The 20th Century officially ended the last day of 2000 at midnight, give or take a second. Between then and now, the hype has been deafening. By now, we have rated the 100 Greatest Used Car Salesmen, Greatest Evangelists, Greatest Love Songs, Greatest Movies and Greatest Liars (no contest here) to go along with the never-ending Greatest Athlete of the Century. Give His Airness a world of credit as a phenom. The Babe was incomparable. The only thing common about Jim Brown was his name. They were great, all. But they were great on TEAMS. Sorry, their accomplishments can’t be isolated from the contributions of their world-class teammates. What they did depended on others’ failures and successes. By definition, the greatest athletes work alone. Any world class rock climber ranks higher than the myriad of commercial superstars. Any decathlon champion belongs way ahead of them. Winners of the Iditerod (lead dogs, not drivers) are in a league of their own. Mildred “Babe” Zaharias was an Olympic, tennis and golf champion who founded the LPGA before she died at 45. Can shooting, jumping and dunking compare? For sheer athletic prowess, any number of Hollywood stunt men put the runners, dunkers and hitters to shame. In reality, rankings are a disservice to true athletes and only serve as a gimmick by which ESPN and Sports Illustrated and other media organizations can build advertising revenues. Anyway, years ago a famous boxer repeatedly announced to the world that he was the greatest. That settles it.