It is one man’s ranking, but it is also the compilation of dozens of perspectives. I contacted dozens of authorities from all over the athletic, academic and journalistic spectrum – historians, sociologists, coaches, writers, editors, athletes, coaches, research specialists, archivists, professors, experts in every major sport. With their help, I compiled a list of about 300 sports figures and then set about culling the list and firming the rankings.

I asked myself a number of questions that became criteria:

• How is “important” defined? I looked for people whose actions altered the course of the games. Case in point: I am Chicago native who was a huge fan of Walter Payton. But I had to admit that football without Sweetness would still be very much the same. Football without Pete Rozelle, however…
   
• Did the person have an impact beyond the playing fields? Transcendental figures hold special spots in THE SPORTS 100, whether they influenced perceptions of race (Joe Louis), gender equity (Billie Jean King), sexual preference (Martina Navratilova) or general culture (Babe Ruth).
   
• What was the person’s long-term impact? An example: Curt Flood challenged baseball’s reserve clause and lost in court. But over time, his proved to be a monumental moral victory. Time can reorder the rankings.
   
• Must the person have made a positive impact? Usually, yes. But not always. See Kenesaw Mountain Landis and Cap Anson.
   
• What was the person’s role in a particular momentous event? It’s a chicken-and-egg dilemma. Who is more important – Jackie Robinson or the man who signed him, Branch Rickey? The AFL’s founder Lamar Hunt or its biggest star Joe Namath? Sometimes the athlete was deemed more influential, sometimes the executive.
   
• What was the person’s relative contribution? I took into account both the importance of the sport and the influence of the person within it. Pelè, soccer’s top figure, is ranked #90. John Wooden, the 14th or 15th most important basketball figure, is #92.
   
• Must it include only Americans? No, not if they impacted American sports. Basketball inventor James Naismith was Canadian; Sonja Henie was Norwegian; Pelè is Brazilian.
   
• Where is the line between sport and society? Although the list includes the likes of Theodore Roosevelt and William Randolph Hearst, it is because of their sporting influence. But just because I include, say, racer Richard Petty, that doesn’t mean I have to add Henry Ford.