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The most unbreakable sports records

It's difficult to rank the records of Barry Bonds, who hit 73 homers for the San Francisco Giants in 2001 and 762 homers in his 22-year career. The slugger was a central figure in baseball's steroids scandal, being indicted on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice in 2007 for allegedly lying to a grand jury by testifying that he never knowingly took any illegal steroids. Baseball's crackdown on performance-enhancing drugs and renewed emphasis on pitching and defense will make both records difficult to eclipse.

It’s difficult to rank the records of Barry Bonds, who hit 73 homers for the San Francisco Giants in 2001 and 762 homers in his 22-year career. The slugger was a central figure in baseball’s steroids scandal, being indicted on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice in 2007 for allegedly lying to a grand jury by testifying that he never knowingly took any illegal steroids. Baseball’s crackdown on performance-enhancing drugs and renewed emphasis on pitching and defense will make both records difficult to eclipse.  (DENIS POROY / AP)

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Mike DiGiovanna’s assignment: Rank the top 10 sports records that will never be broken. Candidates were chosen from professional sports, the Olympics and major college sports programs. We also limited the field to records set from 1940 on. Here’s DiGiovanna’s list.

No. 9: John Isner and Nicolas Mahut's marathon Wimbledon match

John Isner and Nicolas Mahut made history by playing an 11-hour, 5-minute, 183-game match over three days at Wimbledon in 2010. That was a full 4 1/2 hours longer than the previous record match of 6 hours, 33 minutes by Fabrice Santoro and Arnaud Clement at the 2004 French Open.   (SUZANNE PLUNKETT / EPA)

No. 8: Richard Petty's 200 NASCAR wins

Driving his famous No. 43 stock car for 34 years from 1958 to 1992, North Carolina native Richard Petty racked up 200 NASCAR wins, including the prestigious Daytona 500 a record seven times. The driver who is second to Petty on NASCAR’s all-time list, David Pearson, retired with 105 wins. Active racer Jeff Gordon ranks third with 86 wins.   (CHUCK BURTON / AP)

No. 6: Jerry Rice's career receiving yards record

Jerry Rice accumulated a record 22,895 receiving yards from 1985 to 2004 and helped the San Francisco 49ers win three Super Bowls. Rice is 6,961 yards ahead of second-place Terrell Owens on the NFL’s all-time list.  (ERIC RISBERG / AP)

No. 4: Wayne Gretzky's career points record

In 21 seasons, the Brantford, Canada, native amassed a record 2,857 points, almost 1,000 more than second-ranked Mark Messier (1,887). Gretzky, who led the Edmonton Oilers to five Stanley Cup championships from 1984 to 1990, holds nine of the top 11 single-season points records, including four of 205 or more. In fact, he has more assists (1,963) than any other player has points.   (Nick Ut / AP)

No. 2: UCLA's streak of seven consecutive national titles

No other Division I college basketball program, not Duke, Kentucky, North Carolina or Michigan State, has won more than two straight national titles. With today’s stars bolting for the NBA after one or two years in college, forcing coaches to reshuffle rosters every year or two, it’s impossible to build a UCLA-like dynasty. In this photo, Lew Alcindor, Coach John Wooden and Sidney Wicks celebrate a title.   (AP PHOTO / AP PHOTO)

No. 1: Cal Ripken's consecutive games playing streak

Ripken¿s streak of 2,632 consecutive games played spanned more than 16 years and included that historic night of Sept. 6, 1995, when, with the Angels, President Clinton and Joe DiMaggio on hand, Ripken broke Lou Gehrig’s record of 2,130 straight games and took a 22-minute victory lap around Camden Yards.   (PAUL BUCK / AFP)

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