[Gt-R R34]

Daydreaming in my meeting earlier and thought..Why isn't this man on most ppl's list of greatest of the decade?

So I did a quick google:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/magazine/specials/2000s/12/21/top.male.athletes/index.html

He came in 17th, and i wonder why that is, and it comes to mind that boxing isn't what it use to be in its heyday.

I look back at it now, Manny Pacquiao should be top 5. He's a transcendent boxer. A boxer to move up 8 different weight classes (including this year, and still win them all, undefeated in 5 years.)

Using the list of CNNSI, I have no problem with any of thoe top5, it helps to be in North America. I'm sure people have different list in different parts of the world.

But think about it, Pacman is from the philippines, fought all over the world beat the best other then Money, and is behind LBJ? Mariano Rivera? Jimmie Johnson? <- ONLY relevant in N/A. no where else in the world.

2 Cents regarding how underapperciated Manny Pacquiao is, even if he was voted the greatest boxer in the 2000s.

If you ask me top 5 now, and using the CNNSI list as a standard.

My top5 would be

Roger Federer
Tiger Woods
Manny Pacquiao
Micheal Phelps
Usain Bolt

EDIT: Apparently someone had the same thought as me.

http://msn.foxsports.com/boxing/story/manny-pacquiao-is-greatest-period

[raygunpk]

no kevin bieksa?

[Mugen EvOlutioN]

lebron james and tim duncan?



i think not

[StylinRed]

id put Schumacher up higher than 10th

but woods at #1? nuh uh (sorry i just dont see golf as athletic... ur just aiming and swinging)

[Matlock]

Oscar Pistorius, The Blade Runner
The fastest man with no legs. He has 4 Paralympic gold medals and almost got into the 2008 olympics.
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/15.03/blade.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Pistorius
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZezcWHStiLE

[hotshot1]

id put Schumacher up higher than 10th

but woods at #1? nuh uh (sorry i just dont see golf as athletic... ur just aiming and swinging)

You wouldn't put Tiger at the top but you'd put Shumacher?

If I was making this list, I wouldn't put any racing drivers because it depends too much on the quality of the car... just look at what happened to Jacques Villeneuve.

[StylinRed]

i would put him higher up but i dunno about 1st (schumi) because of the car; although you cant say the car carried schumi either

[unit]

^without the car, he'd have zero chance. that's the way f1 works.
if schumi drove a minardi all season he wouldnt have ever seen the podium

[Senna4ever]

You can't deny that F1 drivers are elite athletes though. You can be a fat, middle aged guy and still win the Masters.

[StylinRed]

^without the car, he'd have zero chance. that's the way f1 works.
if schumi drove a minardi all season he wouldnt have ever seen the podium

in his day he's turned shit cars into winning cars though but again because of the need of a car is why i wouldnt put him 1st but i would higher than 5

and woods i would have below the top 10 spots

[shawn79]

kobe bryant

[unit]

were talking about the last decade, where he was only with ferrari.

you clearly havent played golf before if you dont think its a physical game.
hit a couple buckets of balls at the driving range then see how sore you are the next day.

[raygunpk]

StylinRed, have you ever played golf before?

[StylinRed]

yea i did the golf thing during highschool (team)
and spent more than a couple days at the ranges with the boys or at a local course

its no sport imo (im sure it would get a lot of golf fans flustered... but c'mon....)

[unit]

some people would argue that racing isnt a sport either.
i mean, you're sitting in a chair the entire time.

[Gt-R R34]

Golf: a sport that is easy to play but hard to master.

Lol not even 15 post in and you guys are off my point.

MANNY PACMAN PACQUIAO!

[raygunpk]

and if somebody argues that the same could be said about racing, in which you're just sitting there shifting gears, you'd get flustered too.

[StylinRed]

no i can totally see how it can be argued as not being a sport; i've felt that way myself for ages before i knew that the racers needed to be in top physical form

that's sort of the clincher for me; the need to be in tip top shape

but i get the argument for golf being a sport i just don't agree with it :/


(same as snooker/pool or darts etc i can see the enjoyment in watching it or playing it but to call it a sport? wtf)

[unit]

just for the sake of arguing now...

golf wasn't really an athletes sport until recently.
you can still play well if you're out of shape provided you're extremely good.... but being athletic will give you that edge you need to be the best.

[Wetordry]

Poor little tink tink

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4oi5xNrQRU

[BlackZRoadster]

they should have poker players in it :troll:

[shawn79]

if u say golf and f1 racing is sport... might as well throw in poker

[bloodmack]

You wouldn't put Tiger at the top but you'd put Shumacher?

If I was making this list, I wouldn't put any racing drivers because it depends too much on the quality of the car... just look at what happened to Jacques Villeneuve.

You obviously haven't raced on a track for money have you? Sure in drag races you can be some 500lbs. fat ass american but in f1 you need endurance and strength its not like your going 100km/h around a track. Golf requires patience, athleticism in golf doesn't seem like a requirement but skill does. I wouldn't put a race car driver in the top 10 athletes tho. I don't think it requires as much hard work as it does basketball, football, rugby etc etc.

[EmperorIS]

nvm 2000s...

wtf no JOHN CENA?

[JD¹³]

Valentino Rossi should be at or near the top. 7 World Championships between 2001-2010.

Woods should be near the top as well sorry to say. Golf may not be the most "active" sport but the skill and finesse required to play it well is on a higher level than almost any other ball sport.

[Senna4ever]

You obviously haven't raced on a track for money have you? Sure in drag races you can be some 500lbs. fat ass american but in f1 you need endurance and strength its not like your going 100km/h around a track. Golf requires patience, athleticism in golf doesn't exist but skill does. I wouldn't put a race car driver in the top 10 athletes tho. I don't think it requires as much hard work as it does basketball, football, rugby etc etc.
Top tier racing drivers are going flat out for 2 hours at a time, even longer if it's a race like the Indy 500. You need a lot of endurance. The only respite you get is during pit stops. Hockey, basketball, etc players get to rest on the bench alot, and the games are usually only an hour in playing time with intermission. These athletes need to excel in bursts of speed, skill, etc. Not saying which is better, just saying they are different.

[AzNightmare]

Here we go again. What is the definition of "sport" and "athlete" ?

I've seen fishing and darts on sportsnet before.
Is Chess a sport?
Is StarCraft a sport?

[Senna4ever]

no Michael Jordan ... wtf

Jordan didn't play (well) in the 2000's.

[Mancini]

Valentino Rossi isn't in the top 20?

The man has won races and world titles in every class and configuration of modern motorcycle GP racing. He has even dominated on uncompetitive machinery. Throughout the entire decade he literally broke dozens of records and redefined the sport.

He is also deservedly the 5th highest earning sportsman.

This list is bunk.

[Senna4ever]

Valentino Rossi isn't in the top 20?

The man has won races and world titles in every class and configuration of modern motorcycle GP racing. He has even dominated on uncompetitive machinery. Throughout the entire decade he literally broke dozens of records and redefined the sport.

He is also deservedly the 5th highest earning sportsman.

This list is bunk.
Of course the list is biased. Biased towards athletes who are/were famous in North America for the most part.

[EmperorIS]

Jordan didn't play (well) in the 2000's.

yea haha i realized it was 2000s right after i posted

[asahai69]

No way Pacquiao is top 5. I dont think SI has it wrong.

[Hondaracer]

Valentino Rossi should be at or near the top. 7 World Championships between 2001-2010.

Woods should be near the top as well sorry to say. Golf may not be the most "active" sport but the skill and finesse required to play it well is on a higher level than almost any other ball sport.

Rossi has somthing like the highest winning percentage of any motorsport in history i belive? i was going to come in and say him, Motorcycle racing obviously takes more athletic ability than F1 if you were to throw both in, but i think F1 may take even more mental ability than MotoGP

with motorspots included it would have to be like Rossi, Schumacher, Woods in terms of pure ability and domination

[JD¹³]

I would say motorcycle racing takes more mental and physical ability than most traditional sports. 20 minutes flat out at the track wears me out more than a full game of AAA hockey ever did.

[ChaKo]

that's sort of the clincher for me; the need to be in tip top shape



if thats the clincher for you then i guess we can rule out baseball as a sport too

[liu13]

http://counterkicks.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/stokes-life-dallas-stokes-shaq-vs-bynum-part-one-10.jpg
http://www.toxicways.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/DwightHowardSupermanDunk.jpg
http://static.technorati.com/10/04/05/11381/lebron-james.jpg

[drunkrussian]

op ur saying pacman is relevant outside na and lbj is not? where besides the phillipines do ppl care more or know of manny more than lebron?

also to make it to the top 5 of this list ud prolly need to dominate at least 5 outta the 10 years id say, no? manny hasnt really been hyped tilmmore recently if im not mistaken
Posted via RS Mobile (http://www.revscene.net/forums/announcement.php?a=228)

[PavelGTR]

http://www.pclef.net/archives/fat%20golfer.jpg

[StylinRed]

if thats the clincher for you then i guess we can rule out baseball as a sport too

u said it not me :D

[Gt-R R34]

op ur saying pacman is relevant outside na and lbj is not? where besides the phillipines do ppl care more or know of manny more than lebron?

also to make it to the top 5 of this list ud prolly need to dominate at least 5 outta the 10 years id say, no? manny hasnt really been hyped tilmmore recently if im not mistaken
Posted via RS Mobile (http://www.revscene.net/forums/announcement.php?a=228)


Lebron is a hyped machine. Granted he's good, but he hasn't won anything. Outside of the philippines? Ask which basketball player can fill 50K ppl in Dallas Stadium.

Manny Paciquiao has been dominating boxing since 2000. He's been undefeated in 5 years. Just recently he fought a man 17 pounds heavier then him, with a 6 inch reach advantage and came out beating that man to a pulp.
He's been good for a very long time.

LBJ is relevant outside the NA as? a spokesman for Nike Shoes. He'll probably make this decade's top 5 easily, but in the 2000's not a chance.

[Hondaracer]

http://counterkicks.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/stokes-life-dallas-stokes-shaq-vs-bynum-part-one-10.jpg
http://www.toxicways.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/DwightHowardSupermanDunk.jpg
http://static.technorati.com/10/04/05/11381/lebron-james.jpg

Kobe is more dominant than all 3 combined

[dachinesedude]

I say Roger Federer, that guy dominated singles tennis in the past decade (16 titles and 6 runner-ups)

[Lomac]

How about Gretzky? (Yeah, i know he retired in '99 but it's close enough, no? lol)

[ajax]

Tom Brady
3 Superbowls
4 Superbowl visits
2 Superbowl game winning drives
The record shattering 2007 season
Hasn't lost a regular season home game in years
Married to Gisele Bundchen

Not bad for a 6th round pick

[hal0g0dv2]

Roger Federer, that guy is a machine

[FN-2199]

nvm 2000s...

wtf no JOHN CENA?

:gtfo:

[Not really racist!]

LOL @ John Cena comment.

I'd say tennis is probably one of the most intense sports both mentally, physically and emotionally. Gotta have lots of endurance and be focused 100% of the time as a tiny slip could have immediate consequences. Federer has proven time and time again that hes the best in the world so you could argue he should be #1

[will068]

How about Gretzky? (Yeah, i know he retired in '99 but it's close enough, no? lol)

He's dominated in the 80s and perhaps the early 90s.

[Manic!]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8gu9mTkjq4

[PiuYi]

golf, baseball, curling, they're all SPORTS

the problem is that the players aren't ATHLETES, which is what this list is about, so no I don't think even top players from any of those sports should make the list

in order to be a top athlete, you need to be athletic

[Hondaracer]

Nascar aint racing

[boss_clad]

just for the sake of arguing now...

golf wasn't really an athletes sport until recently.
you can still play well if you're out of shape provided you're extremely good.... but being athletic will give you that edge you need to be the best.


id put Schumacher up higher than 10th

but woods at #1? nuh uh (sorry i just dont see golf as athletic... ur just aiming and swinging)



i used to feel the same until i started playing in vietnam,

you know how much focus and concentration you need to hit a tiny white ball 350+ yards, into a tiny hole, in under 4 hits?

tiger trained for 8 hours a day with his dad at a super young age to be who he is now.

sure it's not running a ball 100 yards, evading tacklers,
or dribbling the ball through giants to throw it up 30ft. in a little net,

but it's still a sport, and it requires a lot of physical and mental dedication.

try playing on a real golf course, not a driving range or a lil pitch n putt.

[drunkrussian]

Lebron is a hyped machine. Granted he's good, but he hasn't won anything. Outside of the philippines? Ask which basketball player can fill 50K ppl in Dallas Stadium.

Manny Paciquiao has been dominating boxing since 2000. He's been undefeated in 5 years. Just recently he fought a man 17 pounds heavier then him, with a 6 inch reach advantage and came out beating that man to a pulp.
He's been good for a very long time.

LBJ is relevant outside the NA as? a spokesman for Nike Shoes. He'll probably make this decade's top 5 easily, but in the 2000's not a chance.

well either way i wouldn't necessarily put lebron in the top 5. But yeah i guess if we're talking about athletes and pure athleticism, i would agree with you. I was thinking more..professional athlete...the combination of athletic ability and fandom/celebrity. Lebron's got love all over the world, I dunno how much of the world knows Pacman.

[drunkrussian]

How about Gretzky? (Yeah, i know he retired in '99 but it's close enough, no? lol)

this is like...the worst point EVER. lol

[hal0g0dv2]

what about body building, the amount of time and dedication to were those guys are at is amazing, most people to the blind eye to that sport.

[Ronin]

Baseball players...lol...

NASCAR!? You drive in a CIRCLE.

Tiger Woods is/was a dominant athlete. I'd say only Schumacher comes close to his level of dominance over a sport but you could argue that golf...well, it isn't all that hard to play.

[hal0g0dv2]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6Tvg6Qvh5o

[TheKingdom2000]

umm Tiger as number 1?
You have got to be kidding me.
Golfers are no more athletes than Chess players.
Lance Armstrong is a cheat and should not be in the top 5 at all.

Top 5 in no particular order
Phelps, Bolt, Kobe, Federer, Messi

[InvisibleSoul]

Totally useless debate. It's not just unlikely to have any sort of consensus, it's impossible because what defines "greatest athlete" is completely up to interpretation.

[ajax]

Patriots play the Colts this week Sunday. Always a good game between two of this decades greatest NFL players.
Posted via RS Mobile (http://www.revscene.net/forums/announcement.php?a=228)

[Drizzt Do'Urden]

no GSP?!

[oldsnail]

this article is a bit outdated.

last update of that article was ' Updated: Tuesday December 22, 2009 1:01PM'.'

[JD¹³]

Tiger Woods is/was a dominant athlete. I'd say only Schumacher comes close to his level of dominance over a sport but you could argue that golf...well, it isn't all that hard to play.
Valentino Rossi has won more, over a longer period of time, than Schumacher.

Schumacher:

Championships: 7 (1994, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004)
Race Starts: 268
Wins: 91
Podiums: 154
Career Points: 1441
Pole Positions: 68
Fastest Laps: 76

Rossi:

Championships: 9 (1997, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009)
Race Starts: 241
Wins: 105
Podiums: 174
Career Points: 4259
Pole Positions: 59
Fastest Laps: 85

Car racing: 80% car 20% driver, motorcycle racing: 80% rider 20% bike.

As I said before golf is very hard to play well. At Tiger's level he is super-human and most definitely qualifies as an athlete.

[BlackZRoadster]

Why is Joe Cada not on here? He is the youngest ever to win the WSOP. Or how about Duhammel first canadian to win the main event WSOP!!!

To me golf and fishing is not a sport. If overweight fat fucks that can't even run and smoke cigars on the course can play it, i dont think its a sport.

Darts is not a sport either, its a game just like golf. If sex can be publicly displayed, Im sure that would be more of a sport then golf, at least theres more physical movement


:troll:

[raygunpk]

you must have not heard of the blowjob olympics!

[C5_Ryder]

Lebron is the best pure athlete, jumping, running, strengh, balance, cordination, size, speed, everything you would want.

The most dominate is Federer and Tiger by far.

Pacman is interesting because this is widely considered the dark ages of boxing, maybe in its prime, he would be considered the best.

However having said all that , my vote will go to TIGER.

[StylinRed]

try playing on a real golf course, not a driving range or a lil pitch n putt.

ppl are always assuming too much



As I said before golf is very hard to play well. At Tiger's level he is super-human and most definitely qualifies as an athlete.

i agree about Rossi being a beast but i dnt think its fair to compare wins between the two

but i failed ye for tiger being super-human :D

6 Million Dollar Man maybe or Clemens on Roids (considering the multiple $$$$$$ eye surgeries)

[JD¹³]

but i failed ye for tiger being super-human :D
I'd like to see the Average Joe somehow "get" Tiger's hand-eye coordination, ability to read the land and the wind, and translate all of it into motion with his hands through various clubs. Truth is noone can do it as well which is why he's dominated the world of golf, and to the Average Joe is a god at what he does.

How is it not fair to compare wins between Schumacher and Rossi? They're both dominant at the peak of their respective motorsport around the same time. That there deserves a fail ;)

[StylinRed]

^lol Tiger's assisted with eagle eye vision that he paid for

and it's not fair to compare cuz they're different and Michael quit for 3 years and during his times he dealt with racing crappy cars while they were improved upon

I imagine the sportbikes across teams are rather similar as motorcycling is more rider dependent than vehicle like ye said :P (but still i agree Rossi's a beast)

my reasoning could be totally wrong but it still seems like apples n oranges

[sexyaccord]

2000's Tiger Woods
1990's Michael Jordan

[JD¹³]

and it's not fair to compare cuz they're different and Michael quit for 3 years and during his times he dealt with racing crappy cars while they were improved upon
Rossi also left the the best bike on the grid (Honda) for one of the worst (Yamaha) and not only won his first race on it, but also the Championship in his first year :thumbsup:

[Anurag]

Tom Brady
3 Superbowls
4 Superbowl visits
2 Superbowl game winning drives
The record shattering 2007 season
Hasn't lost a regular season home game in years
Married to Gisele Bundchen

Not bad for a 6th round pick

bingo!

[keifun]

Michael "AIR" JORDAN yo! for the 1990's
http://www.digitalbattle.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/michael-jordan.jpg

Kobe and Crosby for 2000s
http://webpages.csus.edu/~kp678/kobe_bryant_biography.jpg

http://lifebox.net/0/img/240/0/c54b7b02951681488d6994a86460b7c5_d6994a_o.jpg

[keifun]

shit double post. sorry.

[JSALES]

some people would argue that racing isnt a sport either.
i mean, you're sitting in a chair the entire time.

http://i55.tinypic.com/spbxgz.jpg

[goo3]

Valentino Rossi has won more, over a longer period of time, than Schumacher.



Maybe you have a point with Schumacher's car, but this is like comparing a racquetball champion to a tennis champ.

[Gt-R R34]

Jordan - 90's.

Man, where's the boxing love? lol none eh?

[KO7]

http://www.glamour.com/images/women-of-the-year/1028-misty-may-treanor-and-kerri-walsh_aw.jpg

Kerri Walsh and Misty May.
Dominated AVP and FIVB this past decade, and won 2 consecutive Olympic Golds in 2004 and 2008, going undefeated both times.

[Mancini]

Maybe you have a point with Schumacher's car, but this is like comparing a racquetball champion to a tennis champ.

Hardly. And remember we're not just comparing drivers here. Golf, swimming, ball sports etc. are on the list, too.

Also, as compared to Schumacher, more of Rossi's wins fall in the last decade.

[tegz]

Valentino Rossi should be at or near the top. 7 World Championships between 2001-2010.

Woods should be near the top as well sorry to say. Golf may not be the most "active" sport but the skill and finesse required to play it well is on a higher level than almost any other ball sport.

I second that :)

Too bad motoGP is nowhere near as popular as I'd like it to be

[goo3]

Hardly. And remember we're not just comparing drivers here. Golf, swimming, ball sports etc. are on the list, too.

Also, as compared to Schumacher, more of Rossi's wins fall in the last decade.

If you (or the earlier posts) are gonna compare wins side by side between two sports, then you're saying that the motogp level of competition is equal to that of open wheel racing. Is it?

I mean Cindy Klassen beat out Steve Nash for the Lou Marsh award because she won 5 gold medals, while he won MVP and only took his team to the Conference Finals. Nothing against Klassen - what she did was impressive, but what Nash did was more impressive, IMO, because of the level of competition he faced (ie Kobe, LBJ, etc) even though he didn't win the title.

But Lou Marsh is a charity award anyway since a wheel-chair racer won one year by dominating her sport. You see how well that works.

[asahai69]

i know its not a popular sport. but this man has dominated the sport in the 90s and the 2000s. he is regarded as one of the best to ever play the game, if not THE best.

Sachin Tendulkar

http://www.dhruvplanet.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/highest-odi-score-sachin.jpg


yeah. i watch cricket. hahahah

[rJZx]

Brian Scalabrine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPLxRzFno4c&feature=related

/thread :troll:

[Gt-R R34]

I like the cricket and the beach volleyball post!

So true. for the cricket dude

[ae101]

excuse me SI but how come this man was not on the damn list:
http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2010/03/28/alg_apolo_anton_ohno.jpg
Apolo Anton Ohno, no need for me to say that he is one of the greatest WINTER OLYMPIAN OF ALL TIME, seriously why was he not on the list (even NBC said he was the michael phelps of the winter olympics)

& i duno how many ppl like figure skating but Evgeni Plushenko did pretty well this decade

[asahai69]

I like the cricket and the beach volleyball post!

So true. for the cricket dude



yeah dude. he has dominated bowlers that are also considered the best to ever play. the guy is crickets version of gretzky