hangovers, luck, injuries…and of course, the indescribably demoralizing effect of not being quite as good as the NFC champ. A whole nation could hardly believe it.
Roger Federer’s grass court winning streak (we’ll have the exact number after tomorrow’s Wimbledon final). One of those streaks that simply defies belief. And he did it in an era 1) with almost no grass court tournaments other than Wimbledon and 2) where, due to advanced technology, grass is a much fairer surface than in the days of Bjorn Borg.
The '04 Boston Red Sox winning eight games in a row to win the World Series. Don’t forget that they swept the Cardinals. Don’t forget that the Cardinals were heavily favored to win it all. Don’t forget the ever-present dread that if it went to a sixth game, the Red Sox were doomed. There wasn’t even a fifth.
Greg Louganis absolutely owning the sport of Olympic diving every year he competed and being pretty much the only household name who’s ever come out of that sport. If I had to pick a defining moment, it would be the time he hit his head on the diving board, took an eternity to recover…and pulled off his next dive flawlessly. No one in that Olympiad deserved a gold medal more than him.
Testicular cancer survivor Lance Armstrong, who either:
- Won 7 straight Tours de France completely clean, no drugs, no blood doping, just sound strategy and a heart the size of Texas.
- Won 7 straight Tours de France and exposed the event’s doping comission as the incompetent, moronic, useless, cement-footed buffoons they were.
I’m fine with either.
And I’d be extremely remiss if I omitted the University of Hawaii football team, a squad that’s been at best mediocre for most of its existence, a squad which was seriously considering a move to Division II not so long ago, a squad forever handicapped by being way out in the middle of the ocean and not having the funds to keep any good personnel. Last season’s record: 12-1. Best in the history of the Western Athletic Conference. And the only loss was the bowl game (if only there were some way to refuse those, dang). There was a time, not so long ago, when this kind of season would be pure fantasy. And I don’t mean league.
Re. Kerri Strug: Maybe it’s just my anti-hype sensibilities at work, but that vault is seriously overrated. Aside from the fact that it ultimately wasn’t necessary (and yes, results matter when rating greatness), she was just one of several gymnasts on that squad, and she didn’t get anywhere near the best score on that event. In fact, the Americans looked like they were going to breeze to victory going into the vault, and the only reason the result was even slightly in doubt was Dominique Moceanu’s bizarre meltdown (she landed on her butt TWICE).
Re. The Giants beating the Patriots: Really? Bigger than Super Bowl 3? Or an eternally snakebitten John Elway ending the seemingly invincible dominance of the NFC? Seriously, it was a heck of a game, no question, but I have to wonder how much the scathing hatred of the Patriots (some deserved, some absolutely not deserved) had to do with this being here. Don’t forget that in the previous AFC championship, all Tom Brady had to was complete a simple pass to run out the clock, he threw behind the receiver, the Colts stormed back to win, and the rest is history. In all, the Pats have always been beatable, and I don’t see the crushing, almighty dominance as with the Steelers of the 70’s, the 49ers of the 80’s (plus an encore in '95), or even the Herschel Walker Trade Cowboys.
Busy Scissors - I saw that fight for the first time a couple of months ago. What was truly great about it, IMO, is that it had a little of everything, and it would’ve been just as memorable had Tyson won. Douglas coming in with exactly the right strategy and working it to perfection. Tyson being flustered, frustrated, not being able to do what he wants. Douglas smelling blood and pressing his advantage. Tyson not following his corner’s commands, his ego too big for him to realize he’s in trouble. The spectacle of Tyson’s cutman not being properly equipped and having to use a water-filled surgical glove. Tyson getting hurt and in serious trouble. Douglas’ heart being tested as he goes down in the 8th. Tyson trying to come back, landing a solid combination in the 9th, but being too weak to follow up (this was the nail in the coffin). Tyson going down for the first time in his career in the 10th, and being so battered that it didn’t make much difference whether or not he beat the count. And for good measure, a bit of controversy about a possible long count (which a few diehards still insists happened to this day). Not even UFC 6 had this much action and drama. It was amazing to watch.
My mind is turning to ask what are the greatest sports events since 1999? What sports and sportsmen are at their peak now? I know seeing Tiger play golf (I understood how they make field goals in golf.) would mean seeing the finest in his sport now playing.
Check out Federer and Nadal today - starts in 1h 30 mins. Two great sportsmen in action there.
flurb, I understand where you’re coming from, but as I said right at the beginning, I know there’s no definitive answer. I had been reminded of Abbot’s no hitter and recalled how amazed I was to watch him pitch in the majors at all, let alone throw a no-no against the Indians. That got me curious about others’ opinions on amazing feats. Perhaps the OP title shouldn’t say “Single Greatest…,” as that makes it a competition. It isn’t, and can’t be. The goal was to be reminded of some the greatest sports accomplishments, and learn about other ones for the first time.
Well, this probably won’t qualify as the single greatest accomplishment, but I feel it deserves a mention: In Snooker, the highest possible break (streak of potting balls) is 147 points (discounting an opening foul). This is, consequently, known as a maximum break.
There are currently seven players in the history of the sport who have managed to compile a maximum break more than once in a ranking event.
Ronnie O’Sullivan has managed to do this nine times so far, but that’s not the amazing thing – five of those nine maximums are the five fastest on record, the fastest of those taking him 5 minutes 20 seconds to compile. In that time, he potted fifteen reds, each followed by the black, and then the six colours in the correct order. That’s 36 perfectly executed pots for an average shot time of 8.9 seconds.
If you’ve ever so much as stood in front of a snooker table, you know what an amazing precision, concentration and skill is necessary to accomplish such a feat.
You can watch the break here, if you want.
Do we count animal athletes? Secretariat’s “where are the other horses?” Triple Crown win should count.
I always thought that the greatest “single” accomplishment in sport - the equivalent of one shot, one swing, one kick, one run; was Greg Louganis’s next dive after knocking himself out hitting the board in the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games. He still had to get into the final and it was amazing to see him come back from such a fuck up and nail it.
The Belmont is a joy to watch but I think Australian sprinter Vain back in 1969 turned in a more amazing performance. In a 6 furlong Group 1 sprint, as an early season 3 year old carrying 6 pounds over weight for age, and giving weight to older horses who were the best sprinters in the country, he won by 12 lengths.
Unfortunately I can’t find video but it makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up. Like Big Red he gets to the front and just keeps running away from the others. But it’s a decent size field and they are all quality sprinters.
That’s pretty awesome! I’ve never seen a game of snooker before but I am going to recommend this as a good watch for other sports fans.