The Greatest of All-Time

The worldwide leader in sports aired what I thought to be a very thought provoking story. It came on the heels of Tiger Woods winning his latest tournament, the Accenture Match Play Championship. Tiger has now won 8 of his last 9 events and a second place finish in his 9th. He is playing amazing golf right now and is re-writing the record books each time he tees off.

But..

Is he the greatest athlete of all time?

I think we need to answer a couple questions first. Is he the greatest athlete currently? Well, I think you could argue that Kobe Bryant, LeBron James & Tim Duncan would take the cake as basketball players are concerned. Tom Brady & LaDainian Tomlinson are the cream of the crop when it comes to Football. Johan Santana & Alex Rodriguez are the tops in baseball. Hockey? Who cares. There's no great cyclists currently and no out of this world boxers. Tennis has one overwhelming stud...Roger Federer. Nascar isn't a sport no matter how many protesters I come across. So, The above names are pretty much what we have to work with as far as deciding who is our current greatest. You can throw our baseball players out immediately because neither of them has ever won anything. Same goes for Tomlinson & LeBron. Kobe needs to prove he can win a playoff series without Shaq. That leaves us with Mr. Football Tom Brady, Tim Duncan and Roger Federer. Although Dunacan is amazing he's definitely past his prime and can no longer dominate like he used to. Manu Ginobili has established himself as the best player on the Spurs...so Timmy's out. Tom Brady is a stud and everybody knows it and if he would've come to play against Eli and the New York Football Giants then I'd consider him...so he's out. Funny as it may seem...we are left with a golfer and a tennis player to capture our crown. Anybody with a sane mind will tell you that Federer deserves consideration. The guy has dominated Tennis the past few years and is being mentioned in the same breath as the greats but lets be honest...he's no Tiger Woods. Roger has won 53 singles titles and 11 Grandslam titles. Put that against Tiger's 63 career wins and 13 Major titles and we know what spells....Tiger Woods is the greatest athlete in sports today.

I understand that comparing athletes in different sports is hard to do. You can't put Jim Brown on the three point line, Lance Armstrong in the batter's box or Michael Jordan on the golf course...it just doesn't work. Also, i'm not just talking about freak athletes that can do it all. If I'm just talking about the greatest physical specimen it would be a toss up between Bo Jackson and Ricky Shelton, a little known defensive back from American Fork High School...

Before I get into the greatest athletes of all time, everyone must understand that this topic could be debated from now until the end of time because it is purely opinion. I'll do my best....

I think everyone can agree that several athletes come to mind right off the bat. Magic Johnson, Wilt Chamberlain are both phenomenal but Michael Jordan IS the greatest basketball player of all time. Jim Thorpe, Jim Brown, Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Bo Jackson, Barry Sanders, Walter Payton and Emmitt Smith are pretty much the cream of the crop of a very deep history of football players. Wayne Gretzky, Gordie Howe and Mario Lemieux deserve to be mentioned. Baseball is a little harder to nail down because of it's deep history and many great players. Lets go with Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Babe Ruth, Lou Gherig, Ted Williams, Pete Rose, Jackie Robinson, Cy Young and a couple years ago we'd all have Barry Bonds but he wanted a 33 inch neck so he's out. Pete Sampras, Lance Armstrong, Steve Prefontaine, Muhammad Ali, Pele, Michael Johnson and Carl Lewis will round out our field of consideration.

Lets narrow it down to the greatest of each sport. We have Michael Jordan, Jim Brown, Babe Ruth, Muhammad Ali, Pete Sampras, Wayne Gretzky, Lance Armstrong, Michael Johnson and Pele. Again, this list could be argued about forever, so just concede that I know what I'm talking about heh...

Here's the list....

3. Muhammad Ali- Float like a butterfly. Sting like a bee. This legendary man changed the world of boxing forever. For generations boxing was the sport to watch and there had never been a fighter like Muhammad Ali. He was young, brash, funny and full of himself. He made statements like "I'm the greatest of all time!" But ya know what...he could back it up. I remember the first time I ever heard about Ali, it was his legendary fight against George Foreman in Africa. Because of the heat, Ali realized he couldn't dance from Foreman for the whole fight. He invented "The Rope-A-Dope," a strategy that allowed Foreman to pound on him until Foreman tired. His corner men yelled at him to get off the ropes, but Ali persisted with his strategy for seven rounds and then in the eighth round, when Foreman was spent, Ali came off the ropes and scored a shocking knockout! Ali ended his career 56 wins (37 by knockout) and 5 defeats.

2. Lance Armstrong- This man is amazing! His athleticism, endurance and determination are off the charts. He holds the record for 7 tour de France victories in a row. Imagine riding your bike across an entire country. Up not just hills...but mountains! and then throw in dozens of peak athletes all trying to win a race. I can't even imagine how much that would take out of somebody. Lance was quoted as saying..."I just wanted it more." But here's the kicker...the man overcame cancer before of all this happened. If you haven't read his book..."It's not about the bike, my battle back to life" what are you waiting for? It's a great read and I'll lend you my copy if you commit to reading it. He goes into detail about his battle with testicular cancer and how it nearly took his life. Lance Armstrong is the definition of, if you want it bad enough then you can accomplish anything.

1. Michael Jordan- Hands down, Michael Jordan is the greatest athlete of all time. 5-time Most Valuable Player, 13-time All-Star, 10-time All-NBA First Team, 2- time Defensive Player of the year and a record 9-time All-NBA First Team Defense, 5-time Most Valuable Player, 13-time All-Star, 10-time All-NBA First Team, 3- time All-Star MVP, 6-time NBA Finals MVP, and 6-time World Champion. Amazing stats but I only want to focus on two. When Michael Jordan first came into the league from North Carolina he was known as a high flier. A guy that couldn't shoot and couldn't play defense. That just makes me laugh knowing how great he became at scoring. Not only did he master his jumpshot but he could score at will. Nobody could stop him, ever. A kid that couldn't shoot transformed himself into the greatest scorer the league has ever seen. He was known as the guy that teams would intentionally go at when he was on D. Not only did he become a good defensive player but the best defensive player ever. Lets think about this a little bit. He is the best offensive and defensive player. ever. In today's NBA there are a few guys known for certain skills. MJ was basically LeBron James and Kobe Bryant mixed together on the offensive side of the ball. Bruce Bowen, Raja Bell, Shawn Marion and Chris Paul on defense. Simply amazing. When I think about Michael Jordan, I don't' usually think about his statistics and how he dominated. I think about how he made his teammates better. This guy won championships with Luc Longley, Bill Wennington and Bill Cartwright as his big men. Jud Beuchler and Scott Burrell...you're asking yourself, who?...were key players on his Bulls teams. He made Scottie Pippen one of the 50 greatest players of all time and without MJ nobody would have ever known who Toni Kukoc or Ron Harper were. But these were the guys who shared the starting lineup with the man. He made them champions. He could inspire and bring out the best in anyone. He could even make you and me into a feared shooter or amazing rebounder because that's what he did. He's the greatest ever.

As far at Tiger's concerned....let's talk in 10 years...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45mMioJ5szc

Go Big or Go Home

The Phoenix Suns and their high octane offense have struck fear in the hearts of their opponents for several years. They run, push the ball and score points like no other. On the back of Steve Nash they changed the game.

This Year Phoenix holds the best record in the mighty Western Conference and are looking to make another run deep into the playoffs. The Suns, though, were only 14-13 against the West and knew their current lineup couldn't get the job done. With no legitmate big man in the middle to clog the lane, block shots and play Tim Duncan, the Phoenix brass felt they had to make a move. Rumors swirled about trades that would send random role players packing for the valley of the sun. Then, out of nowhere, the Suns land Shaquille O'neal. Arguably the greatest center to ever play the game. In his prime "The Diesel" would terrorize backboards and embarass any who dare get in his way. But, Shaq is no longer in his prime. At best, he's a shell of the super freak he used to be. Some may say, "a shell is still better than most centers in the NBA." What raised eyebrows in the trade was what the Suns gave up. They traded four time All-Star Shawn Marion and seldom used and undervalued guard Marcus Banks to the Miami Heat for O'neal. The trade is a thing of beauty for Miami who gets rid of Shaq's ridiculous $20 million a year and gets a young stud in return to go along with Dwyane Wade. With a high lotttery pick next year and perhaps a veteran signing or two, the Heat can be very scary, very quick!



Some would argue that the Suns were a bad rule away from winning the NBA Championship last year when Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw were suspended for stepping onto the floor during a skirmish with the Spurs. Then why not come back stronger and get it the next year? It reminds me of the 2001 Portland Trailblazers when they took the Lakers to game 7 and had the lead going into the 4th. They lost and thus blew up their team. A team that boasted the likes of Scottie Pippen, Rasheed Wallace, Jermaine O'neal, Steve Smith, Damon Stoudamire, Brian Grant and Detlef Scrempf. Just to name a few.

Shaq's numbers have been on the decline for past several years. He's averaging an all-time low 14.2 points/game, 7.8 rebounds/game and more turnovers than he has in the past five years, 2.91/game. Throw that in with his disgusting free throw percentage, 48% and his injury prone 330lb aged body, this could spell some serious disaster for Phoenix. Then why trade the young stud Marion for O'neal? This truly is the question that has all sports fans scratching their heads. One Super Sun fan had this to say: "Easy. He's Shaq. Despite his sagging numbers and sagging body parts he still dominates the block. Shaq has proven time and time again that when he's motivated...he wins championships." I thought that was a legitimate claim. How can you double team Shaq when you have Amare Stoudemire, Steve Nash, Grant Hill and Raja Bell on the floor? Opposing defenses will have their hands so full of other Suns, Shaq should have his way. He and Amare together in the paint, we know they'll be causing havoc on offense and defense.

It's clear this trade was done for a championship run this season. This whole trade depends on if's. IF Shaq can stay healthy. IF Shaq can be and stay motivated. IF Shaq can co-exist with his new teammates and their run and gun attitude. IF, IF, IF.

If all these things happen and the Suns win the championship then Steve Kerr will look like a genius. If not, Suns fans will soon be rooting for the Miami Heat.

My opinion? At the start of the season I said the Suns would beat the Boston Celtics for the Championship. I stand by my words.