Which was the best team in a certain sport? Who was the best player? The best all-around athlete?

Such questions, which probably don’t really have just one, only one, correct answer, are the stuff of discussion many sports buffs love.

If you are a sports fan, chances are you have your “bests” as well. Engaging in discussions about such a “weighty” (not really) topic is harmless. It’s just opinions about one slice of our American life.

Having said all of this, let me narrow the subject just a bit. As in, who was the best all-around athlete who attended one of our state’s colleges and universities?

Now, comparing, rating, ranking athletes who competed in different generations is a bit like the old apples and oranges quandary.

Here in the Tar Heel state there has been a multitude of really exceptionally gifted athletes. A plethora, if you will. You – since you’re reading this piece about sports – probably have your own ideas about the “best.” As do I.

My choice will surprise you. Many, if not most, won’t even recognize the name.  So, keep in mind that it’s just one old fellow’s opinion. And, of course, that he’s absolutely right.

The best, most exceptional athlete to ever be a part of the college sports scene here in the Old North State? Dave Sime. (Pronounced to rhyme with “Jim.”)

That’s right, Dave Sime.

This 6-foot-3 phenomenon came to Duke in 1954 on a baseball scholarship and was originally from New Jersey.

Sime wanted to become a medical doctor, and also be active in sports. What better choice than Duke? Although the term wasn’t used in those days, he epitomized what a “student athlete” really was.

Interestingly, he didn’t play baseball all four years while at Duke. He did, however, lead the team in batting average two years. But, you see, he sort of got side-tracked. Emphasis on “track.”

After baseball practice one day, a team mate encouraged him to go by the track – which is inside Wallace Wade Stadium – and have one of the track coaches time him in a 100-yard dash.

On a dirt and cinder track, in his baseball togs and spikes, from a standing start, he clocked a 9.5. The world’s record at the time was 9.3.

And the rest, as they say, is history. The following winter he burst on the national, the world scene during the indoor season. Soon he was on the cover of Sports Illustrated. By the time his first outdoor season ended, he was known as the “World’s Fastest Human.” At one time in his relatively short track career, he held world records in the 100-yard and 100-meter, 220-yard and 200-meter, dashes; he also set an ACC record in the 220-yard low hurdles (a race no longer run), and the long jump. At the peak of his sprinting dominance he incurred a torn, debilitating hamstring, and went from the ’56 Olympics sprint favorite to being unable to compete. It was a real disappointment. He did, however, compete in the ’60 Olympics in the 100-meter dash and the 4×100 meter relay. He won a silver in the solo event, almost overcoming a sluggish start. He was a med school student at the time.

Also, in his first year in med school, he played end (it would be called wideout today) on the Blue Devils football team. That was in the days of Duke football supremacy.

Dave Sime was also an excellent golfer. He was no stranger to par. The young man was truly a uniquely gifted all-around athlete.

In a personal note, let me tell you that once I ran against this legendary sprinter.  The occasion was the Carolinas AAU Track & Field Championship meet, held at North Carolina State. It was after the regular track season was over. Sime was placed in the heat just before mine. Someone had scratched, so there was a lane open … right beside the tall redhead.

Coach Jim Murray, an assistant at State, was in charge of lane assignments. He looked right at me and said, “Bartow, fill this lane,” pointing to the one next to Sime.  (Coach Murray remembered me from spring of the previous year – my senior year at good old WHS – when he was the host coach for several potential recruits at State, and I was one of them.)

It was the 220, with the top finishers moving on to the finals that night.

So, I – in my Wake Forest black and gold – ran against Sime. My time in that heat (21.7) was my fastest ever.

In the finals that night, I had a good view of the entire race. I was in the stands.  Coming in third in a heat didn’t get it. That is to say, I didn’t advance. The same in the 100 also. Another third.

And Sime? He won our heat easily, as he had done in the 100 heat also.  Unfortunately, he reinjured a groin muscle in the finals of the 100 and never completely returned to his full capabilities. Even so, he made the ’60 Olympics while still in med school, as mentioned earlier.

In his healthy prime, he was a marvel to behold when he ran.  No one could stay with him. No one.

He was an athlete nonpareil, the likes of which has not been seen again in this state or just about anywhere.

Dr. Dave Sime was an eye specialist/surgeon in his medical career in Miami. He had to be the world’s fastest doctor. For sure.