v2 G.OA.T Round 2 Match 1

First topic message reminder :

Round 2 kicks off today with the first 1 on 1 match up.

Today’s match see's Tennis gland slam champion Roger Federer taking on Boxing legend Henry Armstrong.

Please vote for the participant you believe has achieved the most in sport

Below are the previous round 1 articles written by forum members

Please leave a comment as to why you voted

Roger Federer- Tennis- Championed by emancipator

2001, Wimbledon Centre Court; defending and seven time Wimbledon champion 'Pistol' Pete Sampras, the man who had reigned at the top of men's tennis for close to a decade and considered by many to be unbeatable on this hallowed turf is at crisis point. At two sets all, 5-6 and 15-40 down in the deciding set, the ruthlessly efficient Sampras is facing match point. It had been five years since anyone had managed to beat him in this tournament. His opponent is a relatively unknown challenger in the form of Swiss teenager, 19 year old Roger Federer. On countless occasions throughout his career Sampras had bailed himself out of tight spots with his booming, swerving, pin-point accurate serve; the serve universally acclaimed as the greatest in history. He wipes sweat from his brow, bounces the ball twice, looks up, coils himself into the releasing position, then with a seamlessly fluid motion he serves a missile out wide to Federer's forehand and charges towards the net. Federer takes a step towards the ball and unleashes a forehand that whizzes past Sampras for a clean winner. He crumples to his knees in disbelief and celebration. The BBC commentator proclaims the birth of a new star. The crowd rise as one to salute the new King. It is the dawn of a new era.. The Federer era.

It would be another couple of years before Federer would really hit the heights, and what heights! 17 grand slams from 24 finals, including 7 Wimbledon titles. Over 300 weeks as the number one player in the world, including 237 consecutive weeks at the top spot. 6 World Tour Final victories from 8 finals. 23 consecutive grand slam semi-finals; 34 consecutive grand slam quarter finals (and counting); a run of 24 consecutive finals victories in all tournaments, 65 consecutive match wins on grass, 56 consecutive match wins on hardcourt, five consecutive Wimbledon and US Open titles, a run of 18 grand slam finals out of 19 grand slam tournaments played, 21 masters titles.. and on and on.. all of them records, many of them by a considerable distance. There are at least half a dozen Wikipedia articles dedicated to the career achievements and complied statistics/records of Roger Federer. Peruse them at your own leisure - if you've got a few days to spare that is

But what makes Federer really stand out amongst the legends of tennis and indeed any sport is his unique game. Everything about his game is beautiful, everything is seemingly effortless. He glides around the court unhurried, with uncanny footwork and balletic grace. A sixth sense for being at the right place at the right time. He plays with perfect technique. Like an artist, Federer creates masterpieces; the court is his canvas. At heart, he is an attacking player who plays the game the right way; always looking to seize the initiative, to hit outright winners, to win spectacularly and brilliantly. He can hit every shot in the book. But he can also grind and play great defense. If it is so required he can switch to plan b, c, d, whatever it takes. In a sport dominated by super athletes, Federer at his peak was as fast and durable as they come. Modern tennis is played predominantly from the baseline (a stark difference to the tennis of Sampras's heydey which was mainly serve and volley based, with the majority of points won at the net) and Roger Federer can play the baseline game as well as anyone. But he can do so much more. He can mix spins and slices, lobs and dropshots, powerful winners and delicate touch, from the back of the court or at the net. It is this unique fusion of power, skill and aesthetic grace, that has captured the imagination of millions of fans around the world. Federer doesn't just win, he wins with style.

Federer's style and success has allowed him to transcend the sport in a way that few sportsmen in history can match. He is a record four time winner of the prestigious Laureus Sportsman of the Year Award. In a recent poll conducted across 25 countries with 51,000 participants he was voted as the second most trusted person in the world after Nelson Mandela. During the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony, Federer received the loudest cheer of the night when he carried the Swiss flag into the stadium https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddojLWIjKK4 At the London Olympics Federer's pre-Olympic presser had more than 700 journalists, more than any other star at the games. He was mobbed by crowds during his recent tour of South America with political and sporting dignitaries (including Pele and Maradonna) feting him. He has the most impressive endorsement portfolio in all of sports including blue chip companies such as Nike, Mercedes-Benz (global ambassador), Wilson, Rolex, Credite Suisse, Gillette, Moet & Chandon etc.

But despite all the accolades Federer has remained a likeable, down to earth person. His fellow tennis professionals have voted him the winner of the annual Steffan Edberg Sportsmanship award a record eight times. He is the President of the ATP players council and in this capacity has campaigned for the benefit of all the players on the tour, including negotiating a fairer distribution of prize money for players who lose in the earlier rounds of the slams. The Roger Federer foundation is a charitable organisation with the stated mission of empowering children through education; it is involved in numerous projects throughout Africa.

It is incredible that with so many distractions (he's married with two young children to boot) Federer has still managed to stay at the top of such a global and competitive sport. As things stand he is the number 2 ranked player in the world and indeed was, just a few short months ago, the number one player in the world. Tennis has traditionally been a young man's sport but Roger Federer has redefined the parameters. An incredible work ethic, pure sporting genius with exemplary conduct has moulded one of the greatest sporting careers ever witnessed. And it's not over yet. Federer has declared his intention to play until the 2016 Olympic Games. There may yet be a few more pages to add to Wikipedia

Some quotes:

"[In the modern game], you're either a clay court specialist, a grass court specialist or a hard court specialist ... or you're Roger Federer" - Jimmy Connors

"He is the most naturally talented player I have ever seen in my life" - John McEnroe

"He moves like a whisper and executes like a wrecking ball" - Nick Bollettieri (legendary tennis coach)

"He is the most perfect machine I have ever seen playing tennis" - Diego Maradonna

"Federer plays shots that other players don't even think of" - Ivan Lendl

"We are witnessing history. This is the most dominant athlete on planet earth today" - Jim Courier (4 time grand slam champion)

"Federer is the best player in history - no other player has ever had so much quality" - Rafael Nadal

"Roger's got too many shots, too much talent in one body. It's hardly fair that one person can do all this—his backhands, his forehands, volleys, serving, his court position. The way he moves around the court, you feel like he's barely touching the ground. That's the sign of a great champion." - Rod Laver

"He's the best I've ever played against. There's nowhere to go. There's nothing to do except hit fairways, hit greens and make putts. Every shot has that sort of urgency on it. I've played a lot of them [other players], so many years; there's a safety zone, there's a place to get to, there's something to focus on, there's a way. Anything you try to do, he potentially has an answer for and it's just a function of when he starts pulling the triggers necessary to get you to change to that decision." - Andre Agassi

"He's a real person. He's not an enigma. Off the court he's not trying to be somebody. If you met him at McDonald's and you didn't know who he was, you would have no idea that he's one of the best athletes in the world" - Andy Roddick

"Today I was playing my best tennis, trying lots of different things, but nothing worked. When you're playing like that and he still comes up with all those great shots you really have to wonder if he's even from the same planet" - Novak Djokovic

ps - For those of you who haven't seen the The Fed Express in action, the following video might give you some idea of what he's all about
http://vimeo.com/40765561


Henry Armstrong- Boxing- Championed by superflyweight

It's probably the case that for all but the more historically minded posters from the boxing forum, Henry Armstrong is going to be a bit of a mystery name. However, ""Homicide Hank"" has every right to be considered in this process and his exploits known to a wider audience. Armstrong might not be a household name but amongst keen boxing historians, he's pretty much a universal pick in the top 5 pound for pound fighters of all time. The respected IBRO picked him as the third greatest fighter of all time (Sugar Ray Robinson and Harry Greb took the top 2 spots).

Having turned pro in 1931, Armstrong fought frequently (he'd eventually rack up 181 fights by the time he retired) mostly with great success until in 1937 his career really took off. Incredibly so! Henry fought 27 times in 1937. 27!!! Unthinkable now when the top fighters barely manage three fights in a year. In the first 22 of those 27 fights he won 21 of them by knockout. In the 23rd fight he knocked out reigning champion, Petey Sarron in the 6th round to win the featherweight world title. He won his remaining four fights of 1937 with four more knockouts. So across 27 fights in 1937, Armstrong won 27 times and 26 of those victories came by knockout. Added to that he now had the featherweight title belt in his possession. A truly incredible year but Armstrong was about to surpass it. What Armstrong did in 1938 is simply the greatest calendar year any boxer has ever had. Harry Greb's 1922 is amazing but Armstrong's 1938 is staggering and almost beyond comprehension.

Homicide Hank managed 14 wins out of 14 fights in 1938 - all while he was still reigning featherweight champion. He'd continue the run of knockouts he's accumulated in 1937 by knocking out his first 7 opponents of the year (including future champion, Chalky Wright). In his 8th fights of the year, the very good Baby Arizmendi would see the final bell to end the run of knockouts but not the run of victories. However, Armstrong's finest moments were just around the corner. Armstrong jumped up a couple of weight divisions to challenge the great welterweight champion Barney Ross. Armstrong weighing in at less than the lightweight limit comprehensively beat the great Ross over 15 rounds to add the welterweight title to his featherweight title. Not satisfied with this, Armstrong immediately challenged the excellent lightweight champion Lou Ambers. Armstrong would take the title courtesy of a split decision and became the first person to ever hold three different world titles at different weights concurrently. In an era when there were only eight different weight divisions, Armstrong held nearly half of the available belts on offer.

Much has been made of Manny Pacquiao’s weight hopping exploits over the last few years and whilst what Manny has done has been impressive, it pales in comparison to Armstrong’s exploits. Armstrong gathered almost half of the available weight belts in less than 12 months and did so by beating the best men in each weight class. There were no weight stipulations imposed on his opponents and Armstrong would take the welterweight title whilst weighing in as a lightweight.

Although Armstrong would contentiously lose the lightweight title in a rematch with Ambers, he would go on to defend the welterweight title several times and would have a pop at the middleweight title (which he would have won but for the judges dubiously scoring his fight with Cerefino Garcia a draw). He'd eventually lose the welterweight title in 1940 to Fritzie Zivic but he would continue to fight until 1945.

Armstrong would finish with a record of 150 wins (101 knockouts) from his 181 fights but it's the period between 1937 and 1940 that truly stands out. From 1937 to late 1940, he lost only one fight. His record against topflight competition during this time was 59 wins, 1defeat and 1 draw with 51 knockouts. He scored 27 straight knockouts during 1937-1938. It's arguable that during that 3 year period, Armstrong was the greatest and most dominant sportsman on the planet.

Let ‘s turn to the excellent Monte Cox to get a picture of what Armstrong was like in the ring:

""Armstrong was a marvel of the ring. He worked at a fast pace, had quick hands and unlike most fighters seemed to pick up speed as the rounds went on. He was also a strong puncher and defensively his bob and weave style kept him from receiving the full impact of his opponent’s blows. The truth of Henry Armstrong is that he had much better boxing skills than some give him credit for.

Most fighters tried to run from Henry, but he never let them get away. He stuck to his opponent’s like superglue and drove them into a corner or trapped them against the ropes and them proceeded to give them a good pasting. Fighters who tried to stand their ground against Hank had difficulty keeping up with his work rate. He would overwhelm them until they were forced to back up and then he would chase them down, pounding away until they were beaten men.

Upon his death it was discovered that Armstrong’s heart was a third larger than that of the average person. This allowed him to fight at a ferocious pace for 15 rounds without loss of breath. It seems certain that he could have done the same thing in a 20 round bout.""

Armstrong won't be the most celebrated name of the 64 men and women that will be considered in this process, but there should be no doubt that he is fully deserving of his place among the greatest sports stars that the world has ever seen.

Basketball is one of those few sports that translates easily to any country.

The rules are simple.

There are no idiosyncratic rules that are hard for beginners to understand and which play a major role in the game (like off-side, or LBW or any time the reff blows the whistle in rugby)

You can play with a team, in small groups, in pairs or even on your own.

The equipment is simple; a ring and a ball.

It's the kind of sport that young kids can get straight into. I mean which child doesn't like to bounce a ball and throw it into a hoop.

There's a huge amount of money in it if you get good at it.

For the above reasons and many more I think you'll find that basketball is hugely popular in many countries around the world, and in many more, even though it may not have a highly competitive league, it is still widely played amongst the youth.

A few years ago my local JJB sports stuck up a ring with a mini court. It was flooded by kids waiting to have a go. Likewise in my local town centre they put up some temporary rings and ran a few mini-tournaments for fun. Anyone could participate. The place was crowded.

Voted for Federer, but I am very impressed with Armstrong (especially with Superflyweight's write-up Very nicely written. Emanci is a frequent contributor to the Tennis forum and is read very often, hence a bit more familiar stylistically).

I still want to know the names of the 22 people that voted for LeBron James in the wild card section.

If they've less than 100 posts between them then I'm calling foul.

Not saying he's not fantastic, he is and I was blown away the only time I've watched him, just that there is no way he is above an 80's icon in a poll for the GOAT sportsperson.

You dont know your @rsehole from your earhole if you think basketball aint a global sport.

superflyweight wrote:Despite my championing of Armstrong, I have to go for Federer. Simply the best tennis player I have ever seen and combined huge success with beautiful, elegant tennis.

I fear Hank is going to get a terrible pasting here unless the Nadal fans get militant.

I guess Nadal and Fed fans in general have done better as tennis fans,so I won't be surprised if some Nadal fans cast their vote for RF.

RF here too, Fed express knocks his opponent with a customary inside out forehand.

Hibbz wrote:I still want to know the names of the 22 people that voted for LeBron James in the wild card section.

Maybe each member of the Main Events Lads all voted for him?

It Must Be Love wrote:

Hibbz wrote:I still want to know the names of the 22 people that voted for LeBron James in the wild card section.

Maybe each member of the Main Events Lads all voted for him?

How many members are there in this collective?

MtotheC wrote:

It Must Be Love wrote:

Hibbz wrote:I still want to know the names of the 22 people that voted for LeBron James in the wild card section.

Maybe each member of the Main Events Lads all voted for him?

How many members are there in this collective?

How many people voted for LeBron?

MtotheC wrote:

It Must Be Love wrote:

Hibbz wrote:I still want to know the names of the 22 people that voted for LeBron James in the wild card section.

Maybe each member of the Main Events Lads all voted for him?

How many members are there in this collective?

MtotheC
It only needs one member.

aucklandlaurie wrote:

MtotheC wrote:

It Must Be Love wrote:

Hibbz wrote:I still want to know the names of the 22 people that voted for LeBron James in the wild card section.

Maybe each member of the Main Events Lads all voted for him?

How many members are there in this collective?

MtotheC
It only needs one member.

I'm not sure they have even that between them.

aucklandlaurie wrote: Our local basketball team "The Breakers" are the current Australasian NBL champs.
I dont know if this proves how small basketball is in Australasia or how big it is in Auckland.

Yeah, they stole my name dude.

Its a good point re the Wilcard round. I checked at one point and it was 16-16 between Khan and James. Then in the final reckoning James gained 7 further votes to Khans 1.

So that's completely disproportionate to the earlier voting and I find it very hard to believe those late to the poll were all fans of Lebron James.

It Must Be Love wrote:

superflyweight wrote:Despite my championing of Armstrong, I have to go for Federer. Simply the best tennis player I have ever seen and combined huge success with beautiful, elegant tennis.

I fear Hank is going to get a terrible pasting here unless the Nadal fans get militant.

Not many people can see the truth about Federer, let's be honest.
Most British tennis fans watched him just continually paste Roddick at Wimbledon, saw his pretty tennis, and boom.

Anyway I still believe he's a better candidate than this Armstrong guy, so I won't campaign against him now. In-fact I'll vote for Federer.

IMBL , you are making a mockery of your own posts, So you forgot all those pastings Fed unleashed on Nadal on Wimbledon? , even the 3rd attempt Nadal won was a very close contest inspite of Fed being not at his best.

I understand Nadal is your favourite, but upto this point of time if considered Fed is the best to pick the Tennis racket, even though he has some flaws in his CV its very minor compare to many other who compete for the title.