How Mant Truely Great Athletes are playing now?

[sq764]

This Munson special made me think of Roberto Clemente's crash and reminded me of another great one I never got to see. It also got me to thinking how many GREAT players play right now in professional sports.

My list will be different from most, but a few great ones I have seen in my lifetime (born in 1973): ( I am certain I will miss some)

Joe Montana
John Elway
Mike Schmidt
Nolan Ryan
Roger Clemens (I can say that since he's not a Yankee now :-)
Dr J
Larry Bird
Michael Jordan
Gretzky

[Buckeye]

Favre

[melman]

We may not like the guy but lets face it Barry Bonds is a GREAT one. I hate to say it but in my view the greatest of all time. What unreal stats the man has. And that is when they are not walking him. Which is a huge percentage of the time.

[sq764]

greatest of all time? haha

did you just start watching baseball this year?

[melman]

Yeah just started!! BTW who is Mike Schmidt??? Bonds will be in the Hall of Fame 1st time up and by a wide vote.

[sq764]

Who is Mike Schmidt? Check the Hall of Fame under 'S'

[melman]

Sorry you failed to see the humor in my previous post. I have Schmidt as the best 3rd baseman of all time.

[sq764]

I see Bonds as a great one, certainly.. But best of all time? No way..

[melman]

Hey I do not even like the guy (Bonds) and the topic of best of all time is always in how you look at things. I would not even argue with someone calling Cy Young the best. Sure not an everyday player but look at his total wins. Then see other great ones like Ryan and Clemens and Mr Young is WAY ahead of all of them. BTW back to your first post, I think Magic Johnson should be on the list. If Bird and Dr J are there Magic was at least as good as both of them.

[Bubbles]

Two big-time Lakers are missing from the list.. Wilt "The Stilt" and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Both could absolutely KILL you, as displayed by their stats.

And I guess if you put Wilt up there, you've gotta include his main rival, Bill Russell. Like Wilt, he could hurt you. But in so many more ways than Wilt could.

[sq764]

I never saw Wilt Chamberlain play.. I guess Kareem could be on my list too.. I was never impressed by Magic..

Russell too I never saw..

[chickenhead]

I would add Barry Sanders to the list of All Time Greats of recent years, that guy was pretty special.

As for right now, I really can't come up with much for the NFL...I am a huge McNair fan, but he doesn't make the cut....Ray Lewis comes close...as for baseball....a few guys you could argue...Bonds, Clemens are the two clear ones...people will remember Jeter for a long time...I'm also a big Maddux fan but I don't know how well his legacy will hold up...

NBA right now....well, I suppose Shaq...but it's too early to add anyone else I think.

[Bubbles]

SHAQ? A truly great athlete? I must disagree.

Since when did being 7'1" and pushing 400 pounds constitute a great athlete? He misses a bunch of games every year because of a bum toe. A BUM TOE!

A great scorer? Yes. A great rebounder? Yes. But don't tell me he's a great athlete until he can keep up with guys like Iverson and Kidd in running up and down the court. In the NBA right now, I'd say the best athletes are Garnett and Duncan. They can do everything.

[cj]

Originally posted by sq764
I never saw Wilt Chamberlain play.. I guess Kareem could be on my list too.. I was never impressed by Magic..

Russell too I never saw..

If you were never impressed by Magic, you don't know basketball.

Thoughts on other posts in the thread...

Bonds, love him or hate him, is a great one.

Schmidt, best all around third baseman. Best fielding third baseman, Brooks.

Shaq is a great athlete. There have been many players as big, or bigger, than Shaq, and none could even lace his sneakers for him.

Emmit Smith, great one...nuff said on that subject.

A few others, Ripken, LT, Tim Duncan, and the one I can't believe has not been mentioned, JERRY RICE!

[chickenhead]

a lot of people don't realize it, but there are many 7'1" 400 lb people on the planet.....there is a reason Shaq is the only one dominating the NBA...talent and athleticism. Kind of like Lineman in the NFL...Gilbert Brown is an amazing athlete, not just some fat guy. I agree with you that Garnett and Duncan are great athletes....actually pretty much everyone in the NBA or NFL is a great athlete, it is mostly skill and mental approach that seperates good players from bad....we'll agree to disagree Bubbles.

[Tom]

Buckey Dent. He hit the shot heard round the world. Killed a whole city with one swing.

[Binder]

Hi my friend Sq

I see Bonds as a great one, certainly.. But best of all time? No way..

I wonder why you say that. NO WAY!
Best ever . What - Outfielder?
He is one of them, A 8 time gold glove winner

Home Run Hitter no question, 73 single season record, will hit over 700. May break record of 755

Best hitter ? he has won the batting crown 2002
a .297 lifetime average
Holds record for On base Pct. already .582 and will break that this year

MVP of his league; 6 times Maybe 7 this year?
if he doesn't win he will still get many votes

Voted Player of the 90's by The Sporting News

Base stealing. Only player ever to have 500 Homers/Steals

Consistentcy Shares record of 12 years (soon to become 13)
of 30+ homers

I would have to say myself he is One of the best ever
Players.

He is nasty and he is selfish. Unless he gets traded
probably will never win a world series
Had trouble early in his career in the post season
But his teams the Pirates and the Giants have won
division titles or wild cards in 90 91 92 97 2000 2002 and 2003
and he played well in the 2002 World Series His only chance there
To me baseball Players, Mostly for Outfielders
Its hard to say who is the best. He will be considered
one of the best ever by more then a few
when he is done
So I guess I would say he is ONE of the best in some ways

Thanks for reading my long message

Bind

[sq764]

CJ, just because someone doesn't agree with you doesn't mean they don't 'know basketball'.. (I know that is hard for you to fathom)

[Buckeye]

Bonds is at least PLAYING TODAY, which I thought was defined in the title of this thread.

Baseball: Bonds
Football: Favre
Basketball: Nobody
Hockey: Who cares?

[keilan]

Hockey: Who cares?

Don’t let your ignorance of a sport define you!

[Buckeye]

Hey Key,

Bobby Clark

[keilan]

Bobby Clark

Thanks for playing but you're not even close :D

[Buckeye]

Bobby Orr.

Closer? :)

[Tee]

Originally posted by sq764
I was never impressed by Magic..


For starters, I guess u missed the deciding game in the 1980 NBA finals.

http://www.nba.com/history/players/johnsonm_bio.html

[kingfin66]

Two of the players mentioned in the original post by SQ, Magic and Montana, were tremendous players in their sport, but were never considered to be the greatest of athletes.

Magic was unique in that he was a 6'9" point guard with incredible passing and ball handling skills. Montana, was an undersized QB who was considered too slow, and to have too weak of an arm. What he had was deadly accuracy and innate football skills that enabled him to elude trouble and find the open receiver. Oh yeah, did I mention that both of these guys were leaders? Great athletes - no, but great players - an emphatic YES.

These sports arguments are way more fun than the political ones.

[SAL]

Athletes vs Players

What is the difference? I've never understood it. Herschel Walker was a tremendous physical specimen, but an average running back. Babe Ruth was one of the greatest players ever, but you would never use him to model Speedos. To me, if you excel at whatever sport you play, that makes you a great athlete.

[cj]

Originally posted by sq764
CJ, just because someone doesn't agree with you doesn't mean they don't 'know basketball'.. (I know that is hard for you to fathom)

That is your tactic, so figured I'd use it on you...point made! Want me to go dig up the threads, or should I let it go?

[kingfin66]

Originally posted by SAL
Athletes vs Players

What is the difference? I've never understood it. Herschel Walker was a tremendous physical specimen, but an average running back. Babe Ruth was one of the greatest players ever, but you would never use him to model Speedos. To me, if you excel at whatever sport you play, that makes you a great athlete.

You're right. I guess I would define an athlete as one who can run fast, jump high, etc. It is definitely better to have a someone who can play the game. Greg Maddux is getting ready to win his 300th game (too bad he missed it today). He is small and doesn't throw hard. All he has done is get hitters out for many years by changing speeds and having pin point control. Contrast that this the scores of failed prospects who can throw 95 mph, but have no idea where the ball is going.

[sq764]

I guess the question is what makes an athlete great, rather than good?

My answer would be that to be great, you have to be able to take a game over by yourself..

Jordan could get go nuts and take the game over, like he was bigger than the game. I am not a big basketball fan, but the night he scored 63 against the Celtics was one of the best performances I have ever seen.

I thought Joe Montana was great.. One example was when they beat the Bengals in the Superbowl on the last drive.. He was like a surgeon on the field, calm, composed and flawless.