Your Favorite Athlete of all time!

[Laettner32]

Not the best, maybe its both. But what Athelete do you have the most love for. Just look at my name.....Laettner32. Christian Laettner. I honestly believe as far a college careers go, noone was better. 4 Final Fours, 2 Championships, last I checked best 3pt. %, and scoring avg. in the NCAA Tourney. He schooled Shack, LJ, and 'Zo in the tourney. I loved when he jawed Kevin Calabria (UNC) running upcourt and the refs didnt see. When he screamed after throwing one down over Juwon Howard at Michigan, and even when he stepped on Timberlake of UK.....ha!...What a bitch! Dude was an A-hole....I was able to get courtside seats at a Houston Rocket/M Timberwolve game back in the day, I wore a Duke 32 jersey and he was about 15 feet from me pre-game as I asked for his autograph...he looked at me and ran his hands through his surfer long hair...smiled...and walked right past me......Damn it if I didnt love him even more after that! edit. I also love during his All-Star year as an Atlanta Hawk, during the Playoffs...he body slammed Dennis Rodman. I think Rodman was with the Bulls at their prime. The replay showed Rodman and Laettner going hard after one another, and then Laettner just slammed him...this was back when everyone was pretty much afraid of "the worm".

[Kearnzo]

Re: Your Favorite Athlete of all time!

Jerry Rice. He was the greatest to ever play IMO, and as a kid, I LOVED the 49ers. When he was shipped to Oakland, I was so angry at the 49ers I could never forgive them for it. Granted, at the time I didn't know why he was let go, and i'm still not entirely sure, but oh well, what can ya do.

I still have all of my Jerry Rice collectibles, including a 10+ year old or so cup with a picture of Jerry Rice on it that I still drink from. IMO noone will ever see another Jerry Rice, for the fact that he shut up and kicked ***. Period. He was completely unguardable, and even in his last year with Seahawks, as old as he was, he could still outplay half of the trash talking, do nothing on the field recievers we have nowadays in the NFL.

[The C]

Re: Your Favorite Athlete of all time!

Even though I didn't grow up anywhere close to his prime, Muhammad Ali is by far my favorite.

The bravado, the skill, the classic quotes. By far the most entertaining athlete of all time.

[garnettrules21]

Re: Your Favorite Athlete of all time!

Jordan followed extremely closely by Garnett.

[MassNole]

Re: Your Favorite Athlete of all time!

[Peji911]

Re: Your Favorite Athlete of all time!

Rui Costa (Midfielder)

Just a little tidbit on why.

He started playing semi-pro at age 9 from the Benfica youth program (Benfica being my fave team). Then when he was 17, Fiorentina bought him. Then When Fiorentina's first club was caught in the scandal, he was sold to AC Milan, even though he tried coming back to his team. Then at the end of his contract with Milan, even though he had a year left, he asked Milan to let the last year go so that he could return to his fave team growing up. Not once did he play the game for the money. He never left Benfica for money and never did he leave Fiorentina for money. Here's the clincher. He returned to Benfica and signed a BLANK check. He told them that he'd play for whatever they felt he deserved, and that he more money could go towards other players. Funny is that in his first game back at Benfica's stadium, he scored a goal for Fiorentina and started bawling. He's just like any of us--loves his team and would do anything for them.

And obviously, the guy was/is simply amazing. A playmaker more than a scorer, although he has scored numerous times. He also has won every championship at the club level one could win. A true 'meastro'

[SPTO]

Re: Your Favorite Athlete of all time!

Baseball: A tie between Dave Stieb and Jack Morris. They were the pitchers of the 80s and by God they were two of the nastiest individuals when it came to handling the media and their teamates. Stieb was so intense that he often called out his own teamates which kinda backfired in a lot of ways. If he was just a little more mellower things might've worked out better. Still for my money he's the greatest pitcher in Blue Jays history. (tho Roy Halladay is catching up) As for Jack Morris I honestly think the man deserves to be in Cooperstown. He had an intensity and fire that you rarely see in pitchers. I still remember that Game 7 performance against the Braves. It's easily in my top 3 pitching performances of all time.

Football: Jim Kelly, Yeah he takes a lot of flack for helming the only team to lose 4 straight Super Bowls but he had the mentality of a LB out there. I always liked the way he would put his body on the line game in and game out. The K-Gun offense is also one of my fave offenses in history as well.

Hockey: Hm i'm not the biggest fan so I don't really have a clear cut favourite but i've always admired Wendel Clark.

Basketball: Karl Malone, Yeah he's a bit of a dirty player but I loved the toughness and that combination with John Stockton was just MONEY! for over a decade.

[Fiddy]

Re: Your Favorite Athlete of all time!

Mario Lemieux.......i dont need to explain

[Acid]

Re: Your Favorite Athlete of all time!

Ah, I don't think I could choose just one..

Top 3 would be Allen Iverson, Ken Griffey Jr., and Reggie Miller.

I'd probably go with Iverson.

[mjb2124]

Re: Your Favorite Athlete of all time!

Roberto Clemente - Too young to have seen him play live, but I've enjoyed watching recordings of him. Just a lot of fun watching a guy like him play.

[Hooe]

Re: Your Favorite Athlete of all time!

For football, Emmitt Smith and UVa quarterback Matt Schaub (pro and college, respectively), and for basketball, David Robinson.

[CWood2]

Re: Your Favorite Athlete of all time!

Baseball: Andruw Jones. Growing up, baseball was by far and away my greatest interest, so I read all about the game's past stars and was always captivated by guys like Willie Mays who could do it all. Although Andruw doesn't run as much as he used to, his combination of power and athleticism in center is what I enjoy watching the most. When he hit those 2 homers in the Series at 19, I was hooked, and his glove to me is the best of my generation.

Football: Joe Montana. When Tom Brady started drawing comparisons to this guy, I could not have been happier. The most exciting player to me will always be Barry Sanders, but between the comebacks and all the big throws, there's not many better all time from that position.

Collegian: Charles Woodson. The man did it all, and dominated in every role. Highlight picks, shutdown corner, big receptions and punt returns to beat Ohio State single handedly. I don't think we'll ever see a two way player have such an impact, and it's just as unlikely to see a defensive player take the Heisman as Woodson did.

Basketball: Allen Iverson. The quickest player I can ever remember who just keeps getting up. The guy's got my body and continues to take it to the hole with some of the sickest moves out there. As with Jones and Woodson, I got to see him at a young age at G'town and followed him to the present. Tremendously creative off the dribble, and from what I've heard, was insanely talented at football as well.

[JayBee74]

Re: Your Favorite Athlete of all time!

Frank Robinson, who came into town when I was 10, and helped us win a World Series. He also won the Triple Crown that year. In the middle of my writing of this post I just found out this will be Frank's last year as manager of the Nationals. Other favorites are Johnny Unitas, Jimmy Connors, Muhammad Ali, Chris Everett, Larry Bird, Michael Spinks, Sugar Ray Leonard, and Brooks Robinson.

[AirLobo23]

Re: Your Favorite Athlete of all time!

Michael Jordan

[Crucial Mike]

Re: Your Favorite Athlete of all time!

I'm going with Charles Barkley.