Butter vs. Margarine,
Paper vs. plastic,
White vs. wheat,
Big mac vs. whopper,

All subjective, all part of Americana. You pick a side and you defend it to the point where the plastic user wouldn’t use paper if it they had to wipe with it. The same goes for sports.

The great debate in sports is who’s the greatest. Season in, season out, all teams and athletes strive for that number one spot. Which brings us to our topic of discussion today, class – WHO IS THE GREATEST ATHLETE OF ALL TIME?

Digression – I got into this because the NBA playoffs, for once, are actually interesting. Many nail-biting, buzzer shot winning, overtime games (in case you haven’t been paying attention) and the buzz surrounding a possible Kobe/Lebron finals has got me thinking about the best, of any sport, ever. Funny that basketball fits in here because….

Michael Jordan is the greatest athlete of all time. Period, end of story…Sshhh.

What? Is that really so hard to believe? Go ahead; keep shouting at your screen how much you think _________ is so much better. NOW QUIET DOWN FANBOY!

Sure, back in the day dude/dudette was legendary, and Tiger Woods and Lance are great now, among the best ever in their sport…but Mr. Jordan transcended his sport. Think about it, how many times do you hear Tiger Woods compared to Michael Jordan as opposed to other great golfers like Jack Niklaus? Kobe and Lebron play against each other, but even then who are they really playing against?
Great athletes get endorsements, Jordan gets his own sister brand complete with his own logo from Nike. Great athletes win championships. Jordan wins 3 in a row on 2 separate occasions and gets the MVP award every time.

Still not convinced? Credentials: http://www.bestbythenumbers.com/2006/07/athlete-number-23-michael-jordan.html

And just like the ball in the hands of “His Airness”, here’s the game-breaker…in the movie Space Jam when the MonStars stole the talent of 5 NBA players (2 of whom are among the 50 greatest all time) and challenged the Looney Toons to a game a basketball to wager their slavery at an alien theme park – Bugs and company recruited a retired baseball playing Michael Jordan 2 years removed from the sport of basketball to save them all…and they won (sorry if you didn’t see it) They could have had ANYONE, they took Mike.

He had his own McDonald’s burger AND his own song. Just last night, when the NHL wanted him to show up in a Chicago Blackhawks jersey, he had them remove the Reebok logo (Reebok produces all NHL jerseys) and they did so willingly.
Only fitting too that on the night that he was inducted to the basketball hall of fame in 2009, his former college team the North Carolina Tarheels won the NCAA championship (then again, they were only playing Michigan State. What?)

Since you can’t possibly provide any evidence to counter my assertion feel free to try me on my other picks: Butter, plastic, wheat, Big Mac.

How’s that cake taste?
Banks
PS – We’re officially on Twitter @isthereanycake