Sport: The Chance To Live Forever

Andy Murray. The first British winner of Wimbledon for 77 years. If you don't know that by now you live under a rock! An audience of over 17 million people tuned in to watch history being made on Centre Court and like everyone else I was made up for him. After going through so much professionally and personally it was a fitting triumph. But the thing that got me thinking in the aftermath of his victory was when Andrew Castle and later Sue Barker on the BBC uttered the word that is the main focus of this post. Immortality.

At first you would be forgiven to immediately suggest that the use of the word in any context is completely absurd. I mean, who has ever lived forever? Look closer though and you can gradually understand, therefore appreciating even more the scale of Murray's achievement. He is now immortal. In 100 years time, when people will be going to work on hover boards or by teleportation, whenever the subject of tennis comes up, the name Andy Murray will always get a mention no matter how many more Grand Slams he wins.

 The new favourite for BBC Sports Personality of the Year

That is one of the beauties of sport. It gives you the chance to be remembered long after you are gone, to live in the minds of people forever. To truly appreciate the manner of how and why you can be remembered for eternity you must look at different sports across the spectrum, to see incredible feats and drama that entertains millions.

Take WWE for example. Action based on a script, but the pain of in ring moves totally real. Despite this an audience of millions across America and indeed the whole world. Once a year they have an event that they promote as "The Showcase of the Immortals". Wrestlemania. As legendary commentator Jim Ross once said "The road to ever-lasting mortality runs through Wrestlemania".  If you look at the stats, only one man can truly claim to be immortal on that stage. Now if we called The Undertaker by his real name I bet you that the majority of you would not have a clue who is he. But because of the fact that he has dedicated himself to the cause for nearly 25 years, been physically capable of constructing his streak of 21-0 at Wrestlemania and generally being one of the best wrestlers of all time ensures that he will be remembered by people across the globe. Mark Callaway may not be immortal, but the Undertaker certainly is.

The Deadman is one of the best ever the grace the ring.

Sometimes it because of the conditions that you compete in and the rivalries that ensue that can bring you this more than just legend status. In the 1970s Formula One was in what many call a golden age. Fantastic wheel to wheel racing with the best drivers in the world, a jetset lifestyle us mere citizens could only dream of. Lest we forget that there was a sinister side as well. At the same time there was a 20% chance that a driver would die. It was on this backdrop that the short but legendary rivalry between Niki Lauda and James Hunt would begin. Lauda, one of the best developers of a car, knowing how to set it up to his standards perfectly. Hunt, a quick flamboyant young man, who lets say took a great interest in the females that were constantly around him! In 1976 they battled for the World Championship until a horrific crash where his car burst into flames left Lauda fighting for his life. What was he doing six weeks later? He was back in the car, taking the championship right to the last race. That where he achieved immortality. By showing his will to win and strength in the face of adversity, which at the end of the day is what Formula One is all about sealed his placed in the history book and this was even before he took his tally of World Championships to three by 1983. Hunt would also gain his right to live forever by defeating Lauda in the final race in Japan to become World Champion. Never mind that would be his only title, he remains one of the most talked about, loved British racing drivers ever, showing that even not the conventional lifestyle need stop on the way to sporting greatness. Ron Howard's new movie Rush, which is out in September tells this incredible story and you can watch the trailer here; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzNbGH1oZJc

One of Formula Ones greatest rivalries.

Perhaps football is the sport that it is most difficult to distinguish who is going to be remembered the most after they depart planet earth. Probably because the pool of elite players in football is far greater than any other sport. At the moment probably the only one who will definitely receive that accolade is Pele the Brazilian who by the majority is regarded as the greatest player ever. Others like Maradona George Best etc will follow suit. From the looks of it the best chance to achieve immortality in football is to win the World Cup. Take Neymar for example. Next year Brazil host the World Cup with himself as the star player. You've only got to look at the recent Confederations Cup to see what it's going to be like in the stands at the tournament especially when the host nation. If Brazil win the World Cup next year and Neymar is the star man he will almost certainly attract God like status in Brazil not to mention acclaim from across the footballing world. Brazil never forgets its Sporting heroes. Ayrton Senna anyone? Lionel Messi will also be keen to make his mark next year. A magician with the ball at his feet but has never really done anything special for his country Argentina. Win the World Cup next year; I have no doubt that he will become the best player of all time. Lose, and then he still has work to do!

Both will be hoping to achieve immortality next summer.

Team Sports seem the most difficult place to achieve singular greatness. Unless you are a sporting nut, you are not going to remember the entire Lions team that beat Australia, the Ashes squads that have triumphed over Australia in three out of the last four series, or the England team that won the World Cup in 1966. What you will do though is remember these teams and you will remember the defining moments in the matches they played, like George North's try in the first test, Kevin Pietersen's Ashes winning century in 2005 and Geoff Hurst hat-trick goal against West Germany. Through these moments a team will live on and the moments will be returned to further down the line.

England’s victorious 2005 Ashes Side but how many could you name in 50 years?

To conclude I shall return to Andy Murray. He still has good five or so years left in his career so who knows what the future holds or how many more Grand Slams he can win. One thing that I do know is because of what he did on Sunday the seventh of July 2013, he will be remembered by the public forever.

That, in the sporting world, is one of many ways to become immortal.