Here are some great matchups and potential discussions: Muhammad Ali vs. Mike Tyson, Henry Aaron vs. Barry Bonds, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar vs. Shaquille O'Neal, Richard Petty vs. Jeff Gordon, Bobby Orr vs. Wayne Gretzky, Joe Montana vs. Tom Brady, Coke vs. Pepsi, MASH vs. Seinfeld, Superman vs. Batman, South Park vs. Simpsons, Carmen Electra vs. Megan Fox, and Viagra vs. Cialis.

Take it from one who knows.

Whether it's experts debating on Stone Cold Sports.com, a group of people discussing last night's game while eating lunch at a neighborhood diner, or a gaggle of six year olds pondering their true calling in life while deciding who gets to pet the puppy first, nothing captures our attention, creates a dialogue, or brings warring factions together only to split them apart, than the debate about who or what is “the greatest of all time.”

In each discussion, there are so many variables to be considered: the benefits of modern equipment, better physical conditioning, schedule changes, night games vs. day games, and more powerful and game-altering drugs.

Also, these others variables can enter the discussion, such as the invasive and often times moronic questions posed by a sensationalistic media corps, the difference between team and individual efforts, players arrest records, and so forth. You get the idea.

Rare indeed and, perhaps, impossible at one time, to even remotely consider we would be able to put our finger squarely on the mark of just one athlete, call that person the best ever, and do so without a single doubt.

It is unlikely to be able, and some might even say foolish, to mark that athlete as the best of an entire generation.

Those who cry sacrilege are those who either cannot or refuse to see the overall scope of one athlete’s athletic achievements when compared to every other sport, every other discipline, and every other sporting condition.

However, it would be foolish to not acknowledge what we are witnessing.

Excellence. Grit. History. Greatness.

Tiger Woods is, without a doubt, the greatest athlete of this generation.  With performances—such as his victory on the 72nd hole at Bay Hill—he sets a new standard for generations of athletes, in every sport, to follow.

There is, at this moment, no other athlete who so owns their sporting vocation. The PGA Tour was a mere shell of a mere shell, while Woods was absent.

No disrespect meant towards any of the other golfers on Tour, such as, well, they know who they are, but Xbox golf loyalist would get more attention paid to it, if Tiger wasn’t there.

Seek and ye shall not find another athlete at any level who maintains such a stunning level of play.

Taking 2009 out of the mix, for obvious reasons, Tiger has been a top four money winner for 12 straight years—eight of those as the one to beat. That’s 12 years of competing directly against and smiting every single “next great challenger.”

Woods was fourth in 1998, when he played in three fewer events than No. 1 David Duval. Even the great ones find themselves needing to step up or out from those they rely on for advice, and while a great in his own right, swing coach, Butch Harmon, may have tinkered a bit too much with young Tiger’s game.

After all, Woods had already become the world’s No. 1 player in a record-setting, 42-week stretch.

He gets a mulligan for being, perhaps, the fastest growing star in the sports firmament since Bobby Fischer.  He certainly had a better set of mental marbles to deal with it.

He was second, in 2003, playing in fewer tournaments than all but two of the top 20.  Ernie Els and Nick Price were those other two, and they were way back in the weeds.

Tiger also wound up second, playing in nine fewer stops than top cash dog, Vijay Singh. That earlier rift with Harmon had grown to a full-blown canyon.

Plus, when a global superstar marries a stunning woman and finds something a bit more important than driving off the tee, he is allowed a career sidestep.

Two-hundred sixty-four consecutive weeks as the world’s top-ranked player buys you another well-earned understanding.

He slipped to fourth again in 2004, the year Singh was able to actually strike that deal with the devil and blow away the field with over $10M in earnings.

A little-known fact, Beelzebub lost big in several wagers taking the field against Tiger and wanted to level off before things got out of hand. Woods also didn’t do himself any favors believing in his own indestructibility and playing with a repaired left knee.

Of course, there’s his disappointing second place, fiscal finish in 2008. Let’s forget the fact that he didn’t play a single round after the middle of June and still managed a runner-up finish—a major career disaster.

Great athletes are those who play with a combination of physical excellence, mental toughness, strength of will, the ability to overcome diversity, and the reputation of striking fear into the heart of any competitor who dare to believe they can play in the same rarefied air—all without thinking twice or even considering the need to think.

It just happens.

Tiger Woods has single- handily taken the PGA Tour out of the beer-bellied days of the 19th hole and chain smoking over hill and dale.

A chiseled frame that would excel in any number of faster and greater contact sports, has forced any aspiring pro to make time for the gym—instead of the strip club. Physically speaking, Woods is the beginning of evolution.

The only sport that comes close to needing the same amount of mental toughness, as golf, is tennis—another singular sport where every competitor is cast onto an island of performance with no one to rely on but themselves for assistance.

However, therein lies the only similarity. Win a tennis match and you get a few days to relax, re-tune, and regroup.

At the PGA level, it’s four consecutive days of changing conditions, shifting emotions, fans and fanatics mere steps away at all times, and no locker room or dugout to escape into for wailing away on the nearest unsuspecting water cooler.

No other sport makes such mental demands.

Every great athlete can will themselves into creating memorable shots, game-winning decisions, and even turn average teammates into something special.

It doesn’t always take a legend to overcome adversity, but it does mean there is a unique element present that merely needs desire to turn it into reality.

We can all think of several hundred great athletes who, by strapping on the helmet, lacing up the sneakers, or walking to the blocks, bring “icicles to the spine” fear into the competition.

However, to have all three of those elements available at the flick of a switch, for more than a decade, and in a sport that relies on no one but yourself every single second of every single event, is amazing.

Before you start tuning up about the importance of caddies, remember they give advice and not orders. Even in tennis the best players will often do as they are told by coaches.

Race car drivers follow orders or face the possibility of putting florists to work. Addressing that ball on the tee, fairway, forest, beach or slate, there is no one else to take accolades or blame.

History believes the loneliest profession on this marble is a lighthouse keeper. Compare being a professional golfer standing on the final tee of the Masters either up or down by one stroke to every night watching the horizon for ships as if it is New Years Eve in Times Square and you are trying to dodge several thousand of your new best friends desperate to find a restroom.

There is no lonelier athlete.

What about that field goal kicker with :01 on the clock in Super Bowl OT to win or lose the game? No contest. He’s not the only one to touch the football, and that deafening stadium din is enough to wrack even the best psyche.

Try doing everything yourself. In complete and cemetery-like silence. The only thing you hear is your brain working, your tendons contracting, the rustling of grass blades, and your entire life rolling by in Hi-Def milliseconds.

From the moment he puts one toe onto a practice tee, Tiger Woods is the tournament champion.

The instant he addresses that first tee shot, every set of eyes believes they are about to witness a moment they will tell their grandchildren.

The second that putter draws back from anywhere within a distance viewable by the Hubble telescope, you prepare your escape of air to coincide with his fist pump of clutch victory.

And while they would be loathe to admit it, every golfer he faces wakes to a new day with the knowledge Tiger can make up a 10 shot deficit with one hole to play.

Tiger Woods will never throw even one no-hitter. His multi-touchdown effort will be recorded only via video game.

He’ll never have to worry about nailing that last gate before the finish line, and there will be no opportunity to wear all his gold medals for a magazine shoot.

All of those accomplishments and so many more are awe-inspiring, legendary, and historic for the supremely talented athletes who author them.

Don’t be surprised, however, if deep down so many of those athletes would relish the chance for just one day to be Tiger Woods.

The greatest athlete of our generation.

Veteran network broadcaster Ed Berliner covers the games and issues at "Stone Cold Sports" (http://stonecoldsports.com).Viewers and readers are encouraged to comment on this article on the "Stone Cold Sports" web site: http://stonecoldsports.com/2009/03/telling-it-like-it-ismarch-30-2009-the-greatest-mantle-rests-perfectly-on-tigers-shoulders.html

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