The best athlete in the world?

[HarveyWallbangers]

Best "athlete" or most dominating "athlete".

Tiger Woods, Roger Federer, and that swimmer are pretty dominating. All-time dominating.

[sepporepi]

Lance Armstrong???

Since there are no points for substance abuse and betrayel not so high I suppose

[mraynrand]

All time:

Jim Thorpe
Bo Jackson
Karl Malone
Eric Vota

[PaCkFan_n_MD]

I dont agree with kobe as number 2, and especially getting a 10 in sportsmanship. I actually likee kobe, but there are better athletes.

I have to disagree big time. I would put Kobe number 1. I watch a lot of basketball and his skill are equal to Michael Jordan. Their is no better overall talent in the NBA.

However, I do agree that his sportsmanship rating should be a lower. He is a jerk and the reason why o'neal left.

[sepporepi]

and that swimmer are pretty dominating. All-time dominating.

It's Michael Phelps :P.

He won 5 single titles at the world championchips in march and set 4 world records doing it. He was also faster than the 100F champion as starter of the 4*100F relay.

So one could argue he was cabeable of win 6 single titles which is amazing, since Mark Spitz won only 4.

[LaFours]

Two words...Kurt Rambis.

[Cheesehead4]

Jim Brown: best running back and lacrosse player ever.

If Federer could beat Nadal on clay, he'd be #1 for all-time and the next fifty years. With that achilles heal, it's tough to argue in his favor.

For the same reason, Lance Armstrong can't be considered. He raced in one major race per year, the Tour de France, and was able to prepare for this race and this race alone for his career. Most cyclists compete in a wide range of different events. If Tiger only played the Masters and Federer only at Wimbeldon, they'd be considered more highly that Armstrong.

Kobe make this list suspect.

[HarveyWallbangers]

I don't think it's that big of knock on Federer. Only 5 guys have won all 4 Grand Slams, and only Andre Agassi did it while playing on 4 different surfaces. Even the all-time greats haven't done that. Clay court tennis is just a totally different game than grass tennis or hard court tennis. That's why Rafael Nadal can set the record for consecutive clay court victories, and barely have a shot against Federer on anything else. I don't think it's a huge knock that Pete Sampras never won the French Open.

[]{ilr]3]

What is an athlete? Do you consider Tiger Woods an athlete?

If so, he's it. And I am NOT a golfer or a golf fan. I can just appreciate how hard of a sport it is.

I agree, i think Tiger Woods is one of the most skilled at his game there has ever been. But if we call him an athlete, shouldnt we call the so called professional video game players athletes as well? BTW i think this is a totally insane suggestion, but at the same time, if TW is an athlete and all he does is walk around and hit a ball with some skill, then isnt a video game players who sits on his ass and click some buttons better than anyone else in the same catagory?

[oregonpackfan]

All time:

Jim Thorpe
Bo Jackson
Karl Malone
Eric Vota

I agree that Jim Thorpe was proably the best all-around athlete of all time.

Several weeks ago, Sports Illustrated had an excellent article about Thorpe. Though I had more than a passing knowledge about Thorpe, the article pointed out a number of accomplishments about Thorpe of which I was not aware.

Whether the sport be football track and field, basketball, etc. Thorpe complete dominated his competitors.

Most of us remember how Michael Jordan dominated basketball but floundered when he tried Major Leage Baseball. He is also a fair to good golfer. Jordan excelled in just 1 sport.

Thorp was simply phenomenal.

[woodbuck27]

Two words...Kurt Rambis.

ahhh ! Superman.

[Patler]

Eric Heiden - won all 5 speed skating events at the 1980 Olympics and at one time had the world records in all 5 events.

That's sort of like winning the 100 meter dash, the 400, the 800, the 1600 meter and the marathon all at the same competition. No one has dominated at all distances like Heiden did. Heiden has been largely forgotten because of the later accomplishments of the US Hockey Team at the 1980 Olympics, but Heiden had a truly spectacular performance.


Note: I don't really put Heiden in the same class of athletes as Thorpe, Bo Jackson, etc. This was just a good excuse to bring up an athlete that I thing has not gotten the recognition his accomplishments deserved.

[HarveyWallbangers]

Not to diminish Heiden's accomplishments, but I don't think it's comparable to a runner winning the 100, 400, 800, 1600, and marathon. A great accomplishment, but they are just different. You see guys in speed skating that can flourish at different distances. Same with swinning. Not in track. Phelps has been incredible too, but it wouldn't compare to a guy in track who could win at all of the distances.

[woodbuck27]

Greatest among that group of current athletes?

They are all certainly great.

The process of elimination to arrive at the greatest might cause controversy,

Here goes:

How physical is tennis and golf Vs. basketball or football?

There goes Roger Federer and Tiger Woods both paving a road to being the greatest their sports have ever seen.

That leaves Lebron James and Kobe Bryant and LaDanian Tomlinson.

Compare the length of the schedule in Pro basketball Vs. the NFL.

I realize that NFL RB"s have a short shelf life but I'm eliminating LT based on length of schedule.

Down to Lebron James and Kobe Bryant.

James is certainly awesome in his domination since his arrival, but Kobe was here quite ahwile befor Lebron James.

Kobe may be criticized for some character (slash) personality issues but as a Pro BB player nobody since Michael Jordan dominates like Kobe Bryant.

My pick among these current athletes is Kobe Bryant.

All time top five.

1. Jim Thorpe Check out what this man was sometime and you may agree.

2. This is tough but I'll satisfy all you here
Michael Jordan.

3. Now as a Canadian I must say this:

How soon you Americans forget.

This is easy. Wayne 'the Great One' Gretzky. He totally dominated in the NHL.

4. Muhammed Ali. They don"t still call him 'The Greatest' for nothing

5. So many reaslly great athletes that I'll add one more. He won"t be a tennis player or golfer.

Number 5. is for me and this may seem a strange choice but he exemplifies so much in PRO sports as they are today. He also played the game well and was overall a wonderful man. He also cut his teeth before he arrived as a Dodger here in Montreal, Canada.

Of course I'm picking Jackie Robinson. Maybe when we really examine what he stands for he may be THE GREATEST.

[Scott Campbell]

Eric Heiden - won all 5 speed skating events at the 1980 Olympics and at one time had the world records in all 5 events.

He's an Orthopodic in SLC now, and patches up skiers with torn ACL's.