Critiques is a section in the blog which will deal with incorrect data, biased opinions (to say the least) and hard hitting articles, lists, facts and figures - that will be better off changed. I purely have no intention to be rude and personify my thoughts as the ultimate reality, what I will do is put forward the information and key figures, through which you will realize that the Target was ultimately wrong (with all due respect).
In the first ever Critique section, we have our target as Watchmojo's list of Top Ten Most Dominant Male Athletes of All Time. The title is quiet clear on what we are going to witness, and without even bothering to play the video, you know the likes of supreme Basketball sensation Micheal Jordan is going to be on the list or Babe Ruth will hit another spot of elevation in Sports. But there are some Men, unfortunately, Ladies and Gentlemen, which are left behind, not even nominated in the list for any ranking, they themselves have absolutely paved the way of elegance, mastery and supremacy in their field - yet have gone down as unnoticed? There are those who have won an unimaginable amount of awards and competitions, have won the hearts of millions, but aren't even given a direction towards them within the list... Let's discuss who they are.
Stephen Hendry
The 45 year old Scotsman is a king at his profession, his dominance over Snooker seems untouchable when compared to some of the men in Watchmojo's list. Stephen Hendry's aptitude was in clear vision when, at the age of 15 only, in 1985, he became the youngest professional Snooker player ever! And that was just the start of his dazzling career waiting ahead, in 1990, he was the youngest ever Snooker World Champion at the age of just 21! No other sportsman on the list has achieved any milestone a great as that, taking into account the age too... Furthermore, he grasped the World Championship titles in the years 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996 and 1999! A record in the history of the sport, as well as the fact that he was at the number 1 spot for 9 consecutive years from 1990 to 1998, and again in the years 2006/7. Hendry has the distinction of holding the most World ranking titles (36), and leads the field of Snooker players with 775 competitive Century breaks. Other than that, he has made 11 competitive full breaks, only second to another champion, Ronnie 'O Sullivan. Lin Dan
Often considered by analysts of the game and other professionals (as well as just about every fan of Badminton), "The greatest Badminton player of all time" Lin Dan, from my point of view, honestly deserved something to be mentioned about him on the list. The Chinese "Ace" is a staggering star in this sport, and has ruled it along Taufik Hidayat, Peter Gade and his Arch Rival Lee Chong Wei - mind you they aren't behind in the degree of greatness. Lin Dan is a two times Olympic Champion, five time World Champion and five time All England Champion! He completed the "Super Grand Slam" by the age of 28, having won all nine major titles in World Badminton: Olympic Games, World Championships, World Cup, Thomas Cup, Sudirman Cup, Super Series Masters Final, All England Open, Asian Games and Asian Championships. He's the first ever person to achieve that list. Badminton is a demanding sport, and the retiring age is below 35 for most players, but this guy is going like a train which seems unstoppable, defiantly worthy of being mentioned/nominated...Eddie Arcaro
Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them, said a wise man once. Whoever that man was (most probably William Shakespeare) did indeed shed light upon something valuable. And we've seen greatness through many people, nations and episodes overtime. I can guarantee you with the firmest of grips that no one in the history of American Sports, has been as dominant, as successful as Eddie Arcaro. Undoubtedly, I will receive some radical responses over this hypothesis, but I think it will be unfair not to think of that way after reading the synopsis of his mind blowing career in Thoroughbred Racing. The Hall of Famer jokey won more American Classics than any other rider in the history, he's the only man to have won the US Triple Crown twice. The Triple Crown includes 3 thrilling races varying in distances to testify the endurance and the speed of the horses - as well as the competition between the quality of the campaigners on them... Altogether in his career, he crossed the line first 4779 times, which comprises of major wins like Jockey Cup Gold Cup (10), Wood Memorial Stakes (9), Suburban Handicap (8), Kentucky Oaks (4), Kentucky Derby (5), Preakness Stakes (6), Belmont Stakes (6). His total earnings was an incredible $30,039,543, considering this was the period between 1940s-1970s, his career defining wins would have had him a billionaire today as the prices and the money on these stakes races is itself 30 million US Dollars. Garry Kasparov
No other player has dominated as long or as strong as Garry Kasparov. His name is synonymous with chess. He became the youngest ever undisputed World Champion in 1985 at only 22, which he held until 1993 when a dispute with FIDE led him to set up his own organisation (PCA) and technically lost him the World Title, though most chess enthusiasts still considered him the unofficial World Champion during this period. It lasted until his loss to Kramnik in 2000. He was ranked number one almost continuously from 1986 until his retirement in 2005, which included the all time highest Elo rating of 2851, as well as a record 15 consecutive tournament victories. Kasparov began training at Mikhail Botvinnik’s chess school at age 10. In 1979, he was accidently entered into a professional tournament despite being unrated, which he duly won and by 1983 was ranked 2 in the world, behind World Champion Karpov. He challenged for the World Title and lost to Karpov in 1984 in an epic 48 game match (see entry on Karpov) but won the following year and successfully defended it 3 times against Karpov in the coming years by very tight margins. In 1993, Kasparov had a falling out with governing body FIDE. In 2007, Kasparov admitted that forming a breakaway organisation was the worst mistake of his career. The Title remained split for 13 years as Kasparov refused to rejoin FIDE. He lost the title to Kramnik in 2000. Even after losing the title, Kasparov continued to outperform his rivals winning a string of major titles and remained ranked number 1. He announced his retirement in 2005 after winning the prestigious Linares tournament for the ninth time, citing a lack of personal goals in chess. He is now pursuing a political career in his native Russia. Garry Kasparov completely dominated his peers for 20 years, and retired on top. He has contributed much to the theory of chess and rightly deserves the number 1 spot of greatest ever.Eddy Merckx
People, my intentions aren't to say that Watchmojo was completely wrong with that list, what I would say is that they missed out on these men who clearly (through their dominance) deserved recognition, and that's the least to say............
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