11/21/24
June 11, 2002
Best. Siblings. Ever.: Ranked #1 and #2 in the world, Venus (21 yrs. old) and Serena (20 yrs. old) Williams may dominate women's tennis for the next decade (at least this article seems to suggest the possibility). Are they the best siblings to ever play professional sports? Or for that matter, do they represent the best bloodline in professional sports? Can you think of any better family duo (father-son, father-daughter, brother-sister, mother-son, mother-daughter, brother-brother, etc.)? A year-old BBC article mentions a few sibling rivalries.
It may not be the best bloodline in professional sport, but the Sutter family was certainly impressive, having all 6 brothers play in the NHL; they played at the same time for five years.
posted by smithers at 10:37 AM on June 11, 2002
I can't think of any siblings like this, but the Williams will have to do this for a few more years before I would put them ahead of the Bonds and Griffey father/son duos in the Sports Bloodline Hall of Fame.
posted by rcade at 10:38 AM on June 11, 2002
In baseball, I would say the best bloodline is probably the Alous. I give them a slight edge over the Boones because of Felipe Alou's managerial career but Bret Boone has an excellent chance to make his family the best ever. There are so many excellent brother acts in baseball (Niekro, Perry, Dean) that you really have to have several member of the family involved to really be considered. That's why I agree with smithers about the Sutters. One that nobody remembers that shoud be mentioned is the Larkins. When Barry was just starting out with the Reds, his brother Byron was in the middle of an All-American and record-setting career in basketball at Xavier (he waqs one of the great unsung players in college basketball history), and his brother (the first name eludes me) was a linebacker at Notre Dame.
posted by pastepotpete at 11:14 AM on June 11, 2002
The record for NHL points by a set of brothers is... ...you guessed it. The Gretzky's.
posted by Succa at 11:51 AM on June 11, 2002
The Bonds have a sure-fire Top 10 all-time Hall-of-Famer along with a that-tier-below-HoF-level dad (not to mention non-blood related Willie Mays as godfather); the Griffeys don't shine like they used to. Don't forget the Alomars have dad and two sons, the DiMaggios had 3 brothers. The list goes on and on, and that's just in baseball- although it seems that baseball develops family trends more so than other sports. However, best bloodline in sports? My vote is for Seattle Slew and his countless progeny:
In his 20 years in the breeding shed, he sired roughly a thousand boys and girls... His offspring includes 101 stakes winners, the most prominent being Swale, who won the Kentucky Derby in 1984, A.P. Indy, Capote, Surfside and Slew O' Gold. Slew's sons and daughters have won a total of some $76 million in purses, meaning that if he were a mutual fund he would be listed under growth and value. In one of those classic stories rainbow chasers love to repeat, he was purchased for $17,500 as a gawky-looking colt by Mickey and Karen Taylor, who still are his majority owners.
posted by hincandenza at 12:54 PM on June 11, 2002
No offence, hincandenza, but the Northern Dancer blood line probably better. At numerous sites, he's mentioned as the best sire of the past century. (confession: being Canadian as well means I'm slightly biased) Amongst the human race, hockey families like the Hulls (brothers Bobby and Denis, with 2nd gen Brett), Sutters (6 brothers), Howes (father and sons playing together), Espositos (best brother combo ever), and baseball families like the Boones, Alous, Griffeys, Bonds and DiMaggios could also claim a pretty serious
posted by grum@work at 01:36 PM on June 11, 2002
..hold on "best bloodlines in sports". whoops
posted by grum@work at 01:37 PM on June 11, 2002
I'm getting way ahead of myself and voting for Andre Agassi, Steffi Graf, and their children :)
posted by tieguy at 05:46 PM on June 11, 2002
Best. Siblings. Ever. But what about Mary-Kate and Ashley?
posted by gyc at 12:43 AM on June 12, 2002
For siblings, Bobby and Jackie Charlton; the Bedser twins; the brothers Schumacher: for bloodline, heh, Ian Botham's son is a top-league rugby union player, and had a choice between that and cricket.
posted by etagloh at 05:55 AM on June 12, 2002
What about Ozzie Canseco and his brother, ah, what's his name? Mike and Henry Bibby for a father/son NBA bloodline. Also don't forget the Bells, Buddy, Gus and I believe one other generation played pro baseball. Also Grant Hill's Dad Calvin played pro football.
posted by vito90 at 08:31 AM on June 13, 2002
I don't think they will dominate for a decade, because Venus has hinted that she will retire soon to pursue other interests.