Sibling Superiority

As Canadians and lovers of hockey, we have our Sutters and Staals, extraordinary stories of prolific sporting families. Once upon a time, Bobby and Dennis Hull were among the stars of the NHL, as were Phil and Tony Esposito.

But when it comes to sheer accomplishment, its pretty hard to top the Manning clan of New Orleans and the Williams family of Compton, California.

On Sunday, Eli Manning steered the New York Football Giants to victory over the Green Bay Packers on what truly was the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field. His brother, Peyton, guided the Indianapolis Colts to last year's Super Bowl, meaning Archie Manning's boys have quarterbacked back-to-back Super Bowl entrants.

In a world where every parent thinks their kid is going to the big time, that's pretty amazing for two brothers, both of whom have had plenty of doubters along the way.

But even that story, really, takes second place to the tale of Venus and Serena Williams, both of whom were still alive in the Australian Open as of today.

The Manning boys had their dad to teach them how to be NFL quarterbacks. The Williams girls just had their father, Richard, and his crazy dream that two ghetto girls could be tennis champions.

Yet both did it, and both are multiple Grand Slam champions, and they may be headed for another of their improbable sister vs. sister matchups in the Aussie Open finals.

(Ed. Note: That possibility ended when Serena was upset in straight sets by Serbia's Jelena Jankovic in the quarterfinals on Monday night Down Under).

Venus is surely the best grass court player of her generation, and there's an argument to be made that the oft-injured Serena could be the best ever to play the game.

The Mannings have pulled off an amazing double. But love 'em or hate 'em, the Williams sisters remain the most incredible family story in North American sports history.

Comments

[Patrick G]

The Williams sisters have been remarkable for sure, but your assessment of Serena should have read "could have been" the best player arguably of all time. The injuries have obviously hurt her career, but she's not quite in the same boat as Everett, Graf and Navratalova.

[chris]

The irony with the Manning clan is that poppa Archie never led any of his teams to a winning record, much less a playoff appearance, much less the Super Bowl. Eldest son Peyton has a ring and a Super Bowl MVP while youngest son Eli will make his first Super Bowl appearance in two weeks (where they will get run over by the New England steamroller known as the Patriots, btw). I'm not sure if daddy is proud or lust a little bit jealous of his sons (problably the former).

As for the Williams sisters, just imagine how much more success they would have earned if they had been more focused on tennis and not on other things.

[Susan]

I have to agree with Patrick, Serena had 'potential' to be the best but Martina Navratilova was the best ever.

[John]

I'd agree with Patrick, but Damien's comments were "Serena could be the best ever to play the game" and so did actually say it accurately. I also agree with Damien, the argument is definitely there for Serena, but it doesn't matter. The Williams sisters are dominating and have been for years. There are very few sporting families that can even approach their average level in a given sport. The Sutters? Nope, not dominating. The Staals? Nope, not the same. The Mannings? Good, yes, not dominating. Had Keith Gretzky been even close to Wayne, you might have had something like the Williams sisters, but it was not to be.

So, yeah, Damien has hit the nail on the head. Nevetheless, Poppa Manning has every reason to be proud of his boys.

[Steve]

I think the Richard brothers have a good argument for being the most succesful family story in sports...

[Susan]

Serena was ousted yesterday, the byline read "A listless Serena", I don't ever remember reading about a "listless Martina" in the years she dominated women's tennis. I know when she was really young, she gained weight due the the new American diet she had at her hands, but Serena is past her 'young' days by now and is in the twilight of her career, which, as someone said, she could have been the best in.

[Rich in Vermont]

As usual, Montreal is ignored.

How about Maurice and Henri Richard? Two hall of famers whose numbers have been retired by the game's greatest team? One was one of the game's all time greats, the other has more Cups than any other player.

[Patrick G]

Forgot to add. Martina was an exceptional doubles and mixed doubles player as well. I just don't think "could be" and "could have been" mean the same thing to me, thus the reason why I made a qualification between how I felt and what I perceived Damien to be saying. The overall records speak for themselves. Serena at this point in her career is more comparable to Monica Seles, also another great player.

[Tony Towers]

Serena Williams as the best ever? Are you serious? She may have had a great run for a while, but nothing compared to Steffi Grff, or Martina Navratilova, or even Chris Evert. Graff won the grand slam and the Olympic Gold Medal in '88 and tons of salms, like Navratilova, and even Evert who won 4US Opens in a row, not to mention all of her others. Best ever has to be for a career, and neither Williams sister makes it into the conversation in that regard.

[Kullervo]

Can't disagreee with any of the comments, but I submit for your further consideration the following.

1. Mahovliches. Folks ususally forget how dominating Peter was for a stretch of 5 or 6 years in the early to mid 70s. His short-handed highlight reel goal for Team Canada at MLG in '72 reminded panicked Canutsky hockey fans that the Russians were fallible after all.

2. Joe, Phil Niekro. Gaylord, Jim Perry. The pitchin' Perez brothers, all five or so of 'em. Sure, not the greatest brother acts, but real cahracters all.

3. Would any of us today know the names of Vic and Dom Dimaggio if it weren't for Joe? Need an oldtimer to help me out here.

4. We know all about Norther Dancer's illustrious offspring but did he have any siblings of note? (And with the financial markets in turmoil again, do you ever stop and think that the Dancer's retirment was way better than a retirement lifestyle that requires us to accumulate an apallingly large horde of loonies in our RRSPs? Where do I sign up for the Dancer plan?)