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The Best...NO

perkdogperkdog Posts: 30,656 ✭✭✭✭✭
How do you guys think of Lance Armstrong being compaired to Jordan and others as being the best?...In cycling he is probably the best but at a different level than Jordan. I dont think he should be considered the best althlete do you?

Comments

  • AknotAknot Posts: 1,196 ✭✭
    Why not? Lance did it "by himself" regardless how "great" Jordan was he had a team around him. He could not have done it alone.
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  • joestalinjoestalin Posts: 12,473 ✭✭
    Lance owns France!!!!!!!! What country does Jordan own? What are you going to put your money on
    happening first..Lance hitting a three pointer from the corner or Jordan biking up the alps with one of his
    balls missing?

    JS
  • He absolutely should be considered the best athlete. He has won the most Tours and done it in consecutive years. Do not try to diminish his accomplishments. Team sports cannot be compared to individual sports accomplishments (especially those that require sustained levels of concentration and endurance). Lance could not have an off day or an off moment for six consecutive races that each spanned multiple days. It is an unbelievable accomplishment.
  • The arguements agains Lance are laughable. Lance Armstrong has won the World Series or Super Bowl of the professional biking circuit. The Tour is not just a bike race any more than the super bowl is just a football game. I think Michael Jordan is great, but I don't think Michael scored every point of every game the Bulls won.

    Lance is a world class athlete and should be recognized as one the greatest athletes of all time. His accomplishment puts him in the same class as Michael Jordan, Joe Montana, and Barry Bonds.

    He is unarguably the best his sport has ever seen. Say this with me "the BEST his sport has ever seen". Note I did not say "one of the best", I said "the BEST". Michael Jordan is "one of the best" in basketball. Joe Montana is "one of the best" in football. Barry Bonds is "one of the best" in baseball.

    Give credit where credit is due.
  • perkdogperkdog Posts: 30,656 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I guess you guys have some good points, I agree to disagree.
  • aro13aro13 Posts: 1,961 ✭✭✭
    I am not certain Lance "did it alone". Does he not have the help of the other US Postal service riders who help set the pace and shield the wind etc.? Also, Lance might be the best ever on the Tour de France but there are other cyclists in history who compare including Greg Lemond and Daniel Morelon. How many Olympic Gold medals has he won? He MIGHT be the greatest cyclist of all-time but he is far from a decisive pick.
  • milbrocomilbroco Posts: 2,732 ✭✭✭
    Lance was the first overall pick in our Fantasy Cycling League.

    A truely great athlete, I agree with the other Lance supporters.

    Bob
    ebay seller name milbroco
    email bcmiller7@comcast.net
  • Just wanted to make one point. Cycling is not an individual sport, but rather a team sport. The Postal team makes it possible for Lance to win, although he does much of it on his own. Just some examples of what the team does:

    1. Form a V formation around Lance to protect him from other teams and the wind.
    2. When one rider decides to take off, a member from the Postal team will be sent after him to (1) catch him, and (2) exhaust him. meanwhile, Lance can conserve his energy for the mountains when he kicks azz!!
    3. When Lance decides to take off, the Postal team can make it difficult for other riders to catch up.

    Having said this, Lance is the best pure athlete today. Not the best all-around, but simply the purest. No one can compare. He is fit as heck. He owns France. He has put a world sport on the map. He has a resting heart beat of about 30-40 bpm. He trains year round, and makes other riders look still in the mountains.

    Can he hit a baseball like Albert Pujols? No, but I'm sure he could hit one if he practiced.
    Can he shoot a three pointer like Larry Bird? No, but he can be pretty good with practice.
    Can he run the football like Jim Brown? No, but I'm sure he can run.
    Can he hit a golf.......wait a minute....my mistake, we are discussing sports here.

    Overall, he's not the best all around athlete, just the purest. No other athlete can jump on a bike and do what he does.

    As far as my election on best all round athlete, it has to be someone from the Iron man competition.

    Not: Not edited for speellling. image
    image

    Remember these Chuck Norris Facts

    1. When Chuck Norris does a pushup, he isn't lifting himself up, he's pushing the Earth down
    2. According to Einstein's theory of relativity, Chuck Norris can actually roundhouse kick you yesterday
    3. There are no such things as lesbians, just women who have not yet met Chuck Norris
  • Some good points made by Megatron. Some of the efforts made by Lance's team mates are similar to the basketball pick, the football block, and the baseball bunt.
  • milbrocomilbroco Posts: 2,732 ✭✭✭
    Very nice infrmation from megatron. I never knew all that was involved. Thanks for the info.

    On question though. How long does the "V" formation stay in place? Is it just for the start of the race, or does it continue for each day of the race.

    Thanks,

    Bob
    ebay seller name milbroco
    email bcmiller7@comcast.net


  • << <i>Very nice infrmation from megatron. I never knew all that was involved. Thanks for the info.

    On question though. How long does the "V" formation stay in place? Is it just for the start of the race, or does it continue for each day of the race.

    Thanks,

    Bob >>



    I don't know the exact details. Maybe our expert - Undertaker - can help us out here. He knowledge is much more detailed than mine regarding the Tour
    image

    Remember these Chuck Norris Facts

    1. When Chuck Norris does a pushup, he isn't lifting himself up, he's pushing the Earth down
    2. According to Einstein's theory of relativity, Chuck Norris can actually roundhouse kick you yesterday
    3. There are no such things as lesbians, just women who have not yet met Chuck Norris
  • First, I'll admit, I know squat about cycling. But I did hear an expert comentator on ESPN radio giving loads of credit to Lance's team mates. Apparantley, Lance himself does the same.

    The commentator went on to mention another cyclist who is a better "pure cyclist" than Lance but does not benefit from the support of his team mates the way Armstrong does.

    What he has accomplished is very impressive. The tour is a test of stamina for sure. But it takes a lot more athletic ability to play Football, Baseball, or Basketball at a world class level than to pedal a bike up a hill IMHO.
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  • DirtyHarryDirtyHarry Posts: 1,917 ✭✭✭
    He is an icon, undoubted master of masters in an individual sport. Unreal devotion and specialized training. Probably the best athelete around with regards to conditioning. Best ever - NO. It takes more than that. Team sports is different. If you want to specialize you need to include swimmers, boxers, golfers and the like.
    Proud of my 16x20 autographed and framed collection - all signed in person. Not big on modern - I'm stuck in the past!


  • << <i>First, I'll admit, I know squat about cycling. But I did hear an expert comentator on ESPN radio giving loads of credit to Lance's team mates. Apparantley, Lance himself does the same.

    The commentator went on to mention another cyclist who is a better "pure cyclist" than Lance but does not benefit from the support of his team mates the way Armstrong does.

    What he has accomplished is very impressive. The tour is a test of stamina for sure. But it takes a lot more athletic ability to play Football, Baseball, or Basketball at a world class level than to pedal a bike up a hill IMHO. >>



    One other thing about Lance. All of the winnings from the Tour are given to the team. He doesn't keep any. He gets mega bucks from endoresements. That shows how much he appreciates his team.
    image

    Remember these Chuck Norris Facts

    1. When Chuck Norris does a pushup, he isn't lifting himself up, he's pushing the Earth down
    2. According to Einstein's theory of relativity, Chuck Norris can actually roundhouse kick you yesterday
    3. There are no such things as lesbians, just women who have not yet met Chuck Norris
  • CoinstartledCoinstartled Posts: 10,135 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Not the best by a longshot.

  • DarinDarin Posts: 7,087 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Coinstartled- I've been waiting 13 years for you to make a comment on this thread.

    I can finally rest easy!

  • DarinDarin Posts: 7,087 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Coinstartled- Your thoughts on Johnny Unitas' recent retirement announcement?

  • DIMEMANDIMEMAN Posts: 22,403 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Is nobody going to mention that he cheated and they took all his wins away??!!!!

    Just saying.

    And NO is is nothing compared to Jordan.

  • craig44craig44 Posts: 11,255 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Zombie thread

    George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.

  • CoinstartledCoinstartled Posts: 10,135 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Darin said:
    Coinstartled- Your thoughts on Johnny Unitas' recent retirement announcement?

    Starting a team, I would take him over Montana but not Elway or Marino.

  • BarndogBarndog Posts: 20,492 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Coinstartled said:

    @Darin said:
    Coinstartled- Your thoughts on Johnny Unitas' recent retirement announcement?

    Starting a team, I would take him over Montana but not Elway or Marino.

    starting a different team, I'd take Brady.

  • CoinstartledCoinstartled Posts: 10,135 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Only if Belichick was the coach.

  • DarinDarin Posts: 7,087 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Dimeman- I think most posters didn't mention that Armstrong had his tour de france titles
    taken away because they were posting their comments in the year 2004. 13 years prior to the current year.

    As for me, I did post comments in the year 2017, but thought it was obvious to all what had happened
    to Armstong in the last decade or so and I felt it didn't merit a mention.

  • Skin2Skin2 Posts: 1,259 ✭✭✭
    edited August 23, 2017 6:17AM

    If we ignored the cheating, and just compared the best cyclist vs a guy like Jordan, then there is no way on earth that the cyclist is a better athlete than Jordan. Not even worth a debate. Jordan would dominate him nine out of every ten athletic contests, sports, and feats of strength.

    If you broke it down to the "purest" forms of athleticism, running speed, jumping/leaping, running endurance, strength, coordination, and kinesthetic perception, I believe Jordan would DOMINATE him in every one of those measurements. Easily.

    Its funny someone mentions Armstrong's resting heart rate. While that is impressive, guys like Jordan have good ones too, and that is a measurement of your cardiovascular efficiency, not your athleticism, because size, strength, and explosiveness are bigger factors. For instance, even though Armstrong's cardiovascular efficiency should give him an advantage in any running event, the fact is that Jordan's stride length, stride rate, and strength, are going to dwarf Armstrong, even in an endurance run. Forget about the sprint, because Jordan would dwarf Armstrong. Even in a distance run, Jordan has great endurance himself, and his stride length/stride rate/speed would be just too much for Armstrong to match.

    Someone said because there are other basketball players close to Jordan that it eliminates Jordan being the best because Armstrong has nobody close to him in his sport. Wrong! The fact that there are other basketball players closer to Jordan's ability just means that there are 1,000 basketball players who were better athletes than Armstrong. There were college basketball players who never made it to the NBA that dwarf Armstrong athletically. Dwarf him.

    Guys like Jordan can train their way to be a top notch cyclist(if it was of interest). I cannot remotely say the same in regard to Armstrong and his ability to train his way to become top notch in other sports. Cycling is a one dimensional physical event. There are too many guys like Jordan that also excel in that dimension, but can dominate Armstrong in every other athletic dimension, and have the physical size, strength, coordination, and speed, that are just too much for a bike rider to overcome.

  • JoeBanzaiJoeBanzai Posts: 11,802 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Next we'll be comparing the guy who eats lots of hot dogs to Mike Jordan. Both are the best right?

    2013,14 and 15 Certificate Award Winner Harmon Killebrew Master Set and Master Topps Set
  • BrickBrick Posts: 4,981 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Michael Jordan may have thought he was a big time hot dog. Truth is in competition Joey Chestnut would absolutely eat him up.

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  • CoinstartledCoinstartled Posts: 10,135 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Nolan Ryan had a lot of mustard on his fastball.

  • perkdogperkdog Posts: 30,656 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Holy old thread lol

  • CoinstartledCoinstartled Posts: 10,135 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @perkdog said:
    Holy old thread lol

    Good job, Perk. You nailed it in the OP!

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