Mega Thread Things that Shit me part XI - The Eleventh One!

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dales.girl38

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I find the whole 'greatest of all time' debate pretty pointless. As time goes by, every aspect of training gets improved and it becomes impossible to compare athletes from different generations. Can't they just be happy to be ranked world number 1 etc.?
 

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craigos

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Not that I even have the slightest care in the world that I have some convict ancestry, but you know that there were free settlers as well, yeah? South Australia especially.
So you don't think Ali was the greatest


I don't mind that people sell themselves - it pushes them to meet that goal and that's okay. The only person with egg on their faces is them so don't see the issue
I really dislike comparing people from different generations. Can we definitively know that Tyson wouldn't have knocked Ali out in the 1st round or that Holyfield wouldn't have been able to go the distance and win on points? Even saying Bradman was the greatest of all time is still a hard sell to me.
 

Off The Couch

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I really dislike comparing people from different generations. Can we definitively know that Tyson wouldn't have knocked Ali out in the 1st round or that Holyfield wouldn't have been able to go the distance and win on points? Even saying Bradman was the greatest of all time is still a hard sell to me.
My point was and obviously I failed at making but Ali always boasted he was the best - not many ever had a problem with that and I don't see why some would. There is always going to be another "goat" down the track and it's always going to be subjective
 

Scotland

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I was only a baby/child through a lot of Steffi Graf's career, so Serena Williams is easily the best female tennis player I've seen. But when you compare their records it's far too close to say that one is unequivocally better, so to claim racism or - even more ridiculously - sexism either way is, well, ridiculous.

It's not like it is clear cut like Bradman as the GOAT Test batsman - and even then some people (Indians) claim otherwise.
This is what I was getting at.

Serena is clearly in the top few players of all time but you can make the case that Steffi Graf was better. You could also make a case that Williams plays (and wins) a lot of doubles so that should be taken into consideration etc. Either or, it's not clear one way or the other - and that's just two top players from the open era.

Claiming sexism is bizarre considering she's only ever going to be compared to other women. She wouldn't get a game off Djokovic, Murray, Nadal etc. so if she's chasing true GOAT status she's kidding herself. Women's tennis is weak overall. The top women fly through the majors with 6-1 6-0 wins in under an hour whereas guys like Djokovic are fighting out tie breaks, 4/5 setters as early as the 2nd or 3rd round.

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

Braasch competed in a "Battle of the Sexes" contest against the Williams sisters (Venus and Serena) at the 1998 Australian Open when he was ranked 203. A decade and a half older than the sisters, Braasch was described by one journalist as "a man whose training regime centred around a pack of cigarettes and more than a couple bottles of ice cold lager". He nonetheless defeated both sisters, playing a single set against each, beating Serena 6–1 and Venus 6–2.
Claiming racism is a bit different because she is a black woman competing in what has historically been a white-dominated sport but I really don't think there are that many people in tennis circles who downplay her achievements because she is black. I'd say more people dislike her or place a qualifier (tennis pun not intended) on her performances because she and Venus are seen as so much more physically powerful than other women which is a bit unfair as Venus is the bigger, stronger sister and has been less successful. There is a trend towards taller, stronger women in women's tennis anyway. You can call it "racism" (it isn't) but her 'I'm the best and if you disagree you're a racist, sexist hater' attitude also puts people off.
 

Matt Stevic

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Haven't been clubbing in QLD for 2 years, went out last night in a short sleeve shirt. Amount of places that knocked me back for having a half sleeve was outrageous. One place even lent me a long sleeve shirt with a $20 deposit. What a joke.
Omg where? Things must have changed a fair bit since I moved
 
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