Alpha - Australia's 101 Best Sports Stars

[steds]

I'm not having a go at the Paralympics, though I'll accept any "heartless" tags, but so what? The Paralympics isn't about the accolades or the medals or even the competition, it's about sending a message to other physically disabled people that it isn't the end of the world, that there is something they can aspire to. I've got a lot of respect for them, but I don't see any justification for them to be rated as in the top 30-40 Australian sports stars.

That fact that they are handicapped in some shape or form doesn't make them any less of a sportsperson than anyone else. Fact is, 9 gold medals and a total of 11 medals are huge acheivements, whether it's the olympics, paralympics or world tiddlywinks championships.

 

[steds]

Where'd Mal Meninga come?

 

[cameeel]

I thought Don Bradman was Australia's greatest sportsperson.

Oh yeah, the list was from 1976 - 2006

 

[Burpey]

An Australian winning an Olympic athletics gold medal is huge, any medal in fact.

 

[Robertinho]

That fact that they are handicapped in some shape or form doesn't make them any less of a sportsperson than anyone else. Fact is, 9 gold medals and a total of 11 medals are huge acheivements, whether it's the olympics, paralympics or world tiddlywinks championships.

I therefore nominate myself for the list, having won 12 medals during my decorated Little Athletics career.

Seriously, though - I never said they weren't great achievements, and I never said they were any less of a sportsperson than anyone else. So what's your point?

Go hang yourself. To conquer what she has is unbelievable and is an amazing sporting feat

I've never disputed that, but 99% of sportspeople go through great hardships and fight adversity, it's part of life. Just tell me why their feats are worthy of pushing them higher up the list.

Also shows the strength of your argument that you decided to tactfully slip in a morally condemning statement like "Go hang yourself"

 

[Jono]

There have been a few complaints from various people that AFL stars, and even cricket and rugby stars are way too high up, and the scaling of world appeal of the sport (and hence world competition) should be taken into account.

The main culprit has been that idiot Rita on SEN on Casual Fridays. The most annoying woman on radio.

 

[Jono]

but to be ahead of mick doohan, Allan Border and Andrew Johns
I find a bit far fetched. His career did peter out to with the crows don't forget

What?

He won seven all-Australian CHF positions in his career for Christ's sake.

 

[Robertinho]

What did she do? Other than win a 400m olympic gold without Perec...

...

Could you find me a more significant sporting moment in Australian history than when she did her victory lap with the Australian & Aboriginal flags? Has any other sporting achievement reflected something so important? (The fact that "we're all Australians")

Because it was Australia's first ever Winter Olympic gold medal and the amount of support that sports like that get from the Gov't and the conditions he trains is is an amazing feat.

I don't see why that should guarantee him a higher spot. There's a first time for everything, it doesn't mean that it's the greatest ever.

TBH squash is played by large amounts of people across Asia and the rest of the world. Just because you don't have an appreciation for it it's an amazing feat.

Never said it wasn't an amazing feat, and just for your information I actually play squash. But it's not the only amazing feat an Australian sportsperson has accomplished, so why is it so amazing that it should be ranked higher?

Because Ian Thorpe's longevity and his ability to pull through on the day and never let us down ever is unbelievable... He wins just about every race he tries. Sure Greg Norman was great but he still struggled at the end of the day to put opponents away and that's what you need to do to be considered Australia's second best sportsman

Is winning everything? Quite frankly I don't care where they're ranked, but there's not some absolute scale by which sportsmen are ranked, and just because you're adamant that Ian Thorpe is better than Greg Norman, doesn't mean that he is.

 

[Burpey]

Because Ian Thorpe's longevity and his ability to pull through on the day and never let us down ever is unbelievable... He wins just about every race he tries. Sure Greg Norman was great but he still struggled at the end of the day to put opponents away and that's what you need to do to be considered Australia's second best sportsman

Longevity? He took a year off for no apparent reason and the fact that he just picks which races to try in doesn't do him any justice.

 

[Smudge]

but his longevity surely has to be questioned. He was unbelievable around the 99 World Cup. Nowadays however he's predictable and kicks the ball way too much. If he was still awesome now then yeah he deserves his spot but he sucks now. Like Gregan has held on for too long.

"his longevity surely has to be questioned" - you're having a laugh, right? He's played 91 tests, second only to Gregan for the Wallabies. Those two are pretty much the only two around the world I can think of off the top of my head who were playing in 1996 and still playing.

When you take into account the pack Larkham played behind, and the ponderous service he has got in recent years from Gregan, his performances have been outstanding. Until this year (where, sadly, he did go off target at times yet still managed to carve through against Aussie in Brisbane, almost setting up a winning try), I can think of just one game - against Australia in the wet - where he really went off the rails, although I think Whitaker was inside him that day, and the combination wasn't exactly slick.

I still think he has a part to play for Australia next year - particularly if the tight five continue to build. And who can blame him for kicking quite a bit - particularly against New Zealand this year, when the ABs' lineout has been average at best, while Vickerman, Sharpe and Elsom found dominance.

 

[BoyBrumby]

"his longevity surely has to be questioned" - you're having a laugh, right? He's played 91 tests, second only to Gregan for the Wallabies. Those two are pretty much the only two around the world I can think of off the top of my head who were playing in 1996 and still playing.

When you take into account the pack Larkham played behind, and the ponderous service he has got in recent years from Gregan, his performances have been outstanding. Until this year (where, sadly, he did go off target at times yet still managed to carve through against Aussie in Brisbane, almost setting up a winning try), I can think of just one game - against Australia in the wet - where he really went off the rails, although I think Whitaker was inside him that day, and the combination wasn't exactly slick.

I still think he has a part to play for Australia next year - particularly if the tight five continue to build. And who can blame him for kicking quite a bit - particularly against New Zealand this year, when the ABs' lineout has been average at best, while Vickerman, Sharpe and Elsom found dominance.

Mike Catt would be another, probably not a first choice nowadays, but with Abbott & Barkley broken he'll feature in the autumn tests at some point. Catt was around for the 95 WC actually, I remember Jona running over the top of him for one of his tries.

Big Lol possibly goes back to 96 too.

 

[Craig]

Mike Catt would be another, probably not a first choice nowadays, but with Abbott & Barkley broken he'll feature in the autumn tests at some point. Catt was around for the 95 WC actually, I remember Jona running over the top of him for one of his tries.

Big Lol possibly goes back to 96 too.

You mean Lomu right?

IIRC he made his Test debut for the All Blacks in 1994 against France and promply got spanked (I won't foprget that wonder try though )

 

[BoyBrumby]

You mean Lomu right?

IIRC he made his Test debut for the All Blacks in 1994 against France and promply got spanked (I won't foprget that wonder try though )

No, Dallaglio (sp?). "Lol" easy to spell than his surname!

If you notice in my prev post I made mention of Jona running over Catt for one of his tries in the 95 semi.

 

[Slats4ever]

"his longevity surely has to be questioned" - you're having a laugh, right? He's played 91 tests, second only to Gregan for the Wallabies. Those two are pretty much the only two around the world I can think of off the top of my head who were playing in 1996 and still playing.

what i meant was the quality of his play towards the end of his career.

 

[Slats4ever]

Could you find me a more significant sporting moment in Australian history than when she did her victory lap with the Australian & Aboriginal flags? Has any other sporting achievement reflected something so important? (The fact that "we're all Australians")


I don't see why that should guarantee him a higher spot. There's a first time for everything, it doesn't mean that it's the greatest ever.

You're basically contradicting yourself here... You're saying that the race that Cathy run and the moment itself is what makes her special yet you are saying that the moment and significance of winning Australia's first Winter Olympic gold isn't important.... Make up your mind and stop contradicting urself

and just because you're adamant that Ian Thorpe is better than Greg Norman, doesn't mean that he is.

Well no potatoes, Sherlock!!! Hence why we're all debating it

 

[Robertinho]

You're basically contradicting yourself here... You're saying that the race that Cathy run and the moment itself is what makes her special yet you are saying that the moment and significance of winning Australia's first Winter Olympic gold isn't important.... Make up your mind and stop contradicting urself

No, I'm saying that with Cathy's race, not only is her actual performance amazing, but the moment itself was equally so.

I don't see how Australia's first Winter gold is that significant, virtually noone cares about it and it was hardly an astounding, awe-inspiring victory. If you're even going to mention the fact that Perec wasn't running, you may as well mention that the only reason Bradbury even advanced from the quarter-finals was due to a disqualification, and from there it was only due to pretty much all of his competitors crashing into eachother that he won.

 

[KennyD]

No, Dallaglio (sp?). "Lol" easy to spell than his surname!

If you notice in my prev post I made mention of Jona running over Catt for one of his tries in the 95 semi.

Haha, those were the days. Jeremy Guscotts huge head, Will Carling's ugliness, and effing Rob Andrew.

 

[KennyD]

Mark Ella would be turning in his grave were he dead.

Dont make me say it again, Brumbers. Ever. Ever. I love him, I wanna boof him, get him up here.

 

[pasag]

No, I'm saying that with Cathy's race, not only is her actual performance amazing, but the moment itself was equally so.

I don't see how Australia's first Winter gold is that significant, virtually noone cares about it and it was hardly an astounding, awe-inspiring victory. If you're even going to mention the fact that Perec wasn't running, you may as well mention that the only reason Bradbury even advanced from the quarter-finals was due to a disqualification, and from there it was only due to pretty much all of his competitors crashing into eachother that he won.

Totally agree on both points.

 

[Slats4ever]

No, I'm saying that with Cathy's race, not only is her actual performance amazing, but the moment itself was equally so.

I don't see how Australia's first Winter gold is that significant, virtually noone cares about it and it was hardly an astounding, awe-inspiring victory. If you're even going to mention the fact that Perec wasn't running, you may as well mention that the only reason Bradbury even advanced from the quarter-finals was due to a disqualification, and from there it was only due to pretty much all of his competitors crashing into eachother that he won.

TBH I care big time that we finally won our first Winter Games medal! The performance whilst being unique in it's own way was still bloody entertaining and the interest it finally created in Winter Sports in Australia was fantastic