[Archived] Your top 5 sporting heroes

[Guest]

Jim Clark (Motorsports)

Jesse Owens (Track & Field)

Joe Louis (Boxing)

Anderson Silva (MMA)

Lamar Gant (Weightlifting)

[Audax]

Only picked those I have seen in my lifetime otherwise Ali, Montana, Bradman, Pele etc

Fedor Emelianko

Michael Jordan

Lance Armstrong

Marcelo Garcia

Michael Phelps

Honourable Mentions - Gretzky, Tiger Woods, Federer, Hackett, Craig Alexander

Marcelo Garcia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcelo_Garcia_(grappler), Fedor, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fedor_Emelianenko

New ones on me.

[neekoy]

Marcelo Garcia: http://en.wikipedia....arcia_(grappler), Fedor, http://en.wikipedia....dor_Emelianenko

New ones on me.

A lot of people would have Xande or Roger Gracie but both of them are over 100kg, pound for pound Marcelo (IMO) he is the greatest, 5 times World Champ in Gi and 4 times in Abu Dhabi Submission NOGI grappling makes him the ultimate.

Fedor is undisputed, Anderson Silva is up there in the UFC dominant era but Fedor's legacy was forged in an era of knees to the head, soccer kicks and suplexes. Also 3 time World Combat Sambo champion and elite Judoka makes him a step above for me.

[T4E]

Fedor not fighting in the UFC is a large blight on an otherwise incredible record. Perhaps after a spell in retirement he will fancy a couple of pay days. I'd love to see him fight JDS or Velazquez. Pretty sure he'd lose to both these days.

If I was going to chose an MMA fighter in this list no one would be get close to Chuck Liddell. Those making megabucks these days owe a lot to Liddell, Tito and Randy Couture.

[neekoy]

Fedor not fighting in the UFC is a large blight on an otherwise incredible record. Perhaps after a spell in retirement he will fancy a couple of pay days. I'd love to see him fight JDS or Velazquez. Pretty sure he'd lose to both these days.

If I was going to chose an MMA fighter in this list no one would be get close to Chuck Liddell. Those making megabucks these days owe a lot to Liddell, Tito and Randy Couture.

The thing is if he had gone to the US in his prime he would have destroyed Couture and Rodriguez, he already finished Mark Coleman twice, Randleman, Sylvia, Arlovski, Noguiera twice, who have all been UFC champions so I don't think not fighting in the UFC has damaged his legacy.

As far as influence goes in the UFC, I can't go past Tito Ortiz, the UFC was broke and about to dissapear but Tito was the only reason it hung in, well that and the yakuza influence in Japan

[thenodrog]

Mohammed Ali doing a photo shoot with Beckham in London looks absolutely fooked. They should leave him to die in peace instead of wheeling him out at every major event like a freak show. Difficult to even contemplate the Louisville lip has come to his present condition. The superb athlete and fine physical specimen with matinee idol looks that I remember from my youth has become a virtual cabbage. If thats his reward for converting to Islam at the height of his fame I'm bloody glad I'm a kafir.

[Ozz]

I think HEROS are a thing of your childhood. IE people, esp in sport, who acheive things you could only dream about. Scoring the winning goal for Rovers in the FA Cup final, hitting the winning runs in an Ashes test etc.for example. As you get older, or at least as I have got older, the hero worship thing becomes more of a thing of the past. As you become more suspicious of their motives, more sceptical of a sport that is not all it appears to be, you begin to wise up to them.

That said, during my formative years, there were a few people who I always wanted to do well, and hoped they would be the one that fulfills whatever `dream` sporting acheivement their sport involved.

Looking back, I can name GRAHAM FOWLER for Lancashire CC and England. I watched him net at Old Trafford before a one day international against Australia in his prime. I could play a bit back then, but seeing him hit the ball close up just blew my mind-the timing, the strength, the speed and the grace-like a lot of left handers-made hitting the ball seem as natural to him as breathing was to me. When ever he played for England, I wanted him to get the most runs, and can remember how chuffed I was when he and Gatting both got double tons in Madras, the highlight of his international career.

[thenodrog]

I think HEROS are a thing of your childhood. IE people, esp in sport, who acheive things you could only dream about. Scoring the winning goal for Rovers in the FA Cup final, hitting the winning runs in an Ashes test etc.for example. As you get older, or at least as I have got older, the hero worship thing becomes more of a thing of the past. As you become more suspicious of their motives, more sceptical of a sport that is not all it appears to be, you begin to wise up to them.

That said, during my formative years, there were a few people who I always wanted to do well, and hoped they would be the one that fulfills whatever `dream` sporting acheivement their sport involved.

Looking back, I can name GRAHAM FOWLER for Lancashire CC and England. I watched him net at Old Trafford before a one day international against Australia in his prime. I could play a bit back then, but seeing him hit the ball close up just blew my mind-the timing, the strength, the speed and the grace-like a lot of left handers-made hitting the ball seem as natural to him as breathing was to me. When ever he played for England, I wanted him to get the most runs, and can remember how chuffed I was when he and Gatting both got double tons in Madras, the highlight of his international career.

I'm no massive cricket fan but the two stand out English batsmen for the sheer pleasure of seeing them strike the ball in my time were Gower and Botham. Odd thing is that their styles were absolutely poles apart.

[MarkBRFC71]

In no particular order:

1) Bjorn Borg - a phenomenon. Federer is the best player I've ever seen, but Borg was the best of a very competitive bunch when I first started watching tennis. Iconic Fila gear too!

2) Michael Johnson - biomechanically should never have been able to run that fast, but until Usain Bolt I've never seen a track athlete so totally dominate his events.

3) Simon Garner - goal machine, simple as. Tugay ran him close in the football category however - a Rovers legend in every sense of the word.

4) Lance Armstrong - to win the Tour once is an achievement, to win it 7 times consecutively amazing, to do that after overcoming cancer is incredible and inspirational.

5) Daley Thompson - broke the world record several times, back to back Olympic golds, World and European champion in the most physically demanding track and field event. Plus he owes me for at least two Sinclair Spectrum keyboards for hammering them playing Daley Thompson's Decathlon

Honourable mentions to Kenny Dalglish, Alan Shearer, Ivan Lendl, John McEnroe, Ayrton Senna, and Steve Redgrave.

[1864roverite]

Ian Botham

Simon Garner/Stuart Metcalfe

Bill Beaumont

Martin Johnson

Alan Shearer