Between your post here, and what
@JOKER 192 has said, I’m certainty willing to rethink my opinion of Mario Lemieux. I know very well how great a player he was, but I think I’ve allowed some other factors to influence my opinion of the man himself. I’m not so stubborn that I’m unwilling change my opinion if shown enough evidence to disprove it.
Very VERY true.
When I was in college, I worked with a guy who played baseball against Tom Glavine (at the time the reigning World Series MVP) in high school. I asked him what it was like to play against Glavine, and his exact words were: “three pitches and you sat down.”
Different sport, but it told me that the guys that “make it” are so much better than we could ever think of being, that it’s hard to really get your head around.
At the NHL level, even the guys that suck are really really good. It must be shocking for guys who’ve been the best player everywhere they’ve ever been to get to the NHL and find out they’re not even the best player on their own team!
Guys like Bobby Orr; Wayne Gretzky; and Mario Lemieux come along so infrequently, that we’re all very lucky to have seen them in our lifetime. Everyone knew very early on how great they would be.