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Sports Legends

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DEBuckeye

DEBuckeye

It ain't easy, bein' cheesy.
I was reading some of SI's 50th anniversary issue yesterday, and got to thinking- if you had to list 5 people who are truly sports legends, who would they be?
It's pretty hard to narrow it down.

My list:
Woody Hayes
Vince Lombardi
John Wooden
Babe Ruth
Michael Jordan
 
There's no way to narrow that list to just five. I think that any list would have to include Ruth and Jordan, but from that point on, you can argue many people for that list:

1. Bill Russell: the Greatest Winner in team sports of all time.
2. Jim Thorpe: the Legend.
3. Wayne Gretzky: the "Babe Ruth" of hockey.
4. Jim Brown: possibly the greatest player in NFL history.

I don't think you can put any coaches on that list.
 
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Excellent topic of debate, because its all it what you "perceive" a "legend" to be. To me, a true "legend" is not only someone who performed, but someone who has continued to stand the test of time over the years, who has actually gotten even bigger as years have gone by. The two easiest one's to me are Babe Ruth and Muhammad Ali. Probably Ruth as #1, alot of it because basically nobody ever saw him actually play in a game. As great as Ruth was, as dominating as he was, he was made even larger because of the media sensationalism that he created. I would be interested to see a "Jay-Walking (ala Jay Leno)" type poll of people on the street and have them asked who in baseball history has the record for the most home runs. I'd think you'd be surprised at how many would answer "Babe Ruth."

Ali, to this day, remains a larger than life figure, not just here but around the world. He will forever be "the measuring stick" that any great fighter is judged against.

As mentioned above, Pele is a great choice for this type of "status" as is Jack Nicklaus, Jesse Owens, and Jim Thorpe. Thorpe certainly would have to be a top-5 pick. Also, Jesse Owens for what he did, and WHERE and WHEN he did it puts him in the top-5. So that leaves one more slot.

I'll go with Knute Rockne. And again, not just for what he actually accomplished but for what the perception of him has been over time. The tragic and untimely plane crash that killed him probably has alot to do with it. If Rockne had coached for 15 more years and fared "good but not great" his legend would have diminished, to the point of not being a legend at all.

So, to sum up my list:
1. Ruth
2. Ali
3. Thorpe
4. Owens
5. Rockne
 
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