Benny "The Jet" Rodriguez and it's not even close.
Who is the GOAT?
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- #52
One that isn’t explicitly on-field and statistics related for me (although it could have been if he had stayed healthy!) is The Kid. He had the talent and the carisma and truly transcended the sport with the silky smooth swing, the backwards hat, and his athleticism in the outfield.
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This was the first Olympics that any Asian country participated in and only South Africa participated in Africa. The 1912 Olympics were basically the US, Europe, Australia, and Japan. Not a worldwide and diverse event like it is today.
Here is the medal count. These nations all have something in common:
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With roids would he have been better than Bonds? Great baseball question.
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- #56
I think calling for a GOAT is such a brutal experience. Dominating a sport is not new, but there are a few who have done an unbelievable job of it, so much so that records will NEVER be topped.
I put Gretz and Tiger at the top of that list.
I put Gretz and Tiger at the top of that list.
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- #57
Greatest baseball swing of all time?
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- #58
Surprised we haven’t had any soccer votes yet! I can’t do the argument justice, but I know the conversation includes Pele, Maradona, Ronaldo, and Messi.
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- #59
Definitely the one I practiced the most in my driveway growing up!
KingsKraken
Well-known member
If we’re talking greatest athlete of all time, Jim Thorpe.
If we’re talking about a single sport GOAT, Gretzky. No one dominated their sport like he did. He still holds 61 NHL records, some of which will never be broken.
His trade from Edmonton to Los Angeles was directly responsible for growing the game of hockey in non-traditional markets too. So many teams today owe their existence to that trade and Gretzky’s ambassadorship.
If we’re talking about a single sport GOAT, Gretzky. No one dominated their sport like he did. He still holds 61 NHL records, some of which will never be broken.
His trade from Edmonton to Los Angeles was directly responsible for growing the game of hockey in non-traditional markets too. So many teams today owe their existence to that trade and Gretzky’s ambassadorship.
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- #62
Boxing is a fun debate because of the different dynamics between divisions and career trajectory. Floyd Mayweather is obviously in the conversation with his undefeated record and absurd defensive abilities and then there’s Pacquiao who is far from undefeated, but came from extreme poverty, started his professional career as a light flyweight and claimed belts all the way up to light middleweight while having the hopes of an entire nation on his shoulders.
Wayne Gretzy
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- #64
But he brought a title to The Land!You know who's NOT the???
lebron. He sucks.
And some incredible [self-reported] off-field statistics.
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- #66
I’d use a different adjective, but yes there’s that too
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- #67
I know its not a popular thought, but is there anything saying he wasn't using like many others? There are the obvious ones and those that got caught, but I don't think there is a single player in MLB that was above reproach during that era. Sadly that is what the league/game/issues did.
Really surprised we haven't had a soccer player come across the list yet.
Maradona.
Maradona.
The steroid era is tough to judge but Bonds was maybe the greatest most dominant athlete I have watched in my lifetime. Even without steroids I think he maybe goes down as the GOAT in baseball.
Very good point, which is once reason I said "ideally." There are so many variables I don't think there can be one definitive answer. Athletes prohibited from playing, or who were passed over because they weren't the coach's kid, or who grew up on a farm and went to a high school with seven kids 9-12, or got injured in a HS game. I'm not trivializing your argument. It's an issue that I'm glad to see MLB has addressed with Negro League statistics.
Knot Right
Well-known member
Comparing individual sports to team sports is a bit disjointed.
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- #72
The GOAT debate on Twitter has been great. I could watch this on a loop. “Who do you think you are?... I am!!!”
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If you go by his new contract than Messi is.
Last night, late in the game, the camera was on a dejected Mahomes, and Romo said something to the effect of "he's such a talent, he's going to be in a lot more Super Bowls" and all I could think of was Dan Marino.
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