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Excuse the mess. We're doing some extensive house cleaning. Enjoy the lists in the meantime...

Greatest Athlete of All-Time

Michael Jordan
Proclaimed by the National Basketball Association (NBA) as the "greatest player of all time", Jordan was one of the most effectively marketed athletes of his generation, and was instrumental in popularizing the NBA around the world in the 1980s and 1990s.

Career Highlights include:

14x All-Star (1985-1993, 1996-1998, 2002-2003) 
5x MVP (1988, 1991, 1992, 1996, 1998) 
6x Finals MVP (1991-1993, 1996-1998) 
1985 Rookie of the Year 
1988 Defensive Player of the Year 
3x All-Star Game MVP (1988, 1996, 1998) 
2x NBA Slam Dunk Contest winner (1987, 1988) 
10x All-NBA First Team selection 
9x NBA All-Defensive Team selection 
NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team 
1982 ACC Freshman of the Year 
1984 ACC Men's Basketball Player of the Year 
1984 USBWA College Player of the Year 
1984 Naismith College Player of the Year 
1984 John R. Wooden Award 
1984 Adolph Rupp Trophy 
1991 Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year 
2000 ESPY Athlete of the Century 
1990's ESPY Male Athlete Decade Award 
1990's ESPY Pro Basketballer Decade Award
Tiger Woods
Woods has won 13 professional major golf championships, the second-most of any male player, and 63 PGA Tour events, the fourth-most of all time. He has more career major wins and career PGA Tour wins than any other active golfer. He is the youngest player to achieve the Career Grand Slam, and the youngest and fastest to win 50 tournaments on Tour. Woods has held the number one position in the world rankings for the most consecutive weeks and for the greatest total number of weeks. He has been awarded PGA Player of the Year a record nine times, the Byron Nelson Award for lowest adjusted scoring average a record eight times, and has tied Jack Nicklaus's record of leading the money list in eight different seasons. He has been named Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year four times, a record he shares with Lance Armstrong.
Jim Brown
Brown is best known for his exceptional and record-setting nine-year career as a Fullback for the NFL Cleveland Browns from 1957 to 1965. He is widely considered the best running back of all time; in 2002 he was named by The Sporting News as the greatest professional football player ever. Uniquely, Brown was every bit as good a lacrosse player, with the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame stating that he was "widely considered to be the greatest lacrosse player ever." Sportswriter Bert Sugar named Brown #1 in his book The Greatest Athletes of All Time.
Babe Ruth
Named the greatest baseball player in history in various surveys and rankings, his home run hitting prowess and charismatic personality made him a larger than life figure in the "Roaring Twenties". He was the first player to hit 60 home runs in one season (1927), a record which stood for 34 years until broken by Roger Maris in 1961. Ruth's lifetime total of 714 home runs at his retirement in 1935 was a record for 39 years, until broken by Hank Aaron in 1974.

In 1936, Ruth became one of the first five players elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. In 1969, he was named baseball's Greatest Player Ever in a ballot commemorating the 100th anniversary of professional baseball. In 1998, The Sporting News ranked Ruth Number 1 on the list of "Baseball's 100 Greatest Players." According to ESPN, he was the first true American sports celebrity superstar whose fame transcended baseball.
Pele
He is the all-time top scorer in the history of the Brazil national team and is the only footballer to be a part of three World Cup-winning teams. Pele is rated by many as the greatest footballer of all time. He was given the title of Athlete of the Century by the International Olympic Committee and jointly received FIFA Player of the Century chosen by officials at the organisation, shared with Diego Maradona who won the people's vote.
Roberto Alomar
Alomar is considered by many to be one of the best second basemen in history. He holds the record for most Gold Glove awards at that position, and has also won the second most Silver Slugger awards for a second baseman.
Muhammad Ali
Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee!   No need to say more.
Jesse Owens
Owens participated in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany, where he achieved international fame by winning four gold medals: one each in the 100 meters, the 200 meters, the long jump, and as part of the 4x100 meter relay team.
Mark Spitz
He holds the record for most gold medals won in a single Olympic Games (seven), which he set at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany.

Between 1965 and 1972, Spitz won 9 Olympic gold medals, 1 silver, and 1 bronze; 5 Pan American golds; 31 National U.S. Amateur Athletic Union titles; and 8 U.S. National Collegiate Athletic Association Championships. During those years, he set 33 world records.
Lance Armstrong
He won the Tour de France seven consecutive times, from 1999 to 2005.Previous to this achievement he also survived testicular cancer, a germ cell tumor that metastasized to his brain and lungs in 1996. His cancer treatments included brain and testicular surgery, and extensive chemotherapy.

In 1999, he was named ABC's Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year. In 2002, Sports Illustrated magazine named him Sportsman of the Year. He was also named Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year for 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005. He received ESPN's ESPY Award for Best Male Athlete in 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006, and won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Overseas Personality Award in 2003. Armstrong retired from racing on July 24, 2005, at the end of the 2005 Tour de France.
Matt Jones
At the NFL combine he measured 6'6", 237 pounds, ran a 4.41 40 yard dash, and had a 42" vertical jump.
Jim Thorpe
Played professional football, baseball & basketball.  Won gold medals in Decathalon and Pentathalon
Wilt Chamberlain
Chamberlain holds numerous official NBA all-time records, setting records in many scoring, rebounding and durability categories. Among others, he is the only player in NBA history to average more than 40 and 50 points in a season or score 100 points in a single NBA game. He also won seven scoring, nine field goal percentage, and eleven rebounding titles, and once even led the league in assists.[3] Although suffering a long string of professional losses,[4] Chamberlain had a successful career, winning two NBA titles, earning four regular-season Most Valuable Player awards, one NBA Finals MVP award, and being selected to 13 All-Star Game games and ten All-NBA First and Second teams.[2][5] Chamberlain was subsequently enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1978, elected into the NBA's 35th Anniversary Team of 1980, and chosen as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History of 1996.[5]
Eric Davis
He was a two-time National League All-Star and Golden Glove Winner while playing for the Cincinnati Reds and a Pro-Bowler and and All-Bowler while in the NFL playing for 49ers', Panthers, Broncos, and Lions.
Ken Griffey Jr.
He is one of the most prolific home run hitters in baseball history. His nicknames have been "The Natural", "The Kid", and "Junior". 

Most Valuable Player Award winner (1997) 
7x Silver Slugger Award winner (1991, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999) 
10x Gold Glove Award winner (1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999) 
13x All-Star selection (1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2007) 
Led AL in runs in 1997 
Led AL in total bases in 1993 and 1997 
Led AL in home runs in 1994, 1997, 1998, and 1999 
Led AL in runs batted in in 1997
Usain Bolt
In the 2008 Olympic 100 m final, Bolt broke his own world record, winning in 9.69 seconds, and he was well ahead of second-place finisher Richard Thompson, who finished in 9.89 s.  He not only destroyed the field and set a world record in the meantime, he visibly slowed down to celebrate before he finished and review of the race showed his shoelace was untied.  A few days later he set a second world record in the 200 m final in a time of 19.30, breaking Michael Johnson's world record many said would never be matched.  Not finished yet, Bolt set a third world record in his third event in the 4X100 relay with a time of 37.10 - beating the previous world record by three tenths of a second.  Three events, three golds, three world records.

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