Comments on: The Cannibal

By: Vito

Vito — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 22:25:43 +0000

Hands down bar none. Eddy is the best ever. Great post:)

By: DaveH

DaveH — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 19:33:26 +0000

Outstanding post Adam! Awesome historical perspectives. Thanks for spending the time on it.

By: Grizzly Adam

Grizzly Adam — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 19:33:54 +0000

A lot of baseball careers were hijacked by WWII as well. The crazy numbers that Williams, DiMaggio, and others put up would have been even more impressive had there been no war, especially given that those were prime years in terms of age. i alos love that after being release as a POW, Coppi rode his bike home.

By: mark

mark — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 18:54:48 +0000

So I agree with you, but with an asterisk. Because Fausto Coppi was at least as dominant. Unfortunately, his career was interrupted by World War II. Without the war, who knows what might have been. Between 1946 and 1954, when Fausto attacked the field, he was never caught. Think about that.

Raphaël Géminiani said of Coppi’s domination:

“When Fausto won and you wanted to check the time gap to the man in second place, you didn’t need a Swiss stopwatch. The bell of the church clock tower would do the job just as well. Paris-Roubaix? Milan-San Remo? Lombardy? We’re talking 10 minutes to a quarter of an hour. That’s how Fausto Coppi was.”

But like you said, no “best ever” discussion garners universal agreement, but it’s always the same names at the top of the list.

By: Kendra

Kendra — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 18:07:35 +0000

That was really interesting.

Thanks.

By: Lozy

Lozy — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 16:28:50 +0000

AMEN!! There will never be another like him, end of story. The 1 ball wonder doen’t even hold a candle the Eddie. I still say Eric Zabel is better is better than uniball!

To The Cannibal!

By: Aaron

Aaron — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 16:23:45 +0000

One athlete you didn’t mention is Roger Federer. I think he might come close to matching Eddie’s dominance. Up until last week, he made it to 23 consecutive major semi-finals. So for nearly 6 straight years, the 100+ best tennis players in the world gathered, all firing on all cylinders, and Roger was at least in the top 4 every single time. Then there’s the the percentage of Final appearances and wins he has both in major and non-major tournaments. And he has won majors on all 3 surfaces (similar to winning in multiple disciplines in cycling).

Anyway, just some food for thought. Great article on the Cannibal.

By: Joboo

Joboo — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 16:03:21 +0000

Sweet post!!
I’ve made the argument for Eddy in more than one case, all I get is the 1000 yard stare, and a “yeah right.”

it’s funny how every sport you mentioned was a team sport, with the exception of golf.
Anyway, thanks for the great post!!
Peace, Joboo

By: Ed

Ed — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 15:26:16 +0000

Good read, thanks for that!!

By: Jason

Jason — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 14:46:50 +0000

That was easily the amazing. Great post! Your best !!! It was probably jaw-dropping to watch The Cannibal race in his prime!