Greatest Sportsman of All Time?

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So, he has been mentioned a few times in here, and I maybe should go back and read, but instead I'll ask someone to tell me about the career of Sir Donald Bradman, and, for perspective's sake, tell me about the best contemporary of his so I can understand the gap between the two. Layman's terms when possible, please, as I'm a doltish American. But, I do want to know more, not from Wikipedia but from someone who has a passion for the sport and can tell me things above and beyond his statistics. Please.
 
Is there a reason why most non-Americans are defensive about their sports? By defensive I mean, trying to take a shit on American sports any time this conversation comes up?
 
Just as I was groaning about how this thread had become yet another bitchfest between Americans and non-Americans, the following posts made me literally laugh out loud.

Oh, no doubt. I'm not denying his physical conditioning - dude walked in the desert for 40 years. But walking? Not a sport. Nor is talking to a bush. Nor making a staff turn into snakes. They might be games, but not sports. And the parting of the water - badass? Hell yeah. He's a better showman that David Copperfield, Kriss Angel and Doug Henning combined - but water parting is not a sport either. The closest I can give him is baby kayaking, but we're never told where he actually placed. He may have come in dead last for all we know - or, he may have set the goddamn Baby Kayacking World Record for fastest run down the Nile -we'll never know - but even then...c'mon? Baby Kayacking? That's barely a sport. And even if it is, I'll go home right now and throw my 4 week old in a kayack and send him down the Husdon, and if it takes all night we'll break that goddamn record, whatever it may be - I don't need no divine intervention, I got balsa wood - but does that make my month old kid the greatest sportsman ever? No way. No way. Get real. Come on.

Have there really been so few good Jewish athletes that you have to go back circa 5000 years to find one? Come on, man. Holding two cement slabs with rules written on them is technically not sport.

Oh man... Beav, you have exceeded yourself with those two posts.


Brilliant! :lol: I call it American Rugby but HandEgg is funnier.

I was thinking of making a Canadian Football joke at this juncture but we all know that Canadian Footbal is a joke...

Canadians... so modest and self deprecating.
 
Is there a reason why most non-Americans are defensive about their sports? By defensive I mean, trying to take a shit on American sports any time this conversation comes up?


GAF, I love you man and appreciate the similarities we share on this site like Pearl Jam, REM and what not but I'm sorry I have to use your post as a negative example here...

It's almost too difficult for me to comprehend the fail in this thread. cricket? really? you're gonna seriously compare a fucking cricket player to michael jeffrey jordan? nigga please.

LMP, you really think the attitude displayed in the above post won't piss off non-Americans? Either pretending that non-American sports are not valid or scoffing at world level legends in said sports.. or calling your national tournament as the world series. :crack: Oh dear! The explanation that foreign players also play in the so called world series is weak. America wins everytime though, doesn't it? It's not Mexico or Japan winning. :wink: So basically it's a national series.


ETA: As for the topic, it is impossible to name one person as greatest sportsman EVAR!!1 So I will make multiple picks:

Pele, Maradonna, Lothar Matttheus, Jeurgen Klinsmann, Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Steffi Graf, Gabriela Sabatini, Kapil Dev... I'm sure there's lots more but these will do for now.
 
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GAF, I love you man and appreciate the similarities we share on this site like Pearl Jam, REM and what not but I'm sorry I have to use your post as a negative example here...



LMP, you really think the attitude displayed in the above post won't piss off non-Americans? Either pretending that non-American sports are not valid or scoffing at world level legends in said sports.. or calling your national tournament as the world series. :crack: Oh dear! The explanation that foreign players also play in the so called world series is weak. America wins everytime though, doesn't it? It's not Mexico or Japan winning. :wink: So basically it's a national series.

Except for the two times Canada has won the World Series.
 
Canada is America's hat, NSW. You of all people should know this.
 
I was thinking of making a Canadian Football joke at this juncture but we all know that Canadian Footbal is a joke...

If we had more than 8 teams and quality players, it would be a cool league. The CFL rules make for a much more exciting game. That being said, I'll only watch the CFL/Argos if I have tickets and am not planning on driving. I'm a Miami fan
 
or calling your national tournament as the world series. :crack: Oh dear! The explanation that foreign players also play in the so called world series is weak. America wins everytime though, doesn't it? It's not Mexico or Japan winning. :wink: So basically it's a national series.

:yawn:

This again? Are you aware of the history behind the name, why it was called that in the first place?
 
GAF, I love you man and appreciate the similarities we share on this site like Pearl Jam, REM and what not but I'm sorry I have to use your post as a negative example here...

Yeah, that was a stupid post by me. I was packing and about to get on a plane and didn't get to flesh out an actual argument. I might try to put together some thoughts here later today. But, really, the original question will only lead to silliness because we're comparing different athletes playing completely different games in completely different eras. It's apples and bananas.

I missed the last few pages of the thread, but I do want to say that I think people rely far, far, far too heavily on statistics when evaluating athletic performance. There is so much more to sports than statistics.

Also, did anyone tell namkcur that it's dominant, not dominate?
 
:yawn:

This again? Are you aware of the history behind the name, why it was called that in the first place?

Enlighten me, o wise one. I'm all ears.

the original question will only lead to silliness because we're comparing different athletes playing completely different games in completely different eras. It's apples and bananas.

Now this I can 100% agree with.
 
Enlighten me, o wise one. I'm all ears.

One school of thought is that when the modern series began in 1903, it was sponsored by the New York World newspaper, and the name stuck over time.

However, even before 1903, the championship series between the winners of the National League and the American League was referred to as the World's Championship because the sport's powers that be planned to expand it globally.

"By 1890, the Spalding Guide was explaining that "[t]he base ball championship of the United States necessarily includes that of the entire world, though the time will come when Australia will step in as a rival, and after that country will come Great Britain; but all that is for the future."

Whatever it is, I think it's time you let this one go. :shrug:
 
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