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Second greatest sportsman?

Quite happy to call Muhammad Ali the greatest sportsman ever, because he transcended sport.

Who would rank as the second greatest and why?

* should have said sports person.
(edited 7 years ago)

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you're only saying that because he recently died
Donald Bradman. With an average of 99 in cricket for test matches, I doubt any man can compete with his batting skills. He was a class apart!

Nowadays the highest averages for test matches touch 50-60.

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Reply 3
Original post by KloppOClock
you're only saying that because he recently died


No. I started the thread because of his recent death, but he's always been the greatest anyway.

Feel free to make your own suggestion, especially if you feel there was someone better.
Original post by 999tigger
No. I started the thread because of his recent death, but he's always been the greatest anyway.

Feel free to make your own suggestion, especially if you feel there was someone better.


well its difficult to say the greatest sportsmen ever as you cant really compare someone like messi to muhammad ali
Reply 5
Original post by KloppOClock
well its difficult to say the greatest sportsmen ever as you cant really compare someone like messi to muhammad ali


But he hasnt done anything outside play football?
Not won a world cup.
Original post by 999tigger
But he hasnt done anything outside play football?
Not won a world cup.


5 time balon dor winner. Won everything there is to win apart from the world cup.
Reply 7
Original post by KloppOClock
5 time balon dor winner. Won everything there is to win apart from the world cup.


Ok if you think Messi is the greatest sportsman ever, thats cool.
Original post by 999tigger
Ok if you think Messi is the greatest sportsman ever, thats cool.


no but he is certainly better than muhammad ali
Reply 9
Original post by KloppOClock
no but he is certainly better than muhammad ali


Why? what has he done outside football?
Original post by 999tigger
Why? what has he done outside football?



its not what he has done outside of football, its what he's done within it. You might not see a better footballer within the next 50 years.
Original post by 999tigger
Quite happy to call Muhammad Ali the greatest sportsman ever, because he transcended sport.

Who would rank as the second greatest and why?

* should have said sports person.

Bruce Lee!
Reply 12
Original post by KloppOClock
its not what he has done outside of football, its what he's done within it. You might not see a better footballer within the next 50 years.


You might not see an all round sports person who transcended sport the way he did ever again. Dont think you realise how bug he was in his day or his impact on the civil rights movement.
Original post by 999tigger
You might not see an all round sports person who transcended sport the way he did ever again. Dont think you realise how bug he was in his day or his impact on the civil rights movement.


i didnt realise activism made you a better sportsman
Reply 14
Original post by KloppOClock
i didnt realise activism made you a better sportsman


He used his position to transcend sport. Its an all round view.
5 balon dor's doesnt do it for me
Original post by 999tigger
He used his position to transcend sport. Its an all round view.
5 balon dor's doesnt do it for me


well if your on about transcending sport, were not really discussing the greatest sportsperson, were discussing the greatest activist.
Original post by KloppOClock
well if your on about transcending sport, were not really discussing the greatest sportsperson, were discussing the greatest activist.


I think there are ways of transcending sport that don't just involve being an activist or even being a personality, but someone who is so great in their sport that it draws in new followers to the game etc.

Tiger Woods before his decline was like this - golf basically got a huge boost from Tiger Woods' popularity.

Usain Bolt is the same for sprinting. Jonah Lomu for rugby in teh 1990s.

In tennis I think the trio of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic, playing at the same time have done it for men's tennis. For women's tennis I'd be tempted to say Serena Williams but women's tennis has had a succession of these iconic players, Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova and Steffi Graf, so she's not quite as unique.

Back in the 1980s, Daley Thompson was like this for decathlon and athletics in general. Most people today can't name a decathlete but the whole multi-event nature of it meant it was the glamour event in the 1980s and when I was a young kid Daley was seen as the ultimate human athlete.
Original post by MagicNMedicine
I think there are ways of transcending sport that don't just involve being an activist or even being a personality, but someone who is so great in their sport that it draws in new followers to the game etc.

Tiger Woods before his decline was like this - golf basically got a huge boost from Tiger Woods' popularity.

Usain Bolt is the same for sprinting. Jonah Lomu for rugby in teh 1990s.

In tennis I think the trio of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic, playing at the same time have done it for men's tennis. For women's tennis I'd be tempted to say Serena Williams but women's tennis has had a succession of these iconic players, Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova and Steffi Graf, so she's not quite as unique.

Back in the 1980s, Daley Thompson was like this for decathlon and athletics in general. Most people today can't name a decathlete but the whole multi-event nature of it meant it was the glamour event in the 1980s and when I was a young kid Daley was seen as the ultimate human athlete.


I agree with that, I just don't think you should rate how great sportspeople are by how much charity/activism they have done.
Reply 18
Original post by KloppOClock
you're only saying that because he recently died


That is the sad truth of everything, some artists make the most of their sales after their death, that doesn't really make much sense does it? They get a boost in popularity and they don't even know it.
Original post by KloppOClock
I agree with that, I just don't think you should rate how great sportspeople are by how much charity/activism they have done.


I agree, but nobody would have given a **** what Muhammed Ali thought about the Vietnam War etc if he was a journeyman boxer.

The only reason he got famous as a personality was because he was dominant.

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