I’m by no means a horse fan. However, whenever I see Secretariat’s ESPN Sports Century, at the Belmont race, gives me goose bumps. Unbelievable.
name one better?
[quote]jehovasfitness wrote:
I’m by no means a horse fan. However, whenever I see Secretariat’s ESPN Sports Century, at the Belmont race, gives me goose bumps. Unbelievable.
name one better?[/quote]
Solid, for an animal. There’s no questioning Secretariat’s greatness in the annals of Sports History.
However, I prefer to reserve these titles for humans. A few come to mind immediately:
Jesse Owens - Winning Gold in Hitler’s Germany in the 1936 Olympics
Mark Spitz - 7 Gold Medals in 1972
Nadia Comaneci - 5 medals (3 Gold) in 1976 at the age of 14 with the first perfect 10 in history
Michael Phelps - Fuck the Bong. This manchild defines excellence in every sense of the word. 8 (count 'em) Gold medals in the 2008 Olympics.
Eric Heiden: 5 Gold medals in 5 events in the 1980 Winter Olympics; all accomplished in less than 2 weeks.
My $0.02
I always found Marat Safin’s dismissal of Pete Sampras in straight sets at the 2000 U.S. Open to be pretty spectacular.
And we can’t forget Tiger Woods winning the U.S. Open last year with a broken tibia and ligament damage in his knee.
Or even more recently, the five hour Rafael Nadal versus Fernando Verdasco match in the Australian Open semifinals this year. The athleticism displayed by those two was unreal.
It’s hard to find any sport that transcends the beauty and power of horse racing.
Too bad inbreeding for speed and profit has fucked up the breed and the sport. Hence Eight Belles and many others.
Tiger Woods, 2008 U.S. Open.
I was sixteen when that race happened. If you didn’t have a t.v. you were listening on the radio. It was the biggest sports story of the times. The Triple Crown is the gold metal of gold metals.
Every year a horse wins the Belmont. Once in a life time a Triple Crown winner comes along. Without a doubt the most amazing horse ever! Not just a winner but a true champion, with a heart of gold!
[quote]buffbills69 wrote:
Tiger Woods, 2008 U.S. Open.[/quote]
As great as that was, if you’re going golf, you have to go Tiger’s first Master’s. He spanked the rest of the field like the red-headed step children they were.
How about Lance Armstrong DOMINATING seven Tour De Frances?
[quote]rrjc5488 wrote:
How about Lance Armstrong DOMINATING seven Tour De Frances?[/quote]
No, he would have to win three tours in one season. Remember he had help. As fucking great as he is, so was his team.
Usain Bolt
Milos of Croton
VASILY ALEXEEV
Everyone else is second rate.
Also…
Horses are FOOD not athletes.
Jim Thorpe winning the pentathalon and the decathalon in the 1912 Olympics. He’s the one who should have been athlete of the century.
Well him or Babe Didrikson Zaharias.
http://espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/00014147.html
“Babe single-handedly won the 1932 AAU championships, which served as Olympic qualifying, on July 16 in Evanston, Ill. The sole representative of Employers Casualty, she scored 30 points, eight more than the runner-up team, which had 22 athletes. In a span of three hours, she competed in eight of 10 events, winning five outright and tying for first in the high jump. She set world records in the javelin, 80-meter hurdles, high jump and baseball throw.”
[quote]Aragorn wrote:
buffbills69 wrote:
Tiger Woods, 2008 U.S. Open.
As great as that was, if you’re going golf, you have to go Tiger’s first Master’s. He spanked the rest of the field like the red-headed step children they were.[/quote]
2000 US Open he won by 15 shots, the only person under par(2nd place was +3), etc etc. If you go golf that’s my pick.
Wilt’s 100 point game was mentioned at the end of that video, that has to be thrown in here. Maybe even Kobe’s 81(insert debate about eras of play and how each has their own impressive merits). Wilt has a TON of records that will more than likely never be challenged let alone broken, the 100 point game just stands as a beacon for the rest.
And someone mentioned Usain Bolt and I just want to reiterate how ridiculous his 100m race was. You are not supposed to win a race that short by the amount of time he did, especially not when you pull up and start to pound your chest at 80m.
Pick one.
Dean Karnazes ran 50 marathons in 50 days. After the last one in N.Y. he ran back to the site of the first one in St. Louis.
Ran a 200 mile relay in California solo.
Won the Badwater 135 through Death Valley.
Ran over 350 miles at 80+hrs.
Won the 4 Deserts Crown.
[quote]silverblood wrote:
Pick one.
Dean Karnazes ran 50 marathons in 50 days. After the last one in N.Y. he ran back to the site of the first one in St. Louis.
Ran a 200 mile relay in California solo.
Won the Badwater 135 through Death Valley.
Ran over 350 miles at 80+hrs.
Won the 4 Deserts Crown.
[/quote]
This makes him exactly the worst athlete in my mind.
[quote]TooHuman wrote:
silverblood wrote:
Pick one.
Dean Karnazes ran 50 marathons in 50 days. After the last one in N.Y. he ran back to the site of the first one in St. Louis.
Ran a 200 mile relay in California solo.
Won the Badwater 135 through Death Valley.
Ran over 350 miles at 80+hrs.
Won the 4 Deserts Crown.
This makes him exactly the worst athlete in my mind.[/quote]
You are a complete idiot. 50 marathons in 50 days, holy mother of god…just because he can’t bench 500 doesn’t mean he’s not a great athlete in THIS sport.
My vote is for Rosie Ruiz. The first female to win the Boston marathon in 1980. Unreal!
How about Naim Süleymanoğlu, the pocket Hercules. Clean and jerked 3 times his bodyweight! Would have won gold in 84’ as well as 88’, 92’ and 96’ if it wasn’t for the soviet boycott.
[quote]buffbills69 wrote:
Tiger Woods, 2008 U.S. Open.[/quote]
I gotta go with Tiger, blow knee, broken leg, fights back to tie on the last hole and eventually win? How many other athletes have won anything with a broken leg?
I would have to go with Tiger also.
Many of you will not get this but Liverpool’s comeback against AC Milan in '05 will be a sporting memory I will remember forever.
Gotta also go with Bolt, and the fish that is Phelps. Just incredible.