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Who are the best athletes (what sport)?

Who are the best athletes (what sport)?

  • Euro Football ("soccer")

    Votes: 7 13.7%

  • Hockey

    Votes: 17 33.3%

  • Basketball

    Votes: 10 19.6%

  • Baseball

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Tennis

    Votes: 6 11.8%

  • Golf

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Other

    Votes: 11 21.6%

  • Boxing

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    51
Northerner

Northerner

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Which sport/athletics has the best athletes?
 
I went with soccer. I grew up playing baseball, basketball, football but soccer always seemed to be way more work than those. From the outside is seems soccer players just run all the damn time.
 
It’s always an interesting discussion, and one that really has to way to prove as people have different opinions on what athleticism really is. Also, there are always going to be outliers of people who are incredible athletes and just play a different sport.

My nod goes to the following, which all could be argued:

Boxing
Water polo
Multi event endurance athletes (triathlon/iron man/decathlon etc)

There are a lot that have legitimate arguments, but those three come to mind for me. I’d say ice hockey is right up there too.
 
I forgot to add boxing to the options though I wanted it up there. I think you can argue boxers are good athletes.
 
Without adding anything to the list, I vote hockey. It requires tons of endurance, and toughness (physical, and mental.) Not to mention a lot of these guys make peanuts compared to other sports.
 
pmm21 said:
Without adding anything to the list, I vote hockey. It requires tons of endurance, and toughness (physical, and mental.) Not to mention a lot of these guys make peanuts compared to other sports.
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Really? They probably make more than football (American) players.
 
Hockey. Not because I love it (I do), but because it's the most dynamic sport.

Strength, endurance, hand-eye, burst... It requires pretty much every element of fitness and ability to be dominant.
 
My brother in law played pro hockey for 10 years (after playing 4 years of Division 1) and he told me he thought soccer players are the best athletes. I disagreed with him but it surprised me to hear that from him.


For the record by far, I think that tennis players are the most talented. For a number of reasons.
 
Northerner said:
Really? They probably make more than football (American) players.
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What?!?! Name me a hockey player making $30+ million and what's the league minimum for both sports?

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pmm21 said:
Not per game by any means. And even then the high numbers seem to only apply to the super stars

Posted by my thumbs.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't say they make peanuts. Though if we're talking the true elite players (McDavid, Crosby, Kane and so on) comparable to say Lebron and Durant and Curry, for sure they make significantly less. OTOH, there are less than half as many players on an NBA team.

And I was more thinking on a per-season, not per-game basis.

I see your point though.

Yes pro hockey is pretty brutal - I would think without a doubt second most concussions for a sport after football.
 
moosejaa said:
What?!?! Name me a hockey player making $30+ million and what's the league minimum for both sports?

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Click to expand...



I don't know, what is the league minimum for both the NHL and NFL?
 
... Football no doubt. Cornerbacks must run backwards an flip their hips to move forward or sideways trying to cover someone running a 4.3 forty. 320lb guards have to pull and lead running plays as well as anchor on pass plays. DT's an DE's from 260-320 have to stop runs and rush QB's and for their size their speed, strength and athleticism is off the charts. Of course any skill position from QB, RB or WR takes an amazing amount of athleticism to play in college let alone the NFL.
 
Chisag said:
... Football no doubt. Cornerbacks must run backwards an flip their hips to move forward or sideways trying to cover someone running a 4.3 forty. 320lb guards have to pull and lead running plays as well as anchor on pass plays. DT's an DE's from 260-320 have to stop runs and rush QB's and for their size their speed, strength and athleticism is off the charts. Of course any skill position from QB, RB or WR takes an amazing amount of athleticism to play in college let alone the NFL.
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See and this is the fun part about this discussion. Because I don’t think I’d put football in the top 5, and you said #1 no doubt.

There are a lot of sports that have a legitimate argument for them, and it’s all going to vary from person to person.
 
Northerner said:
I don't know, what is the league minimum for both the NHL and NFL?
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Glossed over the $30 mil part I guess. There are DBs and Lineman making more than the top paid players in the NHL. League minimum for the NHL is higher though ($700K vs $480K) but that's 21 vs 53 players too.

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moosejaa said:
Glossed over the $30 mil part I guess. There are DBs and Lineman making more than the top paid players in the NHL. League minimum for the NHL is higher though ($700K vs $480K) but that's 21 vs 53 players too.

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I believe kickers have a league minimum like $600-$800k though, right? I at least know it's higher, but that's probably because not many make much more than minimum.
 
cbaker2882 said:
I believe kickers have a league minimum like $600-$800k though, right? I at least know it's higher, but that's probably because not many make much more than minimum.
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Yeah, the "minimum" is based on different factors. $480K is the rookie league minimum.

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moosejaa said:
Glossed over the $30 mil part I guess. There are DBs and Lineman making more than the top paid players in the NHL. League minimum for the NHL is higher though ($700K vs $480K) but that's 21 vs 53 players too.

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Click to expand...

I agree that NHL players in general - comparable to sports like the NBA - seem to be getting less than they probably should. I believe I read an article that showed revenue for both NBA and NHL are similar (yearly).


From another site though:

the NBA and NHL diverge in two major ways.

Ticket pricing. NBA floor seats can be thousands of dollars each, even for regular season games. And they will get more expensive in the playoffs. Hockey might be hundreds of dollars for on-the-glass seats in the most expensive markets. It’s hard to compare, as all teams are different, but I would estimate NBA seats as anywhere from two to four times more expensive on average.
TV deals and ratings. Ratings for NBA playoff games are roughly four times that of the NHL playoffs [1] . The NBA signed a deal in 2014 worth about $2.6B per year [2] . The NHL signed a deal in 2011 worth about $2B over ten years [3] . That’s one tenth the revenue for the NHL.
Click to expand...
 
Northerner said:
I agree that NHL players in general - comparable to sports like the NBA - seem to be getting less than they probably should. I believe I read an article that showed revenue for both NBA and NHL are similar (yearly).


From another site though:
Click to expand...
What's Curry make, $50 mil a year? It's ridiculous. Then again, I'd watch anything before the NBA and soccer.

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It is ridiculous - but again I think that their rosters are less than half the size of NHL and their TV contracts and such are just that much bigger.
 
No arguments on anything previous, but Tennis players are some darn good athletes too. Never realized it until I started playing with a friend in college who was on the team. A long rally will wear you down quickly with hardly no breaks in between. And 5 sets, no thanks.


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I've seen studies for decades that have motocross racers rated either #1 or #2, when they were #2 soccer was #1.
 
Reminds me of a thread I started a while back asking which sport had the fittest athletes. A spirited debate ensued. I maintained it was competitive rowers, but more people supported water polo. I see some of that fittest vs best discussion here. I would have to go with hockey players. The hand-eye coordination they display on skates in a full contact sport at high speeds, combined with their toughness and high levels of fitness - they are a cut above, and hockey is not my favorite sport.

That said, the hardest thing to do in all of sports is to hit a baseball.
 
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