Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, and Jimmie Johnson have each won 7 NASCAR championships. Johnson is still racing but nearing the end of his career. No one else presently racing is anywhere near these records.
Yep, when the Yankees did that there were only 8 teams in the AL. 10 beginning in 1960. Still, win your league, straight to the world series. No playoffs. That didn't begin until 1969. Still the Oakland A's won three straight world series titles 1972-74. But with only the divisional playoffs. The Yankees pulled off a three peat between 1998-2000 only to lose in 2001 in their fourth straight appearance in 7 games. In those last four there were two tiers of playoffs, the ALDS and the ALCS prior to the world series. I'm not sure if it's free agency or the additional tiers of playoffs that won't let another team win five straight championship. Probably both.
The thing about Free Agency is if you manage to build a Super Team (capable of winning that many in a row) you could never afford to pay market value.
Pele notched a record 760 official goals and 1,281 goals overall. Reuters dubbed him "Athlete of the Century" in 1999.
The Yankees did it by raising their own in their farm system and smart trades. At one time I think the Yankees had something like 10 farm teams. It started out with AAA, AA, A, B, C, D and rookie leagues. The yanks usually had three Class C and three class D teams, two class B teams. Until the minors was reorganized with class D becoming the rookie leagues, B and C done away or designated short and long season. Lots of changes besides free agency.
Also, with only 8 teams the talent wasn't spread as thin. If a team had good homegrown players they didn't have to worry about losing them via free agency.
Exactly. The Yankees seem to have more farm teams than any other team. They could take their time in bringing them up to the big time also. They also had many more scouts to evaluate talent. They may not have paid their players much, but they did invest heavily in development and scouts. To show you how old I am, I do remember a time when most players had to work during the off season. For the fan, not having free agency, you knew you would be able to go to the ball park and see your favorite player for many years unless he was traded. No matter how good or bad the Braves were, you could count on going to see Spahn, Matthews, Aaron, Adcock every year.
I personally think Cristiano Ronaldo's goal record of 706 goals in 984 games is far superior. Simply phenomenal.
Of course I won't. They too played in the age of hockey players that smoked on the bench when it wasn't their shift, and goalies would throw the game to get the next week off.
Has anyone ever scored a 155 break in snooker? Indeed, Higgins is said to be one of the few players in snooker history to have scored a break of 155 — rather remarkable as the 'maximum' is generally considered to be 147. But a 155 is possible, although it requires exceptional circumstances.Jul 26, 2010 But a 155 is possible, although it requires exceptional circumstances. A foul stroke must be committed by an opponent, which leaves the non-offender snookered on all 15 reds. By nominating a colour as an ‘extra red’, then taking a subsequent black — and then adding the ‘normal’ 15 reds, 15 blacks and colours, the player would then complete the rarest of snooker breaks. A mistake from his opponent before a ball had been potted gave Higgins his chance, and one free ball, 15 reds and 16 blacks later he had made history. Unfortunately for Higgins, this feat was not achieved in a regular competition and is therefore not officially recorded. Of course this is the greatest player ever Alex "Hurricane Higgins" and not the cheat... modern era Higgins.
That break required a free ball which meant he was able to nominate a colour as a red then pot the black which gave him the extra 8 points. The points for the foul seem not to have been included in the break.
He scored a 155 break. A simple matter of fact. He got the free ball, he pocketed the free ball which counts as a red (no matter what colour it is) he is then permitted to go for a colour - the black.. this is a total of 8 points, he is still on the table and clears the whole table of balls. 15 reds and blacks to follow.. (because of the foul and free shot he has 16 reds) he totally, literally clears the table with max points for every shot. This is total clearance of 155 points in one visit to the table - this is not a fluke, not cheating and not irrational.. a simple matter of playing the game and getting maximum points. Unless the logic is ... 5 goals in soccer, 2 are penaltys = only 3 goals??? The score is 3 goals.????
I'm not denying it. Higgins was one of my heroes. Doctor's note to excuse him from wearing a tie, I wish I'd thought of that when I was at school. Always went for the shot if it was on, he probably would have won more if he'd played safety shots more often. It wasn't that he wasn't any good at safety shots, he just liked to entertain the crowd. Always smacked the last black in at full power. Dad didn't like him because he was a bit of a thug. He headbutted the referee on one occasion. That just made me like him even more.
I agree with your comments on Alex Higgins. He is my all-time favourite. I love Mavericks. I see you are not denying it. I was just laying it out.. seems to have attitude but that is not my intention.
To be blunt, I have never seen a Cricket match. But including Baseball, my vote goes to none other than Ty Stofflet. Ty is not all that well known to your typical baseball fan, however in the world of Fast Pitch softball he is a legend. And he pitched against the world's best softball teams. And even against Major League top hitters. He still holds the record for the fastest ever pitch with any form of baseball. Faster than any of the pro players who ever played Baseball at the Pro or any level. And he struck out a staggering number of players. Hand him the ball and his team automatically won. Watch him pitch.
Except, he's not finished yet. He'll break his own record before he's finished. Probably break Federer's total GS wins as well.
Then Djoker will break NADAL on total slams. Djoker has 18 or so. Federer has only won 4 slams the last 11 years and has been passed is prime from (2003-2009) for a while.
Djokovic has 17, Nadal 19 and Federer has 20. Federer is out of this years French open with a knee injury.
I gotta go with Secretariat's record-shattering Triple Crown run in 1973. That year Big Red set the track records at the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and finally at his jaw-dropping performance in the Belmont Stakes (above). 47 years later he still holds the records for all three Triple Crown races, and it's possible they may stand forever.
If we are talking horse racing then Frankie Dettori deserves a mention for winning all 7 races on British Champion's Day at Ascot. Unlikely to ever be repeated.
