Sports are full of statistics and records.

Sports are built around records.

Some records are unbreakable, the fans know it and so do the players, but that doesn’t stop them from trying.

Records are made and broken every day in sports, that’s just how it goes.

Some records are broken within that season, some last many lifetimes.

The question arises, which record in all of sports history is the greatest?

Ryan and Brendan debate in this week’s edition of The Hot Corner.

Ryan:

There are so many records in sports it is hard to put your finger on the greatest.

There is one record that always comes to mind when the conversation come about. I always think about Cal “Iron Man” Ripken Jr’s record of playing 2,632 consecutive games.

Ripken’s streak began on May 30, 1982 and lasted until September 19, 1998 when he voluntarily ended his streak.

The former Baltimore Oriole broke Lou Gehrig’s record of 2,130 games on September 6, 1995 in Baltimore.

If you put the streak into context it’s just overwhelming. The regular season in baseball consists of 162 games, which means Ripken’s streak lasted over 16 seasons. Think about that, 16 seasons without missing a single game, its simply incredible.

Ripken says he came close to missing a game in June of 1993 after he twisted his knee after a benches clearing brawl. Ripken decided to fight through the pain and keep the streak alive.

The Maryland native went through a variety of changes pertaining to his game during the streak but he never took a day off.

I, among many other sports and baseball enthusiasts, believe that Ripken’s streak will never be broken. No active player in the MLB is even within 2,000 games of the Ripken record, it just goes to show how amazing his record really is.

Brendan:

There are countless records across professional sports but the one that jumps out at me the most is NHL goalie Martin Brodeur’s 688 regular season wins, the most all time in the NHL.

Brodeur has played his entire NHL career with the New Jersey Devils since 1991 and within that time he has established himself as the greatest goalie to ever play in the NHL.

Winning games as a goalie in the NHL is no easy task. You have to have some of the quickest reflects and instincts of any player.

Brodeur blew past previous record holder Patrick Roy, who recorded of 551 wins in NHL. Since then he has distanced himself from the rest of the pack.

Roberto Luongo is the closest active player and only has 373 wins in his career. I believe Brodeur’s record will never be broken for a few reasons.

In todays game it is very hard to stay healthy for such a long time like Brodeur. It is also hard to be physically able to play 15 plus years which is what Brodeur was able to do.

It is also difficult for goalies to get as much playing time because most NHL teams now have at least two goalies that they use during the course of the season so it is hard for one goalie to earn a lot of wins.

Brodeur, who should be a first ballot Hall-of-Famer, has a countless number of NHL records which just goes to show how dominate of a goalie he is.

Besides having the most wins by a goalie he also holds the record for most shutouts during the regular season, including the playoffs and also the most career saves.

He was the youngest goalie to reach 300, 400, and 500 wins all while playing the most games by an NHL goalie. The goalie can also score goals. He has the most all time by a goalie with three goals including a dramatic game winner.

Brodeur, at the age of 41, most likely played his last NHL game this past season so it looks like these records will no longer continue get larger. Now it is up to the young goalies to make names for themselves and see if they will be the one to break the record.

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