My All Time Fav 4

The inspiration for this post was created by Facebook. FB has an application that allows you to choose your All Time favourite five athletes.

So thanks to YouTube and my kind words, here are my Fantastic Four.

Why four you ask? I could throw another big name athlete on the list to make five, but in all honesty these where the guys I worshipped growing up.

1. Greg Chappell

Growing up on the Darling Downs it was easy to be drawn to Chappell as a young kid dreaming of playing cricket for your country.

Chappell was textbook with the bat and I would stay up to the wee hours of the morning to watch him play his classic strokes while touching up the Poms in the old Motherland.

With a test average of almost fifty four and a century on debut, the hairs on the back of my neck always rise when he is not mentioned amongst the best batsmen to ever use a Grey-Nicolls.


2. Mal Meninga

When I wasn't working on my straight drive, I was palming my brothers off for another brilliant backyard try. I would calmly finish the play off with a toe poke conversion.

All this was only achieved because I was decked out in my Souths Magpies long sleeve jersey. Oh, of course the number 3 was on the back.

I loved how Meninga could bust open a game with his own pure strength and ability. A real match winner and an attribute I love to see in a player.

My childhood love for Meninga only grew when I met the great man at Davies Park (Brisbane). I remember it as clear as day. Dad took me to watch my beloved Magpies but Meninga did not dress as he had a rep game the following week. I managed to snag an autograph (which I still have) from Mal as he watched the game from a deck chair on the sidelines.


3. Ivan Lendl

The surly Czech was always the underdog but if you study his record you will soon realize that he was quite the player.

He captured eight Grand Slam titles but never won Wimbledon. I believe this is why he does not get the love he deserves. He competed in a record 19 Grand Slam titles, which is still a record to this day.

I could ramble on all day about how good I felt he was, but his biggest impact on me was the wristband. He was the reason I donned one in my early playing days and basketball was lucky that our playing shorts had no pockets. Otherwise I would have had sawdust in my pockets too.


4. Moses Malone

The NBA in the 80's was all about the Lakers and the Celtics. Magic, Kareem, Larry and Co dominated the press. My man was Moses Malone of the Philadelphia 76ers at that time.

I loved watching Malone punish Kareem as Mo (not Dr J) lead the 76ers to their title in 1983.

His rebounding prowess I have tried to incorporate into my game over the years but it was his Nike Air Force footwear I so dearly wanted.

He was playing for the Atlanta Hawks at the time when I sent him a letter trying to acquire a pair. It was a long shot but I got the Hawks address out of the Basketball Digest (remember that read) and nervously penned a letter to Mo asking if he could send a 14yo Aussie guy a pair of his kicks.

I'm not sure where the letter ended up but I still go out to the mailbox everyday anticipating that those shoes will arrive.



Who are your all time greats?