El Coupeacabra
Diamond Teeth Samurai
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Wild Sports Stats that make you hit that :wtf:
- Thread starter bigmac
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Barry Bonds hitting stoooopid wild homeruns and being walked damn near every other AB.
Every WIlt Chamberlain Stat known to man, I'm not even sure that nikka was real. My Grandpops tells me all the time how good he was, but every time I look at his stats I say ain't no way.
The crazy thing is that as dominant as Wilt was, alot of old heads actually think Oscar was the GOAT around that time period, even when he was playing in college
Deleted reddit post about it
I have a few snippets of articles from the late 50s-late 60s and I think maybe one in 1970. Oscar's college days through to his playing days.
I found that he was actually often thought of as the GOAT even BEFORE his time with the Royals. I also found that in discussions over GOAT, college players were listed with pros. It makes sense given the context of the era, wherein college ball was more popular and respected than pro ball. But after the 1960s (due in part to guys like Wilt, Oscar, West, Russell, Pettit, etc.) I found that sort of thinking shifted as far as talent goes. Even today you will get people admiring college ball more for the fact they "play the game for the love it!"
Anyways, here are some snippets I found after looking over a ton of articles. I do in fact have local Ohio/Pennsylvania papers so that may include bias, however I looked around and found those publications cite people outside of their reporters or some using national syndicated columns so I figured that was fine.
The Daily Register (NJ) 24 Dec 1963
I really like this article as it uses a sort of Frankenstein theory in crafting the greatest basketball player possible at the time. It is a response piece to another writer who called Cousy the GOAT but this guy doesn't agree. He explains how Cousy's game was too one-dimensional. He was possibly the best ball-handler and passer of all time but he wasn't a great shooter and wasn't great on defense or much of a rebounder. The writer goes on to list some other players as the greatest in their respective areas such as rebounding, shooting, defense, etc. He then suggests that even other players would agree the player who was great at all aspects is Oscar. Then also suggesting that the 3-year NBA pro MIGHT be the greatest basketball of all time due to this overall mastery of the game.
The Boston Globe 24 Apr 1968
In this selection from The Boston Globe, the writer is incorrigible to the selection of the Top 10 GOAT list done by Basketball Weekly back in 1968. On that list, Oscar Robertson is at #1. But the writer isn't so much as pissed at that as he is at them putting Wilt over Russell. Probably some bias there, but it is interesting how he isn't clamoring for Russell to be #1 but seems almost not as concerned with Oscar just jabbing him for having led a team that didn't make the playoffs but it's almost like he accepts Oscar at #1 and would rather dive into why Russell should be over Wilt.
The Cincinnati Enquirer 29 Dec 1959
This is a great one. Those smug "experts" in New York have finally come around on Oscar Robertson. I also love the fact this sort of thinking hasn't changed in 60 years. In any case, the New York media market came to the realization that Oscar is a GOAT candidate. Finally.
The Cincinnati Enquirer 28 Dec 1962
It's an Enquirer publication, yes, but the sources on the GOAT claim are not the reporter. In this segment the conversation is actually between Baylor and Oscar as far as GOAT goes. Tommy Hawkins, who was a teammate of both, picks Oscar over Baylor. As does the Detroit Pistons coach, dikk McGuire, who predicts the future in some sort of way by saying "LA could win without Baylor, Cincinnati would finish last." Well...when LA ended up finally winning in the Jerry West era 10 years later, it was in fact without Baylor in 1972.
The Akron Beacon Journal 06 Apr 1958
This was a segment from a "Letter to the Editor" section. A local guy here comments on Jerry Lucas and his talented display in high school, saying he wishes he could see his team up against the one Oscar was apart of at Crispus Attucks which reigned over Indiana in the mid 50s. In it, the man makes note the Editor compared Lucas to who may be the Greatest of All Time in Oscar. This was 1958. Two years before he turned Pro. It could mean as far as high school goes but that is never specified. Could also mean just GOAT.
Journal and Courier (IN) 22 Mar 1963
"Incomparable", "brightest stars in the heavens", some terms used in this segment about Oscar's undefeated state championship run in 1956, the first in Indiana history. The writer calling his title game the greatest one-man show of all time.
The La Crosse Tribune (WI) 02 Feb 1960
This article was an AP article so it was nationally circulated, it just happened I saw it in this publication, but the selection is a quote at the top from the Drake Bulldogs head coach in the wake of Oscar Robertson becoming the greatest scorer in NCAA history at the time. The second GOAT claim is from Cincy's own head coach. Probably biased, but the Drake coach is speaking like it's just a fact and that's from an outside school.
Beckley Post-Herald (WV) 12 Mar 1963
Even back in 1963, reporters got their hate mail from angry fans on their hot takes. Now it's just easier but they have more typos. The hot take in this segment is that a Sports Illustrated writer put Jerry West as the finest backcourt player in the league along with Bob Cousy. Omitting Oscar completely. Well the fans didn't like that. Elliot Silverstein of DeWitt, N. Y., "Taking nothing away from Jerry West, he's hardly the best defensive back- court man in the league. Rebounding- isn't all there is to defense, and West isn't the best rebounder anyway. "Oscar Robertson has over 300 more, but Mr. Legget (author of the original SI story) probably doesn't even know who Robertson is. . . ." I absolutely love this refute because to this day you see this argument in threads on this subreddit every single day. "YOU DON'T EVEN WATCH HIM YOU PROBABLY DON'T EVEN KNOW WHO HE IS!" Another write-in does call West the most clutch player of all time though, but still voting for Oscar overall.
The North Adams Transcript (MA) 03 Mar 1964
This segment is from a paper in Massachusetts responding to a national writer's column. This column is referenced nationally by many other publications in the country, I just happened to see this North Adams one first. It is a list of the GOAT basketball players but split into 2 teams because the first group played in such a different time compared to 1964 where the game is just far too different to compare. Sound familiar? Oscar Robertson is listed along with the other greats of the era. Not a GOAT claim, but he is in there along as the GOATs of his era. We all knew that, but it was an interesting segment nonetheless.
In my research I did find the Wilt GOAT claims as well, but to tell you the truth it wasn't as popular a claim nationwide as it was in the publications I found which were more so in the Philly area. There were also some Russell claims too and this was seemingly more because of the fact his team was winning the championship every year, whereas the articles I found about Oscar were hyping him up as an individual. In all I probably looked through around 50-70 publications and narrowed it down to probably 25 and used the ones I provided above. If I sought out only Wilt articles I'm sure I could put something together but like I said it didn't appear to be as prevalent nationally. And today I barely ever see Oscar Robertson in Top 10 lists. I think he usually is put into the Top 15, and I think it has to do with him never winning while in his prime. Only getting a ring later when Kareem led the Bucks. But it appeared back then at the time he was being put as the GOAT regardless
I found that he was actually often thought of as the GOAT even BEFORE his time with the Royals. I also found that in discussions over GOAT, college players were listed with pros. It makes sense given the context of the era, wherein college ball was more popular and respected than pro ball. But after the 1960s (due in part to guys like Wilt, Oscar, West, Russell, Pettit, etc.) I found that sort of thinking shifted as far as talent goes. Even today you will get people admiring college ball more for the fact they "play the game for the love it!"
Anyways, here are some snippets I found after looking over a ton of articles. I do in fact have local Ohio/Pennsylvania papers so that may include bias, however I looked around and found those publications cite people outside of their reporters or some using national syndicated columns so I figured that was fine.
The Daily Register (NJ) 24 Dec 1963
I really like this article as it uses a sort of Frankenstein theory in crafting the greatest basketball player possible at the time. It is a response piece to another writer who called Cousy the GOAT but this guy doesn't agree. He explains how Cousy's game was too one-dimensional. He was possibly the best ball-handler and passer of all time but he wasn't a great shooter and wasn't great on defense or much of a rebounder. The writer goes on to list some other players as the greatest in their respective areas such as rebounding, shooting, defense, etc. He then suggests that even other players would agree the player who was great at all aspects is Oscar. Then also suggesting that the 3-year NBA pro MIGHT be the greatest basketball of all time due to this overall mastery of the game.
The Boston Globe 24 Apr 1968
In this selection from The Boston Globe, the writer is incorrigible to the selection of the Top 10 GOAT list done by Basketball Weekly back in 1968. On that list, Oscar Robertson is at #1. But the writer isn't so much as pissed at that as he is at them putting Wilt over Russell. Probably some bias there, but it is interesting how he isn't clamoring for Russell to be #1 but seems almost not as concerned with Oscar just jabbing him for having led a team that didn't make the playoffs but it's almost like he accepts Oscar at #1 and would rather dive into why Russell should be over Wilt.
The Cincinnati Enquirer 29 Dec 1959
This is a great one. Those smug "experts" in New York have finally come around on Oscar Robertson. I also love the fact this sort of thinking hasn't changed in 60 years. In any case, the New York media market came to the realization that Oscar is a GOAT candidate. Finally.
The Cincinnati Enquirer 28 Dec 1962
It's an Enquirer publication, yes, but the sources on the GOAT claim are not the reporter. In this segment the conversation is actually between Baylor and Oscar as far as GOAT goes. Tommy Hawkins, who was a teammate of both, picks Oscar over Baylor. As does the Detroit Pistons coach, dikk McGuire, who predicts the future in some sort of way by saying "LA could win without Baylor, Cincinnati would finish last." Well...when LA ended up finally winning in the Jerry West era 10 years later, it was in fact without Baylor in 1972.
The Akron Beacon Journal 06 Apr 1958
This was a segment from a "Letter to the Editor" section. A local guy here comments on Jerry Lucas and his talented display in high school, saying he wishes he could see his team up against the one Oscar was apart of at Crispus Attucks which reigned over Indiana in the mid 50s. In it, the man makes note the Editor compared Lucas to who may be the Greatest of All Time in Oscar. This was 1958. Two years before he turned Pro. It could mean as far as high school goes but that is never specified. Could also mean just GOAT.
Journal and Courier (IN) 22 Mar 1963
"Incomparable", "brightest stars in the heavens", some terms used in this segment about Oscar's undefeated state championship run in 1956, the first in Indiana history. The writer calling his title game the greatest one-man show of all time.
The La Crosse Tribune (WI) 02 Feb 1960
This article was an AP article so it was nationally circulated, it just happened I saw it in this publication, but the selection is a quote at the top from the Drake Bulldogs head coach in the wake of Oscar Robertson becoming the greatest scorer in NCAA history at the time. The second GOAT claim is from Cincy's own head coach. Probably biased, but the Drake coach is speaking like it's just a fact and that's from an outside school.
Beckley Post-Herald (WV) 12 Mar 1963
Even back in 1963, reporters got their hate mail from angry fans on their hot takes. Now it's just easier but they have more typos. The hot take in this segment is that a Sports Illustrated writer put Jerry West as the finest backcourt player in the league along with Bob Cousy. Omitting Oscar completely. Well the fans didn't like that. Elliot Silverstein of DeWitt, N. Y., "Taking nothing away from Jerry West, he's hardly the best defensive back- court man in the league. Rebounding- isn't all there is to defense, and West isn't the best rebounder anyway. "Oscar Robertson has over 300 more, but Mr. Legget (author of the original SI story) probably doesn't even know who Robertson is. . . ." I absolutely love this refute because to this day you see this argument in threads on this subreddit every single day. "YOU DON'T EVEN WATCH HIM YOU PROBABLY DON'T EVEN KNOW WHO HE IS!" Another write-in does call West the most clutch player of all time though, but still voting for Oscar overall.
The North Adams Transcript (MA) 03 Mar 1964
This segment is from a paper in Massachusetts responding to a national writer's column. This column is referenced nationally by many other publications in the country, I just happened to see this North Adams one first. It is a list of the GOAT basketball players but split into 2 teams because the first group played in such a different time compared to 1964 where the game is just far too different to compare. Sound familiar? Oscar Robertson is listed along with the other greats of the era. Not a GOAT claim, but he is in there along as the GOATs of his era. We all knew that, but it was an interesting segment nonetheless.
In my research I did find the Wilt GOAT claims as well, but to tell you the truth it wasn't as popular a claim nationwide as it was in the publications I found which were more so in the Philly area. There were also some Russell claims too and this was seemingly more because of the fact his team was winning the championship every year, whereas the articles I found about Oscar were hyping him up as an individual. In all I probably looked through around 50-70 publications and narrowed it down to probably 25 and used the ones I provided above. If I sought out only Wilt articles I'm sure I could put something together but like I said it didn't appear to be as prevalent nationally. And today I barely ever see Oscar Robertson in Top 10 lists. I think he usually is put into the Top 15, and I think it has to do with him never winning while in his prime. Only getting a ring later when Kareem led the Bucks. But it appeared back then at the time he was being put as the GOAT regardless
Cal Ripken Jr.'s iron man streak makes absolutely no sense. Dude played every game for just over 16 seasons 
Same with Brett Favre's iron man streak - almost 18 seasons
Same with Brett Favre's iron man streak - almost 18 seasons
Overrated.Cal Ripken Jr.'s iron man streak makes absolutely no sense. Dude played every game for just over 16 seasons
Same with Brett Favre's iron man streak - almost 18 seasons
A lot of players could have done that if they wanted to, but chose to take time off to preserve their health for the betterment of their teams in the long run.
If Cal chose to take a day off here and there, he would have put up even better numbers, thus helping his teams chances of winning even more.
***I know middle-aged cacs would be raging with fury if they read this
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The point isn't that they never took a game off it's that they never got injured. It's more luck then anything.
I gotta say Marino doing what he did when he did it is truly amazing. I actually have more appreciation for it now that people are passing his numbers.
Bonds walks and on base numbers alone are just stupid. nikka created the 500/500 club
It's amazing but he was a role player. Malone and Stockton doing what they did for damn near 2 decades is insane.
He also dropped another sure 50+ yder. Dude straight had a Madden game on them nikkas
Bonds walks and on base numbers alone are just stupid. nikka created the 500/500 club
It's amazing but he was a role player. Malone and Stockton doing what they did for damn near 2 decades is insane.
He also dropped another sure 50+ yder. Dude straight had a Madden game on them nikkas
Definitely not the most amazing streak when it comes to AC Green.
I know it’s been talked about to death but it still amazes me that Kobe outscored the championship contender Mavs through 3 quarters
This is a bad take. The fact that he was:
1) Good enough to be in the majors for that long
2) Didn't get seriously injured over the 16 years
3) Switched defensive positions near the end of it
is all pretty impressive enough. He also won a World Series during the streak, so it's whatever.
There's nothing impressive about going to work every day.
Jparker
Innocence lost in the EAST
Could you imagine Magic in this era with updated medicineImagine Wilt in this era with updated sports medicine
Apprentice
RIP Doughboy Roc
LeBron’s 2016 finals where he lead both squads in Points, Rebounds, Assists, Steals and Blocks is actually very wild
