Big Three

Big Three is a term used colloquially to refer to the three most prominent entities in any given grouping or subject. It may refer to:

Business and education

• Big Three (automobile manufacturers), describing major manufacturers in different countries
• Big Three (colleges): Harvard, Yale, and Princeton
• Big Three (management consultancies): McKinsey, Bain & Company, and Boston Consulting Group
• Big Three (credit rating agencies): Standard & Poor's, Moody's, and Fitch Group
• Big Three television networks: ABC, CBS, and NBC
• Big Three (law), a term used in New Zealand to refer to its three largest law firms: Bell Gully, Chapman Tripp, and Russell McVeagh
• Big Three U.S. telephone companies, AT&T Inc, Verizon, and CenturyLink
• The world's three largest airlines: American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines; by passengers carried, passenger-kilometres flown, and fleet size.
• The Big Three airlines in China: Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines
• The Big Three airlines in Middle East: Emirates, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways
• The Big Three airline alliances: Star Alliance, SkyTeam and Oneworld
• The Big Three; Joseph Stalin, Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill during World War II.
• The three museums; the Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum and Stedelijk Museum situated on the Museumplein in Amsterdam.

Film

• The Big Three international film festivals: Cannes, Venice, and Berlin^[1][2][3]
• The Big Three film studios considered most dominant in Hollywood between 1910-20: Paramount Publix, Lowe's MGM, First National

Music

• the three most influential heavy metal and trash bands of the 1980s, including Metallica, Anthrax (American band) and Megadeth
• The Big Three (English band), a Merseybeat band of the early 1960s
• The Big 3 (folk group), a folk trio of the early 1960s composed of Cass Elliot, Tim Rose, and James Hendricks
  • The Big 3 (The Big 3 album)
• The Big Three Trio, a blues trio composed of Willie Dixon, Leonard Caston, and Bernardo Dennis
• The Big 3 (Milt Jackson album), 1975

Sports

Association football

• Big Three (Belgium), the nickname for the three most successful association football clubs in Belgium
• Big Three (Costa Rica), the nickname for the three most successful association football clubs in Costa Rica
• Big Three (Greece), the nickname for the three most successful association football clubs in Greece
• Big Three (Netherlands), the nickname for the three most successful association football clubs in the Netherlands
• Big Three (Peru), the nickname for the three most successful association football clubs in Peru
• Big Three (Portugal), the nickname for the three most successful association football clubs in Portugal
• Big Three (Turkey), the nickname for the three most successful association football clubs in Turkey

Baseball

• The trio of starting pitchers for the Atlanta Braves MLB franchise from 1993–2002: Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and John Smoltz
• The trio of starting pitchers for the Oakland Athletics MLB franchise from 1999–2006: Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder, and Barry Zito

Basketball

• Big Three (Miami Heat), trio of basketball stars for the Miami Heat from 2010–2014: Chris Bosh, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade
• The trio of players for the Boston Celtics NBA franchise during the 1980s: Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, and Robert Parish
• The trio of players of the Boston Celtics NBA franchise from 2007–2012: Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, and Paul Pierce
• Big Three (Cleveland Cavaliers), trio of players for the Cleveland Cavaliers NBA franchise since 2014: Kyrie Irving, LeBron James, and Kevin Love
• The trio of players of the Los Angeles Lakers NBA franchise from 2008-2011: Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odom, and Pau Gasol
• The trio of players for the Los Angeles Lakers NBA franchise from 1995–2003: Kobe Bryant, Shaqullie Oneal, Derek Fisher
• The trio of players of the San Antonio Spurs NBA franchise from 2003–2016: Tim Duncan, Manu Ginóbili, and Tony Parker
• The trio of players of the Golden State Warriors NBA franchise from 2013 until the arrival of Kevin Durant in the 2016 offseason: Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green

Cricket

• Big Three (cricket) India, England, Australia close to becoming International Cricket Council's 'Big Three'

Football (American)

• The trio of players of the Indianapolis Colts NFL franchise from 1999–2005: Peyton Manning, Edgerrin James, and Marvin Harrison

Golf

• In the 1960s, the trio of Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer www.thebigthree.com

Ice Hockey

• The trio of defensemen for the Montreal Canadiens NHL franchise from 1973–1980: Guy Lapointe, Larry Robinson, and Serge Savard

Rugby

• The trio of players of the Melbourne Storm NRL Franchise consisting of Cameron Smith, Billy Slater, and Cooper Cronk

Wrestling

• The three major American professional wrestling companies of the 1990s: the World Wrestling Federation, World Championship Wrestling, and Extreme Championship Wrestling
• The three current major American professional wrestling companies: World Wrestling Entertainment, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, and Ring of Honor Wrestling

Technology

• Rule of three (C++ programming), or The Big Three, a rule of thumb in programming
• The trio of video game consoles of varying eras, see also console wars
  • 2nd generation: Atari 2600, ColecoVision, and Intellivision
  • 3rd generation: Atari 7800, Nintendo Entertainment System, and Sega Master System
  • 4th generation: TurboGrafx 16, Sega Genesis, and Super NES
  • 5th generation: Sega Saturn, PlayStation, and Nintendo 64
  • 6th generation: PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Nintendo GameCube
  • 7th generation: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii
  • 8th generation: Wii U, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One

Other

• The star characters of the cult classic film Windy City Heat
• The three biggest television comedians in Japan; Beat Takeshi, Sanma Akashiya and Tamori
• In infectious disease, Malaria, HIV/AIDS, and Tuberculosis are called this, sometimes in contrast to neglected tropical diseases
• The three most notorious serial killers: Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, and John Wayne Gacy
• A term given to the three flagship television series of AMC: Mad Men, Breaking Bad, and The Walking Dead
• The three most important authors of Dutch literature: Willem Frederik Hermans, Harry Mulisch and Gerard Reve.
• The three most important authors of Japanese literature: Junichiro Tanizaki, Yasunari Kawabata and Yukio Mishima.
• The three most important authors of science fiction literature: Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke and Robert A. Heinlein.
• The three most important authors of French literature: Molière, Jean Racine and Pierre Corneille.
• The three most important Greek tragedy playwrights: Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides.
• The three most important directors of Italian cinema: Michelangelo Antonioni, Federico Fellini and Luchino Visconti.
• The three most important video game companies: Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo.
• The three most important comedians of Dutch cabaret: Toon Hermans, Wim Kan and Wim Sonneveld.
• The three most important opera tenors: Plácido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti and José Carreras.
• The three most important chansonniers: Jacques Brel, Georges Brassens and Léo Ferré.
• The three most important singers of Flemish kleinkunst: Willem Vermandere, Zjef Vanuytsel and Wannes Van de Velde.
• The three most important and influential composers: Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
• The three most important jazz musicians: Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Miles Davis.
• The three most important Chicago blues musicians: Muddy Waters, B.B. King and John Lee Hooker.
• The three most important DC Comics superheroes: Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman.
• The three most important Dutch comics artists: Pieter Kuhn, Marten Toonder and Hans G. Kresse.
• The three most important Belgian comics artists: Hergé, Edgar P. Jacobs and André Franquin.
• The three most important Flemish comics artists: Willy Vandersteen, Marc Sleen and Jef Nys.
• The three most important companies of the American car industry: General Motors, Ford and Chrysler.
• The three most important companies of the French car industry: Renault, Volkswagen and PSA Peugeot Citroën.
• The three most important companies of the German car industry: Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz.
• The three most important companies of the Japanese car industry: Toyota, Honda, and Nissan.
• The three television networks aimed at African-Americans: Aspire, BET, and TV One.
• The three television networks aimed at children: Cartoon Network, Disney Channel, and Nickelodeon.
• The three television networks aimed at women: Lifetime, Oxygen, and WE tv.
• The three most important and influential Greek philosophers: Socrates, Aristotle, Plato

See also

• Big One (disambiguation)
• Big Two (disambiguation)
• Little Three
• Big Four (disambiguation)
• Big Five (disambiguation)
• Big Six (disambiguation)
• Big Seven (disambiguation)
• Big Eight (disambiguation)
• Big Ten (disambiguation)
• Big 11
• Big 12

References