If you have been alive during the last 25 years you have seen the best

[WorldNumberOne]

i was born in 1962 and really started watching sports and knowing who the players were around 72 or 73.

my generation has been privledged with growing up watching the greatest players in every sport.

MLB , bonds
NHL , gretzky
NFL , rice
NBA , jordan
TENNIS , sampras, graf
GOLF , woods

not to mention all the other all time greats that have played like clemens, ripken, griffey,reggie jackson, lemeiux, hull, roy, payton, montana, barry sanders, farve, magic, bird, dr. j,kareem, mcenroe, borg, nicklaus, watson.

been a good time to be a sports fan.

 

[lander]

The older guys can't complain about Wilt, Gordie, Mickey, Johnnie U or The Bear.

Not to sure who the old fart tennis stars were before Mc, Berg and Connors.

 

[blueedwards]

i agree. but, i would have loved to see babe ruth or mickey mantle play.

by the way, ripken does not belong on your list.

 

[WorldNumberOne]

i put ripken on there because of the way he carried himself. and the fact he broke a record that will stand until the end of time.

sometimes i wish i had been born 7 years earlier so i could have known who mantle, koufax, gibson and clemente were. i was too young to realize how great they were.

 

[jjgold]

I think we are seeing Rice was just a great reciever as many today are just as good

 

[jjgold]

Ripken was an averager shortstop period

 

[lander]

Imagine how much better the athletes will be if US sports truly become global like soccer. You see it a little baseball and football, but there's a world of talent that hasn't been developed.

 

[WildBill]

I doubt it Lander, the reason why the world does so well in soccer and so so in other sports is the size factor. The US' cultural diversity has led to a lot of incredibly talented big people. I can't stress this enough, go race a guy that is 6'6 and 310 pounds on the track. These big guys can run damn near as fast as most good athletes built at more reasonable proportions. In soccer it is almost a disadvantage to be big, lean guys built like distance runners with shorter stature is usually the ideal body composition to succeed. You can't say that about most sports.

 

[houstongambler]

Well,have seen Borg,Conners,Mcenroe,and most of the others,but if you get a chance go see who will be the greatest player of all time,Federer.

 

[Kabbagecough]

Lander ...You forgot the greatest of them all .... Jim Brown. Watched him in Cleveland as a kid. Nobody compares.

 

[bubba-sc]

my generation has been privledged with growing up watching the greatest players in every sport.

MLB , bonds*
































































* cheater

 

[charleslanger]

Except for Woods & Gretsky, those choices not only are wrong for all-time, they're even debatable for the era they played in. And selecting Woods is a bit premature-- if he continues slippping during the next few years, or if his career is cut short(i happen to think he'll dominate again next year).

MLB , bonds
NHL , gretzky
NFL , rice
NBA , jordan
TENNIS , sampras, graf
GOLF , woods

 

[WildBill]

You don't think Jordan was the best ever in NBA? The tennis picks are a bit sketchy and Bonds is one of those things where he is the best ever, but with that ugly asterisk next to it. Rice isn't a bad pick, but way too tough to pick one NFL player as best all time, just no way to do it. After all is Rice good because Montana/Young threw it to him or were Montana/Young good because Rice was catching it?

 

[wilheim]

1. Michael Jordan ( reluctantly)
2. Wayne Gretzkey
3. Muhammad Ali
4. Babe Ruth
5. Hank Aaron
6. Bobby Orr
7. Nolan Ryan
8. Lance Armstrong
9. Magic Johnson
10 Oscar Robertson
11. Mario Lemieux
12. Bill Russell
13. Edwin Moses
14. Ted Williams
15. Lary Bird



wil.

 

[charleslanger]

Re Jordan:

IF we're defining greatest as not only the best overall stats, but also who best improved the sport & league: how they elevated the game & league integrity-wise / role model-type: unselfish team play which improved the stats / elevated the level of play of their individual teammates... & complete dedication to the game demonstrated by their work habits on & off-season:

Give me first: 1. Larry Byrd, 2. Magic Johnson, 3. Dr. J, 4. Bill Russell.....

and not MJ, W. Chamberlain, R. Barry......

 

[MrGoodDr]

Bubba

You be soooooooo right there.
Well said too!!, Just another one, but a "bigen" !

 

[charleslanger]

Re Ripken: as an Orioles fan, i never thought his streak was commendable: you don't help a team by playing hurt-- esp. at that position, and worse-- this robbed very capable subs of valuable exp / play time.

 

[trytrytry]

i was too young to remember the races in 1972-1974 but add Secretariat.

And the most dominant athlete of the past 30 years Martina NAvratalova.

i was born in 1962 and really started watching sports and knowing who the players were around 72 or 73.

my generation has been privledged with growing up watching the greatest players in every sport.

MLB , bonds
NHL , gretzky
NFL , rice
NBA , jordan
TENNIS , sampras, graf
GOLF , woods

not to mention all the other all time greats that have played like clemens, ripken, griffey,reggie jackson, lemeiux, hull, roy, payton, montana, barry sanders, farve, magic, bird, dr. j,kareem, mcenroe, borg, nicklaus, watson.

been a good time to be a sports fan.

 

[THE SHRINK]

The older guys can't complain about Wilt, Gordie, Mickey, Johnnie U or The Bear.

Not to sure who the old fart tennis stars were before Mc, Berg and Connors.

Rod Laver...

 

[Fishhead]

OldmanTed-----

Bill Tilden

Jack Dempsey

Babe Ruth

Don Hudson

Bobby Jones