Wow this is a tough one right off the bat. There are many greats who wore the #1 and they come from different sports which makes it harder to choose just one. Here is the ballot and you can make your choice.
- Warren Moon, was a CFL pioneer winning five Grey Cups which is equal to the NFL's Super Bowl. He threw for over 49,000 yards and 291 touchdowns in 17 NFL seasons. He was a pioneer for the African American quarterback in the NFL. I know he broke my heart several times with spectacular games against my Bengals.
- Oscar Robertson, The Big "O" maybe the greatest all-around player to play the game. In just his second season he averaged a triple-double which is probably the most difficult stat to accomplish in the NBA. He scored over 26,000 points during his 14-year career. He played for Cincinnati in college and the pros, which is a plus from me.
- I personally have to place my vote for this number with the "Wizard" of Baseball. Ozzie Smith transformed the shortstop position with his amazing defense and of course who can forget his signature backflip. Alot of my early baseball memories growing up in Cincinnati are of watching Ozzie Smith play shortstop. The range that he posessed was second to none and it almost literally seemed like he was performing magic with some of the spectacular plays he made. He won the Gold Glove award from 1979-1992, went to 15 All-Star games and stole over 500 bases. Probably not considered one of the greatest baseball players because of his lack of power, but he definitely made an impact on the game like no other. I never saw anything but a smile on his face and you could truly tell he loved the game of baseball.
A few others to consider were Pee Wee Reese, Billy Martin and Sadahuru Oh who set the world record for home runs hit with 868 home runs over his 22 year career with the Tokyo Giants, would have been interesting to see what he could have done in the MLB.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Greatest Athletes By Number - #1
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Well here is where I will differ from you. I think the Big "O" was the man. To average a triple double for a whole season, that is unreal. They did not keep assists back then, so who knows what records he would have if they had kept those stats. I consider Oscar as one of the top five basketball players ever. Also the racial tension that he had to endure makes it even more impressive.
As much as I favor the Big O, have never been a big fan of Ozzie Smith. Don't get me wrong, he was an excellent shortstop, but if he is a hall of famer then so is Dave Concepcion. I know that I am a Red's homer, but he made the same plays that the wizard made. He had incredible range and made a lot of his plays standing up, while others had to dive. Ozzie may have been flashier, but Concepcion was just as good.
So in my mind the big O was an all-time great, while Ozzie was an all star.
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