You think so? I would have guessed Beckham, as more people worldwide play soccer than any other sport and for non-soccer aficienado's (like myself), when I think soccer the first name I know is either Beckham or Zidane. You think of all the places worldwide where kids can play soccer and not golf.
ESPN: Is Tiger the World's Best Athlete?
- Thread starter leftyben
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first of al heres the definition of athlete:
A person possessing the natural or acquired traits, such as strength, agility, and endurance, that are necessary for physical exercise or sports, especially those performed in competitive contexts
IMO: to be the greatest athlete one must be great in all sporting events
We all know someone who is a great golfer ,bowler archer etc and cant play other sports well. Is a ballet dancer an athlete? Sure, can they play baseball?
In high school or college you have 4 letter men they are the true athletes
I beleive tiger is or could be good in other sports but I dont think he is a Jim
Thorpe...JMO
A person possessing the natural or acquired traits, such as strength, agility, and endurance, that are necessary for physical exercise or sports, especially those performed in competitive contexts
IMO: to be the greatest athlete one must be great in all sporting events
We all know someone who is a great golfer ,bowler archer etc and cant play other sports well. Is a ballet dancer an athlete? Sure, can they play baseball?
In high school or college you have 4 letter men they are the true athletes
I beleive tiger is or could be good in other sports but I dont think he is a Jim
Thorpe...JMO
birdie_man
New
I've never heard of the guy playing other sports.
Can Tiger slam dunk? How tall is he? Not an expert but he should prolly be close with his height and the kind of shape he's in.
I'm 5'10 and really not in good shape at all (not playing much sports lately and no leg strength training....very bad shape straight up- even though I don't look it and am a thin guy) and last time I checked I can touch the rim.
There would have to be certain things (benchmarks) you would have to be able to do to be called "Best Athlete."
Tests:
-speed
-agility
-strength (different areas)
-stamina
-throwing
-jumping
-ability to learn and play different sports
-etc.
+ maybe the whole "competitor" thing taken into account too....and also mastery of one sport taken into account. (but if you can't do anything else I would say you pretty much throw in the towel right there)
Can Tiger slam dunk? How tall is he? Not an expert but he should prolly be close with his height and the kind of shape he's in.
I'm 5'10 and really not in good shape at all (not playing much sports lately and no leg strength training....very bad shape straight up- even though I don't look it and am a thin guy) and last time I checked I can touch the rim.
There would have to be certain things (benchmarks) you would have to be able to do to be called "Best Athlete."
Tests:
-speed
-agility
-strength (different areas)
-stamina
-throwing
-jumping
-ability to learn and play different sports
-etc.
+ maybe the whole "competitor" thing taken into account too....and also mastery of one sport taken into account. (but if you can't do anything else I would say you pretty much throw in the towel right there)
Chris Sturgess
New member
Tiger can't dunk. I've stood near him in person, he's six feet one a good day. I'm 6'3" 215. I tower over the guy and could stuff him in my hip pocket. I also was around a few guys in college who are now nfl linebackers. They are in a really, really different category when it comes to power and strength. When Michael Jordan is asked about Tiger's basketball game he can never contain his laughter and says something like "he shoudl stick to golf." He's trying to be nice and doesn't want to crush the public's perception of Tiger being superman by telling them what a joke Tiger's basketball abilities are.
As far as golfers are concerned, I think Sam Sneed was probably the best athelete - however you want to define it. About three years ago, I was able to play Sam's home course (You should go do it if you have the opportunity, great course - there is actually three of them). One of our caddies was an older gentleman who used to caddy for Sam and Jackie (Sam's son). Now Sam's flexibility is legendary, but apparently he also had tremendous strength. Moreover, our caddy said that it was well known that Sam could have played professional baseball, but less well known that he could have probably played professional football as well.
An additional item of interest regarding Sam - John Anselmo (one of Tiger's coaches when he was a teen I believe) used Sam as the swing model for Tiger.
While I don't disagree with Brian's assertion that JD has the best pivot of all time, Sam cannot be far behind. Also, the late Mike Austin used Sam's swing as a model swing.
dennis
An additional item of interest regarding Sam - John Anselmo (one of Tiger's coaches when he was a teen I believe) used Sam as the swing model for Tiger.
While I don't disagree with Brian's assertion that JD has the best pivot of all time, Sam cannot be far behind. Also, the late Mike Austin used Sam's swing as a model swing.
dennis
Tom Bartlett
Administrator
Decathlon
Chris Sturgess
New member
The decathalon is really overrated actually. It's missing side to side and any kind of change of direction agility, which is extremely important in all sports. You also don't have to react to anything in the decathalon, no juking, no defending other peoples jukes, no reacting to the movement of a ball, etc. These things determine a lot about athleticism.
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