Masters of the game. Review on Ten Favorite Sports Personalities

In addition to offering a source of recreation and enjoyment Sports also provide a platform to  push the limits of physical and mental endurance.Every sport when played at the highest level requires enormous amounts of skill, talent, strength of character and dedication.It is those, who possess all these qualities along with the rare characteristic of coming up trumps in the face of huge odds, they go on to become the masters of the game.

It is true that coming up with 10 names from a reservoir of champions is an uphill task.Over the decades, hundreds of such champions have brought glory to themselves, their fans and their nations by their superlative exploits in various sporting arena.The following few names are ones among them who are beyond the realm of numbers and statistics and who have not only mastered but redefined their respective games, hence the greatest ever.

Lance Armstrong-(the true fighter) The Tour de France is arguably the most gruelling of races in the whole world.This US born cyclist has won it seven consecutive times from 1999 to 2005.But that's not all, at the peak of his cycling years he was suddenly diagnosed with cancer in his testicles, lungs and brain in 1996.Luckily, he successfully defeated the cancer and came back to cycling tournaments in his all conquering avatar again.Such tenacity to fight adversities makes him my single most favourite sportsperson.(His Autobiography "It's not about the bike" is a must read.)

Michael Jordan-(His Airness) Think of basketball and the first thing that comes to mind is slam dunk action.Jordan was the best in this business, hence his nickname.He was a complete player being exceptional in both defense and almost God like in attack.He was the reigning king of NBA in his hey days where he won 5 MVPs(Most Valuable Player for the whole season), 10  championships and so many other accomplishments.Well, with a career match average of 30.12 points per game he was always destined for absolute greatness.

Nadia Comaneci-(Perfectionist)  The year was 1976, the place was Montreal Olympics and the name on everybody's lips was Nadia.This 14 year old pleasant looking Romanian gymnast had conquered the unassailable, she had achieved "a perfect ten" in the uneven bars discipline, a feat she would later repeat it in 3 other disciplines in her multiple(4 in total) gold medal winning effort.This was not only her proudest moment, but such was the enormity of her achievement, it's also considered as the biggest moment in world gymnastics.

Donald Bradman-(The Don) The very fact that experts, fans and current players still hold him in such high regard  more than 50 years after he left the game, is testimony enough to the greatness of his achievements on the cricket field.In the days of uncovered pitches and no protective gear for the batsman whatsoever he amassed 6996 runs in 52 test matches at a staggeringly unbelievable average of 99.94(Couldn't make it touch 100 as he was out for a duck in his last innings).In addition to that he captained the original Invincibles team in 1948.His heavily scoring bat not only won matches for his side but also brought a lot of cheer and happiness to a whole nation(Australia) fighting with depression.No doubt he will always be the greatest Aussie sporting Icon.

Pele-(The Smiling Assasin) Football is the one truly global sport there is and to millions of followers it's much more than a sport, it's a religion and Edson Arantes De Nascimento(in short Pele) is a God.Born in a poor family in Brazil, Pele started his professional career with Santos(one of the top clubs in Brazil) at the age of 15 and went on to be an integral part of 3 world cup winning teams in his 2 decades long career.His artistry on the soccer field combined with his lightning fast bursts tormented the defenses of every team he played against.It was widely acknowledged that he had scored close to a thousand goals, roughly one goal per game played, when he hung up his boots.His appeal transcended national boundaries for instance, Civil war in Nigeria was halted for 48 hours by both sides involved in 1965 so that Pele can come and play in a game in Lagos.

Muhammad Ali-(the unlikely statesman) When Caussius Clay(later known as Ali) won a gold medal at the 1960 Rome olympics and turned pro his rollercoaster of a journey had just begun.He would often shoot his mouth off at the media and "I am the greatest" was his favourite punchline.Yet this rebel of a boxer made one of the most influential remarks of his era when he refused to be a part of the war in Vietnam and was subsequently vilified by the government.In the ring he personified the phrase"Sway like a butterfly, sting like a bee" and trampled opponents after opponents in knockouts.HIs bouts with Joe Frazier(another great boxer) are still discussed with a lot of passion and excitement by followers of the game almost 4 decades after they took place.Ali will always remain to be the biggest icon of boxing.

Roger Federer-(The Swiss Ace)Rarely has any player's domination over his competition been as complete as has been Roger's stranglehold on world tennis in the last 4-5 years.He really has the complete package,be it breathtaking ground strokes or thundering serves or even cunning volleys.The ease with which he decimates opponents in all kinds of surfaces(Grass, hard court or even clay) is the stuff legends are made of.13 grand slams, countless other records and another couple of years of serious tennis left in him has safely put him in the company of or, in my opinion, ahead of other greats like Sampras, Agassi, Bjorg, Laver and Connors.His duels with the incredible Nadal have truly been a highlight in world sports in the recent times.

Michael Phelps-(The Gold fish) Beijing 2008 was witness to one of the most superhumanly feat achieved in sports when theBaltimore Bullet(Phelps' screen name as they say) took to the pool as fish to water and won 8 golds.Add this to the 6 he won at Athens 4 years ago and he becomes the most decorated athlete in the history of Olympic games, by far.More than anything else it was the confidence he exuded, that was commendable, as if he was I no doubt whatsoever of achieving what he himself set out to."I don't want to become the second Spitz, I want to become the first Phepls" is what he said repeatedly in interviews.

Carl Lewis-(The American Express)Michael Phelps has done in the pool what King Carldid on the tracks 2 decades ago.It was the 1984 LA olympics where he equaled Jesse Owens' feat of 4 golds achieved in Munich 1932.Carl went on to win 9 olympic golds in his illustrious career that ended in 1996 and created many world records in 100m, 200m sprints and long jump as well.He was single handedly responsible for raising the profile of athletics in the US to what it is today.In an era where his sport was marred by charges of doping and foul play(The Ben Johnson incident in Seoul being the most highlighted) Carl helped clean up the image of Athletics.

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