What makes an "athlete"

[Felonious Monk]

this guy says that Armstrong isn't one.
The Link

Does the ability to sit on a skinny bicycle seat for hours on end and pump your legs like a madman make you a great athlete or merely a guy who does better without training wheels than most people?

That guy is a f'ing idiot. Inverting his argument, put Chipper Jones on a bicycle and see how well he stacks up against the lowest domestique on a professional team. There's a hell of a lot more to being a competitive cyclist than a good cardiovascular system. I am sure Ron Borges would be hard pressed to walk up Mt. Ventoux if you gave him a week to do it.

 

[TheShrimp]

This seems much more like a piece just to get people's dander up than actually say something meaningful.

He says,

"For my money, being the greatest athlete in the world involves strength, speed, agility, hand-eye coordination, mental toughness and the ability to make your body do things that defy description."

Lance Armstrong:
strength. check.
speed. check.
agility. check.
h-e coord. not really necessary.
mental toughness. check.
ability to ...check.

So, 5 out of 6. There are almost no professional athletes that aren't lacking in one of those areas. Last year's SI's sportsman of the year were RJ and Schilling. Try to tell me those guys have "speed" or that RJ has "agility". He compares Lance to the Armstrong sisters and Marion Jones. Let me get something straight, he's talking about the greatest athletes and bringing WOMEN into the discussion?

He really offers up no choice for who he considers the best athlete, probably because he knows anyone you chose could just as easily be picked apart.

Try to hold a baseball player, or tennis player, or hoops player, up to his standard. Or for that matter, make up your own definition, and include "endurance" in it. Your definition is just as valid as his, and you've just excluded almost every professional athelete in america.

I think probably with any definition people would agree on, only BOXERS would always satisfy whatever you put out there. (speed, agility, hand-eye, endurance, mental, strength, strategic thinking, you name it).

A moronic article.

 

[fletcher]

here is a ck list that i used for baseball and i know fb and basket coaches use it also. they might rate their's different but we all have and look for about the same in any athlete be it golf tennis a contact sport, soccer, biking, sking. ect. sports that you compete at a high level. not just to enjoy. college ,pro and top hs elite

1 god given skills
2 work ethic
3 mental tuffness
4 hand-eye cord
5 agility and balance
6 quickness
7 power
8 endurance
9 strength

 

[Felonious Monk]

Strength -- what it takes to push that bike up a mountain is more strength than 99% of us will ever have. Check.

Speed -- watch him sprint. Check.

Agility -- when the time comes to make moves in the pack, he can do it with the best of them. Check.

Hand-eye coordination -- not really called upon, but arguably needed when going 70 miles an hour down a mountain road -- I'll give him that one.

Mental toughness -- do you have any motherfuhking idea what it takes to overcome your desire to quit riding when everything in your body is screaming at you to rest? How about when you have to buckle down and train to get back into form after surviving a cancer that would have killed 98 out of 100 people? Check.

And the last one, that's the richest -- the ability to make your body do things that defy description -- Talk to a trainer, physician, or anyone who makes their living by being familiar with the human physical condition. What Lance does PRECISELY defies description. Check.

What a fuhking tool. He holds up grunting dykes with tennis rackets as athletes. What the fuhk? This guy isn't fit to slurp the ass-sweat from Lance's bike shorts. The greatest hallmark of a pathetic writer is taking a "controversial" position that is so moronic that the only possible reason he did so is to encourage people to read his otherwise mind-numbingly boring and irrelevant musings. If you ground this guy up into pulp and put him on a roll, I still wouldn't wipe my ass with him.

 

[JediCapper]

hell i think riding up those mountains just makes him an athlete...thats gotta be tough riding up a mountain on a bike....dont know what that guy was thinking...

 

[Neemer]

Guy is a complete idiot, and I would like to know if its possible to get his email address at the publication he works for. I think everyone should reply to this clown's piece in any way they see fit. He should be banned from ever writing anything sports related again....

 

[nostromo]

He can pedal a bike better than anyone. But could he do it if someone was playing defense?

:shrug: :shrug: :shrug:

 

[SixFive]

I definitely think Armstrong is a fine athlete. I've also had several discussions over the years about NASCAR drivers. I think they are pretty good athletes as well but in a different way. Professional wrestlers are also good athletes to do all they do and not get hurt. I can just imagine myself trying to throw an atomic elbow from the top turnbuckle. I'm pretty sure I would get hurt. I consider myself a good athlete as well. I think to say that nobody is trying to knock Armstrong off his bike while he is riding is an absurd argument, although funny when I first read it.

 

[AR182]

I tend to agree with Shrimp.The guy needed to write something & is trying to get people's dander up.

I haven't seen anyone mention that Armstrong is doing this with one ball.So he is at a handicap.Robin Williams calls this,"aerodynamics".

 

[djv]

Shows what a dum F??? he is. Knows little about athletes.