Is Crosby/Ovechkin the best player rivalry in big 4 sports leagues in the 21st century?

[Haatley]

Not even close

Curry and James face off in the finals 4 times. 6 MVPs between the two.

The argument in the Brady/Manning debate wasn't who was the best in the league. It was who the greatest of all time was.

What isn't close?

 

[Video Nasty]

I don't care how people voted, sportswriters are not experts by any means. Especially when not all these games were even available nationwide at the time! Especially the same people who voted Jordan DPOY.

You don’t care, yet you’re willing to die for one sportswriter who is in LeBron’s pocket.

 

[Rodgerwilco]

Am I biased?

Sure am.

https://x.com/i/web/status/1844488428160942362

Lattimore and Evans was the first one that came to mind outside of NFL. Love watching those two go against each other

 

[Master P]

Lattimore and Evans was the first one that came to mind outside of NFL. Love watching those two go against each other

Shame Lattimore is out of the division now.

 

[bambamcam4ever]

You don’t care, yet you’re willing to die for one sportswriter who is in LeBron’s pocket.

Lol wut

 

[JianYang]

Really hard to isolate a 1 v 1 in hockey. This one is even more difficult because it's a center vs winger.

 

[Voight]

Going outside of the big 4, a women’s basketball rivalry that I find dumb and contrived is Caitlin Clark vs Angel Reese, mainly because Clark is way better. It’s extra dumb when people say they are the women’s version of Johnson/Bird. I actually found putting things in hockey terms is the easiest way to convey how idiotic this comparison is.

As alluded to in my OP, Johnson/Bird in NHL terms is similar to Crosby/Ovechkin. 2 all time great players who entered the league at the same time to much hype and had some epic clashes. Clark/Reese is like Crosby/Toews, a contrived rivalry made up by the media where one player is clearly better than the other. Heck, the WNBA media overhyping Reese brought back memories for me of what the hockey media did to Toews 10-15 years ago.

Agreed, Reese isn't in the same ball[park as Clark when it comes to skill level. She would probably have less attention round her if social media didn't exist.

Another parallel for the bolded, Johnson/Bird are credited with the NBA's explosion in popularity in the 80s. yes, Jordan was a big factor, but they kickstarted basketballs boom. Ovy/Sid helped reignite interest in the league after a lost season.

 

[Signupnow]

McDavid was 34th in goals last season and you guys call him Jesus lol. Funny enough to set up a goal in soccer you need way more passes so it would make a lot more sense to count points the way Canadians do in hockey. In fact some of the greatest playmakers in history barely scored any assists because they played too deep to be involved in the final pass. Messi had an absolutely amazing WC. He got one of the greatest assists I've ever seen against the Netherlands:


and then another absolutely insane assist against Croatia:


And he did that all as a completely washed up super slow old player. In fact besides Maradona 86 Messi 2022 might be the absolute greatest WC performance ever by any player. He hard carried the entire team got two of the greatest assists ever and 7 goals.

Also I have no idea why you make it look like Cristiano is some sort of a defensive player who presses a ton. He doesn't press at all these are his pressing stats while at MANU a few years back LOL:

View attachment 934447

Cristiano is just a stat padder. He is a decent playmaker but since he joined Real he has really become just a goal scorer kind of like Ovechkin. He doesn't contribute too much beyond the goals. Messi is way more of a rounded player offensively speaking. Since Messi plays a lot deeper he contributes to his team way more. Funny enough lifetime Messi has a higher GPG and even a higher absolute goals scored in a season than any player ever in history.

I don't claim either of them are any good defensively, it was an answeer to someone who's said that messi is a more well rounded player when in fact both roam and messi more so.

Furthermore nobody really care about assists in soccer otherwise Toni kroos would have had won a few balons. Nor do I believe that R7 is better than Messi but to say that he isn't even in the same ballpark like mentioned in this topic is absurd.

Messi have had really bad non group stage performances in world Cup and it's no secret at all, due to that he wasn't even appriciated in his own country for all those years and it isn't like he haven't had a good team around him either but perhaps not tailor cut as it was in Barcelona.

Personally I think ronaldinho was better than both.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

bure fedorov

 

[Nogatco Rd]

There's no such thing as the big four in north America sports. It's largely used by insecure hockey fans. By general public interest in the States, hockey falls behind the NFL, NCAA football, NBA, MLB, and NCAA basketball.

Of course there's such a thing as "a big four." It's a useful shorthand phrase that denotes what is generally accepted as the four most significant professional leagues in NA.

When people refer to a market as a having no major pro sports teams, they mean the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL. Just because hockey is a distant 4th doesn't mean the distinction isn't relevant.

 

[Nogatco Rd]

Someone literally poisoned Jordan’s pizza before Finals game. I’m not putting anything past anyone at this point with how far or how crazily they’ll go to be the edgy writer who will demystify Jordan.

https://www.thestar.com/sports/basketball/jordan-s-pizza-guy-spills-the-sauce-if-he-got-food-poisoning-in-the-1997/article_b668a439-efca-51f9-bccc-19c60780e47b.html

 

[x Tame Impala]

That stupid article is paywalled. What about the people who delivered the pizza?? Also people get sick from restaurants all the time without the chefs deliberately poisoning the food. This is asinine

Guys, he was super sick for that game and played through it. It was legendary. What in the hell are you trying to dispel here??? That he was faking being sick?

 

[Overrated]

I don't claim either of them are any good defensively, it was an answeer to someone who's said that messi is a more well rounded player when in fact both roam and messi more so.

Furthermore nobody really care about assists in soccer otherwise Toni kroos would have had won a few balons. Nor do I believe that R7 is better than Messi but to say that he isn't even in the same ballpark like mentioned in this topic is absurd.

Messi have had really bad non group stage performances in world Cup and it's no secret at all, due to that he wasn't even appriciated in his own country for all those years and it isn't like he haven't had a good team around him either but perhaps not tailor cut as it was in Barcelona.

Personally I think ronaldinho was better than both.

Laymen might not care about assists but at the end of the day they are even more important than in hockey. Many midfielders have won ballon d'ors so that point is moot. Even your beloved Ronaldinho was first and foremost a playmaker and not a goal scorer. Zidane is another player who didn't even score that much yet was viewed as one of the greatest of the 90s-00s generation of players.

Your only datapoint is that Messi doesn't cover as much distance per match which is true. How is that an issue though? He runs the most and dribbles the most with the ball out of anyone so he is conserving energy to do so...

Messi is way more well rounded offensively speaking than CR7 that cannot be disputed. He engages in more playmaking than top midfielders while maintaining a higher career GPG than CR7

Cristiano is just better looking. That is about it. It's not close between them. Cristiano was much closer to Lewa or Suarez than he was to Messi.

 

[TruePowerSlave]

Most barely even know who these two are

 

[Signupnow]

Laymen might not care about assists but at the end of the day they are even more important than in hockey. Many midfielders have won ballon d'ors so that point is moot. Even your beloved Ronaldinho was first and foremost a playmaker and not a goal scorer. Zidane is another player who didn't even score that much yet was viewed as one of the greatest of the 90s-00s generation of players.

Your only datapoint is that Messi doesn't cover as much distance per match which is true. How is that an issue though? He runs the most and dribbles the most with the ball out of anyone so he is conserving energy to do so...

View attachment 935245

Messi is way more well rounded offensively speaking than CR7 that cannot be disputed. He engages in more playmaking than top midfielders while maintaining a higher career GPG than CR7

View attachment 935247

View attachment 935248


View attachment 935249

Cristiano is just better looking. That is about it. It's not close between them. Cristiano was much closer to Lewa or Suarez than he was to Messi.

Barcelona is great at stat passing against lesser teams. However I also think Messi is better however to say they are in a diffent ballpark is a bit rich don't u think?

International​

– Ronaldo holds the record for most international goals, with 123 goals in 201 appearances, surpassing Ali Daei in September 2021.
– Ronaldo has made the most appearances for Portugal, with 201.
– He is also the most capped player in the history of men’s international football, surpassing Al-Mutawa’s record in March 2023.
– Following his brace against Liechtenstein in a Euro qualifier, Ronaldo became the first-ever player to score 100 competitive international goals.
– Ronaldo is the only player to score in 11 consecutive international tournaments, between 2004 and 2022.
– The 38-year-old is the first and only player to score in five World Cups. He’s also only one of five players to have played in five World Cups (alongside Lionel Messi, Lothar Matheus, Rafael Marquez and Antonio Cabral).
– He’s both Portugal’s youngest (21 years & 132 days) and oldest (37 years & 292 days) goalscorer at a World Cup.
– He has the most European Championship goals in history, with 14.
– He scored 32 international goals (club and national team) in 2017, the most by any player in a calendar year.

European​

– He is the first player to score 10 or more Champions League goals for three different clubs.
– Ronaldo has the most Champions League goals in history with 141, 12 more than Messi on 129.
– He broke the record for most goals in a European campaign, with 17 Champions League goals in 2013-14.
– Ronaldo has scored in four Champions League finals, more than any other player.
– He is the only player to score in all six Champions League group games in a single season, having done it in 2017-18 and 2021-22.
– Ronaldo is just the third player to score a Champions League goal against a specific opponent with three different clubs, achieving the feat against Lyon in 2020.

 

[Overrated]

Barcelona is great at stat passing against lesser teams. However I also think Messi is better however to say they are in a diffent ballpark is a bit rich don't u think?

International​

– Ronaldo holds the record for most international goals, with 123 goals in 201 appearances, surpassing Ali Daei in September 2021.
– Ronaldo has made the most appearances for Portugal, with 201.
– He is also the most capped player in the history of men’s international football, surpassing Al-Mutawa’s record in March 2023.
– Following his brace against Liechtenstein in a Euro qualifier, Ronaldo became the first-ever player to score 100 competitive international goals.
– Ronaldo is the only player to score in 11 consecutive international tournaments, between 2004 and 2022.
– The 38-year-old is the first and only player to score in five World Cups. He’s also only one of five players to have played in five World Cups (alongside Lionel Messi, Lothar Matheus, Rafael Marquez and Antonio Cabral).
– He’s both Portugal’s youngest (21 years & 132 days) and oldest (37 years & 292 days) goalscorer at a World Cup.
– He has the most European Championship goals in history, with 14.
– He scored 32 international goals (club and national team) in 2017, the most by any player in a calendar year.

European​

– He is the first player to score 10 or more Champions League goals for three different clubs.
– Ronaldo has the most Champions League goals in history with 141, 12 more than Messi on 129.
– He broke the record for most goals in a European campaign, with 17 Champions League goals in 2013-14.
– Ronaldo has scored in four Champions League finals, more than any other player.
– He is the only player to score in all six Champions League group games in a single season, having done it in 2017-18 and 2021-22.
– Ronaldo is just the third player to score a Champions League goal against a specific opponent with three different clubs, achieving the feat against Lyon in 2020.

What the hell is stat passing? If it was a Barcelona gimmick you'd see his teammates right there with him. The records you posted are mostly about longevity. Here you have top5 EURO leagues "PPG" (only direct primary assists). It's like comparing Ovechkin to Gretzky. Lionel was on another level.

 

[Signupnow]

What the hell is stat passing? If it was a Barcelona gimmick you'd see his teammates right there with him. The records you posted are mostly about longevity. Here you have top5 EURO leagues "PPG" (only direct primary assists). It's like comparing Ovechkin to Gretzky. Lionel was on another level.

View attachment 935445

I meant to say stat padding against lesser teams. Now if you say what about against real madrid 80 percent of the games vs barcelona a player from real was sent off.

Rank	Player	Knockout Games	Knockout Goals
1	Cristiano Ronaldo	82	67
2	Lionel Messi	77	49

As for when it matters in champions league knockout games.

It's like comparing ovie to mats Näslund.

 

[Overrated]

I meant to say stat padding against lesser teams. Now if you say what about against real madrid 80 percent of the games vs barcelona a player from real was sent off.

Rank	Player	Knockout Games	Knockout Goals
1	Cristiano Ronaldo	82	67
2	Lionel Messi	77	49

As for when it matters in champions league knockout games.

It's like comparing ovie to mats Näslund.

Sure buddy

And my favorite one is this one:
Last time Ronaldo scored a World Cup knockout goal he was Brazilian.