Top Five Athletes of All-Time

I know you've been waiting for this - Here it is. The top five athletes of all-time, which means the last 150 years or so. Before that there was no TV or radio and also people had important stuff to do like surviving and couldn't waste time playing games.

Here they are:

1. Babe Ruth

2. Michael Jordan

3. Pele

4. Wayne Gretzky

5. Jerry Rice

It concerns me that they are all about the same time period, but still, these are my choices. I saw ESPN had a list of 100. I think mine is better. Their list was:

1. Michael Jordan

2. Babe Ruth

3. Muhammed Ali

4. Jim Brown

5. Wayne Gretzky

Associated Press had a list:

1. Babe Ruth

2. Michael Jordan

3. Jim Thorpe

4. Muhammed Ali

5. Wayne Gretzky

Actually all three are pretty close. 

I think Jerry Rice belongs. The big goal in football is scoring touchdowns. He has the most by a lot. He dominates the statistics of all the other receivers. He was injured late in his career and worked hard to make a comeback. That's why Jim Brown doesn't belong. He retired before he was 30 to make forgettable movies. He was great for as long as he played, but you've got to be more committed to your sport get in the top five. Pele is on my list. He might have been on ESPN's, but they inexplicably decided to just go with North American athletes. I have so many reasons Ali doesn't belong. Maybe in another blog event I'll explain why.

Although Michael was great, Babe should be number one. He was really the person that made sports popular. Most people can't even name any athletes before he came along. There are people like Red Grange, Ty Cobb, and Jim Thorpe, but I bet most don't know who those guys are. He had a few not so great traits, but not all that bad compared to some others. He was a great ambassador for baseball and sports in general. He played when others were trying to hit home runs. They just couldn't do it. When he retired with 714 home runs. No one else even had 400 at the time. Imagine what he would do on steroids.