Top 10 Athletes of Today

Off Topic
41

[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:

[quote]DBCooper wrote:

[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:

[quote]Steel Nation wrote:

[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:

Yes, and I’m terrible. I also had to carry my own clubs or at least leave them on the cart. Nothing about the game requires athleticism. You hit a ball that’s sitting on a tiny tee while everyone around you is as silent as can be and the only thing that can stop you from reaching your target is the elements or personal lack of skill. It is hard, and does require skill but there is no athleticism required. NONE.[/quote]

Define “athleticism”.[/quote]

Speed, leaping ability, strength, power, agility, dexterity, body control, reaction, hand/eye and foot/eye coordination,etc… all go into athleticism. Golf has hand eye coordination and one could maybe argue body control, but NOTHING else. If you can drink whiskey sours while playing your “sport” and excel, then it ain’t a sport.[/quote]

Golf requires strength for success (the strongest players hit the ball the farthest), it requires speed (clubhead speed, not leg speed), agility (try hitting from under a tree, on a steep slope, etc), dexterity, body control, eye/hand coordination and it also requires some degree of stamina in order to walk 18 holes for four straight days, many times in very adverse weather conditions. The precision and margin for error (or lack thereof) required to successfully execute a golf swing, especially with different clubs and at different distances, requires an extremely high level of body control.

You’ve basically proven yourself wrong. You have clearly shown that, while golf does not require as much athleticism as other sports, it does in fact require a degree of athleticism. Why are you so fervently berating golf as a sport anyways? Had a few bad rounds and it didn’t sit well with you?

Also, point out one player who has excelled while drinking whiskey sours throughout his match (John Daly doesn’t count; he’s barely been able to stay on the tour and does not drink during play anyways)[/quote]

Proven myself wrong? What the fuck are you talking about? All that shit you mentioned has nothing and I mean NOTHING to do with golf. Did you really say it requires stamina to walk for 4 days in adverse weather conditions. Dude, you’ve gotta be kidding me. Once again, it is a game that requires a lot of skill but fat shit drunks can dominate the game without any athleticism. You’ve proven me right by making shit up to sound like you know what you’re talking about.What’s wrong, do you love a game so much that you can’t handle when it’s proven to be nothing more than billiards on an oversized grassy knoll?[/quote]

Well, I wouldn’t expect someone who’s only experience playing golf was most likely drunkenly careening around the course in a cart to understand what it’s like to walk up and down a course in hot weather for four hours straight, four days straight.

And again, name one “fat shit drunk” who has ever dominated the game. And please don’t say John Daly because he has never come close to dominating the game, ever. In fact, he’s a poor, poor golfer who occasionally plays a decent round.

42

also WhiteFlash: what shit have I made up in regards to golf?

43

[quote]DBCooper wrote:
You mean they don’t follow baseball in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Honduras, Colombia, Ecuador, Cuba, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, or China?

And they don’t follow football in so many different countries that about 1 billion people watch the Super Bowl every year and my roommate from England didn’t come over here as a huge Tom Brady fan because of the high visibility afforded a team that has played in that game 4 times in the last 11 years?

GET THE FUCK OUT![/quote]

I’ll give you baseball. Asia is big enough to count. And of course my post was half-troll.

There’s a difference between wathing the Super Bowl and knowing anything about the sport. I usually watch it and the only one I’d heard of on your list was Tom Brady, which is why he wasn’t bolded. What are the ratings for the other games? How many of those broadcasts cross your border?

I know who Sidney Crosby is, and he certainly belongs on the list. Bobby, however, is someone I’ve never heard of.

(Real) football is the world’s most popular sport, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the fame list was half football players. Success is another story.

44

DBCooper: the fact that your roommate from England knew Tom Brady may be due to the fact that England is also big on Rugby. I know the difference between both games but I hope you can see the point I am making here, the carry-over from the sport may be a point there.

In most of the other european countries the same goes for football as for MMA.
Soccer is much more known here and can be compared to football I think in America.

Federalist: I don’t know why you consider MMA fighters as a bunch of thugs.
I know of several UFC fighters who have been teachers before their careers, I do not consider those people to be thugs. Forrest Griffin former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion used to be a law enforcement officer…

Sure you’ll have some people who come to MMA and aren’t angels, but that is the case in every sport.

45

I don’t think athletes are all defined under one universal term. To say Tiger Woods doesn’t deserve to be on a list of the top 10 athletes of today because he plays golf is retarded.

I’d say all baseball players should be off because that sport probably or even almost requires less athleticism than golf depending on your position on the team.

46

Then we would also need to include Chess Grandmasters and such…
I understand the point being made about golf being compared to football or such, purely going on my gut feeling I would take the football player instead of Tiger woods being the better athlete (even though I realize the time and effort one needs to put into his sport to excel on that level).

47

[quote]Rico Suave wrote:
I don’t think athletes are all defined under one universal term. To say Tiger Woods doesn’t deserve to be on a list of the top 10 athletes of today because he plays golf is retarded.

I’d say all baseball players should be off because that sport probably or even almost requires less athleticism than golf depending on your position on the team.[/quote]

Let’s see: hitting a ball that is traveling at you at anywhere from 70-100 mph, running around the bases, catching a ball that is thrown at you at speeds approaching 95 mph, fielding balls that are hit at you at least as hard, running after balls and so on takes LESS athletic ability than hitting a stationary ball on a tee? Sure pal.

48

[quote]gregron wrote:
^^someone mentioned pacman earlier… But I would have to put some of the top level MMA guys over some of the top level pure boxers as far as “athleticism” goes just because they train more genres… plus i just really dont like boxing at all. (not to say that boxers arent really good athletes)[/quote]
any single discipline martial art will be more refined as far as talent. In other words Pac would be better at mma than the top mma guy would be at boxing.

49

[quote]DBCooper wrote:

[quote]Rico Suave wrote:
I don’t think athletes are all defined under one universal term. To say Tiger Woods doesn’t deserve to be on a list of the top 10 athletes of today because he plays golf is retarded.

I’d say all baseball players should be off because that sport probably or even almost requires less athleticism than golf depending on your position on the team.[/quote]

Let’s see: hitting a ball that is traveling at you at anywhere from 70-100 mph, running around the bases, catching a ball that is thrown at you at speeds approaching 95 mph, fielding balls that are hit at you at least as hard, running after balls and so on takes LESS athletic ability than hitting a stationary ball on a tee? Sure pal.[/quote]

Okay, so maybe not the extent of golf, but pretty damn close. But do you really think doing all in which you mentioned is actually physically demanding? Sure it takes a lot of skill to do, but so does golf. It doesn’t mean you have to be in great shape to do it.

You make it sound like running around bases, fielding and catching is actually difficult to do. Have you watched a baseball game? Have you noticed how often an outfieleder moves, let alone runs? Maybe what, twice a game while on defense? and then maybe 2 more times around bases (going 2-4 up to bat)? How much athleticism does this take?

I played competitive baseball up until I was 18 where I played Jr, so I know how in shape you have to be. To be considered a top 10 athlete in the world, baseball players should not be more so on the list than golfers.

50

Is Valentino Rossi exempt from this list, given the fact he races in Moto GP? ( Are motocycle racers athletes, that is the bigger question? ) If so, this guy would be on my top 10 list. He is after all a 9 time world champ. Heck, if you include a golfer on this list, then I see no reason why not to include a GP racer.

Edit: I can see someone mentioned the great Rossi in a previous post, just as I was typing this post.

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[quote]sardines12 wrote:

[quote]gregron wrote:
^^someone mentioned pacman earlier… But I would have to put some of the top level MMA guys over some of the top level pure boxers as far as “athleticism” goes just because they train more genres… plus i just really dont like boxing at all. (not to say that boxers arent really good athletes)[/quote]
any single discipline martial art will be more refined as far as talent. In other words Pac would be better at mma than the top mma guy would be at boxing. [/quote]

not true at all drewdines…

If the MMA guy was a good boxer (as some are former golden glove boxers) he could be able to go a few rounds with a boxer.

If the top level boxer got in the ring with a top level MMA guy he would be taken down and submitted or KO’ed within a minute or two.

BTW I’ve missed you inane ramblings since the NBA thread kinda died out.

52

[quote]sardines12 wrote:

[quote]gregron wrote:
^^someone mentioned pacman earlier… But I would have to put some of the top level MMA guys over some of the top level pure boxers as far as “athleticism” goes just because they train more genres… plus i just really dont like boxing at all. (not to say that boxers arent really good athletes)[/quote]
any single discipline martial art will be more refined as far as talent. In other words Pac would be better at mma than the top mma guy would be at boxing. [/quote]

Completely irrelevant, but that is wrong. MMA fighters have much more boxing training the Pac would have in MMA.

53

[quote]USMCpoolee wrote:

[quote]sardines12 wrote:

[quote]gregron wrote:
^^someone mentioned pacman earlier… But I would have to put some of the top level MMA guys over some of the top level pure boxers as far as “athleticism” goes just because they train more genres… plus i just really dont like boxing at all. (not to say that boxers arent really good athletes)[/quote]
any single discipline martial art will be more refined as far as talent. In other words Pac would be better at mma than the top mma guy would be at boxing. [/quote]

Completely irrelevant, but that is wrong. MMA fighters have much more boxing training the Pac would have in MMA. [/quote]

sardines12 (formerly known as DrewH) is an admitted troll on this site and just tries to get a reaction out of people. I became aware of him and his tactics/motives in the NBA threads so dont worry about his posts USMCPoolee… I know what we need

54

Haha awesome, do the make that for annoying people in real life?

55

[quote]DBCooper wrote:

[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:

[quote]DBCooper wrote:

[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:

[quote]Steel Nation wrote:

[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:

Yes, and I’m terrible. I also had to carry my own clubs or at least leave them on the cart. Nothing about the game requires athleticism. You hit a ball that’s sitting on a tiny tee while everyone around you is as silent as can be and the only thing that can stop you from reaching your target is the elements or personal lack of skill. It is hard, and does require skill but there is no athleticism required. NONE.[/quote]

Define “athleticism”.[/quote]

Speed, leaping ability, strength, power, agility, dexterity, body control, reaction, hand/eye and foot/eye coordination,etc… all go into athleticism. Golf has hand eye coordination and one could maybe argue body control, but NOTHING else. If you can drink whiskey sours while playing your “sport” and excel, then it ain’t a sport.[/quote]

Golf requires strength for success (the strongest players hit the ball the farthest), it requires speed (clubhead speed, not leg speed), agility (try hitting from under a tree, on a steep slope, etc), dexterity, body control, eye/hand coordination and it also requires some degree of stamina in order to walk 18 holes for four straight days, many times in very adverse weather conditions. The precision and margin for error (or lack thereof) required to successfully execute a golf swing, especially with different clubs and at different distances, requires an extremely high level of body control.

You’ve basically proven yourself wrong. You have clearly shown that, while golf does not require as much athleticism as other sports, it does in fact require a degree of athleticism. Why are you so fervently berating golf as a sport anyways? Had a few bad rounds and it didn’t sit well with you?

Also, point out one player who has excelled while drinking whiskey sours throughout his match (John Daly doesn’t count; he’s barely been able to stay on the tour and does not drink during play anyways)[/quote]

Proven myself wrong? What the fuck are you talking about? All that shit you mentioned has nothing and I mean NOTHING to do with golf. Did you really say it requires stamina to walk for 4 days in adverse weather conditions. Dude, you’ve gotta be kidding me. Once again, it is a game that requires a lot of skill but fat shit drunks can dominate the game without any athleticism. You’ve proven me right by making shit up to sound like you know what you’re talking about.What’s wrong, do you love a game so much that you can’t handle when it’s proven to be nothing more than billiards on an oversized grassy knoll?[/quote]

Well, I wouldn’t expect someone who’s only experience playing golf was most likely drunkenly careening around the course in a cart to understand what it’s like to walk up and down a course in hot weather for four hours straight, four days straight.

And again, name one “fat shit drunk” who has ever dominated the game. And please don’t say John Daly because he has never come close to dominating the game, ever. In fact, he’s a poor, poor golfer who occasionally plays a decent round. [/quote]

I’ve played golf maybe 10 times, so I’m no expert but it wasn’t physically demanding in the least and required no more athleticism than needed to carry my clubs and walk around. Yes, I hit balls under trees at slopes, yes I live in Houston so was playing in 100+ degree weather not including the heat index. All this shit you said to try and make golf sound more athletic than it is was silly. There’s a small amount of body control, some hand eye coordination and that’s about it. It requires very little strength but a great deal of technique. I’m significantly stronger than the guys I played with but they could consistently hit the ball further than I could due to their better technique. I understand that at the top level they all have good technique but that and the type of club come more into play than brute strength or power.

56

[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:

[quote]DBCooper wrote:

[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:

[quote]DBCooper wrote:

[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:

[quote]Steel Nation wrote:

[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:

Yes, and I’m terrible. I also had to carry my own clubs or at least leave them on the cart. Nothing about the game requires athleticism. You hit a ball that’s sitting on a tiny tee while everyone around you is as silent as can be and the only thing that can stop you from reaching your target is the elements or personal lack of skill. It is hard, and does require skill but there is no athleticism required. NONE.[/quote]

Define “athleticism”.[/quote]

Speed, leaping ability, strength, power, agility, dexterity, body control, reaction, hand/eye and foot/eye coordination,etc… all go into athleticism. Golf has hand eye coordination and one could maybe argue body control, but NOTHING else. If you can drink whiskey sours while playing your “sport” and excel, then it ain’t a sport.[/quote]

Golf requires strength for success (the strongest players hit the ball the farthest), it requires speed (clubhead speed, not leg speed), agility (try hitting from under a tree, on a steep slope, etc), dexterity, body control, eye/hand coordination and it also requires some degree of stamina in order to walk 18 holes for four straight days, many times in very adverse weather conditions. The precision and margin for error (or lack thereof) required to successfully execute a golf swing, especially with different clubs and at different distances, requires an extremely high level of body control.

You’ve basically proven yourself wrong. You have clearly shown that, while golf does not require as much athleticism as other sports, it does in fact require a degree of athleticism. Why are you so fervently berating golf as a sport anyways? Had a few bad rounds and it didn’t sit well with you?

Also, point out one player who has excelled while drinking whiskey sours throughout his match (John Daly doesn’t count; he’s barely been able to stay on the tour and does not drink during play anyways)[/quote]

Proven myself wrong? What the fuck are you talking about? All that shit you mentioned has nothing and I mean NOTHING to do with golf. Did you really say it requires stamina to walk for 4 days in adverse weather conditions. Dude, you’ve gotta be kidding me. Once again, it is a game that requires a lot of skill but fat shit drunks can dominate the game without any athleticism. You’ve proven me right by making shit up to sound like you know what you’re talking about.What’s wrong, do you love a game so much that you can’t handle when it’s proven to be nothing more than billiards on an oversized grassy knoll?[/quote]

Well, I wouldn’t expect someone who’s only experience playing golf was most likely drunkenly careening around the course in a cart to understand what it’s like to walk up and down a course in hot weather for four hours straight, four days straight.

And again, name one “fat shit drunk” who has ever dominated the game. And please don’t say John Daly because he has never come close to dominating the game, ever. In fact, he’s a poor, poor golfer who occasionally plays a decent round. [/quote]

I’ve played golf maybe 10 times, so I’m no expert but it wasn’t physically demanding in the least and required no more athleticism than needed to carry my clubs and walk around. Yes, I hit balls under trees at slopes, yes I live in Houston so was playing in 100+ degree weather not including the heat index. All this shit you said to try and make golf sound more athletic than it is was silly. There’s a small amount of body control, some hand eye coordination and that’s about it. It requires very little strength but a great deal of technique. I’m significantly stronger than the guys I played with but they could consistently hit the ball further than I could due to their better technique. I understand that at the top level they all have good technique but that and the type of club come more into play than brute strength or power.[/quote]

When you get good at golf and understand that technique, when applied to a physical movement, IS athleticism, then we’ll talk. Until then, we are at an impasse.

And I’m still waiting for the alleged drunkard who’s been dominating the PGA Tour with a club in one hand and a whiskey sour in the other.

57

^^^ So then throwing a dart - which requires both technique and a physical movement - is a sport and requires athleticism by your definition. Awesome. There’s no need to continue this any further. You clearly think everyon deserves a medal. And, I don’t know many golfers names off the top of my head but do know that quite a few of 'em suck down some drinks before hitting the links.

58

[quote]Rico Suave wrote:

[quote]DBCooper wrote:

[quote]Rico Suave wrote:
I don’t think athletes are all defined under one universal term. To say Tiger Woods doesn’t deserve to be on a list of the top 10 athletes of today because he plays golf is retarded.

I’d say all baseball players should be off because that sport probably or even almost requires less athleticism than golf depending on your position on the team.[/quote]

Let’s see: hitting a ball that is traveling at you at anywhere from 70-100 mph, running around the bases, catching a ball that is thrown at you at speeds approaching 95 mph, fielding balls that are hit at you at least as hard, running after balls and so on takes LESS athletic ability than hitting a stationary ball on a tee? Sure pal.[/quote]

Okay, so maybe not the extent of golf, but pretty damn close. But do you really think doing all in which you mentioned is actually physically demanding? Sure it takes a lot of skill to do, but so does golf. It doesn’t mean you have to be in great shape to do it.

You make it sound like running around bases, fielding and catching is actually difficult to do. Have you watched a baseball game? Have you noticed how often an outfieleder moves, let alone runs? Maybe what, twice a game while on defense? and then maybe 2 more times around bases (going 2-4 up to bat)? How much athleticism does this take?

I played competitive baseball up until I was 18 where I played Jr, so I know how in shape you have to be. To be considered a top 10 athlete in the world, baseball players should not be more so on the list than golfers.
[/quote]

I wouldn’t put a golfer in the top 1,000 if the criteria came down strictly to the athleticism required. But that doesn’t mean that golf does not require some degree of athleticism and that it is in fact a sport. If the criteria is strictly the athletes that have the most “athleticism”, than in my mind they would all be either running backs and linebackers. One would be hard-pressed to come up with anyone who displays a higher degree of explosiveness, the ability to change direction quickly, accelerate and decelerate quickly, overall speed, strength, endurance, eye/hand coordination, foot/eye coordination, agility and body control.

Here’s my revised list of the ten most athletic athletes. These guys all have a better blend of all the prerequisites than any other athlete. No other athlete that has comparable speed has comparable strength or body control. No other athlete with as much strength has the same speed, and so on and so on. All of these guys are pure freaks of nature.

Adrian Peterson
Chris Johnson
Patrick Willis
Reggie Bush
Vernon Davis
Demarcus Ware
Larry Fitzgerald
Ray Rice
Anquan Boldin
Jon Beason

59

[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
^^^ So then throwing a dart - which requires both technique and a physical movement - is a sport and requires athleticism by your definition. Awesome. There’s no need to continue this any further. You clearly think everyon deserves a medal. And, I don’t know many golfers names off the top of my head but do know that quite a few of 'em suck down some drinks before hitting the links.[/quote]

You don’t know that at all. You’re making shit up because you’ve made an asinine, inaccurate statement and I called you out on it. As far as darts, it requires some athleticism, yes, but the amount is miniscule. Golf requires more, which still isn’t a whole lot when compared to the other athletes in question.

But it is still a hell of a lot more athleticism than you give golfers credit for, namely none. To say that it requires none because you played a few times and maybe stayed coherent long enough to make it through a round is not proof positive whatsoever that golf requires no athleticism.

60

[quote]JGerman wrote:

[quote]sardines12 wrote:

[quote]thefederalist wrote:
MMA fighters are not athletes. They’re thugs who get paid to get into sanctioned street fights although I must say that I enjoy watching. These lists/discussions are always meaningless and devolve into people listing top players from their favorite sports.

One thing I will say, however, is that divegrass players like messi and ronaldo are certainly not athletes.[/quote]
Uh huh you know 80 percent have a college degree.[/quote]

80% of what have a college degree?? 80% of a graduating class at Slippery Rock have a college degree.

I hope you are not trying to say 80% of mma fighters have a degree. If so you better get more specific…I am trying to figure out what you mean.

Tons of stupid comments here and lack of guidelines.

I think of an athlete as a person who can perform mulitple sports well. Bo Jackson, Deion Sanders did it but there are several others that could have. Local example: Craig Biggio declined a football scholarship to play baseball. There are many examples like this but this one comes to mind. [/quote]
He called mma fighters thugs when an overwhelming majority of them come from college wrestling and have degrees. The 80 percent is from what a fighter said.