Road Bike Racing - LA Voted "World's Ultimate Athlete" by ESPN.Com Readers

Page 2 Story (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=degree/lipsyte/040506)

Absolutely awesome.Im speechless.

Whilst that is most cool, ESPN are dumber than a box of rocks. They didn't even bother to get some of the world Judo players or Thai boxers on the list who I absolutely assure you beat the crap (literally and figuratively) out of 90% of the athletes on that list. And I mean Mia Hamm ... WTF? Any Olympic female cross-country skier would smoke that soppy tart for athleticism.

Whilst that is most cool, ESPN are dumber than a box of rocks. They didn't even bother to get some of the world Judo players or Thai boxers on the list who I absolutely assure you beat the crap (literally and figuratively) out of 90% of the athletes on that list. And I mean Mia Hamm ... WTF? Any Olympic female cross-country skier would smoke that soppy tart for athleticism.

"sloppy tart" ... I love it.

MacMan - I'm mostly in agreement with you about the Judoka and thaiboxers. But don't leave out the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu guys, wrestlers, and perhaps most of all, MMA fighters.

There's a few ultramarathon runners that shouldn't be forgotten, either. Hell, look at Courtney Campbell - finished the Mohican Trail 100 in 15:11:35.

MacMan - I'm mostly in agreement with you about the Judoka and thaiboxers. But don't leave out the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu guys, wrestlers, and perhaps most of all, MMA fighters.

Absolutely. I know most of these things are supposed to be taken with a bit of skepticism, but I hate the fact that ESPN and other major outlets only focus on "prime-time TV" sports or the ones that blaze the headlines for a while. If Lance were French, would he still have won? There are better soccer players than Beckham out there (Ronaldo for a start) but he is a headline grabber so slap him on the list. Still, even those bozos can't deny that Lance smoked them all :D

Wonder What Mark Kerr in his prime would have said to the ESPN peeps about their list :eek:

Haha, yeah. Or even better, Randy Couture or Kevin Randleman.

Yeah I agree about the MMA and other fighters. Lets face it boxers, and full contact MA fighters are some of the best conditioned athletes in the world. For example look at Mickey Ward, boxed as a pro part time for he actually held a full time job. Mickey Ward could hold his own with any fighter in his weight class, and could probably (with that left hook) hold his own with most middleweights.
I agree Lance is a phenomenal athlete, however there was absolutely zero endurance athletes on that list such as Mike Pigg. Also and this may seem a bit out there, but if anyone has ever seen the Ranger Challenge then maybe they would appreciate their athleticism as well. This also includes men in the U.S. Navy Seals, Marine Force Recon, USAF SF, GB SAS, and Russias Spetsnaz forces.

Mickey Ward vs. Arturo Gatti I, II, III :eek:

Macman - three of the greatest boxing matches of our time.

Hunter - I've seen the Ranger Challenge in person, my brother recently ETS'd from 2/75. Grueling stuff, but they're military and not professional athletes no matter how great of shape they're in.

this dicussion about boxers reminded me of an ad i saw awhile ago. it was lance armstrong in a boxing ring, and the annoucer was saying "this man can do anything". i only saw it once and i was preoccupied so i missed most of it. does anyone remember this? what was it for? (sorry to change topics slightly).

Nike

I believe it was part of their "What if?" ad series.

Nike

I believe it was part of their "What if?" ad series.
Yep. Here it is (http://www.nike.com/usa/just_do_it/). Clicky on the hockey fellas for the full commercial.

I agree Lance is a phenomenal athlete, however there was absolutely zero endurance athletes on that list such as Mike Pigg.

Peter Reid and Tim DeBoom were both on the list. Peter Reid was eliminated by Tom Pappas (decathlon champ) in the round of 32, and Tim DeBoom was eliminated by Lance in the round of 16. Pappas went on to be eliminated by Lance in the round of 8. I agree - this contest was essentially dominated by who gets the most media exposure in the US. Got to give kudos to most of the uneducated ;) sports-watching public though, for choosing Lance by a landslide in each round.

So yanks vote for a yank , what a suprise .