Jump to content
View in the app

A better way to browse. Learn more.

Surly Horns

A full-screen app on your home screen with push notifications, badges and more.

To install this app on iOS and iPadOS
  1. Tap the Share icon in Safari
  2. Scroll the menu and tap Add to Home Screen.
  3. Tap Add in the top-right corner.
To install this app on Android
  1. Tap the 3-dot menu (⋮) in the top-right corner of the browser.
  2. Tap Add to Home screen or Install app.
  3. Confirm by tapping Install.

Featured Replies

Lindsey retired today.  Got a Bronze at the World Championship.  Almost fairy tale ending (Gold would've been Disney-like ending).  It's amazing what she's been able to accomplish after all of the surgeries.  Skiing is brutal on your body.  The fact that she's been dominate for almost 18 years is beyond amazing.

https://olympics.nbcsports.com/2019/02/10/vonn-takes-her-final-bow-with-world-championship-downhill-bronze/

Accomplishments.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindsey_Vonn

 

Serena is not yet retired.  She can still play a few more years so her story is unfinished.  It's equally amazing how utterly dominate she has been and for as long.  It's prob safe to say no one will approach her level of dominance in tennis or maybe any sport (except for Lindsey) for a long time.

List of accomplishments.

https://www.revolvy.com/page/List-of-career-achievements-by-Serena-Williams

 

Who had a better career?  Who's had more impact to their sport?

Serena, because she plays an actual sport. Can't stand her shitty/whiny attitude at all but it's clear she's a living legend for a number of reasons. 

Serena and it isn’t even remotely close. You could make a strong case that she’s the most dominant athlete ever. 

Jenny Thompson, Swimming: 12 medals (8 G, 3 S, 1 B)
thompson_jenny_092300_800x375.jpg?la=en&

Thompson dominated the Olympic scene from 1992-2004. Her swimming career started when she was attending Stanford University, where she won a record 19 NCAA titles. She won a total of 31 world championship medals, including 16 golds, and is now a respected anesthesiologist and surgeon. All eight of her Olympic gold medals came in relay events, as did two of her silver medals. Individually, she earned 100-meter freestyle silver in 1992 and bronze in the same event in 2000.

10 minutes ago, ztejas said:

Jenny Thompson, Swimming: 12 medals (8 G, 3 S, 1 B)
thompson_jenny_092300_800x375.jpg?la=en&

Thompson dominated the Olympic scene from 1992-2004. Her swimming career started when she was attending Stanford University, where she won a record 19 NCAA titles. She won a total of 31 world championship medals, including 16 golds, and is now a respected anesthesiologist and surgeon. All eight of her Olympic gold medals came in relay events, as did two of her silver medals. Individually, she earned 100-meter freestyle silver in 1992 and bronze in the same event in 2000.

Swimming isn’t a sport. It’s a way to keep from drowning

15 minutes ago, ztejas said:

For starters, only rich white people snowboard/ski so who gives a fuck.

 

13 minutes ago, ztejas said:

Jenny Thompson, Swimming: 12 medals (8 G, 3 S, 1 B)

This amuses me.

38 minutes ago, ztejas said:

Jenny Thompson, Swimming: 12 medals (8 G, 3 S, 1 B)
thompson_jenny_092300_800x375.jpg?la=en&

Thompson dominated the Olympic scene from 1992-2004. Her swimming career started when she was attending Stanford University, where she won a record 19 NCAA titles. She won a total of 31 world championship medals, including 16 golds, and is now a respected anesthesiologist and surgeon. All eight of her Olympic gold medals came in relay events, as did two of her silver medals. Individually, she earned 100-meter freestyle silver in 1992 and bronze in the same event in 2000.

LOL @ swimming. They pack 50 medals into one sport so the U.S. looks better at the Olympics. Why should you be the GOAT because you get to rack up medals by swimming with different strokes?

They should have basketball with a standard court, basketball with a half-sized court, basketball with half-height hoops, etc. etc. all as different events. Then MJ/LeBron could be the GOAT Olympians.

Edited by satyanash

1 hour ago, Helobious said:

Serena, because she plays an actual sport. Can't stand her shitty/whiny attitude at all but it's clear she's a living legend for a number of reasons. 

Yeah cause rushing down a steep sheet of ice and snow at more than 80PMH ain't shit. Where's the sport in that ?

 

Oh, and Babe Didriksen says hey y'all.

Diana Nyad swam from Cuba to Florida without a shark cage when she was 64.  She also swam around Manhattan Island. And was once a highly ranked squash player. 

1 hour ago, spystud13 said:

And zero individual Golds for her. 

Oh boo hoo. Maybe go look at the 23 individual golds that she won in other world competitions. 

@satyanash and I didn't claim the GOAT you goon. Just making the point there are plenty of women that have racked it up like Vonn in sports where there is legitimate international competition. 

44 minutes ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

Yeah cause rushing down a steep sheet of ice and snow at more than 80PMH ain't shit. Where's the sport in that ?

 

Oh, and Babe Didriksen says hey y'all.

It's not that it doesn't require a high amount of skill or talent, I just don't see much "sport" in anything that's 100% dependent on the opinions of some judges. 

Huh? Downhill skiing is a go-fast sport, there’s no judging in anything Vonn did. 

Jesus fuck, we thought you were bad about MLB. 

7 minutes ago, Helobious said:

It's not that it doesn't require a high amount of skill or talent, I just don't see much "sport" in anything that's 100% dependent on the opinions of some judges. 

Her judges are Swiss chronometers.  You know she's a down hill skier right ?

Edited by Onboard 2.0

I think Helobious actually out-Helobious’d himself on this one. Wish we still had a Shit on Blast thread for that masterpiece. 

2 minutes ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

Her judges are Swiss chronometers, not judges.  You know she's a down hill skier right ?

Until about 45 seconds ago I truly thought she just did snowboard tricks like Shaun White or something. I also just learned what downhill skiing is. That's how much I care about winter sports.

Pretty much everyone knows exactly what Serena does. That alone should tell you everything you need to know about who's more significant. 

2 minutes ago, Helobious said:

Until about 45 seconds ago I truly thought she just did snowboard tricks like Shaun White or something. I also just learned what downhill skiing is. That's how much I care about winter sports.

Pretty much everyone knows exactly what Serena does. That alone should tell you everything you need to know about who's more significant. 

No, no it doesn't, not at all.  Just because she's more well known doesn't make her the better athlete, and it's not who's more significant it's who's greatest female athlete.

Babe DZ has T&F gold medals and is in the Hall of Fame of her alternate/later in life sports.

 

She completely changed the way women’s sports were viewed and played. Serena changed women’s tennis vis a vis power like the men’s game as it evolved since Billie Jean King’s era. Babe played every sport that way.

 

Nelson was quoted at the time that Babe could out drive and out finesse all but the top 10 men.

 

8 minutes ago, Helobious said:

I also just learned what downhill skiing is.

It's much more entertaining than uphill skiing.

 

4 minutes ago, Llano Estacado said:

Babe DZ has T&F gold medals and is in the Hall of Fame of her alternate/later in life sports.

 

She completely changed the way women’s sports were viewed and played. Serena changed women’s tennis vis a vis power like the men’s game as it evolved since Billie Jean King’s era. Babe played every sport that way.

 

Nelson was quoted at the time that Babe could out drive and out finesse all but the top 10 men.

 

Posted her name up page a bit. She was an amazing athlete, and could play just about any sport at a world class level. 

4 hours ago, ztejas said:

Lindsey isn't even in the top 10. Are you serious?

For starters, only rich white people snowboard/ski so who gives a fuck. 

Maybe take a look at this list https://www.teamusa.org/News/2017/March/23/The-29-Most-Decorated-Female-US-Olympians

Tennis isn’t exactly the egalitarian sport I would hold up to demonstrate that skiing is “only rich white people.”

Do you see a lot of tennis down at the boys club? No?  I bet they have a pool there though, don’t they?

Your comparison sucks.

5 hours ago, TexArcher said:

Simone Biles is in this conversation.

And Kerri Walsh ... I'm not even a big fan of her, but she's definitely in the conversation.

8 hours ago, satyanash said:

LOL @ swimming. They pack 50 medals into one sport so the U.S. looks better at the Olympics. Why should you be the GOAT because you get to rack up medals by swimming with different strokes?

They should have basketball with a standard court, basketball with a half-sized court, basketball with half-height hoops, etc. etc. all as different events. Then MJ/LeBron could be the GOAT Olympians.

Well, they are adding 3v3 for the next olympicd.  Would be cool to add a 3 pt contest too.  

If you add in Paralympians, Esther Vergeer should be in the talk. 

Wheelchair Tennis- 48 Grand Slams, 7 Gold Medals, 470 win streak which only stopped when she retired

err ... nm.

Edited by wood

11 hours ago, crash_davis said:

Lindsey retired today.  Got a Bronze at the World Championship.  Almost fairy tale ending (Gold would've been Disney-like ending).  It's amazing what she's been able to accomplish after all of the surgeries.  Skiing is brutal on your body.  The fact that she's been dominate for almost 18 years is beyond amazing.

 

Serena is not yet retired.  She can still play a few more years so her story is unfinished.  It's equally amazing how utterly dominate she has been and for as long.  It's prob safe to say no one will approach her level of dominance in tennis or maybe any sport (except for Lindsey) for a long time.

 

The word you're looking for is "dominant".

Edited by LonghornSean

babe didrikson end of story. Every other woman to this point is like comparing Jordan to detlef schrempf

1 hour ago, Ted Lange said:

babe didrikson end of story. Every other woman to this point is like comparing Jordan to detlef schrempf

/thread

1 hour ago, Ted Lange said:

babe didrikson end of story. Every other woman to this point is like comparing Jordan to detlef schrempf

Definitely #1 if we're talking all-time. 

lindsey vonn old and busted.

mikaella shiffrin new hotness.

10 minutes ago, 52-80 said:

lindsey vonn old and busted.

mikaella shiffrin new hotness.

And she's still got more balls than anybody on this site, yours truly included.

Here is a good discussion about whether it is Serena. 
http://www.espn.com/espnw/news-commentary/debate/13462699/is-serena-williams-best-female-athlete-ever


Here is a cool ranking thingy, that seems to think it is Serena.
https://www.ranker.com/list/best-female-athletes-/ranker-sports


Of the two options in the OP, I would certainly give the nod to Serena.  I think there are other worthy contenders, Jackie Joyner-Kersee to name one.

3 minutes ago, idigTexas said:

Here is a good discussion about whether it is Serena. 
http://www.espn.com/espnw/news-commentary/debate/13462699/is-serena-williams-best-female-athlete-ever


Here is a cool ranking thingy, that seems to think it is Serena.
https://www.ranker.com/list/best-female-athletes-/ranker-sports


Of the two options in the OP, I would certainly give the nod to Serena.  I think there are other worthy contenders, Jackie Joyner-Kersee to name one.

Jackie would be the late 20th c. Babe Didrikson.  A solid choice, but she was only track and field I believe.

6 minutes ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

Jackie would be the late 20th c. Babe Didrikson.  A solid choice, but she was only track and field I believe.

Serena is only Tennis.  Lindsey is only skiing.  Jackie was a basketball star at UCLA before focusing on track, and it is not as though she was only a runner.  She competed in the heptathlon.  If the discussion is for female athletes who are still competing, then sure, cross her off the list. 

If this topic were about greatest male athletes then Bo Jackson is the easy answer. With women it’s complicated. What’s new 

Someone not mentioned on this thread but who was brought up on the Texas softball thread is Joan Joyce.

Perhaps the greatest softball player ever, national basketball team member, LPGA golfer.

33 minutes ago, perfectchaos007 said:

If this topic were about greatest male athletes then Bo Jackson is the easy answer. With women it’s complicated. What’s new 

Bo would definitely be one of the top guys, but I'm not so sure he'd be the easy winner.

54 minutes ago, wood said:

Bo would definitely be one of the top guys, but I'm not so sure he'd be the easy winner.

Gotta throw Deionne Sanders in that mix, Jim Thorpe, as well.

8 minutes ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

Gotta throw Deionne Sanders in that mix, Jim Thorpe, as well.

Yep, & Jim Brown imho, too.

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

Configure browser push notifications

Chrome (Android)
  1. Tap the lock icon next to the address bar.
  2. Tap Permissions → Notifications.
  3. Adjust your preference.
Chrome (Desktop)
  1. Click the padlock icon in the address bar.
  2. Select Site settings.
  3. Find Notifications and adjust your preference.