It has been over ten years since I published my initial article on my least favorite sportsmen (and sportswomen) on this blog (see original article here). Times change and obviously my opinions on a lot of players, coaches, and announcers change over time. Therefore, it is time for me to update my lists of favorite and least favorite athletes/sportspersons of all-time. First of all, we have come along way in terms of political correctness in the past decade (for better or worse) so I am electing to use the term “sportspersons” instead of sportsmen. A vast majority of people on these lists are men, but there are some females on both lists so that seems like the most appropriate term. Also, I am intentionally using the terms athletes and sportspersons together because some people on these lists are players and some you will see are not. In addition, to several notable athletes, there are coaches, columnists, owners, announcers, and other sports personalities that can’t be considered athletes on here. Those folks may not directly compete in a sport, but they still play a major role in how a game is played or analyzed. One other thing you need to keep in mind with these rankings is that they are purely subjective. I am not trying to objectively evaluate how much an athlete is liked by the general sports population. Instead, I am simply providing my rankings and analysis for the players and sports figures I personally like the most.  Moreover, you will see on this list that there is a disproportionate focus on athletes from individual sports. The reason for that is simple: when I watch team sports, I tend to focus on the teams involved and not really build a particular amount of affection (or hatred) towards a particular player. There are exceptions to this rule of course, but with individual sports, I feel that it is a lot easier to build a strong bond with the athletes competing. One other feature of this article is I left a link to an article or video clip that further explains or demonstrates are a particular characteristic or moment for each athlete. Be sure to click on those to find out more about some of the individuals below which you may not be as familiar with. Without further ado, here is my 2024 list of favorite sportspersons of all-time in ascending order.

50. Bonnie Blair– Starting this list off with a little bit of a wildcard. Blair was favorite Olympian as a child, and she sent me an autographed picture in response to my fan mail in 1994. She still stands as the last multi-gold medal winning female speed skater from the United States, as the sport has become increasingly dominated by Dutch and Scandinavian competitors.

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49. Steve Spurrier– He is the most successful head coach of my second favorite college football team, and unlike a lot of people, I actually liked him way back when he coached at Florida as well. Just an entertaining character who can flat-out coach that also gave some of the best quotes in the history of the sport. My two favorite are “You can’t spell Citrus without the U-T” and “we’re just going to play a little pitch and catch today”.

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48. Dustin Johnson– One of the few star athletes from the second of my three home states, South Carolina. Johnson is currently my favorite active golfer not just because of the South Carolina connection but also because of his relationship with the daughter of # 27 on this list (spoiler alert!) as well as his amusingly aloof demeanor on the golf course. Also, his record-breaking Masters performance in 2020 will live in golf lore forever.

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47. Martina Navratilova– Besides being the only athlete on this list who I had to double-check the spelling of their name, Martina revolutionized women’s tennis around the world. She became a favorite of mine throughout the 1990’s and 2000’s, when she continued to win at the professional level into her later 30’s and 40’s. In fact, she ended her career in 2006 with a remarkable U.S. Open mixed doubles championship at the age of 50.

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46. Ted Williams– One of the great “tell it like it is” characters in sports history (you will see a lot of those kinds of guys and gals on this list) ,and also the last man to hit .400 in the history of major league baseball. The story of the circumstances surrounding that accomplishment are pretty incredible in that his manager Joe Cronin offered to have Williams sit out the last two games of the 1941 season, which happened to be a double header, so that he could preserve his batting average of .39995, which rounded up to .400. I am sure most all athletes today would have gone along with the manager’s suggestion to assure they accomplish this historic feat. However, Ted Williams demanded to play and ended up going 6 for 8 in those last two games to finish the season with a .406 batting average for the season. It is stories like this that make Williams of my favorite athletes of the early-to-mid 20th century.

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45. Chris Petersen– It has been almost 18 years since Petersen made three of the boldest play calls in sports history, a hook and ladder, halfback pass, and modified statute of liberty, to lead the Broncos to their incredible upset of # 7 ranked Oklahoma. That win gave legitimacy to all of the small conference teams that win all of their games but never got a shot at the national title. Now, for the first-time ever, those teams will have shot at the national title in 2024 with the new 12 team playoff format, and you can argue that the 2006 Fiesta Bowl win by Boise is the main reason that the “Group of Five” will automatically be given at least one playoff spot in this new system.

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44. Randolph Childress– The first of three athletes from my beloved alma mater, Wake Forest, to make my rankings. Childress’ epic performance in the 1995 ACC Tournament might be the school’s greatest basketball moment of all-time.  Childress still holds the record for most points in ACC tournament (107) despite only playing three games under the old format. He also completed possibly the greatest crossover fake-out in the history of the game on North Carolina’s Jeff McInnis.

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43. Caroline Wozniacki– My closest foreign relatives come from my dad’s mother’s family who were first generation Danish immigrants. Our family, in fact, still keeps in touch with many of our cousins that still live in and around Copenhagen. As a result, I have always cheered for Danish teams and athletes in any international sporting competitions that I follow (World Cup, Olympics, Euros, etc) . Over the years, however, there really has only been one Danish athlete that has become a global sports superstar and that is the great Danish tennis player, Caroline Wozniacki. Her lone grand slam title, the 2018 Australian Open, is still one my favorite results in the history of women’s tennis.

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42. Brian Piccolo– This former star running back will always be an icon at my alma mater, Wake Forest, thanks to the movie “Brian’s Song” and the tragic way his life ended.

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41. “Pistol” Pete Maravich– Caitlin Clark has recently revolutionized the sport of women’s basketball, and “Pistol Pete” did the same thing on the men’s side in the late 1960’s and 70’s. He was one of the most entertaining players to play the game, and amazingly, he still holds the career NCAA Division 1 scoring record despite only playing three seasons (Freshmen weren’t allowed to play on their college’s varsity squads at that time). His collegiate average of 44.2 points per game will never be equaled.

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40. “Shoeless” Joe Jackson– I gained a deep-seated respect and admiration for “Shoeless Joe” in 10th grade when I wrote a paper in my English class about how Jackson and athlete # 24 on this list (see below) deserve to admitted in to the Baseball Hall of Fame. He is one the greatest baseball players of all-time, who unfortunately is not acknowledged as such because of the Black Sox scandal that he ultimately was not an active participant in.

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39. Lou Holtz– Holtz initiated the South Carolina football rebuilding process when he took over as coach in 1999 and laid the building blocks for the school’s later success under Spurrier. His self-deprecating humor has made him one of the most entertaining and likable coaches/analysts in all of sports. Specifically, his pregame speech prior to the Catholics vs. Convicts game in 1988 was one of the greatest in sports history. Meanwhile, Holtz’s greatest quote has to be, “It always amazes me that spectators want to coach, coaches want to officiate, and officials just want to watch the game.”

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38. Roy Jones, Jr– Hailing from my grandparents hometown of Pensacola, Florida, Jones was unquestionably the best boxer during my childhood in the mid to late 1990’s. He was absolutely unbeatable during the prime of his career, as he captured world titles in every division from Middleweight to Heavyweight. He was a great showman in the ring but also a guy that seems like a genuinely good person.

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37. Mark Pope- He was one of my favorite basketball players on one of my favorite teams growing up, the 1996 national champion Kentucky Wildcats. Now, he has come back home to rebuild the program after John Calipari’s “one and done” era. The Cats instantly became more likable from the moment Pope was hired.

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36. Monica Seles– Steffi Graf was always the more popular tennis star in the 90’s, but I was always a Seles fan and I can’t really tell you why. Sometimes you can’t explain why you like a particular athlete but you just do, and that is how I have always felt about Monica. The stabbing incident during her 1993 match in Hamburg is still one of the most shocking events ever to happen during a professional tennis match.

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35. Dave Clawson– Despite last year’s disappoint, Clawson is one of my all-time favorite coached because he has resurrected my beloved Wake Forest program over the past decade from the basement of the Power 5 to an ACC Atlantic Division Championship and the doorstep of a New Year’s Six Bowl. I love coaches who can do more with less and that describes exactly how Clawson has built this program, as he has taken Wake to a bowl game in 7 of the 8 seasons despite never having a top 50 recruiting national recruiting class.

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34. Dale Earnhardt– I am not a big NASCAR fan, but as a kid who grew up in the 1990’s, it was neat to bear witness to three athletes during that era becoming the most successful in their sport’s respective histories. Michael Jordan was one; Wayne Gretzky was another; and the third was Dale Earnhardt. Tiger Woods and Novak Djokovic are the only athletes since then who have even approached the status of greatest of all-time, and neither of them are nearly as likable as these three 90’s icons. Earnhardt’s tragic death has added even more mystique to his legendary career.

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33. Dennis Rodman– I like outlandish characters in sports and there is no athlete that has ever been more outlandish than Rodman. I loved his “work hard, play hard” mantra both on and off the basketball court and have tried to emulate it in many aspects of my own life. No, I don’t have the tattoos, piercings, or dyed hair, but Rodman’s originality, authenticity, and anti-establishment mentality is something I have always admired.

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32. Bill Rafferty– You will soon see a plethora of sports announcers, analysts, and columnists on this list and that is because sports media is something I have always been extremely interested in. In fact, I hope to make some sort of entry into the sports media field as a second career once my days of practicing law are finished. I will begin this list with Rafferty who is the most entertaining in-game sports analyst of all-time in my opinion. He’s funny, smart, and always full of memorable one-liners ranging from “onions” to “send it in Jerome”! I got to meet him during the 2013 Final Four which was an extremely meaningful experience for me.

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31. Jim Grobe– This former Wake Forest football coach will always hold a special place in my heart for leading the 2006 Demon Deacons, who were picked to finish last in the ACC, to a conference championship and Orange Bowl berth during my junior year in college. In my opinion, it is the most underrated Cinderella story of all-time. Don’t believe me? Find me another college football team that has ever been an underdog in 8 different games during the same regular season and won 7 of them.

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30. Bob Costas– I have gone back and forth over the past 25-30 years about who I like more between the two most legendary announcers of the 90’s and 2000’s: Bob Costas and Jim Nantz. I, therefore, decided to list them in consecutive order on this list, and I put Nantz ahead of Costas based on recency bias. Jim covers moer events than Bob does at this point, but both men are definitely winding down their careers. Overall, I think Nantz was the better announcer of the two but Costas was funnier and gave better monologues. My favorite Costas zinger was this response to Barry Bonds calling him a little midget man after Costas criticized his steroids use. Costas simply said, “As anyone can plainly see, I’m 5-6½ and a strapping 150, and unlike some people, I came by all of it naturally.”  My favorite Costas monologue came after Michael Jordan won his sixth NBA championship in Utah in what ended up being his last game as a Chicago Bull. Watch it here.

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29. Jim Nantz– See comment above about Costas. Nantz will forever be remembered for his work at the Master’s and his call of many of the greatest March Madness games of all-time.

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28. Tim Couch– Couch is also a sports announcer now, but he’s on this list because of his college football heroics. I realize he was a complete NFL bust, but he was the lone football icon of my Kentucky childhood. His performance in Hal Mumme and Mike Leach’s Air Raid offense resurrected the Kentucky football program in the mid-1990’s. He lead a team that was literally from one of the worst in all of Division 1-A from 1994-96 to the program’s last win over Alabama in 1997 (which I was in attendance for) and a New Year’s Day Bowl appearance in 1998. Couch and Shaun Alexander are also the two biggest superstars I saw play in high school.

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27. Wayne Gretzky– I always find it compelling when a player becomes the greatest all-time in the history of his sport without being naturally gifted at it. Gretzky is the ultimate example of this phenomenon. He wasn’t big and was never extremely fast. Gretzky just played the game perfectly. He also possesses one of my favorite stats in sports history. We all know that The Great One is the all-time leader in goals, but did you know that if he had not scored a single goal in the NHL, he would still be the all-time points leader based on his assists alone. Unbelievable! It’s hard to argue that anyone has such a dominant hold as the greatest in the history of the sport as Gretzky does in hockey. I’m pretty sure when we all pass away, “The Great One” will still be considered the greatest hockey player ever. Check out his 10 greatest moments/accomplishments here.

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26. John Daly– As long as a controversial character possesses a bit of charm, then I usually find him easy to like. That definitely describes John Daly who stands as the only flamboyant golfing redneck in the history of sports. Also, his PGA Championship victory in 1991 as the 9th alternate into the tourney is still one of the greatest Cinderella stories in the history of golf.

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25. Harold “Red” Drew– He’s the only famous sportsmen in my family, so I have to include the former Mississippi and Alabama coach on the top half of this list. Coach Drew is my wife’s great-grandfather, and while he passed well before I could meet him, I did get to spend some quality time talking football with his daughter Polly before her passing a few years ago. Drew led Alabama to what is by far its most dominant bowl victory in school history and one of the most dominant victories in any major bowl game when his 9th ranked Bama squad destroyed 14th ranked Syracuse team 61-6 in the 1953 Orange Bowl. Drew also owns the most lopsided victory in the history of the Iron Bowl, as his 1948 Alabama thrashed Auburn by a score of 55-0!

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24. Pete Rose– As stated above in entry # 40, I wrote a great argumentative paper on why Rose and Jackson belong in the baseball hall of fame. On top of being one of the greatest pure hitters in the history of the game, “Charlie Hustle” as he became known played the game harder than anybody has before or since. I also love Rose because he starred for both of my two favorite MLB franchises, the Cincinnati Reds and Montreal Expos (R.I.P.)

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23. Grindstone– The first of three non-humans to make this list. As a natural born Kentuckian, horse racing is a passion of mine and Grindstone is the first Derby winner I picked correctly back in 1996 when I was just ten years old. His photo finish Derby win over Bob Baffert’s Cavonnier was the closest Derby finish between 1959 until this year’s triumphant by Mystik Dan.

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22. Greg Norman– The Shark choked away several major championships throughout his career, but he still managed to win a couple of British Opens along the way. He was just an extremely likable figure who played the game with unmatched courage and flair. I am even a fan of LIV golf currently because of Norman’s work as CEO of the tour. I support any effort to make golf more fun, laid-back, and less stuffy and Norman has always led that crusade with both the way he played and his management of the LIV tour.

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21. Mike Tyson– Iron Mike is probably the most controversial of any athlete on my list, but I have always viewed him as somewhat of a tragic hero. He’s a guy whose life has been a remarkable roller coaster ride that included an undisputed heavyweight championship followed by sexual assault conviction and an ear biting incident. However, Tyson has survived it all and come out better because of it. I will be rooting for him hard this November 15th when he enters the ring again for his epic battle against Jake Paul.

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20. Chris Paul– He’s the only extremely famous athlete that I went to school with, as Paul was a sophomore at Wake Forest when I entered college there as a freshman. I actually spent a good 10-15 minutes talking to him about board games at a Sigma Chi party a few weeks before the 2004-05 season started. He’s a big fan of the game “Sorry” but does not like Trivial Pursuit. And even though Paul’s Wake Forest tenure ended with a disappointing “low blow” and subsequent second round NCAA tourney loss to West Virginia, he was the star of the first-ever Wake Forest basketball team to be ranked # 1 in the country.

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19. Maria Sharapova– The first tennis player on this list, Martina Navratilova, revolutionized women’s tennis by adding a degree of athleticism to the sport. Thirty years later, Maria came along and revolutionized it again by glamorizing it like it had never been done before. Together, their influences are the main reason why tennis is the only major international sport where the women’s game is as popular, if not more popular, than the men’s. Maria was the first athlete who I realized was younger than me that became an international superstar. Her upset win over the dominant world # 1 Serena Williams in the 2004 Wimbledon Women’s Final is my favorite Ladies Wimbledon result of all-time. Overall, Maria stands alone as my all-time favorite women’s tennis player.

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18. Keith Jackson– The greatest sports announcer of all-time, pure and simple. He covered major sporting events for ABC from the early 1960’s until the epic USC vs. Texas Rose Bowl in 2006. He provided the national television coverage of several of the most iconic sports moments over the past 60 years including the Munich Massacre of 1972, Desmond Howard’s Heisman clinching punt return for a touchdown against Ohio State in 1991 (“Hello” Heisman call), and Kordell Stewart’s Hail Mary in 1994. He’s everything you look for in a broadcaster: smart, witty, and sharp with a powerful deep tone to his voice. He was an idol of mine during my childhood years when I desired to become a sports announcer.

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17. Pat Forde– It may surprise some of you that a sports columnist that many of you may have never heard of could be ranked this high on my list, but Pat Forde is my favorite sportswriter of all-time. He’s funny, informative, insightful, and most importantly I agree with 99.9% of the sports views he expresses. (Note: I italicized “sports views” in the previous sentence because sometimes he does give too much left-wing political commentary on occasion). Overall, in my 20+ years of religiously reading Forde’s columns there have only been a handful of issues I have disagreed with him about and the only one I can think of off-hand is his support of the all-SEC BCS title game in 2011. Whether it’s bashing the BCS, supporting Boise State, or ripping Rick Dutrow, Pat Forde has always been the wisest and wittiest talking head in the world of sports.

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16. Bob Knight– Most Kentucky fans despise Bob Knight, but I loved the man and everything he stood for. Sure, he had a horrible temper but he was an open and honest humanitarian who revolutionized the game in so many ways. No coach has ever been tougher, no coach has ever been funnier, and no coach has ever been smarter.

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15. American Pharoah– I have mentioned this on my blog before but since college I had four sporting “goals” that I wanted to see happen in my lifetime: 1) Wake Forest winning a football or basketball national championship, 2) a 16 seed beating a 1 in an NCAA tournament game, 3) a Brit winning the Wimbledon men’s singles title, and 4) a Triple Crown in horse racing . Then, miraculously, three of these events (# 2-4) ended up happening within a five year time span between 2013 and 2018. The second of those breakthroughs was American Pharoah’s triple crown win in the spring of 2015. I will admit this moment has been somewhat soured by the downfall of this horse’s trainer Bob Baffert, who is currently banned from competing the Kentucky Derby due to a banned substances violation involving the trainer’s then victorious 2021 Derby horse, Medina Spirit. All in all, there has been enough controversy surrounding Baffert’s barn in recent years that it has called into question the legitimacy of both American Pharoah’s Triple Crown championship in 2015 and Justify’s subsequent Triple Crown title in 2018, both of which came via Baffert. However, I continue to believe both of those Triple Crown championships, especially Pharoah’s, were legitimate because quite frankly it pains me too much to think otherwise. Nevertheless, if I would have published this list five or six years ago, I probably would have had Pharoah in the top 10. Pharoah still holds a special place in my heart though not just because of his historic Triple Crown conquest in 2015 but also because I got to see his last race in person later that year in the Breeder’s Cup Classic in Keeneland, in which he absolutely dominated his competition en route to a six and a half length victory.

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14. Jimmer Fredette– I have been a massive Jimmer fan ever since he broke onto the national scene scene during his senior season at BYU back in 2010. He was truly one of the most dominant, unique, and entertaining college basketball players of the past 25 years. Yes, I realize his NBA career was a complete bust, but Jimmer continued to impress by going overseas and absolutely dominating the Chinese Basketball Association for the better part of a decade. Now, he has the chance to write one of the greatest redemption stories in the history of sport when he leads the United States’ 3 on 3 Olympic basketball team on its quest for a gold medal this summer in the Paris Olympics.

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13. Chris Fowler– Fowler may not be the greatest sports announcer/studio host of all-time, but he is definitely my all-time favorite. My attachment to him began in the early 1990’s when I started watching College Gameday long before it became the national sensation it is today. He never got a chance to offer his opinions much, but when he did, it was always spot on. I have particularly loved his consistent support and advocacy for Group of Five teams like Boise State and TCU, who are frequently bashed by other college football analysts on the network. What really sets Fowler apart from other great mainstream sports announcers though is his work in the game of tennis. My favorite sports are college football, college basketball, and professional tennis in that order, and over the years, Fowler has been one of the top announcers in both sports # 1 and 3.

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12. Jack Nicklaus– The Golden Bear was before my time, but there’s a lot to like about Jack. He’s humble, tough, and honest, which are three qualities not often found in golfers. He was also the author of the one of the greatest Cinderella stories in sports history, which is a tough role for someone considered “the greatest of all-time” to assume. However, his remarkable comeback victory in the 1986 Masters at the age of 45 is simply stuff of legend. Everyone assumed for years that Tiger would blow by Jack’s record of 18 major victories, but at this point, it is clear that Jack’s record, as well as his place as the greatest golfer of all-time, will remain intact for years to come.

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11. Stephen Curry– Steph is not only my favorite active basketball player, but he is a few months away from being my favorite active athlete altogether (see person # 2 below for more details on that). I have always loved Curry’s great underdog story, both at Davidson and in the NBA, as well as the long range shooting revolution he authored. I also feel a close personal attachment to Curry due to the fact that I got to see him play several times, in multiple intimate settings, while he was in college. Because I attended college and law school at nearby Wake Forest University and the Elon School of Law at the same time Curry was at Davidson, I saw Curry play in the SoCon finals against Elon in North Charleston in March of 2008. Then, a couple of weeks later, I witnessed the beginning of his magical tourney run, as Curry led the Wildcats to a thrilling First Round win over Gonzaga in nearby Raleigh. The next season I got to see Curry play in Elon’s tiny Alumni Gym as well as in the Greensboro Coliseum when the Wildcats matched up with the UNCG Spartans.

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10. Tim Henman– As much as I love the athletes and sportspersons listed above in the # 11-50 spots, we are entering sacred territory with the top 10. This final group of athletes and sportspersons are some of the most awe-inspiring in the history of on this planet and have had a great impact on me and my life as a sports fan. Let’s start with my favorite foreign sports star of my childhood, Timothy Henry Henman. You can probably tell from this list that I am a huge tennis fan, and Wimbledon is by far my favorite tennis tournament each year. The thing I love most about the tourney is not the grass or the tradition but is Great Britain’s obsession with having one of their own finally hoist the championship trophy. In fact, seeing a Brit win Wimbledon was one of the four sporting goals of my life that was finally realized by the # 2 player on this list. Henman was the one who lit that passion inside of me when he made his remarkable runs to the Wimbledon quarterfinals/semifinals almost every year between 1996 and 2004. He was not the most exciting character in the game, but it was always fun to see him use his old school serve and volley game to knock off much bigger and stronger players every year. Moreover, Henman’s epic five set victory over Paul Haarhuis on Wimbledon’s “Middle Sunday” in 1997 is still the most exciting tennis match I have ever seen, given the incredible fan atmosphere on Centre Court that day.

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9. Muhammad Ali– This may seem like a puzzling selection on my part, since I strongly disagree Ali’s political and religious ideologies. However, Ali is from my home state or Kentucky, he quite literally invented trash-talking, and he provided the world with some of the greatest moments and events in sports history. In fact, Ali’s 1975 victory over “Smokin” Joe Frazier in the “Thrilla in Manilla” is the greatest fight in the history of the sport in my opinion, and his 1974 win over George Foreman in the “The Rumble in the Jungle” is one of the greatest upsets in the history of the sport. Like I said earlier in this column, I love controversial sports characters who possess a certain degree of likability, and Muhammad Ali certainly has to rank at the top of that list.

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8. Babe Ruth– I hate the New York Yankees and don’t really like the Boston Red Sox either, but I still absolutely love George Herman Ruth. He’s the Paul Bunyan of sports in that his accomplishments have probably been embellished over the years (it is still unclear whether Ruth actually called his home run shot in the 1932 World Series), but the statistics he posted are so extraordinary that it makes all of the stories told him about him believable. Yes, this guy actually did hit more home runs than all but one other Major League team in 1920. And yes this guy is an all-time top 50 pitcher to go along with his amazing slugging accolades. There will never be another baseball player as good as Babe Ruth…ever (and yes, that includes the latest pitching/batting maestro Shohei Otani).

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7. Secretariat– Some people over years have ever asked me what is the most amazing thing you have ever seen in sports history, and there is only one answer I give- Secretariat’s 1973 Belmont domination. To provide the context of just how amazing this performance was, you have to consider that like athlete # 15 on this list (American Pharoah), Secretariat was trying to break a lengthy Triple Crown drought (25 years) that made many people wonder if the feat would ever happen again. He won two very close races prior to this in in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, both over his rival Sham, and there was concern that Sham may finally get the best of him in New York. Then, in the biggest race of his life, Secretariat ran the greatest race in the history of horse racing and completed the most dominant performance in the history of the sport. Before discussing just how dominant it was, you should know for contextual purposes that horse races are typically won by 0.5-3 lengths (4-24 feet) and track records are almost always broken by no more than 1/5 of a second. Therefore, if Secretariat, had won the 1973 Belmont by 7 or 8 lengths (56-64 feet) and broke the track record by one or two fifths of a second it would have been a historically dominant performance. Instead, Secretariat won the Belmont by 31 lengths (248 feet) and broke the track record by two full seconds! Proportionally, this would be the equivalent of Steph Curry scoring 200 points in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, Shohei Otani throwing a perfect game in the World Series while also hitting 5 home runs in the same game, or someone running a 7 second 100 meter dash in the Olympics. His performance was beyond the capabilities of what humans thought thoroughbreds were capable of doing, and as a result, many fans were reduced to tears upon watching this race. ESPN produced an excellent SportsCentury documentary that captures both the significance and the bewilderment of the 1973 Belmont. Beyond just this one race though, Secretariat was an extremely likable horse with a great team around him. His incredible story was captured most comprehensively in the 2010 Disney movie entitled “Secretariat” starring Diane Lane and John Malkovich.

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6. Andre Agassi– My passion for tennis originated with none other than Andre Agassi. He was the most unique and expressive athlete that the sport and ever seen, and his 1999 French Open title to complete career Grand Slam, after falling out of the top 100 in the world rankings a few years before, ranks as one of my all-time favorite sports moments.

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5. Larry Bird– He’s provided inspiration for slow, white, vertically challenged set shooters like myself for over thirty years now. With that being said, he was more than just a shooter. He was an incredible passer, a good ball handler, and a solid defender. The great Michael Jordan, who you will see on this list shortly, described Bird best by saying “He can’t jump, and he’s not quick, but you can’t increase your jumping ability or your quickness. He makes up for it by using his head, analyzing the opponent. It makes him better than the competition. Consequently, he doesn’t have a weakness.” Yeah I realize that it definitely helps to be 6’9” but no one worked harder than Bird and his accomplishments in both college at Indiana State and in the NBA are truly extraordinary.

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4. Tom Brady– From one Boston great at # 5 to another at # 4! As some of you know, my two favorite teams growing up were the Montreal Expos and New England Patriots. Both teams were awful at the time, but one went on to become a great sports dynasty while the other got shipped off to Washington D.C. The Patriot’s first Super Bowl victory was one of the greatest sports moments of my life, and Brady was the guy who led them there. His 7 career Super Bowl titles have firmly established him as the greatest football player of all-time and he also happened to play for the forementioned Montreal Expos in Major League Baseball as well!

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3. Mike Leach– I could go on and on for hours about my attachment to Mike Leach and how important of a person he was to my life, but I already wrote an entire article about that on the day he passed in December of 2022. Please read my tribute here.

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2. Andy Murray– Murray is without a doubt my favorite current athlete in the world today. His inclusion on this list has much to do with my # 10 favorite athlete of all-time Tim Henman. Tiger Tim gave the British public hope that one of their own could finally win Wimbledon, but Murray was the one who followed through with the 2013 Wimbledon Championship. Then, he followed that up with a second Wimbledon title in 2016, the very same weekend my son was born (I’ll let you take a guess as to what we named him)! Aside from being the guy who ended the country’s 76 year men’s championship drought, I love Murray’s attitude, personality, and the way he plays the game. His style is actually most similar to mine as any top player in my generation. He’s a beacon of consistency who likes to hit lobs, junk balls, and big first serves. His weaknesses are also similar to mine: second serves and playing down to his competition. Murray’s looming retirement, which is expected to come later this year, will be a very emotional time for me.

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1. Michael Jordan– It may seem cliche but like most kids growing up in the 90’s, I wanted to be like Mike. He’s the ultimate sports hero of my generation, pure and simple. They will be telling MJ stories for the next 100 years, just like they have been telling Babe Ruth stories for the last 100. His statistics aren’t nearly as impressive as other all-time greatest like Nicklaus, Ruth, and Gretzky, but his sheer refusal to lose big games makes him the greatest competitor to ever live. I will forever defend him when anyone challenges his status as basketball’s GOAT (great of all-time), especially the Lebron lovers who use recency bias and LBJ’s left-wing political activism to bolster their claim that he is somehow superior to Jordan. “The Last Dance” provided an incredible summation of just how good Jordan was.

I will end you all with this which should show you just how much sports mean to me:

• The passing of the # 3 person on the list (Mike Leach) was still the saddest death I have had to deal with in my first 39 years on this planet.

• I named my first and only son after the # 2 person on this list (Andy Murray).

• I have elected to live the vast majority of my adult life in the hometown (Wilmington, NC) of my # 1 person on this list (Michael Jordan).

Some may look at these three facts and say that my sports fanaticism is irrational but I just go back to the quote from the great theater critic Richard Gilman: “Being a sport fan is a complex matter, in part irrational but not unworthy; a relief from the seriousness of the real world, with its unending pressures and often graven obligations”. Please feel free to comment or debate on any of the entries above.

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