Best Athlete all around for the last 10 years?

[Brandon2390]

I saw this on another forum, and I thought it was a good question.

Federer continues to dominate Tennis, even though he was beaten the other day..Tiger has been dominant in golf for 10 years..Shaq has won 4 NBA titles, so overall, who do you think is the most dominant? I personally would have to go with Tiger Woods, since not a lot of people can touch what he has done in the last 10 years in golf.

[Swordmaster Link]

Say what you want about the lack of media attention that golf and tennis get as opposed to other sports, but the only possible answers here are Federer and Woods.

[Lurch1982]

/spit on anyone who says Tiger Woods.

Tiger Woods is dominant...in a sport that doesn't have a deep and strong field, not to mention a sport that's been driven in the last 10 years by the technology used in the clubs to make the balls fly farther.

There is one answer, and one answer only: Michael Jordan. Even though the timespan only takes the latter half of his career, he was STILL the most dominant player in the NBA and the world, and he played against extremely strong competition throughout his career (unlike Tiger Woods).

[shelty87]

i must say, jordan was dominant in his time. theres no questioning that. i would still say tiger woods was more dominant tho. the question was "who was the most dominant", not "who's dominance was most impressive". tiger woods, in a period of 10 years, has not only dominated, but became human, and regained his form. considering he has made history over such a period, in a sport where u can play until you die, is remarkable.

allthough it has been kind of lop-sided, tiger hasnt exactly been playing against nobody's either. with people like mike o'meara, vijay, els, goosen, and mickelson all winning multiple majors since tiger's arrival; vijay being his biggest competition (obviously; he's #2 on the all-time money list, only behind tiger).

but in conclusion, the answer to the question: "who has been the most dominant athlete over the past 10 years" is neither woods nor jordan. the answer is lance armstrong. any one who wins, not just 7 tour de france's, but all in a row.....is insanely dominant. just thinking about how he could have done it is mind-boggling.

[Crazyswordsman]

As much as I hate him, Michael Jordan.
(God help ANYONE who says Emmett Smith)
-CSM

[GURU ANT]

Emmitt Smith?

[Swordmaster Link]

You didn't say Emmett Smith, so I think you're good.

[GURU ANT]

Emmett Smith?

[Lurch1982]

Lance Armstrong competes in a dirty sport and is surrounded by allegations of cheating. Any sprinter or cyclist are automatically disqualified. Same reason why Bonds shouldn't be included.

Tiger Woods plays a game with a shallow talent pool that isn't athletically challenging, doesn't have a heavy schedule, and quite simply he can go in and mail in a tournament and its no big deal because the field is weak.

Jordan not only dominated his generation, but also dominated the greats in the generation before him, and schooled the generation that came after him. If Jordan doesn't have that baseball experiment, the Bulls win EIGHT straight championships. Every time Jordan laced up and took the court, he gave it his all. He won championships with 102 fevers, he willed victories out of nothing, and he was the biggest name in the NBA during one of the best generations the league ever saw.

[shelty87]

im not denying what ur saying, u r correct in every aspect. jordan is the greatest basketball player to ever play and he changed the game single-handedly. all im saying is that over the past 10 years, the answer to most dominant is lance. the only things jordan has to credit in the past decade is 2 championships (which is a lot, just ask malone and stockton), and a brief stint w/ the wizards. tiger has at least offered 11 major wins, and lance brings 7 straight tour de france's to the table. the comparison is tough to beat. now if the discussion is the past 20 years?........then its jordan hands down, but u have to answer the question thats asked.

[Brandon2390]

Originally Posted by Crazyswordsman

As much as I hate him, Michael Jordan.
(God help ANYONE who says Emmett Smith)
-CSM

Humor me...why do you hate Michael Jordan?

[Lurch1982]

Uh, 96, 97, and 98. Two seasons where he led a Bulls team that lost fewer than 15 games each year, and a team that lost a total of 43 times over THREE YEARS.

NBA MVP 1996 and 1998, Finals MVP 1996-98. All-star MVP 1996 and 1998.

Countless scoring feats and records.

Way more impressive than some guy who's likely cheating in a rampantly dirty sport who only ran a handful of races a year and a golfer who has no competition.

[shelty87]

i only counted 2 championships because the nba season runs w/in 2 calendar years. so the 96 championship season started in 95, just out of reach of the decade.

the 1 thing that hurts jordan in this discussion is that basketball is a team sport. im not saying jordan wouldnt have been as great, cuz he would have, but he was surrounded by talent like pippen, rodman, harper, kukoc, and kerr; all that certainly helps. theres a reason athletes considered more dominant in their respective sports r people in non-team sports (i.e. woods, federer, armstrong, williams sisters, sorenstam). even tho shaq is tagged as "the most dominant player in nba history", the truth is that jordan was because of how he changed the game from a big man's game to a guards game.

however, armstrong is the answer because (although there have been hgh speculations) he has been tested numberous times and has never been found to be taking anything. i dont know how else u can prove armstrong hasnt taken hgh or any other form of steroids, short of keeping him hostage in a sterilized room a week before and during competition.

jordan is the greatest and most dominant athlete in the past 15-20 years, there is no denying it, but in the past 10 years the most dominant (not necessarily the greatest) has been armstrong. id name the competition he's had, but 1) i have absolutely no clue who his competition was 2) even if i did, i doubt u'd know anything about it either and 3) show me a guy who follows bicycling (outside of the tour de france winner.....maybe) and i'll show u someone who has no life.

[Bomby]

I still think of Michael Jordan as a late 80's/early 90's guy.

[Lurch1982]

Um, the majority of the NBA regular season is played in the new year, as well as the playoffs and finals. That counts.

Take Jordan off the Bulls for two years. Houston gets two championships and the Bulls are above average. Jordan pushed the Bulls from above average to some of the best squads in the history of the league. Unlike a jabroni like Kobe, Jordan made his supporting cast all-stars. While Pippen was a top-flight talent, the rest of the players from the teams were average-at-best role-players away from Jordan. Jordan elevated everyone's game, and if had to he'd drop 40+ points to win.

I find it impossible and naive to believe that Armstrong is the only clean player in a rampantly dirty sport, and on top of that he manages to soundly beat the dirty players. If you're going to include people from dirty sports, Barroid Bonds is better than friggin Armstrong.

[Auron]

Since I don't feel like picking 1 god of all sports, I'll just pick the guys from the sports I know something about:

NBA - MJ
NFL - Jerry Rice
NHL - Wayne Gretzky
Tennis - Pete Sampras (soon to be Roger if he keeps it up)

[Mark Prior]

Originally Posted by shelty87

jordan is the greatest and most dominant athlete in the past 15-20 years, there is no denying it, but in the past 10 years the most dominant (not necessarily the greatest) has been armstrong.

hey stupid, you contradicted yourself. If Jordan is the most dominant in the past 15-20 years, he must also be the most dominant in the last 10? You lose. Just leave, before I make you cry again.

Also, the answer is definitely Jordan. Unlike Tiger, who has lost time to time, who could stop Air Jordan? You cannot stop Jordan, you can only hope to contain him.

[Koga]

I think it's ridiculous to compare athletes of different sports. There have been many dominant in their respective sports, but it's impossible to say one person is the best athlete of the last 10 years (or of all time, for that matter). Also, the word 'athlete' excludes other great dominant sportsmen such as Michael Schumacher (formula 1 driver).

Also, Lurch, although cycling is a drug-prone sport (especially the last year) what Armstrong pulled off is extraordinary. He's only been allegated of taking doping in his first Tour victory (1999), and even that is shaky evidence, and I doubt they will ever find hard evidence. Moreover, just because some people in the sport take drugs, doesn't mean that there aren't great athletes in that sport. Aleksandr Vinokourov won the Tour of Spain last week just by sheer will and attack power. And Landis's official results are still pending.

And another reason why there's so many drugs and doping in cycling is because cyclists get checked the most. Simple as that. And there were a lot of other athletes on Dr Fuentes's list, who weren't named.

[shelty87]

hey stupid, you contradicted yourself. If Jordan is the most dominant in the past 15-20 years, he must also be the most dominant in the last 10?

i would honestly like to know how that is a contradiction and how ur statement holds water. jordan was so dominant at his sport in the late 80's and early 90's (not to mention lance armstrong hadnt done s*it during that period of time) that jordan would easily take home the "past 15-20 years" most dominant. if u restrict the time period to just 10 (in other words, armstrong wins the 2nd most grueling test of athletic ability [behind marathon running] 70% of the time), armstrong has it easily w/ jordan near the end of his career and an attempt to stay in the game that ruined the perfect ending to a brilliant career.

im not gonna pretend to know and follow cycling, but iv followed what armstrong has done (as far as the tour de france anyways) and have enough sense to know that it is one of the most difficult things to even finish that race in the top 50, let alone be #1 7 years in a row. the thing that makes it more amazing was the history of cancer that he had and how he overcame it, but everyone knows about that.

[Mark Prior]

I am throwing Tom Brady in here. Suck it if you disagree.