The most goals in one football season in the UK premier division is sixty, by William “Dixie” Dean. This record will never be broken.
I was all there, but don’t ask beat me to it. Bowling records (in cricket, I mean) are being broken all the time, but I don’t see Jim Laker’s feat of dismissing 19 (out of 20; 10 per innings, 2 innings a side per match) opponents in a Test ever being beaten, unless as a deliberate stunt.
Similarly, I don’t think any bowler taking a meaningful number of Test wickets will ever approach S. F. Barnes’s record of seven per match (his total of 189 has been long since surpassed, but in many more than his 27-Test career).
I think some of Jerry Rice’s records are a good bet for being safe:
Most Seasons, 50 or More Pass Receptions - 17
Most Consecutive Games, Pass Receptions - 273
Most Seasons, 1,000 or More Yards, Pass Receiving - 14
Most Games, 100 or More Yards Pass Receiving, Career - 75
His stats are so good because he was so good for so long with a potent offense.
We might not see this combination of skill, longevity, and stretch of winning seasons again.
The Red Sox didn’t have the record, or even second place on the list. The Cubs haven’t won the World Series since 1908, the White Sox since 1917.
For unbreakable records, you have to look at sports that have changed fundamentally so much that it isn’t even conceivable that somebody as good would come along and exceed a number. Jerry Rice’s and Dan Marino’s football records can be broken because the game hasn’t changed much. Pharmaceutical technologies might make Lance Armstrong’s record reachable. Cy Young’s 511 pitching wins are out of reach in an age when only rare pitchers reach 300.
Yeah, it was Cy Youngs that leaped out to me. Bear in mind that’s 25+ YEARS of 20-win seasons. And these days we have occasional seasons where it looks like NO ONE will reach 20 wins.
Ty Cobb’s lifetime batting average of .366.
Unless there’s a massive shift in the way hockey is played, Wayne Gretzky’s records are quite safe. I don’t care how good a forward is, defencemen and goalies are far better today than they ever have been. And no one’s touching Teemu Selanne’s record of 72 goals in a rookie season, either.
Umm, I could be wrong, but it sounds like the new agreement may have a “massive shift in the way hockey is played” in it.
So maybe in 20 more years someone will be assaulting the great ones records.
In the world of professional bowling, Walter Ray Williams, Jr. holds the all-time record for consecutive 200+ games with 61.
I don’t care how good you are and how hot you are at the time, lane conditions change too much over the course of tournaments, and you’re going to have an “off” game here and there. That record is insanity, and I highly doubt it will ever be beaten.
Don’t count on it. At best, half of the rule changes will be benign, but I will not be surprised to see some of them(like taking out the two line pass) reduce scoring, not increase it.
Ok, I’m a casual fan. It sounded like they might take a page from MLB and increase scoring to try and bring back casual fans. They seem to realize that only diehard fans will be back at first if nothing changes.
How about Mark Spitz 7 Gold Medals in 1 olympics, is that unbreakable?
I’ve not researched it back, but I believe these two are records. Both also have a chance to continue to build this year. If anyone knows of better performances in the past, then I’ll happily be corrected.
Consecutive regular season starting QB wins to begin a career – Ben Roethlisberger with 13+
It’ll be a looong time before someone bangs out 13 in a row to start his career. And who knows…the Steelers have a pair of soft games to begin 2005…he could easily wind up with 15 straight or more before his first regular season loss.
Consecutive post-season QB wins - Tom Brady with 9+
Undefeated in three trips to the playoffs. Unreal.
If it is ever broken, I want to be able to see it when somebody gains the Heavyweight Boxing Championship (I guess the alphabet soup issue will need to be dealt with first) for the fourth time. Muhammad Ali got it three times.
This is an excellent point. Career records can conceivably be broken by someone down the road who plays a long time. Another good example of a diminishing stat in baseball is complete games. In these times with pitching specialists (7th inning guy, the setup guy, the closer), complete games are few and far between. In the old days, pitchers close out their own games, win or lose. Not anymore. The post-1900 season record of 48 by Jack Chesbro is very very safe.
Other records that are tough to beat are the ones that depend on a combination of skill and luck. A good example is Orel Hershiser’s 1988 record of 59 consecutive shutout innings. But this one has a chance of being broken because I once thought that Don Drysdale’s 58.2 innings of shutout ball would never be broken. Yet Hershiser beat Drysdale by one out.
Cite? Widely suspected is different than known.
I used to think Allie Brandt’s 3 game score of 886 (games of 297, 289 and 300) bowled back in the 1930’s would stand for quite a long while. However, with modern technology and short oil on the lanes, bowling has now recorded at least six perfect series (3 game total of 900) in the last 7 years or so.
The awesome thing about this is that, in order to do it, Hershiser needed his team to not score any runs for nine innings.
The reason is, as the last regular-season game he pitched began , Hershiser had collected 49 consecutive scoreless innings. So, even if he pitched a shutout, he would have ended his season with 58.
Aft
After nine innings, the score stood at 0-0. So Hershiser was able to come out in the tenth and pitch one more scoreless inning and break the record.
The Dodgers eventually lost 2-1 in 16 innings.
The next game he pitched was game 1 of the LCS, and he pitched 8 more scoreless innings before the Mets broke through in the 9th.
Yeah, regarding Armstrong, Indurian’s rein of 5-straight from 1991-95 was called unbeatable at its conclusion. How long did it take for someone to start chipping away at it? Four years.
It’s certainly possible, and I’d say even likely if the event continues in a form similar to today for another 100 years.
That strikes me as a record that, statistically, WILL be broken someday, guaranteed.
I don’t follow football much, so… how on earth could someone punt the ball 98 yards? Isn’t an average punt like 35 yards?