The fact that his competition (Roger Federer) even has 29% of the vote is a travesty.
The problem is how do you really define or answer the question of who qualifies to be considered one of the greatest athletes of all time? Bo was a freak of nature. Worked out very little but was physically gifted enough to be elite in more than one sport. I think the very fact that Bo excelled at 2 sports at that level, puts him right up at the top of the heap. But, as the article points out, as great as Bo's accomplishments were, did he ever have to push through a 4 1/2 hour match in the heat against another elite athlete? I've always considered professional tennis players some of the best overall athletes in the world. If you've never played much tennis or paid close attention to what all they really do on the court....the incredible number of athletic movements they have to make and the length of time and conditions in which they do it...it's hard to appreciate it.
Is Michael Phelps one of the best? He just swims, right? But he's the best in all the strokes/movements, which are very different from one another. Why would you take a guy who can run a football well over someone who is at the top of their game doing Iron Man Triathlons, where they swim and bike and run literally for hours. I heard a debate on sports talk yesterday about who is/was the better basketball player...Jordan or LeBron. Magic Johnson weighed in saying LeBron is much bigger, much faster, much stronger...but Michael would beat him 10 out of 10 times if they went one-on-one. When you see guys like LeBron at 6'8" and 265 pounds, flying through the air, doing acrobatic dunks, doing power moves against guys much bigger, handling the ball like he does and draining long range 3's....how could he not be considered one of the greatest "athletes" of all time? Do you measure it by wins and losses? Does that factor in? If so, do we deduct points from Bo?
Don't get me wrong, I put Bo Jackson up against anyone who ever competed in any sport. I just think it's too hard to put everyone in one big group, given the diversity in what they do, and try to pick the best.
75 Replies
8401 Views