SI names Federer 'Athlete of the Decade'

M

Moose Malloy

G.O.A.T.
1. Roger Federer

Fifteen Grand Slam titles; ranked No. 1 for a record 237 consecutive weeks

2. Tiger Woods

Twelve major championships; first athlete with $1 billion in earnings

3. Lance Armstrong

(above) Winner of decade's first six Tours de France

4. Michael Phelps

With 14 gold medals, the most decorated Olympian ever

5. Kobe Bryant

Four NBA titles and the leading scorer of the 2000s

6. Albert Pujols

Only big leaguer ever with 30 home runs in each of first nine seasons

7. Tom Brady

Three Super Bowl victories, and the NFL single-season record for TD passes (50)

8. Usain Bolt

First male to hold Olympic and world titles in both the 100- and 200-meter sprints simultaneously

9. Serena Williams

Eleven Grand Slam singles titles; five tenures as world No. 1

10. Jimmie Johnson

Only NASCAR driver with four straight Cup championships
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http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1164270/index.htm

didn't get the cover though:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/cover/featured/11375/index.htm
 
Great to see Federer finally get some respect here in America. They were doing milestones of the decade on ESPN the other day, and Fed's 15 didn't even get a mention.
 
Shame you can't really put much credence in the list. It's the "Athlete of the Decade" seen through the eyes of the American sporting fan, which is fine. It means nothing to me personally though.
 
Feña14 said:
Shame you can't really put much credence in the list. It's the "Athlete of the Decade" seen through the eyes of the American sporting fan, which is fine. It means nothing to me personally though.
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That is exactly it. People should also learn how to distinguish between an athlete and a sportsman.
 
Feña14 said:
Shame you can't really put much credence in the list. It's the "Athlete of the Decade" seen through the eyes of the American sporting fan, which is fine. It means nothing to me personally though.
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Agreed. When you have a golfer and a race car drive in the top 10... all credibility goes out the window.

How many more of these bogus 'top 10 athletes of the decade' will we have to suffer through?
 
am surprised that nadal is not top of the list...coz listening to some expert analysers (aka sampras ****s) on this board, you would think nadal is a better player than rog :)
 
Federer deserves it. It's a pretty silly list though when Kobe is #5 and Tim Duncan doesn't even crack the top 10.
 
Kobe needs a great team to win, duncan makes the team great. Duncan is without question the best bball player of the decade. He doesnt even get bs calls like lebraun and kobe, still wins.

Brady should of been higher than the baseball player, big deal he hit homeruns in a juiced ball era. They won like 1 ws, whoopee.

Tiger, lance and jimmie all need a seperate catagory for their sport. We dont include strongman contestents either, a sport requires skill and athletic ability, not just one of the two.

Track and field is as cool as boxing in todays world. He can run in a straight line, thats a drunk test not a sport.
 
Chadwixx said:
Kobe needs a great team to win, duncan makes the team great. Duncan is without question the best bball player of the decade. He doesnt even get bs calls like lebraun and kobe, still wins.

Brady should of been higher than the baseball player, big deal he hit homeruns in a juiced ball era. They won like 1 ws, whoopee.

Tiger, lance and jimmie all need a seperate catagory for their sport. We dont include strongman contestents either, a sport requires skill and athletic ability, not just one of the two.

Track and field is as cool as boxing in todays world. He can run in a straight line, thats a drunk test not a sport.
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You went too far on the last one. How is a track and field guy not an athlete. That's the most ******** logic I've heard. "It's just a drunk test"? What a dumb answer.
 
How does his skill rate any higher than lances?

Edit: Was lookin at it from a sport perspective instead of atheltic, putting lance and the runner back.

Nascar driver is by far the oddest for an athele list, golf isnt too far behind when tiger wins a major with a broken leg, barely beating a 70 year old.
 
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Chadwixx said:
How does his skill rate any higher than lances?

Edit: Was lookin at it from a sport perspective instead of atheltic, putting lance and the runner back.

Nascar driver is by far the oddest for an athele list, golf isnt too far behind when tiger wins a major with a broken leg, barely beating a 70 year old.
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Rocco Mediate isn't 70. :?
 
Roger's Slam record will get broken someday probably. But his record of semi's or better in consecutive slams is just mind boggling. That one might stand for a 100 years or two.
 
prosealster said:
am surprised that nadal is not top of the list...coz listening to some expert analysers (aka sampras ****s) on this board, you would think nadal is a better player than rog :)
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Well, the selection was made by relatively sane and sensible people, not fanboys indulging in their fantasies. :)
 
mtommer said:
I can't believe they put Fed and Tiger over Armstrong. One Tour De France is worth 4 grand slams.
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:roll:

This will come as a surprise to you, but there are three important events in cycling, not one; the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia, and Vuelta a España make up the Grand Tour of cycling (similar to the four majors making up the "Grand Slam" in tennis and golf). While Amstrong has won a record seven straight Tour de France titles (six this decade), he has won exactly zero Giro d'Italias and zero Vuelta a Españas. As someone else aptly said in another topic, it would be like if Federer won seven straight Wimbledons and nothing else - how high would we regard him? Pretty high if he was American, perhaps, but he wouldn't fair so well in the international critique of his achievements.
 
mtommer said:
I can't believe they put Fed and Tiger over Armstrong. One Tour De France is worth 4 grand slams.
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Because cycling isn't exactly a sport, you can't give a person a clycle and then compare that person to those that depend on their own skill to win events. Federer or Woods deserve it a lot more than Armstrong. Federer winning isn't exactly a surprise.
 
THESEXPISTOL said:
Nice.. But we also have to recognize that SI is a bit tennis biased..
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I don't know about SI, but Wertheim certainly is. And each publication is going to have its own biases; the European publications for football and tennis and motor sports, ESPN for American football, etc.

There's even regional and personal biases that come into play; I saw a "top five athletes of the decade" article the other day that had an American football player on it. Not surprised considering that this decade has produced legends like Peyton Manning and Tom Brady, and expanded the legacy of Brett Favre, but puzzling because the pick was for Ray Lewis - who isn't even the best defensive player on his own team.
 
How is cycling not a sport? And considering it says athlete of the decade Lance definitely deserves to be near the top.
 
Tony48 said:
Cool. Federer definitely isn't my favorite athlete (or tennis player) but he definitely deserved it.
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Always nice to have people like you around here.

*********s will be here in no time and blow the thread.. If the *********s don't show up with their arguments (Athlete of the decade? He doesn't have a positive H2H against Nadal, no?)

Or the Sampras army (Pete had soo much game than Roger. His competition was so hard and they were like what, 8 tennis legends in the top10?)
 
Was this article written before Tiger Woods' indiscretions became public? Would this have influenced the magazine in any way?

It's amazing Tiger had any time to practice in between his extra curriular activities.
 
zidane is missing in this list.

but well, it's an american listing. so actually nice to see that they even put federer on the #1 spot.
 
seeing that SI has time and again refused to give Roger the Sportsman of the Year award ( giving it instead to some not so well- known players) its a pleasant surprise.
He's definitely one of the best athletes of the decade if not THE best.
 
Cycling takes endurance and stamina. Thats it. My 3 year old girl has the ability to ride a bike!!

Sports take endurance, stamina, coordination, agility, skill... come on a cylcist? I can handle a golfer but a cyclist? Or racecar driver? Seriously?

I respect what Lance has been able to do, but athlete of the decade he is NOT.

And just for the record... just because ESPN shows a spelling bee once a year, does not make it a sport either!! haha Cycling is never on ESPN besides highlights.

Rule of thumb: If its on the Speed Channel then its not a sport.
 
Joe Pike said:
What a coincidence - most of them are from the US.

BTW, ever heard of Michael Schumacher?
And no, he doesn't drive in "NASCAR" ...:lol::lol:
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Yo're right about no. 10... that was a real wash! If you're going tp put a car racer in, this is a case of a w-wh-what driver?
 
jefferson said:
Cycling takes endurance and stamina. Thats it. My 3 year old girl has the ability to ride a bike!!

Sports take endurance, stamina, coordination, agility, skill... come on a cylcist? I can handle a golfer but a cyclist? Or racecar driver? Seriously?

I respect what Lance has been able to do, but athlete of the decade he is NOT.

And just for the record... just because ESPN shows a spelling bee once a year, does not make it a sport either!! haha Cycling is never on ESPN besides highlights.

Rule of thumb: If its on the Speed Channel then its not a sport.
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Look up the definition of sport tons of fun. Also, look up the definition of athlete since that is what this list is referring to. You talking about your 3 year old daughter riding a bike has no bearing whatsoever. The fact that you cannot acknowledge how hard biking at their speed for as long as they do up the mountains they do is pretty ridiculous. The Tour De France is not on the Speed channel. Rule of thumb: Know what the **** you are talking about. Try picking up a dictionary. Here I'll do it for you.

Athlete: a person who is trained or skilled in exercises, sports, or games requiring physical strength, agility, or stamina.

Sport: an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature, as racing, baseball, tennis, golf, bowling, wrestling, boxing, hunting, fishing, etc.

Can you read that? Is that clear enough? Gee, looks like cycling qualifies. By your moronic logic a runner could not be considered an athlete either since your idiot daughter can probably do that as well.
 
I think it's between Federer and Armstrong, maybe Phelps. It's absolutely ridiculous that Tiger is up there imo.. I just don't rate golf THAT high. What I like about this list is that isn't american biased ********.
 
Even if soccer was involved, I don't see how any soccer player could go ahead of what Fed, Lance, Tiger, Phelps did during last decade. No soccer player was really that great for the entire decade like Fed and Tiger were in their respective sports.
 
jamesblakefan#1 said:
Even if soccer was involved, I don't see how any soccer player could go ahead of what Fed, Lance, Tiger, Phelps did during last decade. No soccer player was really that great for the entire decade like Fed and Tiger were in their respective sports.
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Agree that, but were there any that consistent in football, basketball, baseball or ice-hockey? I don't think so either. Team sports are just different and way harder to judge. I think most team players lack the mental strength most single athletes have. They can hide sometimes, and often the fuzz AROUND a team is way bigger..

But, if we include Tiger Woods, why not include Phil Taylor?
 
Thank goodness he got number 1 and not Woods or any other athlete really. He easily deserves it over anybody else.
 
jamesblakefan#1 said:
Even if soccer was involved, I don't see how any soccer player could go ahead of what Fed, Lance, Tiger, Phelps did during last decade. No soccer player was really that great for the entire decade like Fed and Tiger were in their respective sports.
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If is a best "athlete" list then Tiger has no place on it either.
 
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