GUN TO YOUR HEAD: Your favorite Top 5 Athletes of All Time

[The_Lyrical_Miracle]

Here we go, let's lighten up the sports forum a bit on here. I'm talking about the people who you called heroes, who you admired.. and I'm making you rank them 1-5. Yes, it's insidious, that's exactly the point, and I'm doing it to myself as well. Here we go...

My Top 5

1. Peyton Manning
2. Dominique Wilkins
3. Andre Agassi
4. Larry Bird
5. Goran Ivanesevic

Ugh, that was TOUGH.. your turn.

 

[MarathonMike]

1. Juan Marichal
2. Denny McLain
3. John RIggins
4. Johnny Miller
5. Wes Unseld

 

[The_Lyrical_Miracle]

1. Juan Marichal
2. Denny McLain
3. John RIggins
4. Johnny Miller
5. Wes Unseld

Nice List, you're clearly before my time.

 

[rightwinger]

Ali
Babe Ruth
Gretzky
Jordan
Brady

 

[The_Lyrical_Miracle]

Ali
Babe Ruth
Gretzky
Jordan
Brady

The Forever Questions:
What if Babe Ruth had modern training and could play today
What if Muhammad Ali faced prime Mike Tyson

Nice List

 

[rightwinger]

The Forever Questions:
What if Babe Ruth had modern training and could play today
What if Muhammad Ali faced prime Mike Tyson

Nice List

Ali faced the scariest sluggers of his era……Sonny Liston and George Forman.
I remember the Boxing experts of the time wondering if he would be killed.

I wonder more about what Ruth would have accomplished if he took training serious in his own era

 

[The_Lyrical_Miracle]

Ali faced the scariest sluggers of his era……Sonny Liston and George Forman.
I remember the Boxing experts of the time wondering if he would be killed.

Yeah, Ali was able to carve them up. He was ahead of his time in technique. If you watch the tapes you see especially Foreman looking like an offensive lineman out there just trying to maul and not taking part in the sweet science.

I wonder more about what Ruth would have accomplished if he took training serious in his own era

He's just a larger-than-life icon like Paul Bunyan at this point.

The King of Crash, the Sultan of Swat...

 

[Desperado]

1. Larry Csonka
2. Dan Marino
3. Mario Andretti
4. Dale Earnhart
5. Jason Taylor

 

[Polishprince]

Bruno Sammartino
Pete Rose
Iron Mike Tyson
Tim Tebow
Meadowlark Lemon

 

[Winco]

Lou Gehrig
Jackie Robinson
Edgar Martinez
Roberto Clemente
Reggie White
Steve Gleason
Grant Wistrom

 

[Wickerthing]

Larry Bird
Carl Lewis
Bob Seagren Pole Vaulter
Dick Fosbury High Jumper Initiated backward jump
Randy Barns Shot Put-er
Odd choices I know but my sport in school was track High Jump Long Jump and Shot Put

 

[Esdraelon]

Lots of great names here but I'd add Walter Payton.

 

[sealybobo]

Lots of great names here but I'd add Walter Payton.

Mike tyson
Jordan
Barry Sanders
Pete Rose
wayne Gretzky

 

[rightwinger]

Larry Bird
Carl Lewis
Bob Seagren Pole Vaulter
Dick Fosbury High Jumper Initiated backward jump
Randy Barns Shot Put-er
Odd choices I know but my sport in school was track High Jump Long Jump and Shot Put

Al Oerter in the Discus
Won 4 Gold Medals

 

[Devils_Advocate]

Clemente

Montana

Bradshaw

Butkus

Jenkins

 

[sealybobo]

Lots of great names here but I'd add Walter Payton.

Jim Brown.

I hate it that it takes so long for a goat to emerge. Is there a young goat in hockey, soccer, basketball, football?

The only one I see is in baseball. The Asian pitcher who also hits well.

 

[Wickerthing]

Al Oerter in the Discus
Won 4 Gold Medals

Great! Yeah, I forgot about him.

 

[candycorn]

Still sort of fuzzy on the criteria that I'm supposed to use. I've never considered someone good at sports a "hero"? I do have athletes I admired watching growing up and I'll use them. You may not even recognize some of the names but that is my criterion--athletes I've enjoyed watching.

In no particular order:

1. Bill Bates. Dallas Cowboys. Despite growing up in Texas, I was never a Cowboy fan. But I can't imagine anyone watching football and not admiring Bill Bates. He was 100% at all times. #40 if you remember him.

2. Willie McGee. St. Louis Cardinals. I enjoyed watching the Cardinals manufacture runs and play small ball. McGee was a 5 tool player who, I think won the MVP in 1985. He was #51 if you remember him.

3. Ichiro Suzuki. Seattle Mariners. I don't think I've ever seen someone able to put the ball wherever he wanted on the baseball field. He often looked like a tennis player hitting ground strokes. #51 I believe.

There are others I've enjoyed watching but those are the three that come to mind immediately. Honorable mentions:

Terry Pendleton
Jimmy Connors
Any number of figure skaters (Sasha Cohen, Torvil and Dean come to mind)
George Gervin
Mickey Ward

Something that they all (the enumerated and the Has) is that I either didn't have access to or didn't pay attention to what they did aside from competitions. I wonder if that contributes to how they are viewed.

 

[lg325]

Tough to come up with only five. I like those in sports who had it tough but still made it.
Jim Thorpe, Daryl Strawberry, Roberto Duran, Roger Maris, James Braddock. I can think of more. I don't think of them and others as heroes. But admire their ability to overcome the obstacles put in front of them.

 

[candycorn]

Tough to come up with only five. I like those in sports who had it tough but still made it.
Jim Thorpe, Daryl Strawberry, Roberto Duran, Roger Maris, James Braddock. I can think of more. I don't think of them and others as heroes. But admire their ability to overcome the obstacles put in front of them.

They used to have this marathon out in Death Valley called the Badwater Ultra. Essentially you have 48 hours to make it from Badwater Basin (282 feet below sea level) to the Mount Wintney trail head which is about 8,300 feet above sea level. The prize? A belt buckle.

Any list of the world's greatest athletes has to include those who finished this race. But that probably isn't what the OP is looking for.