As you may know, I canned my Dog Pound Forum column last week (issue #117) because I thought the message board would be a faster, more exciting place to hold court. Here’s how it works: I’ll ask a question, you post an answer and the person with the best response gets a prize. It’s fun and we always end up learning a lot from each other. So let’s do it!
Who’s the greatest athlete of all time and why?
Whichever one of you T-Dudes can convince me that your choice is best gets a container of Grow! Let’s keep the responses short and sweet given the nature of the board. T-mag writers may contribute, too. Okay, let’s hear it!
Ben Johnson. He is the fastest man of all time and he could bench 430 at a bodyweight of 173. He could have cleaned house at powerlifting contest and probably been Mr. Olympia.
For sheer athleticism, Michael Jordan. The aerobic capacity of any track sprinter, agility of a ballerina, speed, quickness, strength. his videos showed his weight room proclivities as well. He could do it all.
Joe Louis, the brown bomber. Taking the heavyweight championship at a time when lynchings were as common as car accidents? That takes some serious balls.
Before everyone starts saying Michael Jordan, let me cast my vote for Wilt Chamberlain…not because of his basketball ability, but because of his ‘other’ athletic endeavor. How in shape do you have to be in to sleep with over 10,000 women??? Pretty damn athletic if you ask me.
I know that this is a Testosterone forum and has much to do with training with weights etc but I believe that the greatest athlete would have to be Lance Armstrong. He is a professional road cyclist who has won 2 Tours de France, won the World Championship as one of the youngest ever to have won and has been accused of many things (such as drug taking as we know cycling is in a bit of turmoil over this) as some segments of the press believe someone who has fought back from having testicular cancer could not possibly win the Tour de France - twice! The only drugs he took were those that would kill a normal, healthy individual - platinum among them and as any survivor of cancer would know there is nothing pleasant about these drugs. Think about it. Someone who has had a testicle removed, cancer in his lungs and brain comes back and wins the Tour! Not just that but he was born in Texas and is extremely proud of being a Texan and American. Now I am an Aussie but I think Lance gets my vote.
The greatest athlete of all time is by far…Chris Shugart!!!
Because I don’t think you guys will appreciate my ass-kissing, I’ll submit Jim Thorpe. To me, Jim Thorpe was the guy that my dad always told me about. I never really knew what he did or anything like that, but I grew up believing that Jim Thorpe was the greatest. After I learned more about him, I knew that this guy was the shit. His athleticism stems from his ability to excel at SO MANY THINGS!!! While many of his records have been broken, Jim Thorpe will always be synonymous with pure athletic ability.
Nolan Ryan!!! 53 Major League Records. 53!!! 7 No-Hitters, Most K’s 5714, 24 Seasons with 100 or more strikeouts, 6 Seasons with 300 or more. Threw a no-hitter at age 43. I hope I can still throw at that age. He threw a no hitter in 3 different decades. Nolan Ryan was secretly lifting weights all through his career because it was a BIG NO-NO for baseball players, let alone a pitcher, to lift. Nolan Ryan is the greatest athlete.
I don’t know if you’d consider him an athlete, but I would say Bruce Lee. He had a really small frame, but had the ability to project alot of power. And, the fact that he could beat the living shit out of over 90% of the world’s population.
I would have to say Pete Maravich. He was a cool dude who handled himself like a T-Man. He was smooth, graceful, & he said the reason he played was to entertain the fans. And, he played an exciting style of game without dunking!
The greatest you want? It’s the one & only “Bruce Lee”! This guy was born with every gift an athlete dreams of! He made 100% use of it too. This guy trained like a mad man!! He wanted to be the best; he didn’t want to feel the pain of not being know as the greatest. He did the work & then some. He also did well with the ladies too. He once hurt his back having sex. In books & movies they say he hurt his back doing a good-morning, not so. Imagine his thrusting power with the women? It leave me with goose bumps. WOW!
Id have to say the best decathlete. That would be Dan Obrien. He has to have speed, power, agility, strength, and endurance. He has to be the best he can at a wide variety of events-some that are not related to each other. The decathlon is the purest test of athleticism and OBrien was the best!
One athlete is fastest in the 100 m dash, another is strongest in the bench press, and yet another can sink ball after ball on the greens. But the greatest athlete? Greatness is a quality that belongs to no one athlete. The athletes who despite years of ceaseless dedication and unbounded passion never make the history books are no less inspiring or worthy of admiration than the those whose combined genetics and hard work make them the superstars of the media. Greatness belongs to all of these people, to every single individual who has ever given his or her all to the pursuit of an athletic dream. Winners or losers, male or female, martial artists or basketball players – these people are the truly great athletes of the world, the people who inspire us all to be the very best we can be.
To these people do we owe the title. They deserve it so much more than any single man or woman ever could.
Walter Payton “Sweetness” (R.I.P) that guy could dance around you or run or ass into the gound. On top of that his workouts were freekin grueling events. Walter Payton was and will always be my vote for the greatest athlete.
It’s a tie between Muhamad Ali and Jack Lalanne. Ali was more than just one if not the greatest boxers of all time but also an ambassador to the world.
Jack Lalanne, the man went swimming with 70 boats strapped to his ass on his 70th birthday. if that ain’t a t-man I don’t know what is.
WAYNE GRETZKY.Nobody has ever dominated a sport the way he has. 50 goals in 39 games before the league was watered down with expansion. Made hockey alot more well known in America. Holds numerous records that I highly doubt willl ever be broken. Plain and simple no man has “MAN” has ever and will never dominate a sport the way the great one did.
A young (this excludes the second Sugar Ray Leonard fight) Roberto Duran - this man had more macho & testosterone than any other athlete. His strength, reflexes, stamina wore his opponents down. These physical attributes were fuelled by his attitude - Destroy the opponent and don’t stop until the destruction is complete. He loved to fight. He was a boxing legend at 22 years or age with a will that would could not be broken.
The list of the world’s greatest athletes ever… It would include the likes of Babe Ruth, who single handedly made baseball the American pasttime. And for sure, Micheal Jordan and Ali would stand out for their physical prowess and uncanny ability to thrive under pressure. But my vote for the greatest athlete of all time goes to John McEnroe. He was and is a Testosterone man through and through. He practiced only one hour a day, but through sheer grit, determination, and talent, he became one of the greatest tennis players in history. His athletic ability on the court was dazzling, his touch at the net unmatched. And his mental toughness and ability to rain holy hell upon the mental stability of both his opponents and the umpire made him the greatest sportsman of all time. Just when the world thought he was upset, cursing the umpire and threatening the fans, that’s when he brought his best game. John McEnroe, the most loved and hated athlete in the world, is undoubtedly the fiercest competitor that ever lived.