Danno

A whole year plus 4 games and it still won\'t die.

JOESAM2002

And now boys and girls, back to our regularly scheduled programming.

I think the question was......Who was the greatest sports leader ever? Simple........... ME! :P

saintfan

I never saw John U play. There are other individuals that are legendary that I never saw on the field. I remember as a kid watching Roger Staubach will the Dallas Cowboys to wins, and to me it was obvious that he had command of the team. The players that played with him respected him on and off the field, and so as much as I hate to even come close to agreeing with 08 on ANYthing ( :P ), in this case I\'d vote for Roger. Based soley on players that I saw play I\'d say Joe Montana runs a close second.

C'mon Man...

BillyC

I used to be a big Cowboys fan in the Landry era. Staubach was the comeback king. Staubach even called his own plays. If I had to pick a QB between Montana and Staubach, I would choose Staubach.

Danno

Greatest leader - Coach (tie)
Paul Bear Bryant and Vince Lombardi.
Both got the absolute most out of his players. They demanded success, and got it.
When they said jump, you jumped and then asked \"was that far enough coach?\".
Their players would run through a brick wall for them.

Greatest Leader - Player
Has to be a QB. The QB is the designated leader of his team. If someone else is the leader you\'ve got a lousy QB. But that doesn\'t mean he has to ba an in-your-face screamer like a Marino. He can be a quiet lead by example type also. Montana wasn\'t in your face. But down by a score, he was 100% sure they would win and every player believed him. He delivered.
I\'d say its like deciding who the prettiest girl of all time is. Too many factors.
But I\'ll try, I like, in order...
Joe Namath
Joe Montana
Roger Staubach
John Elway
Dan Marino
Jim Kelly
Fran Tarkenton
Steve Young
Terry Bradshaw

My favorite leader moment was when Rickey Waters (in his prime) alligator armed a pass over the middle, and back-up QB, I think it was the elder Detmer subbing because the starter was out, walked over to Rickey on the bench and started chewing his asss non-stop, and smashed a Gatorade right at his feet and stormed off in total disgust.
While Detmer was just a very below average QB, Watters needed and deserved the butt chewing he got. Detmer displayed the kind of leadership I like to see. It had to be done, and he knew it and he did it.

JKool

I think this is a tough question to answer, since my view of leadership (and what makes it up) changes fairly regularly.

Here is my submission for greatest leader in sports (as chosen today): Mario Lemieux.
The guy is not only a great hockey player, but he typically ranks very highly in assists and +/-, which displays that he plays all aspects of the game. Furthermore, how many guys get cancer, beat it, then return to playing at virtually the same level? None. This guy shows heart, strength, and skill.

BlackandBlue

As far as being the most skilled hockey player ever to play the game, then yes, I would go with Lemieux. But I don\'t see him as being a good a leader as Gretzky. Lemieux made those around him better, but not to the extent that Gretzky did. To me, that\'s leadership.

WhoDat

Really? We\'re talking about hockey? On a Saints board? So they have ice in New Orleans? Oh yeah, that\'s right, they sure do - imported from Canada every day. Have it flown right in, they do.

JKool

I thought the question was open ended - who is the best leader (sports) of all time? Thus, my reply was a hockey player; perhaps that is indeed out of place.

BnB, no doubt, Gretzky did what no one else can do. No matter where he went, he empodied the game. My reason for picking Mario over Wayne is just this - Mario came back from the cancer. Don\'t get me wrong, when it comes to hockey I love Wayne the same way I think Elway never got his due, but Mario was a presence, where Wayne was sometimes a protected as a gift to the game. I\'m also a bit on the bitter side that Wayne went to Edmonton when he was on a flight to try out for my home team - the Winnipeg Jets (before they were inappropriately stolen to Phoenix - which is Bullshiznit as far as I\'m concerned).

"... I was beating them with my eyes the whole game..." - Aaron Brooks

JKool

PS - If NO had a hockey team, I\'d be just as likely to cheer for them.