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post #121 of 150
7/3/05 at 11:59pm

Re: Most important athlete of all-time?

Jesse Owens came to my mind first as being an "important" athlete, but I was not thinking of all the charitable things Lance has done--those are pretty important! But I think Owens going into Nazi Germany as a black man and rocking Hitler's world was pretty huge. It was his athletic achievements that made such a huge and important statement.
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post #122 of 150
7/15/05 at 3:35pm

Re: Most important athlete of all-time?

Quote:
Originally Posted by limerickman
It's got to be Bradman.

Test batting average of 99.94 runs !
(that's including his having to deal with Nottingham and England fast bowlers
Bill Voce and Harold Larwood employing Douglas Jardines bodyline tactics in 1932/33!)
The man was a colossus.
His form in the 1930 series against England alone makes the man the greatest
batsman ever.
First class average of 95.14.

Only Eric Holles delivery at the Oval in 1948 deprived DB of having a 100.00
test batting average.
Brilliant captain too. Look at the 1948 series against England.

Got to be Bradman.
as a baseball historian, i know about the don. i also took up playing cricket to understand how it relates to baseball. a GREAT game. i hope that it catches on in the USA. if they/we only knew.

that being said, sir donald versus babe ruth is really the big question here. they were both aobve all others by a large margin. both either aved their game or had tremendous influence. the 100 runs per game is unbelievable. for americans, i can only tell you that this is just as amazing as any babe ruth stat. generally, any top top top batsman will get around 60 runs per game. this puts sir donald's 100 into perspective. astounding. too bad it ended on a duck. but, for the others around the world, it is important to understand babe's place in sport. the home run record before he showed up was 17 or 27 (depending on which stats you believed). he hit 29. then 54. then 59. then 60. when he hit 60, he hit more than any other TEAM at the time. very bradman-like, no? and, prior to this batting genius, he was also a top-flight pitcher who won 94 games early on. so, he was a a great all-rounder, to boot! picking between the two, i can't really say who should be considered the better. one is chocolate ice cream, and the other is vanilla.
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post #123 of 150
7/15/05 at 7:58pm

Re: Most important athlete of all-time?

Most important ..... of all time !! Up till now , anyone who has inspired good will and unselfishness when they could have taken the spotlight for themselves and not been recognized for it. I could'nt vote because there was'nt an other box. There will never be a name for this person , and that's the most important athlete of all time ( in my opinion ) .
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post #124 of 150
7/15/05 at 9:41pm

Re: Most important athlete of all-time?

lance changed cycling forever, he is good.
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post #125 of 150
7/16/05 at 5:55am

Re: Most important athlete of all-time?

How can you forget Jackie Robinson? Come on now, I know this post was biased towards Euro sports, but what Jackie did was incredibly important for all sports worldwide. He single handedly changed it all.
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post #126 of 150
7/16/05 at 2:32pm

Re: Most important athlete of all-time?

None of the ones in the poll. To my mind the most important athletes have excelled at a wide range of sports both amature, and professional. They have been gold medalists in the Olympics in multiple sport events.

Male: Jim Thorpe
Female: Babe Didrickson Zacarious
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post #127 of 150
7/17/05 at 6:19am

Re: Most important athlete of all-time?

Quote:
Originally Posted by PMThor
How can you forget Jackie Robinson? Come on now, I know this post was biased towards Euro sports, but what Jackie did was incredibly important for all sports worldwide. He single handedly changed it all.
I'd have to be told he exists before I could forget him.
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post #128 of 150
7/18/05 at 10:03am

Re: Most important athlete of all-time?

Quote:
Originally Posted by mitosis
I'd have to be told he exists before I could forget him.
Jackie Robinson was a baseball player in the 40's and 50's. He was the first player to break the color barrier in baseball during a time when all America knew was segregation. He made his debut nearly 15 years before Martin Luther King made his speech. That's remarkable...and he was a great player...not the best, but good. He's certaintly not the greatest athlete, but he just may be the most important at least in American history. Try to imagine what he had to go through.
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post #129 of 150
7/19/05 at 6:52pm

Re: Most important athlete of all-time?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Long Rider
To international members I must apologize for my lack of knowledge on non-USA athletes, but these are worthy of cosideration:

Muhammed Ali
Babe Ruth
Jackie Robinson
Jesse Owens

Cool question!
I was kinda suprised not to see Miguel Indurain on the list of choices. I would vote for him before I would vote for Lance Armstrong - even if he only won five consecutive Tours de France. But we are pretty entocentric in the US.
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post #130 of 150
7/19/05 at 7:11pm

Re: Most important athlete of all-time?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris_E
there are great sportsmen and there are sportsmen who transend their sports.

Maradonna wasn't just a football player he was a talisman for a country held hostage by a military junta.

.
I am argentinean and old enough to remember that part of history.

Not so much as a talisman. He was just another puppet of the military junta.

Futbol stadioums where the real talisman where the people could express their discontent without fear of repression.

From the benches, people could chant - yes chant - all the revolutionary songs they wanted without being killed. Steam valve of repression in some ways.

Maradona just brought recognition to a country that has an overinflated ego and is constantly looking to be present in the international scene.
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post #131 of 150
7/20/05 at 1:40pm

Re: Most important athlete of all-time?

Quote:
Originally Posted by bukeaston
I was kinda suprised not to see Miguel Indurain on the list of choices. I would vote for him before I would vote for Lance Armstrong - even if he only won five consecutive Tours de France. But we are pretty entocentric in the US.
Indurain was my hero growing up, and I still admire him greatly, but I do not see what he did as really important on an international scale. He is considered Spain's greatest ever athlete. Maybe because his domination of the Tour increased its relative importance to the rest of the racing calendar, and that led to Armstrong's string of victories. Maybe.
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post #132 of 150
7/21/05 at 12:42am

Re: Most important athlete of all-time?

Quote:
Originally Posted by jmp
Most important ..... of all time !! Up till now , anyone who has inspired good will and unselfishness when they could have taken the spotlight for themselves and not been recognized for it. I could'nt vote because there was'nt an other box. There will never be a name for this person , and that's the most important athlete of all time ( in my opinion ) .
I concur....
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post #133 of 150
7/31/05 at 4:55pm

Re: Most important athlete of all-time?

i am the Most important athlete of all-time.
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post #134 of 150
8/7/05 at 10:45am

Re: Most important athlete of all-time?

Terry Fox.

His legacy will endure in this country for all time.

Has raised 100's of millions of dollars for Cancer research - had no sponsors, no PR team just pure heart.

Terry Fox didn't make a dime from his efforts, he gave his life.


When I think of Terry Fox and Lance Armstrong there simply is no comparison.
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post #135 of 150
8/8/05 at 1:41am

Re: Most important athlete of all-time?

Jim thorpe.. without a doubt.. he was the original minority, had his olympic medals stripped from him becuz he ws a professional athlete and died penneyless. No hype just a true american legend. modern day: dione sanders..
what can you say he can do it all.
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