Can you name the top N. American 100 greatest athletes of the 20th century (ESPN SportsCentury)? - sporcle

Can you name the top N. American 100 greatest athletes of the 20th century (ESPN SportsCentury)? Enter an athlete (last names acceptable) in the box below Correctly named athletes will show up in the table below Answers do not have to be guessed in order Source: espn You have 12 minutes to guess after you click the button below.	Popular trivia games today Fast Math 2 23892 One-Word #1 Songs 19346 Political Parties with Electoral Votes 9521 Sports Figures In Other Words 8521 Vowel-less Book Titles 7831 Four Letter Things 7246 Populated Neighboring Countries 4390 And more...
Ready? Click to Start Enter athlete: 0/100 athletes correct	Time remaining:

Rank	Athlete	Sport
1		Basketball
2		Baseball
3		Boxing
4		Football
5		Hockey
6		Track & Field
7		Football & Track
8		Baseball
9		Golf
10		Golf & Track
11		Boxing
12		Track & Field
13		Basketball
14		Baseball
15		Baseball
16		Baseball
17		Basketball
18		Basketball
19		Tennis
20		Baseball
21		Hockey
22		Baseball
23		Track & Field
24		Boxing
25		Football
26		Basketball
27		Football
28		Football
29		Golf
30		Basketball
31		Hockey
32		Football
33		Swimming
34		Baseball

Rank	Athlete	Sport
35		Horce Racing
36		Basketball
37		Baseball
38		Golf
39		Football
40		Football
41		Track & Field
42		Baseball
43		Basketball
44		Golf
45		Tennis
46		Speed Skating
47		Track & Field
48		Tennis
49		Football
50		Tennis
51		Boxing
52		Boxing
53		Track & Field
54		Diving
55		Hockey
56		Baseball
57		Horse Racing
58		Basketball
59		Tennis
60		Baseball
61		Baseball
62		Basketball
63		Baseball
64		Football
65		Tennis
66		Horce Racing
67		Baseball
68		Track & Field

Rank	Athlete	Sport
69		Speed Skating
70		Football
71		Baseball
72		Baseball
73		Baseball
74		Football
75		Football
76		Football
77		Baseball
78		Track & Field
79		Football
80		Indy Car Racing
81		Tennis
82		Hockey
83		Baseball
84		Horse Racing
85		Hockey
86		Football
87		Boxing
88		Football
89		Baseball
90		NASCAR Racing
91		Track & Field
92		Indy Car Racing
93		Football
94		Basketball
95		Football
96		Track & Field
97		Horse Racing
98		Tennis
99		Golf
100		Boxing

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There are 141 comments for this game.
(Warning: comments may contain spoilers)

ESPN Greatest Athletes

Rating:	Share
Created by: Ben
Plays: 116,837
Published: July 16th, 2009
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Tags: N America, sport, rank, sportscentury, century, 20th, 100, america, top, athlete, greatest, espn

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	oui_dodo:	Jul 16th, 2009 at 19:29 GMT	11 points
	A horse is an athlete, but a soccer player is not?

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	Bijan:	Jul 16th, 2009 at 19:36 GMT	13 points
	It's kind of nice to see a sports quiz without Tiger Woods, Peyton Manning, Lebron James, Tom Brady, and Albert Pujols. I guess they'll have to wait until 2100.

	Rom:	Jul 16th, 2009 at 19:37 GMT	-4 points
	Why is there a star for Mario Lemieux?

	drn211:	Jul 16th, 2009 at 19:37 GMT	44 points
	@finsfan Do you not know what North America is. Pele would be from South America and therefore not count in this quiz.

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	dmfratus:	Jul 16th, 2009 at 19:40 GMT	25 points
	The name of the quiz is top 100 NORTH AMERICAN athletes of the 20TH CENTURY. Hence, great soccer players like Pele and David Beckham would be disqualified. I would have to say that many horses are better athletes than most N. American soccer players.

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	s1rweeze:	Jul 16th, 2009 at 19:41 GMT	-3 points
	Pele isn't from North America. Should his three years for the Cosmos in the 70s make it on here?

	s1rweeze:	Jul 16th, 2009 at 19:41 GMT	19 points
	Still, what a strange list. Joe Namath? Really?

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	Annie:	Jul 16th, 2009 at 19:44 GMT	-2 points
	@Rom: I think you can change it after a few minutes.

	bmo1616:	Jul 16th, 2009 at 19:50 GMT	18 points
	Joe Namath career stats- 173 TD's to 220 Interceptions, 27,000 yds. passing, career QB rating of 65.5. I think Brady and Manning just being born in the 20th century makes them greater 20th century athletes than Namath lol.

	Mr_Negative:	Jul 16th, 2009 at 19:50 GMT	14 points
	@dmfratus LOL @ David Beckham being a "great soccer player".

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	austin5string:	Jul 16th, 2009 at 19:57 GMT	3 points
	These are the quizzes that make me feel really dumb when I finally give up and see how many I SHOULD have gotten. And I'm not quite sure I buy a horse as being an athlete.

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	DRB:	Jul 16th, 2009 at 20:06 GMT	11 points
	Horse is not spelled horce. (Twice!) I don't know much about US sports, but I think Michael Johnson should be higher. He dominated 200m and 400m for many years and set world records that lasted a long while (considering how quickly many of them fall these days.) Maybe some people meant to vote for him but accidentally went for Michael Jordan or Magic Johnson...

	MLew10:	Jul 16th, 2009 at 20:06 GMT	27 points
	Did anyone else get Sugar Ray Robinson by typing "Smith"?

	shnubby:	Jul 16th, 2009 at 20:07 GMT	1 point
	The reason Namath is on the list is his superbowl iii prediction.

	Nuclear_Knuckles:	Jul 16th, 2009 at 20:10 GMT	6 points
	Shnubby, exactly, which is a terrible reason. (Although his stats were more impressive than they seem now, because the passing game has changed so much -- it's not like he was a bum.)

	Tank:	Jul 16th, 2009 at 20:13 GMT	3 points
	I was glad that it accepted 'The Golden Bear,' because for the life of me I couldn't spell his last name right.

	Morbo:	Jul 16th, 2009 at 20:18 GMT	5 points
	@Knuckles: Obviously, any athlete that transcends the playing field is going to be more relevant and rank higher than someone who was simply a good athlete. Personally, I think Babe Ruth should have gotten the top spot. But you can make a case for any of the top six on this list as No. 1. All of them were both phenomenal athletes and cultural icons.

	Morbo:	Jul 16th, 2009 at 20:20 GMT	5 points
	I also noticed that it accepted "One" for Gretzky (got it while trying for Shaquille O'Neal). Any other nicknames that are accepted?

	Evan:	Jul 16th, 2009 at 20:22 GMT	4 points
	yes i got sugar ray robinson by typing smith, however i was more shocked that Emmitt Smith didnt make the list, really??

	Morbo:	Jul 16th, 2009 at 20:27 GMT	4 points
	@Evan: I don't think Emmitt had gotten the record yet when this list was released. Seems like, with a few exceptions in individual sports, they tried to shy away from active athletes.

	Morbo:	Jul 16th, 2009 at 20:28 GMT	1 point
	Also found another nickname -- "Sweetness" for Walter Payton. Clay is also accepted for Ali, and Alcindor for Kareem. And thank god for that, too, since I get tripped up on the spelling of Abdul-Jabbar all the time.

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	Isstvan:	Jul 16th, 2009 at 20:32 GMT	4 points
	I do like how horse racing (or even horce racing) can refer to either the jockey or the horse.

	nearlyextinct:	Jul 16th, 2009 at 20:34 GMT	0 points
	What about Cal Ripken?

	kevmurph55:	Jul 16th, 2009 at 20:40 GMT	4 points
	if u could have a favs list, this would be 1 on mine

	LTH:	Jul 16th, 2009 at 20:55 GMT	3 points
	ARGHH! I typed in Kersee and Jabbar and got nothing, when I should have typed Joyner-Kersee and Abdul-Jabbar.

	Padoza:	Jul 16th, 2009 at 21:07 GMT	19 points
	Ken: All the names you mentioned cemented their legacy in the 21st Century. As well, Federer is Swiss and Lewis is British. It would be wise to read the titles of Sporcle quizzes!