Friday Discussion: Most Beloved Living Athlete

[That French Guy]

I'm with PDX on the age side, although I think it could be higher : is Pele really beloved by anyone under 40-50 ? Not known or picked as the greatest, but beloved.
I'd say most people would pick an athlete they saw in his/her prime. I love Platini, mostly because he's from my hometown, otherwise he'd be just another great player to me.

What about Usain Bolt ?

[Scottie]

I'm going to make a guess at parameters based on Brian's original post. Every athlete he mentioned is retired after a long and successful, if not dominant, career and became iconic statesmen of the game (if not more). So by "beloved" the idea is of someone who was admired not just during their playing days but well after, years after, transcendent. In other words, someone whose "beloved" decibel level sustained for most of their lives and throughout their lives after sport.

And it's a good word choice by Brian as well. Beloved meaning esteemed, venerated, even treasured, much more than merely "loved".

And that is why it comes down to Ali and Pele. True that perhaps the Millennial generation doesn't know much or care much about Ali and Pele (or, well, anything) but sustaining that degree of universal admiration for decades is extraordinarily rare. That's also why I don't see Beckham or Federer in the mix; they haven't got there yet. If they can still stop traffic on the other side of the planet when they're 70-years old then they are on the ballot.

One other element that made Ali and Pele so special was television. Televised events, world-wide, were not then so commonplace and the "great" events of our day are terribly watered down by surplus; the SuperBowl ends and then ya' start flipping around to see what else is on. Ali and Pele were at the transition from merely being able to hear about an event to the thrill of actually being able to see it. The world didn't have a dozen soccer games on television every day; the World Cup had far more impact during Pele's years. The world stopped in its tracks for Ali-Frazier in the Philippines; an entire continent lived Ali-Foreman in Zaire in a way that perhaps no other single sporting event ever affected so many.

[brian]

Yeah, Scottie nailed exactly what I was going for.

[A_B]

In order from the listings starting on page 1

Willie Mays - Alive
Gordi Howe - Dead
Hank Aaron - Dead
Pele - Alive
Muhammad Ali - Dead
Michael Jordan - Alive, but likely dead inside
Bill Russell - Alive
Sandy Koufax - Alive
Bobby Moore - Dead ten years before the thread was started
Mary Peters - Alive
Tendulkar - Alive
Tom Watson - Alive
Jack Nicklaus - Alive
Tiger Woods - Alive
Arnold Palmer - Dead
Joe Montana - Alive
Gary Player - Alive
Bobby Orr - Alive
Roger Federer - Alive
Rod Laver - Alive
Pat Lafontain - Alive
ROnldo - Alive
Messi - Alive
LRRY BIRD - ALIVE
Magic Johnson - Alive
Lebron - Alive
Bruce Jenner - Alive, but slightly different
OJ - Alive, but (-1) on the Ledger
David Beckham - Alive
Darren Sharper - Alive, in jail
Mookie Wilson - Alive
TJ Oshie - Alive, possibly fictional
Usain Bolt - Alive

[mister d]

Pat Lafontain - Alive

Ha. Wonder who said this one.



ETA: Wow! Wrong!

[The Sybian]

I mean, fuck Kranepool, but his selection of Mookie Wilson has to be the winner. Mook stood the test of time and is still beloved by all.

[sancarlos]

I’m surprised Gretzky didn’t get mentioned. He’s still a national icon in Canada.

[EnochRoot]

When you think about how Pele built his fame the world over in an era before cable TV saturated sports into living rooms via ESPN, etc.

Could, say a Michael Jordan achieved that same level of fame if he were playing basketball in the 60s and 70s?

[A_B]

Gretzky- still alive.

[Pruitt]

Gretzky- still alive.