how many sportsmen are 'immortal'?
Discussion
944fan said:
Bolt is a good shout. Athletics is not a popular sport relatively speaking but I bet almost anyone you ask will have heard of him.
I am biased being a swimming and Phelps fan but he is another who is well known outside of a relatively un popular sport.
With Phelps he has done something people wont touch for years. Some world records hang around a long time but others are broken and the previous holders forgotten. I don't think anyone is going to get withing a country mile of his medal haul and certainly no one is going to match/beat the 8 golds in one olympics.
I am biased being a swimming and Phelps fan but he is another who is well known outside of a relatively un popular sport.
With Phelps he has done something people wont touch for years. Some world records hang around a long time but others are broken and the previous holders forgotten. I don't think anyone is going to get withing a country mile of his medal haul and certainly no one is going to match/beat the 8 golds in one olympics.
I was never interested in swimming as a sport, but decades on I remember the name of Mark Spitz. I don't know if someone under 30 will know him. Presumably the generation growing up now will always remember Phelps in the same way. But what about the generation born after he achieved his astonishing feat?
It's an interesting topic, but I don't think we can know who history will remember.
SpudLink said:
944fan said:
Bolt is a good shout. Athletics is not a popular sport relatively speaking but I bet almost anyone you ask will have heard of him.
I am biased being a swimming and Phelps fan but he is another who is well known outside of a relatively un popular sport.
With Phelps he has done something people wont touch for years. Some world records hang around a long time but others are broken and the previous holders forgotten. I don't think anyone is going to get withing a country mile of his medal haul and certainly no one is going to match/beat the 8 golds in one olympics.
I am biased being a swimming and Phelps fan but he is another who is well known outside of a relatively un popular sport.
With Phelps he has done something people wont touch for years. Some world records hang around a long time but others are broken and the previous holders forgotten. I don't think anyone is going to get withing a country mile of his medal haul and certainly no one is going to match/beat the 8 golds in one olympics.
I was never interested in swimming as a sport, but decades on I remember the name of Mark Spitz. I don't know if someone under 30 will know him. Presumably the generation growing up now will always remember Phelps in the same way. But what about the generation born after he achieved his astonishing feat?
It's an interesting topic, but I don't think we can know who history will remember.
I guess it will depend on how long he retains that record as to whether he is remembered. Eventually someone will win more medals than he has an thus his name will be forgotten.
The difference with someone like Ali was that he was more than his sport. You didn't always agree with what Ali said but you had to admire he said what he thought and held his own opinion when it was often un popular. Not like the PR machines we have these days.
Eric Bristow ?
In all seriousness it has to be someone who has participated in a very high profile sport.
Boxing now is far too fragmented and not generally shown on terrestrial TV so the current champions don't have the profile of an Ali or Tyson, likewise cricketers.
Beckham and Ronaldo will in my opinion still be universally recognised in 10 years or more but not Messi, same as Ali, Tiger Woods and Usain Bolt.
Excelling at a sport isn't enough, you need to have a high profile outside the sport driven by personality or brand.
Steve Redgrave will never be a sporting "Immortal" for instance.
In all seriousness it has to be someone who has participated in a very high profile sport.
Boxing now is far too fragmented and not generally shown on terrestrial TV so the current champions don't have the profile of an Ali or Tyson, likewise cricketers.
Beckham and Ronaldo will in my opinion still be universally recognised in 10 years or more but not Messi, same as Ali, Tiger Woods and Usain Bolt.
Excelling at a sport isn't enough, you need to have a high profile outside the sport driven by personality or brand.
Steve Redgrave will never be a sporting "Immortal" for instance.
Ali Chappussy said:
bearman68 said:
Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, possibly Don Bradman.
Micheal Phelps?
David Beckham / Messi / Maradona.
Schumacker.
Joe Dimaggio.
Johnny Weissmuller
Joe Brown (personal entry)
Schumacker? He's a cheating Kraut so no, he's not immortal.....immoral definitely!Micheal Phelps?
David Beckham / Messi / Maradona.
Schumacker.
Joe Dimaggio.
Johnny Weissmuller
Joe Brown (personal entry)
But never mind I'm sure it was hilarious in your head.
bearman68 said:
Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, possibly Don Bradman.
Micheal Phelps?
David Beckham / Messi / Maradona.
Schumacker.
Joe Dimaggio.
Johnny Weissmuller
Joe Brown (personal entry)
Tendulkar but not Bradman ? Are you kidding ?!?!?! Bradman's average is 40 better than any other man to have EVER played the game. Micheal Phelps?
David Beckham / Messi / Maradona.
Schumacker.
Joe Dimaggio.
Johnny Weissmuller
Joe Brown (personal entry)
For someone to be immortal you need genuine "best ever" status Tendulkar was perhaps the best of his generation but you could argue Ponting was as good.
As for Beckham ? Lord.
- get a grip.okgo said:
David Beckham is HUGELY famous, I've never heard of Bradman, and only know about the Indian chap because I worked with Indians - Brian Lara probably more household name than those two.
Fame is of the instant. Immortality is generally driven by outstanding achievement or notoriety...unfortunately Mr Beckham's achievements on the football pitch whilst very good do not even mark him out against his contemporaries never mind players of the last 40 years. Being featured on the Daily Mail website every other day, having a wife who is an ex pop singer and now fashion designer etc doesn't mean you are anything close to immortal as a sportsman. And if you've never heard of Bradman you should take a look. Greatest cricketer of all time and probably one of the greatest sportsmen ever. He averaged 99. A mortal but good test batsman averages 40...the great of the modern game like Tendulkar average in the 50's. There are only four other players EVER to have averaged over 60 and none of those average more than 61. You can discount Voges as he has only played a few games from the below
http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/records/2...
So to sum up his average is roughly twice those of modern greats like Tendulkar.
Cheib said:
bearman68 said:
Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, possibly Don Bradman.
Micheal Phelps?
David Beckham / Messi / Maradona.
Schumacker.
Joe Dimaggio.
Johnny Weissmuller
Joe Brown (personal entry)
Tendulkar but not Bradman ? Are you kidding ?!?!?! Bradman's average is 40 better than any other man to have EVER played the game. Micheal Phelps?
David Beckham / Messi / Maradona.
Schumacker.
Joe Dimaggio.
Johnny Weissmuller
Joe Brown (personal entry)
For someone to be immortal you need genuine "best ever" status Tendulkar was perhaps the best of his generation but you could argue Ponting was as good.
As for Beckham ? Lord.
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