Top Ten Hardest To Break Sports Records
AskMen.com has a Top Ten Hardest To Break Sports Records. Some I know enough about to immediately recognize as correct. Others, like Michael Shumacher's 7 F1 Championships, will have to be taken on faith. Any comment, spd rdr?
A quick summary:
10. Rocky Marciano's 49-0 record.
9. Michael Shumacher's 7 championships.
8. Ty Cobb's .366 career batting average.
7. Ryan's 7 no hitters.
6. Gretsky's 215 point season.
5. Wilt's 100 point game.
4. John Wooden's (UCLA's) 88 straight wins.
3. Cy Young's 511 wins.
2. Jerry Rice's 22,895 career receiving yards.
1. Cal Ripkens 2,632 straight games played.
Still, I would quibble with several, including the top two: Jerry Rice's career receiving yards and Cal Ripken's games played streak. They are certainly impressive, but they would be much easier to break than number 3, Cy Young's career 511 wins. Given that pitchers don't pitch complete games and work in 5 man rotations, no pitcher will likely approach 400 wins for a career, much less 511. The most dominant modern pitchers in terms of wins were Steve Carlton (retired) and Roger Clemens (who is active but retired once already) at around 320-330.
Number 10, Marciano's record, is also questionable. Given the lack of heavyweight boxing studs today, if a great fighter that didn't have a mental problem (e.g., Tyson without the crazy) came along, he could break that record. Heck, Larry Holmes almost broke the record.
I love the sports debates as much as the legal and political ones. Any records they left off? Of course, you have to take one off the list.
posted by KJ @ 7:44 PM
13 comments
13 Comments:
Records in boxing don't mean much to me, not these days, you can just schedule cupcakes and Tijuiana cab drivers.
I would add my boy Lance Armstrongs six straight The Tour of France victories. In three weeks you can make that seven.
Good addition, Pile.
Boxing at the heavy weight division has always depended on the opponents. Greatness always requires rivalries. Ali had several, e.g., Norton, Forman Frazier and Uncle Sam to name a few. Later, you had lighter divisions with some of the best competition, like Leonard, Duran, and Hagler, among others. Lately, there has been little in the heavywieght division to excite me. Roy Jones Jr. was the best fighter for a long time, but he had no one to fight. Then he got complacent. There have been a few great fights though, like Bowe/Hollyfield I, II and III; Tyson/Hollyfield I; and Kerigan/Shane Stant.
As for Schumi's 7 freaking World Championships behind the wheel of a Ferrari F-1 car, well... it doesn't even begin to describe how completely dominant he's been on the circuit. They had to change the rules just so others could play.
Probably the most unbeatable (though somewhat esoteric) record is for most complete major league games in a season by a rookie pitcher: 66 by Jim Devlin of Louisville in 1876. (The overall record is 75, probably also unbeatable.) Of the non-baseball records you have listed, though, I'd think that the 88 straight wins in men's college BB would be the toughest to beat (I think a women's team could do it, though...).
Yeah, most pre-modern pitching records are pretty much out of reach in today's game. A combination of 5 man rotations and relief pitching specialists make all those records mathematically impossible to reach. You can't get 75 complete games if you only start about 35 games per season.
The #1 impossible to break record is:
Johnny Vander Meer throwing 2 consecutive no-hitters. I'd like to see someone throw 3 in a row.
If we include career long achievments... Gretzky's total points: 2,856 (in 1,485 games). Closest to that is Gordie Howe with 1,850 points (in 1,767 games).
Hardest baseball record to break is Ted Williams reaching 1st base safely on 16 consecutive at bats. This includes, hits, walks, errors, hit by pitch, etc.
This list is incredibly North American biased. Where are the soccer/cricket records for instance?
Sir Donald Bradman's 99.9 test career average will never see anyone even get remotely close to it, let alone being broken.
cetaintly UCLA's 8 consecutive NCAA div. 1 mens basketball championships and 10 in 12 years should be on this list, no team has even come close to breaking this record and never will.
It is much more conceivable that an individual record such as wilt's 100 point game or marciano's 49 -0 record will be broken than a team record such as UCLA's 8 basketball championships in a row, Kobe had 81 points and Julio Cesar Chaves went years without losing a fight. UCLA's 8 titles in a row seams so out of reach.
How about Sebastian Coe's record of holding the 800 m, 1000 m, 1500 m and 1 mile world records all at the same time?
Also Ewin moses 122 consecutive wins in the 400 M hurdles.
How Alexander Karelin's 12 years of undefeated international competition and 10 years without of being scored on.
Post a Comment
<< Home