Athete of the Decade

This week the AP (Associated Press) voted for their choice for Athlete of the Decade. This had to be one of the most controversial decades ever, having the steriods era in the MLB to the gambling and conspiracies alleged in the NBA all happening within the last 10 years. How do you determine an Athlete of the Decade? There are so many sports and athletes that have to be considered. Some people will question what is considered a "sport". Jimmy Johnson has won 4 straight NASCAR cups, never done in it's long history. Does his dominance in his particualr 'sport' warrant him a chance for athlete of the decade? Personally, I dont think so. I started thinking about what should be considered when picking the candidates. Here is what I came up with:

1) Player's dominance of their particular sport. There is always those select few players in each sport that are head and shoulders better than the rest.
2) Competition from players within the sport. How strong is the competition within the sport?
3) Consistancy of Dominace. This athlete should prove time and time again that no matter the circumstances, they are the dominant player period. Dominating one season does not mean anything. Being the best year after year after year.
4) Team sport or Individual? In team sports (basketball, football etc.) your supporting cast is a huge factor in your production. Where in Individual sports (golf, tennis, etc.) its one on one. Your production is the only one that counts.

Obviously there are the players that may suffer an injury and miss significant time that could ultimatley derail their chances. Fact of the matter is, injuries are part of the game. For example, Tom Brady's chances to win the award are hurt because he missed an entire year due to injury. The kicker in this whole debate, is the team sport or individual sport. As stated above, if your playing a team sport, your teammates have much to say about your production. To be considered the best, the player must show that HE himself is largely responsible for the the other players success. Example, whould Marvin Harrison be a great receiver if Peyton Manning isnt putting the ball exactly where it should be everytime? No doubt in mind that Manning made Harrison a GREAT reciever. He would have been good otherwise, but not great. Ok so let me give you the players that were considered and maybe throw some other players that didnt get consideration.

Athletes that recieved Votes:

Tiger Woods: Tiger ultimatley took the award but suprisingly, it wasnt even close. Of the 142 writers that voted for the award, 56 of them went to Woods. Hard to argue with the decision. Put aside the media circus that is going on rigt now, Tiger absolutely dominated the sport on the golf course. He won 56 PGA tours in the decade including an astonishing 12 majors. He also won 3 Grand Slams (winning all 4 majors in one calendar year). Ok, safe to say he dominated his sport for the decade. The competition he was facing is no joke either. He was dismantling the best golfers in the world and making it look easy. However, their wasnt a golfer that challenged Tiger for the best golfer on the planet. Some say that just proves his dominance even more, but I say it hurts him a little. If he had one golfer that challenged him consistantly I would be more for giving Tiger this award. Don't get it twisted, I think he deserves this title maybe more than anybody else. He consistantly was great throughout the decade. The man swept all 4 Majors in 3 different years! Lastly, he plays in a sport where his individual talent is displayed without the help of others to aide him. Heres the kicker with Tiger. How much of an 'Athlete' do you need to be to play golf? Playing golf myself, I can say there are few things harder than playing golf well and doing it consistantly, but if were talking about "Athete of the Decade" are we forgetting the athlete part? Kind of hard to make a case for golfers being athletes when you see John Daily out there teeing it up.

Lance Armstrong: Coming in second place, Armstrong single-handedly put bicycling on the map. He won the Tour de France six times and did so consecutively. No one even knew about the Tour until Lance. Based on my criteria, he dominated his sport and did so decisively. However what about his competion? Can you name another cyclist that participated in the Tour this decade. Didn't think so. Don't feel bad, I couldn't ethier. Now I think what those guys do is amazing. Riding their bikes for thousands of miles and having to do so in a three week period going uphill, downhill, thru inclimate weather. You have to be in damn good shape to compete in the event, let alone win it. With that being said, its bicycling people! I love Lance and what he did to overcome cancer and come back to compete is a great story. He made the most of his fame and does great work thru his organization to help cancer carriers. But second best athlete of our decade? No thanks for me.

Roger Federer: Now this man is an athlete. Playing tennis is no joke. You have to be in great shape and be able think fast and react faster. The level these guys (and girls) play at is incredible. Not much of a tennis fan myself, but I have found myself watching this guy play whenever the opportunity arises. Let me run you some of these sick numbers this man has posted this decade. He played in 21 overall Grand Slam titles, winning a record 15 of them. 22 straight GS semi-final appearances. 237 staight weeks (4.5 years) ranked #1 in the world. 24 staight wins in tournament finals. 65 consective wins on grass. 56 consective on hard court. When Pete Sampras says "What he has done this decade has never been done, and will never happen again" thats saying a little something about this guys dominance. Here is the thing I love about Federer. He has great competition. Rafael Nadal is constantly trying to knock this man off his throne. And each time, Federer continues to show he is the clear number one in his sport. Again, being able to play tennis at this level, you have to be a great athlete. Dont try to convince me otherwise, I wont hear it.

Michael Phelps/Usian Bolt: Ok lets begin with Phelps. Wow, this kid is a freak. No need to explain his accomplishments, they have been well documented. Phelps smoked his competition (along with some grass; sorry couldnt help myself) in the Olympics this decade, and was doing so against the best in the world. Bolt blew us away with his speed and ability to make the fastest sprinters in the world look like a Junior Varsity CC team. Both were superstars of the world while the games were going on. What hurts them is the respected sports they are in. Swimming and Sprinting are not the ideal 'Must see TV' sports. So they get to show off thier excellence only every 4 years. Not gonna cut it in this debate.

Tom Brady: Mr. GQ himself got a little love from the voters. Let me run you some of his absurd numbers. Got drafted in 2000 but didnt play until Drew Bledsoe went down in 2001. Stats: 30,276 yards, 63.3 completion %, 220 TD, 97 INTs, 93.2 QB rating, all in the regular season. Not too shabby. Add 3 Super Bowl wins out of 4 trips, 2 SB MVPs. Brady holds numerous regular season and postseason records, including most touchdown passes in a regular season (50), highest single-game completion percentage, regular season or postseason (26/28, 92.9%), most completions in one Super Bowl, most completions in Super Bowl history (career), the highest winning percentage of any quarterback ever during his first 100 starts (76 wins), and the longest streak of games with 3 or more touchdown passes (10 games). Brady is the fourth-fastest player to reach 200 career passing touchdowns (116 games). He is the first quarterback in NFL history to have reached said mark with under 100 career interceptions (he had 88 interceptions). However, as mentioned in the intro, he missed an entire season and that hurts him.

Players who got no recognition:

I was suprised to not see any of these athletes recieved even one vote!

Peyton Manning: How does Peyton Manning not get one vote? Manning stats since the turn of the decade are ridiculous. 41,659 yards passing, 310 TDs, 64.7% completions, 95.3 QB rating! The one that jumped out at me, he has thrown for over 4,000 yards in every year this decade except one. He failed to win more than 10 games in a season just once! He smokes Brady in every catagory except INTs. So why no love for Manning. His one Super Bowl ring. Great players are measured by the rings they wear. You'd be a fool to think Manning wont win another ring in this career. And have you seen the dudes commericals? Hilarious.

Kobe Bryant: Its no suprise that I am a Kobe fan. Growing up in Southern California, I watched the Lakers back in the 90's when Nick Van Exel, Eddie Jones and Elden Campbell played in the Forum. Watching Kobe as a young and dumb player throwing up airballs in the playoffs to what he is doing now is phenomenal. This guy has the "It" factor that makes players great. He's also the most hated player in all of sports, and he wouldnt have it any other way. His numbers back up his greatness. Just in the decade, 21,758 points for an average of over 28ppg in the regular season and keeping the pace in the playoffs with a 27ppg average. 4 NBA titles in 5 attempts, one Finals MVP, and the owner of a 81 point game, which ranks as the second total number of points ever scored in an NBA game. Not just an offensive machine either. 9 out of 10 years he made the All-Defensive NBA team, 7 of those years making the First team. The one knock on him, was if he could win a title without Shaq and he proved so last June and looks to continue to do so.

Albert Pujols: King Albert was the one player I thought of that should be in the Top 3 atleast. Since coming into the league in 2001, he has been nothing short of spectacular. By the time this guy is done doing damage, which doesnt look very soon, we could be witnessing one of the greatest players ever to play the sport. Easily the most feared hitter in baseball, he is also is Mr. Iron Man, missing just 59 games out of 1458. For you baseball junkies out there, check out these sick digits he posting. .334 career batting average, including two season when he hit over .357! Averaging almost 41 HRs and over 123 RBI a year over the course of the decade. 3 NL MVP awards, batting title, Gold Glove winner. In an era where Steriods skew the numbers, Pujols is putting up these monster numbers, and doing it clean.