hogFANNING THE FLAMES

While watching Tiger Woods' latest win at the Open, I was bemoaning the lack of a worthy challenger to push him, to make him as great as he could be.  It got me thinking about some of the great sportsmen of our times who had the misfortune of playing in the shadow of the greatest.  These guys would normally have dominated their sports, but  as fate would have it, they didn't.

The first person I think of is Tom Watson.  I know it seems strange to call one of the greatest golfers of all time an also-ran, but that's what I'm talking about here.  Watson had stretches where he did dominate, but for the most part we remember Jack, the "Golden Bear".  Heck, I'm not even sure Watson had a nickname. Get's me wondering, is that a requirement for being considered as the greatest?  Oh well.

Another who comes to mind is Wilt Chamberlain.  At least he had a nickname, but once again he played in the shadow of Bill Russell and Abdul-Jabbar.  The rules of the game were changed because of him, and he could dominate games as maybe no one has, but ask who the greatest post players of his era were, most will say Russell or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

I also think of Hank Aaron, who played most of his career in the shadow of the Say-Hey kid.  The greatest homerun hitter of all-time has been relegated to being mentioned on a list of the greatest also-rans of all time.  My bad  Mr. Aaron and I apologize. 

But I think you see my point.  I know a lot of this has to do with championships, because that's how we define the greatest, but the greatest also capture our minds, they capture our hearts, we can't look away.  Not all of us can define greatness, but most of us know it when we see it.

Any opinions?