Top 10 Athletes of All Time: According to MSN

HD MM

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Nov 2, 2006
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FOX Sports on MSN - Olympics - Top 10 athletes of all time - Number 1

MSN just came out with a Top 10 Athletes of All Time List. Let the debating begin. Also, if you disagree, let's see your list. Here's the list according to MSN....

#10- Michael Phelps

With last night's performance in the pool, Michael Phelps has now won more gold medals than any athlete in Olympic history. And while the temptation may be to put him even higher than No. 10 on our list of all-time greatest athletes, his permanent place won't be known until the dust settles on his career -- which may last another four or eight years. Are 20 golds possible?

#9- Babe Didrickson Zaharias
Always regarded as one of the greatest female athletes of all time, Babe Didrickson Zaharias seemed to excel in everything she tried. She won three medals at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics -- gold in the 80m hurdles and javelin, silver in the high jump. On the golf course, she won 41 LPGA events, including three U.S. Women's Open titles.

#8- Pele
Edison Arantes do Nascimento. Who? You may know him as Pele. Widely considered the best soccer player of all time, Pele is the only man to win three World Cup titles. He remains to this day a national hero in his native Brazil and has been declared the soccer ambassador of the world by FIFA.

#7- Jim Thorpe
The years have gone by, but there is still only one Jim Thorpe. The versatile athlete won Olympic golds on the pentathlon and decathlon, and played baseball, basketball and football -- all professionally. He succeeded despite being the subject of constant racist taunts, as he was of mixed Native American and white ancestry.

#6- Jim Brown
His pro football career lasted just nine years, but that's all Jim Brown needed to showcase his greatness. In those nine seasons, Brown rushed for over 12,000 yards (at a clip of 5.2 yards per carry), scored 126 touchdowns, was a 9-time Pro Bowl selection as well as a 9-time All-Pro. Oh, and he was also inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame.

#5- Willie Mays
With respect to Ruth, Mantle, Musial and Bonds, Willie Mays is the best baseball player to ever live. "The Say Hey Kid" could do it all -- run, throw, field, hit for average and hit for power. He hit 660 career home runs (No. 4 all time) and had 3,283 career hits (No. 10). Perhaps most impressive, he was selected to every All-Star Game from 1954 to 1973.

#4- Wayne Gretzky
The Great One started off sporting a Great Mullet. By the end, his hair was his least impressive attribute (hard to believe, we know!). Gretzky left the game as the all-time leader in points, goals and assists, and remains the only NHL player to record 200 points in a single season.

#3- Tiger Woods
If you don't think golfers are athletes, you haven't seen Tiger Woods. The man who has redefined the game is on pace to shatter every golfing record in the books. He has money like Jordan, a wife like Jeff Gordon, and the charisma of Clooney. Far cry from the plaid pants stereotype, huh?

#2- Muhammad Ali
"The Greatest" comes very close to fulfilling his self-given nickname in our list of all-time athletes. Brash, yet articulate, Ali defined the term "trash-talking" -- and what it means to back it up. Perhaps most incredible about Ali's legacy: He was not allowed to fight for three years during the prime of his career because he refused induction into the U.S. Army.

#1- Michael Jordan
The best basketball player of all time. The best clutch performer of all time. The most competitive athlete of all time. The most beautiful to watch of all time. With six NBA titles and six NBA Finals MVPs, Michael Jordan stands above as the model of a perfect athlete.
 
FOX Sports on MSN - Olympics - Top 10 athletes of all time - Number 1

MSN just came out with a Top 10 Athletes of All Time List. Let the debating begin. Also, if you disagree, let's see your list. Here's the list according to MSN....

#10- Michael Phelps

With last night's performance in the pool, Michael Phelps has now won more gold medals than any athlete in Olympic history. And while the temptation may be to put him even higher than No. 10 on our list of all-time greatest athletes, his permanent place won't be known until the dust settles on his career -- which may last another four or eight years. Are 20 golds possible?

#9- Babe Didrickson Zaharias
Always regarded as one of the greatest female athletes of all time, Babe Didrickson Zaharias seemed to excel in everything she tried. She won three medals at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics -- gold in the 80m hurdles and javelin, silver in the high jump. On the golf course, she won 41 LPGA events, including three U.S. Women's Open titles.

#8- Pele
Edison Arantes do Nascimento. Who? You may know him as Pele. Widely considered the best soccer player of all time, Pele is the only man to win three World Cup titles. He remains to this day a national hero in his native Brazil and has been declared the soccer ambassador of the world by FIFA.

#7- Jim Thorpe
The years have gone by, but there is still only one Jim Thorpe. The versatile athlete won Olympic golds on the pentathlon and decathlon, and played baseball, basketball and football -- all professionally. He succeeded despite being the subject of constant racist taunts, as he was of mixed Native American and white ancestry.

#6- Jim Brown
His pro football career lasted just nine years, but that's all Jim Brown needed to showcase his greatness. In those nine seasons, Brown rushed for over 12,000 yards (at a clip of 5.2 yards per carry), scored 126 touchdowns, was a 9-time Pro Bowl selection as well as a 9-time All-Pro. Oh, and he was also inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame.

#5- Willie Mays
With respect to Ruth, Mantle, Musial and Bonds, Willie Mays is the best baseball player to ever live. "The Say Hey Kid" could do it all -- run, throw, field, hit for average and hit for power. He hit 660 career home runs (No. 4 all time) and had 3,283 career hits (No. 10). Perhaps most impressive, he was selected to every All-Star Game from 1954 to 1973.

#4- Wayne Gretzky
The Great One started off sporting a Great Mullet. By the end, his hair was his least impressive attribute (hard to believe, we know!). Gretzky left the game as the all-time leader in points, goals and assists, and remains the only NHL player to record 200 points in a single season.

#3- Tiger Woods
If you don't think golfers are athletes, you haven't seen Tiger Woods. The man who has redefined the game is on pace to shatter every golfing record in the books. He has money like Jordan, a wife like Jeff Gordon, and the charisma of Clooney. Far cry from the plaid pants stereotype, huh?

#2- Muhammad Ali
"The Greatest" comes very close to fulfilling his self-given nickname in our list of all-time athletes. Brash, yet articulate, Ali defined the term "trash-talking" -- and what it means to back it up. Perhaps most incredible about Ali's legacy: He was not allowed to fight for three years during the prime of his career because he refused induction into the U.S. Army.

#1- Michael Jordan
The best basketball player of all time. The best clutch performer of all time. The most competitive athlete of all time. The most beautiful to watch of all time. With six NBA titles and six NBA Finals MVPs, Michael Jordan stands above as the model of a perfect athlete.

I would move Michael Phelps in the top 3 above Tiger Woods.
 
Everybody there is a specialist except Jim Thorpe and Babe Didrickson. Those are the two real athletes. Michael Jordan is probably the best basketball player ever, but as a professional baseball player, he was a bust.

How about Deion Snders or Bo Jackson? Or another multi-sport athlete, Danny Ainge. Played major league baseball with Toronto while going to school at BYU (nice summer job), and played for years in the NBA.
 
I hate these "Top 10 Athletes" lists. Top 10 according to whom? And then to add "of all time" to it - they slight so many great athletes. Meaningless waist of time.

Just my opinion. :)
 
I like the fact that these are athletes who brought their sports to the forefront . . . Jordan's impact on basketball, Tiger's impact on golf, etc. I think that is what the criteria is or should be. You cannot just look at records or a single great moment, but it should be a name that is synonymous with the sport; a name that evokes memories, emotions, feelings, etc. in any individual when that athlete's name is uttered!

Also, I do agree with AntAltMike with Secretariat, but can an animal be included or is it just male/female athletes?
 
I hate these "Top 10 Athletes" lists. Top 10 according to whom? And then to add "of all time" to it - they slight so many great athletes. Meaningless waist of time.

Just my opinion. :)
I agree...these "Top 10" lists are a joke because they totally subjective and, at best, compare apples to artichokes. Let's take the authors Top 4 picks for example. Can anyone think of a fair way to match Gretzky, Woods, Ali and Jordan? Strap on a pair of skates and Gretzky skates circles around the others; give them a 7 Iron and the others whiff compared to Woods; give 'em a pair of gloves and Ali lays 'em all out for the count; and throw them a basketball and Jordan dunks supreme.

I am also offended that I was snubbed from the Top 10 list. I may very well be a Top 10 athlete when you consider how well I preform in all the major sports: inclement weather golf, 10-K run-walk-rest-and run some more, rifle and pistol shootin', Bass Fishin', multi-tasking while driving 80+ on the DC Beltway, etc.:rolleyes:
 
He holds the record... wheres Walter Payton?

Longevity is what got Emmit the record.

It took Emmit 14 years to break what Payton did in 12.

On the other hand, it is debated if Jim Brown and Barry Sanders played longer, the bar would be set so high that NO current player would've come close to that record. Not even Smith.
 
I like the fact that these are athletes who brought their sports to the forefront . . . Jordan's impact on basketball, Tiger's impact on golf, etc. I think that is what the criteria is or should be. You cannot just look at records or a single great moment, but it should be a name that is synonymous with the sport; a name that evokes memories, emotions, feelings, etc. in any individual when that athlete's name is uttered!

Also, I do agree with AntAltMike with Secretariat, but can an animal be included or is it just male/female athletes?

I like your train of thought. If that's the case, do you think Babe Ruth should be in over Willie Mays?
 
IMHO there should be far more Soccer players on the list. For those of us living in the U.S. it's hard to believe but the best athletes in nearly every other country in the world play soccer.
 
HD MM . . . that is interesting; believe it or not, I was thinking of him as I typed that original post.

I am going to say if you agree with my original statement, then I say a resounding "yes." Here are two reasons . . .

1. not only did he put baseball on the map during the earlier part of the 20th Century, but even in today's world even though the term is misused, sportscasters will use the tag line "He is the Babe Ruth of (insert whatever sport)."

2. utter the word "baseball" and many people would think of Ruth rather quickly; might not be the first or second person they say, but again that's a generational gap thing
 
HD MM . . . that is interesting; believe it or not, I was thinking of him as I typed that original post.

I am going to say if you agree with my original statement, then I say a resounding "yes." Here are two reasons . . .

1. not only did he put baseball on the map during the earlier part of the 20th Century, but even in today's world even though the term is misused, sportscasters will use the tag line "He is the Babe Ruth of (insert whatever sport)."

2. utter the word "baseball" and many people would think of Ruth rather quickly; might not be the first or second person they say, but again that's a generational gap thing

I agree.

It's hard to argue one way or another on the MSN list because we don't have a clear definition of "athlete" or the criteria for grading them in each sport. You're the first poster who offered the idea of judging the athletes by the way they transcended and dominated their respective sports and that is the closest thing to making any sense so far.

Besides, it is unfair to compare athletes in different sports to one another. Instead, let's pool every player in their respective sports together and pick ONE that transcends, defines and dominated their individual sport, who would it be?

Here's my list. (In no particular order. Just one per sport)

Basketball- Jordan
Baseball- Babe Ruth
Football- Jim Brown
Soccer- Pele
Hockey- Wayne Gretzky
Olympics- Michael Phelps
Golf- Tiger Woods
Multi- Jim Thorpe
Woman- Babe Didrickson Zaharias
 

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