In auto racing, It is very hard to compare drivers from the past to current drivers because the vehicles are so different. There’s also the fact that rallying, for example is a totally different sport from Formula one, and currently you almost never see a driver from one area of motorsports make a change to another kind successfully. It used to be that Formula one drivers would compete in sports cars, at Indianapolis, and in many other kinds of racing. There was also a lot more turnover, due to the ridiculous death rate in the early sixties. Formula one has become almost static to me, since the drivers all seem to have been there for years, and Ferrari wins every race. Choosing one driver for the whole of motorsports history would be impossible to me anyway.
Fencing: Aldo Nadi.
I’m not a long-time cycling fan, and Lance is no doubt great - probably the second-greatest cyclist ever - but any cycling fan would say that Eddie Merckx is the greatest cyclist ever.
Without a doubt. Perhaps the easiest decision in any single sport.
I seriously doubt anyone would argue against Gretzky. Lemieux? Please. Hasek? Are you kidding, or serious with that one? The Dominator wasn’t even the best player on his team last year. Hell, he wasn’t even the best goalie on his team. There is almost universal agreement that Wayne Gretsky is the greatest player ever to lace up the skates. That guy was a freak. His nickname says it all.
Wayne Gretzky and Babe Ruth are the only undisputed greatest of all time.
I would add Jack Nicklaus to the discussion.
I don’t agree that Wayne Gretzky is as “obviously” the greatest hockey player ever as so many of you seem to think.
Have you forgotten one Robert Orr? Perhaps you know him better as Bobby?
His career was cut short due to injury, so his lifetime stats appear less impressive than they might have otherwise. But remember, he was a defenceman, yet even so twice led the league in scoring (out of six or seven healthy years).
He changed the game completely - the end-to-end rush as never before, the high scoring defenceman, the playoff hero, the first hockey superstar …
Who knows what he could have done if he’d had better knees. If nothing else, he would have given The Other Great One a run for his money for the appellation.
Skiing: That “thrill of victory” guy
Oops. I guess I should have said “the agony of defeat guy.”
I would agree that Orr could have given Gretzky a run for his money had his career continued. But in fact, it didn’t. Gretzky simple put up numbers unheard of since. And yes, it’s true that the game in general was higher scoring then, that is somewhat offset by the shorter seasons that were played.
Most of Gretzky’s records are so far ahead of the field that there are only a couple that anyone even reasonably thinks a currently living player could have a shot at.
I had the privilege of living in Edmonton during Gretzky’s heyday, and I got to see quite a few games in person. The guy was simply amazing. The tenor of the game changed every time he skated on the ice. Even when he wasn’t scoring he was rocking the other team back on its heals. He could make a play from anywhere on the ice that would would set up a scoring opportunity. He had eyes in the back of his head and always seemed to know when someone was open, or a defencemen was caught out of position. Fifty goals in 39 games.
I saw Gretzky and Hasek play at their peaks. Gretzky wasn’t better than Hasek (and visa versa)
Stretching the “sportspeople” title past the breaking point:
Thoroughbred racing – Secretariat
In the last one of these threads we had, somebody mentioned a female long-distance bicycle racing athlete who broke the men’s record. A cursory Google dosen’t turn it up, but then thats not a sport I know anything about.
Autosport is a pretty pointless one to do. Are you going to go for the guy who’s achieved multiple things in one form of driver-racing (e.g. M. Schumacher) or someone who has achieved globally (in more than one forum) but not so many (e.g. J. Villeneuve)? Are you going to give points to those that had the talent to achieve great things but didn’t (Villeneuve Sr.) or those that had the greatest of talent but died before they got a chance to put things out of reach (A. Senna)?
Not to mention the many different types of cars/eras/technological driver aids/electronics etc. that set all these different forms of racing apart (e.g. Rallying, F1, KART, NASCAR - oval or street-track) both within the individual categories and between them.
I’m not sure how you compare goalies to centers and conclude that one was better than the other just by watching them on the ice for a game or two. Gretzky’s stats are simply unreal. Hasek was pretty dominant for a few years, but I’m not even sure he’s the greatest goalie of all time, let alone greatest hockey player. I’d have to do a serious comparison between him and Patrick Roy, Grant Fuhr, Bernie Parent, Vladislav Tretiak, Ken Dryden, and Jacques Plante.
But when you ask hockey fans who the greatest player ever was, I’d guess about 95% would say Gretzky. He’s as close to a lock as anyone in any sport, given that there is some subjectivity involved.
I think you could make the case for Hull, Howe, and Orr. With players careers spanning such different eras, I don’t think statistics are the only way to go.
I didn’t say one was better than the other.
When I saw Gretzky and Hasek play their best, they both were like the only two guys on the ice who mattered. Like they came down from a higher league.
For all the Roy’s and Tretiaks you can fairly compare Hasek to, there are also Orrs and Howe’s that can fairly be compared to Gretzky
I agree with you, though… it’s impossible to compare goalies and skaters.
A different question (not related to the Gretzky/Hasek debate)… would you back someone who was friggin’ amazing for a shortwhile… or someone who was slightly less so for a longer period of time? Was Jim Brown greater than Walter Payton… was Sandy Koufax greater than Cy Young?
I really think that Bradman has the greatest claim to be the greatest ever - he is so far in front of his competitors.
His batting average is 99.94.
To put this in perspective: A good batsman would be in the mid 30s, a really good one in the 40s and one or two “all time greats” would get to the 50s. Bradman’s is double that.
He was so dominant that the England team had to pretty much re-write the rules of cricket to play him (the “bodyline” series - which the Aussies STILL haven’t stopped whining about).
Another possibility is:
Pole Vault - Sergei Bubka
Pound for pound, Mike Bossy was a better player than Wayne Gretzky, but his career was shortened by injury.
FWIW:
Baseball : Ty Cobb
Football: Brett Favre (Ray Nitchke close second)
Soccer: Pele
Basketball: Wilt Chamberlain or Jordan
Drivers: Jeff Gordon (close seconds are Richard Petty and Mike Schumaker)
Hockey: Mario Lemieux (with a nod to Gretzky)
*all subject to change as athletes keep improving over the years.
Diving: Greg Louganis
Off-road trucks: “Ironman” Ivan Stewart
Sumo: Asashoryu if he can keep it up. Otherwise, Taiho and Chiyonofuji.
NASCAR: Richard Petty
Decathlon: Dan O’Brien
F1: The rotten bastards who order Michael Schumacher’s teammates to let him win.
Football kicker: Jason Elam (Hey, I’m from Hawaii, whaddya expect me to put?)
Some really light weightlifting class: Naim “Pocket Hercules” Suleymagnolu
Beach volleyball: Randy Stoklos
Football franchise quarterback: John Elway (The miraculous 11th-hour victory drives, the terrorized defenses, the crushing Super Bowl calamaties…and finally, finally getting a decent line and a running back who can actually get a first down, and triumphing twice. He had it all.)
Grass court tennis: Pete Sampras
Golf (short-term legend): Tiger Woods
Golf (career legend): Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer
Golf (groundbreaker): Annika Sorenstam
Horse that accomplished absolutely nothing other than preventing a Triple Crown: War Emblem (especially since he was orignally a favorite to win it)
Ultimate Fighting Championship: Tito Ortiz
NBA multiple champion who will never get his due because of that damn shooting guard: 4-way tie between Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant, Dennis Rodman, and Phil Jackson. 
You misspelled Babe Ruth.
Much as I love the Bulls, Phil’s the only one who really belongs on that list. Rodman was the ultimate one-dimensional player, not to mention the freakshow publicity whore he turned himself into. I’d rather have Ben Wallace. Grant was a very good third option, and Scottie had some great years but his attitude and injuries got in the way.
For Phil, meanwhile, people will go to any length to deny him credit. Michael, Scottie won a grand total of zero championships without him. Shaq had none, and I don’t think the Heat will go all the way this year. Kobe had none, and the Lakers aren’t going anywhere this year either (although I can’t go as far as to predict he’ll never win another one). Oh well. I guess he can deal with getting undercredit - he’s got the millions of dollars and nine NBA championships after all.