The GOAT

[Seymour M Hersh]

1 minute ago, Cruyff said:

Seve better than Woods? No chance.

 

Woods is the greatest to pick up a golf club, absolutely no question, he could hit any shot, shots that most top pros couldn't play, at his best he had the ball on a string. Seve was great, probably the greatest European ever but not in the same league as Woods, no chance.

 

Not in my opinion but your welcome to yours. 

[Sharpie]

Joe Louis, 

[The Gorgie]

For sports I like

 

Football - Zidane

Golf - Tiger

F1 - Hamilton, can't stand him tho.

Darts - Phil Taylor, can't stand him either.

[Shooter McGavin]

Football: Maradona

Golf: Tiger

Boxing: Mayweather

F1: Hamilton

Other: Michael Jordan

[ri Alban]

Schumacher and Senna are the F1 Gods. Lewis wouldn't last 2 minutes against them.

[rudi must stay]

For me it's Messi

[Cruyff]

3 hours ago, Seymour M Hersh said:

 

Not in my opinion but your welcome to yours. 

And you bud 👍

Edited July 2, 2022 by Cruyff

[Trajan]

Wayne Gretzky. Put up more assists than second placed point scorer Jaromir Jagr had in total points. Played nearly 250 fewer games too. And their careers overlapped by nearly a full decade. Nobody close for me. 

[Pasquale for King]

6 hours ago, ri Alban said:

MJ is 6 for 6 in NBA finals and MVP in all six.

Indeed, a wonderful sportsman and the only one to make more money than Woods. But as the Documentary, The last dance I think, showed that he needed his team mates to do it. 

[Pasquale for King]

6 hours ago, Seymour M Hersh said:

As fun as this tread is it's impossible, imo, to have a GOAT across all sports. You can only really be GOAT in one sport your own. However Bo Jackson gave it a good shot. 

In which sport 🤔😜?

[Pasquale for King]

6 hours ago, Seymour M Hersh said:

 

Woods would have won very few in the Golden Bear era. I'd also put Severiano Ballesteros Sota above Woods as a GOAT in golf. 

I loved Seve but I think you’re way off on both counts there. Nobody will touch Nicklaus major records, showing how difficult it is now. 

[stirlo]

6 hours ago, Cruyff said:

Seve better than Woods? No chance.

 

Woods is the greatest to pick up a golf club, absolutely no question, he could hit any shot, shots that most top pros couldn't play, at his best he had the ball on a string. Seve was great, probably the greatest European ever but not in the same league as Woods, no chance.

 

This is spot on IMO. At his peak, every aspect of Woods' game was brilliant - and of all sports, golf must be one of, if not the most difficult sports to master.

[Bull's-eye]

Eddie the Eagle.

 

Baws of steel.

[Tazio]

7 minutes ago, Bull's-eye said:

Eddie the Eagle.

 

Baws of steel.

The extra weight is probably why he couldn’t jump very far. 

[151]

Good thread, plenty of options and completely depends on what sports you are into and what era you watched.

 

Tom Brady

Michael Jordan

Phil Taylor

Lionel Messi

Zidane

Martin Brodeur

 

Some of my shouts without really thinking too much into it - but that's just on achievements.

 

My favourite players for example actually played alongside some of those names - Scottie Pippen and Guti to name two. But they would never be considered GOAT's.

 

[Seymour M Hersh]

6 hours ago, Pasquale for King said:

I loved Seve but I think you’re way off on both counts there. Nobody will touch Nicklaus major records, showing how difficult it is now. 

 

I wasn't putting Seve ahead of Jack just saying to the other poster I thought Seve was also ahead of Woods in the all time great golfer list. Just my opinion though and counts for naught. 

[ri Alban]

8 hours ago, Pasquale for King said:

Indeed, a wonderful sportsman and the only one to make more money than Woods. But as the Documentary, The last dance I think, showed that he needed his team mates to do it. 

Tiger needed his Dad and Caddie.

[1874robbo]

Rocky Balboa

went to Russia and beat Drago in his own backyard!!! No mean feat tbh.

Even had the Russians singing his name.

[Vlad Magic]

1 hour ago, ri Alban said:

Tiger needed his Dad and Caddie.

Tiger need his Nat King Cole 8 times a day.

[ri Alban]

1 hour ago, Vlad Magic said:

Tiger need his Nat King Cole 8 times a day.

Don't we all.

[AlimOzturk]

Ronaldo. (The real Ronaldo) 

 

At the peak of his game and injury and fat free he was unstoppable. He glided with ball. Only other players that excited me as much as him are Ronaldinho and Zidane but Ronaldo just pips them for me. 

[ri Alban]

 

[Footballfirst]

22 hours ago, ri Alban said:

Federer, Nadal and Djokovic are the greatest ever and completed against each other. If only one had been around, it's possible they'd have won every slam for 20 years 

The Rockhampton Rocket, Rod Laver, won 11 grand slams, but was banned from playing the slams for several years before the open era.  He also won all 4 slams twice, so was a master of all surfaces. He also won a record 198 singles titles during his career as well as 5 Davis Cups.

 

He may have held the slam record that the big three have been vying for recently, had he been allowed to compete against the likes of other Australians such as Roy Emerson, John Newcombe, Fred Stolle and Tony Roche who won slams during the mid 60s. 

 

Bjorn Borg would be another possible candidate, given that he also won 11 grand slams, but effectively retired in 1981 at age 25 (he did play one tournament in 1982). Who knows how many slams he could have won.

[ri Alban]

1 hour ago, Footballfirst said:

The Rockhampton Rocket, Rod Laver, won 11 grand slams, but was banned from playing the slams for several years before the open era.  He also won all 4 slams twice, so was a master of all surfaces. He also won a record 198 singles titles during his career as well as 5 Davis Cups.

 

He may have held the slam record that the big three have been vying for recently, had he been allowed to compete against the likes of other Australians such as Roy Emerson, John Newcombe, Fred Stolle and Tony Roche who won slams during the mid 60s. 

 

Bjorn Borg would be another possible candidate, given that he also won 11 grand slams, but effectively retired in 1981 at age 25 (he did play one tournament in 1982). Who knows how many slams he could have won.

Ken Rosewall and old man Pancho say "Haud ma Beer"

[McGlynn The Money]

On 02/07/2022 at 06:57, ri Alban said:

Who is the greatest sports star of all time? 

 

Still MJ for me. Unbelievable! I watch him and think Is that even possible.

 

 

Maradona, Suger Ray Robinson and Usian Bolt are the same. A gift from somewhere. 

 

 

 

Who is your 🐐

 

Muhammad Ali for me. Nobody else had the aura that he possessed.

[Pans Jambo]

On 02/07/2022 at 08:11, Costanza said:

Daley Thompson.

Best computer game as well.

 

For the computer game:

 

[stirlo]

5 hours ago, Footballfirst said:

The Rockhampton Rocket, Rod Laver, won 11 grand slams, but was banned from playing the slams for several years before the open era.  He also won all 4 slams twice, so was a master of all surfaces. He also won a record 198 singles titles during his career as well as 5 Davis Cups.

 

He may have held the slam record that the big three have been vying for recently, had he been allowed to compete against the likes of other Australians such as Roy Emerson, John Newcombe, Fred Stolle and Tony Roche who won slams during the mid 60s. 

 

Bjorn Borg would be another possible candidate, given that he also won 11 grand slams, but effectively retired in 1981 at age 25 (he did play one tournament in 1982). Who knows how many slams he could have won.

He was a bit before my time, but I know that many consider that Borg effectively invented a new way of playing the game that all the top players have been adopting ever since.

[Roxy Hearts]

3 hours ago, McGlynn The Money said:

 

Muhammad Ali for me. Nobody else had the aura that he possessed.

Muhammad Ali for me too. A hugely dominant figure during his time both in and out of the ring and will never be forgotten.

[AWM]

6 hours ago, Footballfirst said:

The Rockhampton Rocket, Rod Laver, won 11 grand slams, but was banned from playing the slams for several years before the open era.  He also won all 4 slams twice, so was a master of all surfaces. He also won a record 198 singles titles during his career as well as 5 Davis Cups.

 

He may have held the slam record that the big three have been vying for recently, had he been allowed to compete against the likes of other Australians such as Roy Emerson, John Newcombe, Fred Stolle and Tony Roche who won slams during the mid 60s. 

 

Bjorn Borg would be another possible candidate, given that he also won 11 grand slams, but effectively retired in 1981 at age 25 (he did play one tournament in 1982). Who knows how many slams he could have won.

 

3 of the slams were played on grass when Laver was playing.

[Unknown user]

On 02/07/2022 at 08:11, Costanza said:

Daley Thompson.

Best computer game as well.

Absolute joystick ****er, loved it

[milky_26]

ed moses, won 122 consecutive races and would most likely have had 3 olympic golds if it was not for the usa boycott of the 1980 moscow olympic games

[Tazio]

9 minutes ago, windsor1874 said:

Runners World's Greatest Runner of All Time- Emil Zatopek. 

 

Only person to ever win the 5000m, 10000m and the marathon in the same Olympics! In the space of a week!

 

Won't even be attempted ever again, let alone achieved.

 

And if I remember correctly it was his first ever marathon. 

[milky_26]

14 minutes ago, windsor1874 said:

Runners World's Greatest Runner of All Time- Emil Zatopek. 

 

Only person to ever win the 5000m, 10000m and the marathon in the same Olympics! In the space of a week!

 

Won't even be attempted ever again, let alone achieved.

 

i believe he also broke the olympic record for  those three events when he won in 1952 
(possibly the 5000m record was in 54)

Edited July 3, 2022 by milky_26

[Footballfirst]

9 minutes ago, windsor1874 said:

Runners World's Greatest Runner of All Time- Emil Zatopek. 

 

Only person to ever win the 5000m, 10000m and the marathon in the same Olympics! In the space of a week!

 

Won't even be attempted ever again, let alone achieved.

 

Jesse Owens set 4 world records in the space of 45 minutes in 1935 . The following year he won 4 Olympic gold medals in a week in Berlin.

[Watt-Zeefuik]

On 02/07/2022 at 11:21, ri Alban said:

MJ is 6 for 6 in NBA finals and MVP in all six.

On 02/07/2022 at 18:10, Pasquale for King said:

Indeed, a wonderful sportsman and the only one to make more money than Woods. But as the Documentary, The last dance I think, showed that he needed his team mates to do it. 

 

Basketball is very much a team sport, and even though certain players can take over, if one player is just going off you can eventually lock them down with a triple-team and make them pass the ball. In his early days, they did just that against Jordan, and he would still get to the quarter- or semi-finals carrying the team.

 

It's Jordan's retirement and absurd attempt to play baseball that in many ways drives home how amazing he was. Scottie Pippin deserves many of the accolades he got for playing Jordan's wingman, but after Jordan retired, those utterly unstoppable Bulls teams went to somewhat vanilla teams. Pippin willed them to the semi-finals again but it was  After he unretired close to the end of the season, he was rusty and the Bulls were mediocre, but then the next season he went straight back to completely destroying any opposition.

 

As a UNC fan (Jordan's college team, to whom he remains extremely loyal) I'm supposed to be a Jordan acolyte but I can say his attitude was always off-putting and he was never my favorite. But no one before or since was simultaneously as good himself and made everyone around him better as Jordan.

 

On 02/07/2022 at 18:09, Trajan said:

Wayne Gretzky. Put up more assists than second placed point scorer Jaromir Jagr had in total points. Played nearly 250 fewer games too. And their careers overlapped by nearly a full decade. Nobody close for me. 

 

Such a legend that every team in the NHL retired his number. He was already "The Great One" by the end of his rookie season and he never let that name down.

On 02/07/2022 at 11:48, Seymour M Hersh said:

As fun as this tread is it's impossible, imo, to have a GOAT across all sports. You can only really be GOAT in one sport your own. However Bo Jackson gave it a good shot. 

 

Agree with this TBH, both on how hard it is to go across sports and about Jackson. His injury was catastrophic but he was legitimately one of the top 5 players in two sports at the same time. He could hit a baseball as well as some of the greatest ever, and had a top gear on the football field that defenders said was a whole level beyond. Absolutely tragic to think what he could have become.

 

Satchel Paige deserves a call-out in baseball. Couldn't join the majors until he was 42, and even then he managed to be a functional relief pitcher for years. When he was in his prime in the ***** Leagues, the infielders would literally sit down behind him out of boredom when he was on his form, because they knew no one was making contact with his pitches.

[Seymour M Hersh]

I'd add Tony Gwynn from baseball as a GOAT as he was the purest hitter of the ball in the modern game and also came the closest to a .400 season batting average since Ted Williams did it.

 

https://www.mlb.com/news/featured/tony-gwynn-and-the-400-batting-average-chase

 

[Jeff]

Jake Paul

[SuperstarSteve]

 

Hard to pick a standout GOAT In Sports as so many have dominated each one but it would be Floyd mayweather or MJ for me. I’d Struggle to pick anyone above those two. 

 

[Unknown user]

2 hours ago, Jeff said:

Jake Paul

I always hear jakeball

[Jeff]

15 minutes ago, Smithee said:

I always hear jakeball

 

Good shout... shocked I've never noticed that

[ri Alban]

On 02/07/2022 at 17:03, Cruyff said:

Seve better than Woods? No chance.

 

Woods is the greatest to pick up a golf club, absolutely no question, he could hit any shot, shots that most top pros couldn't play, at his best he had the ball on a string. Seve was great, probably the greatest European ever but not in the same league as Woods, no chance.

Not according to Tiger. He said Seve(and Ollie) was the best ever at the short game and hit shots he couldn't even dream of.

[ri Alban]

31 minutes ago, Smithee said:

I always hear jakeball

He plays rugby.

[tian447]

On 02/07/2022 at 13:13, John Findlay said:

Rocky Marciano, must be worth a shout.

 

I got 2 Hibs players names mixed up, and thought you were taking the piss here

 

 

Contender, tbh  

[theo1874]

On 02/07/2022 at 06:57, ri Alban said:

Who is the greatest sports star of all time? 

 

Still MJ for me. Unbelievable! I watch him and think Is that even possible.

 

 

Maradona, Suger Ray Robinson and Usian Bolt are the same. A gift from somewhere. 

 

 

 

Who is your 🐐

John Robertson followed by Tiger Woods

[The Gorgie]

5 hours ago, Jeff said:

Jake Paul

He certainly wins GOAT in the dick head section.

[benny]

Still has to be Jack for best golfer.

Thought at one time Tiger would have passed him on the majors front.

Just shows you how great Jack was back in the day.

Ali in boxing. Diego in football. Bolt in Athletics and Margaret Court in tennis.

[ri Alban]

13 minutes ago, benny said:

Still has to be Jack for best golfer.

Thought at one time Tiger would have passed him on the majors front.

Just shows you how great Jack was back in the day.

Ali in boxing. Diego in football. Bolt in Athletics and Margaret Court in tennis.

 

[Armageddon]

Why are you all debating and throwing names about?  It’s Tiger Woods. END OF.

 

Changed the needle more than anyone ever has in sport. The reason the standard is so high, and golf is the hardest sport on earth, is down to Tiger.  Fitness changed, equipment changed, courses changed, and everything else, all down to one man (and about 30+ women 👏🏼).

 

 

[ri Alban]

32 minutes ago, Armageddon said:

Why are you all debating and throwing names about?  It’s Tiger Woods. END OF.

 

Changed the needle more than anyone ever has in sport. The reason the standard is so high, and golf is the hardest sport on earth, is down to Tiger.  Fitness changed, equipment changed, courses changed, and everything else, all down to one man (and about 30+ women 👏🏼).

 

 

Nick Faldo brought fitness to golf well before Tiger.

[ri Alban]