OT: Who would you put on your sports Mt. Rushmore. This is harder than it sounds...

[EvilKing00]

ruth, gretzky, Jordan, Payton Manning

The first 3 were easy, the best ever in their sports, no one will ever be better.

As for football, that was hard. not easy to pick the best from so many diff positions. Manning / Montana / Elway / marino / rice / taylor / munoz / there are so many diff players in so many diff eras, but I think when its all said and done mannings numbers will be the ones that look the most mount rushmoric.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by EvilKing00

ruth, gretzky, Jordan, Payton Manning

The first 3 were easy, the best ever in their sports, no one will ever be better.

As for football, that was hard. not easy to pick the best from so many diff positions. Manning / Montana / Elway / marino / rice / taylor / munoz / there are so many diff players in so many diff eras, but I think when its all said and done mannings numbers will be the ones that look the most mount rushmoric.

Did you ever hear of a guy named Brady?

[bnorth]

Ted Williams, Earvin Johnson, Muhammad Ali, Emmitt Smith

I picked those 4 because Ted is the best player to ever play baseball and the other 3 are all-time greats and my favorite players in their sport that I watched growing up.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Ruth, Ali, Pele, Jordan.

[jbhofmann]

Babe Ruth- mythical
Usain Bolt- 9.58 and 19.19 in the 100M/200M may never be broken...we may look back and realize that he pushed the human body to its absolute limits. All this and he never really competed in his "best" event, the 400M.
Tiger Woods- I know about Jack and his 18 majors, but this guy made golf what it is today. The sheer number of guys that are threats every single week on the tour is a direct result of Tiger's influence on the game. His dominance and ability to just embarrass fields is unreal.
Michael Jordan- I'm a Lebron guy. I think Lebron is a better "player". He understands the game better, plays more positions, defends more guys, and went many years without the cast that Michael had. That being said, Jordan is a juggernaut. The legacy that he will leave on athletic footwear alone may be enough to put him on this mountain.

[Joshchisox08]

Cobb - Jordan - Howe - Marciano

[clydepepper]

Ruth, Pele, Jordan, & Ali (all have or had global appeal)

...a very close sixth thru eighth: Jackie Robinson, Jim Brown, & Wayne Gretzky
.
.

[egri]

Tom Brady, Ted Williams, Herb Brooks, and Jack Nicklaus.

[chipperhank44]

Ruth, Thorpe, Jordan, Pele

[gawaintheknight]

You absolutely have to have Jackie Robinson. After that we can argue.

[sandmountainslim]

[jcarlylep]

Babe Ruth, Jim Thorpe, Bobby Jones, George Vezina Pre-World War II

Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky, Jim Brown, Ted Williams Post-World War II

[RCFire82]

Babe Ruth
Michael Jordan
Wayne Gretzky
Tiger Woods

Honorable mention
Muhammad Ali
Tom Brady

Any thoughts...

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by RCFire82

Babe Ruth
Michael Jordan
Wayne Gretzky
Tiger Woods

Honorable mention
Muhammad Ali
Tom Brady

Any thoughts...

I would put Pele over Tiger Woods, more important sport.

[RCFire82]

I had to Google Pele to confirm my suspicion that he was a soccer guy. I'd be willing to bet a lot of other "sports guys" would also not be overly familiar with him. Tiger on the other hand...

[KCRfan1]

Great topic Bill!

My four are, in no particular order: Jackie Robinson, Oscar Robertson, Jim Thorpe, and Gordie Howe.

Each player stands on their own merit, and has their place in history in their respective sport.

Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in MLB.

Oscar Robertson is the only player in the NBA to average a triple double for a season, and has a trophy named after him given to the top college player by the US Basketball Writers Association.

Jim Thorpe has been recognized as the greatest athlete of the 20th Century. He won 2 gold medals in the olympics ( pentathlon and decathlon ) and played professional football, baseball, and basketball.

Gordie Howe is the " Babe Ruth " of hockey.

[EvilKing00]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Did you ever hear of a guy named Brady?

lol brady is a great player, on many great teams with probably the best or top 3 best coach ever. Manning put up numbers on some bad teams overall, the guy I think is the best QB ever - its too bad he didn't have a better team around him. And im a giant fan

[HOF Auto Rookies]

Originally Posted by EvilKing00

lol brady is a great player, on many great teams with probably the best or top 3 best coach ever. Manning put up numbers on some bad teams overall, the guy I think is the best QB ever - its too bad he didn't have a better team around him. And im a giant fan

Coach!? I don't think you've heard of Brady...


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[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by EvilKing00

lol brady is a great player, on many great teams with probably the best or top 3 best coach ever. Manning put up numbers on some bad teams overall, the guy I think is the best QB ever - its too bad he didn't have a better team around him. And im a giant fan

Nine one and dones. There is really nothing to discuss.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs/2013...ne-dones-fault

[HOF Auto Rookies]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Nine one and dones. There is really nothing to discuss.



http://espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs/2013...ne-dones-fault

Ummmm, yeah there is. Didn't win as many rings as he would have liked clearly, but you simply cannot just ignore his regular season numbers because of what happened in the playoffs. That is ridiculous.


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[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by HOF Auto Rookies

Ummmm, yeah there is. Didn't win as many rings as he would have liked clearly, but you simply cannot just ignore his regular season numbers because of what happened in the playoffs. That is ridiculous.


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Sure I can. With his abysmal playoff record he cannot plausibly be considered the best QB ever. And wherever you rank Brady, he cannot plausibly be considered better than Brady with 4 wins and something like 21-8 overall.

[HOF Auto Rookies]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Sure I can. With his abysmal playoff record he cannot plausibly be considered the best QB ever. And wherever you rank Brady, he cannot plausibly be considered better than Brady with 4 wins and something like 21-8 overall.

Sure he absolutely can. You going to put Bumgarner in the HOF or call in the greatest pitcher of all time cause he was good in the postseason. Or any player for that matter who has a good postseason track record but did nothing in the regular season.


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[Laxcat]

Cobb -baseball
Jim Brown- football but takes care of lacrosse as well
Jordan- 2nd place Pistol Pete
Richard- for hockey. Don't like Gretzky and Howe is too obvious

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by Laxcat

Cobb -baseball
Jim Brown- football but takes care of lacrosse as well
Jordan- 2nd place Pistol Pete
Richard- for hockey. Don't like Gretzky and Howe is too obvious

Pistol Pete over Chamberlain, Jabbar, Russell, Magic, LeBron, Oscar, Bird? Yeah he had some amazing moves but come on.

[oldphil]

Rumor has it that Mt. Rushmore ain't all it's cracked up to be.

[Rookiemonster]

Originally Posted by oldphil

Rumor has it that Mt. Rushmore ain't all it's cracked up to be.

You should look In to getting that signed lol

[UKCardGuy]

Great thread.

My choices are: Wagner, Thorpe, Staubach, Pele

All represent excellence and were great ambassadors for sport.

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Babe Ruth
Babe Didrickson
Babe Parilli
Babe Dye

Am I doing this wrong?

[oldeboo]

Originally Posted by Aquarian Sports Cards

Babe Ruth
Babe Didrickson
Babe Parilli
Babe Dye

Am I doing this wrong?

You could go with four different babes...
Fatima Diame
Allison Stokke
Anna Kournikova
Alex Morgan

[oldjudge]

I don’t remember commenting before (forgive me if I did) but my choices would be:

Babe Ruth—Saved baseball after the black Sox scandal and was the biggest celebrity in America in his day.
Jesse Owen’s—Great runner who embarrassed Hitler in the 1936 Olympics
Jim Brown—Greatest football player ever who did and still does some amazing work with the gangs in Los Angeles
Larry Bird/Magic Johnson together—Two all time greats whose rivalry saved the NBA.

[mrreality68]

Jackie Robinson
Ali
Jordan
Woods

[FrankWakefield]

Michael Jordan

Honus Wagner

Muhammad Ali

Wayne Gretzky



(although I like Palmer, Petty, and Gehrig)

[ClementeFanOh]

I'll go with players, not coaches or inventors. In no particular order:

1) Babe Ruth

2) Jesse Owens

3) Wilt Chamberlain

4) Muhammad Ali

I'll never get all the Jordan love. Bird/Magic did more to renew interest in
the NBA- and I can't wait until fans find out why Jordan magically
disappeared from the sport for, what, a season and a half? Then there won't
even be an argument Trent King

[Mark17]

Ruth - greatest baseball player and loved worldwide
Ali - greatest boxer and loved worldwide
Pele - greatest soccer player and loved worldwide
Gretzky - greatest hockey player and very popular among hockey playing parts of the world

[obcbobd]

Ruth
Orr
Ali
Brady


If I liked Basketball I'd swap out Jordon for Ali - but I don't :-)

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by ClementeFanOh

I'll go with players, not coaches or inventors. In no particular order:

1) Babe Ruth

2) Jesse Owens

3) Wilt Chamberlain

4) Muhammad Ali

I'll never get all the Jordan love. Bird/Magic did more to renew interest in
the NBA- and I can't wait until fans find out why Jordan magically
disappeared from the sport for, what, a season and a half? Then there won't
even be an argument Trent King

Never been a big basketball guy. So why did Jordan miss that season and a half?

[Leon]

Ruth, Jordan, Ali, Gretzky
.ps...
I honestly didn't read the choices right above.

[Yoda]

In trying to keep with the theme of the OP, here are my elections: Branch Rickey, Joe Louis, Lou Gehrig, Moses Walker and Candy Cummings.

Honorable Mention: Bobby Moore and George Mikan.

[jakebeckleyoldeagleeye]

Gordie Howe-Howe could chisel his own with those meat hooks he had!
Babe Ruth
Johnny Unitas
Wilt Chamberlain

[vansaad]

Babe
Tiger
Bo
Mike

[mightymickof56]

1-Brady- greatest football player of all time
2-Ruth-greatest baseball player
3-Gretzky-greatest hockey player all time
4-pele- gretest soccer player of all time. Dominated a sport that boasts more participants and fans of any sport in the world

Greatest basketball player of all time? Up for debate. Bill Russell is the greatest winner of all time. I will say pick one Jordan or Wilt. I would say if any athlete is debateable they don’t go on the mountain.

[obcbobd]

Originally Posted by mightymickof56

1-Brady- greatest football player of all time
2-Ruth-greatest baseball player
3-Gretzky-greatest hockey player all time
4-pele- gretest soccer player of all time. Dominated a sport that boasts more participants and fans of any sport in the world

Greatest basketball player of all time? Up for debate. Bill Russell is the greatest winner of all time. I will say pick one Jordan or Wilt. I would say if any athlete is debateable they don’t go on the mountain.

I think any selection will be debatable. I would take Orr over Gretsky. :-)

[robw1959]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Did you ever hear of a guy named Brady?

I knew someone would push back against Peyton Manning. However, there is a difference between being the most successful player and being the greatest.

The award winning columnist, Bob Kravitz, formerly of the Indianapolis Star, used to get local hate mail for writing his opinion that Brady was the G.O.A.T. of the NFL, and not Peyton Manning. However, he had to write a retraction piece after the Colts followed up a 14-2 season in 2009 with a 2-14 season only two years later. The difference was that, in 2011, Manning received surgery for his career-shortening neck injury at the hands of the headhunting defensive coordinator Greg Williams, and what a difference it made for the Colts, who were still thought to be a decent team. Kravitz then wrote, in his column, an apology to Manning, implying that Peyton's greatness had covered up so many team deficiencies, that he had to be the greatest QB ever, after all, and not Brady, whose Patriots sill managed to make the playoffs without him on the roster for a full season.

[Musashi]

In no particular order:

Katie Ledecky
Jim Thorpe
Pele
Dan Gable

[Yoda]

Michael Phelps.

[brian1961]

Originally Posted by Musashi

In no particular order:

Katie Ledecky
Jim Thorpe
Pele
Dan Gable

Oh yeah on Dan Gable! What a champion. How well I remember those 1972 Olympics. In the midst of the terrible Israeli wrestler murders, I still recall some events that made me smile and marvel at. I especially remember Frank Shorter (USA marathon gold medalist), Lasse Viren (the flying Finn who won the mens 10,000 and 5,000 meter run), Olga Korbut (still remember vividly her backwards flip on the uneven parallel bars and Jim McKay's astonished response at this move), Mark Spitz (GREATNESS!!!), Dave Wottle (the greatest 800 meters track race ever run; should you doubt me, check it out on YOUTUBE. Every once in a while, I watch Dave, and get teary-eyed, while I beam with national pride!

However, with all these magnificent moments, my heart has a very special place for Chris Taylor, the USA super heavyweight wrestler. I honestly think he was gyped out of a medal. He was a good one, that one. A very dear man, and family man.

Thanks for listening. --- Brian Powell

[LEHR]

Say what you will but Ty Cobb would be my first and probably only consistent addition. The other three would probably change by the day.

Just thinking about the four major sports the first four names that come to mind are: Ty Cobb, Bobby Orr, Julius Erving, and Jim Brown.

[the 'stache]

Originally Posted by EvilKing00

ruth, gretzky, Jordan, Payton Manning

The first 3 were easy, the best ever in their sports, no one will ever be better.

As for football, that was hard. not easy to pick the best from so many diff positions. Manning / Montana / Elway / marino / rice / taylor / munoz / there are so many diff players in so many diff eras, but I think when its all said and done mannings numbers will be the ones that look the most mount rushmoric.

If you're looking purely at statistics for football, nobody has ever dominated the game like Don Hutson. He played 11 years, led the league in catches eight times, in yards receiving seven times, in touchdown catches nine times. He led the league in all three categories at once five times. The record of 99 receiving touchdowns he scored stood for 44 years until Steve Largent broke it in 1989. Hutson scored 99 times in 116 games. It took Largent 198 games to score 100. Don Hutson was the Babe Ruth of the NFL. Besides catching 488 passes for 7,991 yards and 99 TD, Hutson ran for 284 yards and 3 TD, kicked 172 extra points, 7 field goals, and intercepted 30 passes for 389 yards and a TD. He was first team All Pro each of his last eight seasons!

Cold Hard Football Facts nicely summarizes why Hutson, not Rice, is the best receiver to ever play the game.

[packs]

I would argue Jim Brown was much more dominant than just about anyone at any single sport with the exception of perhaps Babe Ruth.

[Sean]

I'm limiting my picks to team sports, and American sports, so no Pele:

Babe Ruth, Wayne Gretzky, Michael Jordan (easy choices), and Jerry Rice.