One Player You Wish You Could've Seen in His Prime

[IrishLax]

Each sport...
Football - Montana
Baseball - Ruth
Basketball - Wilt
Lacrosse - Jim Brown
Hockey - Gretzky
Soccer - Pele

 

[DomerInHappyValley]

Being 26 years old....Michael Jordan.

I remember watching the Flu game, finals vs the Jazz, etc. But too young to put it in perspective. LeBron is the closest thing I have seen to total domination, and everyone says Jordan was better. But, Id love to see it for myself!

Steroids or not....Id love to re-live the summer of 98.

The article on ESPN today about Lebron says it perfectly.
Lebron says he's top 4 all time.
Jordan was never going to be happy without being named number 1.

 

[Rack Em]

Wade Boggs...but only for the flight in which he allegedly drank 64 beers.

 

[dshans]

dshans, whenever that prime was

It hasn't happened yet. I'll keep you posted.


USDA Prime, Aged and 95% Lean.

 

[koonja]

Dan Marino, Wilt Chamberlain.

 

[Grahambo]

MLB: Gehrig
MLB Relive: Griffey

NFL: L. Taylor
NFL Relieve: B. Sanders

NBA: Walt Frazier
NBA Relive: Jordan

NHL: Bobby Or
NHL Relive: Gretzky

Boxing: Rocky Marciano

 

[dshans]

I've been around long enough to have seen 'em all ...

 

[Irishman77]

Bob Gibson

 

[twig21]

Willie Mays

 

[Sherm Sticky]

MLB-Babe Ruth
NFL-Jim Brown/Gale Sayers
Lax-Jim Brown

 

[GEORGIA DOMER]

Mlb-Cobb
NFL-Walter Payton
Nba-Wilt

 

[twig21]

MLB- Williams and Dimaggio. That 1941 season will never be matched by two players again. Williams going over 400 Dimaggio's streak and lowest strike out record of 13.

NFL- So tough but I'm gonna say Johnny U. I'm just old enough that I can remember Montana and having to watch his comeback with the Chiefs after his injury. I wish I had appreciated Bo more when he was playing.

NHL- Bobby Orr. I grew up hearing stories about him and I wish I could have seen it in person.

NBA- Russel and Chamberlain. All the stories I have read stated these two had an epic rivalry, would have been awesome to see.

Soccer- Pele. People still talk about him as the greatest all time.

Golf- Bobby Jones. In my opinion the greatest golfer in history. Still the only one to win the true grand slam and walked away before he was 32 years old with 11 major titles.

Bobby Jones is a great choice. As much natural talent as any golfer ever. Not to nitpick, but he was actually even younger when he hung it up, merely 28 years old. Seeing Ben Hogan in his prime would be right up there.

 

[Junkhead]

Bruce Heggie.

 

[pumpdog20]

I would have loved to see Bob Gibson pitch.

 

[Irish YJ]

Muhammad Ali

 

[aubeirish]

NHL: Mario Lemieux(The best ever.)
Soccer: Johan Cruyff

 

[Bogtrotter07]

I have to go with Grahambo, I would love to have seen Marciano fight live.

By the way, most of the guys that all of you mentioned, I saw. You guys don't even need a "Way-back Machine!"

In football I would have love to have seen Bronko Nagurski, particularly that game against the Redskins, and if he really wondered aloud if that guy could really hit that hard.

I barely remember them, but I would have loved to see Maurice and Henri Richard. At their peak. Henri played for twenty years, the last 18 were my first. But both of them (the original Rockets) had unbelievable careers. Henri Richard won 11 Stanley Cups. Mo and the Punch line only had 8! The most by any athlete in North American professional sport, save . . .

Bill Russel, 11 NBA Championships at Boston, (and a Gold Medal in the Olympics, as well as 2 NCAA Championships!) Holy Shit, I would have loved to see him in his heyday!

 

[Irishbounty28]

NBA - Elgin Baylor
NFL - Dick Butkus
MLB - Pete Rose (I used to have conversations with my grandfather and father about his will, and all out effort.)
Additionally, I would have loved to watch Muhammad Ali and not just for the in the ring experience but for his personality and interviews as well.

 

[Irishnuke]

I keep waiting to see Ishaq Williams in his prime.

 

[Irishbounty28]

I keep waiting to see Ishaq Williams in his prime.

Off Topic: Any chance you are a nuke worker? Or were a nuke worker?

 

[military_irish]

Muhammad Ali

Dr. J

Jackie Robinson

Hank Aaron

Ty Cobb

Bo Jackson

And for the bonus I would like to hand seen these teams live.

The UCLA dynasty

Raiders under Madden the year they won the super bowl

Rockne/Leahy team

 

[T Town Tommy]

Now if I could go back and re-live watching a player... it would be Super Mario pre-cancer. Easily the greatest I ever saw, which is why picked Gretzky in the early 80's for the 'never saw' category... I'd love to compare the two at their peaks.

The thing that stood out to me about Gretzky was how he slowed the game down. It looked as though he was going in slow motion. He made it look effortlessly but was so much better than the rest. Super Mario in his prime was great as well, but there can only be one "Great One."

The rest:

Baseball: Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, The Babe, and Willie Mays ( too many to pick just one)

Basketball: Bill Russell

Football: Deacon Jones

Hockey: Bobby Orr

Soccer: Pele - saw him in his later years but would have loved to see him in his prime

Boxing: Marciano

Golf: Bobby Jones

 

[Irishnuke]

Off Topic: Any chance you are a nuke worker? Or were a nuke worker?

Was, until my plant decided to close down.

 

[dublinirish]

Muhammed Ali hands down if we talking all-sports

 

[gkIrish]

How much would you guys pay to be able to go back in time to see one one of the players you mentioned? (assume you can't get any financial or other benefit from doing so other than the personal enjoyment of the experience)?

I'd pay at least 10K (if I had that much to my name)

 

[Kingbish01]

MLB: Roberto Clemente
NFL: Walter Payton
NBA: The Logo
Hockey: Gretzky

 

[Irish#1]

I would have loved to see Bob Gibson pitch.

Gibson is one of the reasons the mound was lowered.

 

[NDBoiler]

Now if I could go back and re-live watching a player... it would be Super Mario pre-cancer. Easily the greatest I ever saw, which is why picked Gretzky in the early 80's for the 'never saw' category... I'd love to compare the two at their peaks.

I went to Pens vs Devils in 1988 with my dad at good old Civic Arena when I was 8 years old. Saw Mario score 5 goals, including a hat trick in the first period. Greatest athletic performance I have ever attended and will always remember. He was my fav as a kid growing up in Pittsburgh.

Saw MJ play with the Bulls a couple times in the early 90's, but woud've loved to see him say around 1987 or 1988 in full on young leg beast mode.

 

[Cackalacky]

Dr. J (pre-merger)

 

[rikkitikki08]

Barry Sanders- NFL
Roger Brown- ABA
Pistol Pete- NBA
Charlie Hustle- MLB

Since i was born in 1987 I was to young to remember some of these fellas