Best Athlete at their respective sport?

[jhoff]

lol, im a huge fan of zero/fallen
thats all i rode was zero boards when i skated so thats the style i like

[brawl]

NBA(I'll make this short and sweet)
Kobe Bryantg over lebron James anyday...no explanation needed.

nba - m. jordan

Kobe's better overall, but I think this season LeBron proved he's got it no question. (i'm a little biased tho since i wanna see the city of Cleveland finally win some sort of championship, they haven't seen gold since 1964...)

But as far as in history, I'd gotta go Michael Jordan or Wilt Chamberlain. Wilt was a monster in his time.

*And I gotta say that Bo Jackson should be on that list too...had injury not cut his career short, he would have been epic in 2 sports.

[coletrain]

I have to give it to Michael Phelps. I am a swimmer myself so I am partial to most swimmers. I think anyone that plays a sport will follow the top athletes of that sport.

Comparing someone like Michael Phelps to Michael Jordan is hard. Basketball is obviously more mainstream than swimming. It's hard to say that Michael Phelps is an athletic great because swimming can only be viewed and judged every 4 years, where-as basketball is an annual event. In the same way that Jordan inspired people with basketball, Phelps has created the most stir in mainstream media than any swimmer since Mark Spitz (1970's).

Achieving 8 Gold medals in a single Olympiad is one of the greatest achievements in sports history.



Here are some of the excuses I have read and heard:

1. Swimming is an easy sport:
A: I challenge anyone to swim a 10×200 meters butterfly repeated without breaking stroke and taking no longer than 30 seconds rest. When you are done then write/talk again about how easy swimming is.

2. Not a lot of people swim competitively so it easier to be the best:
A: More people compete in swimming in the world than other sports that are very popular in America. Across the globe swimming is bigger than football, baseball and hockey by a long shoot. By these standards (most people participating in the sport) then Tiger Woods would not make it into the top 500 athletes and soccer players will have the top 50 spots reserved.

3. He is not a multisport athlete like Jim Thorpe, Bo Jackson and Michael Jordan:
A: Swimming strokes are very different from each other and different distances require training in different energy systems. When you are a baseball player you can crosstrain playing football or basketball. You can also be a track athlete and that will translate to almost any team sport in land. Swimming is performed in a different environment and while there are things you can do outside the pool to enhance performance, nothing translates to swimming. You cab be a great basketball, baseball, soccer or football player and drown in the pool. Michael Phelps is and unprecedented multi talented aquatic athlete. By the way, how did Jordan do on his MLB career?

[Tnwagn]

oh and Tennis: Pete Sampras

No disrespect to Sampras, but Rodger Federer is right there with him.

But the Sampras/Agassi matches were much more epic than any Federer/Nadal match, IMO.

[Clean-CB7]

Pokemon= Ash. He is the BEST at what he does because he beat charizard with pikachu.

[kmart64]

Pokemon= Ash. He is the BEST at what he does because he beat charizard with pikachu.

yea, but charizard was flying...how bout pikachu beating onix!!!

[GHOST 2.2]

NFL: LaDanian Tomlinson.

That guy broke soo many records as a running back. too bad he hasnt won a superbowl yet.

[AbsurdNY]

baseball - r. johnson

Wow really? I will have to go with Babe Ruth

[verothacamaro]

Diego Maradona - Soccer

Lance Armstrong - Biking

[verothacamaro]

NFL: LaDanian Tomlinson.

That guy broke soo many records as a running back. too bad he hasnt won a superbowl yet.

06-07 season was huge fun watching him play!

[TheNextAZN]

NFL: LaDanian Tomlinson.

LT is def. a badass! no doubt, and has a place with all the legends... such as Barry Sanders!

[GHOST 2.2]

LT is def. a badass! no doubt, and has a place with all the legends... such as Barry Sanders!

yet a very humble guy. he wins my vote anyday. i want him to retire with a san diego superbowl ring damn it!!!

[f22a4bandit]

LT is def. a badass! no doubt, and has a place with all the legends... such as Barry Sanders!

Barry Sanders retired after breaking a record. If he had stayed in the game, maybe, but he cut his career short.

I'd have to say Earl Campbell is one of the greats. You can't say there is ONE end all player in ANY sport. There are too many good players out there.

Baseball....I'm partial to the Astros, but I'd have to say right now Albert Pujols. In the past...definitely Nolan Ryan.

Tennis...I'd have to say Nadal now and Agassi earlier. Agassis would have done a lot better had he not been such a rebel in tennis. He would have made short work Sampras if he had his head in the right place.