Athletic Debate: Who Is The Greatest Of All Time?

[BigFatCoward]

7 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

On top of having elite size, speed, power and vision, he has a photographic memory, and that is incredibly handy in a lot of sports.

He is clearly big. And probably strong but i see nothing to sugfest he has elite speed, he's not built for it. He has basketball vision, photographic memory? Pfft. 

[the Greenleif Stark]

Just now, BigFatCoward said:

North American's don't seem to realise how little of a shit the rest of the world generally gives about their sports. 

The rest of the world doesn't have to give a shit about our sports but it's undeniable that our sports do require the most athletic athletes

 

I'll throw another one out there....Charlie Ward

[BigFatCoward]

4 minutes ago, the Greenleif Stark said:

The rest of the world doesn't have to give a shit about our sports but it's undeniable that our sports do require the most athletic athletes

 

 

Like baseball? Darts and snooker players look healthier you loon. 

I'll deny it. I'd take a rugby back over a running back or a basketball player any day of the week. 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

38 minutes ago, Fez said:

I think you underestimate how athletic running backs are now. They are freakish fast and freakishly strong. No they don't train for long distance running, but I think they could be ready for a race incredibly quickly.

You’re wrong bud. I was a varsity starting running back in HS and we absolutely trained for distance too (not like 5 miles but still). You needed to have your legs in the fourth quarter or else you were worthless. Literally every single NFL and NCAA running back would smoke BFC in a 800m race.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

24 minutes ago, Consigliere said:

I find it ridiculous that anyone would refer to Cricket as a minor or niche sport. It has the 2nd biggest fan following globally. When a sport is followed by one third of the world's population, it isn't niche. 

That’s largely because it’s super popular in the second largest country in the world. It would even rank as a top 10 sport here, and if you told any American that you were the best cricket player in the world, they’d pat you on the head, say “that’s cute, now try a real sport.” Seriously, bar sports are more popular here than cricket.

12 minutes ago, BigFatCoward said:

North American's don't seem to realise how little of a shit the rest of the world generally gives about their sports. 

Then why are all of you trying to compete for the role of getting destroyed in the Olympic Finals in basketball by us?

[DMC]

13 minutes ago, BigFatCoward said:

North American's don't seem to realise how little of a shit the rest of the world generally gives about their sports. 

Basketball is pretty popular worldwide.

7 minutes ago, BigFatCoward said:

Like baseball? Darts and snooker players look healthier you loon. 

Uh, this suggests you haven't followed baseball in a long time.  The one dimensional fat power hitter doesn't have much of a market anymore.  Most players - even pitchers - are comparatively athletic to other team sports these days (other than basketball where everyone is not only athletic, but most of them are also Ents).

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

17 minutes ago, BigFatCoward said:

He is clearly big. And probably strong but i see nothing to sugfest he has elite speed, he's not built for it. He has basketball vision, photographic memory? Pfft. 

Maybe not over long distances, but from half court to the rim he can be incredibly fast.

Also, show some respect for the fat man sport that is baseball!!!!

ETA: And Yes, LeBron is documented to have a photographic memory. It’s crazy listening to him break down plays after games because he recalls exactly where every player is and what they’re doing on random plays throughout the game. People don’t realize how smart he is because he still speaks like a kid who grew up in the hood, but he is a brilliant person.  

[BigFatCoward]

10 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

That’s largely because it’s super popular in the second largest country in the world. It would even rank as a top 10 sport here, and if you told any American that you were the best cricket player in the world, they’d pat you on the head, say “that’s cute, now try a real sport.” Seriously, bar sports are more popular here than cricket.

Then why are all of you trying to compete for the role of getting destroyed in the Olympic Finals in basketball by us?

If you told any indian you were the best ice hockey player or baseball or american footballer they would do the same. 

We aren't. Nobody gives a fuck about basketball in the UK. Some, other countries do, hence probable rookie of the year, the best centre the league, LeBron's heir apparent, and the best young player all not being American. I reckon I could name every single basketball player ever to my peers and they would have heard of Michael Jordan only. 

[Consigliere]

Just now, Tywin et al. said:

That’s largely because it’s super popular in the second largest country in the world. It would even rank as a top 10 sport here, and if you told any American that you were the best cricket player in the world, they’d pat you on the head, say “that’s cute, now try a real sport.” Seriously, bar sports are more popular here than cricket.

So by your logic only if a sport is popular in the US then it counts as a major sport? Fuck the rest of the world, right? And for your information even without India, Cricket would have a global following of around 1.5 billion which is more than NFL or NBA. 

 

It's also really cute that some on here seem to think that Cricket is made up of a bunch of "unathletic" buffoons. I guess they never tried bowling 25 overs in a day, fielding for 7 hours and then having to come back and do it all again the next day.

[maarsen]

No one has dominated a sport as Ned Hanlan dominated rowing. He would tease the other rowers by waiting for them to catch up and the pull away again,  leaving them far behind again.

[BigFatCoward]

1 minute ago, Tywin et al. said:

Maybe not over long distances, but from half court to the rim he can be incredibly fast.

Also, show some respect for the fat man sport that is baseball!!!!

Fatman sports have their place. Just not in this discussion. 

The greatest sumo of all time is currently active. 

[the Greenleif Stark]

I don't think anyone's trying to take away anything from cricket, but the athletic skills need for cricket are similar to American baseball and in America baseball players typically aren't our most athletic athletes, hence some American bias against cricket players' athleticism.  Show me a professional cricket player that also played professional soccer or professional rugby and I'll say that he's a hell of an athlete

[BigFatCoward]

2 minutes ago, the Greenleif Stark said:

I don't think anyone's trying to take away anything from cricket, but the athletic skills need for cricket are similar to American baseball and in America baseball players typically aren't our most athletic athletes, hence some American bias against cricket players' athleticism.  Show me a professional cricket player that also played professional soccer or professional rugby and I'll say that he's a hell of an athlete

Sir Ian Botham, Denis Compton to name but 2. 

[DMC]

4 minutes ago, the Greenleif Stark said:

I don't think anyone's trying to take away anything from cricket, but the athletic skills need for cricket are similar to American baseball and in America baseball players typically aren't our most athletic athletes, hence some American bias against cricket players' athleticism.  Show me a professional cricket player that also played professional soccer or professional rugby and I'll say that he's a hell of an athlete

I don't know about cricket, but the potential #1 pick in the upcoming NFL draft was also the #9 pick in the MLB draft last June.

[dooog]

Lionel Messi. The greatest ever footballer in the most played, most popular sport in the world and playing in the most competitive era of sport.

But if we're going for great athletes who are great and could excel at other sports it's a pie in the sky argument. Roger Federer was apparently a good footballer before committing to tennis. LeBron is a freak athlete who is probably annoyingly naturally good at any sport he puts his hand to. Bo Jackson was the same. There's dozens of others you could name.

 

 

[the Greenleif Stark]

6 minutes ago, BigFatCoward said:

Sir Ian Botham, Denis Compton to name but 2. 

Yeah those 2 guys seem legit

[the Greenleif Stark]

3 minutes ago, DMC said:

I don't know about cricket, but the potential #1 pick in the upcoming NFL draft was also the #9 pick in the MLB draft last June.

Yeah definitely Kyler Murray is a freak athlete, we'll see how his career plays out

[Consigliere]

3 minutes ago, BigFatCoward said:

Sir Ian Botham, Denis Compton to name but 2. 

Jeff Wilson played both Rugby Union and Cricket for New Zealand. Flintoff went into pro boxing. AB de Villiers was an amazing athlete who was good enough for multiple sports at junior levels but chose to pursue cricket professionally -shortlisted for South Africa's junior national hockey team, made it to the shortlist of South Africa's junior national football team, captained South Africa's junior national rugby team, holds six South African school swimming records, holds the record in the 100m dash in South Africa's junior athletics, was a member of South Africa's junior Davis Cup tennis team, was South Africa's U-19 national badminton champion and has a golf handicap of scratch or zero, which means he is a player whose average score for a round of golf is par or better. 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

25 minutes ago, BigFatCoward said:

If you told any indian you were the best ice hockey player or baseball or american footballer they would do the same. 

We aren't. Nobody gives a fuck about basketball in the UK. Some, other countries do, hence probable rookie of the year, the best centre the league, LeBron's heir apparent, and the best young player all not being American. I reckon I could name every single basketball player ever to my peers and they would have heard of Michael Jordan only. 

Slow down there. Luka is a nice young player, but this is too much. However, in the racial draft, the Americans will select his mother!  

25 minutes ago, Consigliere said:

So by your logic only if a sport is popular in the US then it counts as a major sport? Fuck the rest of the world, right? And for your information even without India, Cricket would have a global following of around 1.5 billion which is more than NFL or NBA. 

 

It's also really cute that some on here seem to think that Cricket is made up of a bunch of "unathletic" buffoons. I guess they never tried bowling 25 overs in a day, fielding for 7 hours and then having to come back and do it all again the next day.

Yeah, that’s right (said jokingly). Look, I was a talented multi-sport athlete back in my day (so like a decade ago), and I’m pretty sure I would have been good at cricket if it’s something I wanted to play. But it just looks so boring, and the only sport worth playing for seven hours is skiing and snowboarding. From the American perspect, cricket is an even more boring version of baseball.   

24 minutes ago, BigFatCoward said:

Fatman sports have their place. Just not in this discussion. 

The greatest sumo of all time is currently active. 

Which is why I’d never nominate someone that just played baseball as the greatest athlete ever.    

Also, I totally want to see a sumo match in person before I die.

[aceluby]

42 minutes ago, BigFatCoward said:

Like baseball? Darts and snooker players look healthier you loon. 

I'll deny it. I'd take a rugby back over a running back or a basketball player any day of the week. 

Don't watch much baseball, do ya?  Today's players are as athletic as any sport out there with a few exceptions that prove the rule.  I was in the best shape of my life playing college baseball, training 4+ hours a day with at least an hour more in the weight room.