Which Sport Showcases the Best Athletes Around?

[Champ]

Poll question: Which Sport Showcases the Best Athletes Around?

[soothsayer]

1. Bowling, of course!

sorry

[Champ]

2. Hahaha

Good Choice! :D

[Champ]

3. I went with Boxing

[GOPisEvil]

4. Decathlon.

[Exultant Democracy]

11. yup

kind of an easy question.

[Champ]

13. They are good but some things to consider

The sport probaly requires the most endurance out there but power, strength, are not very important. Hand eye cordination, nerve are unimportant. Speed and agility are important but not very important believe it or not, that's where durability and endurance comes in. Those who are durabile and have lots of endurance will beat the fastest ones on the track who don't have the endurance to keep up. Analyptic aptitude? All you have to do is run around a track.

[GOPisEvil]

21. All you do is run around a track?!

Check out the rules: http://www.decathlonusa.org/rules.html

The events are:

100 Meter Dash
Long Jump
Shot Put
High Jump
400 Meter Dash
110m Hurdles
Discus Throw
Pole Vault
Javelin Throw
1500 Meter Run

[Champ]

22. I was talking about long distance running

The Decathalon is several sports in one event. It's not really a single sport like pole vault, basketball, hockey, etc

[GOPisEvil]

23. True...but it is a single event.

You have to be an extremely well-rounded athlete to win.

[Champ]

24. I agree

You have to be one of the best athletes in the world to win one of those. I am also impressed by those like Bo Jackson who can play 2 sports at such a high level the way he did. He is definately one of the best athletes of all time.

[GOPisEvil]

26. Agreed.

Bo was a bad-ass.

Cotton Bowl, Jan. 1, 1986, Texas A&M vs. Auburn. A&M wins 36-16. :party: I remember watching that game in fear because Bo could break free at any time, and he did! But, we stopped him on 4th and goal and went on to win the game. Brent Musburger was openly rooting for Bo Jackson and Auburn in that game, too. Cemented my dislike for him when he's broadcasting one of my teams. With neutral teams, he's fine. :silly:

[rogerashton]

5. Horse racing. N/T

[Armstead]

6. Professional Wrestling

I know it's a sham, and the culture is horrible.

But I gotta admit I'm always amazed by their gymnastics, and how they can choreograph such mayhem.

[Beware the Beast Man]

9. I second that

As a former "smart" fan of wrestling (as opposed to a "mark," who thinks the action is real), I know these guys have to be in the best shape possible at all times. I know it's not a competitive sport like football or even boxing, but the physical toll they take is tremendous. Pro wrestlers' season never ends; they're on the road up to 250 days a year. Also, the action doesn't stop if a wresler is injured. In so-called "real" sports, The game comes to a halt if someone gets hurt.
It's just the stigma of being involved in a "fake" sport, I guess.

[Angelus]

45. Hell yeah....remember Brock Lesnar?

That man is all muscle and no fat. He can do anything a gymnast can do. He may be playing for the MN Vikings this fall. :)

The cruiserweights are the best wrestlers around. They do all those high-flying moves that none of us here would have the balls to do.

[BigMcLargehuge]

7. Soccer

beats all of them. Soccer players are in incredible shape (save for their knees).

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

8. Other: swimming. (nt)

[VelmaD]

10. Figure skating

Bear with me here cause I'm not joking and I have reasons. Those jumps go as high as NBA players dunking and as far as long jumpers. And they land on one foot on ice on a quarter inch blade.

On top of that they have to do it all to music and make it look like it's effortless.

Try it sometime just standing on the floor. Reach back with one of your legs, plant your foot hard, and then try to throw yourself in the air and spin...just once.

[kodi]

53. you are right, along with basketball, figure skating is the hardest

speed, strength, agility, endurance are hallmarks of the two sports.

and yes, i used to play ice hockey and we would be at the rink at 4-5 am for games and there on the ice as we waited were the best athletes i ever saw, teen age girls practicing figure skating.

good call velma d.

[Champ]

12. Some things to consider

Endurance, Strength, Speed, power, agility, flexibility, nerve, durability, hand eye cordination, and Analytic aptitude are all things to consider when making your decision. The reason why I choose Boxer because he/she must have great endurance to stay in the ring, strength is a given, speed is not important but you need some of it, power is another given, agility is not important but you still need it, flexibility is virtually unimportant. Nerve is very important, the ability to overcome fear and there is lots of fear facing you when you step in that ring, out of all the sports boxing requires the most nerve. Durability is extremely important to be a good boxer, they certainly are some of the most durable athletes out there. Hand-eye cordination, you definately have to be above average in that department. Analyptic aptitude is not much of a factor here but all of these combined and it certainly indicates Boxers are the best all around athletes. As for figure skating I say it's about in the 10-20 range as far as producing the best athletes. The reason is you don't need much strength, power, durability, hand eye cordination, analyptic aptitude, and such to be a great figure skater. Though you do have to be agile and very flexible. My .02

[VelmaD]

14. If you honestly think...

you don't need strength and power to be a figure skater then you've never tried to skate. Do the exercise I suggested at the end of my post. Just try a single revolution jump on the floor. Then contemplate how much more power and strength it takes to get up in the air high enough to revolve 3 or even 4 times. The power in their legs is incredible but it also requires a significant amount of upper body strength to pull in the rotations and turn fast enough to complete 3 or 4 revolutions in the air. And the forces they endure on landings are pretty impressive as well. Not to mention the additional strength required of both partners in the lifts in pairs skating.

Tell pairs skaters that they don't need hand-eye coordination. Or ice dancers.

As for durability. Well, skaters fall and have to pop right back up. Hell, I can remember seeing a skater fall at US nationals a few years back and clunk her head on the ice...she hopped right back up and finished her program. Saw Todd Eldredge dislocate a shoulder in warmups and pop it right back in place and go on skating. Tenley Albright and Oksana Baiul both won Olympic gold medals with huge gashes in their legs from training accidents. Given the amount of falls they take in practice and the freak accidents that can always happen when you're on ice...skaters take a beating.

The fun part of this discussion is I could probably come up with similar lists of reasons why the athletes are impressive for just about every sport. :)

[Champ]

15. Strength and power are important

But compared to the other sports out there you don't need as much to be able to compete in other sports. But Im not knocking the sport, figure skaters are very good athletes. I should say you don't much compared to the other sports, Ice Hockey, Football, Martial Arts, etc are so very physically demanding on the body you need to be very durable. But I do like the counter points you add, you make some very good points.

[VelmaD]

16. I find myself defending skating a lot...

I'm a huge sports nut...I love them all from "girly" sports like figure skating and gymnastics to "manly" sports like football and hockey. What I really love though are the obscure sports you only ever get to see at the olympics...like luge and sychronised swimming (now there's a much maligned sport that takes an incredible amount of endurance and strength). :)

[Champ]

17. I know-many consider figure skating not a sport

Though I am fan of the not so popular sports and admire the degree of difficulty it takes to compete such as Rugy, Steer Wrestling, cycling, bobsledding, calf roping, Bull/Bronco bareback riding, etc.

[Teddy_Salad]

18. Australian Rules Football

Superb athletes who can run fast, have great strength and are incredibly agile.

[Champ]

19. Rugby?

I agree, they do showcase some of the best and toughest athletes out there.

[ForrestGump]

46. Nope, rugby is a harsh and violent game but more genteel than Aussie

Rules. Rugby Union is the big one, internationally, and Rugby League is pretty popular in Oceania. Aussie Rules is, I believe, based on Gaelic Football -- I think Gaelic's even more lethal. To me, the 'rules' of Aussie rules seem totally impenetrable (and I have no idea how a game with such complex rules could apply to a game that seems pretty much mayhem on the surface) but i do like it when the little dude in the lab coat pops up to point his fingers.

[ForrestGump]

44. And they're not weighed down by things like teeth...

:D

http://www.theage.com.au/ffxImage/urlpicture_id_1053801274476_2003/05/25/a13,1.jpg

[Blue-Jay]

20. Curling.

You gotta be in shape for all that sweep sweep sweeping.

[BigMcLargehuge]

25. Iron Man competitors

those guys and gals are truly the greatest athletes ever

[Spider Jerusalem]

27. Boxing.

Boxers, by the nature of the sport, have to possess a greater combination of strength, agility, speed, endurance, hand-eye coordination, raw nerve, and tactical and strategic skill than athletes in pretty much any other sport. I can't really think of another sport in which the top athletes must develop such a broad range of proficiencies.

[Champ]

28. My exact same thoughts

Which is the reason I voted for Boxing.

[Spider Jerusalem]

29. Heh...I posted before I read the thread...

just read your post...interesting coincidence (I usually seem to find myself the odd man out in discussions like this)

[ForrestGump]

47. Sparring within certain martial arts outdoes it if you consider that

the skill set includes all of the above plus use of legs and other bodily weapons in ways that (depending upon the rules) are far less constrained.

[AngryAmish]

30. Barrel Jumping

[Champ]

35. Who is the best Barrel Jumper of all time?

:D

[AngryAmish]

37. I. Dunno?

[wyldwolf]

31. Everyone knows the answer is...

Golf!

...or sex?

[annonymous]

32. Triathlon

You have to be in excellent shape to compete in one of those.

[JCMach1]

33. Soccer... incredible conditioning and skill to be good

[Servo300]

34. Gymnastics

Watch the "rings" competition for an incredible display of strength & coordination.

[AngryAmish]

51. Try doing that while someone is punching you in the mush

Boxing is the hardest sport I ever tried.

[ForrestGump]

36. I'd have to go with decathlon, though many might qualify

Can't believe so many have gone for baseball. Of the big three US sports, football (risk of injury, alone, and it;s impressive to see these massive men move so quickly) and basketball (speed, stamina, grace, coordination, etc) players work really hard whereas baseball players spend most of the time standing around scratching their unmentionables and working (in a most disgustingly visual way) on tongue and mouth cancer. They barely qualify as athletes, in my opinion, and are overpaid in a manner disproportionate to the overpaying of football and basketball stars.

[bigwillq]

40. I went with track as well (nt)

[Hemprus]

42. I guess..

that why the number 1 basketball player Michael Jordan couldn't get out of the minor leagues. Even Deion Sanders lifetime in baseball was only a .266 batting average and only hit 38 HRs & 164 RBIs, which is pretty average for a person who went on to be an 8 time pro bowler in football. To say that football players and basketball players are better athletes is absurd. Each strives to be the best in their chosen field. Baseball players have to train physically and mentally as much as any other athlete. They may spend a lot of time standing around, but that is another mental aspect of the game. They have to be mentally ready at all times on the field at any given moment. Bo Jackson is another Baseball player who hit .250 lifetime, but excelled in football. I can't think of any athlete from another sport who excelled in baseball. This isn't to say that baseball players will necessarily excel in other sports, but the point is that to say they are somehow "less than" is wrong. I think all athletes train are in any sport they want to excel in.

[ForrestGump]

43. I agree that baseballers train and have some excellent motor skills

specific to their sport, but I guess I equate athleticism (at least in reponse to a queston related to ranking sports by athletic prowess) with a higher intensity and range of physical activity than is present in baseball. In that sense, I don't see how footballers, basketballers, etc, could be ranked below baseball players. To me, it's like the little joke in this thread about golf and bowling -- both require certain skills that must be practiced and that require physical coordination, but I'm not sure that the athleticism of either could meaningully compare favorably to that of a soccer player, Iron Man endurance athlete, or whoever.

I'm a martial artist, and know full well what kinds of skills and attributes are necessary for various martial arts. Many martial arts require more intricate repertoires of mental and physical skills than do either basketball or football, etc, and often involve a far higher degree of bodily punishment than most sports other than western boxing, but I'd still rate the sheer athleticism of decathletes higher.

The fact is that a great basketball player may make a lousy martial artist, or be totally unsuited to baseball, but that doesn't in any way diminish his athletic prowess within his chosen sport. I chose decathletes primarily because their chosen activity -- I could be biased and say that same is trrue of some martial arts, though I do not consider them sports or for athletic contest -- encompasses such a variety of skills. Their repertoire of muscle memoryies has to be darned good and they need to aspire to excel at not one sport but ten sports. I'm rather impressed by that. And, to reiterate what I said above, I'd accept that these phenomenal athletes may very well suck at baseball. For one thing, I'm not sure they could stand still that long...

[AngryAmish]

52. John Kruk always said...

"I'm not an athlete. I am a baseball player."

[pagerbear]

38. Ballet

[bigwillq]

39. Track and field or

any other sport that has no clock, time or refs who can decide the meet.

Sports like track, which an athlete wins or loses a race on their own merit is a true sport to me.

I do however enjoy watching basketball and football, hell any sport for that matter, even fishing!!!

[Seeking Serenity]

41. Golf

Definitely golf.

John Daly rules!

[SlothRKBA]

48. Wrestling.. by far the hardest sport I've ever competed in

[SlothRKBA]

49. and I'm not talking wwf stuff... the real sport like in the Olypics.

[Champ]

50. Thanks everyone for keeping my thread up

I feel so special. :silly: