who is the greatest sportsman ever?

[paul_e]

Best ever players in the sports I'm interested in......

Baseball - Babe Ruth
NFL - Jim Brown
Football - Lionel Messi
Rugby Union - Gareth Edwards
Ice Hockey - Wayne Gretsky
Basketball - Magic Johnson
Golf - Jack Nicklaus
Cricket - Don Bradman
Cycling - Miguel Indurain

Not sure I can agree on the rugby one, he was a fantastic player but I wouldn't say clearly the best of all time. I think Johnno has to be in the discussion (possibly the best captain ever, in any sport) and I'd also look at Campese, Carter, Brooke and Hill(who was the hero of the England team of that era but got absolutely no credit).  I'd like to get a couple of front row players in as well but given I don't know the dark arts all that well I don't think I could judge them.

Cricket my concern is that, as with any sport, Bradman being so long ago makes it difficult to judge him against modern players so I think it's less clear cut than raw averages suggest.  The bodyline series saw his average at a much more reasonable 56 and that was the result of a genuine plan to upset him, in the last 30 years a bowling plan against a decent batsman has become standard.  Add to that the sheer amount of footage available to review and the number of games played means players know so much more about each other now so it could be that Lara or Tendulkar in that era may have been just as dominant as he was.

[UK Redsox]

The only contender to Gareth Edwards for me is Michael Jones

[paul_e]

The only contender to Gareth Edwards for me is Michael Jones

I think you have to include some of the England 2003 WC side, they're probably the best team ever in RU, 42wins in 47 from the end of the 99 WC until they lifted the trophy and a points difference for that period averaged as a winning margin of about 25 per game.  I think we have a habit of dismissing just how good English teams/players are for fear of being biased.

[claretandbeer]

Ali for his athleticism.I can imagine him prospering in other sports.
Merckx dominated all formats of road cycling but the best cyclist and British sportsperson for me would be Beryl Burton. World champion on road and track.British champion every year for 25 years.Beat all the men in establishing a British time trial record and offered a liquorice all sort to  her nearest male rival when overtaking him.Towards the end of her career was beaten into second place by her daughter.Beryl refused to shake her daughter's hand and give her a lift home,making her cycle back.Beryl complained that her daughter had not done her fair share of pace setting.

[UK Redsox]

Ow bist claretandbeer......... Orffside !!!!!!!

[claretandbeer]

Ow bist claretandbeer......... Orffside !!!!!!!

Sorry,Didn't know you spoke German.
Forgot to include the missus and myself for rowing.

[UK Redsox]

"Ow bist" is a friendly Forest of Dean greeting

Haven't you ever noticed that I don't exactly sound like most of you lot

[dave.woodhall]

"Ow bist" is a friendly Forest of Dean greeting

Haven't you ever noticed that I don't exactly sound like most of you lot

It's also Olde Yam.

[cdbearsfan]

No cyclists should be included in this list for three reasons:

(i) they're all cheats
(ii) we've already established that the correct answer is Don Bradman
(iii) Bradman wasn't a cyclist.

[UK Redsox]

The only contender to Gareth Edwards for me is Michael Jones

I think you have to include some of the England 2003 WC side, they're probably the best team ever in RU, 42wins in 47 from the end of the 99 WC until they lifted the trophy and a points difference for that period averaged as a winning margin of about 25 per game.  I think we have a habit of dismissing just how good English teams/players are for fear of being biased.

Nope, I dismiss them because they're not as good

The 2003 England RWC side is one of the best teams that I've seen but I don't think that it had any all time great players. Wilkinson wasn't even close to Barry John or Dan Carter

[SashasGrandad]

For those of us fortunate to have been there - Johann Cruyff must be up there - that night at Villa Park when he showed how good he was for 80 minutes - was the best I've witnessed.

I would also throw a curve ball into the argument - Oscar Pistorius - before he blew away his chances. What he overcame to compete with the world's best able bodied athletes was remarkable. Pity he didn't appreciate the socks his girlfriend bought him.

[richl]

It's gotta be Bradman, it a world driven by stats he is nearly twice as good as his nearest competitor.

[paul_e]

The only contender to Gareth Edwards for me is Michael Jones

I think you have to include some of the England 2003 WC side, they're probably the best team ever in RU, 42wins in 47 from the end of the 99 WC until they lifted the trophy and a points difference for that period averaged as a winning margin of about 25 per game.  I think we have a habit of dismissing just how good English teams/players are for fear of being biased.

Nope, I dismiss them because they're not as good

The 2003 England RWC side is one of the best teams that I've seen but I don't think that it had any all time great players. Wilkinson wasn't even close to Barry John or Dan Carter

As I say, Johnno is probably the best captain ever, he led what you yourself call one of the best teams you've ever seen and Richard Hill is the best 6 of all time by a long way, he was the destroyer in that team and he did it so utterly brilliantly that no one noticed him.  Further back Wilkinson and Carter are, in my opinion, the 2 best 10s and there's the width of a gnat's bollock between them, without the injuries though it wouldn't be a debate, Wilkinson lost almost the entire 'peak' of his career to fucked shoulders because he was so aggressive in the tackle, his swansong at Toulon showed just how brilliant he was.  Robinson would be in the debate as well if he'd spent his whole career in union, but reaching the peak of the game in both formats is impressive in itself.

Sorry for sidelining this into a rugby discussion but it's the one sport I feel I can genuinely offer major input on.

[JD]

The only contender to Gareth Edwards for me is Michael Jones

Richie McCaw. Better than Michael Jones.

[UK Redsox]

Richard Hill wouldn't be in my top three blind side flankers.

There's Schalk Burger and Reuben Thorne who were better for a start.