if you had to pick One Athelete that is out today as the Greatest for this New Century we are in where would you rank Tiger Woods??

Tiger is certainly up there. Lance Armstrong is also pretty great. And if the Williams sisters keep sweeping all before them... Whatever, Tiger will be the richest, by miles! Godspeed you, Black Emperor!

The black race is simply superior in every walk of life.
Let the debate start...

Yes, Tiger Woods is the greatest athlete right now & probably at his peak. Some people that don't like golf like to watch him play and check out the cool NIKE outfits.

Tiger has the star power and presence that Prince and Micheal Jackson had when they were at the same age at 26 in 1984. Tiger Woods made golf cool.

The PGA Championship (4th major) in August will be played in Minnesota near Minneapolis.

I don't consider golf a sport. But yes, I do know that a lot of people do, and a lot of people consider Woods an athlete. I don't.

He's obviously the best in golf since he started his pro career. And many consider him the best of all time, even now at his young age for what he's accomplished so far.

ScottNPG said:

---

You are going to some "shit" with that comment (LOL)
but we art the bomb!!!

Supernova said:

Free your mind.


Ever play a round? I mean after you really have your stroke and undamentals perfected. It's probably more a mental challenge than a physical one. I place the dynamicas of golf somewhere between athletics and music. You're essentially playing 3 different opponents; all of whom are transcendental. SO it may not seem compettitive since you can not see the opponent.

Opponent #1 is yourself. MENTAL: Do you remember technique and use the precision to put the ball where you want it to get it in the hole in the fewest swings. PHYSICAL: Did you execute properly?

Opponent #2 is the course designer: Do you recognize all the difficulties the architect put in your way? PHYSICAL: Did you execute properly?

Opponent #3 is God: An outdoor game so, weather figures greatly into the proceedings. Too much wind. Too humid. Too much solar glare. Sometimes you play thru rain or wait it out and the greens are now soggy. Again, the physical question is: Did you execute properly under the changing conditions?

Golf is truly a challenging game and the appreication for it may not be immediately apparent to some, especially since its tied up in the garb of the well-heeled privileged upper-class. As compared to baketball it's cardio/caloroie-burning is way low, but baseball doesn't always require a lot of that either.

PFunkjazz said:

My mind is about as free as it gets.

You're exactly right; it's a GAME. An activity. Not a sport. There are a lot of games that are challenging, it doesn't mean that that game is equal to a sport. I never said golf didn't require skills. But hell, so does chess, checkers, and backgammon. A game is not always a sport, but a sport is always a game.

But baseball is a sport. And actually I don't any attention to the major leagues anymore, when it comes to the actual baseball game being played.

I don't play golf, nor do I enjoy watching it. One thing seems obvious to me - a true non-athlete could never dominate this game. Tiger is clearly an athlete.

Then again, what is an athlete? According to Webster, it's "one who is trained or skilled in exercises, sports, or games requiring physical strength, agility, or stamina." So it does seem that Tiger qualifies.

Who is the greatest athlete of this century? It seems a bit early to tell. If asked who is the best athlete of my lifetime (1962-2002), I'd have to nominate Michael Jordan. Which brings me to another question: Since MJ also avidly plays golf, I wonder how he feels about Tiger's "athleticism?"

Supernova said:

Seems you're splitting hairs. GAME. ACTIVITY. SPORTS. That's ok for how your world is. It's all the same in mine.



:LOL: chess as a spectator sport!!!

TheMax said:

MJ has stated he has the biggest case of envy in the accomplishments of Tiger. Eveyone else wants to be like Mike, Mike wants to be as good as Woods

TheMax said:

Hmmm.

PFunkjazz said:

No, I just have enough discernment to see the difference. Besides, we all know that Wellbeyond is the only hair splitter around here!
[This message was edited Sun Jul 14 18:12:41 PDT 2002 by Supernova]

Supernova said:

He musta loaned you his electron microsope and nanohirstute scalpel.

I aint' mad @ cha, but I am laffin'@ cha.

PFunkjazz said:

Hey..!!... 8)

Supernova is a worthy apprentice...

wellbeyond said:

Seee, Seee?!

So you have been taking lessons!




see ya back onthe Khia thread!

I had to think for a minute about who "Khia" was. I've said my peace over there. I think there is a distinct difference in both issues.

PFunkjazz said:

I get so tired of Jordan.there are Guys Named Bill Russell,Kareem Abdul Jabbar,Wilt Chamberlin,Magic Johnson,Larry Bird,Oscar ROberston who are Better than Jordan to me.SHAQ&Kobe are gonna have there say before it's all done as well.not to mention Jim Brown,Muhammad Ali,Carl lewis,Hank Aaron,Willie Mays,Barry Bonds,Jesse Owens,etc.. there are many who can make the Claim for Last Century IMHO.

mistermaxxx said:

I don't even trip off these GREATEST or BEST lists. I think the concept is extremely moronic. I'm just here cuz of the "GOLF is a sport?" sidebar, but I know you knew that. So all's cool

mistermaxxx said:

I agree with the gist of what you're saying. And when I ask people why Jordan is the greatest basketball players they all start off with: he won 6 titles. Well, if that's the most important criteria, you'd have to list Kareem (he won 6 during his career), and Russell too. I respect Russell's accomplishments, but he and the Celtics won those titles during a NON free agent era. And when taking different era's into account you have to take that into account. But with baseball the impact of one player is lesser than that in basketball.

All in all I agree with you. There's so many valid reasons that others might have been better in basketball, in my opinion. Jordan might have been the best athlete to play the game, but the best athlete isn't always equivalent to the best basketball player. People who have paid enough attention to the game know this.

Supernova said:

Right ON Bro! the Best Basketball Athlete I have seen Footage on or Read about is easily Wilt Chamberlin.that Man was Multi-Talented.Dig your Post Man.Peace&Right On P-FunkJazz!

Certainly not getting any competition from any soccer players. What a European sissy sport that is.

On the "is golf a sport?" sub-topic. I'd like to add that although I feel it can be argued effectively either way, and as someone who loves to play, I'm not completely sold on either side.
Anyway, a while back, in Sports Illustrated(forgive me I can't remember which issue), this topic was brought up, and although the end result was more of an "agree-to-disagree" conclusion, I thought the use of the defenition of "sport" was pretty interesting.

"sport"
1. An activity involving physical exertion and skill that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often undertaken competitively.
2. An active pastime; recreation.

Initially, the mention of "physical exertion" seems to be where you could discount golf as a sport, but if you consider that most Pro golf swings clock in at 120plus MPH, maybe that changes.

If you want to go deeper, look up the definition of "physical exertion"
-The act or an instance of exerting, especially a strenuous effort.

Remember it says "especially" a strenuous effort which suggests that Strenuous is not a prerequiste for exertion.

Again, I'm not really sold either way, but its a pretty good discussion piece.

In europe it´s now the world soccer star R O N A L D O !!

He was 4 years injured and was the big star during the

world cup.

USA open your eyes, there are other countries in the

world.In very country except USA and canada is soccer the

sport number one and not golf.I think Tiger Woods is a

genius golf player, but ... hey it´s just golf.

Peace and be wild

IrishEcho said:

Football (its played with the feet!) is a sissy sport compared 2 what?? Golf..., baseball..., basketball...? HAHAHAHA
Or maybe compared 2 rugby 4 girls, or how do you call it? american foot(?)ball... Forget it, we don't need helmets or other protection...

BTW
I do like golf, I've played a couple of times myself, and I do respect Tiger Woods, but golf is NOT a sport, it's a game.

NataN said:

LOL wait'll we start asking about auto-racing, fishing and hunting.

Do you consider amatuer level pick-up street-ball a sport or a game? Golf at your level or my is a game, but so is baseball and football. Amateur and weekend atheletes are not at the same level as a pro-athlete. I figure any activity or game setup in a rigid formal competition that is judged or officiated which may be viewed by spectators is a sport. Little League and Youth tournaments represent the portal where our games become sports.

You and me playin' 1-on-1 is merely a game where I smack the SPALDING in yo' face, suckah!

PFunkjazz said:

Thats a great way of looking at it!

Soccer is a bunch of men in flamboyantly colored socks playing a boring game on a field that's much too big. Even then, the ball constantly goes out of bounds. Oh, & how many riots resulting in deaths of audience members ever started on the PGA Tour? Soccer is good for children in gym class. That's about it.

IrishEcho said:

I don't wanna bash soccer or rugby or whatever FOOTBALL is outside the US,
but I had a horrible time teaching my young son to play basketball. Getting him
to dribble and pass and shoot was too much for the 4 yr old. He certainly took a
liking tosoccer! The chaotic free-for-all nature of things was perfect for his
hyperactive attention-span. Obvioulsy, he didn't get into more sophisticated
passing and dribbling with his feet, but the basics of the game are paralell with running
around the schoolyard like a banshee!

PFunkjazz said:

pfunkjazz, I can't wait'll you start talking about auto-racing, fishing and hunting... Whatabout those activities?

I agree with your opinion about the difference between a game and a sport. The concequence of that is: you trying to smack a spalding in my face, must be a game, because:
1. It won't be a formal fight, you'll never reach my level so we'll never act in the same competition.
2. It won't attract spectators. Who wants to see a pussy trying something really hard, but failing even harder?
3. There's nothing to judge, it will be over too soon...


BTW
My list of greatest sportsmen of the 20st century (in random order):
- Diego Armando Maradonna
- Ayrton Senna
- Eddy Mercx
- Mohammed Ali
- Sergey Bubka
- Anatoly Evgenievich Karpov
- Björn Daehlie
- Carl Lewis
- Johann Olav Koss