100 Greatest Sports Photos: Sports Illustrated

Miracle on Ice is right next to Strug.

 

I don't think there's any reason beyond ubiquity that Muhammad Ali-Sonny Liston photo is 93rd rather than in the top 10.

 

So yeah, about a dozen of these don't belong anywhere near the list. This is a list of the best photos, not the most memorable moments. Like someone mentioned before, the Shrug photo is plain and boring. It's the moment that makes it, not the photo. Gretsky one also is boring.

 

My top five plus one:

1. Clay/Liston
2. Orr flying
3. Dwight Clark--the Catch
4, Turcotte looking back on Secretariat
5. YA Tittle bleeding
Bonus: Wilt holding the paper with 100

 

Waitwaitwait ... none of these are from the swimsuit issue???

 

Orr flying at 80 is criminal, same with Ali/Liston at 93. Cubbiebum, there are actually two Gretzky picks, one from his retirement night and the other is of him breaking Howe's goal record with his 802nd goal. Both pretty big moments, great photos? meh. Howe's was so much bigger and better.
Overall some great shots on the list, but just a weird order.

 

No Tiegs?

 

Hard to believe there wasn't anything better of Wilt and Russell. Photo they picked is pretty ordinary, almost an "oops, we gotta get something of Wilt and Russell in there" choice.

And while the "Wilt 100" photo is definitely iconic, it was staged, which breaks the cardinal rule of "great sports photo" . . . and the reason it's iconic is because no photog staffed the game. You see it over and over because, essentially, that's all there is. And if not for an AP photographer who took his kid to the game on his day off and realized something important was happening and fired off a few clicks, we wouldn't have anything at all from that game.