Greatest of All Time?

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InnervisionsUMASS
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Greatest of All Time?

Post by InnervisionsUMASS » Mon Feb 08, 2021 8:36 am

So with last night, there seems to be a lot of chatter of Greatest of All Time. Not just for the NFL, but all major sports and all sports.

What say you? Who is the Greatest in each and overall?
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Re: Greatest of All Time?

Post by InnervisionsUMASS » Mon Feb 08, 2021 8:48 am

For example, Bob Ryan had this to say:
Bill Russell remains 1. From 1955-1969 he played for 16 titles (NCAA, Olympics, NBA). Won 14 and was hurt in one of the losses. Beaten legit once. Case closed. Brady 2. Jordan 3.
https://twitter.com/GlobeBobRyan/status ... 24898?s=20
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Re: Greatest of All Time?

Post by Old Cage » Mon Feb 08, 2021 9:32 am

I signed on to vote for Russell. Had not seen the Ryan quote. Not influenced at all by caddying for Russ once at a charity event at Oak Hill in Fitchburg. :)
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Re: Greatest of All Time?

Post by 69MG » Mon Feb 08, 2021 9:50 am

Hard to disagree with Bill Russell, the ultimate winner in team sports. I'm old enough to remember watching his battles with Wilt Chamberlain and games with 50 rebounds. That's right, 50 freakin' rebounds.

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Re: Greatest of All Time?

Post by inthescoop » Tue Feb 09, 2021 9:44 pm

No way would I put Brady ahead of Jordan. You don’t play offense and defense in football. And Jordan never lost.

Also some New England folks are just delusional; my friend said that Tom Brady is the greatest athlete of all time. Quarterback? Sure. But athlete? Wow. Brady isn’t even a top athlete in any football game he’s been in. How can you say that Brady is a better athlete than LeBron..

I would say Serena Williams should be mentioned immediately. She won the Australian Open pregnant, that is incredible.

Wayne Gretzky. Michael Phelps. To name a couple more. They dominated!

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Re: Greatest of All Time?

Post by TheInsider » Wed Feb 10, 2021 9:10 am

Athlete.. no.. Winner? Leader? Yes. I mean Mahomes is far more physically talented than Brady. Bo Jackson anyone? He was just flat out better than anyone else no matter the playing field.

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Re: Greatest of All Time?

Post by harbo » Wed Feb 10, 2021 12:01 pm

Brady is now tied with Bart Starr and Otto Graham for the most championships won by a starting quarterback in professional football. All three did what they needed to do to help get their team over the top, so it is tough to separate them. Starr and Graham each had a pretty decent head coach and organization, as did Brady. Brady had the luxury of expanded playoffs, but he still had to navigate through those games.

GOAT discussions are always fun. Niklaus and Palmer (throw in Player if you want) had a nice rivalry going. Could either one by themselves achieve more than the run that Tiger had? What about Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan and Sam Snead back in the day?

Pele dominated, and that domination expanded the game of futbol and helped catch the attention of the sleepy American sporting public.

Is Babe Ruth still baseball's GOAT or can we move him down the list? Plenty of players with better stats, but the Babe was the first superstar.

Julius Erving (I'm biased) played a major role in changing the game of basketball. Russell or Jordan (throw in Wilt) probably had dominated more.

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Re: Greatest of All Time?

Post by inthescoop » Thu Feb 11, 2021 12:27 am

For soccer, I think we are currently looking at the 2 best players in history right now, Messi and Ronaldo. But some would argue Maradona, and Pele definitely put his name on the map first.

Baseball is a really tough one. Babe Ruth was the first superstar for sure, but it was such a different era, and Babe Ruth never played against any African-Americans. I could never call him the greatest baseball player.

For the longest, I thought that only 2 sports have a true GOAT. Basketball and hockey: Jordan and Gretzky.

Boxing? Before Mike Tyson got into some issues, he was on pace to be the best. I guess you can say the same about Tiger.

For tennis, I would say it’s Federer, but what a golden age it has been with Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic dominating the last 20 years.

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Re: Greatest of All Time?

Post by e_parade » Thu Feb 11, 2021 8:48 am

Just chiming in to say it's hard to have this conversation without also talking about female athletes like Serena Williams. Talking about golden age of tennis right there, right along with Federer, Nadal, and Jokovich.

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Re: Greatest of All Time?

Post by harbo » Thu Feb 11, 2021 9:52 pm

I'm down between Mil Mascaras and Chief Jay Strongbow. 8)

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Re: Greatest of All Time?

Post by Floyd » Fri Feb 12, 2021 8:28 am

Hey scoop, I'll throw Bobby Orr into the hockey GOAT discussion. Skill level was above everyone else and changed the defenseman's role offensively.
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Re: Greatest of All Time?

Post by McKinney » Fri Feb 12, 2021 9:35 am

Tom Brady is the only person I've heard referred to as "the goat" in mainstream media & advertising. As in outside of sports and being used like a nickname, not just a level of status. Could just be my age though.

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Re: Greatest of All Time?

Post by Old Cage » Fri Feb 12, 2021 10:07 am

Bringing this full circle - Channel 4 story today: https://boston.cbslocal.com/2021/02/12/ ... el-jordan/
"Jack didn’t have any envy in him," Calipari said. "He was the greatest coach to ever coach here."

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Re: Greatest of All Time?

Post by LS71 » Fri Feb 12, 2021 10:08 am

A lot depends on how 'greatest' is defined. Is it individual performance? Is it championships?

https://www.nbcsports.com/boston/patrio ... hl-and-mlb

I think it's really hard to compare eras. That said, to me Babe Ruth was uniquely great...pitching and hitting records that stood the test off time and transcended eras. He was SO much better than his peers and saved the game after the Black Sox scandal.

I agree with Floyd...can't leave Bobby Orr out of the hockey conversation.

Jim Brown has to be in the football conversation as well and many say he was the best lacrosse player ever.

Few athletes were as talented all around as Jim Thorpe. He won both the decathlon and the pentathlon in the same Olympics and played in both the Major League and the NFL.

Boxing? Weight classes each have their greats...Jack Johnson, Ali, Tyson prior to the Buster Douglas fight, Sugar Ray Robinson, Sugar Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran, just to name a few.
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Re: Greatest of All Time?

Post by Floyd » Fri Feb 12, 2021 11:30 am

TheInsider wrote: Wed Feb 10, 2021 9:10 am Athlete.. no.. Winner? Leader? Yes. I mean Mahomes is far more physically talented than Brady. Bo Jackson anyone? He was just flat out better than anyone else no matter the playing field.
I agree. Probably one of the greatest pure athletes ever. Power, speed, hand/eye coordination. And one of the better marketed athletes. Bo knows ... everything
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