I read the yahoo linked article yesterday. I have been a Kelly Slater fan for years, his skill is just amazing!

The biggest thing that stands out when comparing Kelly to those pictured is that Kelly's sport is in an uncontrolled environment. Jordon played on a basketball court. Rice played on a football field and so on.

Kelly does his thing in a constantly moving and changing environment often under extreme conditions. What sets him apart is the ability to adapt and navigate that environment AND do it better than anyone else whether it's free surfing or on his way to an unprecedented 10th world title. Keep in mind that surfing isn't a team sport and he earned all those titles on his own.

Jordon plays for a few minutes and then sits on the bench while the officials call a time out so they can go to commercial. Jordon gets up and runs on a flat, stationary floor and shoots towards a stationary basket that is in the same place the whole time he plays. If he is injured he has help at the sideline.

Jordon is the best at what he did and I loved watching him but in terms of athleticism he along with the others just don't stack up to what Kelly does.

Surprised nobody mentioned his list of hot GF's

Kelly Slaters Gf's :thumbsup:thumbsup

I did in post #40 :thumbsup

Did you not read my post? Then why are you posting the same thing? I'm an athlete but I'm not a good swimmer. Being a good swimmer doesn't mean you're a great athlete, so what does me having trouble "paddling" have to do with my athleticism?

And that's the 3rd time you're getting it wrong. I'm saying there are 100 athletes in those 4 sports combined that are better athletes than slater. And LOL@comparing Slater to the likes of MJ, Ronaldo, Jerry Rice, etc. I'm sure he would never put himself in that category.

But being a good basketball player does?

Sorry, when I read this
I must have misunderstood.

and with this, I will agree with you. Slater is far too humble to wade into that sort of debate.

Name me a good basketball player who isn't a good athlete.




Get off his jock strap, you're not his psychologist.

I was comparing your ideas that if you are a good swimmer, you are not a good athlete, but being a good basketball player means you are a good athlete. Obviously we have different opinions on the definition. Still, you being a "pretty good" surfer, I am surprised to hear you don't find the abilities necessary to be a great surfer "athletic".



wtf?

I was expecting a girl too :(

Im back to say it again. Anyone here wighing in who has never surfed needs to just quite down lol

Believe me Kelly can go shoot a jump shot. Put Jordan out in 5 ft pipe even. He would flat out drown , and Slater rides that shit 20+

All you internet surfers, recognize. Real surfing is the hardest sport to learn. Fact.
Second fact. Kelly Slater is the most dominant force ever at the hardest sport. End of story. Kelly Slater is the greatest athlete on the planet. He is super man on a wave.

Pass what you're smoking Jesse.

truth! - there is not even a close second.

Kelly is a girls name

I'm sorry, but it still surprises me that anyone who is a pretty good surfer, and you have told us you are, would not give the sport more respect. Could I ask, do you surf shortboards or longboards? Just curious.

You're continually using strawman arguments. I never said it wasn't a tough sport. I'm disputing all the hype and exaggeration you guys are giving it.

I don't deny Slater's greatness.

But if you want to talk about a truly remarkable dominance in a sport that requires probably the most dedication of any, Phelps tops the list. I swam competitively for 17 years on an International level and the insanely difficult task to dominate in a fashion in which Phelps ruled the pool for the past 10 years is staggering.

http://home-gym-fitness-equipment.co...ael-phelps.jpg

If Phelps entered the IRONMAN triathlon this year do you think he would win and if he didn't win would you then consider the IRONMAN winner the better athlete?

I think we are going to agree to disagree. You don't feel that a great surfer is a great athlete like a great basketball player or tennis player is a great athlete (by a large count, according to your "100 people in any sport that are more "athletic" than him" quote). Fine.

I am still curious what kind of board you ride. Where do you surf? I haven't been in the water in months...:(

There's a place in Galveston where you can surf and I just rent a board. I didn't say I was good, I'm ok enough to stand on the damn thing. There's some waves here but not as much as Hawaii or Australia.

That is an incredibly stupid question. Pitting people against each other who don't train for the other's sport is retarded. Phelps doesn't train for ultra-endurance events. An Ironman winner will be blown to shits in the 200m Free. What is your point?

I was pointing out the dominance within a specific sport, in this case swimming and Phelps achieved greatness that has been unheard of until he entered the picture.

Coming to think of it, comparing athletes and their achievements against other sports is entirely retarded.

You beat me to it, but you're a fellow swimmer...so it's all good.

If Phelps dominates for another decade he will approach Slaters standing as one of the worlds greatest athletes.

And they might one day be in the same category as a Jordan, Rice, Pele.

Ah, Texas...tough place to get waves. I always thought it would be a neat experience to try that tanker surfing...




And you did say you were good..


Anyway, it was my bad, you did give surfing its props.


have a good one.

http://images1.fanpop.com/images/ima...45_576_384.jpg

the OP at one of my favorite spots in Banda Aceh, Indo - 3 guys out all day

http://i912.photobucket.com/albums/a.../NIRVANAsm.jpg

hey man, I already said I havn't been in the water in months...you trying to make me more depressed:upsidedow

...nice wave though....

What's your criteria for "best athlete ever". Speed? strength? endurance?

greatness doesn't necessarily have to involve those qualities although Slaters speed, strength and endurance are phenomenal - it's about legendary status with regards to greats from other sports. Tiger Woods could someday go down as the all time greatest.

Did you read the article?
http://www.grindtv.com/surf/blog/205...o%20seriously/

When I think of greatest athletes ever. I would consider bo jackson, an athlete that excelled in two professional sports.

Everyone has their own criteria, and i'm not hating on slater he's the best at what he does.

There's nothing wrong with saying Phelps dominates his respective sport but this discussion is about the all around greatest athlete not the greatest athlete in their respective sport.

My point was a triathlon has swimming, running and cycling.

Phelps dominates in swimming which is one third of a triathlon.

He might win the swimming portion but would probably get beat in the other two. So my point was the all around better athlete would be the overall winner of the triathlon.


However, if you want to compare Phelps career against Slater's career, Kelly smokes him by a mile :thumbsup

What's a nice Jewish boy like you doing growing up in Galveston, TX Mr. Demon?

No wonder your mind is so twisted and warped and your crazed racist and religious zealot ideology is always changing as if you're a schizophrenic.

You're from the greatest white trash backward inbred dumbfuck capital of the world. You should support your Governors efforts to break away from the US, please leave... no one wants Texas. (sorry Austin, you guys are cool)

Oh and Texas waves and surfers are the biggest jokes of the surfing world.

slater gets shacked in Indo

sorry but this Kelly person (whoever he is?) cannot be the greatest athelete in the world. simply because hardly anyone surfs compared to other sports, if it was a massive sport and the cometition was great AND he still stood head and shoulders over eveyone else then he would have a claim, until then ....

ever been to Australia?

Good point. How many pro surfers are there?

Why cut off my quote mid way through the sentence? Read it as it should be and it'll make sense, how many aussies play rugby, football, drinking, aussie football, ect compared to surfing?

best surfer ever? definitely.... best athlete ever? no

not that he is not an amazing athlete, but there is no "best athlete ever"... just impossible to compare athletes from different sports

jordan, rice, slater, bonds, woods.... add whoever you want to to that list, they are all among the top 1% of the top 1%, but you can never compare their skills, or athletic abilities.

but yeah... he definitely amazes me in the water.

and yes, if you give me 100 swings i could hit a 90 mph fastball

if you gave me 1,000 attempts at being towed into one of those waves i would probably be dead after the 1st attempt

The great one says hi

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_uE1n8xARdX...e+Gretzky3.jpg

How can you even judge a person if you have no idea who he is or what he's done or the sport that he participates in. It would be like giving a review of a movie that you have neither seen or heard of.

This was about who is the greatest athlete NOT who is the greatest competitor. There's a huge difference and many here are not making that distinction.

I think people are tying the sport too much into the athlete and that's not the best way to compare. To find the greatest athlete you would have to objectively separate him from his respective sport and see what other skills he has that makes him an all around athlete. That's why I made the comparison between Phelps and a triathlon competitor. Phelps is the best at swimming but probably sucks at running and other disciplines so there is no way he could be considered the greatest athlete.

A more efficient way would be to have a selection of athletes like Jordon, Rice, Bonds and Slater and put them through a series of athletic challenges much like a decathlon to determine their overall abilities. Of course many of those athletes are past their prime so you would have to consider what they did while at their best.

Once you've determined who is the most athletic in that way then you could add what they have accomplished in their professional career and by mixing the two a conclusion could be ascertained as to who is the greatest athlete.

Actually it might make for a very entertaining reality show with that format :winkwink:

other then this being one of the dumbest threads, compared to atleast 5-10 other people who played 2 professional sports (ex. Michael Jordan, Bo Jackson, Deon Sanders..) You are listing a surfer as the greatest athlete. Yea that makes sense. Do you know how many people want to become major league baseball players or soccor players or football players then want to become surfers? Not saying he is not great. But the success rate would be drastically higher.

Anyhow. My pick is not Kelly Slater. It is A.C. Slater for athlete of the century.

http://images.starpulse.com/news/media/AC-Slater.jpg

By the same token, saying this Kelly bloke is the best athelete ever is the same as saying that you just watched your first ever film (say Independence Day, LOL!) and declaring it the best film ever.

using that logic, then the greatest soccer player would be the worlds greatest athlete, followed by the greatest cricket player...since those are the two most played sports in the world.

What I found interesting in the article was that it was asking what athlete has dominated his or her sport for as long as Slater. In a 20 year career (minus 3 years when he "retired" after winning 5 in a row) he has won 9 world championships and is currently ranked 1st once again with 4 contests to go.

Ultimately, there can never be a single "greatest", as Campimp said. But I certainly think Slater could be in that group of greatest.

We are agreed then? Pele is the world's greatest athelete :)

...or is it Maradona...:upsidedow

...either way, Sir Donald Bradman must be number 2!!!

You make great sense my friend. Both points you made about not being able to pick a best athlete ever and your point about hitting a fast ball and dying on a huge wave are true.

Lets do some business sometime.

After coming out of the tube at teahupoo Kelly popped the top on a can of Foster's and celebrated another ride.

(not my pic)
http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2005/..._430x303,1.jpg

Originally Posted by campimp

"and yes, if you give me 100 swings i could hit a 90 mph fastball

if you gave me 1,000 attempts at being towed into one of those waves i would probably be dead after the 1st attempt"

great quote!

It's really to hard to compare atheletes in so many fields. I would say he's among the best