Sunday Support Group: Anybody Wanna Play a Game? (OT)

Hope Friday's second post didn't strike too many people as over the, er, "top." It's true that I'm a health food nut. I have become one. I admit it. But that's only because I feel so damn good. I feel great. I can't get over it. I was experiencing not one but a number of sundry deteriorations of mind and body that I simply assumed were the inevitable consequence of aging, and thus utterly unavoidable, and they have simply been lifted. Got up and got gone. I can't get over it. It's wonderful. There are two things of which I've become convinced: one is that my body needs a complex variety of phytochemicals in order to maintain itself in good fettle, and the second is that I need to give my body a good solid consistent break from eating on a regular basis. I quit drinking and I quit smoking, and both those things were probably very good for my health, but trying out early time-restricted eating is the best diet-related thing I've ever done for my health. I knew it on about Day 2, and today is Day 123. I love it and I'm sticking with it for the rest of my life.

I'll go into this further when I do that diet-related post I promised in May or June. Meanwhile, if I get a little evangelical on this topic once in a while, I hope you'll smile and be tolerant.

All Capture One all the time?!
Second thing...I'll try not to become a "nut" about Capture One. That's one problem with photography as it's practiced these days—you can get way into your camera or your processing program or your printing strategies, and all those things can be deeply interesting to you as well as to other people who...use the same camera or the same editing program or the same printer you do. But all of those subjects become deadly dull to people who don't use the same stuff. Who wants to read twenty detailed posts about ON1 or DxO—or oh, yes, right, Capture One—if they've never tried those programs and have no intention to?

This, at least, was something that was better back in the days of film! Heh heh (jus' tweakin' your tails, digital babies). But you know what I mean. When I got on CompuServe in 1991 or so, there were no brand-specific forums. We weren't segregated like that. Canon and Nikon and Pentax and Olympus and Minolta and Contax people mingled about on the same sub-forums together (gasp!) and talked about this or that or the other thing and it didn't matter which camera anybody used. Get into a discussion about a different film, and all anybody had to do to get on board with you was just buy a couple of rolls of it. Most of us had tried many films and could talk about it and identify with them and had a least a little experience to share. These days, you can't exactly just jump over and try out somebody else's whole camera system/post-processing/printing setup on a whim or a lark, or just for camaraderie. It's like asking somebody to learn a different language so they can chat with you for twenty minutes. Anyway, suffice it to say I'm enjoying learning Capture One. But I'm not going to drone on and on about it like an anti-smoking crusader—or, you know, like one o' them vegetarians.

Idle daydreams
Switching topics to sports (because Sunday used to be a pretty big sports day in the week, and will be again someday), just curious. You know how every now and then a person comes along whose skills in some particular sport or game are on a different level, almost...otherworldly? The ones who are sometimes referred to as "transcendent." There's a kind of glory and wonder in that when it comes around. It's like that person was born to play that game, or like the sport was invented for the player. Here in the States a good example was Michael Jordan in basketball. All possibilities came together in him and his game. I understand Pelé had that reputation in Brazilian soccer. Michael Schumacher or Tazio Nuvolari behind the wheel of a race car. Babe Ruth with a bat. Roger Federer. I had a relative who was so good at regatta sailing that you'd see a race that was half over and there would be a big clump of boats all more or less together, with a few straggling behind to various degrees. And then you'd see Cam, all alone, way, way out in front of everybody. Not five boat lengths—more like thirty. He just knew how to get more speed out of a boat than almost anybody he competed against.

I know this is the kind of question you talk about when you're at a slow keg party in college and half-drunk, but purely for the fun of it let me ask: if you could have—or could have had, in your prime—the talent and skill of any one athlete or sportsman or gamesman, whose skills would you like to have had? I don't mean you'd have to "be" them—you'd still be you, you'd just have their skills and abilities. If you're feeling like it, maybe tell us why, too. It's a sunny lazy Sunday. Anybody wanna play?

Either way, happy Sunday. May you walk through today with a light step and a cheerful heart.

Mike

ADDENDUM Monday morning: What inspired this question was watching the German youngster (he's 22) Joshua Filler play. He still has some maturing to do as a player, but, watching, I just thought, what I wouldn't give to have had that much talent at pool.

Although he's the world number 2 at the moment and has been number 1, he's not the most transcendent cue sports player active now—that honor goes to this guy—but you can't want to be Ronnie; that would border on the sacrilegious, somehow. There's only one Ronnie.

I know this is a minority choice! But pool's my sport (or game, as you will). I've missed it during the lockdown.

Regarding the post, I was surprised how many people picked surfing as the thing they'd most like to be good at. Didn't see that wave coming!

Original contents copyright 2020 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

DavidB: "Gerry Lopez at pipeline."

Mike replies: See, I knew this would be an interesting topic. Never heard of Gerry Lopez, and I would never have thought of pipeline in a year. (Didn't even know what you meant by it if I'm honest! I thought first of snowboarding.) But I found this—photographer Jeff Divine talking about his famous photo of Gerry Lopez. Notice how much he talks about surfing and the occasion and how little about gear and the shot.

Curt Gerston (partial comment): "For me, Lionel Messi. I grew up playing in the soccer-mad city of Seattle, long before Messi was even born, but when I watch him play now I have crazy sense memory of how to move on the field, the ways I’d use my feet. I literally can’t sit still on the couch when he has the ball; it’s like I have to move a little with him. I was of course no Messi, but somehow his game is my game, just times 100. So yeah, I wish I could’ve somehow found a way to be that good."

Mike replies: Watched a highlight reel of Messi and yup, he's the type I meant, for sure.

Do you think it's the case that we need to have played the sport ourselves to fully appreciate and identify with what we're watching? I swear I get some kind of endorphin headrush when I watch Jayson Shaw play one of his bold and perfect position shots. I always react like, 'watch it, that's trouble!' and then I get this sense of release when the cue ball rolls right up to where he would have placed it with his hand. You're right that it's a physical sensation as much as just observing.

Curt: "It’s a great question. I can certainly appreciate the athleticism of a gymnast or hockey player, even while never having done either. But watching soccer and basketball, games I’ve played all my life, is a much more visceral experience, and I do feel I can appreciate the greatness of some of those players at a different level. I can just 'feel' it."

Mike: With tennis and golf I think I'd make an even bolder claim, which is that in some cases I've done it. I've only made about three really great golf shots in my life, and yes, they might have been largely flukes, and top pros play that way all the time, but of course I vividly remember playing those great shots. Same in tennis—I might have ripped a backhand down the line on a dead run only a few times in my life, and Rafa might do it a few times in a match, but I do know how it feels. I know I've made fantastic pool shots perfectly worthy of my heroes. I just don't do it nearly as often as they do, or under the same pressure, or on the difficult tables they play on. But I have the "sense memory." In fact I half think that's what keeps people coming back to sports—our moments of greatness are rare and top pros do similar things very consistently, routinely—but we really can relate.

John Krumm: "When I was young I followed Motorcycle racing pretty closely, especially road racing. 'Fast' Freddy Spencer was a young upstart who dominated for a few years racing for Honda. Both he and Honda were kind of admired and hated at the same time, spending big dollars to win championships. But he had super skills. If I had even a tiny fraction of his skills, I would not mind."

Mike replies: Another name I never heard before. But I watched a highlight reel of him too. Personally I never understood why every motorcycle racer doesn't die in every single race—it just looks madness to me. :-)

Ray Maines: "Re 'We weren't segregated like that. Canon and Nikon and Pentax and Olympus and Minolta and Contax people mingled about on the same sub-forums together (gasp!) and talked about this or that or the other thing and it didn't matter which camera anybody used.' That's how I feel about AM radio in the 1960s too. I enjoyed listening to all kinds of music that I wouldn't choose to listen to if, in fact, I had a choice."

Mike Ferron: "NHL hockey player Bobby Orr. Played for the Boston Bruins in the late '60s into the '70s. Just 18 when he started playing in the big league. Bobby won two scoring titles (understand he was a defenseman not a forward) and several MVPs, and is in the Hall of Fame. Mr. Orr was the only player I ever saw that could circle the back of his own goal, skate past and around every opponent on the ice and score. Unfortunately Bobby developed serious knee problems too early in his career maybe minimizing his legend a bit."

Eli S. Burakian: "Kilian Jornet. The best mountain runner and ultrarunner ever. Just look him up. Kind of like a mountain goat on speed. And I know this isn't part of the exercise, but I value personality, and he's as genuine a human being as it gets. Kind and thoughtful. Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, Tom Brady—spectacular examples, but I look up to them in sports only and they would not be role models for my kids."

Dan Gorman: "John McEnroe. I loved playing tennis back in the day, and wasn't half bad (in my own immodest opinion). I grew up watching Rod Laver, Stan Smith, Arthur Ashe, and Bjorn Borg; I've since admired and enjoyed watching Pete Sampras, and Federer among many others.

"But in my opinion, McEnroe had more pure tennis talent than anyone I've ever seen. He had the subtlest sense of tennis tactics, the quickest feet, the most creative use of angles, and softest hands of any top player in my lifetime.

"His success was all the more remarkable because he played the bulk of his career with an old-school T.A. Davis racquet, strung with cat gut. A couple of friends of mine had similar Davis models, and I tried playing with them a time or three. I could never master hitting even basic groundstrokes with a Davis—the frame was so flexible, and the sweet spot so microscopic that it felt like playing tennis with a ping pong paddle strapped to the end of a fly swatter.

"I've always thought it was a shame that McEnroe didn't win more major championships than he did. Most people remember his on-court temper (with good reason). I have always ascribed it to his having taken his talent for granted, and being too stubborn to change his approach when the other top players were clearly outperforming him. If I recall correctly, he switched to a composite racquet late in his career, but by then the game had passed him by.

"I once played on a grass court, and loved it. My sweetest tennis fantasy is to have played any of the great players named above, on a grass court, and with McEnroe's skills. Absolute, over-the-top, take-me-now-lord tennis nirvana!  :-) "

Mike replies: That's a nice evocation of McEnroe's magic. Thanks for that Dan. You'll appreciate this: my brother Scott got to play with Don Budge, the only male other than Rod Laver to ever win the Grand Slam. (He attended Mr. Budge's tennis camp as a kid.) I told the story here of getting to hit with Chrissie Evert when I was 15 or so. But I never got to play on a grass court. Too late now!

NavinU: "Sachin Tendulkar. Cricket is not a global sport but tends to have a large following in the Commonwealth countries and none more so than India. For our generation, Sachin was the epitome of a person born to play the game, and carried the hopes of millions of fans for the 24 years he played the game."

[Some fantastic comments in the Comments Section, but check out especially Joe Kashi's paean to General Jimmy Doolittle. Great stuff! —Ed.]

Mani Sitaraman: "Donald Bradman, in the sport of cricket, is my nominee. In a twenty-year career, Bradman's batting average of 99.94 in test (i.e., international) cricket remains near supernatural, because it is so far above any other career average in 149 years of the game.

Highest Career Batting Averages—Top 7

1. 99.94 Donald Bradman (1928–1948)
2. 63.43 Marnus Labuschagne (2018–2020)
3. 62.84 Steve Smith (2010–2020)
4. 61.87 Adam Voges (2016–2018)
5. 60.97 Graeme Pollock (1963–1970)
6. 60.83 George Headley (1930–1954)
7. 60.73 Herbert Sutcliffe (1924–1935)

"You do not need to know the sport to understand the significance of Bradman's achievement in the stats above."

Mike replies: You're right about that—seeing the best of the rest in such a tight cluster and then one individual way, way out in front. I'm no baseball fan, but I recalled that one hundred years ago, in 1920, Babe Ruth hit more home runs than any other team in baseball save one, so I looked it up. He hit 54 and the whole Phillies team had 64. He also hit more homers than all the rest of the players on his own team combined, 54 to 42. Bradman's accomplishment looks like that kind of far-out and way-ahead dominance.

Babe Ruth in 1920. Photo by Irwin, La Broad, & Pudlin, with facsimile signature.

rp: "Greg Maddux or Pedro Martinez. I would love to be able to throw 90+ MPH, put the ball exactly where I wanted it, and throw incredible breaking pitches. They were magicians, not pure power pitchers blowing 98-MPH fastballs by the hitters. (Although Pedro could dial it up when he needed to.) You could argue that they were the McEnroes of baseball."

Patrick J Wahl: (partial comment): "Tiger Woods probably. Golfers get to play at beautiful resorts, warm weather parts of the country in winter, they don't get clobbered like some of the other sports, it would be a great life."

Jeff1000: "Federer, no doubt. Roger might not end up with the most Grand Slam titles but to me he is obviously the GOAT [greatest of all time, that means. I can't get over the fact that 'goat' to me always meant the opposite of 'hero,' someone who blew it. —Ed.]. Sometimes genius is not easy to discern, but watching Federer play, his genius is blatantly obvious, like seeing Einstein's equations. He's invented all these shots that only he seems to be capable of hitting, like half volley squash shots from the baseline, and exquisite low velocity pushed passing shots, also from the baseline. He has every shot plus all the shots he invented that no one else can hit. How much fun must that be!

"Speaking of fun, I remember well the CompuServe Photo Forum days. You, Ctein, and Roger Hicks would occasionally elevate the conversation to levels I never imagined existed. Very humbling, but tons of fun. I learned so much too."

Mike replies: I'm pleased you recall it that way. Thanks. And Federer is indeed a wonder, richly deserving of being in the "transcendent" category.

Rip Smith: "Bobby Fischer—chess...."

PacNW: "P!nk the border collie: It's hard to imagine what it may feel like to be that athletic, but I know that my border collie reveled in it."

Mike replies: What a wonderful performance! Wow.

Maris Rusis: "Possibly the most dominant player in any sport ever was Walter Lindrum in the grand and ancient game of English Billiards. But he also effectively killed the sport through his relentless, repetitive, mechanically perfect world record scoring that would often keep his opponents away from the table for several hours. Potential rivals, like the previous four times world champion Joe Davis, declined to waste their lives practicing just to come second. Joe Davis instead changed sports by embracing and popularizing Snooker. Ronnie O'Sullivan, bless him, is a illustrious heir to this newer and noble tradition."

Mike replies: Yes, every great sportsman needs either a great rival, or an Achilles' heel (note how even Superman has an Achilles' heel, in the form of Kryptonite). No rival or vulnerability, no legend. Even Affirmed had Alydar!

Comments

[Jim Witkowski]

Jimmy Clark

[Howard F]

I so look forward to your posts. They are a joy to read during these difficult times. What a gift you have for words and expressing your thoughts. Be well and stay safe

[Omer]

The American motorcycle racer Kenny Roberts. He raced in American oval dirt track and European Gran Prix, and was a champion in both.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8k8hJWKIVNs

But as much as I loved riding(no racing,) I quit motorcycles 35yrs. ago as I just couldn't tolerate the disrespect and nonchalance toward motorcyclists that most car drivers seem to have.

[Edward Taylor]

Mike,

I am very happy that you are feeling great. You attribute it to your diet of antioxidants and your time-restricted eating pattern. And, you may be absolutely right that those are the reasons you feel great. Who knows?

I am also happy that you have found Capture One so rewarding to work with. And I agree with your assessment that everyone is not interested in Capture One and, like most things in life, even if you got everyone to try it, many users would not find it as great as you do.

Your assessment about Capture One as mentioned above, should also be your assessment of your diet. It seems to work for you, but it wouldn't work for everyone. If everyone went on your diet, you might assume that everyone would feel great. But wouldn't. Some people would feel worse and some would hate it. That's just the way things go.

If your diet did make everyone feel better and be healthier, then there would be a massive effort on the part of physicians, parents, scientists, and others to get everyone on that diet.

Whenever anyone speaks about unproven health benefits of something, there is the underlying suggestion that there is a simple solution to health issues, and that doctors and scientists are ignoring it for some nefarious reason or because of ignorance. That is not true. And I am writing this comment to ensure that your readers do not get the impression that your methods have been proven and doctors are just ignoring it.

Nutritional supplements and the like have been studied ad nausea and believe me if there were a magic bullet out there, it would be heavily promoted by real science. Most studies that have been done are flawed to the point where they are not really conclusive at all even when the data looks promising.

The problem is that when it comes to nutrition, all anyone seems to be able to agree on is that it is probably good to eat more fiber, vegetables, and fruits - and that maintaining an ideal weight would be a good thing. Unfortunately weight may actually be out of our control as study after study seems to show.

Anyway, I do agree with what you are doing and I would recommend it to people as a possible way to feel better and have more energy, etc. But I would also mention that there is little solid scientific data to back it up.

And, as you know, humankind has never found a better way to learn the truth than through science.

Ed

[I would urge you to review Michael Greger's "How Not to Die" and his nonprofit website nutritionfacts.org—his advice is based *entirely* on science...comprehensive familiarity with every paper published in peer-reviewed scientific nutrition journals in English. He knows that there's a lot we don't know and he knows that many studies are flawed and he knows that many studies amount to subterfuge or propaganda, and he's up front about that. But all of his advice is *always* based on the best scientific evidence we have at the moment.

https://amzn.to/2XLs1ks

You make a common mistake: throwing up your hands claiming that no one knows anything and that therefore no one should try to change. That is exactly the attitude I'd like to do my (little, tiny) bit to help change, if only by prosyletizing here and there for the experts whose judgement I've come to trust.

As for "doctors...are ignoring it for some nefarious reason or because of ignorance," that's exactly the case. 73% of American medical schools do not even TEACH nutrition, and medical students do not do a rotation in nutrition, so how can the average doctor be expected to be less than ignorant? As a layman, it's probable that I've done more study of diet and nutrition than the majority of doctors have, and I am by no means an expert (I'm merely a reporter, or am functioning as such in this case). Save two or three, virtually all of the two dozen or so experts I listen to are also doctors--but they are doctors who have devoted their careers to nutrition and have in many cases spent a lifetime studying it.

And there's a very good reason why they are ignored--it's because people by and large WANT to eat fat, junk, grease, sugar, and processed foods, and are complicit in their own bad behaviors. And they die in droves because of it, food being the #1 cause of death in developed countries (because it causes heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, etc., and contributes to cancer). Here's a good book about why they do that:

https://amzn.to/2XLtFCE

and here's the brief video version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jX2btaDOBK8

--Mike]

[Mark]

Nothing but respect for MJ, but I'm a little older, so Wilt Chamberlain is the guy with the hoop skills I most envied. Wilt really thought about the game at a higher level than most other players and coaches.

[Eric Brody]

I'm happy that you're in lust with Capture One. You have experience in that arena. I confess to being less enamored with your discussions of issues of health and diet. No offense intended, it's your blog, you can and should write what you wish but the title is "Online PHOTOGRAPHER." I recently posted elsewhere some unhappy comments about various "famous" doctors with no expertise in immunology, virology, or epidemiology who have been featured on TV commenting about coronavirus and how we should handle it. If I want dietary advice, I know where to seek it, and it's not on the random internet.I love your blog, I support it with Patreon though modestly. When I click on it, I'd just rather read about photography. Pool anyone?

[Well, it's a blog. It's like the weather in New Hampshire. Don't like it? Wait a few hours and it'll change. --Mike]

[fred]

Mark Spitz. Put me in a body of water and I will soon be finding the bottom of said body for I am the anti Mark Spitz.His achievements
in competitive swimming were awe inspiring.

[Stephen McAteer]

I'd like to have had the aerobic capacity of any of the greats of the Tour de France, simpy because I have weak lungs (Always have had) and struggled on the bike when I was still cycling.

[Ray Maines]

"We weren't segregated like that. Canon and Nikon and Pentax and Olympus and Minolta and Contax people mingled about on the same sub-forums together (gasp!) and talked about this or that or the other thing and it didn't matter which camera anybody used."

That's how I feel about AM radio in the 1960s too. I enjoyed listening to all kinds of music that I wouldn't choose to listen to if, in fact, I had a choice.

[Trevor Johnson]

Jim Clark.

Simply the greatest single seat racing driver of all time. Once, I saw him race, in a Lotus Cortina, back in the sixties, with my father.

Ayrton Senna visited the Jim Clark Memorial Room, (a small museum in Duns), and wrote a very moving tribute to Jim, whom he thought was the best, of the best.

[MarkB]

Never followed sports much, but I grew up in Chicago so MJ and Walter Payton were revered, though not imitated. If I could have the skills of anyone, it would be Neil Peart (late drummer for Rush). He transcended his chosen profession will skills no one could replicate, much less conceive of prior. And, Neil always said he had much to learn after standing on the shoulders of giants (mainly jazz drummers).

[Trevor Johnson]

And what just struck me, was that Stirling Moss, who died only earlier this month, was that Moss was born seven years earlier than Clark.

Moss, with Denis Jenkinson, his navigator, drove the single, greatest, drive, of all time, the 1955 Mille Miglia, at an average speed, on public roads, of 99 MPH, in the 300 SLR Mercedes Benz, number 722, (the start time of 07:22), probably the most valuable car in the world. Mercedes let Moss drive it when he was well into his eighties.

[George Andros]

Simone Biles
Nathan Chen

They and their sports need wider exposure.

[SteveW]

The ones who stand out for me:

Michael Phelps
Carl Lewis
Simone Biles
Magic Johnson

When I was a kid, Jerry West was amazing, and I echo the sentiments on Bobby Orr, Wilt and Spitz.

[John Camp]

This doesn't answer your question, but is related. I asked a group of friends if they had the choice between being really intelligent -- college physics professor intelligent -- but only an average athlete, or being really athletic -- major college sport first team -- but only of middling intelligence, which would they choose? I was somewhat shocked when most of my very intelligent friends chose athleticism. I'd conceived the question because a good (very smart) friend of mine talked incessantly about sports. And in conceiving the question, it had never occurred to me to choose athleticism, and it had never occurred to me that most of my very smart friends would do that. On the other hand, one of a friend's kids, who appeared headed for a major league baseball career before some life problems got in the way, and who is the best athlete I've ever met, instantly choose intelligence. (And he's also a smart guy, one of the rare ones who got both.)

[mikegj]

Wayne Gretzky

[Tom Burke]

Football for me, and my nominated player would be (Sir) Bobby Charlton of Manchester United and England. A midfielder rather than a striker, although he did score goals. I especially remember - indeed, it is one of my defining sports memories - his goal for England against Mexico in the 1966 World Cup. That was the moment we knew it was going to be alright - we’d certainly do well, and might well win it with a bit of luck.

Like almost all British boys I ‘played’ football - kickabouts in the playground and park and so on - but I was never anywhere near serious standard. Not even in the same universe. Football is a sport when those who are very good demonstrate this at a very young age. David Beckham, for example, instinctively knew the best way to kick a ball at the age of 5 or 6.

[BrianD]

In my day, Ive done a little Rock Climbing, Gliding, recreational motor cycling, sailing and youth instucting in sailing and motor cycling and in later life discoverd tennis. Enjoyed all of them. Still love tennis and the Fed is a real gent.

But if I could discover the skill set and vision of Jay Maisel I would be a happy man because along the way of all the other pursuits, Photography has always been there.

Ive admired Jay Maisel for a very long time and have tried to emulate him with only a small modicum of success.

[Christopher May]

I can’t think of anyone in the sports world but I’ve often thought about this in music. A friend and I have a similar game where we ponder who and what we would choose if the magic music fairy came down and gifted us the ability to play one piece of music like one musician. I bounce between Jascha Heifetz on the Bach Chaconne and Marc Andre Hamelin on the Second Hungarian Rhapsody. He has been pretty steadfast with Horowitz on the Polonaise in A flat.

[Bill Poole]

Mike:
As usual, this discussion seems to be old before us West Coast folks are even awake--ah well. I will confess to being less than enthused about the nutrition posts (although I will be tolerant, I will) but also with the tech debate over which very good and nearly indistinguishable digital rendition of a photograph might be "better" than another. I understand that "gear" as broadly defined has forever been the lifeblood of photo journalism, and probably is even more so in the digital age. But I for one would like more of your wonderful writing about the content and character of photographs, as well as the history of photography, which you know so well. (Your post seemed to invite a weighing-in on these questions, and please understand that I remain your loyal fan.)

[Dave Richardson]

I thought my choice would be unique but see someone else beat me to it. What are the odds of that? Anyway:

Kenny Roberts
He owned the sport of motorcycle racing at a time when my friends and I were all into bikes. Never missed a race at Laguna Seca when he was there.

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

[Dale]

Boxer Alexis Arguello. People tend to fixate on the Heavyweights, but I've always preferred watching the lighter classes. As a teenager, I dabbled in boxing; was by no means gifted at it, just wanted to learn some of the skills. At the time, I used to watch Arguello's fights in wonder at his pure speed and power. He was a champion in three different classes. He later got into Nicaraguan politics, becoming mayor of Managua.

[Kodachromeguy]

"This, at least, was something that was better back in the days of film! Heh heh (jus' tweakin' your tails, digital babies)." I still occasionally like to tweak them, especially some of the baby boomer converts who act like they still need to fight the film versus digital battle or justify the switch to themselves.

[RubyT]

Johnny Weir.

[Henning Wulff]

Being Canadian, I have to put Wayne Gretzky on a pedestal.

While he was scoring and leading his team to Stanley Cup after Stanley Cup, it was once announced that the physical strength of all the Edmonton Oilers was tested. Wayne, of relatively slight build, was the weakest on his team. He was also not the fastest skater. He just knew where the puck was and especially, where it was going to be.

That said, the other outstanding sportsman was Jim Clark. When his Lotus didn't break, he was the best. And he could race in anything, and did.

[Ken]

Galen Rowell. Not an athlete per se, but he was a mountain climber and not too bad with a camera either. Not a bad combination of skills to have. And I'll second the comment above about Neil Peart: if I could play any instrument with the skills of a phenomenal musician, it'd be to play like Neil Peart.

[Ren]

Alex Honnold

[Isaac]

Sam Hill is an Australian mountain bike racer. At the downhill world Cup race in Champery in 2096, he qualified 14 seconds ahead of 2nd place. In the final, it started pouring with about 20 or so riders to come with Hill starting last. He rode a race unlike anyone else, came in 30 seconds ahead of anyone racing in the same conditions and would have won if not for an off the bike crash in which he lost a shoe. He came third overall, and only by a couple of seconds. Just mind blowing. 12 years later he's still racing (and winning) the Enduro World Series.

Also see Rachel Atherton, Anne-Caroline Chausson, Aaron Gwin

[Mike Roman]

Roger Federer. Rarely, if ever, has any athlete played his or her game with more grace and panache.

[William Schneider]

I'm a former motorcycle racer with another nod to Kenny Roberts, although I'd pick one of the contemporary MotoGP riders as a close second.

Today I participate in another sport that requires keen balance and where falls are common - figure skating. However as I age past 70, I'm now seeking mastery of the quieter aspects of skating that fit between the "fireworks" of jumps and spins. Some of the moves are devilishly difficult. One current skater in particular, Jason Brown, packs the space between point-getting jumps with truly exceptional skating of the kind that I seek.

[Earl Dunbar]

Mats Sundin. He was a great NHL player, though not “the greatest”. And he was usually hampered by Toronto Maple Leafs executive management and ownership for not being willing to do what it took to build a Stanley Cup team around him.

But he was wonderful to watch, especially in “clutch” situations. As a leader and Captain, he had such poise, grace and honesty that I consider him the best Captain the Leafs have had. I know I’ll get pushback on that last statement!

[Sroyon]

Echoing Curt's pick: Leo Messi. I travelled to Barcelona just to watch him play "in the flesh" (albeit from the cheap seats, high above the Nou Camp grass). The quickness of his thinking and of his feet are impossible to appreciate within the small frame of the television screen. He's playing a different game from his opponents and teammates.

But to understand the real reason I pick him... if you have 5 minutes to spare, I recommend watching a YouTube video called Messi is a Dog. There are enough and more videos of Messi scoring goals, dribbling past opponents and so on, but this is an odd one. It shows clips of Messi being fouled, repeatedly and sometimes brutally, but refusing to go down, seemingly possessed by desire for the ball and the next (im)possible play. It's overlaid by an Argentine journalist's (translated) narration, which is where the title of the video comes from. There are plenty of things I am enthusiastic about, but I'd like to feel that type of raw obsession for something. You talked about skills and abilities, but I guess desire also counts?

[Pat Perez]

I guess the pro whose abilities I'd like to have is the golfer, Pat Perez. For obvious reasons.

[Sara Piazza]

Late to the game, here, but I was also going to say "world champion surfer." That's always the thing I go back to in my mind, a place of innocence and simplicity and focus, with a modicum of regret.
Ahh well, at least I'm teaching my grandkids how to catch a wave. I'm hoping someday somebody will ask them how they learned to surf and they'll say, "My grandmother taught me."

[Scott]

I would choose Babe Ruth. His achievements were of a higher order when he was playing in his prime, and many of his records stood for decades when player conditioning, knowledge and the rulebook had all conspired against them.

But music is more of my thing, especially music of the 60s when I was a teenager. The Beatles - especially Lennon and McCartney, but with significant contributions from Harrison and Star - changed the very meaning of pop music. They were not the first artists to write their own songs, but they took the concept to a level never before seen and never equalled. Sadly Lennon died young, as did Harrison, but McCartney is probably the most successful songwriter who ever lived, if measured by the number of copies of his songs (including those co-written with Lennon) that have been played or sold.

[kirk]

Michael Phelps, of course.

[Jeff]

So many athletes, but to leverage that awesome talent, one must be....an athlete. Not something one can do a whole life. I’m a writer who has no musical talent, but desperately wanted to be a rock star (though I’ve never played any instrument).

So for me, Springsteen all the way.

[Joe Kashi]

Among motorsport enthusiasts, who can forget that great, Jimmy Doolittle (Oops, sorry, General Jimmy Doolittle, Ph.D., four stars, Medal of Honor, and all that), considered to be the single most accomplished pilot EVER as a stick and rudder air racing and aerobatic champion who thrived in airplanes that killed most other pilots and as an early test pilot.

Historians of motorsports will never forget his winning the trifecta Schneider Cup, Bendix, and Thompson air racing trophies and the Harmon cup, nor his career-high Medal of Honor for planning and personally leading the team on that April 1942 "suicidal" but successful Tokyo raid by flying big land-based B-25s off a small aircraft carrier, a bases-loaded line drive that turned the Pacific War game, directly resulting two months later in the Midway epic.

Serious fans will remember his later switch-hitting command as team captain of the US Eighth Air Force squad, resulting in the 11-0 defeat of the Luftwaffe prior to D-Day.

Yet, off-field in the locker room, he always claimed that his greatest contribution to aviation was as a scientist and test pilot, not as a decorated commander who often personally flew missions to better scout the signals and weaknesses of the other team.

Scientific career-high stats include his Masters and Ph.D. degree work at MIT in which he developed the theory of aircraft stability and gathered his research data by doing his own test flights or that day when he hit it over the Fenway Park Green Monster wall by designing and then testing instrument "blind" flying by flying coast-to-coast with a hood over his head.

Jimmy retired to the head office, heading NASA's predecessor agency NACA, pointing the US team's bat toward the stars high above the left field wall. As designated heavy hitter, Jimmy stepped up to the plate when the team's owner, President Eisenhower, needed better oversight of the intelligence agency farm teams during the height of the Cold War cross-town rivalry. Even then, he was training his replacements as a 40 year trustee of MIT.

As twilight approached, Jimmy's tenacity and devotion to the game netted him a first ballot election into the Motorsports Hall of Fame and retirement of his number when he received his fourth star and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

As with so many more recent greats on the field, Jimmy grew up far the bright lights, in Jimmy's case at Nome, Alaska, then as now accessible only by air.

[Gilly]

There is one athlete that is now 48 years old has won 11 world titles 55 career championship wins and still competes every year as he has since he was a young teenager and last year finished ranked 8 in the world.
He competes in one of the most physically demanding sports in conditions most would never encounter in a lifetime and if they were somehow thrown into this sporting arena would either cry for mommy or possibly take their last breaths here on earth.
The man is Kelly Slater. The greatest surfer ever and probably the greatest athlete ever.

[David Maxwell]

Usain Bolt. Running that fast would be magical.

[Robert Roaldi]

Jim Thorpe.

[PDLanum]

Well, to prove I am a American dude:

Ken Griffey Jr. - Sweetest left hand swing in the game and an outfielder. along with Jay Buner you hit a ball to the right side and you would usually be out. Ichiro would have to be added to that list too.

Edgar Martínez - Sweetest right handed swing in the game. Full disclosure, I am right handed as is my son. Back in the day when my son would have issues we would watch the games closely to get tips from Gar. I was almost in tears when he was selected for The Hall of Fame.

I played tennis as a youth. When I dropped out of Graduate School for health reasons my better half bought tickets to a Laver Rosewall exhibition match. When we left the facility I was within three feet of Laver. One of the best sports moments of my life.

[Mark C]

Mike Tyson
Ronnie O'Sullivan
Andrew Johns (Rugby League)

[George Andros]

May I be permitted one more?

Yiannis Kouras, ultramarathoner. Among his many records that still stand is a race he ran at 7 minute mile pace for 100 miles.

[Patrick J Wahl]

I'm doing the trial version of Capture One, so if you want to share any tips, I'm all ears. (trying it as result of your post of a few days ago I might add)

Tiger Woods probably. Golfers get to play at beautiful resorts, warm weather parts of the country in winter, they don't get clobbered like some of the other sports, it would be a great life.

[hugh crawford]

Dan Gurney

In June of 1967, he won LeMans, then a week later he won the Belgian Grand Prix in a car he designed and built in Southern California.

Incidentally not only is the Gurney eagle F1 car the most beautiful racing car ever made but also probably one of the scariest. It is made of magnesium and the fuel tank surrounds the cockpit. The body is lower than the sidewalls of the tires, so if there is a tire failure in all likelihood the magnesium body would drag on the racetrack and catch fire.

The car has no seatbelt because Dan Gurney felt that a seatbelt would be
too dangerous.

In all fairness Mark Donahue, Jim Hall, and Bruce McLaren deserve mention as engineer / drivers.

[Andrew Wilkes]

In Friday's post you said that Sulforaphane is an intervention for autism, and this is a remarkable claim to say the least. Where did you get this information? Many parents are desperate for something that would help,as was a young doctor I knew who took his son to the U.S. for chelation therapy. I don't know why he was convinced by the theory; it killed the boy.
Quackwatch and wikipedia have some good information.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1496949/Autism-boy-dies-after-alternative-therapy.html

[I am not an expert!

Lots of references, but here's one:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5672987/

Google it, you'll find more. --Mike]

[Thomas Mc Cann]

George Best
For all you soccer fans one from this side of the pond and Irish to Boot
Some of his quotes
"I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered."
"I used to go missing a lot... Miss Canada, Miss United Kingdom, Miss World."
"I've stopped drinking, but only while I'm asleep."

And a clip of him in action
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJWWA-h_-5g

[almostinfamous]

easy pick for me, michael phelps. i am a pretty bad swimmer but i love being in the water.

[Mark Roberts]

Marc Marquez, no question.

[Steve C]

Hmm, it's hard for me to say, maybe Eddie Mercx way back in the classic era of road cycling. He was just unstoppable.

An old friend of mine trained in Europe with the Australian development team before a vascular issue ended his career before he started. He told me about racing against the great Fabian Cancellara as a junior. Cancellara didn't have the kind of transcendent career you're talking about here, it just didn't come together, but my buddy Dave tells of a 160km junior race where Cancellara spent the whole distance riding 100m off the front of the bunch. To understand how ridiculous this feat you need to know that there are really only two ways to win a road race. One is to 'break away', to get away from the main field early and bet that their underestimation of you is great enough that for all their combined ability they won't catch you. The other is to 'hide' in the bunch, saving your energy from fighting the wind until the decisive move occurs and individuals or smaller groups can make a lurch for the line. To sit off the front where everyone can see you, where you're working harder than anyone, where you're vulnerable and in reach of 50 other people working to pull you back is a defiant show of strength.

I remember Michael Jordan returning to basketball after his prime, sitting on the bench with the Bulls in the finals, looking absolutely wrecked with a bad case of the (regular) flu. Fighting to stay in the game, the Bulls would sub him on and he'd get up, bones aching and head throbbing, and even dragging himself up and down the court as he clearly was, dutifully destroy the competition. Like an adult subbed in to help an unbalanced kid's side keep up.

You're right about love for the subject matter too, Mike. Who was the director who said "If the camera man is not in love with the actress, the audience will cannot fall in love with her."? As always, if the skill is there, the photographer describes how they feel for the subject using the camera.

[David Lee]

Ayrton Senna. No doubt. I used to hate him when I watched the F1 races on TV. Then I saw him drive for the first time in 1987. Instant conversion. The first time he went to Italy to race in go carts, he couldn’t speak the language. He gets into a go car and after a few laps comes back to the pits and tells them that the front tyres are not the same size. The look at him like he is crazy. Then they check the tyres. There was a difference of less than 1 milimeter in size. His whole career is full of anecdotes like this. Pure genius.

[marko]

Jim Clark was already mentioned so I nominate Sergey Bubka. Owned the pole vault world record from May of 1985 to Feb of 2014.Broke the record 17 times in 10 years and for a period of 23 years was the only vaulter over 20 ft (6.1m). As a high school and college vaulter, this seemed like a completely different universe to me. Its a supremely athletic event that is in fact about 75% mental.

[Nick Prior]

In the world of rock climbing it has to be Johnny Dawes. Look for his Stone Monkey video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2L4VSDbb6A) when he was in his prime, and his Devil's Slide walk video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuTOnNwLUbk) from a couple of years ago. The climber's climber.

[Brian Chambers]

I am going to cheat and vote for two. Crazy skills and creative to boot.

Candide Thovex https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVmQ60_8Oks

and Danny MacAskill https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAEBNEscL0c

[Malcolm Leader]

Well, I'm the wrong gender but to me Simone Biles is the perfect athlete. Incredible prowess and inventive routines. On top of that she's smart and articulate and very sure of herself. Probably the best gymnast ever.

[James]

I missed this yesterday, but reading the comments has brought back some delicious memories.
I grew up in England and saw several of the heroes mentioned.
Jim Clark in his Lotus Cortina. (I could open my bedroom window and hear the cars practice at Crystal Palace racetrack.)
Bobby Charlton and George Best. (Not my team though)
Thanks to the generosity of a customer, I saw Wayne Gretzky while working in Canada.
I have never wanted to be a sports star, but as hockey is my favorite sport, I would love to be on the same line as Patrick Kane. Sometimes he is magic to watch.
As for Neil Peart of Rush fame, yes he was quite a musician. I was lucky enough to see him perform many times.
One year I saw Rush 3 nights running at the Odeon Hammersmith - no wonder my hearing is shot.

[Terry Letton]

Not an athlete, but exactly the kind of talent you are speaking of is a man I was privileged to meet many years ago. Rudolf Serkin was one of the best classical pianists in the world. At the time I met him he was extremely old and frail, but sit him down at a grand piano and it was like a bomb went off as he played, from memory, a series of compositions selected to highlight any failings of our piano, an absolutely amazing performance in the middle of a small converted warehouse/factory. By the way my level of musical talent is I play a mean radio

[Steve C]

Oh yes to Senna. Next level everything.

I love his insight into being on that edge in a high stakes environment:

"...at the same moment you are doing something that nobody else is able to do. The same moment that you are seen as the best, the fastest and somebody that cannot be touched, you are enormously fragile."

And the interview with Jackie Stewart where Stewart accuses him of trying to take an unsafe passing opportunity. "He shouldn't have opened the gap."
"You should have known it was unsafe, that he wouldn't expect you to be there."
"He should know: I am Senna. If there is a gap, I will go!"

[Nigli]

As Babe Ruth to baseball and Bradman to cricket, so is Eddy Merckx to cycling.

[Dave_lumb]

Border Collies were bred as working dogs. Fetching sheep is in their DNA and they can work out of sight of a shepherd using instinct.

I prefer to watch them doing proper sheep work than demos or trials but I'd rather see this than agility.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpjP3mxv21s

[JimH]

Ain't enough old guys on this blog! During the 50s, motorsport was dominated by Fangio and Moss. For those with an interest in auto racing history, there is a documentary on fangio playing on Netflix now. https://www.netflix.com/title/80227556

Never saw Fangio race but i had the pleasure of being passed by Moss in a Maserati 250F he raced in the 1950s during my first vintage race in 1989 at Lime Rock Park, CT. Had a long conversation with him afterwards - a real gentleman.

PS _ hope you don't mind the photos I post - it is a phot blog, I figure!