Perfect athlete? Well - definitely not Lance...

at least according to US Olympians:
http://tinyurl.com/58tvgh

Their #1 was Tiger Woods. Only one gymnast picked Lance.
I guess perfection means income potential to those people.
So OK - Tiger beats Lance hands down - he probably makes
5 times more in one year than Lance made in his entire career.
But "athleticism" ? Give me a break - Tiger is about as much
an athlete as Takeru Kobayashi.

"Woland99" wrote in message
...
at least according to US Olympians:
http://tinyurl.com/58tvgh

Their #1 was Tiger Woods. Only one gymnast picked Lance.
I guess perfection means income potential to those people.
So OK - Tiger beats Lance hands down - he probably makes
5 times more in one year than Lance made in his entire career.
But "athleticism" ? Give me a break - Tiger is about as much
an athlete as Takeru Kobayashi.

I thought one of the bits which made Tiger Woods as successful as he was was
that he is a bit more athletic than the competition - ie he's stronger.

cheers,
clive

In article ,
Clive George wrote:
I thought one of the bits which made Tiger Woods as successful as he was was
that he is a bit more athletic than the competition - ie he's stronger.

His mental toughness is often cited, but I don't know.
Sports Illustrated did a thing on "toughest athletes" and
they ranked Woods #1, in front of the other Lance who
survived cancer - Lance Mackey, a cancer survivor with no
salivary glands who ran two 1000-mile dogsled races, one in
which temperatures dropped to -60F (Mackey stayed up all
night chopping wood to keep warm), within three weeks of
each other, and won both. Then did it again the following
year. Mackey works as a commercial salmon fisherman in the
summer and spent a year living out of a tent in Alaska.
It's hard to imagine along what vector Tiger Woods actually
is tougher.

It's my impression that if there's a competition for the
most whatever athlete, the sports media and management are
just automatically going to give it to Woods.
--
Melinda Shore - Software longa, hardware brevis -

Prouder than ever to be a member of the reality-based community

On Jul 24, 10:14*am, (Melinda Shore) wrote:
In article ,

Clive George wrote:
I thought one of the bits which made Tiger Woods as successful as he was was
that he is a bit more athletic than the competition - ie he's stronger.

His mental toughness is often cited, but I don't know.
Sports Illustrated did a thing on "toughest athletes" and
they ranked Woods #1, in front of the other Lance who
survived cancer - Lance Mackey, a cancer survivor with no
salivary glands who ran two 1000-mile dogsled races, one in
which temperatures dropped to -60F (Mackey stayed up all
night chopping wood to keep warm), within three weeks of
each other, and won both. *Then did it again the following
year. *Mackey works as a commercial salmon fisherman in the
summer and spent a year living out of a tent in Alaska.
It's hard to imagine along what vector Tiger Woods actually
is tougher.

It's my impression that if there's a competition for the
most whatever athlete, the sports media and management are
just automatically going to give it to Woods.
--
* * *Melinda Shore - Software longa, hardware brevis -

* * * Prouder than ever to be a member of the reality-based community

I like how they cite his win at the US Open last month while injured
as a sign of his toughness. That only says to me that physical
condition is less important in golf. That poll is hogwash.

On Jul 24, 9:52*am, Woland99 wrote:
at least according to US Olympians:http://tinyurl.com/58tvgh

Their #1 was Tiger Woods. Only one gymnast picked Lance.
I guess perfection means income potential to those people.
So OK - Tiger beats Lance hands down - he probably makes
5 times more in one year than Lance made in his entire career.
But "athleticism" ? Give me a break - Tiger is about as much
an athlete as Takeru Kobayashi.

Best "specimens" are probably gymnasts (strength and flexibility), but
cardio might be so-so. SO...all around best athletes are decathletes,
IMO. Strength, speed, endurance (physical and mental), technique,
etc.

Tiger Woods is indeed an athlete -- changed the entire sport, in fact
-- but no comparison to the rigors of cycling (competitive, that is),
track & field, wrestling, on and on. Apples and oranges...

Bill "two cents please" S.

On Jul 24, 12:14 pm, (Melinda Shore) wrote:
In article ,

Clive George wrote:
I thought one of the bits which made Tiger Woods as successful as he was was
that he is a bit more athletic than the competition - ie he's stronger.

His mental toughness is often cited, but I don't know.
Sports Illustrated did a thing on "toughest athletes" and
they ranked Woods #1, in front of the other Lance who
survived cancer - Lance Mackey, a cancer survivor with no
salivary glands who ran two 1000-mile dogsled races, one in
which temperatures dropped to -60F (Mackey stayed up all
night chopping wood to keep warm), within three weeks of
each other, and won both. Then did it again the following
year. Mackey works as a commercial salmon fisherman in the
summer and spent a year living out of a tent in Alaska.
It's hard to imagine along what vector Tiger Woods actually
is tougher.

It's my impression that if there's a competition for the
most whatever athlete, the sports media and management are
just automatically going to give it to Woods.
--
Melinda Shore - Software longa, hardware brevis -

Prouder than ever to be a member of the reality-based community

Thanks - nice example - "the other" Lance. People like that certainly
fit my definition of "most perfect" athlete much better than golfers.
Nothing against the sport - Tiger certainly has remarkable skills but
somehow he is not a role model for me the way Lance Mackey would be.
Or those two British climbers that conquered Baintha Brakk (The Ogre)
- 7300m peak in Pakistan and and descent one of them broke both
ankles
yet his partner stuck with him for 10 days of crawling down the
mountain
until they got to base camp. Or Lance A. Or Lord Shackleton. But I
guess
"most perfect" means different things to different folks. And any
such
poll is naturally a hogwash - just a space filler to sell
advertisements.

On Jul 24, 1:12*pm, Woland99 wrote:
On Jul 24, 12:14 pm, (Melinda Shore) wrote:



In article ,

Clive George wrote:
I thought one of the bits which made Tiger Woods as successful as he was was
that he is a bit more athletic than the competition - ie he's stronger..

His mental toughness is often cited, but I don't know.
Sports Illustrated did a thing on "toughest athletes" and
they ranked Woods #1, in front of the other Lance who
survived cancer - Lance Mackey, a cancer survivor with no
salivary glands who ran two 1000-mile dogsled races, one in
which temperatures dropped to -60F (Mackey stayed up all
night chopping wood to keep warm), within three weeks of
each other, and won both. *Then did it again the following
year. *Mackey works as a commercial salmon fisherman in the
summer and spent a year living out of a tent in Alaska.
It's hard to imagine along what vector Tiger Woods actually
is tougher.

It's my impression that if there's a competition for the
most whatever athlete, the sports media and management are
just automatically going to give it to Woods.
--
* * *Melinda Shore - Software longa, hardware brevis -

* * * Prouder than ever to be a member of the reality-based community

Thanks - nice example - "the other" Lance. People like that certainly
fit my definition of "most perfect" athlete much better than golfers.
Nothing against the sport - Tiger certainly has remarkable skills but
somehow he is not a role model for me the way Lance Mackey would be.
Or those two British climbers that conquered Baintha Brakk (The Ogre)
- 7300m peak in Pakistan and and descent one of them broke both
ankles
yet his partner stuck with him for 10 days of crawling down the
mountain
until they got to base camp. Or Lance A. Or Lord Shackleton. But I
guess
"most perfect" means different things to different folks. And any
such
poll is naturally a hogwash - just a space filler to sell
advertisements.


woods probably has tremendous skills to put a ball in a whole, and
that is admirable. However, in terms of athletic prowess that is not
much. There are lots of obscure sports where people put their minds
and bodies through hell to achieve extraordinary physical abilities
and are never considered in the list of top athletes. All the ultra
endurance sports require tremendous physical and mental efforts.
these include cycling, swimming, triathlon, running, etc. Among the
better known Olympic sports there is Gymnastics where little girls
spend hours developing incredible flexibility and strength while
starving themselves into anorexia. There are also climbing sports that
require physical skills and tolerance to very inhospitable
environments.

In terms of mental toughness, I think that one of the toughest sports
has to be chess. Anyone who is familiar with chess knows of the mental
efforts that top players engage in to achieve top level skills.

In terms of sports often shown on TV, tennis impresses me a hell of a
lot more than golf.

On Jul 24, 1:12 pm, Woland99 wrote:
On Jul 24, 12:14 pm, (Melinda Shore) wrote:



In article ,

Clive George wrote:
I thought one of the bits which made Tiger Woods as successful as he was was
that he is a bit more athletic than the competition - ie he's stronger.

His mental toughness is often cited, but I don't know.
Sports Illustrated did a thing on "toughest athletes" and
they ranked Woods #1, in front of the other Lance who
survived cancer - Lance Mackey, a cancer survivor with no
salivary glands who ran two 1000-mile dogsled races, one in
which temperatures dropped to -60F (Mackey stayed up all
night chopping wood to keep warm), within three weeks of
each other, and won both. Then did it again the following
year. Mackey works as a commercial salmon fisherman in the
summer and spent a year living out of a tent in Alaska.
It's hard to imagine along what vector Tiger Woods actually
is tougher.

It's my impression that if there's a competition for the
most whatever athlete, the sports media and management are
just automatically going to give it to Woods.
--
Melinda Shore - Software longa, hardware brevis -

Prouder than ever to be a member of the reality-based community

Thanks - nice example - "the other" Lance. People like that certainly
fit my definition of "most perfect" athlete much better than golfers.
Nothing against the sport - Tiger certainly has remarkable skills but
somehow he is not a role model for me the way Lance Mackey would be.
Or those two British climbers that conquered Baintha Brakk (The Ogre)
- 7300m peak in Pakistan and and descent one of them broke both
ankles
yet his partner stuck with him for 10 days of crawling down the
mountain
until they got to base camp. Or Lance A. Or Lord Shackleton. But I
guess
"most perfect" means different things to different folks. And any
such
poll is naturally a hogwash - just a space filler to sell
advertisements.

I think that was Doug Scott who broke his ankles (or an ankle and a
tibia) on a rappel gone bad. His partner might have been Dougal
Haston, Don Whillans or Chris Bonington (sp? on all.) There's a book
out titled "Bonington's Boys" about the whole super light expedition
thing of their doing. Perhaps something to check out if you've run out
of cycling books.

tf