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2020 Greatest of All Time Sports Draft-Zow wins, Judges still suck (2 Viewers)

Lots of Great picks off the board this round. was hoping a couple would fall to me.

2.13 Herschal Walker- Greatest Offensive Player College Football (28)

 Walker rushed 5,259 yards and 49 touchdowns, in only 3 years at Georgia. He won the Heisman  in 1982. He is the only player to finish in the top three in the Heisman voting three times, and was a three-time unanimous All-American selection.

He led the bulldogs to a National championship his freshman year when he rushed  for 1600 yds and 15 tds. Absolute STUD!

 
2.14 - Hank Aaron, MLB - Greatest Baseball Player

One could accuse me of this being a homer pick but there's several that think he's vastly underrated and the greatest player ever.  It helps that he plays for my hometown and favorite team and he's probably the only person who will be drafted that I've met in person.

 
2.15 -  Phil Jackson - Category 14, Best NBA Coach

 Phil Jackson has had a winning record every year he was a head coach, and currently has the highest winning percentage of any Hall of Fame coach, and further the highest of any NBA coach coaching 500 games or more. Along with his NBA-record eleven championships, he is the only coach to win at least ten championships in any of North America's major professional sports.

No offense to Pop but Jackson is the best NBA coach of all time.

 
2.16: Sugar Ray Robinson, Non-Heavyweight Boxer

3.01: Tony Gonzalez, NFL Tight End

 
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3.04- Serena Williams- Greatest Female Tennis Player (54)

23 Grand slam titles- most ever (men or women) 

72 total titles

319 weeks ranked number 1 in the world including a record 186 consecutive weeks 

 
tuffnutt said:
3.04- Serena Williams- Greatest Female Tennis Player (54)

23 Grand slam titles- most ever (men or women) 

72 total titles

319 weeks ranked number 1 in the world including a record 186 consecutive weeks 
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This was my clear cut next pick. Nice choice. 

 
tuffnutt said:
3.04- Serena Williams- Greatest Female Tennis Player (54)

23 Grand slam titles- most ever (men or women) 

72 total titles

319 weeks ranked number 1 in the world including a record 186 consecutive weeks 
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This is who I was debating between with Cheryl Miller.....for some reason I thought Serena would make it back.

 
Gally said:
This is who I was debating between with Cheryl Miller.....for some reason I thought Serena would make it back.
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No chance of that. She's the clear-cut best ever at her category in my opinion. 

 
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tuffnutt said:
3.04- Serena Williams- Greatest Female Tennis Player (54)

23 Grand slam titles- most ever (men or women) 

72 total titles

319 weeks ranked number 1 in the world including a record 186 consecutive weeks 
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Great pick - I would have picked her if I wanted to "win" but I just love Federer - favorite tennis player of all time.  Serena is definitely better though when compared to her competition.

 
Zow said:
No chance of that. She's the clear-cut best ever at her category in my opinion. 
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Serves me right for researching right before bed. I was trying to pick out some 20-pointers ... and I overlooked Serena completely. Kind of had "1980s Bias" going on, too ... thinking "Man, there were so many greats on the scene at once ... who can pick out just one" :bag:  

 
AAABatteries said:
Great pick - I would have picked her if I wanted to "win" but I just love Federer - favorite tennis player of all time.
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Federer's case for best-ever is extremely strong. Tennis doesn't have the profile it had 30-40 years ago, so there aren't as many transcendent famous celebrities coming out of tennis as there once were. That might chip away at the public's esteem of Federer vs. 1970s-1980s greats ... but Federer's accomplishments, once reviewed, speak for themselves.

 
3.05  -- LARISA LATYNINA  -- WOMENS SPORTS, Greatest Gymnast (56)

Another category crusher! Was considering letting her slide because some of you probably have never heard of her but didn’t think she would still be around for me at 4.12.

Larisa (or Double L as I like to call her :D ) holds the record for the most Olympic gold medals by a gymnast, male or female, with 9. Her total of 18 Olympic medals was a record for 48 years. She held the record for individual event medals with 14 for 52 years. She laid the ground work that enabled the Soviet Union to be a dominant force in gymnastics for years.

She is the only woman to have won nine Olympic gold medals. She is also the only female athlete who at some point has held the record for most Olympic gold medals. Additionally, within the sport of gymnastics, she is the only woman who has won an all-around medal in more than two Olympiads, the only woman who has won an individual event (floor exercise) in more than two Olympiads, and one of only three women who have won every individual event at either the World Championship or Olympic level. She is the only female gymnast to have twice won team gold, all-around gold and an event final gold at the same Olympics, having done so in 1956 and four years later, in 1960.

At other levels of competition, she was equally good. 14 European Championship medals, 7 of them gold. 14 World Championship medals, 7 of them gold. 

Welcome aboard Larisa!

PS - Her father was killed at the Battle of Stalingrad, where he served as a machine gunner fighting the Nazi’s.

 
Jagov said:
3.05  -- LARISA LATYNINA  -- WOMENS SPORTS, Greatest Gymnast (56)

Another category crusher! Was considering letting her slide because some of you probably have never heard of her but didn’t think she would still be around for me at 4.12.

Larisa (or Double L as I like to call her :D ) holds the record for the most Olympic gold medals by a gymnast, male or female, with 9. Her total of 18 Olympic medals was a record for 48 years. She held the record for individual event medals with 14 for 52 years. She laid the ground work that enabled the Soviet Union to be a dominant force in gymnastics for years.

She is the only woman to have won nine Olympic gold medals. She is also the only female athlete who at some point has held the record for most Olympic gold medals. Additionally, within the sport of gymnastics, she is the only woman who has won an all-around medal in more than two Olympiads, the only woman who has won an individual event (floor exercise) in more than two Olympiads, and one of only three women who have won every individual event at either the World Championship or Olympic level. She is the only female gymnast to have twice won team gold, all-around gold and an event final gold at the same Olympics, having done so in 1956 and four years later, in 1960.

At other levels of competition, she was equally good. 14 European Championship medals, 7 of them gold. 14 World Championship medals, 7 of them gold. 

Welcome aboard Larisa!

PS - Her father was killed at the Battle of Stalingrad, where he served as a machine gunner fighting the Nazi’s.
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I would say good pick but I never heard of her.

 
There are some sports where looking backwards in time yields great dividends. And other sports where it seems clear that recent competitors are the best ever.

ISTM, for example, that boxing is an example of the former. Tennis, and perhaps gymnastics, examples of the latter. But it depends on the judging criteria. If it's "greatness against contemporary peers", then recency won't matter much. If it's "absolute greatness", then recency helps a lot in most sports.

 
Doug B said:
There are some sports where looking backwards in time yields great dividends. And other sports where it seems clear that recent competitors are the best ever.

ISTM, for example, that boxing is an example of the former. Tennis, and perhaps gymnastics, examples of the latter. But it depends on the judging criteria. If it's "greatness against contemporary peers", then recency won't matter much. If it's "absolute greatness", then recency helps a lot in most sports.
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Also how much the judges value the legend vs just pure ability/accomplishments. For example Babe Ruth is no longer the HR king so does that mean more recent and more prolific HR hitters are better or does the weight of the name Babe Ruth outweigh any shortcomings. 

 
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If you watch film of Larisa, it is immediately clear that she wouldn’t come close to medaling in a modern gymnastic event. She might not even qualify. 

I think that should mean something. 

 
timschochet said:
If you watch film of Larisa, it is immediately clear that she wouldn’t come close to medaling in a modern gymnastic event. She might not even qualify. 

I think that should mean something. 
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I didn't want to rag on the pick, because she did smoke her peers.

But in an absolute sense ... gymnastics is just a different sport today than it was 60 years ago. The very basic required moves of today's gymnasts weren't even attempted yet back then.

 
Doug B said:
I didn't want to rag on the pick, because she did smoke her peers.

But in an absolute sense ... gymnastics is just a different sport today than it was 60 years ago. The very basic required moves of today's gymnasts weren't even attempted yet back then.
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I can’t speak for other judges but I think it has to mean something. 

The thing is, I do think that Babe Ruth would be a major star in baseball today. He’d have to adjust to different pitching but I think he’d figure it out. 

 
timschochet said:
I can’t speak for other judges but I think it has to mean something. 

The thing is, I do think that Babe Ruth would be a major star in baseball today. He’d have to adjust to different pitching but I think he’d figure it out. 
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Does that mean Jesse Owens was a poor pick because all his records have been beat several times over? How do we account for a sport that is so cut and dry? I am not saying you have to answer or there is a right way to answer. 

 
timschochet said:
If you watch film of Larisa, it is immediately clear that she wouldn’t come close to medaling in a modern gymnastic event. She might not even qualify. 

I think that should mean something. 
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Oh she would certainly get smoked in modern gymnastics. And the 1927 Yankees would get swept by most current major league clubs. ( They would still sweep the Pirates :D  ). There are going to be cases across the 60 categories where the all time great is from a past age but doesn't scale to the modern era. That doesn't take away there greatness IMO.

BTW ... Thanks for setting this up! This is a great source of fun and relaxation during these stressful times.

 
Jagov said:
Oh she would certainly get smoked in modern gymnastics. And the 1927 Yankees would get swept by most current major league clubs. ( They would still sweep the Pirates :D  ). There are going to be cases across the 60 categories where the all time great is from a past age but doesn't scale to the modern era. That doesn't take away there greatness IMO.

BTW ... Thanks for setting this up! This is a great source of fun and relaxation during these stressful times.
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I completely disagree with the 1927 Yankees getting smoked today.  The players on that team were great baseball players.  They would still be able to compete in today's game.

I know nothing about the gymnast but gymnastics has changed drastically in the modern age compared to now.  I am not saying Larisa couldn't compete if given time to train but it's a more difficult comparison.

 
Gally said:
I completely disagree with the 1927 Yankees getting smoked today.  The players on that team were great baseball players.  They would still be able to compete in today's game.

I know nothing about the gymnast but gymnastics has changed drastically in the modern age compared to now.  I am not saying Larisa couldn't compete if given time to train but it's a more difficult comparison.
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This really is the distinguishing factor for me in this discussion. And why I find the discussion to be a lost cause. 

I'll use the '27 Yanks as an example. Yes, some of those guys could definitely play and if teleported they'd hold their own. But if the entire team was teleported I concur that they'd get beat handledly and regular by even the worst MLB team today -- mainly due to the stark differences in pitching. But, you give those individuals the time, technology, and sports science that we have today and it'd be a different story. 

 
3.06 - Joe Montana - Greatest QB

There will be debate on this one - there are several who could claim the top spot, so this might not be a great value pick in round 3. But if I have to win one game, Joe Cool is under center.

 
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