2004 USA softball team: Undefeated 7-game run to win the gold, allowing only 19 hits and outscoring opponents 51-1 along the way. 4 wins came by run rule and that lone run allowed occurred in the next to last inning of the gold medal game.
people watch softball?
Beats the pants off the overblown game of shuffle board they call Curling.
oh wow really? sure doesn't get the ratings, in fact didn't they toss softball out of the olympics for drawing too little attention?
They tossed because the USA kicked everyone's ass. Too little competition.
that there proves why it isn't the best, if the Warriors beat a high school team there is nothing awesome about that, most softball teams outside of United States totally suck
Then the 1988 Yugoslavian basketball team. They are the reason the US allowed pros to play for the national team (because we couldn't beat them with amateurs) as well as opening the door to the NBA drafting foreign-born players. All because of their dominant Olympic performance.
Then the 1988 Yugoslavian basketball team. They are the reason the US allowed pros to play for the national team (because we couldn't beat them with amateurs) as well as opening the door to the NBA drafting foreign-born players. All because of their dominant Olympic performance.
2004 USA softball team: Undefeated 7-game run to win the gold, allowing only 19 hits and outscoring opponents 51-1 along the way. 4 wins came by run rule and that lone run allowed occurred in the next to last inning of the gold medal game.
people watch softball?
Beats the pants off the overblown game of shuffle board they call Curling.
oh wow really? sure doesn't get the ratings, in fact didn't they toss softball out of the olympics for drawing too little attention?
Ratings? BABY cares about network ratings? LOL I'm joshing ya.
Really though, it's a point worth making. NBC chooses what people watch and their coverage greatly increases the appeal of sports like curling. It looks like fun to play, but it's not exciting to watch when you compare it to freestyle board events. In fact, many people think curling was only added in '98 to counter the growing popularity of the extreme sports. The theory goes, they added a nice traditional (boring) game for the stodgy old farts and they had NBC ram it down people's throats until they convinced them to like it. I buy that theory easy enough. It's easy to see how they push certain sports to the forefront in coverage, it's extreme sometimes.
Then the 1988 Yugoslavian basketball team. They are the reason the US allowed pros to play for the national team (because we couldn't beat them with amateurs) as well as opening the door to the NBA drafting foreign-born players. All because of their dominant Olympic performance.
yes that was awesome. RIP Yugoslavia
Indeed. RIP Drazen Petrovic as well. Dude had the potential to be as good as Jordan. We had a foreign exchange student from Croatia during the Yugoslav civil war and fall of communism. HUGE Petrovic fan. HAAAAAATED Vlade Divac bc of the flag thing at '90 Worlds. But I became a Drazen fan bc of him. And I could go along with disliking Vlade just because I couldn't stand the Lakers. Petrovic had a special talent that doesn't come along often, especially at the same time another special talent is dominating the sport. When he died, you'd have thought this kid's big brother died. He took it pretty tough.
Then the 1988 Yugoslavian basketball team. They are the reason the US allowed pros to play for the national team (because we couldn't beat them with amateurs) as well as opening the door to the NBA drafting foreign-born players. All because of their dominant Olympic performance.
yes that was awesome. RIP Yugoslavia
Indeed. RIP Drazen Petrovic as well. Dude had the potential to be as good as Jordan. We had a foreign exchange student from Croatia during the Yugoslav civil war and fall of communism. HUGE Petrovic fan. HAAAAAATED Vlade Divac bc of the flag thing at '90 Worlds. But I became a Drazen fan bc of him. And I could go along with disliking Vlade just because I couldn't stand the Lakers. Petrovic had a special talent that doesn't come along often, especially at the same time another special talent is dominating the sport. When he died, you'd have thought this kid's big brother died. He took it pretty tough.
There was a great ESPN 30 for 30 where Vlade went back to visit Drazen's family it's very emotional
Then the 1988 Yugoslavian basketball team. They are the reason the US allowed pros to play for the national team (because we couldn't beat them with amateurs) as well as opening the door to the NBA drafting foreign-born players. All because of their dominant Olympic performance.
yes that was awesome. RIP Yugoslavia
Indeed. RIP Drazen Petrovic as well. Dude had the potential to be as good as Jordan. We had a foreign exchange student from Croatia during the Yugoslav civil war and fall of communism. HUGE Petrovic fan. HAAAAAATED Vlade Divac bc of the flag thing at '90 Worlds. But I became a Drazen fan bc of him. And I could go along with disliking Vlade just because I couldn't stand the Lakers. Petrovic had a special talent that doesn't come along often, especially at the same time another special talent is dominating the sport. When he died, you'd have thought this kid's big brother died. He took it pretty tough.
There was a great ESPN 30 for 30 where Vlade went back to visit Drazen's family it's very emotional
Once Brothers. It's probably my favorite of the 30 for 30's.
Eric Heiden swept all 5 of the men's speed skating events, no one has ever come close to doing it in swimming or sprinting, he won the sprints & the distance events, he absolutely crushed all his competition Eric Heiden 1980 Lake Placid Olympics results: 500M Gold-Olympic Record 1000M Gold-Olympic record 1500M Gold-Olympic record 5000M Gold-Olympic record 10000M Gold-Olympic Record
Eric Heiden - ESPN's SportsCentury 50 Greatest Athletes
2004 USA softball team: Undefeated 7-game run to win the gold, allowing only 19 hits and outscoring opponents 51-1 along the way. 4 wins came by run rule and that lone run allowed occurred in the next to last inning of the gold medal game.
people watch softball?
Beats the pants off the overblown game of shuffle board they call Curling.
oh wow really? sure doesn't get the ratings, in fact didn't they toss softball out of the olympics for drawing too little attention?
2004 USA softball team: Undefeated 7-game run to win the gold, allowing only 19 hits and outscoring opponents 51-1 along the way. 4 wins came by run rule and that lone run allowed occurred in the next to last inning of the gold medal game.
people watch softball?
Beats the pants off the overblown game of shuffle board they call Curling.
oh wow really? sure doesn't get the ratings, in fact didn't they toss softball out of the olympics for drawing too little attention?
They tossed because the USA kicked everyone's ass. Too little competition.
if thats the case why haven't tossed men's basketball and woman hockey...
Sure, they both dominated hardcore, but they only did 1 thing with minor tweaks. A single gold medal in the decathlon or all-around gymnastics is more impressive than either of their very impressive Olympic runs.
COMPLETELY AGREE WITH YOU.
I've never understood why the public and the media tends to call Phelps and others who compete in ONE sport with, as gambs said, a few minor tweaks, can be considered the greatest athlete of all time because of the number of medals. if there was multiple events for each sport, everyone would be the GOAT.
As Big Bang pointed out Heiden won gold and set Olympic records in both sprint and distance event...I’m guessing that no one has accomplished that since ... so if it’s so easy, I’m sure it would have accomplished since.
As Big Bang pointed out Heiden won gold and set Olympic records in both sprint and distance event...I’m guessing that no one has accomplished that since ... so if it’s so easy, I’m sure it would have accomplished since.
I don't think it's easy. but it doesn't automatically qualify for greatest of all time in and of itself. at least not where phelps is concerned.
edit: looking again, even though they are all running, there is a much different strategy and conditioning for sprint vs distance events, so yes, i would say he's definitely in the top.
As Big Bang pointed out Heiden won gold and set Olympic records in both sprint and distance event...I’m guessing that no one has accomplished that since ... so if it’s so easy, I’m sure it would have accomplished since.
I don't think it's easy. but it doesn't automatically qualify for greatest of all time in and of itself. at least not where phelps is concerned.
edit: looking again, even though they are all running, there is a much different strategy and conditioning for sprint vs distance events, so yes, i would say he's definitely in the top.
I’m not discounting what other great olympians have accomplished. More or less just acknowledging that he set Olympic records in both distance and sprint...to my knowledge no one has accomplished that feat. Someone will eventually eclipse Phelps. But so far no one has done what Heiden has done in a single olympics...
all Olympians mentioned are great athletes. Canada has the most decorated figure skaters of all-time (Moir, Virtue), so this thread can also be subjective...a case could be made for them as well, figure skaters are amazing athletes as well. It’s fun to debate this kind of stuff.
i also agree 100% with rgamgs ... biathletes are just amazing athletes as well
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Figure skaters could be called the greatest olympic performance ever? I guess we have different levels of respect for some of these athletes. I agree it is damned impressive, but figure skating is never going to impress me as much as about 3/4 of the other sports and what they do. Just not my thing, although I can/do freely admit that people seem to be getting 'better' at dancing on skates. (I am not partial, in general, to the sports that get 'scored' vs. ones with actual ways to determine winners that are clear/clean.)
Figure skaters could be called the greatest olympic performance ever? I guess we have different levels of respect for some of these athletes. I agree it is damned impressive, but figure skating is never going to impress me as much as about 3/4 of the other sports and what they do. Just not my thing, although I can/do freely admit that people seem to be getting 'better' at dancing on skates. (I am not partial, in general, to the sports that get 'scored' vs. ones with actual ways to determine winners that are clear/clean.)
At least figure skaters can call themselves legit athletes ... not so sure curlers can.
If someone trains to do it, it can be repeated and outdone. It must just be that no one (or anyone any good) ever trains for both sprint and distance events.
Three times in the Tour de France, Eddy Merckx won both the general classification (overall, Yellow jersey) and points classification (sprints - Green jersey). When he did it in 1969, he also won all three individual Time Trial stages, his team won the team time trial, and he also took the mountains classification (climbing - Polka dot jersey) and combativity classification (most time spent in breakaways from the peloton). All those things take very different skillsets, mindsets, and different tolls on the body. Bernard Hinault is the only other rider to ever win both the general & points in the same year when he did it in 1979.
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BABY cares about network ratings? LOL
I'm joshing ya.
Really though, it's a point worth making.
NBC chooses what people watch and their coverage greatly increases the appeal of sports like curling. It looks like fun to play, but it's not exciting to watch when you compare it to freestyle board events.
In fact, many people think curling was only added in '98 to counter the growing popularity of the extreme sports. The theory goes, they added a nice traditional (boring) game for the stodgy old farts and they had NBC ram it down people's throats until they convinced them to like it.
I buy that theory easy enough.
It's easy to see how they push certain sports to the forefront in coverage, it's extreme sometimes.
We had a foreign exchange student from Croatia during the Yugoslav civil war and fall of communism. HUGE Petrovic fan. HAAAAAATED Vlade Divac bc of the flag thing at '90 Worlds. But I became a Drazen fan bc of him. And I could go along with disliking Vlade just because I couldn't stand the Lakers. Petrovic had a special talent that doesn't come along often, especially at the same time another special talent is dominating the sport. When he died, you'd have thought this kid's big brother died. He took it pretty tough.
we will find a way, we will find our place
It was such a popular sport...lol
if thats the case why haven't tossed men's basketball and woman hockey...
just kidding.
Cheers,
HFD
edit: looking again, even though they are all running, there is a much different strategy and conditioning for sprint vs distance events, so yes, i would say he's definitely in the top.
Cheers,
HFD
all Olympians mentioned are great athletes. Canada has the most decorated figure skaters of all-time (Moir, Virtue), so this thread can also be subjective...a case could be made for them as well, figure skaters are amazing athletes as well. It’s fun to debate this kind of stuff.
i also agree 100% with rgamgs ... biathletes are just amazing athletes as well
I agree it is damned impressive, but figure skating is never going to impress me as much as about 3/4 of the other sports and what they do.
Just not my thing, although I can/do freely admit that people seem to be getting 'better' at dancing on skates.
(I am not partial, in general, to the sports that get 'scored' vs. ones with actual ways to determine winners that are clear/clean.)
At least figure skaters can call themselves legit athletes ... not so sure curlers can.
Three times in the Tour de France, Eddy Merckx won both the general classification (overall, Yellow jersey) and points classification (sprints - Green jersey). When he did it in 1969, he also won all three individual Time Trial stages, his team won the team time trial, and he also took the mountains classification (climbing - Polka dot jersey) and combativity classification (most time spent in breakaways from the peloton). All those things take very different skillsets, mindsets, and different tolls on the body. Bernard Hinault is the only other rider to ever win both the general & points in the same year when he did it in 1979.