The Greatest Greatest

[KMRUNOUT]

Buddy Rich! And that's all I have to say! But since this is about pool,,,, only because I have heard insane stories about him, I will say Harold Worst!

Buddy Rich is a great drummer, but I'm afraid that there are MANY great drummers. (Billy Cobham, Dennis Chambers, Neil Peart, etc.) It's tough with music because it is very subjective and there are not the same types of measurements of performance.

I've also heard stories of Worst. I've also heard some pretty amazing claims about Don Willis. Luther Lassiter is quoted as saying that if he had one shot to make for his life, live or die on whether the shot is made, he would want Don Willis to shoot the shot for him. It would be tough again, though, to consider him since his accomplishments are largely anecdotal. I think *one* part of being the greatest ever at something is that you need to win the very biggest competition that endeavor has to offer. A great example would be Dan Marino. I, and many others, believe that he was the greatest passer the game has ever known. He certainly has (or had) pretty much every passing record there is. However, his lack of Super Bowl championships are a major factor why he might not be the GOAT.

Still, glad for the contributions...I'm gonna watch some videos of the two guys you named!!

KMRUNOUT

 

[KMRUNOUT]

Except Sugar Ray Robinson was better , pound for pound.
And Joe Louis was the heavyweight champ for more than a decade .
Did not lose a fight while being a champion.


Secretariat is the greatest ever in any sport .

I absolutely agree about Secretariat. I feel that if God was going to come to earth and be a horse, well...maybe that is exactly what happened lol. That Belmont. Oh God...I seriously get misty just thinking about it. For an animal to so obviously DECLARE "enough! you will now see what being a racehorse really is". Just crushes me...

KMRUNOUT

 

[bwally]

Babe Ruth...

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

 

[pt109]

Walter Lindrum....his discipline was English Billiards....
....and he made the game obsolete.

 

[PoolBum]

Until we found out about the cheating....lance armstrong

Lance Armstrong was never considered the greatest cyclist of all time.

The greatest cyclist of all time is Eddy Merckx, and he would be my pick for the least disputed greatest athlete in his sport of all time as well (though Secretariat gets my vote if we include nonhuman athletes).

 

[Cornerman]

Ok so we often have conversations about who is the greatest of all time. My guess is that Efren Reyes gets the most votes in that category, especially if you ask pro pool players.

My question is (and this certainly will be partially NPR): Of all the sports out there, which greatest of all time is so, with the least dispute?

I think titles, overall ability, dominance among peers, style and grace, records and accomplishments, longevity, and of course *magic*, would all go into selecting the GOAT. Efren clearly has all of these things. But arguments could be made for Earl, Willie, etc.

Some of the less disputable greatests might be Wayne Gretzky, Michael Jordan, Roger Federer.

So the criteria for The Greatest of the Greatest of All Time list would be simply, who is *most convincingly* and universally considered the greatest of all time in their respective discipline. I'm kinda thinking Gretzky. What do you guys think?

I'd love to hear peoples Top 10, top 5, etc. whatever you want, list of the GGOAT.

And...GO!

KMRUNOUT

Walter Lindrum
Neal Pert
Secretariat
Michael Jordan
Seka

 

[sjm]

Wayne Gretzky for me. In seven of his first eight years in the National Hockey League, Gretzky had more points than any player in history before him had in a single season.

 

[timsmcm]

Bo Jackson

 

[LAMas]

Serena Williams ...I'm not racist.

 

[Cameron Smith]

Walter Lindrum....his discipline was English Billiards....
....and he made the game obsolete.

I was looking for this name. Tom Newman and Joe Davis were heads and tails above the competition and Walter Lindrum had to spot even them.

 

[solid C player]

ronnie O

ronnie O. keeps making amazing shots.

 

[Player]

John L. Sullivan in boxing.

 

[Bbutler]

ronnie O. keeps making amazing shots.

In snooker Ronnie is certainly the man at present, but Stephen Hendry is really the guy who has to be the main front runner for GOAT.

For me there aren't too many in sports who compare with Tiger Woods in his prime.

 

[LAMas]

Hal Houle who gave us CTE.

 

[KMRUNOUT]

Walter Lindrum
Neal Pert
Secretariat
Michael Jordan
Seka

Who is Seka? I'm curious...

And I agree Neil Peart is one of the very best ever, but even within this thread there is contention as someone else mentioned Buddy Rich.

A good friend of mine is WAY into horse racing. While she believes Secretariat is the greatest (and probably this also contributed to me believing the same), on many top whatever number lists, he isn't always #1. Some think Man O' War was better overall. Bloodhorse magazine, a pretty important publication in horse racing, ranked Secretariat #2 behind Man O' War. Big Red is still my pick though.

Jordan is going to be a popular choice for the most decisive GOAT I think.

KMRUNOUT

 

[KMRUNOUT]

Wayne Gretzky for me. In seven of his first eight years in the National Hockey League, Gretzky had more points than any player in history before him had in a single season.

He was my #1 pick as well. They don't call him The Great One for nothing. What I respect so much is that even though he is the greatest goal scorer the game has every known (though Lemieux scored more goals per gmaes played over his career), Gretzky was also the best playmaker ever...almost always having record breaking numbers of assists. He was the whole package as a player, sportsman, athlete. Pretty much any team he was on was probably going to win the Stanley Cup. STRONG contender for front runner on the Greatest Greatest list.

KMRUNOUT

 

[KMRUNOUT]

Serena Williams ...I'm not racist.

I think Serena *will* be, but at the moment I think Stephie Graf may still hold that distinction. Tough call. Serena sure is dominant though, that's for sure.

I think Federer is another good choice. I read an interesting fact about him. In his career, Federer *won* 25% of all the tournaments he has entered. That to me is just ridiculous. His whole career!!

KMRUNOUT

 

[TX Poolnut]

Esther Vergeer is the GOAT, male or female, in her sport of wheelchair tennis.

Combining singles and doubles, she has won 42 Grand Slam tournaments, 22 year-end championships and 7 Paralympics titles. Vergeer was the world number one wheelchair tennis player for 14 years in a row 1999-2013. She retired in 2013 still number one. In singles matches, she was undefeated since January 2003 and ended her career on a winning streak of 470 matches! Over the course of her career, she won 700 matches and only lost 25!

 

[denzilla171]

Alexander Karelin
Valentino Rossi
Jahangir Khan
Jon Jones
Don Bradman
Tony Hawk

 

[(((Satori)))]

Aleksandr Karelin


The greatest greco-roman wrestler of all time with a record of 887 wins and 2 losses.

Gold medals in the 88, 92, 96 Olympics and a Silver in 2000