Who is the Greater Sportsman?

[Carradona]

Was having this discussion today with a few mates and it was split down the middle. What do you guys think?

 

Poll to follow (hopefully!)

[Ezekiel 25:17]

Is this some Irish cunts joke that us English cunts don't get ??

[Ezekiel 25:17]

Tiger Woods by a mile.

[Woo]

Federer. Has the fitness as well as the unbelievable talent.

[Monster Masch]

Andy Murray.

 

 

 

But seriously, Fed.

[Monster Masch]

Happy St. Patricks day all.

[Guest Pistonbroke]

Not playing. i hate both of the snidey cunts.

[Ezekiel 25:17]

Ignoring what has been a rather ignominious end to the decade, Tiger Woods is unquestionably still one of the world's top athletes and a true giant in his field.

No one in history has single-handedly changed golf more since the Royal & Ancient codified the rules of the game back in 1897.

Not only did Woods bring the sport back into national and international consciousness, especially in the United States, he made it acceptable to a much wider audience.

His presence at the top of the world rankings also helped dispel talk of golf as a backward sport and all but ended accusations of racism within its ranks.

Aside from his achievements on the political side, Woods' achievements on the greens were astronomical.

In 2000, he won the Open, the US Open and the PGA Championship then scooped the 2001 Masters - giving his name to a 'new' achievement: the 'Tiger Slam'. In layman's terms this was holding all four major trophies at once, if not necessarily winning them all in the same calendar year.

Further success followed with two more titles in each one of the major championships, as well as taking his overall number of career PGA trophies to 71 - third most in the history of golf.

He even managed to fit in a complete overhaul of his swing midway through the decade before returning to prominence in 2005. Later he completed arguably his most impressive achievement, winning the 2008 US Open on one leg when he suffered a knee injury on the third day and played on. The subsequent ligament surgery kept him out of action for eight months.

Now the only question for Woods remains: Will he recover from the public relations disaster that has been his car crash and subsequent revelations about his indiscretions and infidelity to continue the pursuit of Jack Nicklaus' 18 majors. Got to be Woods for me.

[RedKnight]

Tiger is but he's been such a cunt recently that I'm voting Federer. Woods is arguably the best athlete of our generation, not my words, the words of Top Gear magazine.

[Ian Sea]

Golf isn't actually a sport so Federer wins by default.

[Stu Monty]

NP's not voting unless you include John Daly in the options.

[Guest Pistonbroke]

NP's not voting unless you include John Daly in the options.

 

The hunter becomes the hunted ?

[Strontium]

I want to say neither after those criminally bad shaving ads featuring the pair, but on the basis that golf is just walking around hitting things with a stick, while tennis involves superhuman feats of physical and acrobatic brilliance, I'm going to have to go with Roger.

[Jose Jones]

It’s Federer.

You can bet Roger wouldn’t have been dallying with any of those scrubbers that Tiger got it on with as well.

He’d sit drinking gin in a suave blazer being waited on by a bevy of naked posh European totty.

[King Emlyn]

Woods, as good as Federer is if both are right at the top of their game then i think Federers opponents are closer to him than Woods's are to him. Also i think there is more competition in golf, anybody can hit a purple patch and have a shot at winning a Major competition but i don't think this is really the case in Tennis where only a handful can realistically hope to win.

[kop]

Woods is so far ahead the next on the list in the worlds rankings it's unreal. He ended last year with as much margin to number 2 as number 2 had down to 80 or something. Not only did he finish 2009 like this, but he has been this good for more than a decade. This in a sport that has millions of active professional athletes, and hundreds of thousands who is training golf 6-10 hours a day to be as good as him. He still manages to stay head and shoulders ahead of the rest.

 

I can understand why Federer is the one Woods is compared to, because he is definently a clear number 2. He has dominated tennis for years, and tennis is almost comparable with golf in terms of active players so the competition is very hard. I still think Woods' achievement is larget though.

[Catch22]

Ever...Don Bradman noone else in anyother sport comes close to his degree of dominance

 

Between those 2, it is worth remembering that it is a lot easier to play tennis in the world because of the cost differences (probably 2nd only to f*******) & it is played in a lot more places.

 

Which pushes me towards Federer, but it is v close.

 

There is an interesting argument that the greatest sportsman should default towards the greatest f******* simply because everybody plays it in the world, so even those who succeed in another field would have tried f******* as well.

Whereas Pele may well have been an even better golfer or cricketer or baseball palyer or whatever but never played the game as a kid

[kop]

Ever...Don Bradman noone else in anyother sport comes close to his degree of dominance

 

Between those 2, it is worth remembering that it is a lot easier to play tennis in the world because of the cost differences (probably 2nd only to f*******) & it is played in a lot more places.

 

Which pushes me towards Federer, but it is v close.

 

There is an interesting argument that the greatest sportsman should default towards the greatest f******* simply because everybody plays it in the world, so even those who succeed in another field would have tried f******* as well.

Whereas Pele may well have been an even better golfer or cricketer or baseball palyer or whatever but never played the game as a kid

 

We can of course never know how good an athlete would've been in another sport if he had dedicated his time to it. I had to google Don Bradman because I have never heard of him, I found he played cricked. This is why I prefer giving "greater sportsman" to the likes of Woods or Federer, because there is no debate whether or not they have competition for their title in their sport. Don Bradman played a sport limited to very few countries, whereas tennis and football, and to some degree golf, is played in pretty much every country in the world. I have no idea how many professional cricket players there are, but my guess is it's not millions, or even hundreds of thousand. I could name a few winter athletes from Norway in a "competition" like this, but I know that Ole Einar Bjørndalen's branch of sport has a very limited population.

[Catch22]

We can of course never know how good an athlete would've been in another sport if he had dedicated his time to it. I had to google Don Bradman because I have never heard of him, I found he played cricked. This is why I prefer giving "greater sportsman" to the likes of Woods or Federer, because there is no debate whether or not they have competition for their title in their sport. Don Bradman played a sport limited to very few countries, whereas tennis and football, and to some degree golf, is played in pretty much every country in the world. I have no idea how many professional cricket players there are, but my guess is it's not millions, or even hundreds of thousand. I could name a few winter athletes from Norway in a "competition" like this, but I know that Ole Einar Bjørndalen's branch of sport has a very limited population.

 

Yes, i did manage to contradict myself somewhat in the same post!

 

I think you are overestimating golf versus tennis though as it often (not in all the world) requires a middle class upbringing.

 

In some ways, that is why the greatest f***baller is the greatest sportsman as every single male on the planet has kicked a ball at some point as a kid.

[RobbieOR]

They are both cunts. But Tiger is in my opinion the best Athlete of his generation and it will take someone really really special to become as good a golfer he is.

[Anny Road]

I play golf and drink beer and smoke cigars on my way round. You can't do that whilst playing tennis so I would say Fed.

[Unrighteous]

Federer. He has to take care of himself a lot better than a golfer does... which adds to dedication.

 

Tennis is also a lot harder on the body than Golf.

[Woo]

They are both cunts. But Tiger is in my opinion the best Athlete of his generation and it will take someone really really special to become as good a golfer he is.

 

How is Federer a cunt?

[Carradona]

I was thinking the same myself, Woo. I look forward to Robbie's answer.

[Rex Banner]

I play golf and drink beer and smoke cigars on my way round. You can't do that whilst playing tennis so I would say Fed.

 

This is why Federer just tipped it for me, plus fat guys can be great golfers but I've never seen a great fat tennis player.