[Mike Sweeney]

Watching the Pebble Beach ProAm, it made me think back to earlier in the week when our friend John Kavanaugh stated:

With everyone requiring their kid to be a star instead of a solid role player in a real sport these "white kid" sports are being artificially pumped up.  It's sickening because to be great at "white kid" sports it takes money and travel and parents time.  No wonder divorce rates are so high considering the modern parent spends more time destroying their kids childhood than improving their own adult relationships.

Now in my other life beyond being a GCA.com boring white guy, I hang out with the following:

• surfers
• judo wrestlers
• squash players

I suck at all of the above, but I appreciate the talent that each requires. They are real sports and they are not "white guy" sports.

I just saw Kelly Slater hit a shot at Pebble Beach, and imo, he is the greatest athlete to walk the links of Pebble Beach:



11 World Surfing Titles, and here is why:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aBJxYxo1HU

Jordan, Lance (with drugs), can't touch him. Michael Phelps is close.

Thoughts?

PS - If you google "Kelly Slater girlfriends" it really helps my case and he also works with www.surfershealing.org

[Ronald Montesano]

crunchy...

[Mike_Young]

Michael,
Come to this event sometime...He has shown up before...

http://bluewaterpropertiesofcostarica.com/2012/04/robert-august-surf-turf-charity-event-in-tamarindo-and-avellanas/

[Jud_T]

Maybe if Jim Thorpe never teed it up there...

[Ronald Montesano]

Jim Thorpe the native american (not a white guy) or Jim Thorpe the african-american golfer (also not a white guy) ?

[Tim Bert]

I don't know, Mike. I have only played Pebble Beach two times.  The first time, I was randomly paired up with this gentleman:

http://youtu.be/CK8M23dsMKY

The second time I was in the group behind Jason Kidd. While I won't suggest either is a superior athlete to your nominee, I don't think either is out of the question. Crossover sports comparisons is impossible to do.

I also take issue with the hierarchy of athletes in the comparison you offered. Lance (with drugs) was clearly superior to Michael Phelps.  It is clear to me that you overweight water sports. 

[Ronald Montesano]

A) Mike values buoyancy in his Top 100 rankings...

B) In fairness to Mike, he did not say "random pairings at Pebble." He specified the clambake and I don't believe that Kidd and Cruijff are in attendance this week.

[corey miller]

I am certainly not a believer that all the great athletes are 6'5" NBA guys or NFL cornerbacks but c'mon Mike you need to get out of NYC a little.  I have no idea what Mr. Slater does but squash?  Heck this is the same perspective and world view that leads one to think that President Obama is a great athlete/basketball player.

[Tim Bert]

Ronald - While you quoted his subject line, he does indeed say he is convinced that Mr Slater is the greatest athlete to walk the links at Prbble Beach in his post. I don't think either of the guys I mentioned are the greatest athlete to walk the links. My only point was that I have only been there twice and each time saw a pretty tremendous athlete. I would imagine that many of the great athletes of the world have walked or played on those grounds.

[jeffwarne]

I think John Kavanaugh defined it rather well, and I'd add no one wants to play intramurals anymore (or God forbid local Little League when they can travel to play other mediocre travelers), they just find a new sport to add to the varsity offerings.    
 (I'm pretty sure there are more girls varsity sports starting positions offered in the fall than there are girls in my son's High School)

[Steve Lang]

   Eddy Merckx had it all over Lance.. didn't he play once?  and it hasn't been a real clambake for a while..



Surprising Racing Career Facts  ( from http://www.fatcyclist.com/2012/04/12/several-interesting-facts-about-eddy-merckx/ )

The racing exploits of Eddy Merckx are as legendary as they are fascinating. A few lesser-known facts about his racing career are as follows:

- Eddy is the only person to have ever won the Tour de France twice in a single year.
- Merckx is fluent in 18 languages and has preternaturally sharp hearing. Combined, these two attributes ensured that Eddy always knew everything everyone was talking about in the peloton.
- The limiting factor in his speed on a bicycle was actually the strength of the chain. If Eddy actually exerted the full force of his legs at any given moment, the bike chain would invariably break.
- Merckx’s bike actually weighed over 250 pounds, a joke the team mechanic played on Eddy for the duration of his career. “We built his bike out of lead, just to see if it would slow him down,” said Frank Frorchxtcxts (also a Belgian). “It did not.”
Eddy had 10,009 career wins. This is interesting because 10,009 is a prime number.
- If the bike chain had not been the limiting factor in Merckx’s bike speed, the tires would have been, because they start to melt at speeds greater than 212 mph.
- Merckx actually won his first Tour de France in 1960 under the pseudonym Gastone Nancini. Merckx raced under a pseudonym because he was 15 at the time.
- Also, Eddy raced — and, naturally won — the 1980 Tour de France as Joop Zoetemelk. He did this for no other reason than to break Hinault’s winning streak.
- When Eddy Merckx set the hour record in 1972, he wasn’t even trying. He was just out on a recovery ride.
- Eddy was known as “The Cannibal” during his racing career, but maintains he has never in actuality eaten human flesh.

[Ronald Montesano]

Eddy Mercxzkxckzkcxxkk...the Chuck Norris of cycling.

Tim-Boy...You are right. I type corrected.

Jeff...enlighten me. I have no idea what your post means nor how it fits into this thread, but I'd like to know both.

[Anthony Butler]

 Eddy Merckx had it all over Lance.. didn't he play once?  and it hasn't been a real clambake for a while..



Surprising Racing Career Facts  ( from http://www.fatcyclist.com/2012/04/12/several-interesting-facts-about-eddy-merckx/ )

The racing exploits of Eddy Merckx are as legendary as they are fascinating. A few lesser-known facts about his racing career are as follows:

- Eddy is the only person to have ever won the Tour de France twice in a single year.
- Merckx is fluent in 18 languages and has preternaturally sharp hearing. Combined, these two attributes ensured that Eddy always knew everything everyone was talking about in the peloton.
- The limiting factor in his speed on a bicycle was actually the strength of the chain. If Eddy actually exerted the full force of his legs at any given moment, the bike chain would invariably break.
- Merckx’s bike actually weighed over 250 pounds, a joke the team mechanic played on Eddy for the duration of his career. “We built his bike out of lead, just to see if it would slow him down,” said Frank Frorchxtcxts (also a Belgian). “It did not.”
Eddy had 10,009 career wins. This is interesting because 10,009 is a prime number.
- If the bike chain had not been the limiting factor in Merckx’s bike speed, the tires would have been, because they start to melt at speeds greater than 212 mph.
- Merckx actually won his first Tour de France in 1960 under the pseudonym Gastone Nancini. Merckx raced under a pseudonym because he was 15 at the time.
- Also, Eddy raced — and, naturally won — the 1980 Tour de France as Joop Zoetemelk. He did this for no other reason than to break Hinault’s winning streak.
- When Eddy Merckx set the hour record in 1972, he wasn’t even trying. He was just out on a recovery ride.
- Eddy was known as “The Cannibal” during his racing career, but maintains he has never in actuality eaten human flesh.

I think this was a Roy and HG bit from the 90s...

[Ronald Montesano]

Jeff...thanks for the PM. All is clear now.

Roy and HG?...ok, hit google...ahhh, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_and_HG

and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKFWE1xt_x0

[Jud_T]

Jim Thorpe the native american (not a white guy) or Jim Thorpe the african-american golfer (also not a white guy) ?

OK point taken...how about Babe Didrikson Zaharias?  I know, not a guy..... 

[Mike Sweeney]

  I have no idea what Mr. Slater does but squash? 

Matt Ward,

Click on the freakin link in my initial post !  And you as a baseball guy should have responded with Mike Schmidt as a reasonable debate:


Tim Bert,

Thanks for playing and posting the Johan Cruijff. Very nice bio - film.

[Will Lozier]

Interesting claim considering The Great One is playing in the same tourney!

[Don_Mahaffey]

OK, I don't know if he plays golf and I know for sure he is not at Pebble, but since we're on water sports...

Manuel Estiarte
Played in six (6!!!) Olympic games and leading scorer in 5 of the 6!!!

In a game that has become dominated by huge men wrestling in front of the cage, Estiarte brought beauty, guile, and incredible talent. One of a kind. The best I've ever seen.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Estiarte

The video below has a bit too many stills for my taste, but its worth it to get to the highlights.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZbDTr7KV7o

[Tim Bert]

Mike - As a lifelong Phillies fan, I would have gone with Schmidt had I not led with Cruijff.

[Jon Spaulding]

Mike Sweeney; I agree. Now that you've been in the water and are hardcore ....there's likely an appreciation for the difficulty factor.

He's dominated the sport for 20+ years at this point. While an amateur in the late 80's, he was considered the best in the world by many. His performance in the 1990 contest at Lowers still amazes me to this day.

Note that he retired for 2-3 years in what would have been considered his prime.

[Ben Sims]

No cyclist can be the best athlete. I used to think Lance was the best athlete in the world.  It was hype.  Now I know that cyclists (especially road cyclists) are good at ONE motion.  One.  I'd argue that there are at least 10 sports with far more athleticism needed to be great.  Hockey, rugby, football, basketball, baseball, swimming, decathlon, surfing, water polo, tennis, soccer, just to name a few, are all more athletic than cycling.

So yeah, Kelly Slater might be a good choice.  The again, it's hard to argue against Tiger's athleticism in his prime.

[David_Tepper]

Without wishing to lessen Kelly Slater's accomplishment in any way, I am always suspicious of sports where the outcome is determined by the opinions of a panel of judges.   

[Sven Nilsen]

Ben:

There are skill athletes and endurance athletes.  I tend to think that those that can push their bodies to the absolute farthest extremes are the purest specimens of athletes.

One way to measure the best endurance athletes is to test VO2 max.  Here's the basic scale:

Average untrained healthy male athlete - 35-40 ml/kg/min
Elite male runners - 80 ml/kg/min
Miguel Indurain (5 time Tour de France winner) - 88 ml/kg/min

One of the highest recorded VO2 max belongs to a Norwegian cross-country skier named Bjorn Daehlie, who measured at 96 ml/kg/min.  The testing on Daehlie was done during the offseason, leading to speculation that he would have exceed 100 ml/kg/min if tested at the peak of his training.

I don't know if he plays golf.

Sven

[Ben Sims]

Ben:

There are skill athletes and endurance athletes.  I tend to think that those that can push their bodies to the absolute farthest extremes are the purest specimens of athletes.

One way to measure the best endurance athletes is to test VO2 max.  Here's the basic scale:

Average untrained healthy male athlete - 35-40 ml/kg/min
Elite male runners - 80 ml/kg/min
Miguel Indurain (5 time Tour de France winner) - 88 ml/kg/min

One of the highest recorded VO2 max belongs to a Norwegian cross-country skier named Bjorn Daehlie, who measured at 96 ml/kg/min.  The testing on Daehlie was done during the offseason, leading to speculation that he would have exceed 100 ml/kg/min if tested at the peak of his training.

I don't know if he plays golf.

Sven

Sven,

No doubt VO2 max is a tremendous indicator on endurance.  And I agree that there are skill and endurance sorts.  But what about the sports that have both?  Ruggers, footballers, water polo players, hockey players, these are high athletic ideals in my opinion.  Cyclists are merely very, very specialized athletes with one movement and one trait. 

You want athletes that push extremes and have technical abilities that are also phenomenal?  How about this guy?  I hope to meet him in Seattle one day. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Viesturs

[Adam Clayman]

Ballet dancers are the best athletes.

Does Mikhail Baryshnikov golf?

[Tags:]

Tags:

[Tags:]

Tags:

Call to undefined function theme_linktree()