Is winning a championship in sports overstated in terms

[Dr. Jack]

of individual greatness?

Is a championship in a team sport the #1 factor in determining if a player is an all-time great?

If your answer is yes, what are your thoughts on guys like Dan Marino, Charles Barkley or a Karl Malone vs. guys like Trent Dilfer, Derek Fisher and other average players with championships?

[Ricky Tan]

How does LeBron even get in the same conversation as Jordan is beyond me

[Ricky Tan]

Jim Kelly and the Bills were GREAT @ losing

[weazel079]

Team chemistry and who is playing hot at the right time is most important.

[revnecro1273]

i don't care about championships...overrated imo...you watch sports to be entertained...just like you do with movies...if a great movie doesn't win an academy award is it shit? hardly

[dave nz]

Sport is very fickle. At the high level very small amounts/margins and percentages seperate winning from losing. Hence too much emphasis is often placed on titles. This applies particularly in sports with a one off finals series eg March madness, NFL, FA cup, world cup of cricket, world cup of rugby, etc etc.

[mikkii10]

Originally Posted by revnecro1273

i don't care about championships...overrated imo...you watch sports to be entertained...just like you do with movies...if a great movie doesn't win an academy award is it shit? hardly

what you said is very true just because a player did not win the big game does not mean he is less than a great player

[Slammer]

Originally Posted by Ricky Tan

Jim Kelly and the Bills were GREAT @ losing

Losing what? I remember them winning most of their games and always being in the playoffs for a five or six year span.

[revnecro1273]

Originally Posted by Slammer

Losing what? I remember them winning most of their games and always being in the playoffs for a five or six year span.

i guess he was referring to the big dish

[Ricky Tan]

Originally Posted by Slammer

Losing what? I remember them winning most of their games and always being in the playoffs for a five or six year span.

Losing when it mattered most
unless they covered

[Slammer]

I think this whole mentality of grading teams and players by titles is getting a bit ridiculous. It's to the point now that when no title is won that it equals failure, even when losing a championship game.

Plenty of great athletes in all sports that never won championships. Shouldn't really lessen their accomplishments.

[Dr. Jack]

Agree 100% slammer. Great post

[dave nz]

Good post slammer. Take for example the Heat and Lebron, alot of criticism has come their way, after the finals loss. Even the word chockers. Aren't the real chockers, the teams with reasonable talent that either finished below .500 or didn't make the playoffs?

Chockers is another overused and incorrectly used phrase. They put themselves in the position to win, which is better than the vast majority of the rest of the field.

[revnecro1273]

Originally Posted by dave nz

Good post slammer. Take for example the Heat and Lebron, alot of criticism has come their way, after the finals loss. Even the word chockers. Aren't the real chockers, the teams with reasonable talent that either finished below .500 or didn't make the playoffs?

Chockers is another overused and incorrectly used phrase. They put themselves in the position to win, which is better than the vast majority of the rest of the field.

the thing with the heat and lebron james is the fact that there was so much hype

[dave nz]

Originally Posted by revnecro1273

the thing with the heat and lebron james is the fact that there was so much hype

Yep and they did alot of their own mouthing. I was just using that as an example and its not the best example for that reason.

There are lots of examples in sports. Look at Greg Norman highly successful golf career, several major wins and many other tournament wins. Yet some label him a chocker, b/c of the majors he let slip away. Again he got himself in a position to win/contend for those Majors......and In terms of success in a career he would rate in the top 5-10% of all pro golfers in history!!!!!!