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Tiger Woods-the most dominant athlete ever?
musicismylife78
Posts: 6,117
This pains me to even bring it up, as I am a die hard or was a die hard MJ fan. When I say die hard, I mean it. I once jumped into my grandparents swimming pool with all my clothes on because I was so happy the Bulls won the championship.
And I am a fan of Lance Armstrong, and he is certainly no slouch himself. All those Tours he won, and coming back from cancer. It wasnt a question of if he would when, when he was competing. He was going to win.
But Tiger just seems so outrageous. I remember hearing about him back when he won his first masters. And I remember hearing how even as a kid he taped the "Nicklaus 18 majors" statement on his wall. Even then in 1996 or whatever you knew Tiger was good, but for him to get to 18 major wins was absurd. Now, hes only 5 from tying Jack.
Is Tiger the most dominant and most talented athlete in history?
And I am a fan of Lance Armstrong, and he is certainly no slouch himself. All those Tours he won, and coming back from cancer. It wasnt a question of if he would when, when he was competing. He was going to win.
But Tiger just seems so outrageous. I remember hearing about him back when he won his first masters. And I remember hearing how even as a kid he taped the "Nicklaus 18 majors" statement on his wall. Even then in 1996 or whatever you knew Tiger was good, but for him to get to 18 major wins was absurd. Now, hes only 5 from tying Jack.
Is Tiger the most dominant and most talented athlete in history?
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As for Lance...yeah he won a few Tour de Frances, but I don' tthink that compares to what Tiger has done, and will continue to do.
Unfortunately Tiger hasn't played his best golf this weekend. Yet he will most likely still finish in the top five.
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Hasn't played his best and is still in 5th...He is not out of this by any means. NO ONE plays better on Sundays than Tiger...Let ALONE Tiger at the Masters. Would not surprise me a bit if he won this.
I dont think we have seen him play his BEST golf yet. He could have 90-100 wins and 25 majors by the time he is 40!! If you follow golf at all, you know what those numbers mean...SICK!!!
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My friend was going to see Eddie last night. Since he was in Vegas, I gave him 5 Grand to gamble with. I told him I wanted it all to go on Black. Bastard! PhillyCrownOfThorns-11-2-12
"Life Is What Happens To You When Your Busy Making Other Plans" John Lennon
and that Phil 'the power' Taylor, what an athlete that fella is...:)
But I do agree with others, I don't consider golfers athletes.
Maybe A Rod is in that class
"Life Is What Happens To You When Your Busy Making Other Plans" John Lennon
uh...NO...:)
"Free Shipping" SPEEDY MCCREADY
My friend was going to see Eddie last night. Since he was in Vegas, I gave him 5 Grand to gamble with. I told him I wanted it all to go on Black. Bastard! PhillyCrownOfThorns-11-2-12
"Life Is What Happens To You When Your Busy Making Other Plans" John Lennon
"Life Is What Happens To You When Your Busy Making Other Plans" John Lennon
Most DOMINATING of ALL TIME?? I think not...sorry...:)
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My friend was going to see Eddie last night. Since he was in Vegas, I gave him 5 Grand to gamble with. I told him I wanted it all to go on Black. Bastard! PhillyCrownOfThorns-11-2-12
if he passes Bonds then he will have dominated baseball, I can't compare him or any other athlete in other sports, really just not possible.
"Life Is What Happens To You When Your Busy Making Other Plans" John Lennon
....And John Daly has won 2 Majors in his career so far. If anyone here has played golf has to know it takes athletic ability to hit that ball through narrow fairways and then within inches of the cup.
This nonsense about if you're not breathing heavy you're not playing an athletic sport then therefore not an athlete. Some people have sex and finish not breathing heavy, done in 25 seconds.
In that case I gather I'm a world class athlete.
Peace
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*The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite INSANE*....Nikola Tesla(a man who shaped our world of electricity with his futuristic inventions)
So I guess Porno stars are athletes then.
Peace
*MUSIC IS the expression of EMOTION.....and that POLITICS IS merely the DECOY of PERCEPTION*
.....song_Music & Politics....Michael Franti
*The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite INSANE*....Nikola Tesla(a man who shaped our world of electricity with his futuristic inventions)
Sure the top guys are good at it, it's all they do
here's my vote for most dominant athlete, world class ability, attitude, and just look at the honours
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryan_Giggs
http://youtube.com/watch?v=hrOyedpeZnk
with him are some that people have mentioned in lance armstrong, and roger federer
what about donald bradman? he did alright...
think about the achievements rod laver did, they were out of this world when put in todays context.
also annika sorenstam has done quite a bit for womens golf too, granted not at this very second but prior to her last injury, holy smokes.
but yeh, there are a lot of incredible sports people out there, i dont think tiger is one to be stand alone..
Golfers are the most mentally fragile people I've ever seen. The reason why Tiger has a leg up on most of them his because of his brain. While others piss their pants on Sunday's he lives for it. He embraces it.
If you want to a grown man piss himself watch today to see who TIger is playing with. There'll be a wet spot in his crotch and a stream coming down his leg.
Cael Sanderson was 159-0 with four NCAA national championships at Iowa State. He wasn't as good internationally but he dominated DI wrestling.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cael_Sanderson
Edwin Moses was the best 400-meter hurdler in the world for more than a decade. He won two Olympic golds -- 1976 and 1984 -- and would have won a third if not for the 1980 boycott. Moses won 107 consecutive finals and 122 in a row overall.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Moses
Wrestler Dan Gable went 118-1 at Iowa with three NCAA championships. His only loss came in the national championship match of his senior season. Counting high school, Gable won 182 matches in a row. Gable won gold at the 1972 Olympics without surrendering a single point.
http://www.dangable.com/aboutdg.html
Discus thrower Al Oerter set the standard in his event for more than 20 years. Oerter was a four-time Olympic gold medalist (1956, 1960, 1964, 1968) who set that meet's record three times. Oerter, at age 43, threw what would still be a world record in the discus during a commercial shoot.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Oerter
Martina Navratilova won an amazing 18 Grand Slam singles titles and 31 Grand Slam doubles titles. Navratilova's 167 singles titles and 177 doubles titles are both open era records. She also owns a 74-match winning streak, the longest in women's tennis history.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martina_Navratilova
Babe Didrikson legitimized women's athletics in the 1930s. She was an All-American basketball player. She set five world records at the 1932 AAU Championships on her way to six gold medals. Didrikson won gold in the javelin and 80-meter hurdles at the 1932 Olympics. She tied for first in the high jump but judges awarded the medal to a teammate because they disapproved of Didrikson's head-first jumping style. Didrikson began playing golf in 1935 and was the first woman to ever play in a PGA event in 1938. She dominated women's golf in the 1940s. The Associated Press named her the Woman Athlete of the 20th century. SI also honored her as such.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babe_Didrikson
Wilt Chamberlain destroyed his competition at every level of basketball. Wilt scored 100 points in an NBA game. He won seven NBA scoring titles, 11 rebounding titles, nine field goal percentage titles and one assists title. Wilt was just as dominant in college, setting single game scoring (52) and rebounding (31) marks in his first varsity start.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilt_Chamberlain
Babe Ruth was the original duel threat. Ruth batted .342 with 714 home runs and 2,211 RBI in his 21 Major League seasons. Ruth hit 60 home runs in 1927, a record which stood for 44 years. His 714 home runs were a career record until the woefully underrated Henry Aaron broke the mark 39 years later. You want dominant? Ruth's 60 homers in 1927 were 14% of total homers in the AL. A modern day player would need to hit more than 300 home runs to equal that feat. As a starting pitcher, Ruth finished with a 94-46 record (67%) with a 2.28 ERA. His 1.75 ERA in 1916 led the league. He owns the MLB record for longest World Series complete game (14 innings) and he pitched 13 consecutive scoreless innings in that game, a 2-1 win. Ruth's World Series record of 29 2/3 scoreless innings stood for 43 years.
http://www.baberuth.com/index.php
Of course, at the same time Federer could hang even with them in terms of grand slam numbers.
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If you're talking pure competition as your definition of sport, then bowling and texas hold'em are sports too... fine. Tiger is an athlete? Yes, in the context of golfer's as athletes... sure, why not.
In terms of pure athletic ability, golf is hardly in that vein. Golf is a repetitive skill that is to be honed and mastered that does require hand-eye coordination, strength, and mental fortitude. I play golf recreationally and really believe those things... I also played college football for a I-AA school as well as basketball and tennis and can tell you straight up that the intangibles that are god-given such as physical movements while in the air (basketball), the ability to change direction on a dime, raw speed PLUS hand-eye coordination and strength are the definitions of athletic ability.
You hear the sports broadcasters of the major sports use phrases like, "athletic move" or "he/she used their athletic ability..." etc... those are the skills that are hardly taught but are more instinctual in nature...
Take Randy Moss or Michael Jordan or whoever is an elite athlete in their sport... they (like their competitor) can run a pattern, dribble fast... what separates them is their ability to do things physically way better or in a fashion that their counterpart can't do or is not as good at in doing... such as jumping in the air and changing directions, or turning a split second faster than their opponent... the physicality of the sport and the athletic ability in many ways can take over the mental part of the game which, imo, draws the line between golfers, bowlers, whatever sport that requires MORE repetition, technique, and mental toughness.
Don't mean to stir the pot but it's not fair to Tiger to compare him to other athletes in other sports where those athletes truly use much more of their god-given athletic ability. Tiger is the most dominant golfer in history or will be after he breaks Jack's record. He's NOT nor will he ever will be the most dominate "athlete" in history... his sport is not defined by the same variables that require Michael Jordan to be able to change directions in the air or Michael Vick to escape a sack then elude 8 defenders to the end zone... the two are not even close. Tiger could be the most mentally tough athlete in the world... but surely not the best athlete in the world....
If you look at Tiger as an individual, it's obvious he has a very prototypical athletic build and if we agree he may have those physical intangibles then it's probably a lot of the reason he's as dominate as he is in a sport that really doesn't require the same athletic intangibles.
Just my opinion peeps... rant not meant to offend any pro golfers in the thread. I enjoy playing golf very much.
Don Bradman! *gets down on knees and bows towards Bowral* See, I had a post (that I lost) where I mentioned cricket (basically cause I didn't know who A Rod was until "baseball" was mentioned). People say cricket is baseball on valium, I think it's the other way around
Rod Laver is a legend too. Lou Hoad, Ken Rosewell, Andre Agassi.
PJ Saluki mentioned Martina Navratilova - talk about an incredible record!
Maybe we need to break this down into sport categories
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_gretzky
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pele
"Life Is What Happens To You When Your Busy Making Other Plans" John Lennon