Off-topic: Sport
Well, European leagues are almost over for this season. Looking forward to UCL final. Then the Socceroos internationals. One point away from South Africa.
Paolo Maldini has played his 901st and last game for AC Milan. I thank him for his service. There will never be a player like him.
Quite incredible service and fitness, high level of performance for so long. Even without that longevity i rated him extremely highly, intelligent, resilient, sharp, great reader of the game, no nonsense, hard to find fault really.
BARCA BARCA LOOOOO NAAA!
Yawn, same old teams that have done it all before- and at least one helped there by a blind referee! The BBC sports editor yesterday said Barca v Man U was the final the whole of Europe wanted. Er, perhaps most neutrals may have preferred that to Chelsea v Arsenal from the semis, but come on, yet another example of my bugbear, Beeb dumbing down, journalists presenting (false) opinion as fact. Well, most of the UEFA bigwigs will be happy with the result. I didn’t really want either to win, a plague on both their houses, i’m still sulking in the corner, and even worse they each knocked out my 2 faves, Chelsea and Porto. Well, there’s at least the possible FA Cup win, but i’m not counting any chickens
I’m sorry to rain your parade Kenji, but I’m putting my support behind Everton because Timmy Cahill plays for them. Go the Toffees!
What does this have to do with the state of the Red Sox starting staff and the fact that they threw 6 wild pitches last night?
Right, i’m gonna throw open a biggie: top 10 sportsmen and women of all? some suggestions:
Muhammad Ali (Boxing)
Pele (Football)
Roger Federer (Tennis)
Michael Phelps (Swimming)
Don Bradman (Cricket)
Jesse Owens (Athletics)
Martina Navratilova (Tennis)
Tiger Woods (Golf)
Carl Lewis (Athletics)
Lance Armstrong (Cycling)
Michael Jordan (Basketball)
Eddie Merckx (Cycling)
Haile Gebreselassie (Athletics)
Jack Nicklaus (Golf)
Wayne Gretzky (Ice Hockey)
Jim Thorpe (all-round athlete)
Michael Schumacher (Motor Racing)
Gareth Edwards (Rugby union)
Paavo Nurmi (Athletics)
Sugar Ray Robinson (Boxing)
Diego Maradona (Football)
Jackie Joyner-Kersee (Athletics)
Steve Redgrave (Rowing)
other nominees, please..
At least the Rangers are still at the top of their division. Unlike the Jays who’ve been plummeting, jesus christ.
@Kenji- Johan Cruyff and George Best?
Johann Cruyff fine, i really admired him, George Best entertained but didn’t achieve enough to be considered as a contender for the all-round sporting elite i think
How about King Ronnie when he was still playing for Barca? I’m thinking during when Barca won the UCL under Rijkaard. And also Zizou. ZIDANE!!! WC with France and two UCLs for Real Madrid. EDIT: Der Kaiser. Franz Beckenbauer.
Athletics- Usain Bolt? Or is that too soon?
Tennis- Agassi, Sampras, the Williams sisters.
tennis: after Federer, must come Laver and Sampras, then Borg. I think Navratilova towers over the other women, Graf gets a bit overrated cos Seles who had the better of her, was stabbed. Bolt: well, he’s got time yet. More women contenders needed. Zidane #4 footballer (Beckenbauer #5) , behind Pelé, Maradona, Cruyff i think. How about some neglected sports or countries, unsung heroes. Suleimanoglu weight-lifter…Chinyonofuji sumo wrestler… top American footballer? not my speciality, Montana achieved a lot. Or baseball? But they’re a bit too specialised American not international enough for top 10 overall. Mark Spitz would have been in my list, but now overtaken. Dawn Fraser was a great Australian swimmer. Gary Sobers another great cricketer after Bradman
Women footballers- I can only think of Marta Viera da Silva. Here’s her main info.
Baseball- I only know their reputations, but Babe Ruth and Joe DiMaggio
well, Babe Ruth is the one who came to my mind and somewhere else i saw a pick for Hank Aaron. Skiing; i don’t really follow that now, but Killy and Klammer were biggies (Klammer down the Hahnenkamm to win the 76 Olympics, great! I think it was the Hahnenkamm, i’ve walked down that mountain in the pouring rain thinking of him anyway). Stenmark and Tomba for slalom. Oh no in fact it was Innsbruck apparently for the Olympics but Klammer is strongly identified with the Hahnenkamm at Kitzbuhel
EDIT: oops got my info wrong. Sorry for the confusion. To make up, here’s a video of Urawa Red Diamond fans singing the Great Escape.
I know naught about motorsport, but how about Valentino Rossi? EDIT: Also, same for Rugby Union, but Jonah Lomu? (based on reputation) Stirling Mortlock? John Eales? (all based on reputation)
EDIT: Futbol- Marco van Basten. Brazilian Ronaldo. Romario. Garrincha. Gabriel Batistuta. Roberto Baggio. All for being goalscorers. Paolo Maldini (YES!) because of his longevity and his plain excellence on the field.
Goalkeepers too- Dino Zoff, Gianluigi Buffon, Peter Schmeichel.
Zoff no- Banks and Jennings from UK were clearly better, and Lev Yashin was an earlier legend. Valentino Rossi must deserve a place somewhere if not the top 10. Fangio and Senna are the other top drivers along with Schumacher. From Rugby Union the greatest player without any doubt was Gareth Edwards, already mentioned, followed by Colin Meads and Michael Jones. (among Aussies, not much to choose between Eales, Campese and Ella, all in my Rugby top 10 as is Lomu) Well, see my earlier list. But it’s not a big enough international sport to have many among the all-sports contenders. I’ll have to spread my net a bit more, but in the meantime feel free to give your overall top 10. My top 3 are Ali, Pelé and Federer.
Zoff no? Could you elaborate? Also, what about David Seaman? He had to be somewhat reliable as a keeper since he was England’s and Arsenal’s No.1. I can only remember Seaman from the 2002 WC when King Ronnie blasted his free kick past him from a long distance away and from a weird angle.
Finally, FA Cup. Three and a half hours to go from my watch. How much will Chelsea win by?
Zoff and Seaman were both good but they also had excellent defences, so helped on the clean sheets front. Banks and Jennings were sound, and more brilliant shot-stoppers too than Zoff. Neville Southall was a bit better than Seaman. Schmeichel, now he was good! In my all-time top 3 goalies, with Yashin and Banks.
I count no chickens. Last year we just missed out on everything (like Leeds in 1970) and fate and balancing-up justice don’t automatically go together (else we’d have won the Champions League by now) so it could happen again. Well, i hope it’s not Cahill’s day. If he gets a hat-trick and we win, then ok!
damn double post- perhaps that’s an omen. Ooh I was chuffed when that Ronaldo goal went in v Seaman and England! And i was in hospital when Maradona got his famous 2 in 1986
Adding on to the greatest athletes list- Lewis Hamilton? And Leo Messi will have to be eventually added. Also, Juergen Klinsmann.
@Akira- Porto? Not Milano? :(
Hamilton: a long way to go yet, especially as this season again shows how much the cars matter. Klinsmann? Quite a way off too! He did dive less once he came to play for Spurs, cos before that he could have made the sporting list as a great diver, never mind the Olympics in the pool. That crown passed to Drogba. I can’t stand it. Of course in my lifetime there was a time of no mass orgies when a goal was scored, just a handshake as they ran back to the half-way line. Did it change with Best and the pop glamour and the swingin sixties? I remember being disgusted in the early-mid 70s when Tony Currie of Sheff Utd stood in front of a free kick to block it being taken quickly. He had a snog with Alan Birchenall of Leicester in one match. Men used to be real men, then all the long hair came in.
Porto, yeah! May Portugal win the world cup (Wales of course only have to knock out Germany + Russia to even qualify)
What about Eusebio, Alfredo di Stefano, George Weah (played for Milano!) and Jack Charlton?
Eusebio, Di Stefano true greats, Weah not far off, but er Jack Charlton? Don’t you mean Bobby? Probably best of British, pipping Best, Charles, Moore and Duncan Edwards who would surely be recognised by all as the greatest from Britain if he hadn’t died in the Munich aircrash.
Michel Platini, Ian Rush, Kenny Dalglish. Found this article too. http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2004/apr/23/newsstory.sport5
I do mean Jack Charlton. I only remember this name because I watched the UCL magazine show years ago and he was on their best players list.
That Rush-Dalglish partnership was devastating, Platini not far behind Zidane, and star of Euro 84. Might have been a world cup winner but for the infamous shameful Schumacher on Battiston
Jack Charlton was a better manager than player, imo. Wouldn’t even make my British 100. For Leeds, it was Bremner and Giles that made the team tick. And in 1970 England had a stronger defence than in 66 with Brian Labone alongside Moore and Terry Cooper at left back. Now if only Alf Ramsay had picked Osgood of Chelsea at centre-forward they might have made the final. Osgood was a big game player, goals in FA Cup, Cup Winners’ Cup and League Cup finals, but Ramsay distrusted players with tricks up their sleeves.
Kenji
Well, i expected West Brom + Boro, and then between Newcastle and Hull, but i did say when Shearer was appointed and all the fans were ecstatic over their messiah, it’s one thing being a great player, quite another being a top manager.