McE was the most talented tennis player to ever live...period.
He was ultra talented and really wanted it bad....
two guys come to mind as well...huge talent but unfortunately, never as dedicated as McE...Miloslav Mecir, and Marcelo Rios (who has disappeared from the circuit)...also hicham Arazi from morroco...all fantastic players to watch, great touch, great knowledge of the game, all of them crazy.

"McE was the most talented tennis player to ever live"

Especially in his own mind. Bjorn was much more of a super star and a much classier individual. The British press didn't brand McE as "Super Brat" for nothing. His childish rants on the court were pathetic.

Just wish he'd come back today and try and do a Riggs/King against a Sabrina or somebody. Would love to see him get his ass kicked and his balls cut off.

Sorry Francois, but I never liked him.

and guess what, I don't care... ;-)
he was the most talented (the greatest being Pete Sampras)

Actually, I'd say all things considered the greatest/best was probably Rod Laver.

And you're half Aussie. Shame on You. :)

not the greatest is sampras. when Laver was playing, they were cruising the first 3-4 rounds of every grand slam like the girls were doing 5 years ago.
Sampras has more titles (albeit none at the french) but faced a much deeper field than Laver ever had...

and to cut short, the greatest is Steffi Graf :-)

she also wins the greatest pair of legs ever.

[1] Michael Jordan. The man definately capitalized on the media era ... but when Michael was on TV, people stopped what they were doing. People that don't even like sports liked Michael Jordan. I forget who said it but Jordan's impression on society was so great that "even white parents want their kids to grow up and 'Be Like Mike' ". IMO,

[2] Ali. 'Nuff said. best self-promoter ever. My favorite boxing highlight is Joe Frazier knocking Ali down (and winning) in their first fight. The things Ali said about Frazier in order to gain black fan support ... are simply low-rent. As a Frazier fan, I hold a grudge (especially since Frazier was the one that got Ali his license back and was paying the bill for much of his training). One heckuba fighter and entertainer, all opinions aside.

[3] Babe Ruth ... home-run or strikeout, it was a national event. Say whatever you want about any other individual, but Babe Ruth took being a celebrity athlete to the next level.

[4] Arnold the bodybuilder. Not sure if we are counting bodybuilders as athletes. But, Arnold changed everything. He taught us what "charisma" was, and sent a fitness industry booming (seriously). Steve Reeves could also go into this category. I've read reports of New York City traffic coming to a dead stop when Reeves walked the sidewalk.

[5] Johnnie Mac -- people that didn't even like tennis could watch an entire match if he was playing. That's the mark of "entertaining", when a person's personality can make you ewatch something you don't like. Tyson could also be here. Lots of people that could not care less about boxing stopped to watch Tyson destroy someone (or be destroyed).

Dizzy Dean. C'mon read a little history, this guy was one bad outing (pitcher) from being in the looney bin. Favorite sports headline (following Dean getting hit in the head with line drive): "X-Ray of Dean's head -- found nothing".

In truth, almost every heavyweight champ from the first part of the 20th century could fit here, as they were only a few the athletes actually known worldwide. Jack Johnson really comes to mind.

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That's a fantastic list. I was just trying to explain Hrabosky to my wife the other day for some reason,

Describe him as the "extremelly bitter former pitcher and current broadcaster of the St. Louis Cardinals. Al remembers his career being infinately more glamorous (and impressive) than it really was. Someone pisses in his oatmeal daily. I don't understand his poor disposition.

Bill "Spaceman" Lee.

The universal spokesman for us left-handed pitchers.

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-- Every morning brings opportunity;
Each evening offers judgement. --