Who is best athlete ever in Boston/New England?

[FirstAndGoal]

There was an article a couple of years ago on Parrish itching to get back into basketball in some manner. At the time, nobody showed any interest in bringing him onboard. I have no idea what has transpired since that article.

Regards,
Chris

He wasn't known as the most likable guy but then again, neither was Bird.

 

[scout]

I'm not saying there's any specific bias, I just think it's interesting. I don't think there are many sports towns where you took the top ten athletes in their history and have only two (sorry) be black. It's just funny how that worked out. Boston has a long rep of being a racist city, and most of the black sports fans I know reflexively root against the Celtics and Red Sox.

The consensus of the best athlete is either Orr or Russell. In hockey, there were no black athletes during that era, nor any dominant in its history. Russell is black, he also was the first black coach in the NBA. The record for blacks on the celtics is well documented. What black player would rival Ted Williams during his era? That was the problem with baseball as a whole. In addition, Boston did have a racist owner who wouldn't sign black players, most notably Jackie Robinson. So yes, there was a problem with the Red Sox and its relation to black athletes. Did you want to compare any other major city to see if there was a discrepancy. How about NY, Detroit, Philly? Generally, your going to find the same results with a few exceptions.

 

[maverick4]

I read Bill Russell's autobiography, 'Second Wind' I believe is the book.

If you guys don't respect 11 Championships in 13 Years and continually beating every challenger to the throne, then consider this:

- Russell was a 2-time NCAA champion for a team that I believe was like a bunch of scrubs.
- Russell basically invented shot-blocking and I believe also jump shots. He was instrumental in a new kind of fast-break basketball. His innovations, as well as his amazing court intelligence and defense were better than ANYONE.
- Russell basically never lost a game 7 or any important game, for that matter.
- Russell, willingly sacrificed his stats in order to win, and this guy almost never lost.

Russell is heads and shoulders above any other Boston athlete, if Brady wins 6 rings then he may challenge.

 

[patsfan13]

I read Bill Russell's autiobiography, 'Second Wind' I believe is the book.

If you guys don't respect 11 Championships in 13 Years and continually beating every challenger to the throne, then consider this:

- Russell was a 2-time NCAA champion for a team that I believe was like a bunch of scrubs.
- Russell basically invented shot-blocking and I believe also jump shots. He was instrumental in a new kind of fast-break basketball. His innovations, as well as his amazing court intelligence and defense were better than ANYONE.
- Russell basically never lost a game 7 or any important game, for that matter.
- Russell, willingly sacrificed his stats in order to win, and this guy almost never lost.

Russell is heads and shoulders above any other Boston athlete, if Brady wins 6 rings then he may challenge.

Very well said. I could not agree more. Brady reminds me of Russell in his focus on winning over his individual stats, but Russell was great beyond the court not just on it. May be the smartest athlete in the history of his sport also.

 

[maverick4]

Very well said. I could not agree more. Brady reminds me of Russell in his focus on winning over his individual stats, but Russell was great beyond the court not just on it. May be the smartest athlete in the history of his sport also.

Russell was a very smart man, his daughter is a grad of Harvard and Harvard Law I believe.

 

[kriskanos]

I hope people who vote don't just count playoff stuff because Rice and Yaz would get little votes despite superb careers in Boston but really never sniffed a Championship.

Never sniffed one? I'd say Yaz sniffed 2 in 67 and 75.

 

[Bostonian1962]

A solid #3, every time. I think Most agree that it's

1a Orr
1b Gretz
3 Howe
4 Lemieux

I agree with that. Orr will go down as the best of all time. Both he and Gretz were wizards with the puck, but Orr was much stronger and tougher. He was also better defensively. He defied gravity and physics. I like your order.

 

[groundgame]

Best: Bill Russell (is there any further discussion)
Best recognized New England athlete throughout the world in their time: Francis Oiumet (golfer, approx. 1913-1940) First American golf superstar, and 1st US golfer to win US Open (@ TCC / Brookline, MA) as Amatuer in 1913 U.S. Open.

 

[RayClay]

I'm not saying there's any specific bias, I just think it's interesting. I don't think there are many sports towns where you took the top ten athletes in their history and have only two (sorry) be black. It's just funny how that worked out. Boston has a long rep of being a racist city, and most of the black sports fans I know reflexively root against the Celtics and Red Sox.

What an incredibly unnecessary and unintelligent post.

Besides voting for Russell as best ever, should i put in a shout for Pumpsie Green?

If you can find a black hockey player who's better than Bobby Orr I'm all ears.

 

[RayClay]

I agree, but only if we stipulate that Babe Ruth is not a New England athlete.

He was on 3 Red Sox championship teams. They've won two since then.

 

[upstater1]

HAHAHAHA!!

All but one of them are WHITE!

Oh man. Boston Boston Boston.

Hahahahaha.

We deserve our rep, fellas.

Hmmm, you're pretty racist. You have a problem with the Celtics being the first ever team with an all back starting 5? Auerbach was instrumental in introducing black players into the NBA. Making fun of his accomplishments is idiotic. And why? Because the Celtics happened to play a bunch of white guys in the 80s? Yeah, those white guys were Larry Bird, McHale, Walton, Ainge. Guys that were the best at their positions. What ignorance. Just because a guy is white doesn't mean he stinks.

If you notice, Ted Williams was putting up his numbers before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier. Post Robinson, the best Red Sox are a mix of races, Jim Rice, Carl Yaz, Luis Tiant, Pedro, David Ortiz. So don't give me racism there. Ted Williams was better than all these players.

Hockey. Um, yeah.

As for football, maybe we should trade Brady for Jason Campbell to prove we're not racist.

And then we'll ask Deval Patrick to admit he's black, because surely he hid that fact when he was elected governor.

Who's the real racist here anyway?

 

[kriskanos]

I dont know if I am the first to mention these 2 but they definitely belong in the discussion.....Rocky Marciano(only undefeated champ 46-0) and Marvelous Marvin Hagler.

 

[Seymour93]

I'm not saying there's any specific bias, I just think it's interesting. I don't think there are many sports towns where you took the top ten athletes in their history and have only two (sorry) be black. It's just funny how that worked out. Boston has a long rep of being a racist city, and most of the black sports fans I know reflexively root against the Celtics and Red Sox.

Do they root against the Patriots too? As Jason Whitlock pointed out, currently the Pats are one of the whitest teams the NFL.

 

[kriskanos]

I say we are well represented in every major sport and should be very proud. Just a few examples

Red Sox- T. Williams, Yaz, Fisk, Rice,Dewey,Cy Young(forgot him huh?)

Celtics- Russell,Cousy,Havlicek,Cowens, Bird, Mchale

Patriots- John Hannah, Tom Brady, Bruschi, Moss, Vrabel,Seymour

Bruins- Orr, Esposito, Neely,Bourque

Boxing- Rocky Marciano, Marvin Hagler

 

[AzPatsFan]

Which athlete is THE BEST ever in the history of Boston/New England Sports?

Babe Ruth !!!

And you didn't even inlcude him as a chooice. ...Kumquat! :bricks:

 

[PatsSteve1]

Man, I've been reading thru the posts(maybe I shouldn't have done that and just chosen a guy) and trying to decide who my top pick would be and I can't do it. If you go literal with "best athlete" I don't think even Brady would say he's that good an athlete - Guy can't run for nothing. I will say that those that dismiss Bobby Orr are wrong. He's maybe the only guy I can remember watch play with my mouth hanging open wondering how he could be that much better than anyone else. Russell was amazing because he always seemed to do what was needed for his teams to win. Williams could hit better than anyone else. I could go on about others.
I guess the really good thing is that, IMO, there's been these guys that played in Boston that make it so tough to decide. It could be argued the best basketball player(Russell), the best hockey player(Orr), the best hitter(Williams), the best middlewieght(Hagler) and the guy who may end up being considered the best QB(Brady) all played in Boston/NE.

 

[PatsSteve1]

I do have a question. Since his son passed away, has Teddy Ballgame been freed from that Arizona hell he's been in? That situation just totally grossed me out.

I have no idea or ever heard anything so I assume(always dangerous) he's still on ice.

 

[Patriotic Fervor]

What he said. Orr changed the way the game was played. He was that good.

I can't think of another athlete in any sport that I could say that about.

I once saw Orr literally split the defense with a wag of his head (he scored on that play)!

Having 10 speeds of fast, he was always a threat to take control of a game at any given time.

Too bad he didn't get the chance to play for Don Cherry's teams. That would have been entertaining!

In terms of athletic prowess and mental grip of his game, the nod has to go to Orr.

 

[sanvara]

Cuz it was a long time ago and today's NFL athletes are, by far and away, are a more athletic collection of humans than the NBA was during Russell's day.

That's insane. Russell was a freak athletically, best defensive NBA player of all time and much more athletic than Brady. And he won ELEVEN RINGS.

 

[sanvara]

I've seen plenty of clips of Russell and I would put him second to Orr, which is in no way a bad thing. Yes winning is important but that's like saying that Derek Jeter is a greater player than Ted Williams was

No it's not. Baseball can't be dominated by one player day in and day out, but basketball can be because it 5 on 5 and a single great player in basketball has a much greater impact than a single player in football, baseball or hockey.