Interesting results those Beds. I absolutely love my darts and Taylor is an unbelievable player but I couldn't put him in my selection as I just don't like the man at all. A brilliant champion but a dislikeable man.
I'd also probably have put Ali in there but went for people I've seen since growing up and he was before my time.
Thanks for doing that though, intriguing to see who people went for.
I call a stewards. How is Phil Taylor a sportsman? - Darts is a game not a sport. Any game that started in a pub cannot be a sport!
I was gutted that Seve was beaten by Taylor but that's the way the votes went .
Seve was a proper proper sportsman in every sense of the word, and a man of huge dignity. I also wouldn't have had Taylor in there.
Sport isn't entirely about physical prowess though. Darts is something people can relate to as we've all given it a go and realise that to be that good it takes huge talent, dedication, hours of practice and when doing it in front crowds of around 10,000 plus, big cojones.
Personally I'd have given a mention for Seb Coe and Nick Faldo, along with Daley Thomson and Redgrave were heroes of mine growing up. Would also have mentioned Jess and Kelly Holmes.
A few of mine were actually favourites due to their personality as well as sporting prowess, as Beds did say that was okay within his criteria. Did anyone else do the same?
I call a stewards. How is Phil Taylor a sportsman? - Darts is a game not a sport. Any game that started in a pub cannot be a sport!
I knew someone would be pedantic 're Darts, hence why I made sure a darts player was in my top 5. I was going to be put in a British wrestler like Cyanide Sid Cooper or Dave Fit Finlay but I thought that would cause a row 're is Wrestling fixed?
The Telegraph ran a poll like this back in 2009 and their top ten was
1.Roger Federer 2.Jack Nicklaus 3.Muhammad Ali 4.Michael Jordan 5.Michael Phelps 6.Martina Navratilova 7.Usain Bolt 8.Valentino Rossi 9.Steve Redgrave 10.Lance Armstrong
Only two of that list got in our top 10.
Interesting that there is only one Brit in that list, whereas there are seven in CL's. Home bias perhaps? I think I only included one Brit - Lester Piggot but not surprised he didn't make it to ours or the Telegraph's top 10 even though I consider him Britain's greatest ever sportsman.
How Nicklaus and Jordan are not in everyones' top five is beyond me!! (but I accept it's favourite and not necessarily best)
The Telegraph ran a poll like this back in 2009 and their top ten was
1.Roger Federer 2.Jack Nicklaus 3.Muhammad Ali 4.Michael Jordan 5.Michael Phelps 6.Martina Navratilova 7.Usain Bolt 8.Valentino Rossi 9.Steve Redgrave 10.Lance Armstrong
Only two of that list got in our top 10.
Interesting that there is only one Brit in that list, whereas there are seven in CL's. Home bias perhaps? I think I only included one Brit - Lester Piggot but not surprised he didn't make it to ours or the Telegraph's top 10 even though I consider him Britain's greatest ever sportsman.
How Nicklaus and Jordan are not in everyones' top five is beyond me!! (but I accept it's favourite and not necessarily best)
I suspect the reasons are this: British sportsmen because as you later say it's favourite, not best, which is probably what the telegraph was asking; and they were asking a certain demographic, very different to ours on CL.
Lester Piggot blotted his copybook, and for the most part (not all), people who are into racing care about the betting rather than the sport. (Even if they claim different).
No Jordan - because British people mostly don't care about basketball. In ten years running a bar in Portugal I have never had a holiday maker come in and ask me if we were showing basketball, and if you walk into a British street now and ask people to name three NBA franchises it would take you an hour to find two people who could.
No Nicklaus because he won his last major nearly thirty years ago, on any random questionnaire like this people will more easily recall the recent past. And of course many of our fellow members were not even born when he was at his pomp, or at the very least not able to remember it.
Strange Ian Botham's number 1, was a cracking cricketer (one of the best ever) and his charity work is brilliant and he works hard at that, but he's a terrible, terrible pundit and doesn't seem like that much of a pleasant character. Would've thought others would be above, but there we go!
I call a stewards. How is Phil Taylor a sportsman? - Darts is a game not a sport. Any game that started in a pub cannot be a sport!
Yet nobody bats an eyelid about snooker? Less energetic than darts....
Snooker is a sport, mainly because of the amount of tournaments nowadays, almost every week there is a tournament off some kind on
There are poker tournaments all the time, and more online. Is poker a sport now?
Poker is not full time, you can pick and choose if you go to a tournement if you did that in snooker your ranking position would fall down and could lose your place on the tour(Just ask Steve Davis)
Comments
I'd also probably have put Ali in there but went for people I've seen since growing up and he was before my time.
Thanks for doing that though, intriguing to see who people went for.
How is Phil Taylor a sportsman? - Darts is a game not a sport.
Any game that started in a pub cannot be a sport!
For me someone like Navratilova or Nadia Comaneci (sp?) were better sports people than Phil the power Taylor.
Sport isn't entirely about physical prowess though. Darts is something people can relate to as we've all given it a go and realise that to be that good it takes huge talent, dedication, hours of practice and when doing it in front crowds of around 10,000 plus, big cojones.
1.Roger Federer
2.Jack Nicklaus
3.Muhammad Ali
4.Michael Jordan
5.Michael Phelps
6.Martina Navratilova
7.Usain Bolt
8.Valentino Rossi
9.Steve Redgrave
10.Lance Armstrong
Only two of that list got in our top 10.
Personally I'd have given a mention for Seb Coe and Nick Faldo, along with Daley Thomson and Redgrave were heroes of mine growing up. Would also have mentioned Jess and Kelly Holmes.
Darts - injured by hot lights and standing up too long. Doesnt pass the athleticism test.
Snooker - great game not a sport though
flintoff no way.
How Nicklaus and Jordan are not in everyones' top five is beyond me!! (but I accept it's favourite and not necessarily best)
Lester Piggot blotted his copybook, and for the most part (not all), people who are into racing care about the betting rather than the sport. (Even if they claim different).
No Jordan - because British people mostly don't care about basketball. In ten years running a bar in Portugal I have never had a holiday maker come in and ask me if we were showing basketball, and if you walk into a British street now and ask people to name three NBA franchises it would take you an hour to find two people who could.
No Nicklaus because he won his last major nearly thirty years ago, on any random questionnaire like this people will more easily recall the recent past. And of course many of our fellow members were not even born when he was at his pomp, or at the very least not able to remember it.
That's my take on it anyway? :-)
Less energetic than darts....
if you did that in snooker your ranking position would fall down and could lose your place on the tour(Just ask Steve Davis)