Tom Brady and Martin Brodeur.
Reasons:
(1) Championships - Each has three. 'Nuff said.
(2) Statistics - Brodeur always ranks amongst the league leaders in Goals Against and Save Percentage, and does again this season. Though his stats are usually not particularly gaudy in the Marino/Manning sense, entering the 2006 season, Brady was the 7th rated passer ALL-TIME.
(3) Position - The positions of quarterback and goalie are the two positions most judged by how many rings the player has - just ask Dan Marino, Peyton Manning, and Dominick Hasek (who finally ridded himself of the 500 lb. gorilla). No other positions' "legacies" are as contingent upon championships; inherently, they are the most valuable positions in sports.
(4) Intangibles - When I think of players that have the PROVEN ability to elevate the level of play of their teammates, these are the players that come to mind. I don't mean this in the typical basketball sense of getting your teammates involved (ala Steve Nash, etc.), but rather in the sense that the entire team seems to ebb and flow with them, and rally around them at the same time. They have an almost mystical property about them that allows them to transcend the game and bring otherwise nondescript teammates along with them. It is this comfort level they provide by their consistent and clutch play that seems to put their teammates at ease to simply do what they have to do to win games as opposed to having to worry about not screwing up. It is this uncanny ability to win, year in-year out, without regard to who their teammates are, and to inspire whatever teammates they have in those particular years to elevate their games to levels seemingly far above what they would be able to do otherwise that sets them apart from anyone else in the four major sports today.
NOTE: In my opinion, but for the facts that he is on the downside of his career, has been injured, and is no longer the MVP of his own team, Shaquille O'Neal MUST be mentioned in the same breath as Marty and Tom. Who else is on their level? Kobe? Jeter?
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3 comments:
I would contend that even though I hate the guy Brady is in the elite class of most valuable players among the 4 major...ahhh rather 3 major sports (sorry marcus but hockey is fallen off so bad that it should not even be televised anymore)!!!
I believe we are witnessing one of the greatest winners of all time in Brady.
The next most valuable player in the 3 major sports for me...I would have to look to Jeter again solely for his contributions in winning (although not of late) he again is the Tom Brady of baseball!
As an honorable mention and a future all time MVP of any sport I am going to put Lebron James' name in as an early bid because I feel he could be the best bball player of all time when it said and done but he needs to build a 'Bulls-like' dynasty in Cleveland and I think with his sheer dominance he could possibly do that.
If Arod new how to produce again and started a streak of helping to win WS rings and was the best player on the team then I would also put him in the category...but he has fallen off in those regards!!!
Well Marcus, since I don't know nearly enough about Hockey as you do, I cannot argue or elaborate your opinion on Brodeur. I respect your opinion.
Salats, it's nice to say early candide like LeBron James however he has not won anything yet. I understand he's only 22 years old, but the man needs to win a play off series before we even think about breathing his name.
So to answer your question, Shaq without question is the most valuable player in basketball in the "Post Jordan" era. 3 rings in LA and 1 in Miami. Although Kobe is great, he hasn't won anything since Shaq has left, and i'm thinking he wont ever again, unless he gets a great player along side him. I understand Dwayne Wade (my favorite NBA player) plays with Shaq, but Shaq makes Wade what he is. If the play offs started right now, Miami would not make it. Simple reason, no Shaq all year, Wade can't do that by himself. Watch Miami fly up to the 5 seed by playoff time. Shaq will be ready.
The second person is Jeter, and the man needs no explanation.
Don't get me wrong, I know LeBron has nothing to show for as far as winning and championships (he may never do those with Cleveland but he will do them somewhere...).
To me my sole basis on this dicussion is championships and winning...stat wise you will see better players than Jeter and Brady no question but the level at which they win at doesn't compare to really anyone else.
I would also switch the conversation to open it up to the truest most valuable players in there own sports which may trump that of the 3 major sports and that is Tiger Woods and Roger Federer (sp?). These guys are untouchable and we are witnessing probably the two best athletes to ever play there respective sports which to me is pretty amazing.
Going back to the topic though I have to put Brady and Jeter ahead of others. I love Shaq and have since Jordan left the game and Schof is on point with him being the MVP of that sport "post jordan"...but if we are talking right now this moment I think Shaq is towards the end of his career and isn't able to do what he once did. I have the same arguement for ARod too, several years ago I think we would have all put ARod on that mountain even though he never won anything...now he can't be put on that same level!!!
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