The greatest sports figure I saw play in person?

Being in my mid 40's I have attended a lot sporting events. I saw Michael Jordan play, arguably the best of all time. They played the Heat in the Rony Seikaly years. The Heat were terrible and they beat the Bulls. Its great to be able to say I saw Jordan play but he really didn't make much of an impression on me that outing. I have seen Tiger Woods play at Doral. I was at the Dolphin-Bears game that Dan Marino and Dolphin ruined the Bears (my team) perfect season.

I would have to say the most memorable for me was a Phillies-Cubs game at Wrigley Field. I was about 12 years old. The game itself was amazing. The Cubs crushed them, believe it or not. There was a bench clearing brawl, Mike Krukow, pitcher for Cubs hit a homerun, an old man snuck into the Phillies dugout and stole a glove during the melee. He was ejected from the stadium among other things.

With all that going on, the thing I will never forget was Pete Rose. I have no idea what he ended up doing in that game. He was probably a non-factor, as I said the Cubs won easily. What made an impression on me until this day was the reception he received. I have never heard a person so roundly, unmercifully, and completely boo'd by an entire stadium of people in all my life to that point or since. He was truly hated, and this was before all the trouble he got in for gambling. Every time he was announced at the plate, everytime he slammed the ball down and rolled it onto the mound when recording the 3rd out at 1st base on defense, etc. I have to believe that he got that type of reception everywhere he played on the road. I would love to know from a Reds, Phillies, Expos fan if he was loved when he played there. He had to have fed off all the negativity to overcome it. There was no way to ignore it and I think he egged them on. It was truly amazing. I don't think you can appreciate the level of the vitriol he had to absorb and then perform and excel the way he did for his entire career. It has left an impression on me until this day. If you ask me if Pete Rose belongs in the Hall of Fame, there is no question.

Greg Maddux (do folks know his career ERA is better than Randy Johnson's?).

During my military years i was stationed at Ft Lewis, Washington and stayed there for 12 years after going through ETS and being able to watch Ken Griffey Jr everyday was something I will tell my grandchildren about. 

I've been a Saints season ticket holder for years.

Back in the 80's and early 90's the Saints were in the NFC West which meant they played Joe Montana and the 49ers every year. The 49ers usually won.

Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler, the Houston Rockets team back in the early 90's when they were beasts. I was just a kid, like in the 1st/2nd grade.

Couple years ago I got to see Lebron James destroy the Rockets. Impressive.

Also got to see Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell play together countless times. Got to see Randy Johnson pitch against the Astros as well.

I saw Greg Maddux at Wrigley a few years back when he had his 2nd stint with Cubs. I never saw him at his prime in person.

When I was at the University of Florida I saw Shaquille O'neal and Stanley Roberts, the twin towers from LSU play. Shaquille was a stud!

Pujols

I saw Shaq and Stanley and Chris Jackson play numerous times. You could probably tell from my avatar. That team could have rivaled UNLV in the early 90's as the best College Basketball team in history. The only problem was the one year all of them played together they were Freshman and sophmores. They had the type of talent that could beat anyone but the type of youth that could lose to anyone.

Nolan Ryan, Hank Aaron, Mickey Mantle (my first baseball game)

Gordie Howe, Bobby Hull, Wayne Gretzky, Guy Lefleur

Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson

O J Simpson, Walter Payton

Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino

Wish I had, but never attended a Heavyweight fight.

My first football game was when I was young and Singletary was playing at Dallas. I remember looking at my Dad and saying, "Is he trying to kill them" Deion was pretty impressive too but nothing like Bo Jackson

Mantle Mays Berra

Bears MLB person Butkus was the meanest SOB to ever wear a helmet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDhaavqT7tU

"D-ick Butkus"

Saw Barry Sanders run wild in the Silverdome vs. Cleveland in 95

Ruth, Grange, Ali, Wilt, Orr, Nicklaus, Gable, 

Jenna Jamison

person dietz

 

At my age I've seen so many great athletes in person it's hard to break it down or even limit it to one guy. I saw Tom Seaver & Nolan Ryan pitch when they were both with the Mets ............& saw Julius Erving in the Nassau Coliseum when he was with the Virginia Squires. () .......... Saw Joe Namath at summer camp when they used to hold them at Hofstra U.

 Gotta say it was an honor to see Ken Griffey Jr. on a regular basis..........for about 10 years he was the best in the game.

 

I saw Al Bundy score 4 touchdowns in one game when he was at Polk High

I saw Walter Payton play the Dolphins down here in the early 80's. He ran for 60 or 70 yards, no big shakes but he was a hero of mine being a Bears fan when that was pretty much all they had.

In the smae vain I watched Emmitt Smith down at Florida. His freshman year we were like 6-5 and he was running for 200 yards a game it seemed. The crowd would bow and yell, "Emmitt!, Emmitt!, Emmitt!" every time he touched the ball.

 

Met Thomas Hearns in a club in Ft. Lauderdale in mid 80's. Shook his hand. He was taller than I thought, jerry curls, scary dude. Might have been on coke (him, not me), well in those days, maybe me, too....

Skipbone? How old are you, dude?....

Saw Mario Lemieux in 1993 put up 6 points in a game. This was the season he had cancer. Was a game time decision. The guy dominated the game like none other