Some of our favourite stars

EVERY Saturday the team talks about the big issues in sport locally, nationally and internationally.

Today Glen, Jason and Sean are talking about their favourite athletes of all time.

Jason Gibbs: I’m like a leaf on the wind when I have this discussion – never knowing which way I’m headed or where I will end.

Some days my thoughts on the matter are quite clear while on others I struggle narrowing it down to a top ten.

Today though I’m going to draw a line in the sand – I’m going to pick my star – and give you a short list of favourites as well.

David Beckham – there I said it.

I grew up supporting Tottenham Hotspur and it broke my heart when I read one of Beckham’s books and discovered we had a shot at signing him as a junior.

The thought of seeing one the world’s greatest and my favourite footballer in the lilywhite of Spurs brings a tear to my eye – it just wasn’t to be though.

A great player on the pitch and a perfect ambassador for the sport off it – Beckham is a once in a lifetime player.

As a junior clubs weren’t exactly fighting for his signature but Alex Ferguson saw something special in the midfielder – desire.

That combined with a work rate and passion second to none turned Beckham into a superstar who played and starred for the world game’s biggest clubs.

And to this day I don’t think there is a better striker of the ‘dead ball’ than Beckham.

He’s also a wonderful humanitarian and that earns my respect as much as his football skills.

My shortlist: Peter Schmeichel (I modelled my goal-keeping after the Man U legend), Ronda Rousey (she changed the fight game the world over), Harry Kane (my club’s lethal

marksman), Usain Bolt (fast, real fast).

Glen McCullough: Our favourite athletes come in all shapes and forms.

We admire them for different reasons.

When we were kids, they were our heroes.

They etched lasting imprints on our impressionable young minds.

As a cricket-loving schoolboy Australian fast bowler Graham Mackenzie was my man. He was an Aussie, he bowled fast and I wanted to be him in the playground.

Then there are sport people who ooze pure class — the type of players who excited you with their brilliance. They are the ones you want to go along to games to see them alone play.

Growing up loving rugby league while living some of my early life in Sydney, Les Johns and Graeme Langlands enchanted me with their skills.

Another vivid schoolboy memory was marvelling at our own John McDonald playing for Toowoomba against Great Britain at Athletic Oval in 1968.

A few years later the enigmatic Ted Goodwin — one of the most gifted athletes I’ve seen — was another rugby league excitement machine.

Then there are pure athletes who make their sport look easy and when at their top make rivals look second rate.

I can’t think of two better examples than Mark Waugh and my favourite track athlete Michael Johnson.

Finally there are the humble champions who have thrilled followers with their sporting deeds and proven to be equally as good as ambassadors off the field.

There are heaps to choose from but I can’t think of too many finer than Jack Nicklaus and Gary Sobers.

Sean Teuma: As tempting as it was to put Shawn Michaels, I decided to go with someone who competes in an actual sport, LeBron James.

GOAT James, as Shannon Sharpe likes to refer to him, has a resume as big as the bible with what he has achieved in the sport of basketball, but perhaps more impressive is his character as a human being.

Earlier this year he opened a school in his native Ohio for underprivileged children, not to mention the good he does with the LeBron James Family Foundation.

The bloke is the ultimate sportsperson, using his wealth to spread good in the world, not blow it like we’ve seen many NBA stars do.

Onto his sporting ability, he has played in eight straight NBA Finals, which is insane in the modern era, considering he has been the underdog in all but two of those series’.

He will go down as the most talented player to ever grace a basketball court, and in my opinion the best ever because of just how valuable he is.

It’s a well-known fact that teams rise to new heights when LeBron arrives, and crumble when he departs.

Just look at the sorry state of the Cavs right now.