This was fun...and time consuming...

[JMK]

http://sports.espn.go.com/chat/sportsnation/listranker?id=18&partnersite=espn

You'll find yourselves making some tough calls....

[darth_mcbain]

Ooh yeah - there were definitely some tough choices to be made in there... Who'd you end up with for 1-5? Mine were:

1) Gretzky
2) Jordan
3) Magic
4) Ripken
5) Lewis

Like I said, though, there were some really tough calls to make, a lot of them deserve to be in the top 5...

[Jedi Master Carr]

Yeah I know it was tough I put Montana first because of bias (he was my idol as a kid) I hope he at least makes the top 10.

[JMK]

Gretzky, Jordan, Lewis, Sanders and Armstrong were in my top 5. Not in that order I don't think.

[Figrin D'an]

My Top 5:

1. Michael Jordan (obvious, huh?)
2. Lance Armstrong (the guy is amazing... conquering one of the most grueling events in sports 5 consecutive times... and all after he beat cancer.)
3. Wayne Gretzky (The Great One... easily a top 5 pick... greatest hockey player in history)
4. Tiger Woods (anyone who says golf isn't a sport and golfers aren't athletes can eat it. He was on the list of candidates, so he obviously met ESPN's qualifications, and simply examine what he has already accomplished. He's the most culturally significant sportsman since Muhammad Ali. He made golf cool, and has opened it up to an entire generation of new fans.)
5. Carl Lewis (greatest Olympian of the last 50 years. In his last Olympic games, he was schoolin' guys 15 years young than him.)

[JMK]

Originally posted by Figrin D'an
Tiger Woods (anyone who says golf isn't a sport and golfers aren't athletes can eat it. He was on the list of candidates, so he obviously met ESPN's qualifications, and simply examine what he has already accomplished. He's the most culturally significant sportsman since Muhammad Ali. He made golf cool, and has opened it up to an entire generation of new fans.)


Generally I have a problem with golfers being lumped in with other pro sports. I think what they do is amazing and takes a ton of talent and skill, but I refuse to call the likes of John Daly and Fred Mickelson 'athletes'. Tiger is in phenomenal shape but I think that's pretty rare for a golfer. Look at it another way: Take Michelle Wie. Yes, a once in a generation phenom, but if you take any other 14 year old girl and place her into her sport with pros, she's dead. Literally. Not to take anything away from her, but it speaks directly to the completely different skill sets that a golfer uses to a football, basketball or hockey player uses.
Heck, golfers complain about having to walk across a golf course. WALK. Yes, I've walked across an 18 hole course and it ain't no big deal, especially if you had someone lugging your stuff around. :P
Mike Weir won Canadian male athlete of the year and I couldn't have been more irked over that. Yes he had a terrific year, but if you take away the 3 days at Augusta, he wouldn't have had a sniff at it. So essentially he beat out Eric Gagne because he was terrific for 3 days while Gagne DOMINATED to the point of PERFECTION for an entire season--- SIX months of perfection. I thought that was a crock of you-know-what. [/rant]

Tiger is the most recognizable face in pro sports today bar none, even if he is one of the all-time greatest fence-sitters on every single topic he is asked about. I wish he would take more definite stances on issues, he could make SUCH a difference, then I'd put him up there with Ali in terms of cultural significance. As is stands, with all of his sponsor deals, he has too much to lose to speak out on anything. Illegal golf equipment notwithstanding. :)

[CMJ]

1. Wayne Gretzky
2. Pete Sampras
3. Lance Armstrong
4. Eric Heiden
5. Martina Navratilova

[Figrin D'an]

Basically, my point is that Woods was on the list, so if he's eligible under their criteria, I'm going to vote with those criteria in mind. I'll let them deal with the "is golf a sport?" argument.

I'm not going to argue the athlectic prowess of golfers versus those from other sports. It doesn't compare, and never could. It's just impossible to ignore his greatness within the game of golf, and the impact that he has had upon introducing the game to the masses.

Side rant -

Michelle Wie may have a bright career ahead of her, but people are swooning over he performance last week too much. She won't end up competing regularly on the PGA Tour, like some seem to think. Like anyone else, she wants to win. She can win regularly in the LPGA (but she won't dominate until Annika Sorenstam is done.) She won't be able to do that on the PGA Tour. Yeah, she may play the occasional PGA event, but I don't see it becoming a regular thing..


I agree with you about the Canadian Male Athlete of the Year award. I like Mike Weir, but it's hard to ignore how unhittable Gagne was this past year. He should have gotten it. Oh well.

[jjwr]

I consider golf a sport, its hard to call some of those guys athletes but look at Davis Wells, he's fatter than any pro golfer out there and people call him a athlete.

For me race car drivers shouldn't be called athletes, its the car doing the real work, obviously they are driving but its not like with Armstrong where the vehicle is totally powered by him.

Earnhardt was a great race car driver, but one of the best 25 athletes?

[JMK]

Wells is a rubber arm. Show me who calls him an athlete and I'll show you a dope. :)
There were more than 25 people to rank, so Earnhardt didn't have to be on anyone's list. To me the only thing Nascar guys have going for them is nerves of steel and great stamina to be alert at that wheel for so long. Other than that I agree with you that race car guys aren't athletes.

[darth_mcbain]

Who was not on your list?

I had to leave off Bonds. Yeah, he's got some numbers - but I just can't stand the guy. He just gets up there and swings for the fences all the time and then when he actually hits a homer, he just sits there like a dope watching it and being full of himself. Sorry if there's some Bonds fans out there - I just don't like him all that much...

Tyson. Not much needs to be said there... I used to think he was such a good fighter, but he's just too wacky now...

I left off Earnhardt - I just don't like racing - and while I don't knock anyone for liking it - I too don't really see it as a sport.

Hmm, trying to remember who else I left off...

[JMK]

I left off Shaq, Larry Bird, And Tyson among others...

[darth_mcbain]

Yeah, I left off Shaq as well.

[Jedieb]

Take Michelle Wie. Yes, a once in a generation phenom, but if you take any other 14 year old girl and place her into her sport with pros, she's dead. Literally. Not to take anything away from her, but it speaks directly to the completely different skill sets that a golfer uses to a football, basketball or hockey player uses.
Heck, golfers complain about having to walk across a golf course. WALK. Yes, I've walked across an 18 hole course and it ain't no big deal, especially if you had someone lugging your stuff around. :P

True, true...

There were a few guys I was surprised to see on that list. I was also surprised by some of the omissions. How can you have McEnroe on the list, but not Connors? Jimmy's career did take off in the 70's, but he was there trading rallies with Mac throughout the 80's and he played better in his 30's than Mac ever did. If you have Sugar Ray Leonard, then shouldn't you have guys like Hagler or even Hearns on the list? And how can you have Tyson on there but not Lennox Lewis? Aside from all that, here are my top 5.
1. Jordan
2. Elway
3. Montana (I use to rank him ahead of Elway, but over the years I've switched their teams and I don't see Montana leading the Broncos to 5 Superbowls with some of the weaker supporting casts Elway had to carry.)
4. Gretzky (If I followed hockey more I'd rank him above the QB's.)
5. Mr. Personality; Barry Bonds :p

[Marcus Telcontar]

For me race car drivers shouldn't be called athletes, its the car doing the real work, obviously they are driving but its not like with Armstrong where the vehicle is totally powered by him.

Your frelling kidding me. Do you have any idea how much stamina, strength and fitness it takes to drive a racing car? Do you know that F1 drivers are some of the fittest people on the planet, that their bodies are pummelled by G forces only really pilots get?

I'll tell you right now, at my peak racing fitness, my cardio fitness is up there among Olymic runner's levels with an at rest heart beat of 56. Oh, I was an athlete allright. I had to be. Motor racing is frikking hard work and it is punishing on the body.

I would suggest those who say otherwise get and do some reasearch and learn some facts.