bones Posted April 25, 2015 Share Posted April 25, 2015 Some might say Federer. Others Ali. You could have some Americans argue Phelps or Jordan. I wanted to put Jack Nicklaus out there but then I just read and seen some documentaries on Jehangir Khan. Squash may not be the most popular sport, not as many people play it as Tennis or Golf, so the competition isn't anywhere near as fierce. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jahangir_Khan But Jehangir Khan did something I doubt anyone will ever do in any sport or even come close to replicating. 555 wins in a row stretching 6 years in very physically demanding sports. 555!!! FIVE HUNDRED AND FIFTY FIVE MATCH STREAK. It makes Nadal's dominance at RG seem insignificant in comparison. If this guy was American or British, they would be making movies about him. What do you think? Could it be Nicklaus? Federer? Bradman? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FischerTal Posted April 25, 2015 Share Posted April 25, 2015 the don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
South_Paw Posted April 25, 2015 Share Posted April 25, 2015 When no one can pick a greatest player in any particular sport, trying to single out the greatest sportsman of all time is as impossible as reaching the edge of the universe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muloghonto Posted April 25, 2015 Share Posted April 25, 2015 Tendulkar and its not even a contest. He was just as dominant as Tiger Woods/Federer/Bradman/Michael Jordan in his sport (though J.Khan was far more dominant than anyone else. I've played squash sparingly before. 555 consecutive wins is equivalent to getting 100% in every single math test ever or something ridiculous like that). But where Tendulkar is orders of magnitude greater than any other sportsman is his influence outside of sport. He turned a few million dollars per year sponsorship industry to over a billion dollar industry and the 'Tendulkar effect' on the Indian economy & stock market is simply incomprehensible- its a far greater effect than Warren Buffet has on the US economy with his stock market announcements and the Tendulkar effect over the years in the Indian economy is probably worth somewhere in the vicinity of a trillion dollars, if not more. So if we are looking at the greatest sportsman as someone who's been a dominant force in the sports and have transcended the sport to have a social impact, there is no competition for Tendulkar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bones Posted April 26, 2015 Author Share Posted April 26, 2015 Tendulkar and its not even a contest. There was a reason I didn't mention his name in the original post. He's not even India's greatest sportsman or the greatest cricket player of all time. Those titles belong to Dhyan Chand and Don Bradman respectively. The way you rubbish squash and 555 consecutive wins is what I'd expect. Getting 100% in the sub-continent might be something that's routine, but at least here in the UK, A Level and Degree level maths is exceptionally difficult. It also helps Tendulkar that he plays cricket, the most watched sport in India and the sub-continent. If Tendulkar had achieved similar stats in another sport, no one would ever be arguing that he is greater than Don Bradman or Dhyan Chand. Tendulkar has scored a heck of a lot of international runs, but that record isn't one that's unbeatable. When you consider Sanga had a career of 15 years and scored 27800 runs and Tendulkar scored his 34400 in 24, it really shows two things to me. Tendulkar had incredible longevity, but Tendulkar's run record is nowhere near as out of reach some people say. Dhyan Chand, the wizard himself is arguably the greatest hockey player of all time, the reason you might argue is not because of what he did it's because of how he did it, we don't have the footage to see those records he smashed or the way he took India to 3 Olympic Titles in a row. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueBee Posted April 26, 2015 Share Posted April 26, 2015 When no one can pick a greatest player in any particular sport' date=' trying to single out the greatest sportsman of all time is as impossible as reaching the edge of the universe.[/quote'] +1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muloghonto Posted April 26, 2015 Share Posted April 26, 2015 There was a reason I didn't mention his name in the original post. He's not even India's greatest sportsman or the greatest cricket player of all time. Those titles belong to Dhyan Chand and Don Bradman respectively. The way you rubbish squash and 555 consecutive wins is what I'd expect. Getting 100% in the sub-continent might be something that's routine, but at least here in the UK, A Level and Degree level maths is exceptionally difficult. Err no. I did ICSE grade 10 and then did A levels, A levels are way, way easier than grade 10 math, never mind grade 12 in India. It also helps Tendulkar that he plays cricket, the most watched sport in India and the sub-continent. If Tendulkar had achieved similar stats in another sport, no one would ever be arguing that he is greater than Don Bradman or Dhyan Chand. Correct. Tendulkar has scored a heck of a lot of international runs, but that record isn't one that's unbeatable. When you consider Sanga had a career of 15 years and scored 27800 runs and Tendulkar scored his 34400 in 24, it really shows two things to me. Tendulkar had incredible longevity, but Tendulkar's run record is nowhere near as out of reach some people say. Yes. it is. No one is ever beating his 100 international centuries mark, which is more elusive than Don's 99.94 These days, with Bangladesh,Zimbabwe and a super-inconsistent West Indies around, i can see some debutant running red hot averaging 100+ for a few tests and who knows, if that guy retired/died/changed careers, Don's 99.94 might be beaten. But 100 international tons is not going to be. Dhyan Chand, the wizard himself is arguably the greatest hockey player of all time, the reason you might argue is not because of what he did it's because of how he did it, we don't have the footage to see those records he smashed or the way he took India to 3 Olympic Titles in a row. The greatest sportsman of all-time is the guy who can claim to be a great sportsman AND transcend sports itself to be of a societerial impact driver. That would be Tendulkar. Nobody has had such a huge impact as Tendulkar has had both in and outside the sports. There isn't a single sportsman who can claim to've inspired as many people, served as a role model for as many people and had such a huge impact on the culture and economy of a nation to such a degree. greatest sportsman is not about sporting stats, its about one who has transcended sports itself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeautifulGame Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 The first criteria for this should be that the sports itself has interest all over the world Only football fulfills that criteria. Sof for me it has to be either Pele or Maradona Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suraj Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 How do you even compare across sports and so man eras?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raghav_12 Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 Some might say Federer. Others Ali. You could have some Americans argue Phelps or Jordan. I wanted to put Jack Nicklaus out there but then I just read and seen some documentaries on Jehangir Khan. Squash may not be the most popular sport, not as many people play it as Tennis or Golf, so the competition isn't anywhere near as fierce. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jahangir_Khan But Jehangir Khan did something I doubt anyone will ever do in any sport or even come close to replicating. 555 wins in a row stretching 6 years in very physically demanding sports. 555!!! FIVE HUNDRED AND FIFTY FIVE MATCH STREAK. It makes Nadal's dominance at RG seem insignificant in comparison. If this guy was American or British, they would be making movies about him. What do you think? Could it be Nicklaus? Federer? Bradman? It has to be Nadal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bones Posted April 27, 2015 Author Share Posted April 27, 2015 It has to be Nadal. I don't think you're being serious, but if you are, he'll need to at the very least match Fed's 17 slams. Before he does that he's not even in the equation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zep1706 Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 Don Bradman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueBee Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 It has to be Nadal. No way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sooda Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 Usain Bolt ? Schumacher? How do you even compare across sports and so man eras?? Indeed! Perhaps instead of throwing names about we can make this a constructive discussion. We have already set some criteria - dominance over nearest rivals, 'non sporting legacy' ... what else. The person should have changed his sport , revolutionised it even The popularity of the sport- should that be a factor? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muloghonto Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 Usain Bolt ? Schumacher? Indeed! Perhaps instead of throwing names about we can make this a constructive discussion. We have already set some criteria - dominance over nearest rivals, 'non sporting legacy' ... what else. The person should have changed his sport , revolutionised it even The popularity of the sport- should that be a factor? All very valid points. In terms of dominating the sport like no other: Bradman, Tendulkar, Pele, Maradona, Schumacher(M), Usain Bolt, Wayne Gretsky, Roger Federer, Jehangir Khan come to mind. In terms of non sporting legacy(which IMO can be MUCH MUCH bigger than the sporting legacy itself), there are two contenders in my mind: Pele and Tendulkar In terms of popularity of sport, again, there are only two sports that qualify for a global and/or numerical outreach amongst fans: soccer and cricket in terms of changing the game: Pele, Tendulkar, Wayne Gretsky come to mind. So it should be between Pele and Tendulkar. Personally I'd go for Tendulkar because he had to overcome greater adversity due to modern competitiveness (he was scrutinized via video replays by his opposition, a tool not available pre 1990s for sportsmen) and his effect outside the sport is greater than anyone else's. Tendulkar is the only sportsman who's performance would directly correlate with stock market performances and in the 90s and early 2000s, it was common amongst Indian stock brokers to keep track of how Tendulkar is batting to reflect that day's trade. That is simply, phenomenal for a sportsman. Tendulkar's successes have added billions of dollars to the Indian economy and his failures have wiped out billions of dollars from our economy. That is simply incredible influence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CG Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 I don't think you're being serious' date=' but if you are, he'll need to at the very least match Fed's 17 slams. Before he does that he's not even in the equation.[/quote'] Lol that greatest sportsman turns a crybaby in front of nadal.Federrer could not even dominate when playing field got stronger greatest sportsman meh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CG Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 Its impossible task really but if you look at guys who were champions at more than one sport may be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raghav_12 Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 I'll keep Nadal out of discussion as Bones would turn this into Fed vs Nadal thread. I am not sure about greatest sports person of all time, but if I have to select greatest sportsperson of my time, then I would go for Usain Bolt and I have no doubt in my mind about that. This guy brought back all charisma and excitement back in athletics and all this through an event which lasts shorter than the break that Federer takes between two points. Compare the atmoshphere in stadium between two days of an athletics competition, one when Bolt is on and other when he is not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Detonator Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 Hercules. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bones Posted April 28, 2015 Author Share Posted April 28, 2015 I'll keep Nadal out of discussion as Bones would turn this into Fed vs Nadal thread. I am not sure about greatest sports person of all time, but if I have to select greatest sportsperson of my time, then I would go for Usain Bolt and I have no doubt in my mind about that. Well I'm not a Nadal or Fed fan, I'm a Novak and Delpo man and you know this. But I said time and time again H2H means nothing in tennis. Slams mean everything. So until Djokovic wins 14 slams he will not be equal to or better than Nadal. Until Nadal wins 17 slams he will not be better than or equal to Federer. Slam count is all that matters. Everything else is insignificant. Usain Bolt? He's up there, but at the moment I'm not sure he's achieved as much in his own sports as say Jack Nicklaus has. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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