Is Gretzky the most dominant athlete ever in any major sport?
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TheDevilMadeMe
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Click on "Page 2" on the top right corner of your screen under the notifications for your private messages. It will open up a whole new world of subforums.
(I don't think I knew about Page 2 until I became a mod, but there is a lot there)
quoipourquoi
Goaltender
Thanks. I started clicking random buttons and found a wrestling subsection. I'll have 20,000+ posts by next week...
Czech Your Math
I am lizard king
There's footage of Wilt blocking Kareem's skyhook, Kareem getting it back and then Wilt blocking it again... and that was an older Wilt.
Wilt was a complete freak of nature. His overall athleticism was just mind-boggling.
Samzilla
Prust & Dorsett are
- Apr 2, 2011
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u mean besides the hand of god?
http://www.nytimes.com/1994/06/30/sports/maradona-fails-drug-test-and-could-face-suspension.html
cupcrazyman
Stupid Sexy Flanders
Wayne Gretzky has held or shared 61 NHL records.He also has a staggering 90 other NHL records including many milestone ones. 
Plural
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- Mar 10, 2011
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Maradona was better than Pele. Ushvinder made the points below, so I am not gonna go over them again. But count me in with him in the Maradona group.
Czech Your Math
I am lizard king
Pele doesn't belong in this thread. I get a feeling that his name is mainly brought up by people who can name maybe 1-2 soccer players. What Leo Messi has done in La Liga and CL is far far more impressive than what Pele did in his club career. On international stage Pele was great but there are others who have reached the same level.
When Orr wins a scoring title he is praised for being so good that he "changed the game". You are trying to use that argument to discredit Ruth when, really, it enhances his greatness.
I'm not trying to discredit Ruth. Couldn't care less, actually. My main point was that comparing a dominant single season to a career average is not a sensible comparison. Home run totals vs batting average isn't really either, especially when a seemingly more apples to apples comparison is available.
It's not. Cricket batting average is not a percentage like it is in baseball so comparison is not apples to apples. If I had some single-season cricket stats, I would have used them.
Nevertheless, Ruth's HR dominance is unlike anything else in sport.
I wonder if a cricket batting average could be converted to a percentage and still be meaningful. But I don't know.
What do you think of blogofmike's post? Sounds like he's the one you should be talking to. To me, stuff like this:
...makes it sound like Ruth was ahead of the curve, and was the best, but not dominating "unlike anything else in sport." But I'll leave that to the sports polymaths. I don't even like baseball.
What do you think of blogofmike's post? Sounds like he's the one you should be talking to. To me, stuff like this:
...makes it sound like Ruth was ahead of the curve, and was the best, but not dominating "unlike anything else in sport." But I'll leave that to the sports polymaths. I don't even like baseball.
BladesofSTEELwFIRE
Registered User
- Feb 15, 2010
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Ok, I defer to you somewhat. I have just heard some basketball fans say Kareem is the greatest ever. A lot of NBA legends have come and gone without touching his point totals. But Wilt could've been more dominating on the court.
I just saw much of that video titled Wilt Chamberlain-A Real Superman and you're right. Wilt was more dominating on the court but Kareem still has the edge in some stats. However Wilt AVERAGED 50 points a game one year and scored 100 points in ONE game!
That would be like a hockey player getting 8 or 9 goals in ONE game!
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vadim sharifijanov
Registered User
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kareem's career scoring record is breakable. kobe almost certainly won't, but you could see that before he tore his achilles he had a shot. does lebron have a shot? 8 more years of 2,000 points a season (roughly 25 points/game) and he tops it. he'd be 37. durant could conceivably pass it before he's 35.
no, wilt's single season record is almost 100% unbreakable barring major major rule changes. but i don't think gretzky's 215 or 2,857 are any more breakable than wilt's without fundamentally changing the game. relative to their peers, i think they were about as staggeringly dominant statistically.
but just to think about this logically, it would take one crazy day to top wilt's 100. things happen, things line up. kobe hit 82. it could much more easily happen than topping wilt's 50 over 82 games, or topping gretzky's 215 over 82 games. but by the same token, you could make the argument that someone could catch lightning in a bottle for 82 games and average 50, or score 215, a lot more easily than somebody could put up 2,857 over an entire career. that's 142 points/20 years. first of all, how many guys play 20 years? second, there have only been 23 seasons in NHL history of 142 or more points, and 11 of those were gretzky himself. you'd have to average 142 points a season, and putting up 142 has only been done 12 times by guys who are not gretzky. if you add up the 20 highest scoring seasons by players who aren't gretzky, you just barely top his career total (2,979).
quoipourquoi
Goaltender
I'm really impressed by some of you guys and gals who are extremely knowledgeable at more than one sport. Are their any hardcore fans of certain sports that can give me a quick rundown of maybe a top-ten for a sport that they feel comfortable representing? Like... I would imagine Babe Ruth is certainly top-ten material if not #1, but who else belongs up there? This is going to sound dumb, but is Derek Jeter a top-ten guy? Is Shaq? Is Tom Brady? Is Cobi Jones? 
I'm really impressed by some of you guys and gals who are extremely knowledgeable at more than one sport. Are their any hardcore fans of certain sports that can give me a quick rundown of maybe a top-ten for a sport that they feel comfortable representing? Like... I would imagine Babe Ruth is certainly top-ten material if not #1, but who else belongs up there? This is going to sound dumb, but is Derek Jeter a top-ten guy? Is Shaq? Is Tom Brady? Is Cobi Jones?
Donald Bradman is usually considered the greatest cricket player by a massive margin. So his name belongs in a thread like this.
Baseball: babe ruth, wille mays, barry bonds, ty cobb, hank aaron, ted williams.
Ice Hockey: The big 4
Basketball: Jordan/Wilt/Lebron have the highest peaks based on every advanced metric. There isnt a single advanced stat that doesnt love lebron.
Football: Peyton Manning is easily the best regular season quarterback, joe montana is better in the playoffs. Jim Brown is the best runningback, Jerry Rice is the best wide reciever by a large margin. Barry Sanders and Walter Payton are the other great runningbacks. Johnny Unitas is often mentioned alongside Manning and Montana.
Actually...
Hulk Hogan
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Babe Ruth
Wayne Gretzky
Wilt Chamberlain
Muhammad Ali
Pele
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Michael Jordan
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Tiger Woods
Kareem Abdul Jabbar
Im a huge wrestling fan.
That being said - if the criteria was most "recognizable name" or "most popular" - i think Hogan has a serious case for #1. Dont really see him there for "dominant" though.
Btw - if we do talk most recognizable/popular - Gretzky 100% doesnt break the top 10. Jordan and Ruth are way above him in that regard
K Fleur
Sacrifice
- Mar 28, 2014
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Actually...
Hulk Hogan
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Babe Ruth
Wayne Gretzky
Wilt Chamberlain
Muhammad Ali
Pele
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Michael Jordan
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Tiger Woods
Kareem Abdul Jabbar
Stone Cold>Hogan
Kareem = Howe
Wilt = Orr
Jordan = Lemieux
Theres no Gretzky in that equation. If Gretzky doesnt exist i think #1 in hockey is more debatable. Lemieuxs stock rises without Gretzky.
Orr has the insane peak in an earlier era (like Wilt)
Howe has insane longevity/career accomplishment (like Kareem)
Lemieux is the more modern superman - viewed as the best player in the world while he played with an insane peak/prime (like Jordan)
Not exact equivalents by any stretch - yet similarities are there. Gretzky stands above all three because he beat them all in both prime peak and career accomplishments. NBA doesnt have a similar player to stand out amongst the trio
vadim sharifijanov
Registered User
- Oct 10, 2007
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i've always felt more like mario was wilt. insane statistically peak, physical gifts that were flat out unfair, liked to publicly whine, threatened to/did quit because defenses got too rough with him, won twice but probably should have won more, had a giant chip on his shoulder about his closest natural rival (russell/gretzky).
i don't know that anybody else is comparable to anybody else, but i feel good about mario and wilt. i also like shaq as lindros, if things had gone differently for the big E.
Jordan, Koufax, Maddux, Ruth, Byrd, Walter Payton, Barry Sanders are just a few names that were just as dominate. Koufax primarily.
Heck, even the early MLB pitchers pre-rotation were superhuman - they pitched every day.
Heck, even the early MLB pitchers pre-rotation were superhuman - they pitched every day.
