v2 G.O.A.T Wild Card Group

First topic message reminder :

Please vote for who you believe should progress to Round 2 as the wild card entrant.

We couldnt pick just 4 so the list has been extented to 9.

The Group winner will progress only

But we do have the greatest ever female sailor so swings and roundabouts, the problem britain has had in sport is our diversity. America has a select few they excel in but they try to excel in only a few while we do a bit of everything and conquer some fairly niche sports.

Diggers wrote:MacArthur is bonkers, but no way is she one of the best two. Best woman maybe.
Dinghy sailing is where all the actual sailing skill is, but its a bit of an apples and oranges comparison.

Or like comparing a Go-Kart to a Ferrari...

America's Cup is big, but you need big money behind you just to get the start line.

Admittedly Olympic sailing is also a middle-class sport. But its at least played out on a level playing field on the day. Ainslie is a genius at reading conditions and outfoxing opponents, particularly in head-to-heads. Jacques Rogge, who was a sailor himself (and after 12 years in charge of the IOC, you'd think would know a bit about Olympic sport), thinks his achievements are on a par with Phelps's, and that he is undoubtedly the greatest Olympian of all time.

That said, I voted for Spitz who I think needs serious consideration.

I'm not going to give too much thought to most on this list. However, I'd be very disappointed if LeBron James got in...

Also, Kelly Slater?? Is Surfing even a sport?!

Randy Couture and Anderson Silva! I'd never heard of them but on seeing they do mixed-martial arts, I think their inclusion is a bit of an insult to Vergeer, Viv, Tanni G-T and doubtless many others that have missed out...

I voted for Kelly Slater...Lord of the Waves..

11 Times World Champion in probably one of the most Global of sports (apart from England) Kelly was an absolute magician on a surfboard. He won Surf tournaments not only on the West (including Hawaii) and East (Florida) coasts of the U.S. but also Tahiti,Fiji,Puerto Rico,Brazil,Australia, South Africa, Ireland,Morrocco,Barbados,Portugal, France and Bali..

He played in his own band "The Surfers" and performed on stage with the likes of Pearl Jam and Shirley Manson.

He also played the part of Jimmy Slade in "Baywatch" where he also had a small part in Pamela Anderson.

He put his sport on the map.

Do the main event Borg collective get a vote for each split personality. The michael jordan wannabee is close to getting through.

Who's the French judo guy who's pretty much unbeatable? Should have been considered too, as for MMA the greats are Gracie's family who put the weak link in to prove a point.

Surfing's quite big in the uk Laurie, despite our climate. But then so is scuba diving, kite flying, metal detecting, stone skimming, dog walking, fish and chip eating, letching and a whole bundle of other beach related leisure activities.

Do they have an International Pro circuit for those sports as well?

Also, if slater only had a small part in Pamela Anderson, then he also loses out to tommy lee

He could only use a small part, he couldnt go shoving his leg up.

Toughie again today boys and girls... I'd have liked to have voted for Kelly Slater but it rather seems a wasted vote. I've a lottalotta respect for Sir Ben (as you can probably tell I'm a bit of a sea dwelling mammal! ). But I will plump for young Lebron James. My old man used to tell me amazing stories about the great Wilt Chamberlain that made me stand on end, but James is just on an entirely different level - and I don't often disagree with my old man!

I think you'll find professional leching is probably the most widespread beach leisure activity in the world Laurie. Popular with kiwi's too if the ones I've met are anything to go by.

milkyboy wrote:I think you'll find professional leching is probably the most widespread beach leisure activity in the world Laurie. Popular with kiwi's too if the ones I've met are anything to go by.

Have you ever had a go at it Milky? what sort of skill/athleticism is required?

Catching a furtive glimpse of a bikini clad lovely, without being rumbled requires brilliant control of the newspaper and expert timing of both head and eye movement. The kind of multi-tasking men are meant to be incapable of... and done under extreme pressure where mistakes can be very painful.

Easily comparable to standing on a lump of foam in the surf. Yes I have some experience of it, and suspect you have too laurie!

On behalf of our friend and sometime patron, Lebron, the Main Event Lads would like to thank the many who have joined us in helping wrench this competition back into the 21st Century by voting for King James.

But there are still those out there who seek to embroil the tournament in scandal by putting a sailor through to the next round.

To all those who have yet to cast their vote for LeBron James, please come forward now. And to those who have voted already but still want to help, please offer your services as a VoLeBronteer, and encourage your friends, family, and the vulnerable and elderly to head to the polling stations to cast their vote.

Democracy matters.

All hail King James.

Thank you to the needy squad! Yes, you, sir, the one with the Ronnie Corbett turn of phrase and sense of humour.

You ARE a valid member of society. You can put your hand down now, you've successfully attracted our attention.

This voting needs an investigation. There is no way there are thirteen separate people here who'd have voted for LeBron James.

n.b. I did see him play once on tele and it was pretty impressive.

We too would like to see an investigation - did 2 people seriously vote for Randy Couture?

Kobe gives LeBron a lesson in basketball.....

http://nz.bing.com/videos/search?q=kobe+shows+lebron&view=detail&mid=738C7BC21EAF1A03191F738C7BC21EAF1A03191F&first=0&FORM=NVPFVR

milkyboy wrote:Catching a furtive glimpse of a bikini clad lovely, without being rumbled requires brilliant control of the newspaper and expert timing of both head and eye movement. The kind of multi-tasking men are meant to be incapable of... and done under extreme pressure where mistakes can be very painful.

Easily comparable to standing on a lump of foam in the surf. Yes I have some experience of it, and suspect you have too laurie!

Goofy on a Dunga me..

Shelsey93 wrote:

Also, Kelly Slater?? Is Surfing even a sport?!

Eh yes!!. It might be a holiday/weekend leisure activity for many but at the top level it's extremely competitive, the world tour is contested on the biggest, fastest most dangerous waves on the planet.

A competitive surfer has to be extremely fit and needs to have good timing and co-ordination, then after getting up has to be expressive. Surfers have to compete against each other and the elements. There's also an element of risk/danger that's greater than most sports. If you don't think so go sit out the back at the Banzai Pipeline or Teahupoo and have a look over the lip. There's plenty clips on youtube that illustrate the athletic prowess, technique and cohones required to compete and win at the top level. The only downside is that there's an element of judging.

Slater has remained at the top of his sport for over 20 years and has 11 world titles, no other surfer comes remotely close male or female. When evaluating the G.O.A.T. I don't see how you can advance names who weren't undisputably the best in their own field. Of the others on the list, how many can you safely say that they were even the greatest in their own sport, for Spitz I'll give Phelps, McEnroe I'll give you Federer. Anyone who has made to list are all fantastic sportspeople but we're looking for the best of the best. Safe to say that Slater wont ultimately win the whole GOAT thing but don't mock what you don't understand.

Just because surfing isn't mainstream and doesn't receive saturation TV coverage doesn't mean its greatest exponents are somehow less worthy.

Khan (Jehangir), Piggot, Spitz and McEnroe are much more familiar.

Even though my preferred sport is Tennis, Jehangir and Piggot to me are epitome of their respective sports.

Phelps is the more recent memory, but Spitz is nothing to be sneezed at. LeBron also falls in the recent memory category.

This is a tough one, and this is the wild card round, amazing?

laverfan wrote:but Spitz is nothing to be sneezed at.

And sneezes is nothing to be spat at!

JAS wrote:

Shelsey93 wrote:

Also, Kelly Slater?? Is Surfing even a sport?!

Eh yes!!. It might be a holiday/weekend leisure activity for many but at the top level it's extremely competitive, the world tour is contested on the biggest, fastest most dangerous waves on the planet.

A competitive surfer has to be extremely fit and needs to have good timing and co-ordination, then after getting up has to be expressive. Surfers have to compete against each other and the elements. There's also an element of risk/danger that's greater than most sports. If you don't think so go sit out the back at the Banzai Pipeline or Teahupoo and have a look over the lip. There's plenty clips on youtube that illustrate the athletic prowess, technique and cohones required to compete and win at the top level. The only downside is that there's an element of judging.

Slater has remained at the top of his sport for over 20 years and has 11 world titles, no other surfer comes remotely close male or female. When evaluating the G.O.A.T. I don't see how you can advance names who weren't undisputably the best in their own field. Of the others on the list, how many can you safely say that they were even the greatest in their own sport, for Spitz I'll give Phelps, McEnroe I'll give you Federer. Anyone who has made to list are all fantastic sportspeople but we're looking for the best of the best. Safe to say that Slater wont ultimately win the whole GOAT thing but don't mock what you don't understand.

Just because surfing isn't mainstream and doesn't receive saturation TV coverage doesn't mean its greatest exponents are somehow less worthy.

Nice one JAS: "Its not the size of the wave that counts,
Its the motion of the Ocean" ......