Liverpool FC Forum

[Big Niall]

What About Sean Roche who won the tour de france ?

For England must had Redgrave and Pinsent

It's Stephen Roche.  Although I am a fan of cycling, I also accept that the sport is not clean and I'm pretty sure that Roche and Kelly were on the jungle juice when they were at their peak.  Therefore I wouldn't include cycling in this.  In fact anyone who argues that any of the top cyclists are clean are delusional.

As for N Ireland - has to be George Best.  Don't like him as a person and certainly don't like who he played for, but he's the most talented sportsperson we have produced, by an absolute mile.

Someone else who deserves to be mentioned in terms of Ireland is DJ Carey.  Great hurler, a fantastic player, but it's an amateur sport and not an International sport so he's certainly not top of the list.

Impossible to look past George Best for Northern Ireland. He was one of the greatest sportsmen in the world.

Elisha Scott - often quoted as the best goalkeeper Liverpool ever had was also from Northern Ireland.

Alex Higgins (if snooker is a sport).

How about Pat Jennings?

[Big Niall]

Our local athletes do not deserve to share the same thread as some names I've read around here.

Spanish athletes are way down the level of UK an American ones.

If we understand "athlete" as a physical great sportman, then I'd think of Miguel Indurain and his extra capacity lungs.

greatest athlete in America would either mean greatest sportsman, or sometimes most athletic (running, jumping, endurance, coordination, strength, agility, etc.) sportsman. Although the 2nd is impossible to quantify especially when considering all sports over all time, so in that 2nd meaning its usually done on a comparison basis of who is more athletic between a small selected set.

As far as America's greatest sportsmen go, Michael Jordon, Tiger Woods, Jim Brown, and Jim Thorpe.

I don't think of golf as being a sport due to lack of athletic fitness.

I'd go for Jordan as it is harder for one person to dominate a team sport than an individual one.

[JBG]

I'm not really a fan of athletics but I remember back in the 1980s Daley Thompson was a legend.

Ireland hasn't really been blessed with great athletes, it comes a long way behind GAA, football and rugby in importance to schools and most of our best athletes were field athletes.

If you broaden the category to sportsmen, Padraig Harrington must go down as one of Ireland's greatest ever, as he has won a few majors lately and was up to number 3 in the world a few weeks ago (although has slipped down a tiny amount since).

[Emerald Red]

What About Sean Roche who won the tour de france ?

For England must had Redgrave and Pinsent

It's Stephen Roche.  Although I am a fan of cycling, I also accept that the sport is not clean and I'm pretty sure that Roche and Kelly were on the jungle juice when they were at their peak.  Therefore I wouldn't include cycling in this.  In fact anyone who argues that any of the top cyclists are clean are delusional.

As for N Ireland - has to be George Best.  Don't like him as a person and certainly don't like who he played for, but he's the most talented sportsperson we have produced, by an absolute mile.

Someone else who deserves to be mentioned in terms of Ireland is DJ Carey.  Great hurler, a fantastic player, but it's an amateur sport and not an International sport so he's certainly not top of the list.

Impossible to look past George Best for Northern Ireland. He was one of the greatest sportsmen in the world.

Elisha Scott - often quoted as the best goalkeeper Liverpool ever had was also from Northern Ireland.

Alex Higgins (if snooker is a sport).

Now that is taking the p*ss.

Aye, if drinking was a sport you mean.

[Number 9]

Mary Peters!
She was good at running,only cause her snout crossed the white line seconds before anyone elses

[Big Niall]

What About Sean Roche who won the tour de france ?

For England must had Redgrave and Pinsent

It's Stephen Roche.  Although I am a fan of cycling, I also accept that the sport is not clean and I'm pretty sure that Roche and Kelly were on the jungle juice when they were at their peak.  Therefore I wouldn't include cycling in this.  In fact anyone who argues that any of the top cyclists are clean are delusional.

As for N Ireland - has to be George Best.  Don't like him as a person and certainly don't like who he played for, but he's the most talented sportsperson we have produced, by an absolute mile.

Someone else who deserves to be mentioned in terms of Ireland is DJ Carey.  Great hurler, a fantastic player, but it's an amateur sport and not an International sport so he's certainly not top of the list.

Impossible to look past George Best for Northern Ireland. He was one of the greatest sportsmen in the world.

Elisha Scott - often quoted as the best goalkeeper Liverpool ever had was also from Northern Ireland.

Alex Higgins (if snooker is a sport).

Now that is taking the p*ss.

Aye, if drinking was a sport you mean.

i know what you mean but NI has about 1m people so a limited supply. steve davis said that higgins more talented but i feel that if davis beat higgins probably 90 percent of the time that he was a better player.

talent won't get you to the very top, michael jordan or tiger woods have bags of talent but dedicate themselves to being the best they can.

I only had whiteside or davey boy mccauley to offer an argument.

[andy_g]