OT: GOAT of all GOATs

[UCLJ0211]

With Tom Brady’s recent retirement, I’ve seen this question come up several times in the media. Is Tom Brady the GOAT of all GOATs at their respective sport? I’ve put several other athletes I feel deserve to be mentioned as options, I probably missed a few- but I’m curious to see what the BY thinks. I also couldn’t pick among the 3 tennis greats so I included all of them.

 

[mussels]

Would tend to go with someone in the individual sports, since in team sports (particularly football) the success of say a quarterback is so heavily dependent on the rest of his team. Also true for basketball, and to a much lesser extent, baseball.

 

[karstenkibbe]

Thurman Munson. No reason other than the fact that he played baseball the way I did when I was a kid, reminded me of my father, didn’t tolerate Reggie’s ego trip, and he was my childhood hero.

 

[HitDog]

Thurman Munson. No reason other than the fact that he played baseball the way I did when I was a kid, reminded me of my father, didn’t tolerate Reggie’s ego trip, and he was my childhood hero.

I would take Ted Williams. Besides being a better baseball player he was a better pilot.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

I said Ali because his fame was not limited to any geographic location. You could pretty much go anywhere in the world and people knew who he was.
Interesting no soccer players on the list
Who really are much better known than most on the list.
Pele Maradona, Messi, Ronaldo
We’re are household names
I’m personally bias toward Messi as his grandparents are from the same region as mine.

 

[Get a Job]

The fact that one might think to put all 3 tennis guys on the list means that none of them should be on the list, unless one would argue that all 3 of them are GOATier than anyone else on the list.

 

[UCLJ0211]

The fact that one might think to put all 3 tennis guys on the list means that none of them should be on the list, unless one would argue that all 3 of them are GOATier than anyone else on the list.

I think their accomplishments are all so similar you could make a case for any of them. They have 21, 20 and 20 titles.

 

[Kolumbo]

Jan-Ove Waldner

 

[UCLJ0211]

I said Ali because his fame was not limited to any geographic location. You could pretty much go anywhere in the world and people knew who he was.
Interesting no soccer players on the list
Who really are much better known than most on the list.
Pele Maradona, Messi, Ronaldo
We’re are household names
I’m personally bias toward Messi as his grandparents are from the same region as mine.

Pele is on the list. Good call on some of those other guys.

 

[Get a Job]

I think their accomplishments are all so similar you could make a case for any of them. They have 21, 20 and 20 titles.

Fair enough. I guess if I'd made the poll, I'd have replaced the three options with one "men's tennis GOAT" option.

 

[Kolumbo]

Vasily Alekseyev

 

[karstenkibbe]

I would take Ted Williams. Besides being a better baseball player he was a better pilot.

That might be one of the more tasteless things I’ve ever read on the Boneyard. I’m sure you’re proud.

 

[MDHuskFan]

During his peak, it’s hard to say anyone had the gap between him & his opponents that Tiger had.

MJ commercially is prob the most successful. Bridging on court success w/ marketing, brand building, etc

Combining winning with individual stats, it’s hard to argue against Brady

 

[storrsroars]

I would take Ted Williams. Besides being a better baseball player he was a better pilot.

You should send that joke to Anthony Jeselnick.

 

[August_West]

Thurman Munson. No reason other than the fact that he played baseball the way I did when I was a kid, reminded me of my father, didn’t tolerate Reggie’s ego trip, and he was my childhood hero.

So I grew up in a weird household. My father was a die hard yankees (and jets, rangers, knicks) fan, and we were New Yorkers until we moved to CT in early 75. I was 8 years old and in 3rd grade and brand new transplanted in northern CT and I latched on to the 75 Sox when the whole state did because I just moved here (but retained my Jets, Knicks, Rangers craziness) I loved baseball and was making new friends, anyway, through the next few formative years of sports obsession the sox were great and the Yanks (I hate to say it) were better. I hated the Yankees, and when the sox and Yankees played my father and I would have a great time together. He put down Boston, I put down reggie. But I still remember the day Munson died. My dad was devastated, and I learned humility because deep down even as an 12 year old who respected the hell out of Thurman (unlike reggie), I tried to frame it as a rivalry win, and my dad taught me in a quick second that ain't how this stuff works. Thurman was one of the great ones.

 

[ColchVEGAS]

Going with Ali, no disrespect to any of the other names on the list, but as others have mentioned while all great there are multiple other names that can be brought up in their sport.

Ali transcended boxing and was a household name around the entire world whether you were a fan of boxing or not.

 

[Deepster]

So I grew up in a weird household. My father was a die hard yankees (and jets, rangers, knicks) fan, and we were New Yorkers until we moved to CT in early 75. I was 8 years old and in 3rd grade and brand new transplanted in northern CT and I latched on to the 75 Sox when the whole state did because I just moved here (but retained my Jets, Knicks, Rangers craziness) I loved baseball and was making new friends, anyway, through the next few formative years of sports obsession the sox were great and the Yanks (I hate to say it) were better. I hated the Yankees, and when the sox and Yankees played my father and I would have a great time together. He put down Boston, I put down reggie. But I still remember the day Munson died. My dad was devastated, and I learned humility because deep down even as an 12 year old who respected the hell out of Thurman (unlike reggie), I tried to frame it as a rivalry win, and my dad taught me in a quick second that ain't how this stuff works. Thurman was one of the great ones.

Yeah, I get all that. But this thread is a GOAT of all GOATs thread and Munson isn't even the GOAT at catcher.

 

[August_West]

Yeah, I get all that. But this thread is a GOAT of all GOATs thread and Munson isn't even the GOAT at catcher.

Nope. Pudge ate his lunch. Thurman aint even Varitek

 

[August_West]

GOAT is Joe Namath.

If you have any other opinion you werent there, and if you pull stats, you dont know.

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

Team player: Gretzky. Had over 60 NHL records, had enough assists in 6 seasons to win the scoring title even if he scored no goals, and was so dominant that the NHL had to change multiple rules in order to increase league competition. All time NHL leader in goals, assists, and points and would still be the all-time scorer without ever scoring a goal (yes, he was an amazing passer). The only player to ever score over 200 points in a season and did it four times. The only player to my knowledge that has had his number retired by all teams in his league.

Individual athlete: Michael Phelps. Absolutely legendary and dominant over a long length of time.

 

[navery12]

It's Gretzky

 

[HJG1984]

Bill Russell

 

[pepband99]

It's Gretzky

The only correct answer.

MJ? . Jordan is 5th in points, 3rd in steals. He would need to have almost 25% more points to equal Gretzky's lead over #2.

Assists are even more absurd. He has more assists than any other player has goals PLUS assists.

 

[Kajik]

Tyson fury.Too big ,too strong and fast for his size.Two hundred years of boxing could not find an opponent to take out fury.He's basically indestructible.He fought 3 incredible fights with the 2nd best heavyweight and convincingly came out on top the victor.I believe he is the greatest heavyweight to step into the ring

 

[SCNCHuskie]

This debate has raged throughout history but unfortunately it is difficult to compare athletes from different eras. As an example, in the year the Babe Ruth hit 60 home runs no team had hit that many in one year, and for that reason you could say he completely changed the game. Many people say Michael Jordan is the greatest of all time, but Wilt Chamberlain averaged 50 points in a season. In motorsports it’s near impossible to find anyone who dominated the sport more than Ricky Carmichael in motocross, actually going seasons without losing a single Moto. Auto racing has Jimmie Johnson who won seven championships out of the 11 seasons he participated. You can clearly make an argument for TB12.

However, for my money in pro sports there is no one who dominated his field more than Wayne Gretzky. Last I knew he had something like 61 NHL records. During the era in which he played, he set records that were just mind-boggling in scope. I believe he had more goals than anyone else had goals and assists added together. Again, his style of play completely changed the sport of hockey.

Now, as a Waterbury native, and again looking at the era in which they played, I go with Joan Joyce.