Name Three Athletes You Wish You Saw in Their Prime

[bmain77]

There are a few athletes I wish I could go back in time to see them play in their prime. I have a lot more than three, but for my top three I'd list:

1) Muhammed Ali- He just completely fascinates me for some reason. Perhaps its the concept of a well spoken intelligent boxer who was concerned with more than just money. We haven't had one of those in a long time. The majority of boxers today are a total insult to him.

2) Joe Dimaggio- You have to respect an athlete who says he played his heart out every day just in case their was someone who was in the stands seeing him play for the first time. The total opposite of Randy Moss

3) Michael Jordan- For some reason I've never had the chance to see in person. I saw him tons of time on tv of course, but thats not the same as seeing it in person. It would have been awesome to see him in his prime.

[PapaJupe2k]

Ditto on Muhammed Ali, no one physically and more so mentally dominated opponents like he did. Boxing is total shit nowadays. I'd like to go back and revisit many of the boxers from the 1950's and 1960's, my dad tells me stories of many great bouts and boxers. Sugar Ray Robinson, Floyd Patterson, Rocky Graziano, Tony Zale, ect... The few bouts that I've seen on classic tv from that time were so much more exciting, it's not even close. Those would stand toe to toe and slug it out, great stuff.

I guess I would have liked to seen Walter Payton in his prime from the 1970's. I saw him against the Vikings at the Metrodome in 1985, but he was on his way out at that time.

For a third I would have to go with, Mr. Cub, Ernie Banks.

[paul calf]

1)predictably is ali he is a real legend and i only saw him in the early 80's when he was a shadow of his former self.

2)pele would loved to have been able to se him win the world cup as a 17 year old,and to see if he was better than maradona.

3)another boxer, would love to have seen rocky marciano the man deserves real respect for going through his career unbeaten.

[FeverDog420]

1. Ty Cobb: A real sonuvabitch is so rare nowadays.

2. Sandy Koufax: The greatest pitcher ever? I'd like to have seen for myself.

3. Joe DiMaggio: His life off the field was just as enthralling as what he accomplished on the diamond.

[MarkItZero]

Ali is an obvious answer. Boxing has fallen so far since ALi's glory days.

I would have loved to been around to see Larry Bird in his prime. From the tape I have seen of him, I really think I would have liked the way he played. I may have despised him, because his team was always winning while the Bulls sucked, but I would have respected him.

Walter is the one athelete I really wish I could have witnessed in his prime. I was alive, but I was too young. The Bears won the Super Bowl when I was just 7 years old. I am ashamed to admit, that I wasnt a huge football fan back then, I dont think I had the attention span to sit and watch a game for three hours. Walter Payton is the ideal to which all other football players aspire. I really wish I had been able to appreciate him more when he was playing.

[AnnoyingQuestionAsker]

(1) Hank Aaron - then again, wasn't his whole career his prime?

(2) Babe Ruth - anything to watch this guy play

(3) Thurman Munson - was never able to hit his prime b/c of a plane crash (but I was told when I was growing up playing baseball that I reminded people of Thurman) ---> I would have loved to see him firsthand (also, Mr. October played on the same Yankees teams)

[Mick]

Originally posted by FeverDog420
2. Sandy Koufax: The greatest pitcher ever? I'd like to have seen for myself.

So he's a baseballer, then? You learn somming new every day, I guess.

I'd liked to have seen Maradona at his prime. The earliest World Cup I can remember is '90, it'd have been cool to see Diego in '86....

Like most of you, I'd have liked to have been around when Ali was the top man.

http://www.queensparkfc.co.uk/History/QPteam_1870%27s.jpg

It'd have been worth living without DVDs to see these fine chaps win the Scottish Cup 10 times in 19 years - unfortunately it's been over 100 years since we last won it :(

[James Logan]

1. Muhammad Ali. 'Nuff said.

2. Pele. Greatest soccer player ever, maybe only Zidane comes near to him. And I saw Zidane play already. :)

3. Wayne Gretzky. I could have, but got interested in hockey only far too late. A shame.

And if you're wondering why MJ isn't in that list...it's because I saw him play three times back between 1995 and 1997. And that was in the man's prime -- his prime was his whole fucking career with the Chicago Bulls...nearly fifteen years of undisputed dominance on the game.

[Cunning Visions]

3. Wilt Chamberlin - Mostly just to see the game where he scored 100 points. I would have loved to seen the reaction of his teammates "Hey Wilt I'm ope.....ehhh"

2. Michael Jordan - Still regret never seeing him when he was in his prime (late 80's early 90's)

1. Dan Marino -I was lucky enough to see him play during the latter days of his career. I was there on the first game of the 94 season when he was coming off that achillies injury and passed for over 400 yards (mostly in the second half) against Bledsoes Patriots. But I really wished I could have seen him during the '84 season when he practically obliterated every QB record. Just watching film of him tearing apart defenses makes my jaw drop. I'm easily amused I guess :D

[blankpage]

Ken Dryden
Maurice Richard
Bobby Orr

[Grebdron]

Originally posted by Cunning Visions
3. Wilt Chamberlin - Mostly just to see the game where he scored 100 points. I would have loved to seen the reaction of his teammates "Hey Wilt I'm ope.....ehhh"

Good one, CV. I was eating when I read that.:D

[bob]

Wayne Gretzky
Maurice Richard
Bobby Orr

[Scarface King]

1. Larry Bird
2. Dr. J
3. Wilt Chamberlain
4. Pele

I don't care if I had 4.

[Puck Bond]

Pele, Willie Mays and Wayne Gretzky(lived in England during his prime)

[deanus]

Pele, jesse owens, and muhammed ali (a.k.a cassius clay!)

[mattjk_17]

Michael Jordan, Pele and Muhammed Ali

[horrorfreak13]

Bobby Orr

Walter Payton

Larry Bird

[Ripper1888]

Hockey:
Bobby Orr
Gordie Howe
Wayne Gretzky
Maurice Richard
Jare Kuri

Football:
Walter Payton
Johnny Unitas
Jim Brown

Baseball:
Babe Ruth
Lou Gerig
Sandy Kofax
Ted Williams
Willie Mays

Basketball:
Oscar Robinson
Pete Marinovich
Larry Bird
Julies Erving

Boxing:
Muhammed Ali
Rocky Marciano
Joe Lewis

[teenkiller]

Pete Rose - I don't give a fuck about the controversy. That man did some wonderous things for the sport.

Babe Ruth - Mr. Baseball himself. He could do it all.

Jake LaMotta - Just because of what a total badass sonofabitch he was.

Well thats all for now GOoD JOURNEY my fellow schmoes.

[bigred760]

Definitely Ali.

I'm a big soccer fan and would've like to have seen Pele play live, or even live on TV.

And being the Braves fan that I am, I would've like to have seen Hank Aaron do his thing.

[Pulp_Joker]

I'll just put a big ol' list down.

Bill Russell
Larry Bird
Bob Gibson
Wilt Chamberlain
Hank Greenberg
Bill Walton
Isiah Thomas
Ty Cobb
Muhammad Ali
Johnny Unitas
Magic Johnson
Oscar Robertson
Elvin Hayes
Joe DiMaggio
Ted Williams

[mdpuff01]

1) Sugar Ray Robinson - I've seen enough of Ali via tapes, but Robinson is considered the greatest fighter ever, pound for pound. I would've liked to see him crush people

2) Hank Aaron - would be great to see a power hitter who does things the right way. My generation is clouded with steroids

3) Bjorn Borg - I'd love to see how a guy won 6 French Opens and 5 Wimbledons in his career, including a 3 year stretch of winning both back to back. No one has done it since

4) Pele - Just to see how great soccer could be when played right. I'm not a soccer fan, but I'm really blown away by some of the stuff Ronaldinho does (in Barcelona, not the World Cup). I'm sure Pele would've just floored me

5) Wilt Chamberlain - we don't even have footage of his 100 point game!! But seriously, the biggest question about him is whether he was truly great, or everyone else was just too small and Wilt was before his time. I would like to see for myself. Same goes for Jim Brown