Important Sports Personalities ...

[Gycu]

Important Sports Personalities From Your Country. Both Past & Present ...

From my country

Past:

Nadia Comaneci - got 7 marks of 10.00 from the jury in 1976 ( Montreal ) ot the Olimpics

Gheorghe "Gica" Hagi - important football player, played for bith Real Madrid and Barcelona but also qualified Romania at the 1994 semi-finals where they lost ... Best performance for Romania was due to this person ... Retired in 2001 ...

That`s it for now ...

[Carlsberg]

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar born 24 April 1973) is a current Indian cricketer who was rated by Wisden (2002) as the second greatest Test batsman ever[1] after Sir Don Bradman. Wisden also rated him as the greatest ever ODI batsman.

He made his international debut in 1989 and holds several batting records in both Test Cricket and ODI Cricket. A perennial crowd-favorite, he is the only Indian cricketer to receive the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, India's highest sporting honour for his performance in 1997-1998. Many commentators and fellow players regard him as one of the greatest batsmen the game has seen.

Born to a middle class family of Rajapur Saraswat Brahmins in Bombay, now known as Mumbai. His father Ramesh Tendulkar, a Marathi novelist named him after his favourite music director Sachin Dev Burman. He was encouraged to play cricket by his elder brother, Ajit Tendulkar. He has 2 more siblings - brother Nitin Tendulkar and sister Savitai Tendulkar. Nitin's son Rohan Tendulkar born in 1990 is also a cricketer and represents Mumbai in junior cricket tournaments.

In 1995, Sachin Tendulkar married Anjali Tendulkar (born 13 feb 1971), the paediatrician daughter of Gujarati industrialist Anand Mehta. They have two children, Sara (born 12 October 1997) and Arjun (born 23 September, 2000).

Tendulkar sponsors 200 under-privileged children, every year through Apnalaya, a Mumbai-based NGO associated with his mother-in-law, Annaben Mehta. He is reluctant to speak about this, or other charitable activities, choosing to preserve the sanctity of his personal life despite the overwhelming media interest in him.

He attended Sharadashram Vidyamandir School where he began his cricketing career under the guidance of his coach and mentor Ramakant Achrekar. During his early days as a schoolboy cricketer he went to the MRF pace academy to train as a pace bowler but was sent back home. The man who turned him back was legendary fast bowler Dennis Lillee who told the young Tendulkar, 'Just focus on your batting'. This simple comment would result in the birth of one of the greatest batsmen of all time.

While at school, he was involved in unbroken 664-run partnership in a Harris Shield game in 1988 with friend and team mate Vinod Kambli, who also went on to represent India. The destructive pair reduced one bowler to tears and made the rest of the opposition unwilling to continue the game. Sachin scored over 320 in this innings and averaged over a thousand in the tournament. At the time, this was the record partnership in any form of cricket, until 2006 when it was broken by two under-13 batsmen in a match held at Hyderabad in India. When he was 14 Indian batting maestro Sunil Gavaskar gave him a pair of his used ultra light pads. "It was the greatest source of encouragement for me," he said nearly 20 years later after passing Gavaskar's top world record of 34 Test centuries.

Tendulkar is ambidextrous, batting, bowling and throwing with his right hand, but preferring to write with his left hand, practising left-hand throws at the nets on a regular basis. Tendulkar played his first international match against Pakistan in Karachi in 1989, facing the likes of Wasim Akram, Imran Khan, Abdul Qadir and Waqar Younis. He made just 15 runs, being bowled by Waqar Younis, who also made his debut in that match. It was an inauspicious start, but Tendulkar followed it up with his maiden Test fifty a few days later at Faisalabad. His One-day International (ODI) debut on December 18 was equally disappointing, where he was dismissed without scoring a run, again by Waqar Younis. The series was followed by a tour of New Zealand in which he fell for 88 in the Second Test. John Wright, who later became the coach of India, took the catch that prevented Tendulkar from becoming the youngest centurion in Test cricket. His maiden Test century came in next tour, to England in August 1990 at Old Trafford. Tendulkar further enhanced his development into a world-class batsman during the 1991-1992 tour of Australia that included an unbeaten 148 in Sydney (the first of many battles against Shane Warne who made his debut in the match) and a brilliant century on the fast and bouncy track at Perth. He has been Man of the Match 11 times in Test matches and Man of the Series twice, both times in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia.

Tendulkar's performance through the years 1994-1999, coincided with his physical peak, at age 20 through 25. Tendulkar was told to open the batting at Auckland against New Zealand in 1994.[2] He went on to make 82 runs off 49 balls. His first ODI century came on September 9, 1994 against Australia in Sri Lanka at Colombo. It had taken Tendulkar 79 ODIs to score a century.

Tendulkar's rise continued when he was the leading run scorer at the 1996 Cricket World Cup, topping the batting averages whilst scoring two centuries.

This was the beginning of a period at the top of the batting world, culminating in the Australian tour of India in early 1998, scoring three consecutive centuries. These were characterised by a pre-meditated plan to target Australian spinners Shane Warne and Gavin Robertson, to whom he regularly charged down the pitch to drive over the infield. This technique worked as India beat Australia. Following the series Australian spinner Shane Warne ruefully joked that he was having nightmares about his Indian nemesis.[3]

Indian Captain Mohd. Azharuddin was going through a lean patch and India were playing against Pakistan in Sharjah 1997. Sachin and Navjot Siddhu hit 100's to set a record partnership for the first wicket. Sachin returned back after getting out and found Azhar in two minds to bat out. Sachin boosted Azhar to bat and Azhar unleashed 29 runs in mere 10 balls. It enabled India post a score in excess of 300 runs for the first time. India went on to win that match.

A chronic back problem flared up when Pakistan toured India in 1999, with India losing the historic Test at Chepauk despite a gritty century from Tendulkar himself. Worse was to come as Professor Ramesh Tendulkar, Tendulkar's father, died in the middle of the 1999 Cricket World Cup. Tendulkar flew back to India to attend the final rituals of his father, missing the match against Zimbabwe. However, he returned with a bang to the World cup scoring a century (unbeaten 140 off 101 balls) in his very next match against Kenya in Bristol. He dedicated this century to his father.[4]

Tendulkar, succeeding Mohammad Azharuddin as captain, then led India on a tour of Australia, where the visitors were comprehensively beaten 3-0[5] by the newly-crowned world champions. After another Test series defeat, this time by a 0-2 margin at home against South Africa, Tendulkar resigned, and Sourav Ganguly took over as captain in 2000.

Tendulkar made 673 runs in 11 matches in the 2003 World Cup, helping India reach the final. While Australia retained the trophy that it had won in 1999, Tendulkar was given the Man of the Series award. The drawn series as India toured Australia in 2003-2004 saw Tendulkar making his mark in the last Test of the series, with a double century in Sydney, which was also the last test appearance of one of cricket history's most successful captian Steve Waugh. Tennis elbow then took its toll on Tendulkar, leaving him out of the side for the first two Tests when Australia toured India in 2004. He played a part in the face-saving Indian victory in Mumbai, though Australia had already taken the series 2-1, with the Second Test in Chennai drawn.

Sachin is an integral part of Think-Tank. He's often found discussing with the captain and involved in building strategies. Current Captain, Rahul Dravid publicly acknowledged that it was Sachin, who suggested to promote Irfan Pathan to #3. Pathan's swash buckling batting did impress every one, but he was later removed from that position, as his bowling started to be less effective and he would need to concentrate more on his bowling.

On 10 December, 2005, at Feroz Shah Kotla, he delighted fans with a record-breaking 35th Test century, against the Sri Lankans.

On 6 February 2006, Tendulkar scored his 39th ODI hundred, in a match against Pakistan. He followed with a run-a-ball 42 in the second ODI against Pakistan on February 11, 2006, and then a 95 in hostile, seaming conditions on 13 February, 2006 in Lahore, which set up an Indian victory.

On 19 March 2006, after scoring an unconvincing 1 off 21 balls against England in the first innings of the third Test in his home ground, Wankhede, Tendulkar was booed off the ground by a section of the crowd,[6] the first time that he has ever faced such flak. While cheered on when he came for his second innings, Tendulkar, was the top scorer in the second innings[7] and yet was to end the three-Test series without a single half-century to his credit, and news of a shoulder operation raised more questions about his longevity.

Tendulkar was operated upon for his injured shoulder forcing him to skip the tour of West Indies in 2006.

On 23 May 2006, after deciding not to undergo a scheduled fitness test, he announced he would miss the tour of the Caribbean for the Test series. However he agreed to play 5 games for Lashings World XI in order to regain fitness for a possible August comeback. He had scored 155, 147(retired), 98, 101(retired) & 105 in the 5 matches for Lashings XI with strike rate of well above 100 and was the top scorer in all the matches.

Also in his first Twenty20 match with international opposition, although unofficial, Tendulkar hit 50 not out off 21 deliveries to blast the International XI to 123 after 10 overs against the Pakistan XI.

However as of July,2006 The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced that the longest-serving international cricketer has overcome his injury problem following a rehabilitation programme and is available for selection.

He then came for the DLF cup in Malaysia and became the only Indian batsman to shine. In his most recent comeback match, against West Indies on 14th September 2006, Tendulkar responded to his critics who believed that his career was inexorably sliding with his 40th ODI century. Though he scored 141*, West Indies won the rain-affected match by the D/L method. In January 2007 Tendulkar scored a 76-ball century against the West Indies which makes it his 41st ODI century. He reached a hundred on the last ball of the Indian innings. Tendulkar now has 17 more ODI tons than Sanath Jayasuriya who is second on the list of ODI century-makers.[8]

Wisden named Tendulkar one of the Cricketers of the Year in 1997, the first calendar year in which he scored 1,000 Test runs. He repeated the feat in 1999, 2001, and 2002. Tendulkar also holds the record for scoring 1,000 ODI runs in a calendar year. He has done it six times - 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000 and 2003. In 1998 he made 1,894 ODI runs, still the record for ODI runs by any batsman in any given calendar year.

At Cricket World Cup 2007 in the West Indies, Tendulkar and the Indian cricket team had a dismal campaign. Tendulkar had scores of 7 (Bangladesh), 57* (Bermuda) and 0 (Sri Lanka). As a result, former Australian captain Ian Chappell, brother of current Indian coach Greg, called for Tendulkar to retire in his column for Mumbai's Mid Day newspaper

MILESTONE

* Most Runs: 14,847 Runs (as of 20th Mar, 2007). He is the leading run scorer in the ODI format of the game and the only player to cross the 14,000 run mark.

* Highest individual score among Indian batsmen (186* against New Zealand at Hyderabad in 1999). The score of 186* is listed the fifth highest score recorded in ODI matches

* Holds the record for scoring 1,000 ODI runs in a calendar year. He has done it six times - 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000 and 2003.

* First cricketer to cross 10,000-run mark. Only six other players have passed 10,000 runs in ODIs since then(Sanath Jayasuriya, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Ricky Ponting, Brian Lara, and Inzamam ul Haq). Sachin was the fastest to reach 10,000 runs taking 259 innings and has the highest batting average among batsmen with over 10,000 ODI runs

Edited June 9, 2007 by Carlsberg

[EvoLuTioN]

Th guys I like

In cricket:

Kapil Dev

Rahul Dravid

In tennis:

Sania mirza

[Carlsberg]

Sania Mirza (born November 15, 1986) is an Indian tennis player. She was born in Mumbai but brought up in Hyderabad. Coached by her father Imran Mirza, she began playing tennis at the age of six, turning professional in 2003. She was the highest ranked female tennis player ever from India, with career high rankings of number 31 in singles and 24 in doubles. She is now ranked 48th in singles and 38th in doubles as of April 9th, 2007.

She became the first Indian woman to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament at the 2005 US Open, defeating Mashona Washington, Maria Elena Camerin and Marion Bartoli. In 2004, she finished runner up at the Asian Tennis Championship. In 2005 Mirza reached the third round of the Australian Open, losing to eventual champion Serena Williams. On February 12, 2005, she became the first Indian woman to win a WTA singles title, defeating Alyona Bondarenko of Ukraine in the Hyderabad Open Finals.

Sania won the Wimbledon Championships Girls' Doubles title in 2003, teaming up with Alisa Kleybanova of Russia. Sania does not enjoy clay court. Her best performance in French Open singles has been second round appearance in 2007.

As of September 2006, Sania has notched up three top 10 wins against Svetlana Kuznetsova, Nadia Petrova and Martina Hingis.

At the 2006 Doha Asian Games, Sania won the silver in the women's singles category and the gold in the mixed doubles partnering Leander Paes. She was also part of the Indian women's team that won the silver in the team event.

She has stated that one of her best friends is fellow WTA tour player, Anna Chakvetadze.

* 2006 15th Asian games, Doha, Qatar: Mixed doubles - won gold medal for India partnering Raman Upadhyay. They beat Japan's Satoshi Iwabuchi and Akiko Morigami 7-5, 5-7, 6-2

* 2006 15th Asian games, Doha, Qatar: Singles - won silver medal loosing to China's Jie Zheng 4-6, 6-1, 1-6

* 2006 15th Asian games, Doha, Qatar: Team Tennis - won Silver medal for India pairing Shikha Uberoi. They lost to Chinese Taipei team.

* 2006 Sunfeast Kolkata Open singles: reached semi-finals, losing to eventual champion, Martina Hingis 6-1 6-0

* 2006 Sunfeast Kolkata Open doubles: Won the tournament partnering Liezel Huber. They beat Yulia Fedak and Yuliana Beygelzeimer 6-4 6-0

* 2006 Bangalore Open (Hyderabad Open in the previous years) doubles: Won the tournament (partnering with Liezel Huber)

* 2006 Won Silver medal in Qatar Asian Games 2006 Women's singles final and Gold medal in mixed doubles (partnering with Raman Upadhyay)

* 2005 Japan Open: reaches the semi-finals of women's singles and doubles (partnering Shahar Peer of Israel); reaches her highest doubles ranking of 114.

* 2005 US Open: reaches 4th round by defeating Marion Bartoli of France in straight sets (7-6(4), 6-4) before losing to top seed Maria Sharapova 6-2, 6-1. Voted Best Player of the day on the 3rd day for winning her 2nd round match despite bleeding toes.

* 2005 Forest Hills Women's Tennis Classic, New York: reaches her second WTA final but fails to win

* 2005 Acura Classic: upsets Nadia Petrova in 2nd round but loses in the third round to Akiko Morigami of Japan (2-6,6-4,4-6). By beating the 8th-ranked Petrova, she breaks into top 50 in world rankings for the first time ever.

* 2005 Dubai Tennis Championships: Upset reigning US Open Champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4, 6-2 in 2nd round to reach the quarter-finals

* 2005 Hyderabad Open singles: Won the tournament defeating Alyona Bondarenko of Ukraine 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 in the final and became the first Indian woman to capture a WTA singles title.

* 2005 Australian Open singles: 3rd round: Became first Indian woman to reach the 3rd round of a Grand Slam tournament.

* 2004 Hyderabad Open doubles: Won the tournament (partnering with Liezel Huber) to become the youngest Indian to win a WTA or ATP tour title and the first Indian woman to capture a WTA tour title. entered the singles as wild card but lost in the first round to the eventual winner Nicole Pratt.

* 2003 Wimbledon Championships Juniors doubles: Won the tournament (partnering with Alisa Kleybanova) to become the youngest Indian and the first Indian woman to win a junior Grand Slam title.

* 2003 Afro-Asian Games: won four gold medals - Women's singles, Mixed doubles (with Mahesh Bhupathi), Women's doubles and Women's team events (the last two golds in partnership with Rushmi Chakravarthy).

Hackles have been raised in some Islamist quarters supposedly due to her attire not being conformant to Islamic Hijab. According to one report published September 8, 2005, an unnamed Islamic scholar had issued a fatwa, saying that her attire is contrary to what is permitted by Islam.[1]. A further report published the next day on this fatwa elaborated that Sania was unfazed by the comments made by Syed Yousaf Bin, the chief patron of the Ulema Board, in Hyderabad.[2].Large numbers of Indian Muslims protested her attire, accusing her of being a "corrupting inflence on the youth"[3]She has been widely attacked and villified in radical Islamist circles ,including a cleric named Haseeb-ul-hasan Siddiqui who said "The dress she wears on the tennis courts…leaves nothing to the imagination, She will undoubtedly be a corrupting influence."[4]. Radical Islamist groups such as Jamiat-ulema-e-Hind allegedly threatened to disrupt her tennis matches, following which the Calcutta police had to heighten security measures to protect her.[5]

In 2006, Mirza declined from playing with an Israeli tennis player Shahar Peer for fear of violent protests from India's Muslims and their opposition to the existence of Israel.[3]

[Gycu]

She`s hot ! But also 38/48 ( 9 april 2007 ) isn`t that bad

[Godfather]

That Zlatan Ibrahimovic has scored some important goals i think.

[EvoLuTioN]

She`s hot ! But also 38/48 ( 9 april 2007 ) isn`t that bad smile.gif

Thats why I like her!!

[#1 canuck fan]

Wayne Douglas Gretzky, OC (born 26 January 1961 in Brantford, Ontario) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player who is currently part-owner and head coach of the Phoenix Coyotes.

Nicknamed "The Great One," Total Hockey: The Official Encyclopedia of the NHL calls Gretzky "the greatest player of all time."[1] He is generally regarded as the best player of his era and has been called "the greatest hockey player ever" by many sportswriters,[2][3][4] players,[5] and coaches. He set 40 regular-season records, 15 playoff records, 6 All-Star records, won four Stanley Cups with the Edmonton Oilers, and won 9 MVP awards and 10 scoring titles. He is the only player ever to total over 200 points in a season (a feat that he accomplished four times in his career). In addition, he tallied over 100 points a season for 15 NHL seasons, 13 of them consecutively. He is the only player to have his number, 99, officially retired by the National Hockey League.

He retired from playing in 1999, becoming Executive Director for the Canadian national men's hockey team during the 2002 Winter Olympics. He also became part owner of the Phoenix Coyotes in 2000 and following the 2004-05 NHL lockout became their head coach.

[Red_91]

Robert Frederick Chelsea "Bobby" Moore, OBE (born Barking, England, April 12, 1941 - died London, February 24, 1993) was an English footballer. He captained West Ham United for more than ten years and was skipper of the England team that won the 1966 World Cup.

H eis today the only ever England captain to win the World Cup.

Edited July 10, 2007 by ps3 player

[Gycu]

Cosmin Marius Contra, born 15th December 1975 in Timisoara

He is playing in defense ...

He played for : Poli Timisoara, FC Dinamo Bucharest, Deportivo Alaves, Getafe, AC Milan ...

Did I mentioned that my mom knows this guy ? she always tell me how was Cosmin in his childhood, a troublekid ... Also my mom and his are kinda friends ...

[Red_91]

Ronald Antonio "Ronnie" O'Sullivan (born December 5, 1975 in Wordsley, West Midlands)[2][3] is an English professional snooker player, nicknamed "The Rocket" due to his rapid playing style, with other monikers including "The Essex Exocet" and "The Magician". He has won the World Snooker title on two occasions (2001 and 2004). He grew up and still lives in Chigwell, Essex.

Great snooker player and a credit to the English game

[#1 canuck fan]

Phil esposito

Esposito joined the Chicago Black Hawks in the 1964 season and, centering for the great Bobby Hull for four seasons, proved himself a quality playmaker, twice finishing amongst the league-leading scorers.

In 1967, he was dealt to the Boston Bruins in a blockbuster trade, along with Ken Hodge and Fred Stanfield. While the hitherto unremarkable Hodge and Stanfield became stars in the Black-and-Gold, Esposito blossomed into the greatest scorer of his day, becoming the first NHL player to score 100 points in a season with 126 in the 1969 season. He would top the "century" mark six times in all, including five consecutive seasons between 1971 and 1975 (plus a 99-point season in 1970). Esposito would also capture the Art Ross Trophy in 1969 and 1971-74 as the top regular season scorer.

Esposito was named to the NHL's First All-Star team six consecutive times (from 1969-74), and won the Hart Trophy as the league's most valuable player in 1969 and 1974. His Boston fans printed and displayed bumper stickers during his best years to celebrate his scoring: they read, "Jesus saves, Espo scores on the rebound." Esposito, while not a fast or graceful skater, was best known for his unmovable presence in front of the opposition net from which he could score from all angles. Esposito has said: “Scoring is easy. You simply stand in the slot, take your beating and shoot the puck into the net.”[1]

During these great years, centering one of the most renowned forward lines in history with Hodge on right wing and left winger Wayne Cashman, Esposito and fellow superstar Bobby Orr led the Bruins to Stanley Cup victories in 1970 and 1972, and first-place finishes in the league in 1971, 1972, and 1974.

During 1970-71, Esposito shattered the record for most goals scored in a season when he finished up with 76. This record stood until 1982 when Wayne Gretzky scored his 77th, 78th and 79th goal against the Buffalo Sabres. Esposito was on hand to present the game puck to Gretzky. Esposito also set the single season point-scoring record in 1971 with 152, a mark likewise now held by Gretzky. Only three other players have reached the 150 point-scoring plateau — Mario Lemieux, Steve Yzerman and Bernie Nicholls — and only Gretzky, Lemieux, Brett Hull, Teemu Selänne and Alexander Mogilny have scored 76 or more goals in a season.

After his performance in the Summit Series, where he was the inspirational captain for Team Canada and its leading scorer in the series, he won the 1972 Lou Marsh Trophy as Canada's outstanding male athlete of the year and was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. Esposito also scored the first goal of the series and he scored or assisted four times in the deciding game. During that series, his scolding of Canadian fans, who booed the national team after a 5-3 loss to the Soviet Union in Game Four, was credited with firing up his teammates [1]:

"If the Russian fans boo their players in Moscow like you people are booing us, I'll come back and apologize personally to every one of you, but I really don't think that will happen. We gave it and are doing our best. All of us guys are really disheartened. . . . We came out here because we love Canada. They're a good hockey team, and we don't know what we could do better, but I promise we will figure it out. But it's totally ridiculous — I don't think it is fair that we should be booed."

[2]

He also played for Team Canada in the inaugural Canada Cup in 1976, on a line with Hall of Famers Bobby Hull and Marcel Dionne. The following year, Esposito would represent Canada once more in the 1977 World Championships.

In 1975-76, he and Carol Vadnais were traded to the New York Rangers for Brad Park, Joe Zanussi and Jean Ratelle. While not as glittering an offensive force as in his glory days, as captain of the Rangers, Esposito led the Blueshirts in points each of his full seasons with the club and remained an effective scorer until his final season. The highlight of his years in New York was leading the Rangers to the Stanley Cup final in 1979 where he finished third in postseason scoring. He retired in 1981, then only second to Gordie Howe in career goals and total points, and third in assists to Howe and Stan Mikita.

[edit] Retirement

Esposito served as General Manager and coach of the Rangers for three years in the mid 1980s, during which he earned the nickname "Trader Phil" for the numerous transactions he made. During his tenure as GM, he made more trades than the Vancouver Canucks had made in the entire 1980's. [3] While serving as GM, two of his most famous trades included the trade for the legendary Marcel Dionne and an infamous trade, in which he sent a first round pick to the Quebec Nordiques as compensation for signing Michel Bergeron. Two other key acquisitions during his time as GM included drafting future Norris trophy winner Brian Leetch and signing Hall of Famer Guy LaFleur, who was planning a comeback.

He moved on to found the NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning but faced competition from the Compuware Group who wanted to place a team in nearby St. Petersburg. It was proposed to Esposito that he merge his bid with the Compuware Group to which he refused. [4] His reputation and force of personality was widely credited with winning the expansion bid for Tampa Bay -- in 1992, serving as the team's president and general manager until 1998. Compuware eventually purchased the Hartford Whalers.

In the Lightning's inaugural season, he made hockey history by signing Manon Rheaume, making her the first woman to sign with an NHL team. He remains the team’s radio color commentator, and also co-hosts a daily call-in show on XM Satellite Radio's Home Ice channel. He has appeared in the last year on the FX network show Rescue Me, a show with strong hockey elements.

Esposito was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1984. In December of 1987, his #7 jersey was retired by the Boston Bruins in an emotional ceremony where the then-current wearer, superstar defenseman Ray Bourque, surrendered the number in Esposito's honor. Esposito was "visibly moved" when Bourque showed the Boston Garden crowd his new number, 77, which he used for the rest of his career. [5] Esposito was also on hand in Boston to hand Bourque his retired number after the latter retired.

Phil Esposito was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1984. Esposito's younger brother Tony is also an Honoured Member of the Hockey Hall of Fame. Former NHLer Alexander Selivanov is Esposito's son-in-law.

[edit] Awards & achievements

Edited July 10, 2007 by Fone_bone

[Airashii]

I'll tell you something before someone posts him..

Lewis Hamilton doesn't deserve to be posted here.

9 races doesn't mean he's a legend or anything yet.

I believe people/heros posted here should have been in their sports for atleast a couple of years.

[Dirty Harry]

in portugal there are important soccer players: like eusebio (very old but a great soccer player) , cristiano ronaldo (plays in man utd), jose mourinho (he's a coach though),pavao (a great soccer player)

luis figo (other great soccer player)