Your Favorite Athletes

[QUOTE="hockey73"]Joe Sakic Pavel Datsyuk Hidetoshi Nakata Michael Jordan Alexander Ovechkin Sidney Crosbyragek1ll589

An Avs fan with a Red Wing listed as one of his favorite athletes...

And I thought I was the only Avs fan who had no animosity towards Detroit :P

Hines Ward is my favorite athlete of all time, because he is the reason I ended up playing football in the first place. Not to mention how tough of a player he is.

Rest of the list: Jerome Bettis, Antwaan Randle El, Willie Parker, Troy Polamalu, Lamaar Woodley, James Harrison, Barry Sanders, Joe Montana, Peyton Manning, Walter Payton, and a few others..

And thats just football :P

Scott Hartnell, Teemu Selanni, Brian Gianta, and Jaroslav Halak.

Thread needs some youtube action.

Pavel Dastsyuk because he has the best hands in the NHL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xH08Kvwu9Og&feature=PlayList&p=41BAF05A63EC0C5B&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCKLRkqvCdM&feature=related

There is a disturbing lack of Cowboys fans in this thread. :P

Thread needs some youtube action.

Pavel Dastsyuk because he has the best hands in the NHL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xH08Kvwu9Og&feature=PlayList&p=41BAF05A63EC0C5B&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCKLRkqvCdM&feature=related

cody3232

Dennis Rodman highlight mix

Rodman and Jordan were my favorite childhood players. My mom hated Rodman though :lol:

From any sport of course, list off the ones who were your favorites, from your childhood and today.

I'll post just basketball ones for now since I know that sport the best. I've watched it since I can remember and played it for a decade now.

Dennis Rodman

Michael Jordan

Dwyane Wade

Paul Pierce

Rajon Rondo

Kevin Garnett

Kevin Durant

Russel Westbrook

Allen Iverson (From the 90s early 00s)

Toriko42

i agree with all urs :)

Kurt Warner

Yeah I love the Red Sox :P

XD4NTESINF3RNOX

Thugs.

Saku Koivu (NHL)

Ana Ivanovic :oops: (Tennis)

Patrick Carpentier (Motorsports)

Jacques Villeneuve (Motorsports)

Roger Federer (Tennis)

Steve Nash (NBA)

Yao Ming (NBA)

Hometown Heroes: Zdeno Chara, Marc Savard, Celtics Big 4 (Allen, Pierce, Garnett, Rondo), Dustin Pedroia, David Ortiz, Tom Brady, Wes Welker, Randy Moss.

Others Cities. Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Pat Kane, Drew Doughty, Ryan Miller, Chris "Birdman" Andersen, Ichiro Suzuki

Athletes I Hate: Alex Rodriguez, Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, Alex Ovechkin, Phil Kessel, Marian Hossa, Jorge Posada, the Manning Borthers

Thread needs some youtube action.

Pavel Dastsyuk because he has the best hands in the NHL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xH08Kvwu9Og&feature=PlayList&p=41BAF05A63EC0C5B&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCKLRkqvCdM&feature=related

cody3232

I love watching him play. He makes players look like idiots with his hands.

Matt Kemp
Albert Pujols
Lionel Messi
Xavi Hernandez

Former: Wayne Gretzky

Current: Henrik Sedin

basketball: kobe bryant, tyreke evans, dwyane wade, derick rose, deron williams, steve nash, ray allen

soccer: cuactemoc blanco, steven gerrard, lionel messi, andres guardado, rafael marquez, andres iniesta, xavi

football: ladanian tomlinson, drew brees, donovan mcnabb

hockey: sucks

baseball: suck even more

tennis: federer

golf: tiger, mickelson

[QUOTE="cybrcatter"]This thread should be called: "where are you from: Sports edition"rawsavon

Rafael Nadal

Football- Donovan McNabb

Basketball- Hakeem "The Dream" Olajuwon. As Charles Barkley said: "When Michael Jordan retired that first time, we found out who the 2nd-best player in the NBA was"

Baseball- Chipper Jones

Don't really care about any other sports.

Michael Vick, because I hate how people value dogs more than people nowadays. If your dog ever bites me, I'm going to break its neck right then and there and eat it.

2-10-08

Childhood Favorite: Pedro Martinez

Current Favorite: Tom Brady (hometown), Joe Mauer (other)

Stockton and Malone

Donyell Marshall

Tim Duncan

Mehmet okur

Football players:

Miro Klose

Lukas Podolski

in his prime and

currently the great - Hansi Krankl

Ali Daei - the all time goal scorer for Team Mell -

too bad he is playing for my sides (Esteghlal Tehran) biggest rival (Persepolis)

Adem Yze my favourite Australian footballer

These folks :

Lewis Hamilton

Jenson Button

Both amazing on and off the track. And yes, it is not because they are seated the whole time that they are not athlete. They have to be extremely fit, have superb reflexes, be very smart and strategic, be able to withstand temperatures of upward of 45 degrees Celsius for up to two hours while driving at 300 km/h.

Well I'm an LA guy so here goes: Kobe Bryant, Magic Johnson (no one put him yet, how does that happen?), Shaq, James Worthy, Pau Gasol, Michael Cooper, Byron Scott, Kareem, Derek Fisher (sorry celts fans, by default I respect but hate that whole team, except for Rick Fox, we made him ours)

San Diego Chargers: my adopted team since I watched LT first suit up. Antonio Gates, Juniur Seau (even though he went to the hated Patriots), Rodney Harrison (see Junior Seau), Vincent Jackson (please don't trade him),

Non homer favorites: Anderson Silva (pre-dogging it), Rampage Jackson, Drew Brees, Donovan McNabb (this guy gets no respect...), Peyton Manning female tennis players (though women's volleyball comes close ;)), Steve Nash, Michael Jordan, and because LT moved on to the Jets I'm starting to really like this team (Rex Ryan is my favorite coach in the NFL right now)

Lebron James

Joe Montana

Steve Young

Jerry Rice

Usian Bolt

Adrian Peterson

John Lynch

Mike Tyson - My personal Favorite

Diego Corrales

Cassius Clay

Rafael Nadal

Anderson Silva

Ken Shamrock

At his peak of course, when he was Iron Mike

chipper jones, even though he's a scrub now

andruw jones, when he was good and didn't suck

and marlon byrd, cause i know him and his parents ;)

also, this picture is just epic

Hulk Hogan.

Mick Foley.

• Penny Hardaway --- My favorite player growing up. Been a Magic fan ever since those old days with Penny.
• Michael Jordan --- Self explanatory. Even though he was a huge rival of the Magic when they had Shaq and Penny, his game demanded respect. As a basketball fan and regardless of which team you root for, there's no denying his game.
• Fred Taylor --- Most underrated runningback of all-time. Period. If he played in a bigger market than Jacksonville (in his prime) he would be a household name.
• Tim Tebow, Percy Harvin, Al Horford, Joakim Noah, Corey Brewer --- Listed them all together since they are all Florida Gators. The three championships I got to witness as a student at UF will always be something I remember.
• Dwight Howard --- The face of the Magic nowadays...
• Darrell Armstrong --- The definition of heart and hustle
• Maurice Jones-Drew --- He's a pinball, enough said
• Tracy McGrady (in his Magic days) --- I'm not a big fan of him anymore for obvious reasons but I was a huge fan of him while he was on the Magic so I figured he deserved a mention. Remember the days when he was All NBA First Team and he was actually on Kobe's level...

I enjoy watching plenty of other players but I wouldn't exactly call them my favorites. It's tough for me to call someone my favorite when they don't play for my favorite team...

• Tracy McGrady (in his Magic days) --- I'm not a big fan of him anymore for obvious reasons but I was a huge fan of him while he was on the Magic so I figured he deserved a mention. Remember the days when he was All NBA First Team and he was actually on Kobe's level...

I enjoy watching plenty of other players but I wouldn't exactly call them my favorites. It's tough for me to call someone my favorite when they don't play for my favorite team...

Orlando_Magic

I loved your list, but I find this last part debatable...

• Penny Hardaway --- My favorite player growing up. Been a Magic fan ever since those old days with Penny.
• Michael Jordan --- Self explanatory. Even though he was a huge rival of the Magic when they had Shaq and Penny, his game demanded respect. As a basketball fan and regardless of which team you root for, there's no denying his game.
• Fred Taylor --- Most underrated runningback of all-time. Period. If he played in a bigger market than Jacksonville (in his prime) he would be a household name.
• Tim Tebow, Percy Harvin, Al Horford, Joakim Noah, Corey Brewer --- Listed them all together since they are all Florida Gators. The three championships I got to witness as a student at UF will always be something I remember.
• Dwight Howard --- The face of the Magic nowadays...
• Darrell Armstrong --- The definition of heart and hustle
• Maurice Jones-Drew --- He's a pinball, enough said
• Tracy McGrady (in his Magic days) --- I'm not a big fan of him anymore for obvious reasons but I was a huge fan of him while he was on the Magic so I figured he deserved a mention. Remember the days when he was All NBA First Team and he was actually on Kobe's level...

I enjoy watching plenty of other players but I wouldn't exactly call them my favorites. It's tough for me to call someone my favorite when they don't play for my favorite team...

Orlando_Magic

I'd say TMac was probably better then Kobe from 00-03. Don't say in front of the Laker fans though, lol. Hardaway was a really fun player to watch though.

From his NBA Jam fame of course.

[QUOTE="Orlando_Magic"]

• Tracy McGrady (in his Magic days) --- I'm not a big fan of him anymore for obvious reasons but I was a huge fan of him while he was on the Magic so I figured he deserved a mention. Remember the days when he was All NBA First Team and he was actually on Kobe's level...

I enjoy watching plenty of other players but I wouldn't exactly call them my favorites. It's tough for me to call someone my favorite when they don't play for my favorite team...

theycallmeRP

I loved your list, but I find this last part debatable...

Kobe and Tmac were pretty close during the first 3 years Mcgrady was in Orlando. McGrady put up great stats the 4th year but there's no excuse for posting a 21-61 record. Most people still considered Kobe better but it was still up for debate and a hot topic until that 21-61 year. Both of them were the two most exciting, and best, wing players in the NBA at the time.

2001-2002 season ----- McGrady finished 4th in MVP voting; Kobe finished 5th in MVP voting
Tracy McGrady: 25.6 ppg (45.1% FG 36.4% 3PT) 7.8 rpg 5.3 apg 1.6 blks 1.0 stls
Kobe Bryant: 25.2 ppg (46.9% FG 24.0% 3PT) 5.5 rpg 5.5 apg 1.5 blks 0.4 stls

2002-2003 season ----- McGrady finished 4th in MVP voting; Kobe finished 3rd in MVP voting
Tracy Mcgrady: 32.1 ppg (45.7% FG 38.6% 3PT) 6.5 rpg 5.5 apg 1.6 stls 0.8blks
Kobe Bryant: 30.0 ppg (45.1% FG 38.3% 3PT) 6.9 rpg 5.9apg 2.2 stls 0.8 blks

There were definitely a couple of years where McGrady was better than Kobe. No doubt about it. He just couldn't keep it up and have the lasting success that Kobe has had.

[QUOTE="theycallmeRP"]

[QUOTE="Orlando_Magic"]

• Tracy McGrady (in his Magic days) --- I'm not a big fan of him anymore for obvious reasons but I was a huge fan of him while he was on the Magic so I figured he deserved a mention. Remember the days when he was All NBA First Team and he was actually on Kobe's level...

I enjoy watching plenty of other players but I wouldn't exactly call them my favorites. It's tough for me to call someone my favorite when they don't play for my favorite team...

Orlando_Magic

I loved your list, but I find this last part debatable...

Kobe and Tmac were pretty close during the first 3 years Mcgrady was in Orlando. McGrady put up great stats the 4th year but there's no excuse for posting a 21-61 record. Most people still considered Kobe better but it was still up for debate and a hot topic until that 21-61 year. Both of them were the two most exciting, and best, wing players in the NBA at the time.

2001-2002 season ----- McGrady finished 4th in MVP voting; Kobe finished 5th in MVP voting
Tracy McGrady: 25.6 ppg (45.1% FG 36.4% 3PT) 7.8 rpg 5.3 apg 1.6 blks 1.0 stls
Kobe Bryant: 25.2 ppg (46.9% FG 24.0% 3PT) 5.5 rpg 5.5 apg 1.5 blks 0.4 stls

2002-2003 season ----- McGrady finished 4th in MVP voting; Kobe finished 3rd in MVP voting
Tracy Mcgrady: 32.1 ppg (45.7% FG 38.6% 3PT) 6.5 rpg 5.5 apg 1.6 stls 0.8blks
Kobe Bryant: 30.0 ppg (45.1% FG 38.3% 3PT) 6.9 rpg 5.9apg 2.2 stls 0.8 blks

IVerson was in the same tier too at the time.

[This message was deleted at the request of the original poster]magnax1

I think Iverson was in his own tier for a few years. If you recall the roster that the 2001 Sixers team had, it's unreal that they made the Finals and handed the Lakers their only loss that whole postseason. A.I. was maybe the best player in the league at that time. He was certainly the most valuable to his team for several years.

Lebron James.

[QUOTE="magnax1"][This message was deleted at the request of the original poster]hartsickdiscipl

I think Iverson was in his own tier for a few years. If you recall the roster that the 2001 Sixers team had, it's unreal that they made the Finals and handed the Lakers their only loss that whole postseason. A.I. was maybe the best player in the league at that time. He was certainly the most valuable to his team for several years.

[QUOTE="hartsickdiscipl"]

[QUOTE="magnax1"][This message was deleted at the request of the original poster]Toriko42

I think Iverson was in his own tier for a few years. If you recall the roster that the 2001 Sixers team had, it's unreal that they made the Finals and handed the Lakers their only loss that whole postseason. A.I. was maybe the best player in the league at that time. He was certainly the most valuable to his team for several years.

Very true, and he played one of the best individual finals of any player I remember watching. He had great defenders like Snow and Mutumbo, but I think he was the only player that even averaged above 15 ppg. Definitely an amazing run.

In no particular order:

Bobby Orr

Wayne Gretzky

Steve Yzerman

Patrick Marleau

Evgeni Nabokov

Joe Thornton

Dan Boyle

Mohammed Ali I would say. Not sure if you'd really include street fighting, but hell I'll throw in the Guv'ner Lenny Mclean - quite an interesting life...

Tiger

Lowdesy

I'll add another non-NBA one

Ronaldo