Greatest ever
It's the age old, never ending argument. Who's the greatest ever. It's usually sports that generate the greatest debates and is always lively. While stats is what everyone tends to use in arguing there point I think age is the major determining factor. It is around the age of eight that our interest in sports begin to develop. And whether we are playing or just watching we look to pro players to emulate or admire. And just who were those we notice at that time in our lives. It might have been Mantle or Unitas in the fifties. Maybe Russell or Sayers in the sixties. Or for me in the seventies it was Staubach, Abdul Jabbar, Payton. The greatest ever is the name on your glove or hockey stick. The greatest is the poster on your wall or the autographed picture in your scrapbook. Sure we can pull out the record books and see that Gretsky has more goals or Bonds hit more homers, or Smith ran for more yards. If they were not your guy when you were eight, nine, eleven, or twelve, they probably are not as special to you. Jordan may be regarded as the greatest NBA player of all time and I have no argument against that. But I came up on the likes of Earl Monroe, Julius Erving, and Walt Frazier. And they were pretty good too.