Wait a damn minute. No golfer, gymnasts, curlers, cricket players or any of that BS needs to be mentioned. Anthing you can do while drinking a beer, isn’t “athletic”.
Close mentions: Lebron, Randy Moss, Dave Winfield
Looking at raw athleticism I can’t see Ali. He wasn’t the hardest hitter in boxing ever so we can’t say he has strength freakyness. He outlasted Foreman but that was more strategy then athleticism. He did have quick hands and feet but it’s not like he was dodging Foreman’s punches and throwing unblocked punches. His strategy against him was hit me with everything you can for 12 rounds and come back in the end. He did lose fights in his prime. His athleticism vs other boxers was not his best asset. He was just a great fighter, and trained accordingly.
Brad, I played pickup with a lineman (from the Lions ironically) a few years ago who was probably 6’3" and at least 350 and he was the same easy. There was a play where he caught the ball on the right block, put it down once, turned and dunked the fuck outta the ball. He did this all without ever using his left hand. A guy that height should be able to dunk in his sleep. A guy that weight? Not so much. It was pretty damn impressive, to say the least.
[quote]Airtruth wrote:
Looking at raw athleticism I can’t see Ali. He wasn’t the hardest hitter in boxing ever so we can’t say he has strength freakyness. He outlasted Foreman but that was more strategy then athleticism. He did have quick hands and feet but it’s not like he was dodging Foreman’s punches and throwing unblocked punches. His strategy against him was hit me with everything you can for 12 rounds and come back in the end. He did lose fights in his prime. His athleticism vs other boxers was not his best asset. He was just a great fighter, and trained accordingly.
[/quote]
This. Comparing a good athlete who won more on strategy than physical gifts to one of the most athletic people in the history of the planet is ridiculous.
[quote]Brett620 wrote:
Wait a damn minute. No golfer, gymnasts, curlers, cricket players or any of that BS needs to be mentioned. Anthing you can do while drinking a beer, isn’t “athletic”.
Close mentions: Lebron, Randy Moss, Dave Winfield
***************************************[/quote]
I don’t know how but I forgot about Lebron.
[quote]DBCooper wrote:
[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
[quote]DBCooper wrote:
[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
[quote]DBCooper wrote:
[quote]Brett620 wrote:
Jerry Rice was an elite player, but not an elite athlete. He never was considered fast or very strong. But he was more like Larry Bird or Magic Johnson.
Moss had more ability, Rice was the better player. [/quote]
If pure athleticism is the only criteria then the whole list should be the top 10 male gymnasts in the world. Shit, the 100th ranked gymnast in the world is still a better athlete then the next best athlete in another sport.[/quote]
That’s ridiculous. Those dudes don’t have anywhere near the speed, leaping ability, power or agility to qualify. Strength and the ability to use trampolines - while impressive - aren’t enough.[/quote]
Are you kidding me? Are you aware of the upper-body strength required to perform on the rings or the pummel horse? Power and agility is something that gymnasts have in spades. And the leaping ability is off the charts, trampoline or not.[/quote]
You’re confusing flexibility with agility. I already said they’re strong, but they have no other observable quality that would qualify 'em for this list. Being able to do a standing back flip requires very little leaping ability. How you can try and argue this is baffling.
[/quote]
Are we thinking of the same gymnastics? I mean shit like the uneven bars, the parallel bars, the rings, the pummel horse, that sort of shit. A standing backflip? These guys do triple flips with multiple 360 degree rotations, and then land on legs strong enough to withstand the impact and centrifugal force created by all that spinning and flipping.
There isn’t one athlete in any of these lists that isn’t a gymnast that has EVER performed even one backflip with a 360 rotation and landed on their feet, let alone multiple flips and rotations.
Shit, look at the floor routines the women go through. They perform all sorts of crazy aerial movements and they don’t use anything but their own athletic ability to project themselves into the air. No trampolines used in the floor routine. And if you’ve seen them running before they do the vault you’d know that they have pretty impressive as well.
You’re just fucking with me, aren’t you?[/quote]
He’s gotta be…gymnasts are pretty much the personification of athleticism. Strength, speed, flexibility, agility, endurance, etc…all above and beyond any other athletes in the world of any sport.
Have you seen what they can do?
For those saying Jordan why not Lebron? Every argument I’ve heard that Lebron is the GOAT over Jordan is because he is the better athlete.
…I can’t stand Lebron either, by the way.
+1 for Karelin. Can’t believe he’s not on here more.
[quote]MytchBucanan wrote:
I agree with FightinIrish, Ali is always my first pick.[/quote]
Hey I was the first to mention Ali! And Schwarzenegger.
[quote]usmccds423 wrote:
For those saying Jordan why not Lebron? Every argument I’ve heard that Lebron is the GOAT over Jordan is because he is the better athlete.
…I can’t stand Lebron either, by the way. [/quote]
He’s not. He’s the best basketball playing athlete at that size, but there have been better athletes overall, aside from his left leg and the NBA allowing him to do whatever he wants.
[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
[quote]usmccds423 wrote:
For those saying Jordan why not Lebron? Every argument I’ve heard that Lebron is the GOAT over Jordan is because he is the better athlete.
…I can’t stand Lebron either, by the way. [/quote]
He’s not. He’s the best basketball playing athlete at that size, but there have been better athletes overall, aside from his left leg and the NBA allowing him to do whatever he wants.[/quote]
I’m saying specifically for this argument Lebron > Jordan. I don’t see how you can say he’s not. Athletically he’s superior. Jordan would run circles around him on the court, but that’s it.
[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
[quote]Airtruth wrote:
Looking at raw athleticism I can’t see Ali. He wasn’t the hardest hitter in boxing ever so we can’t say he has strength freakyness. He outlasted Foreman but that was more strategy then athleticism. He did have quick hands and feet but it’s not like he was dodging Foreman’s punches and throwing unblocked punches. His strategy against him was hit me with everything you can for 12 rounds and come back in the end. He did lose fights in his prime. His athleticism vs other boxers was not his best asset. He was just a great fighter, and trained accordingly.
[/quote]
This. Comparing a good athlete who won more on strategy than physical gifts to one of the most athletic people in the history of the planet is ridiculous.[/quote]
Guys do you even remember anything of Young Ali? All this so called strategy stuff came at a later age.
[quote]four60 wrote:
[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
[quote]Airtruth wrote:
Looking at raw athleticism I can’t see Ali. He wasn’t the hardest hitter in boxing ever so we can’t say he has strength freakyness. He outlasted Foreman but that was more strategy then athleticism. He did have quick hands and feet but it’s not like he was dodging Foreman’s punches and throwing unblocked punches. His strategy against him was hit me with everything you can for 12 rounds and come back in the end. He did lose fights in his prime. His athleticism vs other boxers was not his best asset. He was just a great fighter, and trained accordingly.
[/quote]
This. Comparing a good athlete who won more on strategy than physical gifts to one of the most athletic people in the history of the planet is ridiculous.[/quote]
Guys do you even remember anything of Young Ali? All this so called strategy stuff came at a later age. [/quote]
What about Tyson? he was pretty unstoppable at a young age. If he had had quality management/mentorship who knows how great he could have been.
[quote]usmccds423 wrote:
[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
[quote]usmccds423 wrote:
For those saying Jordan why not Lebron? Every argument I’ve heard that Lebron is the GOAT over Jordan is because he is the better athlete.
…I can’t stand Lebron either, by the way. [/quote]
He’s not. He’s the best basketball playing athlete at that size, but there have been better athletes overall, aside from his left leg and the NBA allowing him to do whatever he wants.[/quote]
I’m saying specifically for this argument Lebron > Jordan. I don’t see how you can say he’s not. Athletically he’s superior. Jordan would run circles around him on the court, but that’s it. [/quote]
Uh, no, he’s not. Jordan jumped better off 2, better of either the right or the left, was quicker, had MUCH better footwork and had quicker hands. James is bigger, but for all his size and strength he doesn’t handle contact particularly well. The NBA is about money, and hyping up someone to potentially be better than the best is about drawing in viewers. Nothing more. Those two should never be mentioned in the same sentence.
[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
[quote]Airtruth wrote:
Looking at raw athleticism I can’t see Ali. He wasn’t the hardest hitter in boxing ever so we can’t say he has strength freakyness. He outlasted Foreman but that was more strategy then athleticism. He did have quick hands and feet but it’s not like he was dodging Foreman’s punches and throwing unblocked punches. His strategy against him was hit me with everything you can for 12 rounds and come back in the end. He did lose fights in his prime. His athleticism vs other boxers was not his best asset. He was just a great fighter, and trained accordingly.
[/quote]
This. Comparing a good athlete who won more on strategy than physical gifts to one of the most athletic people in the history of the planet is ridiculous.[/quote]
Young Tyson was strong and Fast I however had questions on his stamina. The Mitch Blood Green fight gave me pause.
10 of the best, in no particular order:-
Sergei Bubka (polevalt)
Roy Jones Jr (boxing)
Daley Thompson (decathlon)
Roger Federer (tennis)
Ed Moses (400mhurdles)
Lance Armstrong (cycling)
Steven Redgrave (rowing)
Vasily Alexeyev (weightlifting)
Michael Jordan (basketball)
wayne Gretzky (ice hockey)
[quote]bluebrasil wrote:
10 of the best, in no particular order:-
Sergei Bubka (polevalt)
Roy Jones Jr (boxing)
Daley Thompson (decathlon)
Roger Federer (tennis)
Ed Moses (400mhurdles)
Lance Armstrong (cycling)
Steven Redgrave (rowing)
Vasily Alexeyev (weightlifting)
Michael Jordan (basketball)
wayne Gretzky (ice hockey)[/quote]
lol wut? this is just a list of the best players in an assortment of sports/ track events. You seriously would put a rower, hurdler, cyclist, weightlifter, ice hockey player, and tennis player in your top 10 ATHLETES? I know it’s a broad question, but geez. Why no Jim Brown? Why are there zero multi-sport athletes on your list? (aside from the decathlete. and even that is splitting hairs.)
[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
[quote]usmccds423 wrote:
[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
[quote]usmccds423 wrote:
For those saying Jordan why not Lebron? Every argument I’ve heard that Lebron is the GOAT over Jordan is because he is the better athlete.
…I can’t stand Lebron either, by the way. [/quote]
He’s not. He’s the best basketball playing athlete at that size, but there have been better athletes overall, aside from his left leg and the NBA allowing him to do whatever he wants.[/quote]
I’m saying specifically for this argument Lebron > Jordan. I don’t see how you can say he’s not. Athletically he’s superior. Jordan would run circles around him on the court, but that’s it. [/quote]
Uh, no, he’s not. Jordan jumped better off 2, better of either the right or the left, was quicker, had MUCH better footwork and had quicker hands. James is bigger, but for all his size and strength he doesn’t handle contact particularly well. The NBA is about money, and hyping up someone to potentially be better than the best is about drawing in viewers. Nothing more. Those two should never be mentioned in the same sentence.[/quote]
I’m just telling you the argument I’ve heard. What sport other than basketball could Jordan outperform Lebron in, in your opinion? Baseball I guess although Jordan was only average at best. Football, I doubt it.
Lebron is a more explosive player than Jordan. Not as quick, maybe. Footwork has more to do with hard work than athleticism imo. Lebron is stronger for sure and he can play every position in BBall somehting Jordan could not do.
The Undertaker
[quote]usmccds423 wrote:
[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
[quote]usmccds423 wrote:
[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
[quote]usmccds423 wrote:
For those saying Jordan why not Lebron? Every argument I’ve heard that Lebron is the GOAT over Jordan is because he is the better athlete.
…I can’t stand Lebron either, by the way. [/quote]
He’s not. He’s the best basketball playing athlete at that size, but there have been better athletes overall, aside from his left leg and the NBA allowing him to do whatever he wants.[/quote]
I’m saying specifically for this argument Lebron > Jordan. I don’t see how you can say he’s not. Athletically he’s superior. Jordan would run circles around him on the court, but that’s it. [/quote]
Uh, no, he’s not. Jordan jumped better off 2, better of either the right or the left, was quicker, had MUCH better footwork and had quicker hands. James is bigger, but for all his size and strength he doesn’t handle contact particularly well. The NBA is about money, and hyping up someone to potentially be better than the best is about drawing in viewers. Nothing more. Those two should never be mentioned in the same sentence.[/quote]
I’m just telling you the argument I’ve heard. What sport other than basketball could Jordan outperform Lebron in, in your opinion? Baseball I guess although Jordan was only average at best. Football, I doubt it.
Lebron is a more explosive player than Jordan. Not as quick, maybe. Footwork has more to do with hard work than athleticism imo. Lebron is stronger for sure and he can play every position in BBall somehting Jordan could not do.
[/quote]
I understand, but that agreement is fostered by an agenda. James is nowhere near as explosive or acrobatic as a young Jordan. Go watch Come Fly With Me and then we’ll debate.