The v2 Hall of Fame

First topic message reminder :

Evening all.

With the continued growth of 606v2 and the v2 Journal, we have decided to start an official v2 Hall of Fame.

What does this mean, you might be asking.

Well, basically, we are going to honour the great sports persons in history by inducting them into the v2 record books. As time goes on, we will add more and more inductees, so that eventually it becomes a who's who of great sports stars.

We will endeavour to let the recipients know of their awards and try to get an official response (where possible).

Some sections have already started their own HoF but for the official v2 one, we wanted it to incorporate every sport.

So how is it going to work?

Well this thread is designed to act as a nomination thread, where for the next week (closing Sunday), we will take peoples nominations as to who they would like to see inducted. If you are going to nominate someone (or second a nomination) then please give us a reason why they should be considered. After this process has finished, we will announce a shortlist of the people we are considering, at which point, once again you will all be able to show your support and backing of the shortlisted candidates.

After this second round of debating, the admin and mod teams will decide who will be the first inductees.

In this first lot of inductees, we are looking to initiate 6 people. We will then add 6 more every 6 months in a similar process.

So get nominating - any sportsman, dead or alive. Just give us a name and a reason why they should be considered.

I will throw this name out there.

Ellen MacArthur.

How highly do we rate her accomplishments?

Football: Roy Keane,Ronaldo,Cristiano Ronaldo Messi, Cruyff, Pele, Zidane,Maradona or along those lines

Rugby: Martin Johnson, Wille John McBride, George Gregan,Jonah Lomu,Sean Fitzpatrick,Francois Pienaar, Os Du Randt, Jason Leonard

American Football/Baseball: Deion Sanders (not many guys would score a homerun and Touchdown in the same week at the top level, close to the best defensive player of all time and I hear he was baseballer)

Cricket: No little about it but Tendulkar, Botham and Ponting would probably warrent consideration.

Irish Sport: Christy Ring, Jim Stynes, Pat Spillane

Well messi seems to have a problem v prem(bar arsernal- slightly different mould anyway) as well as the international set up. So he isnt what i would call a perfect player. Someone like zidane, or many brazilians were/are effective against any opposition.

However the level of messis dribbling and speed of feet and gola scoring record is up there at a ridiculassly high level.

Not many other players have made that impact in one area of the game.

It is so hard to pick out players in this era though. It really is so easy to just say pele from the past and never get a come back from it. but was he as revolotionary as messi is today, i am not sure. messi is doing something very different to his pears as pele did back in the day!

The only thing revoltionary about carlos was his insane free kicks. Great player and part of an amazing team, but bar the curve he put on the ball nothing extraordinary.

mystiroakey wrote:Well messi seems to have a problem v prem(bar arsernal- slightly different mould anyway) .

He has struggled against Chelsea but I wouldn't have said he struggled against United or indeed Liverpool in the times they played each other.

legendkillarV2 wrote:I will throw this name out there.

Ellen MacArthur.

How highly do we rate her accomplishments?

amazing , however i am not saying this to devalue her acheivements- but its no different from picking phil taylor is it. the sport is low on participation, its like being a bigish fish in a small pond

Thomond wrote:

mystiroakey wrote:Well messi seems to have a problem v prem(bar arsernal- slightly different mould anyway) .

He has struggled against Chelsea but I wouldn't have said he struggled against United or indeed Liverpool in the times they played each other.

I can remeber a few good games in cl v prem from messi, that was the final v united and when he has blizted arsrnal. However overall his record isnt great when you just look at all prem games

mystiro,

In terms of Woods and golf, there is no doubt that Woods did a lot. Yes loads of has been made of his impact in terms of wealth creation. Sponsors, ratings and endorsments. Go back to the 90's and I remember Brian Lara cricketing games!! When you look at Nicklaus he was credited with being the first to eat a banana on the course. Nicklaus you have to bear in mind was a chunky lad and slimmed down a hell of lot to set the standard in the world of golf. Woods is a brand. Currently the stock is damaged and whether he can get back to where he was is highly un-likely. You have to take into account that his personal life revelations had a massive impact on how he was percieved in the game. I don't think Woods is finished as a player. People will still back him at Majors and over tournaments. What Jack did was stunning. He was the reason Americans started going to The Open back in the 60's 70's when a lot of American players didn't travel.

I look at Woods and think yeah there are many kids who are picking up golf clubs because of him. There are men and women who think they can start putting that power into shots. Golf like Tennis will suffer that 'elitism' tag. Look at Federer, he is reason players are now super fit and almost robot like. Sponsors have invested more because of how much he changed the game. Ask yourself this, will their impact on the game make it more more accessable and afforable for the enthuisastic amateur or the budding pro?

MacArthur definitely a great sportswoman, but I'd agree with Oakey (don't tell anyone I said that!) insofar as her profession doesn't have the same depth of some others.

Great accomplishments in her field, but surely Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Martina Navritalova, Steffi Graf, Chris Evert, Carolina Kluft and a few others would have to be ahead of her on the female side.

Or Babe Zaharias . . . .

Personally, all this talk of Messi being the greatest is funny given that Ronaldo (not the fat one) is the best player in the world right now, has been for some time and like Messi has failed to shine on the International stage.

What he has done is acheived the coveted 'Stoke on a Tuesday night' test, also established himself in 2 of the best leagues in the world and done it whilst at times being surrounded by some distinctly average players.

Would Messi really be awesome at the Brittania on a cold, wet night? Would he be as good without the likes of Iniesta, Xavi, Puyol, E'to'o, Villa, Henry around him to name a few?

Celebrity Wing - Sir Ranulph Fiennes

legendkillarV2 wrote:...He was the reason Americans started going to The Open back in the 60's 70's when a lot of American players didn't travel....

Actually, that was down to Palmer. Not disagreeing with the rest though - I put Nicklaus up for the HoF.

King Beer wrote:Personally, all this talk of Messi being the greatest is funny given that Ronaldo (not the fat one) is the best player in the world right now, has been for some time and like Messi has failed to shine on the International stage.

What he has done is acheived the coveted 'Stoke on a Tuesday night' test, also established himself in 2 of the best leagues in the world and done it whilst at times being surrounded by some distinctly average players.

Would Messi really be awesome at the Brittania on a cold, wet night? Would he be as good without the likes of Iniesta, Xavi, Puyol, E'to'o, Villa, Henry around him to name a few?

Celebrity Wing - Sir Ranulph Fiennes

You know what KB I thought the exact same thing earlier.

Superb shout.

navyblueshorts wrote:

legendkillarV2 wrote:...He was the reason Americans started going to The Open back in the 60's 70's when a lot of American players didn't travel....

Actually, that was down to Palmer. Not disagreeing with the rest though - I put Nicklaus up for the HoF.

Hogan was a Open champion, do you know much of his influence on the field in terms of travelling or was it Arnie himself?

" Ask yourself this, will their impact on the game make it more more
accessable and afforable for the enthuisastic amateur or the budding
pro?"

well you could argue both ways and its not a yes or no answer.

Woods made the sport more popular amongst more ethnic groups. As has ye yangs and kj chois success has as well.

However dominance isnt allways a good thing. In nicklaus's era there was allways a nicklaus v parmer, nicklaus v watson, nicklaus v player, etc enviormoment- this added to the tv ratings- which also adds massively to participation.

In woods reign it was him v the field- and many used to turn off final day because it got a bit boring(abit like the schuy reign in f1)

The tv companies are trying to build up the tiger v mcilroy enviorment which will never happen anyway..

Golf is quite affordable in this country anyway. I debate golf alot on these boards and love the fact that golf is pretty much private sector over here, different price ranges for all ages(even upto the age of 30 its cheaper). And its a game where england has choke full of talent yet gets no public funding at all!!

I dont think federer did much for tennis mind as its all about match ups..Do people turn on to see a garanteed win by one player

Again tho the golden age for tennis for me was when conners, mcenroe etc were playing- Great match ups and great characters playing the game. It made interesting viewing and will get kids picking up rackets

legendkillarV2 wrote:

navyblueshorts wrote:

legendkillarV2 wrote:...He was the reason Americans started going to The Open back in the 60's 70's when a lot of American players didn't travel....

Actually, that was down to Palmer. Not disagreeing with the rest though - I put Nicklaus up for the HoF.

Hogan was a Open champion, do you know much of his influence on the field in terms of travelling or was it Arnie himself?

Hogan came over and won in '53 I think - his one and only effort so not bad for the lad. However, before Arnie started coming over regularly (at the height of his fame) I think the US pros weren't much into it. Nicklaus undoubtedly perpetuated it but I think Arnie is usually credited with rekindling the interest in the US pros to travel to this side of the Pond for The Open.

I dunno. American Golf quoted me £500 on a set of irons!!!

I guess you are right in terms of the golf being 'Private Sector' and it does appeal to the committed amateur. I still think Jack had the more difficult field. When you take Woods at Pebble Beach and St Andrews in 2000 it was just relentless hitting along with a red hot putter.

I disagree with Federer.

What you have with Federer is someone playing the game like it never has before. He connected with a whole new generation. People never viewed it as a boring domination, it was more of a wow, this guy is so good. Federer and Nadal rivalry will go down as one of the greatest in sporting history.

Yep nadal v fed was great however fed peaked before nadal so i wouldnt call it a classic match up due to there ages

Tennis is getting more competitive these days with dyokovic and nadal. Not sure if murray will ever quite penetrate them put i hope so!

For me sports are all about match ups, its all about the drama. I have much less interest watching one player tear it up, but that is natural and it does affect viewing numbers.

But then its how much the person loves the sport.

i watch golf every week- whoever is playing. Would i watch any old tennis match- no. But give me nadal v Djocovik and i am there..

The laymen, the casual viewers are what brings the money in- not the hardcore fans, and the casual veiwers need the big match ups!!

Btw them golf clubs will last you ten years- just pro rata the cost and you will feel fine!

I would watch more Golf if it didn't conflict so much with the Cricket. The clubs will last for long which is quite true. I just need more time on the fairway. I gave up because I had a mate like Jackass who just in my earhole everytime I played a shot!

well cricket is another love of mine offcourse- but i limit to watching england internationals only, unless there is a world cup on offcourse...

mystiroakey wrote:Yep nadal v fed was great however fed peaked before nadal so i wouldnt call it a classic match up due to there ages

Tennis is getting more competitive these days with dyokovic and nadal. Not sure if murray will ever quite penetrate them put i hope so!

For me sports are all about match ups, its all about the drama. I have much less interest watching one player tear it up, but that is natural and it does affect viewing numbers.

But then its how much the person loves the sport.

i watch golf every week- whoever is playing. Would i watch any old tennis match- no. But give me nadal v Djocovik and i am there..

The laymen, the casual viewers are what brings the money in- not the hardcore fans, and the casual veiwers need the big match ups!!

Btw them golf clubs will last you ten years- just pro rata the cost and you will feel fine!

Isn't this counterbalanced by how early Nadal started to be really really competitive at the top?

It was definately Palmer between the years of 1960 and 1964 who rescued The Open from falling off the face of the earth.
I was lucky to see him play in the 1960 and 1964 Opens and spent a couple of hours with him and Tip Anderson in 1966 when he was taking hammers and files to his new gold spot Dunlop irons. You could tell he hated them!!
He had six sets made up to his spec. He went through each iron then started bashing the final selection about.
Very genuine nice guy. I was 18 years old and he was asking me for my opinions on the clubs and playing Muirfield.

For the decade from 1960 Palmer was as big an influence on world golf [pro rata] as Tiger was from 2000 to 2010.

Nick Faldo - Best british golfer ever.

best european golfer ever

mystiroakey wrote:best european golfer ever

Seve.

faldo for me. one more major as well, loved seve mind

few nominations of stars who jump out in thier individaul sports

don bradman
ali and sugar ray robinson
pele, maradonna and bobby charlton (englands and uniteds greatest ever goal scorer)
jonah lomu (biased because he's the main reason i got into rugby), martin johnsen
michael jordan
tiger woods, jack nicklaus
michael johnsen, carl lewis, michael phelps, steve redgrave

I've only see one brief passing reference so far to someone who I believe is worthy of a nomination.

Lester Piggott

Let me emphasise first of all that horse racing is not my sport at all (I try and follow cricket a bit). However, I think the man and his achievements are worthy of serious consideration. Sustained determination and success over almost half a century with a body ill equipped for the purpose.

Rode his first winner at the age of twelve in 1948.

Rode his last winner at the age of fifty-eight in 1994, shortly before his final retirement as a flat race jockey.

In between, he won the Epsom Derby nine times and countless other classics in England and abroad. Champion jockey on eleven occasions.

All in this in spite of apparently being too tall at 5ft 8in to be a flat race jockey - hence, one of his nick names ''The Long Fellow''. His height was largely responsible for him being involved in a continual struggle to keep his weight down. As a result and according to Wikipedia: ''He pioneered a new style of race-riding that was subsequently adopted by colleagues at home and abroad''.

A hugely popular and respected figure.''Known as the 'housewives' favourite', Piggott had legions of followers and did much to expand the popularity of horse racing beyond its narrow, class-based origins.'' - Wikipedia.

Awarded the OBE in 1975 for his services to horse racing. This was stripped of him in the late 1980s following his conviction and imprisonment for tax fraud. Should we hold this against him here? I'm inclined to say not. I risk accusations of hypocrisy from some cricket posters [too long a story] but I see a difference between underhand activities totally contrary to the spirit of your sport (which I've spoken vehemently against in the past) and unconnected breaches of the criminal law where violence is not involved.

I do accept though that his conviction is hardly a ringing endorsement.Perhaps Piggott's best judges of this are his fellow jockeys and others from the sport. The annual jockey awards, The Lesters, inaugurated in 1990, are named in his honour. That seems to give their verdict.

No "accusations of hyporcracy from" this "cricket poster"; certainly in the top 6 British sports people of the post war period, arguably #1, though I'd still put Bannister first.

Football: Maradona, Pele, Beckenbauer, Zidane, Paolo Maldini

Cricket: Sobers, Botham, Lara, Bradman

Golf: Bobby Jones, Hogan, Nicklaus, Faldo, Seve, Woods

Boxing: Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard, Joe Frazier,

F1: Senna, Stewart, Lauder, M Schumacher

Tennis: Bjorg, Sampras, Federer, Nadal
Ladies tenns: Navaratalova, Graff,

Football - Jack Charlton and Johann Cruijff
Rugby - David Campese and Joost v/d Westhuizen
Cricket - Don Bradman and Sir Richard Hadlee
Tennis - Rod Laver and Pete Sampras

For cricket, I'd suggest Sir Ian Botham. Talismanic for England and he'd be great company out on the lash.

In Motor sport, I'd just like to add:

Jim Clark (more Grand Prix wins and pole positions than anyone at the time when he was tragically killed) and
John Surtees (only person to ever win the world championships on two and four wheels)

Worth a mention?

Golf - Padraig Harrington, the last man to win multiple majors.
Rugby - Brian O'Driscoll, NH's finest player of the last ten years.
Boxing - Katie Taylor, so good she spars with men.

Muhammad Ali
Easily the most trascendent, famous and influential sports person of all time. It'd also take a big Joe Louis fan to rank him as anything but the very greatest heavyweight of all time. A resume beyond compare and flare for fighting the best that puts modern fighters to shame.

The other five:

Sugar Ray Robinson
Jim Clark
Ayrton Senna
Pele
Tommie Smith

As wild cards would go for Rebecca Romero and Jason Robinson.

Romero for winning olympic medals in two different sports.
Robinson for being the greatest ever cross code rugby player by a fair old distance.

Imperial Ghosty wrote:As wild cards would go for Rebecca Romero and Jason Robinson.

Romero for winning olympic medals in two different sports.
Robinson for being the greatest ever cross code rugby player by a fair old distance.

I might suggest that Brad Thorn is the most successful cross code rugby player. I think the transition for forwards is much harder than for backs.

I suppose it is a natural tendency for people to favour players of recent times but none of those mentioned come close to the exploits of Ferenc Puskas of Hungary. 509 goals in 523 senior games including 157 in 182 appearances for Real Madrid. Then 84 goals in 85 Internationals for Hungary over 11 years. 2 goals in the 6-3 annihilation of England at Wembley in 1953 and another 2 the following year in a 7-1 football lesson also at Wembley. Throw in 1 Olympic title, a World cup final, 3 European Cups, 5 Spanish Titles, 5 Hungarian Titles and a list of personal awards that is almost endless. Some of those players mentioned above haven't even started yet. Maradonna? Not even close.
Puskas died from Alzheimer's in 2006, a genuine football legend.

golfermartin wrote:In Motor sport, I'd just like to add:

Jim Clark (more Grand Prix wins and pole positions than anyone at the time when he was tragically killed) and
John Surtees (only person to ever win the world championships on two and four wheels)

Worth a mention?

+1
Very good shout on both of those.

Surprised it took 4 pages to nominate Seve.

Lennox Lewis - Greatest British Boxer we've ever had.

Sir Stanley Matthews - A footballing genius who played on through his 40's. Will always be remember for the Matthews Final.

Best Lineout Player EVER Richard [Tiny ] White,Best Boxer Ever Sugar Ray Robinson.Best Fighter ever Rocky Marciano.Best current 13 Conrad Smith.Best Batsman ever Don Bradman.Best All Rounder ever Wilfred Rhodes no one else even close.

I haven't read all the back posts so dont know if this person has been put forward already .

I would like to nominate Rugby Leagues Adrian Morley .

Morley signed with Leeds in 1994 becoming a regular starter in the second row from 1996 , with Leeds he won the Challenge Cup in 1999 .
He then moved to the Australian NRL in 2000 joining Syndey Roosters , he played as a prop forward for them until 2006 playing in 2 grand finals winning one off them in 2002 .
During 2005 he spent the last 6 games of the Superleague season with the Bradford Bulls helping them to win that seasons Superleague Grand Final ( becoming the first Englishman to have won the Challenge Cup, NRL and Superleague ).
Morley then returned full time to Superleague in 2006 with Warrington Wolves and has won a further 2 Challenge Cups in 2009 and 2010 and also last seasons league leaders shield , he is still captaining and playing for the Wolves .
Morley was first capped by England and Great Britain in 1996 and broke the record as the most capped player for England/Great Britain in 2011 winning his 50th cap .

Bannister
Owens
Ali
Pele
Jordan
Bradman

Michael Jordan

Jesse Owens - what he did in the 1936 Olympics had a global impact, not only on athletics but on sport as a whole. As much as we love to banter and bicker over it, sport brings us all together as equals and for that we can thank Mr. Owens.

Shane Williams - not likely to get inducted as he's too recent and cause for a lot of heated debate on the rugby boards but his attitude and commitment to sport was inspiring. While most international players were pushing 6ft+ he was the exception that proved the rule, showing that rugby is still a game for all shapes and sizes, which renewed many a young boys hope in one day playing for their country.

What's happening, folks?

Scrolled down this to see if I had entered
I saw this group of 5 nominees and thought that was a good choice.
It was mine ...numpty.

Still can't understand why so many folk nominated Jordan.
Lawrie Rielly was a much better Scottish centre forward! [or striker for those with spots]