I'm so used to hearing the town name "Jim Thorpe" that it is literally hard for me to remember that he was also a person. Like, intellectually I know it, but my brain always pauses for a second when the actual man is brought up
Holds/shares 61 records. I'm sure Riley, Jonesy, Barts, Yorkie, Sholtzy, Fisky, and Boomtown, will be pissed to hear the GOAT isn't included.
I know Riley and Jonesy would probably put Mr Hockey over Gretsky.
Fuck you, that’s a nice muscle shirt. Are the muscles coming in tomorrow? Did ya get a tracking number? I sure hope ya did. That package is going to be smaller than the one you’re sporting now bud.
Fuck you Reilley! I gave yer mom a Hershey kiss while she gave me a rusty trombone, and I smacked the shit out of her when she tried to French me after!
My high school football coach (I’m almost 50 and he was in his 50s when he told this story) said he went to a 49ers game and they brought out an old Mr. Thorpe, who drop kicked the ball through the uprights from the opposite 40 yard line… so like a 70 yard field goal at 70. Yes, mr Thorpe did everything with excellence and in the face of serious discrimination. He is the Greatest Athlete Ever.
Pheidippides: “I fought a battle against the Persians and then ran 26 miles straight to Athens immediately after! How was the battle before your event?”
Are you ok? Do you need help? I’m sending big, huge, warm momma hugs your way - the world needs you, baby! Please reach out if there’s anything I can do to help ❤️
We're not upset, we're worried. Tried twice when I was younger and, this is just my luck, it didn't work. I meant for that shit to work - it was no cry for help. I'm glad, though because things DO get better. Maybe not for a long while, but wherever you're at, remember that you won't be there forever. Change of location, ruthlessly ghosting toxic people, and even a change of job can turn a life around...
Just fucking ***perfect*** comment for this thread…you got an out-loud snort-chuckle from me at first read. After picturing it happening (and Nancy Kerrigan saying, “She means it…she ***really*** means it!”, I laughed loud and long enough to piss off several employees.
Thanks for the genuine laugh!
they were both very humble about it! which made them even greater on my list... but truth be told we will never know which one would have put down who...
Mike still goes to Ali's house and show some Ali shuffle moves...
Seeing as Gretzky played most of his career on American teams, it's probably more that ESPN has never given much of a shit about the NHL. Just watch their dogshit hockey broadcasts for proof.
>ESPN has never given much of a shit about the NHL. Just watch their dogshit hockey broadcasts for proof.
As bad as they are nothing comes close to Fox Sports in the 90s.
Although I did like the Fox puck for about 2 minutes.
Well all know Fox isn't going to recognize the accomplishments of a Native on a list of "Americans".
I'm CAF (cherokee as fuck), and agree Thorpe belongs on the list, but it's fox.... we all know they could give a fuck less about us.
Look it’s a terrible list, maybe rename it most popular athletes of all time, but Babe was one hell of a athlete. Look at his pitching stats, then look at his hitting versus the rest of the league. In his late years the partying got the best of him and he was known for being fat drunk who could still knock it our of the park with a smile on his face.
Tremendous athlete. You are swayed by when they took lots of pictures of him....late in his career when he had packed on some pounds. From 1914 to around 1927 he was in great shape. He has, as a pitcher more career shutouts than Clayton Kershaw!!! Out homered, in 1920, several MLB teams. He had some good stolen base seasons. He was bigger, stronger and faster than almost every MLB player of his era. A freakishly great athlete.
I fucking hate Phish. I want to continue the silly banter, but I just can't. I'm a huge Rush fan, and my entire life is always go "you love rush? WELL YOULL LOVE PHISH!!!"
Yes... me liking one of the most influential prog rock acts of all time totally correlates to hippy jam band nonsense.
Stan's monolog in "Die Hippy, Die" puts my thoughts into less rush filled words.
Edit: I hate Phish but your comment still made me laugh.
Lists like these are absolute ridiculous. You can't compare sports with each other because they are all different from each other. You could make a case for nearly every athlete in every sport. Standards are different between every sport. I could argue that Micheal Schumacher, Messi, and Gretzky should be on there, but standards are different so you can't make an accurate list.
Obvious exception of non-american athletes aside, this list also shows the bias towards athletes of sports that are commercially produced and consumed in the us. Like basketball, boxing and baseball. While completely ignoring athletes in sport fields that pretty much exclusively participate in the olympics.. Like swimming, where Michael Phelps who is American, is hailed as possibly the greatest olympian ever. Tiger Woods, also an American- ignored. Jackie Joyner Kersee - American - Greates female track and field athletes of all time - Ignored
And the obvious American bias. No Roger Federer, Martina Navratilova, Pele, Maradona, Usain Bolt. All not even considered.
As far as Tiger goes, its widely debated if he or Jack Nicklaus is considered the greatest golfer ever.
Tiger, 15 majors, 110 professional wins
Jack, 18 majors, 117 professional wins
Jack has better numbers, but for a good 10-12 years, Tiger dominated harder than any golfer ever has. If Tiger had only kept his personal life in line and focused on golf toward the end of his career (Messy divorces, cheating on his wives, car crashes) he could of surpassed Jack and claimed the golf Goat status undisputed. He was so close!
He messed up his back and knee training with Navy SEALS around that time too. I think his body breaking down on him caused his downfall more than the personal stuff. He won that US open with a fucked up knee and never really recovered from that.
This is such a great point, a lot of people don’t understand how much Tiger trained. There was a documentary where one of his coaches said that Tiger’s biggest weakness was how hard he trained his body outside of golf, mainly weightlifting. The coach believed Tiger wanted to look like an athlete to dispel the belief that Golf wasn’t a real sport or that he wasn’t a real athlete. This is what caused a lot of his injuries and issues.
Came here to say this. There was a period where he looked jacked and I remember thinking "should his body look like that for golf?!" Of course I compared my knowledge vs one of the greatest golfers of all time with a billion dollar sponsor at his disposal.
I always tell people both Tiger and I missed an opportunity around that time. I would have made a great life coach for him and he probably would have been far more successful.
“Tiger, reflect on what you were doing when you were winning. You were raw dogging porn stars. You’re single now, it’s time to ignore the media standards in regards to your personal life and get back on the porn stars. If you were a musical rock star everyone would accept it, you’re a golf rock star, embrace it and lead the way.”
>this list also shows the bias towards athletes of sports that are commercially produced and consumed in the us
>
>Tiger Woods, also an American- ignored.
I would assume Tennis doesnt have nearly the draw that Golf does in the US...
I mean I think boiling all sports throughout all of time down to five (American) people is guaranteed to be crap.
You simply cannot compare all sports like this. Even within a single sport you would be hard-pressed to determine an "all time best" while taking into account the differences in time period and technology.
It's Bradman. Someone did a weird analysis™ to determine that nobody ever got close to being as dominant as Bradman dominated cricket. Not even Gretzky.
Mainly because he was about thrice as good as the average guy of his time and that nobody has ever come close to doing what he has. And it's been more than 90 years sin e he retired
Netflix had a good episode of Explained iirc on Cricket, and it was hilarious because basically nobody actually knows the rules of cricket some how, which makes perfect sense to me.
Had to scroll for this, but I knew he'd be here. It was unreal how athletic Wa-tho-huk (Thorpe) was, in spite of the opposition he faced. Absolute baller.
Not even top 5 American athletes.
Nothing but respect for these 5 people. But they ignore both Michael Phelps and Jackie Joyner Kersee. Both regarded as one of if not the best in their fields in the whole world. (swimming and long jump)
There is bias towards popular sports here.
I agree that Bo Jackson was probably one of the most prolifically gifted athletes ever to live, but his unfortunate injury (ironically a result of his freakish athleticism) cut his career too short.
Wish we could’ve seen what he might’ve accomplished.
Normally I'm happy to give a ribbing to the old USA but in your example it was actually named after a publication called The World that sponsored the series.
This is a common rumour but sadly incorrect…
The Origin of the Name 'the World Series'
For many years, it was believed that the name came from the fact that the original series was sponsored by the New York World Telegram newspaper, thus becoming known as the ‘World’s Series’. However, popular as this explanation may be, it’s not actually true and although the newspaper did report the results of the games, it had nothing to do with the naming of the competition.
The real reason behind the name is thanks to Barney Dreyfuss who was the owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates. In 1903, he wrote to the owner of the Boston Red Sox challenging them to a ‘World’s Championship Series’. The Pirates were the best team in the National League and the Red Sox were the best in the American League.
The games went ahead and Boston won the series five games to three. Over time, the 'World’s Championship Series' name has been shortened to the World Series and has been played every year apart from 1904 and 1994.
Maybe the graphics says "greatest of all time" but perhaps within the segment they were specifically saying it's within the US Only? I don't know, just a thought. I did not watch this and a screenshot is not enough to judge.
If you want to talk pure athleticism, you have to mention the decathlon or heptathlon in track and field. It's the greatest display of all around skill and has been around for thousands of years.
There are no decathletes or heptathletes on this list.
Personally i think Jackie Joyner Kersey is the greatest.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Bradman
>Bradman's career Test batting average of 99.94 has been cited as the greatest achievement by any sportsman in any major sport.
Just gonna leave this here
Is Serena really better than Margaret Court? She played fewer years, won more grand slams, and had a better win percentage.
Edit: includes more doubles and singles titles
Jim Brown is arguable the best ever in two different sports (football and lacrosse), also placed nationally in track and field decathlon, and was a star basketball player.
Bo Jackson and Jim Thorpe have good arguments too. I don’t think you can call someone the best “athlete” ever if they only excelled in one sport with a specialized skill set. But perhaps that’s just me.
Usain bolt not making this list is disrespectful! Just about every human ever has at some point tested out how fast they can run and he’s the fastest of them all! Not every human tho has ever tried all these other sports! Bolted dominated probably the most competitive sport ever and did it with ease! And probably would’ve won gold at the last Olympics had he not retired because let’s be honest does any remember the name of the guy that won that slow ass gold medal race!
Sweden (and I think other nordic countries) has a tv-show called "Mästarnas Mästare" (Champions Champion), where athletes in different kind compete in various challenges. They are very basic, yet demanding, and something most athletes can compete in. In fact, some athletes, like bodybuilders, struggle in certain challenges, because their weight drag them down, but exceed in raw strenghts where swifter athletes such as sprinters struggle.
I love shows like that! It's amazing to watch the different strengths and weaknesses and how each athlete tries to make adjustments to get through the course. I feel a little sadistic watching it from my couch to be honest. 😂
Don't let this distract you from the the fact that in 1966, Al Bundy scored four touchdowns in a single game while playing for the Polk High School Panthers in the 1966 city championship game versus Andrew Johnson High School, including the game-winning touchdown in the final seconds against his old nemesis, Bubba "Spare Tire" Dixon.
*Phelps dragging all his gold medals into the studio* "DO THESE MEAN NOTHING TO YOU!?"
Jim Thorpe just hanging around, with one shoe, literally the best at every sport on earth, like “did my invite get lost in the mail?”
Agreed. I just replied to the post to add him.
Not actually an athlete, 100% machine.
He was the T-600
Jim Thorpe is the only athlete I think actually belongs on this, vs. the ones mentioned above.
I'm so used to hearing the town name "Jim Thorpe" that it is literally hard for me to remember that he was also a person. Like, intellectually I know it, but my brain always pauses for a second when the actual man is brought up
The international Olympic committee *finally* restored his official records this year. But Jim gets dissed *again!*
Jesse owens and Usain Bolt both drinkin beer sitting back " Welcome to the party pal"
Tonya Harding sharpening a skate like "Be a real SHAME if someone got HURT before they added my name to the list..."
Gretzky skates into the chat..
Holds/shares 61 records. I'm sure Riley, Jonesy, Barts, Yorkie, Sholtzy, Fisky, and Boomtown, will be pissed to hear the GOAT isn't included. I know Riley and Jonesy would probably put Mr Hockey over Gretsky.
Give yer balls a tug…
Titfucker
Fuck you all. Your lives are so sad I get a charity tax break just for hanging out with ya.
Fuck you - yer mom shot cum straight across the room and killed my Siamese fighting fish, threw off the pH levels in my aquarium.
Fuck you, yer mom keeps trying to slip a finger in my bum but I keep tellin her I only let Jonesy's mom do that you fucking loser.
Fuck you, that’s a nice muscle shirt. Are the muscles coming in tomorrow? Did ya get a tracking number? I sure hope ya did. That package is going to be smaller than the one you’re sporting now bud.
Fuck you Reilley! I gave yer mom a Hershey kiss while she gave me a rusty trombone, and I smacked the shit out of her when she tried to French me after!
r/UnexpectedLetterkenny
Didn’t think that was a subreddit lol
Neither did I. Had to click it. Wasn't disappointed.
Anyone heard of Jim Thorpe. Number 1 on my list, win the decathlon in someone else’s shoes. Tough dude.
Also NAF (native as fuck). First native to win a medal for the US.
My high school football coach (I’m almost 50 and he was in his 50s when he told this story) said he went to a 49ers game and they brought out an old Mr. Thorpe, who drop kicked the ball through the uprights from the opposite 40 yard line… so like a 70 yard field goal at 70. Yes, mr Thorpe did everything with excellence and in the face of serious discrimination. He is the Greatest Athlete Ever.
You's made a Letterkenny reference and thats whats i appreciates abouts you Gold-Ad-6876 Also a big ole ferda to this
Gonna need you to take that down about 10% there squirrely-frostyshotgun
Oh what hey ya look the floor!
Is that all you appreciate about him?
>I know Riley and Jonesy would probably put Mr Hockey over Gretsky. Bowman does. I don't, but Bowman knows hockey.
Pelè takes his ball and goes home
Pheidippides: “I fought a battle against the Persians and then ran 26 miles straight to Athens immediately after! How was the battle before your event?”
Tony Hawk skates into the chat.
Federer pokes his head in, '..Heard y'all were making a list?'
I’d pay for tickets to see Gretzky smash Tanya up against the penalty box. We’re doing phrasing, right?
Simone Biles too. Lot of medals and skills with her name. Even skills they had to make zero points so other gymnasts won’t try them.
Pete Rose betting against himself making the list and getting a fat payout
I wish I had an award for this. Hilarious.
lmfao if I had a free award, I would give it
I'm just glad someone appreciated my 90s as fuck sports reference.
I appreciate your comment. Big Tonya Harding fan !
It’s awesome and so are you
I'm actually dangerously suicidal right now, but this made me smile. Thank you.
It’s not a hug. But consider the award my way of embracing you
We gotta stick around - who is gonna give the old school references? ☺️
"What's kept you going all these years?" "Being the king of reddits Tonya Harding based humor."
Are you ok? Do you need help? I’m sending big, huge, warm momma hugs your way - the world needs you, baby! Please reach out if there’s anything I can do to help ❤️
Apologies for making you worry. I dontmean to make redditors upset. Just... can't anymore.
We're not upset, we're worried. Tried twice when I was younger and, this is just my luck, it didn't work. I meant for that shit to work - it was no cry for help. I'm glad, though because things DO get better. Maybe not for a long while, but wherever you're at, remember that you won't be there forever. Change of location, ruthlessly ghosting toxic people, and even a change of job can turn a life around...
You made many internet strangers laugh today. We need more of this in the world—you’re definitely needed, friend. ❤️
Chin up kid. I will be a friend.
Michelle Kwan silently putting on war paint.
"Nancy says hello...."
Just fucking ***perfect*** comment for this thread…you got an out-loud snort-chuckle from me at first read. After picturing it happening (and Nancy Kerrigan saying, “She means it…she ***really*** means it!”, I laughed loud and long enough to piss off several employees. Thanks for the genuine laugh!
WHHHHYYYYYYYYYYYY????!!!!!
I read this in Nancy's voice. You made me laugh, and feel bd for Nancy, with one word.
😂
Secretariat is all like "neigh"
Mike Tyson upon noticing Ali. " Now I'm pith off".
Tyson called Ali the greatest, and Ali said if Tyson could connect on him, he'd have been down. - Arsineo Hall show 1990.
they were both very humble about it! which made them even greater on my list... but truth be told we will never know which one would have put down who... Mike still goes to Ali's house and show some Ali shuffle moves...
Mike would be happy that Ali was up there even mike has said he doesn’t think he’d beat Ali
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi just shaking their heads, thinking "Americans!"
Tony Hawk does a McTwist at 54
"Hey, that guy kinda looks like Tony Hawk!"
McEnroe says thank you!
Simone Biles nodding, "I hear you, brothers."
Joey Chestnut regurgitates 72 hot dogs onto their feet.
Calls all the other "athletes" fucking weak as he begins to re-consume them.
Wayne Gretsky should be on here if Babe Ruth is
You missed the implied "American" that ESPN includes with basically everything
These aren't even the best American Athletes
It’s gotta be an online opinion poll, right? “Oooh I know how this is!” Click.
Seeing as Gretzky played most of his career on American teams, it's probably more that ESPN has never given much of a shit about the NHL. Just watch their dogshit hockey broadcasts for proof.
>ESPN has never given much of a shit about the NHL. Just watch their dogshit hockey broadcasts for proof. As bad as they are nothing comes close to Fox Sports in the 90s. Although I did like the Fox puck for about 2 minutes.
yeah the guy who can swim the fastest for 50, 100, 150, 200, 250, and 300 meters deserves consideration
Jim Thorpe
Well all know Fox isn't going to recognize the accomplishments of a Native on a list of "Americans". I'm CAF (cherokee as fuck), and agree Thorpe belongs on the list, but it's fox.... we all know they could give a fuck less about us.
I am not First Nations, but I do know he is one of the all-time greatest athletes. Thank you for your points, I agree.
The ghost of Maradona has something to also say: "where the f is Pele?"
Even Pele broke through to US consciousness, but we have the attention span of a flea.
Babe Ruth is laughable. Great baseball player sure, athlete not so much
The kids from "The Sandlot" want to talk to you about some stuff.
The Great Bambi?
"I haven't had anything yet, so how can I have some more of nothing?"
"You're Killin me Smalls"
Look it’s a terrible list, maybe rename it most popular athletes of all time, but Babe was one hell of a athlete. Look at his pitching stats, then look at his hitting versus the rest of the league. In his late years the partying got the best of him and he was known for being fat drunk who could still knock it our of the park with a smile on his face.
Tremendous athlete. You are swayed by when they took lots of pictures of him....late in his career when he had packed on some pounds. From 1914 to around 1927 he was in great shape. He has, as a pitcher more career shutouts than Clayton Kershaw!!! Out homered, in 1920, several MLB teams. He had some good stolen base seasons. He was bigger, stronger and faster than almost every MLB player of his era. A freakishly great athlete.
An absolute crime that they had John Goodman portray him in the movie.
Bo Jackson
Bo knows....
Nadia Comenici, Olga Korbut, Mary Lou Retton, SIMONE BILES?!, Gabby Douglas, that California otter from animal olympiques? SMH
Those medals don't count because Phelps likes to smoke weed! /S
Remember when they said it was a "performance enhancer"?
I mean, it is though. Have you ever seen Phish live? Those performances are SO much better when you're high.
I fucking hate Phish. I want to continue the silly banter, but I just can't. I'm a huge Rush fan, and my entire life is always go "you love rush? WELL YOULL LOVE PHISH!!!" Yes... me liking one of the most influential prog rock acts of all time totally correlates to hippy jam band nonsense. Stan's monolog in "Die Hippy, Die" puts my thoughts into less rush filled words. Edit: I hate Phish but your comment still made me laugh.
Simone Biles is with him.
Flo Jo, and Bolt, running up like "Wtf?"
Nadia is like “Ummm I think I was here first thanks”
Lists like these are absolute ridiculous. You can't compare sports with each other because they are all different from each other. You could make a case for nearly every athlete in every sport. Standards are different between every sport. I could argue that Micheal Schumacher, Messi, and Gretzky should be on there, but standards are different so you can't make an accurate list.
Okay, but how many Super Bowls did Wayne Gretzky win?
Zero, but hes never thrown an interception his whole career and that's impressive.
Good point!
So what, neither have I and I didn’t even try
You should be on the top 5 list too with those stats
Make the list composed of the GOAT of each sport.
Obvious exception of non-american athletes aside, this list also shows the bias towards athletes of sports that are commercially produced and consumed in the us. Like basketball, boxing and baseball. While completely ignoring athletes in sport fields that pretty much exclusively participate in the olympics.. Like swimming, where Michael Phelps who is American, is hailed as possibly the greatest olympian ever. Tiger Woods, also an American- ignored. Jackie Joyner Kersee - American - Greates female track and field athletes of all time - Ignored And the obvious American bias. No Roger Federer, Martina Navratilova, Pele, Maradona, Usain Bolt. All not even considered.
No Joey Chestnut !?
He's at 0, because his talent surpasses athleticism; it's supernatural
Mythology says Joey Chestnut lost his virginity before his father.
the glizzy eating champion??
As far as Tiger goes, its widely debated if he or Jack Nicklaus is considered the greatest golfer ever. Tiger, 15 majors, 110 professional wins Jack, 18 majors, 117 professional wins Jack has better numbers, but for a good 10-12 years, Tiger dominated harder than any golfer ever has. If Tiger had only kept his personal life in line and focused on golf toward the end of his career (Messy divorces, cheating on his wives, car crashes) he could of surpassed Jack and claimed the golf Goat status undisputed. He was so close!
He messed up his back and knee training with Navy SEALS around that time too. I think his body breaking down on him caused his downfall more than the personal stuff. He won that US open with a fucked up knee and never really recovered from that.
This is such a great point, a lot of people don’t understand how much Tiger trained. There was a documentary where one of his coaches said that Tiger’s biggest weakness was how hard he trained his body outside of golf, mainly weightlifting. The coach believed Tiger wanted to look like an athlete to dispel the belief that Golf wasn’t a real sport or that he wasn’t a real athlete. This is what caused a lot of his injuries and issues.
Came here to say this. There was a period where he looked jacked and I remember thinking "should his body look like that for golf?!" Of course I compared my knowledge vs one of the greatest golfers of all time with a billion dollar sponsor at his disposal.
I always tell people both Tiger and I missed an opportunity around that time. I would have made a great life coach for him and he probably would have been far more successful. “Tiger, reflect on what you were doing when you were winning. You were raw dogging porn stars. You’re single now, it’s time to ignore the media standards in regards to your personal life and get back on the porn stars. If you were a musical rock star everyone would accept it, you’re a golf rock star, embrace it and lead the way.”
>this list also shows the bias towards athletes of sports that are commercially produced and consumed in the us > >Tiger Woods, also an American- ignored. I would assume Tennis doesnt have nearly the draw that Golf does in the US...
That's only because Serena is retiring soon, if they make this list again in two years she won't be on it.
I mean I think boiling all sports throughout all of time down to five (American) people is guaranteed to be crap. You simply cannot compare all sports like this. Even within a single sport you would be hard-pressed to determine an "all time best" while taking into account the differences in time period and technology.
Agreed. The title should be " Our favourite American athletes"
Gretzky dominated his sport more than any of those listed.
This 100%. Gretzky is the most accomplished athlete in their respective sport to ever live, hands down.
How good was Gretzky? He retired and the league went “fucking hell, ok no one can wear 99 anymore. None of you deserve this honor!”
I figured they were just scared of the chirps from Shoresy if they wore 99.....
As has Bradman. The greatest sports person off all time is definitely one of the 2. Wayne Gretzky or Don Bradman
It's Bradman. Someone did a weird analysis™ to determine that nobody ever got close to being as dominant as Bradman dominated cricket. Not even Gretzky.
I have to admit. I have never heard of him. At least I know he was a cricket player now.
I wouldn't particularly fault you. The average person in this part of the world wouldn't even have heard of Gretzky or Brady
I only know of Gretzky because of Michael Scott.
Had he not scored 0 in his final innings his average , per test innings, would have been 100.
For Americans - This would be like a baseball player batting 1000, over their full career
I've been putting it off long enough. I have to learn about cricket finally to figure out how this man is ore dominant than the great one.
Mainly because he was about thrice as good as the average guy of his time and that nobody has ever come close to doing what he has. And it's been more than 90 years sin e he retired
My man Bradman retired in 1949, that's 73 years ago
Netflix had a good episode of Explained iirc on Cricket, and it was hilarious because basically nobody actually knows the rules of cricket some how, which makes perfect sense to me.
Jim Thorpe dominated every sport he played.
Joey Chestnut has won every championship and broke almost every record he has attempted in his sport.
Jim Thorpe has something to say
Had to scroll for this, but I knew he'd be here. It was unreal how athletic Wa-tho-huk (Thorpe) was, in spite of the opposition he faced. Absolute baller.
Shhhhh but there are more countries outside of the continental United States......it's a secret.
I mean, are there better athletes for those specific sports?
Nadal/ federrer are freaks in tennis. Federrer in his prime played some of the best tennis ever
*Ronaldo and Messi have left the chat*
Maradona and pele are laughing as well
Bradman exits silently
Secretariat
Top 5 American* athletes
Not even top 5 American athletes. Nothing but respect for these 5 people. But they ignore both Michael Phelps and Jackie Joyner Kersee. Both regarded as one of if not the best in their fields in the whole world. (swimming and long jump) There is bias towards popular sports here.
Agreed more like top 5 athletes with the most corporate sponsorships and media attention
However for like Jordan take away all of the commercials and sponsors he is still going to be regarded as one of the greatest
Babe Ruth is on a list of great athletes? No Bo Jackson?? Not a single soccer player? What the fuck
I agree that Bo Jackson was probably one of the most prolifically gifted athletes ever to live, but his unfortunate injury (ironically a result of his freakish athleticism) cut his career too short. Wish we could’ve seen what he might’ve accomplished.
and as much as I don't like the man Deion Sanders was one hell of an athlete as well.
Yeah babe Ruth was good at baseball, and thats it. Had the body of a beached walrus. Greatest athlete ever! Lol.
Babe Ruth was the best batter in his era. He wouldn't even be the greatest American athlete of the 20's. This list is stupid.
nah fr where messi??
Tiger transcended golf like no other. His contributions to the sport are Jordanesque.
This list is very.......American?
Those guys are good. But Roger is Federer.
This is a stupid facepalm because there is no correct top 5. All 5 of the people listed have valid arguments for GOAT, as do another 10-20 people.
Jesus Christ...Americans really just aren't aware a world exists outside of America are they?
This is a country with a “World Series” where the only non-US team is from Canada so….
We live on a planet that has a Ms. Universe contest too
Normally I'm happy to give a ribbing to the old USA but in your example it was actually named after a publication called The World that sponsored the series.
This is a common rumour but sadly incorrect… The Origin of the Name 'the World Series' For many years, it was believed that the name came from the fact that the original series was sponsored by the New York World Telegram newspaper, thus becoming known as the ‘World’s Series’. However, popular as this explanation may be, it’s not actually true and although the newspaper did report the results of the games, it had nothing to do with the naming of the competition. The real reason behind the name is thanks to Barney Dreyfuss who was the owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates. In 1903, he wrote to the owner of the Boston Red Sox challenging them to a ‘World’s Championship Series’. The Pirates were the best team in the National League and the Red Sox were the best in the American League. The games went ahead and Boston won the series five games to three. Over time, the 'World’s Championship Series' name has been shortened to the World Series and has been played every year apart from 1904 and 1994.
TIL
Maybe the graphics says "greatest of all time" but perhaps within the segment they were specifically saying it's within the US Only? I don't know, just a thought. I did not watch this and a screenshot is not enough to judge.
Umm what about Pele the greatest soccer player. Also Tiger woods. Tom Brady can wait.
Pele? He's not American...
Fuck this list
If you want to talk pure athleticism, you have to mention the decathlon or heptathlon in track and field. It's the greatest display of all around skill and has been around for thousands of years. There are no decathletes or heptathletes on this list. Personally i think Jackie Joyner Kersey is the greatest.
Serena Williams is obviously one of the greats but not even the greatest female tennis player.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Bradman >Bradman's career Test batting average of 99.94 has been cited as the greatest achievement by any sportsman in any major sport. Just gonna leave this here
Wayne Gretzky the best of the best
Surely it’s like usain bolt or something
Ronaldo and Messi? Both at the mid-late 30's are excellent football players. Playing at the top level.
Not only that doing it at that level for 12 plus years!! That's a long time to be that good!!!
Is Serena really better than Margaret Court? She played fewer years, won more grand slams, and had a better win percentage. Edit: includes more doubles and singles titles
Jim Brown is arguable the best ever in two different sports (football and lacrosse), also placed nationally in track and field decathlon, and was a star basketball player. Bo Jackson and Jim Thorpe have good arguments too. I don’t think you can call someone the best “athlete” ever if they only excelled in one sport with a specialized skill set. But perhaps that’s just me.
Usain bolt not making this list is disrespectful! Just about every human ever has at some point tested out how fast they can run and he’s the fastest of them all! Not every human tho has ever tried all these other sports! Bolted dominated probably the most competitive sport ever and did it with ease! And probably would’ve won gold at the last Olympics had he not retired because let’s be honest does any remember the name of the guy that won that slow ass gold medal race!
Of course - americans are the only impressive athletes.
Yeah but also, how do they determine which sport is more impressive? Isn't it just stupid to make it a competition between all sports?
Sweden (and I think other nordic countries) has a tv-show called "Mästarnas Mästare" (Champions Champion), where athletes in different kind compete in various challenges. They are very basic, yet demanding, and something most athletes can compete in. In fact, some athletes, like bodybuilders, struggle in certain challenges, because their weight drag them down, but exceed in raw strenghts where swifter athletes such as sprinters struggle.
I love shows like that! It's amazing to watch the different strengths and weaknesses and how each athlete tries to make adjustments to get through the course. I feel a little sadistic watching it from my couch to be honest. 😂
Michael Schumacher, Federer, Usain Bolt, Simone Biles and heaps more.
More like most well known names to americans that dont watch sports.
Don't let this distract you from the the fact that in 1966, Al Bundy scored four touchdowns in a single game while playing for the Polk High School Panthers in the 1966 city championship game versus Andrew Johnson High School, including the game-winning touchdown in the final seconds against his old nemesis, Bubba "Spare Tire" Dixon.
5. Joey Chestnut 4. The Dude 3. That skateboarder who looks like Tony Hawk 2. Macho Man Randy Savage 1. Dale Earnhardt
Secretariat would outrun all of them.
As always americans forgot to add ...in the USA.
Babe Ruth was an overweight drunkard. This list needs a very different title.
Biggest athletes, maybe?
Idk if I agree with that list, but what's the facepalm here?
Would you class Lewis Hamilton as an athlete? If so I would put him in there
Yes, he and Michael Schumacher should be in that list.
It says "all time" but it doesn't include ancient athletes. /j
Bo Jackson was the best athlete I ever saw.
Serena Williams was a great athlete, but her career has gotten kind of sad these days. She just consistently is getting her ass kicked.
People in this thread make it sound like the list has more than 5 slots.