Journal pudge's Journal: "Who's Now" 5
ESPN is doing this "Who's Now" feature on SportsCenter which is some viewer voting thing where they pick the athlete who is the best both on and off the field of play.
They have four brackets and put different sports stars head-to-head. The brackets are named after four athletes who were "Now" in their own era: Babe Ruth, Michael Jordan, Muhammed Ali, and
WHAT?!
I follow some tennis. Not a huge fan, but I watch some of the majors and so on, and I know most of the big stars from over the years. I know about Billie Jean King and her accomplishments. But even though I probably know a little bit more about her than most sports fans, the first thing I think about when I think of her is that she played against Bobby Riggs in '73.
So why is she one of the four top "Now" athletes of all time? I can think of dozens more deserving off the top of my head. If we don't want duplicate sports, Wayne Gretzky is an obvious choice from the hockey world. Tell me Billie Jean King is more deserving than he is. Or Dan Marino. Or Walter Payton.
Obviously, they chose her because she's a woman. Pathetically sad.
The only good thing is that I don't care about this stupid feature; I have been fast-forwarding through it. I only stopped to watch it tonight because they were pitting David Ortiz against Tom Brady.
hmmm. (Score:2)
I second the Wayne Gretzky choice.
Even if they were wanting to choose a woman, I could think of other women that I would put on that list. Perhaps I don't understand the list, but wouldn't someone like Jackie Joyner-Kersee be better choice, based on her athleticism and immediate recognition during the Olympics? Or, (and I know that I am going to catch hell for this), perhaps Michelle Kwan who was one of the most recognizable and talented women skaters and who was also recently named by Condoleezza Rice a
Marino, Sweetness, WTF (Score:2)
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While they were good, they weren't head and shoulders above the talent in the league around them. Ruth, Gretzky, Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain, and Jim Brown are the only five that come to mind immediately (Lawrence Taylor, Jerry Rice, Mantle, Kareem Abdul-Jabar, Gordie Howe, and Dan Gable are on deck).
Again, it is not just about ON the court, but OFF. All of the ones you added, I could make a case they were either not that "now" off the court (LT had many problems, and Gable didn't have much of a well-known public life outside of the sport), or had other rivals (e.g., Chamberlain had Russell).
And while yes, none of the ones I (or you!) mentioned approach Jordan or Gretzky or Ali or Ruth, the point is that the ones I mentioned WERE greater than Billie Jean King. I wasn't trying to give necessarily the
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Jordan, Gretzky, and Ruth all have/had their vices as well.
Sure, but they were/are well-loved and very high in the public consciousness. Can't say the same about LT.
Your inclusion of Ali is interesting, the level of control the Nation of Islam (and their more militant arms) had over him during his prime was dangerous to himself and society at large.
Again, that's beside the point. It's not about placing judgment, it's about who was considered The Greatest.
Where do you put Magic Johnson in this context as well?
Well below Larry Bird!