General Stuff in Life Poll: Your one & only sports GOAT

[BrightonCorgi]

On 7/12/2025 at 10:10 AM, Ken Gargett said:

with respect, i do not think that comes close to bradman's dominance. or heather mckay. i have to confess i don't even know what sport he competed in. 

Eddy Merckx was a professional bike racer in the late 60's, early 70's. 

To win 29% of all races entered is extremely monumental considering the races have over 100+ riders. In a grand tour like the Tour de France, it's a 5-10% difference in time between the winner and slowest rider after a month of racing.

It's not like soccer, basketball, hockey or other team sports where it's one team or the other are going to win.

[El Hoze]

On 7/12/2025 at 4:41 AM, Lucas Buck said:

I’m a big F1 fan and Lewis is without doubt the greatest race driver ever, period.

I do not know how widely known this is but Lewis Hamilton is very into deep powder snowboarding, which often involves helicopters. My funny story is about 10 years ago I ended up in a group heliboarding with him in British Columbia. I had no idea who he was, I do not follow F1 at all (clearly). Someone actually said, “he’s Lewis Hamilton” and my response was, “I’m sorry, that name does not ring a bell.” Everyone got a good laugh out of it. Now I feel it even funnier hearing you say he is the GOAT. To this day if you asked me who the greatest race car driver of all time was, I probably would have said Mario Andretti. I’ll now say Lewis and tell my story. 

[BrightonCorgi]

On 7/12/2025 at 4:41 AM, Lucas Buck said:

Dead on! What a great read. I’m a big F1 fan and Lewis is without doubt the greatest race driver ever, period. Might take Gretzky over MJ though it’s damn close and you make one helluva case for Michael. 

Michael Schumacher has a slightly higher win percentage per races raced than Sir Lewis. I like them both and followed their careers from their debuts.

[Ken Gargett]

9 hours ago, BrightonCorgi said:

Michael Schumacher has a slightly higher win percentage per races raced than Sir Lewis.  I like them both and followed their careers from their debuts.

i take it that Merckx was a cyclist, not a motorbike rider? undoubtedly impressive percentage but the number of incidents with drug cheating have left me very skeptical about the entire sport. same for corruption in boxing. but both might be more that i am getting old than have any genuine widespread basis. 

i used to watch F1 a bit, but how anyone can claim hamilton is the greatest because he has a 20 something percentage is beyond me. sure, impressive but you have mentioned Schumacher and elsewhere andretti, but Fangio was 47% winning races. almost every second race. lewis is not on the same track as that. 

understand the individual v team argument but the discussion about bradman has hardly touched on his/the team's winning record. no question it went way up when he was in the team but it is because he dominated his sport in a manner that no one else, team or individual has ever done. and the guy retired back in 1948. except, of course, as mentioned, heather mckay. two losses in twenty years. that is simply hard to fathom. 

[bassistheplace]

On 7/8/2025 at 8:04 AM, gormag38 said:

While the majors, runner ups, top ten finishes etc would agree with you, I think I would still have to take Tiger as the GOAT. Overall Tiger has a better winning percentage and more wins. But the dominance that we saw with Tiger (eg. holding all four majors at once, the 2000/01 seasons alone, time spent as World Number 1) was something unparalleled. Truly changed the game; much like a Jordan, Curry, Gretzky.

Jack Nicklaus is widely regarded as the greatest golfer of all time. His record of 18 major championships remains unmatched, and he secured 73 PGA Tour wins, making him one of the most dominant and consistent players in golfing history1356. Nicklaus's career spanned over four decades, during which he repeatedly succeeded at the highest levels and maintained an extraordinary standard of excellence. His legacy is defined not only by his record number of major wins but also by the sheer consistency with which he finished in the top five and top ten of major tournaments

[Ken Gargett]

11 minutes ago, bassistheplace said:

Jack Nicklaus is widely regarded as the greatest golfer of all time. His record of 18 major championships remains unmatched, and he secured 73 PGA Tour wins, making him one of the most dominant and consistent players in golfing history1356. Nicklaus's career spanned over four decades, during which he repeatedly succeeded at the highest levels and maintained an extraordinary standard of excellence. His legacy is defined not only by his record number of major wins but also by the sheer consistency with which he finished in the top five and top ten of major tournaments

i think golf is one of those sorts where impossible to say a goat. jack and tiger both have claims. nicklaus for such incredible consistency, but either is fine. 

did curry really change a game? no matter.

i normally don't bother with regrets. not much point. but i do have one. 

some years ago, i had spent a week fishing in NZ with the guide i regularly used. had been as brilliant as ever. he said i had to come back in three weeks for another week. i said that as much as i would love to, impossible. he was a bit insistent, but said he could not tell me why. was not allowed to say. the idea would be to stay at another guide's accommodation - he had been head guide at Lake Rotoroa Lodge (one of the all time great places in its day - the photo on the '100 places to fish before you die' book is taken from its balcony). the bloke had built three very nice huts for use as singles or doubles. that was all the place could hold. 

finally, he told me why he was so insistent. Batman was coming. this was a bit confusing but eventually i worked out he meant Michael Keaton. i knew Keaton was a keen fly fisherman and i thought that would be great. he comes across as a terrific bloke. you don't fish together but you do share breakfast, dinner and the evenings. but still, it was impossible for me to do it.

so who would get the third hut, i asked. just out of idle curiosity. oh, my guide says, the bloke who is flying him in. 

his pilot?

no, the bloke is apparently some sort of golfer. has his own jet. 

do you know his name?

no. they told me but i don't follow golf. think his name was jack. 

not jack nicklaus?

yeah, that was it. is he any good?

had i been able to swing it, i would have had a week of fishing plus the three of us spending every evening together. i have a friend who knows jack and does not like him at all, but i reckon on a trip like that, it would have been a great time. but it was simply impossible for me to change the commitments i had back in Oz. that is one of my few regrets. 

 

[HoyoDC]

On 7/9/2025 at 2:56 PM, Capn_Jackson said:

I think there are several factors that make it difficult to determine a GOAT, but I have my picks in various sports.

MJ

Brady (damn him…)

Nolan (yeah, I’m biased)

Beltré (for non-pitchers, and again… heavily biased)

Pelé

Jack

Karch

Phelps

Simone

The Great One

How about Muhammad Ali as boxer and a world icon?