Feats that will never be duplicated

[keith99]

In another thread Jessie Owens breaking 3 world records and tying a 4th in less than an hour came up. That is something that will never happen again. Heck the changes in event times make it so it is doubtful that the table will ever be set for it again (E.g. just having finals or heats in 4 events that fit the same athlete coming that close).

Some think Wilt Chamberlain's 100 point game will never be duplicated. I don't consider that out of reach. Oh it is unlikely, but some game just might go 7 or 8 overtimes and then...

I can think of a few more feats that will never be duplicated, in some cases it can be made all the more difficult by phrasing it carefully. Wilt has one.

Does anyone else have any to propose?

 

[Jack of Spades]

Muhammad Ali declaring that he's the greatest of all time and so many believing it.

Boxing, or any other sport, can't have that kind of status it used to have then, since mass media was relatively new thing, and focused on so few sports.

 

[SnowyMacie]

I agree about Wilt Chamberlain and Jesse Owens.

- Joe DiMaggio's 56 game hitting streak
- Nolan Ryan's 7 no-hitters
- Nolan Ryan's 5,714 career strikeouts
- Michael Phelps' 28 career medals and 23 gold

 

[ewq1938]

Steffi Graf's "golden grand slam". She won all 4 major tennis events then won the gold medal in 1988. Few have ever won all 4 events and how hard is it to do that in an Olympics year and win the gold medal also?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steffi_Graf

 

[keith99]

Steffi Graf's "golden grand slam". She won all 4 major tennis events then won the gold medal in 1988. Few have ever won all 4 events and how hard is it to do that in an Olympics year and win the gold medal also?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steffi_Graf

Against that is 4 others did the first part before her (and likely were denied a chance at the last because of the nominal amateur nature of the Olympics). For it is that the Olympics are one more tournament that still has to be won and that it seems she was the last to actually complete a Grand slam, so the trend is against it.

The way tennis calls things sucks. 3 pages in on google before I catually found anything about real Grand Slam winners, they decided to call all the majors 'Grand Slam' events.

 

[Hetta]

Usain Bolt. That's all I have to say.

I get tears in my eyes when I watch him run. A man that big should not run that fast, but he more than runs - he flies.

 

[keith99]

Back to basketball.

I said I do think Wilts 100 point game can be broken. His feat of the 1961-62 season will not be, no matter how it is stated. For that year his average minutes per game was 48.52. But I'll state it in a way that anticipates them making games longer.

No one is ever going to play every second of every game, including overtime for an entire NBA season ever again.

The other is consecutive NCAA Division 1 Basketball championships. John Wooden Coached teams that won 7 in a row and 10 total. Neither will ever be matched. To give some context other school has ever won more than 2 championships in a row.

 

[keith99]

Usain Bolt. That's all I have to say.

I get tears in my eyes when I watch him run. A man that big should not run that fast, but he more than runs - he flies.

I disagree. His accomplishments are far from out of reach.

 

[ewq1938]

Against that is 4 others did the first part before her (and likely were denied a chance at the last because of the nominal amateur nature of the Olympics). For it is that the Olympics are one more tournament that still has to be won and that it seems she was the last to actually complete a Grand slam, so the trend is against it.

That doesn't change anything. The title is "Feats that will never be duplicated"

And a golden grand slam is likely never to be duplicated.

 

[SnowyMacie]

The other is consecutive NCAA Division 1 Basketball championships. John Wooden Coached teams that won 7 in a row and 10 total. Neither will ever be matched. To give some context other school has ever won more than 2 championships in a row.

What about UCONN Women's?

 

[keith99]

I agree about Wilt Chamberlain and Jesse Owens.

- Joe DiMaggio's 56 game hitting streak
- Nolan Ryan's 7 no-hitters
- Nolan Ryan's 5,714 career strikeouts
- Michael Phelps' 28 career medals and 23 gold

With some recent trends towards longevity in sport I'm reluctant to include any career records. That said the current trend to pull starters for closers certainly makes the 7 no hitters look out of reach. With today's pitchers being used to less than 9 innings they are not apt to get a full 9 as a no hitter even if they are given the chance.

With how things get counted and some other trends I can see Phelps record falling. Swimming has added a couple of events to the Olympics fairly recently. At least the 800 for women and the 50 free men's and Women's. Swimming and Track are the major sellers for Olympic coverage. What happens if the 50s get added for the other 3 strokes and perhaps the 1500 for women and the 800 for men? Can sprint relays be far behind? That could expand the number of days taken for swimming by 2-3 or even more. Even if someone did not get direct benefit by medaling in those events the other events being more spread out would help. Phelps passed on a couple of events last time round due to rest considerations. And if the someone chasing was let's say Australian it would be pretty likely they would easily be good enough to swim prelims of the 2 sprint relays and that then counts for whatever the team takes.

Also Phelps did not time things perfectly. His first Olympics at 15 netted him no medals. Someone close to the same ability who came in at 17 and picked up 4 or 5 would have a huge advantage. I think Phelps could still medal 4 years from now. But the attraction of putting your own record farther out isn't that great. The attraction of breaking an unbreakable record is huge.

EDIT: Or it may turn out Phelps timed a change perfectly, winning when he was young when swimmers mainly did 2 Olympics and then being among the first of a new trend of lasting for 3 or 4. In that case someone just as good might not get the early chances Phelps did. It could go either way. I think it is a bit early to say which.

 

[keith99]

What about UCONN Women's?

True enough. I should have said Men's.

 

[keith99]

That doesn't change anything. The title is "Feats that will never be duplicated"

And a golden grand slam is likely never to be duplicated.

There are tons that are unlikely.

It is unlikely that Wilt's 100 point game will be duplicated but I explicitly pointed out that I do not consider that to be in the WILL NOT category.

Heck I'll bet I can list over a dozen feats by a single athlete that range from far less likely to about equal to this.

EDIT: That is not to say this isn't extremely impressive. It is, but if the stars align it could be equaled.

 

[keith99]

I'm going to add Bill Russell's 11 NBA championships. The closest person that was not a teammate of his is Robert Horry with 7 with 3 different teams. Yea few recognize the name. Being in a dynasty since then only gives 6 rings. For Horry the stars did align.

 

[keith99]

I agree about Wilt Chamberlain and Jesse Owens.

- Joe DiMaggio's 56 game hitting streak
- Nolan Ryan's 7 no-hitters
- Nolan Ryan's 5,714 career strikeouts
- Michael Phelps' 28 career medals and 23 gold

There has to be something for Babe Ruth. Which of these sounds better?

Hitting more home runs than the next 3 players combined

or

The same player being a 20 win pitcher and breaking the season and career home runs record?

 

[bhsmte]

In another thread Jessie Owens breaking 3 world records and tying a 4th in less than an hour came up. That is something that will never happen again. Heck the changes in event times make it so it is doubtful that the table will ever be set for it again (E.g. just having finals or heats in 4 events that fit the same athlete coming that close).

Some think Wilt Chamberlain's 100 point game will never be duplicated. I don't consider that out of reach. Oh it is unlikely, but some game just might go 7 or 8 overtimes and then...

I can think of a few more feats that will never be duplicated, in some cases it can be made all the more difficult by phrasing it carefully. Wilt has one.

Does anyone else have any to propose?

I doubt Cal Ripken's consecutive game streak, will ever be duplicated. Also, Glen Hall a former NHL goalie, played in over 500 consecutive games and that one will never be broken either.

 

[keith99]

I doubt Cal Ripken's consecutive game streak, will ever be duplicated. Also, Glen Hall a former NHL goalie, played in over 500 consecutive games and that one will never be broken either.

This is the kind of stuff I was thinking of. I was also hoping that people would explain why even if there was a second coming of the person who set the record and things went right it would stand. Sort of laying out the changes in the game for those who know little about it.

In the case of Glen Hall the game has changed. When the NHL first started the backup goalie did not travel with the team, the home team goalie was the backup for both teams and pretty much was injury only. Since then the trend has been to more backup. In searching to try to find just when backups first traveled I struck out. But I did find that when Plante introduced the mask in the late 50s having no backup available played a part.

I'm pretty sure Hall did not play in the no backup era. But he likely grew up during the tail end of it and for sure he had coaches who were influenced by the ethic of that era.

I also mentioned in the first post about how you state the accomplishment can make it even more impossible. In this case the length of the season has increased. Hall did 7 full seasons plus 12 games. 7 full seasons plus 12 more games is now 586 games. (I have a hunch that the season structure also makes it impossible that a goalie get to 100 games and unlikely one ever gets to 50. Teams now occasionally see 3 games in 4 nights. Even with a goalie that thrives on game time and wanted them all would have a hard time talking a coach to giving him all 3 such games consistently).

I agree the 500 is so far out that no convincing is needed, but adding how the game has changed puts it so far beyond reach that when it ever gets talked about it will be because the longest current streak has reached 10% of his 502 regular season games (552 counting playoffs).

Afterthought. I could not find any data on it, but considering the era I'm betting all his 'games played' were complete games. No got some rest because it was 5-1 in the 3rd period. If that is the case stating they were full games makes it ever more absurd that it will be matched because today goalies get pulled all the time.

 

[bhsmte]

This is the kind of stuff I was thinking of. I was also hoping that people would explain why even if there was a second coming of the person who set the record and things went right it would stand. Sort of laying out the changes in the game for those who know little about it.

In the case of Glen Hall the game has changed. When the NHL first started the backup goalie did not travel with the team, the home team goalie was the backup for both teams and pretty much was injury only. Since then the trend has been to more backup. In searching to try to find just when backups first traveled I struck out. But I did find that when Plante introduced the mask in the late 50s having no backup available played a part.

I'm pretty sure Hall did not play in the no backup era. But he likely grew up during the tail end of it and for sure he had coaches who were influenced by the ethic of that era.

I also mentioned in the first post about how you state the accomplishment can make it even more impossible. In this case the length of the season has increased. Hall did 7 full seasons plus 12 games. 7 full seasons plus 12 more games is now 586 games. (I have a hunch that the season structure also makes it impossible that a goalie get to 100 games and unlikely one ever gets to 50. Teams now occasionally see 3 games in 4 nights. Even with a goalie that thrives on game time and wanted them all would have a hard time talking a coach to giving him all 3 such games consistently).

I agree the 500 is so far out that no convincing is needed, but adding how the game has changed puts it so far beyond reach that when it ever gets talked about it will be because the longest current streak has reached 10% of his 502 regular season games (552 counting playoffs).

Afterthought. I could not find any data on it, but considering the era I'm betting all his 'games played' were complete games. No got some rest because it was 5-1 in the 3rd period. If that is the case stating they were full games makes it ever more absurd that it will be matched because today goalies get pulled all the time.

Hall played most of his career when there was a backup available, on the bench.

One of the most amazing things about his streak, is he played in an era where goalie equipment, was not near as protective as it is today, especially in the upper body and he played many games without a mask.

 

[keith99]

I meant to give an example of how one words an accomplishment can make it all the more difficult.

I'll give an example from cycling. In 1952 Fausto Coppi won both the General Classification and the King of the Mountians competition in both the Tour de France and the Giro de Italia. No one has done it since. But Marco Pantani came very close in 1998. Close enough that one can see it happening again. However there is a third major competition in both races, the points (or sprinters) competition. The thing is that did not start until 1953 in the Tour and 1967 in the Giro.

This means Fausto Coppi won all the major individual competitions in both races in 1952. Worded that way it will never be duplicated. Eddy Merckx won all 3 in the 1968 Giro and in the 1969 Tour. But except for Bernard Hinault who won all 3 in the Tour de France but not in one year, no other rider has won all 3 in a career.

 

[Citanul]

The obvious one that comes to mind for me is a cricketing feat, Don Bradman's test batting average of 99.94 - that means that he scored an average of close to 100 runs every time he batted in a test match (although the calculation is slightly more complicated than that). To put this into context, in almost 140 years of test cricket, only four other players have averaged over 60, and the highest of those is 61.87. Bradman also holds other batting records which will probably never be surpassed, but that's the most famous of them.