Who are your sports heroes?

[gorfias]

Who are your sports heroes?

Watching a youtube that says it is racist to admire people of other races as you are not invited to do so. Odd. Made me think, who do I/ have I admired, particularly in the area of sports.

I know less than your average 6 year old about sports, but I know what I?ve admired over the years.

1. Carl Yastrezmeski: I got to see him recovering from a new tooth drilling once! He wasn?t happy as he left the dentist office (I was next). Thrill of a lifetime for me. My favorite discussion about him: my brother in law who knows infinitely more than I about sports said Yaz, skill set for skill set, was the most talented sportsman of all time in his position.


2. Tom Brady.

3. Muhammad Ali
The guy was pretty small for a heavy weight. Compared to Evander Holyfield, he looks positively flabby. But overcoming the challenges he faced? The courage and determination he showed? I think he is only 1 of 3 heavy weight champions to ever go the distance with a broken jaw.

4. Larry Bird
The guy made basketball fun for me. We had some parties at my house in those days as we watched him play the game with excellence.

5. Michael Jordan
Confession: I?m not sure I ever saw the guy really play a live game! I am from New England and he is not. But even for someone from New England, I admire him for his awesome talent on the court, aggressive business savvy, and how terrific he was in ?Space Jam?, which I only watched somewhere between 1 and 20 trillion times as my kids were growing up. EDIT: About to play some NBA 2K16 on Steam. See if I can be Jordan. I have the will.

Honorable mention goes to Phil Esposito, Bobby Orr, Drew Bledsoe, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Tiger Woods (of whom it is said, imagine saying he plays to the best of his ability and is great as well on top of that?) and of course, the Gronk.

You?

 

[Baffle]

The French guy who climbs buildings. His balls aren't even made of steel; they melted down Wolverine's skeleton and made it into that guy's balls.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

I find it very hard to admire sports superstars since they almost always, all of them, test positive for steroids or some sort of performance enhancing drug eventually. And I don't know what to admire at that point, the athlete, or the drugs.

Like when they took away Armstrong's medals for blood doping, claiming it was an unfair advantage and gave it to the guy who finished like .01 seconds behind him. I remember reading that if you gave the medal to the first guy who didn't test positive for something it'd go to like the 100th racer.

Mark my words, Phelps will go down too. And those tiny little gymnasts.

 

[DefunctTheory]

Like when they took away Armstrong's medals for blood doping, claiming it was an unfair advantage and gave it to the guy who finished like .01 seconds behind him. I remember reading that if you gave the medal to the first guy who didn't test positive for something it'd go to like the 100th racer.

I remember watching a documentary on a 'amateur' cyclist (The kind of amateur that still does multi-day, thousand mile races, just not for cash) who went on a doping program like Armstrong's just to see what would happen. Unfortunately, his bike broke during the race where he was supposed to see what his 'results' were, so there was no pay off.

The documentary got a bit weird after that. Lots of conspiracy stuff, and stuff about that Russian lab they shut down.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Like when they took away Armstrong's medals for blood doping, claiming it was an unfair advantage and gave it to the guy who finished like .01 seconds behind him. I remember reading that if you gave the medal to the first guy who didn't test positive for something it'd go to like the 100th racer.

I remember watching a documentary on a 'amateur' cyclist (The kind of amateur that still does multi-day, thousand mile races, just not for cash) who went on a doping program like Armstrong's just to see what would happen. Unfortunately, his bike broke during the race where he was supposed to see what his 'results' were, so there was no pay off.

The documentary got a bit weird after that. Lots of conspiracy stuff, and stuff about that Russian lab they shut down.

I believe it.
Now that's not to say I inherently disagree with the idea of enhancements, as long as everyone does it. At that point its a level playing ground, and the natural abilities of the athletes come into play. Its just always the Jordons, McGwires, Woods, and Bolts that ruin their sports. Those 'super-human' athletes that dominate their sport for a few years, make off with tens of millions, then get caught.
Hell at this point I wouldn't be surprised if the Williams sisters eventually fell from grace.

 

[Baffle]

Phelps will go down too. And those tiny little gymnasts.

And paedophiles across the world rejoiced. Which is how you spot them.

 

[DrownedAmmet]

I've always kind of looked up to The Dwayne The Rock Johnson. I read his book when I was a kid, he seemed just like your average dude who just happened to be exceptionally good at his thing. I follow him on twitter and from interviews of people close to him they also talk about how good a person he is, how he still treats the people around him the same as when he was some punk ass kid who wrestled good, and not the biggest actor out there right now
edit: also I am a white boy, to give relevance to the original post

 

[Saelune]

Not really into sports, but I suppose my answer would be Tony Hawk, since I do like skateboarding (too much of a wuss to do it myself though) and he seems like a super decent guy.


This video is cool, but also kinda bummed me out.

 

[tippy2k2]

I love me some sports (SPORTS!!!!!!) but for whatever reason, I really don't have any "sport heroes". I generally follow teams (Vikings, Wild, MN United specifically) but for whatever reason, I never really attach myself to any one single player. I suppose the closest I've come to that might have been Adrian Peterson but he can sit and spin the egotistical asshat now...

Growing up is probably the closest to sport hero worship I'd have had and it would have been Triple H and Shawn Michaels (I loved the heels in wrastlin). Mankind would be up there too as that crazy sum'***** was incredibly entertaining to watch. Maybe the Hardy Boys too?

But yeah, at this point in my life, there's not much for hero worship. Granted, my teams all suck so that probably has something to do with it...

I mean, there are plenty of athletes I would love to meet but most of the individual athletes I'd want to meet are golfers (Jordan Spieth, Dustin Johnson, or Justin Thomas would be sweet or I've heard that Lefty is an amazing dude, I'd love to meet him) but I don't think I'd call them "heroes" in my mind.

 

[gorfias]

I've always kind of looked up to The Dwayne The Rock Johnson. I read his book when I was a kid, he seemed just like your average dude who just happened to be exceptionally good at his thing. I follow him on twitter and from interviews of people close to him they also talk about how good a person he is, how he still treats the people around him the same as when he was some punk ass kid who wrestled good, and not the biggest actor out there right now
edit: also I am a white boy, to give relevance to the original post

He is a terrific character!

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/447618/rock-dwayne-johnson-hero-we-need

First time I heard of him:


Was he a great wrestler? I don?t know. But he seems like a first class person.

? I suppose the closest I've come to that might have been Adrian Peterson but he can sit and spin the egotistical asshat now...

Growing up is probably the closest to sport hero worship I'd have had and it would have been Triple H and Shawn Michaels (I loved the heels in wrastlin).

I mean, there are plenty of athletes I would love to meet but most of the individual athletes I'd want to meet are golfers (Jordan Spieth, Dustin Johnson, or Justin Thomas would be sweet or I've heard that Lefty is an amazing dude, I'd love to meet him) but I don't think I'd call them "heroes" in my mind.

According to this, that Shawn Michaels is pretty special!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shawn_Michaels

My missus loves golf much more than me. I?ll have to look up those you chose to name.

Not really into sports, but I suppose my answer would be Tony Hawk, since I do like skateboarding (too much of a wuss to do it myself though) and he seems like a super decent guy.


This video is cool, but also kinda bummed me out.

The man is incredible, inspiring some of the greatest video games ever too.

I?ve ridden a bit. I?m old, had a stroke and would be an idiot to ever try to ride a board again! But it was fun when I did it and my kids like to mess around on them. The boy has an extra long board he enjoys and we have some parks where he can play and enjoy.

If you?re young and healthy enough, I highly encourage you to get some pads, get a board and find a park to mess around in. I can?t imagine you?d regret it!

ITMT: bad reviews and all, I loved Tony Hawk Underground 2: xbox 720P

The French guy who climbs buildings. His balls aren't even made of steel; they melted down Wolverine's skeleton and made it into that guy's balls.

This guy!?!?!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3488710/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_8

I?d like him more if his movie didn?t make me hurl from my toes in terror!!!. But I?m a glutton for punishment. Gotta see if I can find a 3d version of the movie 

 

[tippy2k2]

My missus loves golf much more than me. I?ll have to look up those you chose to name.

For reference, Lefty is Phil Mickelson

But yeah, all of those guys are some of the best golfers in the world. Really they're on there because they're young and amazing at golf, they could all be assholes for all I know

Except for Lefty, everything I've read on him says he's super chill and down to Earth. He's the only one on my list that isn't in the Top 10 but he sounds like a cool guy.

 

[Drake the Dragonheart]

Mine would be John Elway, Terrell Davis, Todd Helton it's so rare these days to see a guy play his entire career with one team.

Shannon Sharpe is another.

I got to meet NBA hall of famers John Starks and John Stockton and have my picture taken with them. that was awesome!

 

[gorfias]

Didn't really have heroes that I've looked up to while growing up
I tend to remember people by the feats they accomplish

Happen to catch this sumo match on tv the other day
Scenario is that the favored guy, Hakuho, would be breaking the record of most wins competitively in sumo with this win. Guy is tough and hasn't lost a bout in the entire tournament yet going 10-0. He is matched against Mitakeumi. Mitakeumi needs this win in order to advance in rank

Spoiler: the match

While Mitakeumi isn't going to cure cancer or inspire me to take up sumo he stood for himself that day taking the world by surprise denying Hakuho the record. For that he is my hero or at least for the time being anyway until I eventually forget his name

 

[disused1234554321]

1. Ken Griffey Jr. I got to see him play once in the minor leagues in Bellingham. Undoubtedly the greatest Mariner of all time.
2. Trevor Linden. I don't think I can name an athlete more dedicated to the community.
3. Bob Lenarduzzi. Great player, helped bring Canada to the '86 World Cup. Also, the old jerseys were really good, the new ones are crap.
4. Gary Payton, I'm from Vancouver but the Grizzlies were always too crap for me to care about. The only Grizzlies game I ever went to was against Seattle.
5. Lui Passaglia. A lesser known athlete, considering he only played in the Canadian Football League (yes, that's a thing) and he was a phenomenal player and him being a native Vancouverite made it even better.
6. Steve Largent. He was just amazing, much better than the average 117th overall pick.

 

[McElroy]

The French guy who climbs buildings. His balls aren't even made of steel; they melted down Wolverine's skeleton and made it into that guy's balls.

This guy!?!?!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3488710/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_8

I'd like him more if his movie didn't make me hurl from my toes in terror!!!. But I'm a glutton for punishment. Gotta see if I can find a 3d version of the movie

Baffle is referring to the real life Spider-Man, Alain Robert.

Anyway, I don't have that many sports heroes, but I do admire some of them for their extreme tenacity and will to stay near the top. People like Jaromir Jagr (ice-hockey), Maria Mutola (800m track), biathletes Ole Einar Bjorndalen and Kaisa Makarainen (I have to misspell their names here).

 

[necromanzer52]

I'm quite fond of Ronnie O'Sullivan. He's had a lot of ups and downs throughout his career, but every time it seems like he's finally finished, he comes back stronger than ever.

 

[Guffe]

Great Finnish sportsmen like Mika H?kkinen and Sami Hyypi?, Sami especially is one of my favorite sportsmen ever!
But basically people putting my small country on the map is always nice.

I like reading peoples autobiographies, in the last year I had Rafa Benites, Steven Gerrard, Ronnie O Sullivan, Jimmy White, Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson and then some singers/bands as well.

 

[gorfias]

Baffle is referring to the real life Spider-Man, Alain Robert.

Anyway, I don't have that many sports heroes, but I do admire some of them for their extreme tenacity and will to stay near the top. People like Jaromir Jagr (ice-hockey), Maria Mutola (800m track), biathletes Ole Einar Bjorndalen and Kaisa Makarainen (I have to misspell their names here).

OK. That is worth a nerdgasm. Guy is awesome! Thankyou Alain Robert.

I'm quite fond of Ronnie O'Sullivan. He's had a lot of ups and downs throughout his career, but every time it seems like he's finally finished, he comes back stronger than ever.

I have never seen anything similar in my life!

1. Ken Griffey Jr. I got to see him play once in the minor leagues in Bellingham. Undoubtedly the greatest Mariner of all time.

I think I owe this guy props I didn't even realize. 13 time All Star player? And a named video game title? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Griffey_Jr._Presents_Major_League_Baseball Worth checking out!