Archive for October, 2012
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Muhammad Ali is one of the best athletes ever. He was the first person to win the heavyweight champion title 3 times in a row. Muhammad also earned a spot on the USA Olympic boxing team in 1960, where he went on to win the gold metal. “The Greatest” is what people started calling him and he even started called himself. Ali holds many records in the sport of boxing and will always be well known for what he did. There has been many other great boxers and athletes come through but Muhammad Ali is the greatest.
Seth Swartz
Bo Jackson was a man among men when it came to baseball. He’s been described as “Unbelievable”, “Magical”, and one man went as far as saying he was “Superman”. His fabled career as an athlete had a lot to do with his amazing baseball career. Bo played professional baseball for the Kansas City Royals from 1986 to 1990, the Chicago White Sox in 1991 and in 1993, and the California Angels in 1994. He averaged a .250 batting average over his career and was known for destroying the ball when he got ahold of it. One of Bo’s former coaches said he witnessed Bo swing a bat so hard it broke, and he didn’t even hit the ball! Bo hit his first major league home run on September 14th, 1986 at the Royals’ Kaufmann Stadium. He nearly blasted the ball into orbit with a monstrous 475 foot hit and set the record for longest hit at Kaufmann Stadium. A record that still stands today. Bo was even talented enough to hit left-handed. On May 15, 1989 famous baseball writer Peter Gammons went to watch Bo take batting practice. Bo sent balls flying on just about every hit, and for his last hit Bo switched it up and stepped in the batter’s box left-handed. What Peter Gammons witnessed amazed him. Not only did Bo Jackson make contact using his left hand, but he sent the ball flying 450 feet and hit a home run! One of Bo’s more notorious moments was in the 1989 MLB All-Star game. Bo lead the American League off by hitting a 448 foot home run at the bottom of the first inning. The home run was launched so far that it actually cleared two fences within the stadium. Bo didn’t stop there though, the next inning he outran a double play and ran to first base in 3.81 seconds, one of the fastest times ever recorded for a right-handed player in MLB history. He later went on to steal second base and score the game winning run. He was only the second player in history to hit a home run and steal a base in an All-Star game, the first being Willie Mays. Bo wasn’t just fast and powerful. He was skillful too. Bo had the ability to make some amazing throws and catches in his career. On June 5, 1989 in a game against the Seattle Mariners Bo made a 300 foot flat-footed through from the outfield to home base to catcher Bob Boone. He made the throw so accurately Bob made the catch and tagged runner Harold Reynolds out, preventing a Mariner victory. Former Kansas City scout Allard Baird once said, “I think if Bo had been able to stay healthy and been given time to learn the game, he would have been a Hall of Famer. I have no doubt in my mind about that. He had everything you could want in a player. Everything. But that just wasn’t Bo’s destiny.” Bo had an amazing baseball career whether he be running up walls for catches, stealing bases at lightning speed, or shattering bats due to his immense hitting power (or over his thighs or head after striking out). He will always be remembered for his amazing abilities on the field, after all… Bo knows baseball.
Posnanski, Joe. “Baseball Digest.” Baseball Digest 66.7 (2007): 50. EBSCOhost. Web. 30 Oct. 2012.
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– Zach Briscoe
(http://movementsandnonsense.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/superstar_jordan_casual_with_rings.jpg)
Michael Jordan’s support is credited by his successful NBA career. Jordan’s multiple championships, MVP’s, Player of Year awards, and All-Star MVP’s proves his greatness. He won six championship rings, three during the period of 1991-1993, and three more from 1996-1998. With those six rings he is ranked within the top ten of most NBA championships. Not only did he win championships that year but also won the MVP of all six NBA finals he played in. Jordan set many records within his first three championships. He had the highest points per game in a finals MVP at 41.0-point average. That record still remains today even with the great athletes like LeBron and Kobe still playing.
After Jordan retired in 1993, due to the death of his father, he went to play Minor League Baseball. He did not do as well as predicted and decided to return to the NBA. He then went on to win three more consecutive championships. In the first season of those championships, the Bulls went on to have a 72-10 win-loss record. That season was the greatest record posted in NBA history still till this day.
Based off these six championships, six MVP’s in those championships, and records still held today; Michael Jordan is proven to be the greatest NBA player ever, and proven to be the best athlete ever.
Michael Jordan Bio. NBA Encyclopedia. 2012. Web. 29 Oct. 2012.
Nate Burt
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Bo Jackson is the greatest athlete to ever live. Hands down. He was the first athlete to ever be named an “All-Star” in two sports (MLB and NFL), he ran the fastest 40 yard dash in NFL history, he was a Heisman trophy winner, and holds several records in collegiate and professional sports. Nike even based an ad campaign based on him and his athleticism in the late 80s and early 90s titled “Bo Knows.” To this day he is regarded by many analysts as
one of the greatest athletes of all time and by me, the sole greatest.
– Zach Briscoe
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Michael Jordan is the greatest sports athlete to ever play. He has the athleticism, skill, and experience to back it up. Based on Michael Jordan’s size compared to other great athletes, it is evident that his athleticism over powers many others. Jordan also has the credibility based on his success in his NBA career. A player’s greatness is not only found on what he does on the court but off the court as well. Michael Jordan not only was a success on the court, but also off with his popular shoe brand Jordan. A player is only as great as his appearance. Jordan’s appearance was a teammate, businessman, and the face of a major brands. With these aspects it only improves his credibility has a great athlete. When it comes down to it you have a name that is well known, and is known for being the greatest basketball player to live; not only the greatest basketball player, but the greatest athlete in history of sports.
Nate Burt
Welcome to Sports Greats. Where an analysis of the greatest atheltes of all time will be topic of disuccsion. Feel free to make an arugement about whoever you’d like. From Kobe to Lebron, Manning to Brady, Messi to Pele, or whoever you choose; an arguement or discussion will be likely.
Sports Greats 
