Here's how I look at it
Lance Armstrong, is amazing... he's been a dominant force in bicycling. But Bicycling is really more of a team sport. If Lance didn't have his team members; he wouldn't be winning as much as he does.

Phelps is incredible I don't think there is a person on Earth that can put out more energy in a short burst. BUT - he also just hasn't done much.

F1 drivers are athletes, make no mistake; people who don't think so have never done a heat race at LeMans Karting. Now multiply that by 1000. I could certainly call Schumacher the sportsman of the decade , but athlete could be a stretch.

IMHO Tiger Woods is not an athlete, as Golf is not a sport. He is incredibility skilled, bot the things he does do not require great physical prowess or stamina of other people discussed here.

Manny Pacquiao gets my vote because
1) He did it alone. A boxing match is one man, you can't blame anyone for your defeats, or get help.

2) Nothing is as taxing a fighting both mentally and physically. Anyone who thinks otherwise should strap on a set of boxing gloves for 3 rounds... it's exhausting.

3) The man is going out and finding competitors. He's completely dominant in his own weight class, so he keeps on moving up and fighting bigger guys and handicapping himself

4) The man has been a consistent champion for the entire decade (won first title in 1997). The only reason you haven't heard his name is because he fights in lower weight classes.

 

This post deprives you of being allowed to have an opinion on sports. Your can replace Tiger Woods and Phelps and to a certain degree Lance into each on of your numbers. Each did it by themselves (again, Lance maybe not as much), saying Phelps hasn't done much is ridiculous, and the "finds competitors comment is just a tribute to boxing. Phelps didn't have to seek out competitors, it's the Olympics. Woods doesn't either, the chance at a multi-million dollar purse does that for him. And saying Woods isn't an athlete but an F1 driver is is ridiculous. If sitting in a hot vehicle for hours on end makes someone an athlete every soldier serving in Iraq and Afghanistan during the summer months should be in the running. The Athlete of the decade is decide by who dominates the most at their sport. Can you drive a golf ball 400 yards? Nope, even if he had the technique I doubt you'd be strong enough to swing a golf club that hard. Tiger is no slouch physically. He training physically more than most other athletes. I'm not saying Pacquaio shouldn't be in the running but to demise the others as "not athletes" because they don't get punched in the face in their sport is retarded.

 

I love watching skaters do their thing and use to be heavily into it myself... I started skating when I was about 10 and did it through my teens, stopped skating when I was about 19 due to injuries.

One thing I cannot understand is why these guys don't wear helmets when attempting tricks like these (the staircase video). Not only are they endangering themselves but they are setting a HORRIBLE example for the youth of today who think helmets are lame and non-stylish due to the fact that their skate idols don't wear them.

If you watch that video, every single person falls, and they aren't exactly going slow... If they were to fall wrong and hit their heads, they could easily end up as immobile vegetables for the rest of their lives, all because they didn't want to wear a helmet.


Man, that bothers the crap out of me, sorry for ranting about it!

 

Um, what? Go look up Phelps on google and read about his career during the last decade... To say that he's not accomplished a whole hell of a lot before these olympics is ridiculous! He's dominated swimming for the last 10 years and has won just about every title that could possibly have been won!

Phelps is so much more athletic then Tiger Woods, it's just comical to think about it. Tiger Woods is good at controlling his strength in order to hit the ball with the right amount of force to bring it closest to the hole, which is all about physics, not athleticism (well, there def is althleticism involved in golf, you def have to have strength to be able to hit a ball as hard as those pros do, but it's not ANYWHERE NEAR the level of athleticism involved in swimming. It's like comparing golf land go karts to F1! ).

Golf is fun and it def requires skill, but to be able to swim as well as Phelps does, man, it takes more then just skill, it takes true athleticism in every single category involved. I used to swim on a team and did it competitively and can tell you that swimming is the hardest physical activity that you can engage in, and to get to the level of skill as M. Phelps is just beyond regular athleticism.

Tiger Woods can't come close to Michael Phelps in terms of his fitness (overall, every category), but Tiger Def has skills that are unmatched by any other Golfer, but the same can be said about Phelps in swimming, so if I had to choose between the two I'd choose Phelps HANDS DOWN.

Tiger Woods would def win the title of "Most skilled gamer" if that title existed though... lol

 

Dude, F1 drivers are INCREDIBLY fit... Driving a car and driving an F1 car cannot be compared in any way. I don't know if you've ever driven a car on a race track, and if you have you'd know how much it takes out of you... Now amplify that by about 43x and you have F1. They experience so many G's in those cars... Now imagine fighting the force of gravity on that level for as long as they do during a race...

 

No, I'm not at all saying they're not. I know its hard. What I am saying though is that if you're going to include them you have to include golf as well. They're persevering over unbelievable strains in an effort to "out-endure" their competition are they not? Exactly. This combined with an ability to "out-drive" their peers is what determines the victor. That being said, it doesn't require an individual to be a physical phenomenon. You and I both know that their are plenty of drivers who in their youth, or even now, are not in near the "athletic" shape of other athletes. Could Usain Bolt be a successful F1 driver? Assuming he had some innate skill (which is required to be an F1 driver, training alone won't do it) and some serious track time is absolutely within the realm of possibility. I don't think anyone can deny (especially those who have played golf) the Tiger Woods has skills that cannot be duplicated regardless of how strong you were or how much you've practiced golf. I mean surely their are many other outstanding golfers who have even dedicated their lives to the sport and he's beaten them by more than 8 strokes in the nations most competitive matches.

What I'm getting at is that define what is "athletic" is beyond subjective. For instance, their are NFL linemen that absolutely dominate their positions. God forbid a normal man face them in an alley let alone on the grid iron they'd stand no chance. But these same "athletes" are considered obese by our own standards. Furthermore, can a jockey be considered an athlete? All he does is ride the horse that will ultimately win the race (I'm being facetious)? If we can't then we really can't consider anyone an athlete other than those who have can't gain any advantage in their sport from any other individual or for that matter their equipment. Phelps couldn't be considered because he wears a swimming suit that aids him in winning races. Woods cannot because of his golf clubs which can only be assumed to aid him in his victories, Lance can't because of his teammates and his bike, etc...

 

I would have to say Chris McCormick would have to be up there also. And no one has any idea of who he is probably.

He is an ironman that has dominated the sport for over a decade. And doing an ironman is pretty much the hardest sport an individual can do.

 

Tiger without a doubt. He dominated golf in ways no one else has been able to. And those who say he is not an athlete are ignorant. He is a physically imposing presence and golf is one of the most taxing sports mentally when played at a high level.

He has gotten into the heads of everyone else who plays the sport, to the extent many have see sport psychologists.

Also, he has made the sport accessible to many more people and people who would never play golf now do.

They have even canceled tournaments because he withdrew from them. If Kobe is sick or Lance withdraws they don't cancel the basketball game or the Tour.

 

Agreed, I doubt a single nominee in the entire running could come even close to finishing an Ironman. In my opinion that is the true test. That requires mental conditioning as well, the thing that sets mortals apart.

 

lets not compare sports to sports, its like oranges to apples.
with that said, i think tiger deserves it. there has been no one else close to what tiger has done in golf and is the most dominant player today by a large margin.

 

He's an athlete, no one is arguing that, the argument is that he's not the best athlete of the decade. He def is the best golfer that has ever played the game, no one is arguing that, but Golf is no where near as popular as most other sports that are played around the world, which means there is much more competition in games like basketball for example, which is played in every country on the planet making the competition of the game incredibly high, and basketball takes just as much skill as golf, and you have to be in REALLY good shape as well...

They can't cancel basketball games because Kobe is sick/cancels because basketball requires teams to play, not just individual players.

It's kinda sad that they cancel tourneys because Tiger cancels... Says a lot about how popular golf is without Tiger! Tiger is youthful, full of entertainment not just because of his talent, but because of his temper and animated nature... He's fun to watch, a lot more fun then other golfers that play against him.

Think about if Golf was as popular as Basketball and had as many people playing it, as well as watching it... There would be A LOT more Tiger-like players out there, and I'm sure there would be a lot of players that would be better then Tiger too.

My whole point with that is that Golf is a relatively small sport in comparison to the other major sports in the world, like Basketball, Soccer, etc... That makes his competition a lot less which has factored into his domination of the sport... I think Tiger is def the best Golf player ever, and he's done well (I think well is an understatement) over the last 10 years, but the argument that he's the best athlete because he's been the most dominate and changed the sport the most hold less validity then if you were to say that a player has changed Basketball, or Soccer... Does that make sense? I'm typing on my I-touch and it's slow and painful, so sorry if that was poorly (more poorly then usual) written, lol.

 

hahah, that was pretty much exactly what I was trying to say in my above post, and I could have saved a lot of time saying what you said instead,

 

I'm honestly not that much of a boxing fan... But I have to recognize the sheer athletic prowess it takes. It isn't just about being able to take a punch. 9 3-min rounds is no joke.

Regarding seeking out opponents:
Imagine if Phelps decided to go swim breast stroke against a bunch of guys in freestyle; that is the kind of self handicapping that is going on when Manny fights guys who naturally outweigh him by 15 lbs


Oh - and here's the hardest hitter in the history of Golf

John (mr cardio) Daly

 

Some people are saying golf requires very athleticism. And golf is pretty competitive you just don't have everyone knowing how to play for obvious reasons. Just because we all know how to play basketball it doesn't mean we contribute to the bets being better since what actually matter sis the amount of competition at the top which i would argue is equal between golf, basketball, etc since in each sport the competition is very high, i played high school golf and college golf along with basketball with and against college caliber players.

Also a lack of competition often clutters things up since there is no one pushing you to get better since if you just have to beat the other people and if there is not a lot of high quality talent its "easier" to be the best.

It actually the sponsors that have led to tournaments being canceled since the ratings and crowds are so small with him out. Also, they make a lot of money from people walking around watching since its just like baseball everyone gets HAMMERED.

And I'm pretty sure more people watch the Major golf tournaments than they do the NBA finals and such, and yes i know you can't compare since one is a 4 day event and one can be 7 but last year the masters had a lot if not double the amount of viewers than the final game of the NBA finals.

Also, no one has changed NBA, soccer or team sports in the past decade if you really look at it. Changes in those sports are gradual. Like today the NBA is a quickness and speed instead of fundamentals like it was 20-30 years ago.

Overall though we just have different opinions on how competitive the sports are i know relatively how competitive basketball is and i know how competitive golf but i donno about soccer and such.

But that is pretty good for an i pod touch when i use my i phone i forget spaces and cant figure how to scroll up to edit. its awful for everyone else.

 

I can't comment on this entire post due to time, but I'll reply to these two statements.


First one, regarding the people watching Golf over Basketball... There's no way that more people watch Golf finals over Basketball finals, and that's because the NBA finals are seen EVERYWHERE in the world... My cousins in Croatia, Bosnia, AND Germany all watch the NBA finals like it's some religion. They have huge parties and get everyone together to watch big NBA games... Whereas Golf is just unheard of over there and in most other countries (I know Golf is played in other countries but it's a very small sport outside the USA) Basketball is huge everywhere and everyone has played at least a little basketball in their lives, unlike golf where the percentage of people who have played is TINY in comparison to Basketball and Soccer, which is one of the reasons that golf is very unpopular when compared to BBall... With golf you need a course, expensive equipment, etc... It's expensive and cost intensive when you factor in everything... When you look at basketball, all you need is a ball and some kind of basket... My cousins and I have even used a milk crate that was mounted to a poll with the bottom of it cut out as a basket when we were desperate, and that goes to show you how easy and affordable basketball is and the reason it's so popular and why golf isn't.


The second part, the reason a single player hasn't changed the league is because there are teams, not individual players like golf. You can't have one player change an entire game when you have teammates that you rely on and have to use during a game... If you've ever played BBall, you'll know that the first rule they teach you is to use team work! There isn't a single great basketball player who plays the game by himself... A good player is defined by his ability to use the team as a whole and to use every aspect of it. If you want to be some hero and play without your team in basketball, soccer, etc, it's as simple as you're going to lose, no questions. You can't be selfish and not use teamwork in basketball, and this is the reason that a single player hasn't changed the face of the game like someone in Golf can.

Another reason that it's impossible for someone in a team game like BBall can't change the game like Tiger did is because of how massive the amount of BBall players there are in the world... You'd have to be the most amazing player in the history of any sport and be like 11 feet tall in order to change the game single handedly... In other words, is basically impossible to do what Tiger did to golf in games like Basketball.

You can't base the athlete of the decade based on how much they changed the game and use Tiger Vs Kobe because it's not the same level of competition because like I said, one game has a single player VS other single players, and the other sport has teams against other teams... Like I said earlier, in BBall you have to use your team in order to win, you simply cannot play the game with a single player or you'll lose 100% guaranteed and if you've ever played you'd know this... This is why it's impossible for one single player in BBall to change the face of the game like Tiger did in golf. I hope that made sense because I typed that REALLY fast...