Saturday, February 20, 2010

The 10 Greatest Athletes of the 2000s: 10-6

Before we start the countdown from 10-6, here are the guys 20-11, the guys that just missed the cut.

20.) Kurt Warner - If '99 was included, it might be hard to put him off. The most deserving great QB of all time.

19.) Nicklas Lidstrom - The only key link between the '02 and '08 Champs, the consumate pro, winner of 5 defensive player of the year trophies. He was the best defensman for a full decade.

18.) Steve Nash - the man who saved the NBA. Period.

17.) LeBron James - For all the hype, he has won a total of 0 NBA Final games, but
has lived up to the hype in every other way.

16.) Usain Bolt - Put on the best show in Olympics in the decade. Yes, for entertainment purposes, better than Phelps. But never did much in '04.

15.) Serena Williams - Considering she has not truly cared about tennis for much of the decade, and has probably never trained as hard as all those Russians, she is underated in her dominance.

14.) Rafael Nadal - The man who made Federer cry has to be celebrated, because he may never be the same again.

13.) Ben Roethlisberger - Brady's clone, but bigger and more entertaining, and could never allow guards to open fire at paparrazzi at his wedding.

12.) Shaquille O'Neal - Dominant for the first three years. Never the same again.

11.) Alex Rodriguez - Considering half the pitchers were probably roided up, those numbers are sick enough. Plus, he's got a ring now.



10 - Albert Pujols

Since his 2001 call-up, there has been no more perfect baseball player on the planet. Alex Rodriguez was close, but his roided-up body of work cannot compare to that of the, as of now, clean slugger, Mr. Pujols. In the beginning, he lacked speed on the basepaths and the ability to field. Now, he has been successful on 70% of his steals and has a gold glove in his coffers. He is great in every single way, making the fielding of first base into an artform, and hitting the ball with a sublime ease that makes it look simple enough that you wonder how no one else has been this good.

He is probably going to go down as one of the ten greatest baseball players of all time. So, if you ask, why is he down at number 10? Two reasons; one, all the other players on this list will probably be in the top-10 of their sport (its been a pretty good decade in sports), and two, there still is the steroid cloud hanging over it all. He has never been truly convicted, but there has been speculation. Here, we have a guy coming from the steroid mecca of the world, the Dominican. He had a truly uninspiring minor league career, where he was thin. He comes up as an udonis and proceeds to emulate Willie Mays for 9 years? A little suspicious, as is the fact that he is only "29" when he looks 34.

Anyway, that is getting into areas I should not, and Pujols doesn't deserve. That is mainly the talk of an Astros fan that has been burned by the Pujols too many times. He is too good. It is not fair for any one batter to be this good for this long. Considering that he hasn't had a solid hitter behind him from the 2005-2008 seasons, it makes the numbers so much more awesome. There seems to be no end to the limits of this mans power. Pujols has made St. Louis into the most consistent NL team of the last decade, and it is his face that fronts baseball. Let's just hope he is never added to the long list of disgraced "faces" of baseball in the next decade.


9 - Michael Phelps


The most decorated olympian comes in at number nine. I could spend the next three paragraphs throwing verbal bouquets at him, but enough people, people that can write much better and be read by more people, have already done that. Instead, I will go the opposite direction, write about why he should not be any higher, even though he has been made out to be Michael Jordan in a wet-suit.
He's a swimmer. That negates those medals. Divide it by three. The Olympics are, in a word, unfair. Basketball teams can only win one medal. One, in two weeks. Swimmers have, essentially, like 25 different opportunites to win a medal. Even track stars don't have it as good. Usain Bolt didn't have the opportunity to run backwards and skip 200 meters for medals, but Phelps could swim four different ways. Also, it was his teammates record setting lap that allowed Phelps to win his second medal in '08. His teammate had to make up for Phelps' underwhelming run. Finally, I'm still not convinced he won that race that he won by like .001 seconds.

Again, he's a swimmer. The sport you play matters. Even as the most famous swimmer ever, he will never reach the fame that the rest of the guys on this list will (in some countries). I will give him some credit. He made America go swimming-crazy for two weeks, and forced American's to stay up late and watch his 1:00 AM races, which he somehow got the country to do. He should be celebrated like the champion he is, but I feel that what he did was barely more impressive than what Usain Bolt did in those same Olympics.



8 - Tom Brady

Again, here is someone that would probably be much higher on most lists. He is the king of hype. He is mytholicised like some Greek God. He is loved for knocking up one hot actress and leaving her stranded with the kid for the most succesful model of all-time. He is called "the Golden Boy" and was once known as the best QB of the decade (ha). He doesn't deserve that title, since without a defense that perennially ranked at the top of the league, allowing him to win games putting up games like 17-30 191 yards 1 td 1 int (patent: Throwing a Brady), he would be Jeff Garcia, with better looks and less questions about his sexuality. Then, he was given the best deep-WR ever, and the best possession receiver currently in the league, and a top-flight third receiver and put up 8 games that were better than any other QB. But none of that puts him on this list. What does is what he did in the clutch.

Being a clutch QB is a legitimate thing, but one whose label is missaplied alot. Peyton Manning is a clutch QB. Kurt Warner is not. Brady is. Brady never wavered, got better as the game got closer. Brady was able to channel all the focus, all the ability that he had, and unleashed it on tired defenses as the clocks wound down and the pressure amped up. He has an insane 14-4 playoff record, one that was bouyed by a 10-0 start, one in which he led five game-winning drives in the 4th quarter or OT. He was smart, resiliant and driven.
All of that is gone now. Brady was once quoted in 2008, after he lost the parking spot next the Belichick's in the practice facility given to the hardest working player, saying that "my priorities changed" in reference to his kid and wife. They sure have, Tom. He is now a major world-spokesman, more likely to be spotted at TMZ at 3AM than watching film. He is the guy that now converses with Pat O'Brien before games, and cares about his looks. He's the guy that goes to the press conferences with the 20,000 dollar suit, and has security guards open fire at papparazzi at his wedding. He is no longer the kid that once spiked the ball in the snow so hard he fell down. He's no longer the kid that went crazy butting helmets with Drew Bledsoe before the Super Bowl. He's the guy that walks off the field aimlessly after another soulless loss.

He may have changed. He may no longer have the drive to be great, the drive to conquer the league like he once had, and that Peyton and Drew currently have, but he had it, and for a majority of the decade, he was IT. He was the guy with the impossible to defeat spirit and concentration. He was unflappable, unstoppable and unbelievable. Just because that Brady is now long gone, does not mean we should forget about him. Brady was great. Brady was Super.



7 - Kobe Bryant

Other than Michael Vick, there probably has not been a single athlete who has had a more tumultous decade. However, unlike Vick, the stain of his off-the-court actions are long gone. Dave Chappelle once joked Kobe was playing for his freedom. Fortunately for Kobe, that was true. He raised his game when the spotlight shown brighter and brighter on him.
It would be remiss not to mention that he was the one who broke up the Shaq/Kobe Lakers, running the man responsible for those first three titles, O'Neal, out of town. It would be more remiss not to mention that he was once charged with rape, which was eventually settled. However, there was no better scorer and determined figure in the NBA. He has changed his game as his career went on. No longer is Kobe driving the lane and throwing it down like D-Wade. No, Kobe has developed a reliable mid-range jump shot. Kobe has built an arsenal of low-post moves, and back-to-the-basket shots. Kobe evolved, into a more conceited man, but one that still had the fire of a dragon.

Kobe Bryant is again on top of the NBA world, leading the Lakers to another title, bookending the decade. In 2000, he was the precocious 21 year old, running as the virtuoso youngster sidekick, witnessing the most destructive force in NBA history play at an all-time high. He ended the decade as the most destructive force, showing why he is the best single force in the NBA. He is not LeBron. He is not the powerful force, the great passer, the primary ball-handler. He is better. He is just a sublime player, an artistic one. His game, unlike his passion, is not one of brute force, it is one of skill. That is the most amazing part of Kobe's transformation from athlete to possible-felon, to disgraced and cancerous Superstar to finally artist. It was a long one, but a journey that was eventually redeeming and fulfilling.


6 - Roger Federer


I hate him. I despise him. He is secretly the biggest arrogant prick in sports. He is Belichick-level arrogant, just with a swiss accent that infatuates reporters to the level they seem not to understand the demeaning and self-aggrandizing words flowing out of his mouth. He is the one tennis player that is actually better looking than his WAG. He is a tool that comes out to the Centre Court in Wimbledon in a dress pant and jacket. He is a serious tool for going down to the ground in tears even in his fifth US Open win. He is the greatest Open Era tennis player of all time.

I can try to pray for some new, more interesting less robotic player to come along and break his record of 16 slam titles, but for now, he's the best there is. Pete Sampras set his record of 14 titles in the US Open in 2002. I don't think he ever thought that his record would last only seven years, and be beaten by a guy who at that time had 0 major wins. There has to be some explanation of Federer's brilliance. He is like Pujols x 10, he is just too consistently good to be true. Sure, from '07 to now, he has been beatable, winning just 7 of 13 majors. But the fact that winning only 7 of 13 majors is "beatable", which it is since he won 9 out of 14 before that, defines his greatness. His three year run from '04 to '06 will never be topped, as he lapped the field easily, winning games so efficiently that when a set went to Federer 6-4 it was a minor upset. He was sick, making passing shot after passing shot from every flank. Thank God for Rafael Nadal, or Federer might have 20 majors by now.

Nadal is really the only person ever to get into Federer's head, ever to have the mental fortitude to compete with Federer. Other players just wilt in his presence (see Murray, Andy). The battle is over before they enter the ring, knowing that perfection is required just to have a chance. There have been players that came along with as much talent (Safin), as much strength, agility and shotmaking-ability (Nadal) and as much "screw-you" determination (Del Potro, Djokovic at times), but no one combines all three things like Federer. The Federer cocktail is the strongest ever. He is the greatest silent assassin, never seeming bothered. In his prime, he never even seemed to sweat. He was truly the highest form of perfection an athlete can acheive. I hate him, but as Wes Mantooth said to Ron Burgundy, "I hate you, but God Damnit do I respect you."

(Federer highlight video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XegH7cFn1YA&feature=related)
Posted by at
Labels: ,

About Me

I am a man who will go by the moniker dmstorm22, or StormyD, but not really StormyD. I'll talk about sports, mainly football, sometimes TV, sometimes other random things, sometimes even bring out some lists (a lot, lot, lot of lists). Enjoy.