What sport has the best athletes?

[Ggallagher]

IDK about rugby (never watched it) but everytime I watch soccer I see them faking injuries and pretending to be hurt after the slightest touch. Yes they have endurance to jog up and down a field (some touch the ball more than others), but what would happen to their fragile bodies if they took a REAL hit from say, Jadaveon Clowney? That endurance might be null and void.

Fair point on the soccer acting though many players go through entire games without shenanigans like that. But in rugby they do take hits - and without the benefit of wearing body armor. Just shorts and tee shirts.

Plus in rugby there's no offensive and defensive teams. Everyone plays offense and defense. There's no time between "plays" - it's continuous action. And there's no pause on a change of possession. So I expect their endurance may be well above what's common for many NFL players.

[jimsumner]

Fair point on the soccer acting though many players go through entire games without shenanigans like that. But in rugby they do take hits - and without the benefit of wearing body armor. Just shorts and tee shirts.

Plus in rugby there's no offensive and defensive teams. Everyone plays offense and defense. There's no time between "plays" - it's continuous action. And there's no pause on a change of possession. So I expect their endurance may be well above what's common for many NFL players.

Many of the soccer players faking injuries are doing so because they are trying to con the referee into carding an opponent. Many, not all.

[cato]

IDK about rugby (never watched it) but everytime I watch soccer I see them faking injuries and pretending to be hurt after the slightest touch. Yes they have endurance to jog up and down a field (some touch the ball more than others), but what would happen to their fragile bodies if they took a REAL hit from say, Jadaveon Clowney? That endurance might be null and void.

Soccer is very much a contact sport. The dives are driven by the rewards of getting a call, not the lack of toughness of the players.

[Phredd3]

Soccer is very much a contact sport. The dives are driven by the rewards of getting a call, not the lack of toughness of the players.

Also, not all the injuries are fake. I would say the majority of soccer players suffer a multi-month leg injury at least once in their career, often several times or chronically. The diving is a problem because part of the ref's job is to protect the game from rampant real injuries.

[niveklaen]

I will vote for Olympic Decathlete gold winners as the best athletes in the world.

[Edouble]

I will vote for Olympic Decathlete gold winners as the best athletes in the world.

OP is using the decathlon as a point of reference.

Consider if you took the 20 best athletes from each sport and gave them a month to train for a decathlon, which sport would have the best overall score? Same scenario but randomly choose 20 players from each league to compete. Or how about 20 all stars from each league to compete, which league wins?

[Acymetric]

I will vote for Olympic Decathlete gold winners as the best athletes in the world.

OP is using the decathlon as a point of reference.

I don't mean to cast aspersions on decathletes, but while they might be some of the most well rounded athletes, if they were actually the best athletes they would probably be able to participate in more lucrative sports instead.

[sagegrouse]

I don't mean to cast aspersions on decathletes, but while they might be some of the most well rounded athletes, if they were actually the best athletes they would probably be able to participate in more lucrative sports instead.

I dunno, Acymetric. Hasn't Bruce Jenner racked it up?

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

I dunno, Acymetric. Hasn't Bruce Jenner racked it up?

Oy...

[wavedukefan70s]

Wrestlers are pretty complete athletes.combination of quickness strength toughness and endurance.

[niveklaen]

OP is using the decathlon as a point of reference.

lol - thats what I get for jumping in on the last page of a thread and not starting at the beginning...

[devil84]

I'd throw triathletes into the discussion. They have to be solid swimmers, cyclists, and runners. The three disciplines cover a total distance of 30.2 to 140.6 miles depending on the event. The record times are under just under 2 hours for the 30.2 Olympic distance to 8:14 for the 140.6 (full Ironman distance: 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride, followed by a full 26.2 mile marathon). There are no timeouts or anything that stops the clock, not even the transition between the disciplines. A good time for a good-to-average competitor in an Ironman is 11-13 hours and the cutoff is 17 hours. The athletes are moving for the entirety of their race (unless they're content with the clock still running while they rest).

[OldPhiKap]

I dunno, Acymetric. Hasn't Bruce Jenner racked it up?

Or did Jenner go bust?

[91devil]

No mention of professional cyclists? On the long tours, those guys are burning ridiculous volume of calories and exhibiting tremendous endurance. It’s like running a marathon every day for three weeks.

The non-dopers. Though even the cheaters are world class athletes.

[mkirsh]

I'd throw triathletes into the discussion. They have to be solid swimmers, cyclists, and runners. The three disciplines cover a total distance of 30.2 to 140.6 miles depending on the event. The record times are under just under 2 hours for the 30.2 Olympic distance to 8:14 for the 140.6 (full Ironman distance: 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride, followed by a full 26.2 mile marathon). There are no timeouts or anything that stops the clock, not even the transition between the disciplines. A good time for a good-to-average competitor in an Ironman is 11-13 hours and the cutoff is 17 hours. The athletes are moving for the entirety of their race (unless they're content with the clock still running while they rest).

“I play real sports. I’m not trying to be the best at exercising.”
- Kenny Powers

[niveklaen]

“I play real sports. I’m not trying to be the best at exercising.”
- Kenny Powers

OMG - I am totally stealing that the next time I get stuck talking to a cross-fitter

[wavedukefan70s]

“I play real sports. I’m not trying to be the best at exercising.”
- Kenny Powers

Danny Mcbride makes some funny shows.my son was a extra in the righteous Gemstones a while back.
He was in the opening scene but you cant see him.
They were in some kind of fake giant asian only baptism in a pool.

Its a funny scene .sure wish he was visible .

[Edouble]

OMG - I am totally stealing that the next time I get stuck talking to a cross-fitter

Being good at exercising is an insult?

[rsvman]

I think American football players are being a bit unfairly maligned in this thread. Granted, some of the offensive lineman don't look like the most athletic guys in the world, but many of them are world-class athletes. Thinking about the decathlon, I am pretty sure that a guy like Derrick Henry could be pretty good with some training in some of the "field" categories. Taysom Hill might be pretty competitive, too. A guy like Montez Sweat would also likely be very good. There are many more.

Just because there are pauses between plays doesn't mean they aren't good athletes, or aren't fit. It's the nature of the game. During the action, the exertion level is pretty impressive, especially for the pass rushers. Boxing has been heralded as one of the sports that uses the most effort/exertion, and they get to take a break between rounds.

[sagegrouse]

I think American football players are being a bit unfairly maligned in this thread. Granted, some of the offensive lineman don't look like the most athletic guys in the world, but many of them are world-class athletes. Thinking about the decathlon, I am pretty sure that a guy like Derrick Henry could be pretty good with some training in some of the "field" categories. Taysom Hill might be pretty competitive, too. A guy like Montez Sweat would also likely be very good. There are many more.

Just because there are pauses between plays doesn't mean they aren't good athletes, or aren't fit. It's the nature of the game. During the action, the exertion level is pretty impressive, especially for the pass rushers. Boxing has been heralded as one of the sports that uses the most effort/exertion, and they get to take a break between rounds.

Which sport has the best athletes? Well, since track and field in the Olympics is called "Athletics," then they are either the automatic winners or automatically DQed. I wouldn't give much credit -- in the thread, at least -- to people who practice athletic moves for the end in itself; I think the question implies those who are great athletes playing a team sport where there are skills not typically thought as "athletic." Hitting a baseball, for example.

The difficult thing in assessing football, IMHO (where the H got throttled by my football coach in HS), is that it is a sport with a lot of specialists. Offense-defense, QB vs. everyone else; O line; defensive backs, etc.

SI did an article 50 or so years ago on this topic. They really dissed baseball players -- "only one in 200 can do a one-armed chin-up." today, baseball players, as well as pros in every team sport, are well-conditioned athletes who train year-around.

I don't have an answer -- but I wouldn't include track and field in the competition.