Espn is doing a poll for “Best Male Athlete” … excellent endless debate topic … Tim DeBoom, Peter Reid, and Lance are the slowtwitch-fav athletes featured in the NCAA-Tourney Style Poll …
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=degree/male/athlete/2004
Personally, I think a basketball player will win … but it wouldn’t hurt to help out the boys with the bikes …
Tom
baseball player? what the hell…I agree with you on the other choices…thanks
Personally I think it should be a football player. After all in a three hour football game those players have to actually work for about 5 minutes. Baseball is probably right up there in that range also.
The U.S. is warped when it comes to what consitutes a true athlete.
Peter Reid???!! A great triathlete, perhaps. But no way is he a great athlete compared to pro football and basketball players. He looks like the kid who was the last one picked in gym class.
Peter Reid???!! A great triathlete, perhaps. But no way is he a great athlete compared to pro football and basketball players. He looks like the kid who was the last one picked in gym class.
Yeah…then WHOOPED the rest for picking him last…that is about an ignorant comment man…just ignorant.
Personally I think the greatest all around athlete discussion should begin and end with the decathlon. Unfortunately, I’m sure that a football or basketball player will come out as the victor in this poll.
What a loaded poll they put two guys I like up against each other (Reid and Phelps i think) and then the rest are guys who I hear about on the news right before I flip channels trying to find the weather forecast for my ride.
You cant compare any of those sports directly, all of them are demanding and require different training and genetics. Look at the NFL players who have gone to Ironman, none of them came even close to winning their age group, but Reid wouldnt last a couple of plays in football.
A poll like this is meaningless.
KR
That’s soooo not the point … the point is to argue it out … sheesh … you’ll argue till your throat’s raw over whether carbon or aluminum or titanium or steel is the most comfortable frame material, but it seems pointless to you to argue whether michael vick is a better athlete than roy jones junior or lebron james?
i mean, of course it’s a matter of training, genetics, etc, and of course the question cannot be definitively answered. and of course all these athletes are differently prepared so it must be apples to oranges. it’s merely a matter of how much can you reveal through debate … and do you think apples or oranges are the best spherical fruit?
neither…pomegrantes are…do melons count? Mmmm cantelope. Sorry, what was the question?
“Personally I think it should be a football player. After all in a three hour football game those players have to actually work for about 5 minutes. Baseball is probably right up there in that range also.”
You obviously haven’t heard of Micheal Vick. But since you’ve mentioned baseball and football, let me hear why you think Peter Reid is a better athlete than Bo Jackson or Deon Sanders.
probably the best way to look at the espn poll would be based on dominance within their respective sports. otherwise, as everyone is pointing out, its comparing apples and oranges. i take it as what it is, something for entertainment purposes. although it is crap putting deboom and reid in the same bracket.
Obviously Peter Reid is a better athlete than Deion or Bo because he can kick their asses (even if they went as a relay!) in any triathlon they’d dare to enter 
Did anyone catch that outstanding athlete Doug Flutie attempt Escape from Alcatraz a couple of years ago … great football player, lousy triathlete unable to finish the swim section … obviously not what he specializes in. This debate is all about comparing apples to oranges… team sport guys vs. individual sport guys, speed and power sports vs endurance and mental toughness sports … too different to compare. Peter Reid has won the world championship in an individual sport competition (ie. he proved himself to be the best triathlete in the world on the day) 3 times. While Bo and Deion are both great athletes, I don’t think that either could ever have been called “the absolute best” football or baseball player in the league when they were playing. They were both pretty amazing considering that they could be at the upper echelons of 2 different sports (even if they were sports that require similar athletic characteristics). Maybe Steve Larsen was one of the worlds best athletes since he was a top level mountain and road cyclist and a world class triathlete … again though in sports with crossover characteristics. Decathletes are pretty good athletes but no decathlete is ever the fastest sprinter or hurdler or jumper in world, and in fact, most are pretty mediocre compared to the studs in the individual sports … My theory is that this argument will never ever be settled since there are too many “what ifs?”
“Peter Reid …(ie. he proved himself to be the best triathlete in the world on the day) 3 times.”
We have to qualify that Allan. Peter proved to be the best LONG COURSE triathlete. I’m sure Simon Whitfield could beat him in an Oly length any day of the week. Again apples and oranges.
Grew up playing football into high school. Then switched over to rugby. Now there’s a sport. All the hits of football, running like soccer and no pads. Puds wear pads!
Let’s add a rugby player to the mix. A top rugby player would run circles around a top NFL player any day. Not too many NFL players are in that great of shape. An average play in a football game lasts around 5 seconds. If you want to talk speed and power with an added bonus of endurance it’s rugby all the way.
I agree with the thread from a while back that in order to find a ‘best athlete’ you need a competition that incorporates speed, strength, power and endurance. The decathlon comes close but a one mile run doesn’t cut for the endurance part.
At the world police and fire games they have a competition called ‘the toughest competitor alive.’ It consists of a 5K cross country run, 100M sprint, 100M swim, Max bench press, shot put, max pull-ups, a 20ft. rope climb and obstacle course.
If greatness is measured in value, which it should be. As in your greatest moments are your most valuable ones. Then A-rod has them all beat. He makes more money (value) in one at bat than Peter Reid makes in a season. Hey and he only is hitting 1.5 times out of ten this year. Now that is greatness and value at the same.
I agree, those polls are so bogus in concept, as how can you compare what Lance does for a living vs Barry Bonds, Peter Reid, or Tiger Woods? G
“While Bo and Deion are both great athletes, I don’t think that either could ever have been called “the absolute best” football or baseball player in the league when they were playing.”
Of the few people who have played both pro baseball and football, Bo was “the absolute best.” It’s not comparing apples and oranges. But you have to start by defining what is an athlete.
Defining what is an athlete is where the problem lies …
Which takes priority? power, speed, strength, endurance, coordinatation, flexibility, mental toughness? Do they all get the same weight? Some sports require one or two of the characteristics almost exclusively while others require a little bit of everything (boxing or wrestling come to mind as sports that require a bit of everything but not necessarily a massive amount of any one characteristic) so you can never really decide “what an athlete is” … it will depend on who is setting the criteria. I’m sure that most on this forum would rank endurance much higher compared to physical strength than someone who is an NFL football fanatic.
As for Bo and Deion … I agree that they are the two best athletes to play the sports of baseball and football but my point was that this category would be a pretty small one and neither was the best in either of the single sports so how can you say that they are the “best” athlete. Even within a single sport you have huge differences … an NFL QB vs. a Defensive end … two totally different types of athletes even though speed and power and strength would be necessary for both. Just like Cerveloguy pointed out in our sport … Simon would kick Peter’s ass in a Olympic distance race where speed is more important than outright endurance.
This topic is about a clear cut as 650 vs. 700 and Powercranks vs. Rotorcranks vs. normal cranks
So what if Reid could beat Bo or Deion in a Triathlon. They have ZERO slow twitch fibers. How do you define which aspect of sports is more valuable than another. I personally vote for tennis. High level tennis requires endurance, quickness and serious hand eye coordination. Every shot comes in with a different spin and bounce and speed. HOw about the Rocket–Rod Laver. Here’s a 5-8 guy who dominated tennis for 10 years. His power and speed and spin were unbelievable. aND A GENTLEMAN TO BOOT.
I have long since boycotted major team sports. Those cry-baby millionaire felons…!!! But…Bo was amazing. In his first games, after being out of football for several years, he completely dominated his opponents. His speed, size and strength were unbelievable. This in a guy who NEVER lifted weights. This was after he went into professional baseball after not having played in 4 years since he left high school. He hit what looked like a pop up in an ALL STAR game. It only went over the 410 foot sign. He was chasing a fly ball diagonally to his left, in one game. He caught it just before the wall, even though it looked like he had no chance. He then ran up the wall and back down AND on to the field, without breaking his stride. …and, HUMBLE!!!
What about Dan O’Brien–Decathlete.
Lance–5 in a row.
Magic and Michael.
The Mick. Before he messed up his knees was faster than Willie, or anyone else to first (3.0 sec–if I recall.) and p fearsome power.
Pele???
Abibi Bakila (sp?) 2 Olympic marathons in a row. The first was barefooted!
John Elway–tougher than nails, quick, an arm like no one else. Unbelievable record in come from behind victories despite lousy coaches. He gave up some of his salary so that Denver could sign Terrell Davis.
It’s all a matter of what your bias is toward athletics.
Best Rugby Player?
For just plain impact on the game, it’s gotta be Jonah Lomu. He showed that you could be built like Ben Johnson and be an awesome winger. He doesn’t (didn’t) have much skill except going forward, but DAMN he had skill going forward. His decimation of the English defense some years ago was absolutely LEGENDARY. The English still fear the All Blacks because of it and Jonah isn’t playing any more!!(Kidney transplant coming up)
As for active players, I have to say I’m a Huge fan of Carlos Spencer. He is a great athlete physically, plus he’s an amazing team leader and inspiration to his team (go the Blues) He is also an incredible play maker who virtually never reverts to a standard pass or play. He SEES and KNOWS the game better than anyone and converts that in to an amazing performance. He directs traffic like a top QB, runs with the ball like a great running back, passes better than anyone in the game and can kick goals better than most.
Best all round rugby player of all as far as I’m concerned. Carlos Spencer. (funny as well)
TriDork