Bully Wee Villa Posted July 17, 2021 Share Posted July 17, 2021 99.96 I believe, but yeah the Don is, by a mile, their best sportsman I reckon. You can make a case he is the best sportsman, full stop. Nobody else is so far clear of everybody else in their given field. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HalfCutNinja Posted July 17, 2021 Share Posted July 17, 2021 People who say Andy Murray is Scotland's best ever sportsman are arseholes. Aye totally eh, its not like Stephen Hendry utterly dominated his sport for a decade in a way in which Murray never has. Murray's achievements are excellent, but he's nowhere near Scotland's best ever sportsman. Kenny Dalglish was hands down best in the world at what he did at his peak, Murray has never been that. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bully Wee Villa Posted July 17, 2021 Share Posted July 17, 2021 Murray was world number one, and has had to compete with the three best players of all time. Hendry was obviously amazing but it is hard to quantify as not too many countries play snooker. They'd both be better candidates than Dalglish or Law imo so would say Scotland isn't on the list of countries whose best sportsman is a footballer. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melanius Mullarkey Posted July 17, 2021 Share Posted July 17, 2021 Snooker’s not even a proper sport ffs. Like Golf. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bully Wee Villa Posted July 17, 2021 Share Posted July 17, 2021 Yes it is. Bill Werbeniuk pushed his body much further than any cyclist or tennis player ever did. A proper sportsman. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thistle_do_nicely Posted July 17, 2021 Share Posted July 17, 2021 (edited) Got very limited knowledge of most other sports but tried off the top of my head even just for rules of thumb by continent; Rugby - possibly some of the pacific island countries will have their greatest sportsmen, Fiji, Samoan Islands etc. 6 nations countries will tend to have a lot of elite footballers too so idk how to compare the two. Ireland's greatest sportsmen surely comes from Rugby... ohhh thats annoying I had to cheat with Google, but Brian O'Driscoll maybe? New Zealand and Australia prolly come from here, along with South Africa, but maybe not as easy as that (see swimming bit below) Baseball, Basketball, NFL, Hockey - lumping them all in together but would eat up a significant chunk of North America (especially USA, Mexico, Honduras and Canada I guess?) Basketball also has some popularity at least in, say, Lithuania, possibly Croatia too I think. If you asked this on P&B's American sister website, Big Mac's & Glock 9MM's, I wonder if someone like Joe Di Maggio could arguably sneak in for Italy's best ever sportsman. What a thought. I nominate Wayne Gretzky for Canada because he was namechecked in a Wayne's World bit iirc. Athletics (track and field sports, swimming) - again lumping it in all the shite I'd get flung in to do at PE at school when I'd rather just be kicking a ball about. Usain Bolt a big obvious name there for Jamaica, Ian Thorpe for Australia Tennis - think already mentioned but certainly in the modern era some big names across Europe. Djokovic and Federer absolutely outstanding. Honourable mention to Andy Murray, having to compete in the same era as those two at their prime while shaking off hip problems takes some balls. Cycling - Lance Armstrong, hurr dee hurr. But aye, no idea, won't even try to name any best ever, only name even coming to mind is Chris Hoy who afaik is a bit of a dick. Football - looooads of competition across South America and Europe here. Messi/Maradona, Pele, Cristiano Ronaldo for Portugal, Zlatan for Sweden........ WWE - clearly Drew McIntyre for Scotland. /shitstirring post Cricket - potentially Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, West Indies, maybe Australia too. Boxing - lol Ivan Drago the first image to mind. Mike Tyson was terrifying but I'm not sure, ah, his out of ring actions can qualify him as a best ever sportsman. Muhammad Ali a shout, maybe Cassius Clay, idk. Outside that there's loads of other stuff (fencing, squash, maybe table tennis) to draw from, so it's a bold question from the OP to try to get any sort of definitive answer per country. Starting with football the greats mentioned above are nigh on impossible to beat from any other sport so Portugal, Argentina etc. should be comparitively easy, but beyond that - how do you pick between America's best ever baseball vs. basketball player for their greatest sportsman... Edit: Oh a name from the past I nominate for Congo going by wiki - Dikembe Mutombo! Edited July 17, 2021 by Thistle_do_nicely 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HalfCutNinja Posted July 17, 2021 Share Posted July 17, 2021 2 minutes ago, Bully Wee Villa said: Murray was world number one, and has had to compete with the three best players of all time. Hendry was obviously amazing but it is hard to quantify as not too many countries play snooker. They'd both be better candidates than Dalglish or Law imo so would say Scotland isn't on the list of countries whose best sportsman is a footballer. Aye briefly he was. Hendry was world number 1 for about ten years, and he didn't have to compete with some of the best players of all time he is one of the best players of all time. Top 2 at worst. There is no measure upon which Andy Murray is as good or successful a sportsman as Stephen Hendry. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bully Wee Villa Posted July 17, 2021 Share Posted July 17, 2021 (edited) Except that he played in a worldwide sport whereas Hendry played in a Commonwealth one (China only really came into it when he was in decline). As I said, you can make an argument for either. Edited July 17, 2021 by Bully Wee Villa 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moomintroll Posted July 17, 2021 Share Posted July 17, 2021 1 hour ago, Tynierose said: Belgium greatest sportsman has to be eddy merckx. Footballer, hmm De Bruyne over Hazard for me. Enzo Scifo? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richey Edwards Posted July 17, 2021 Share Posted July 17, 2021 David Beckham 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richey Edwards Posted July 17, 2021 Share Posted July 17, 2021 John Hartson for Wales 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aubrey Maturin Posted July 17, 2021 Share Posted July 17, 2021 7 minutes ago, Bully Wee Villa said: Except that he played in a worldwide sport whereas Hendry played in a Commonwealth one (China only really came into it when he was in decline). As I said, you can make an argument for either. What,about the brilliant booler Alex Tattie Marshall. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bully Wee Villa Posted July 17, 2021 Share Posted July 17, 2021 (edited) Phil "the sex pest" Taylor as England's, and the UK's, greatest ever sportsman on the same basis? Edited July 17, 2021 by Bully Wee Villa 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HalfCutNinja Posted July 17, 2021 Share Posted July 17, 2021 9 minutes ago, Bully Wee Villa said: Except that he played in a worldwide sport whereas Hendry played in a Commonwealth one (China only really came into it when he was in decline). As I said, you can make an argument for either. No you can't. Murray wasn't nearly as successful as Hendry. Hendry changed the way snooker was played, he was like Tiger Woods in golf. He could be the best ever to play the game, if he isn't he's no worse than 2nd best ever. Murray is nowhere near that. It doesn't matter what your interpretation of the sport is. Tennis isn't big everywhere either. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bully Wee Villa Posted July 17, 2021 Share Posted July 17, 2021 (edited) 2 minutes ago, HalfCutNinja said: No you can't. Oh yes I can. Tempted to agree with Hendry for Scotland, but saying you're not allowed to make an argument to the contrary seems to be against the whole spirit of this thread. If global recognition was a measure of greatness, Murray would be streets ahead of Hendry, for instance. Edited July 17, 2021 by Bully Wee Villa 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bully Wee Villa Posted July 17, 2021 Share Posted July 17, 2021 (edited) Here's a list of European players nominated by their respective associations for best ever footballer in 2004, might help with choosing their best players. I think Germany are having a laugh choosing Walter over Beckenbauer, mind. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Jubilee_Awards Edited July 17, 2021 by Bully Wee Villa 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HalfCutNinja Posted July 17, 2021 Share Posted July 17, 2021 22 minutes ago, Bully Wee Villa said: Oh yes I can. Tempted to agree with Hendry for Scotland, but saying you're not allowed to make an argument to the contrary seems to be against the whole spirit of this thread. If global recognition was a measure of greatness, Murray would be streets ahead of Hendry, for instance. But it isn't, so you can't. If it was Dalglish would be miles ahead of Murray. And actually Dalglish has as good a claim as Murray, both were briefly the best in the world, neither the best of all time. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bully Wee Villa Posted July 17, 2021 Share Posted July 17, 2021 You can, and I have. You've chosen to ignore it. You are only interested in definitive where nuance and debate is the order of the day. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
German Jag Posted July 17, 2021 Share Posted July 17, 2021 20 minutes ago, Bully Wee Villa said: Here's a list of European players nominated by their respective associations for best ever footballer in 2004, might help with choosing their best players. I think Germany are having a laugh choosing Walter over Beckenbauer, mind. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Jubilee_Awards Fritz Walter was the captain in Germany's first WC win in 1954, in a final which is known in Germany as the "Wunder von Bern", which was probably the 1st landmark event for the country after the 2nd world war. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bully Wee Villa Posted July 17, 2021 Share Posted July 17, 2021 (edited) Anyway, I notice none of the actual list is filled in yet. Shall we attempt to do them in order? First up, Afghanistan. Football: Not sure, can find a fair few players that have played at semi-pro or amateur level in Europe (mostly Germany) but not too many who have made it big. Zohib Islam Amiri has the record for most caps so maybe give it him. Other sport: Rashid Khan (cricket), the only Afghan cricketer to be ranked number one in any ODI list (as an all rounder). Rohullah Nikpai (taekwando), Afghanistan's only ever Olympic medallist, winning bronze in 2008 and again in 2012. Conclusion: other sport wins. Anyone disagree or have any knowledge of Afghan sport? Edited July 17, 2021 by Bully Wee Villa 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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