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Perhaps the world's greatest sports champ?

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  • Perhaps the world's greatest sports champ?

    Add Kelly Slater to list of dominant champs in any sport

    Bruce Jenkins Thursday, November 3, 2011

    "Something magical happened," Kelly Slater told the crowd in his moment of triumph, and he spoke not just for himself, but for the nearly 2,000 people who showed up at Ocean Beach on Wednesday to watch one of history's greatest athletes clinch his 11th world title on the pro surfing tour.

    Slater was carried up the beach on the shoulders of two friends, having won his Round 3 heat in the Rip Curl Pro Search event to clinch at least ninth place in the event, which mathematically secures the world title. A constant refrain could be heard from longtime members of the Bay Area surf community: "I can't believe it happened here."

    Ocean Beach will never be a popular destination among travel-minded surfers. With its punishing surf, shifting currents and utter unpredictability, it's not even on many locals' radar. But it came to life in all its autumnal glory Wednesday, with balmy weather, offshore winds and gorgeous, blue-green waves up to eight feet on the face.

    "Look at this," said Slater, surveying the breadth of Ocean Beach to the south. "The whole beach is just going off."

    Just two days before, Slater stood at the site in cold, gloomy conditions and pictured "a ghost town" when the contest began. "I literally wondered if anyone would show up," he said. "And I didn't know what to expect. I'd been hearing all these rumors about people (grumpy locals) messing with the event. But everybody's been so cool. The turnout was incredible. I've had kids coming up to me saying, 'I'm so stoked to have you at our home break.' It's a very special time."

    Most special of all, perhaps, is Slater's place in sports history. It may startle you to realize this, but by significant measure - absolute dominance over a long period of time - he is the greatest athlete of all time.

    Slater won his first world championship in 1992, and his 2011 title - at the age of 39 - marks a 20-year span. Only briefly, during that entire time, has anyone been considered even close to Slater in reputation and competitive performance. That was the late Andy Irons, a three-time world champion who died of heart failure a year ago Wednesday.

    Irons won his three titles consecutively (2002 to '04), but in two of those years Slater was in semi-retirement and not a presence on tour. And it's safe to say that at no point in those 20 years, no matter what the circumstances, did Slater lose his global reputation as the world's best.

    Who else can say that? Not Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky, Muhammad Ali or Roger Federer. Most of the great ones were immersed in rivalries: Ali-Joe Frazier, Federer-Rafael Nadal, Jack Nicklaus-Arnold Palmer, Magic Johnson-Larry Bird. And even among those who had no peers - the likes of Woods, Jordan and Gretzky - the dominance wasn't sustained for 20 years.

    The subject of pure athletic ability is a matter of personal taste. Most would find it distasteful to bring a surfer into any conversation that concerns hitting a baseball, carrying a football into a den of violence, or standing up to 12 rounds of prizefight punishment. The comparisons hardly seem appropriate.

    On the other hand, give me any living athlete in the pantheon of his sport, and let me unveil some Slater footage: dropping into a 20-foot Pipeline wave, winning the prestigious Eddie Aikau event at Waimea Bay, taking on the almost mythically dangerous reef break at Teahupo'o, Tahiti. I'll guarantee you that person's mind will be blown. Slater may have finessed his way to glory in front of the Ocean Beach crowd, but this is a serious, relentless competitor in life-threatening conditions as extreme as any sport can provide.

    Fittingly, there was high drama to Slater's Round 3 heat against Australia's Dan Ross, who had the lead until the last four minutes. At that point, Slater needed a score of 6.88 (on a scale of 10) to win the man-on-man heat. At about the 3:45 mark, he picked off an ordinary wave and tore it apart with a sequence of strong, well-timed maneuvers. "Not a great wave," someone remarked in the press area, "until Kelly made it great."

    With about a minute to go, the judges' score came through: 7.60. Ross was fully capable of taking back the lead, but with the seconds counting down and the sea gone quiet, he never got the chance.

    Whisked onto a podium for interviews, Slater heard many questions about his age. "To me, it's literally just a number," he said. "You see people 100 years old and you can't believe they lived that long, but to them, it's not baffling. I don't see why at 50 I can't be in better shape than I am right now. I think I'm going to be. That's what I'd like to represent. I mean, 39 is young to half the people in this world."

    As he talked, everyone took a glance back at the ocean. After hours and hours of pure conditions, the wind was changing. Just a slight hint of onshore flow.

    For the fanciful at heart, it was something magical, a sign that nothing could change until Slater clinched his title, the power of which would draw those contrary winds toward shore like a magnet.

    Naturally, that's not what really happened. No way, right? Of course not.

    Best of the best

    To be at the top of your sport for two decades, as Kelly Slater has been for surfing, is hard to imagine. Here are some other athletes who dominated their sports, and how long they were able to sustain that dominance (years approximate in some cases):

    Tiger Woods, golf: 12 years

    Roger Federer, tennis: 8 years

    Wayne Gretzky, hockey: 10 years

    Bill Russell, NBA: 13 years

    Michael Jordan, NBA: 8 years

    Jerry Rice, NFL: 10 years

    Edwin Moses, 400-meter hurdles: 10 years

    Eddy Merckx, cycling: 12 years

    Alexander Karelin, Greco-Roman wrestling heavyweight: 13 years

    Carl Lewis, long jump: 16 years

    Babe Ruth, baseball: 13 years

    Pele, soccer: 13 years

    Michael Schumacher, Formula 1: 11 years
    Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

    Abusing Yellow is meant to be a labor of love, not something you sell to the highest bidder.

  • #2
    Yeah but being the greatest surfer is just slightly above being the best Cricket player in the world.

    It just doesn't matter.

    Comment


    • #3
      Dude, do you know what kind of shape you need to be in and skills you need to have to be an even halfway decent surfer? Besides, look at that list, how many people have dominated their sport for 20 years?
      Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

      Abusing Yellow is meant to be a labor of love, not something you sell to the highest bidder.

      Comment


      • #4
        Who's the greatest mountain climber in the world?

        Who's the greatest nose picker in the world?

        Anything that Frankie Avalon did with Annette Funicello while trying to get into her pants is not sports.

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by YellowFever View Post
          Who's the greatest mountain climber in the world?
          Apa Sherpa

          Who's the greatest nose picker in the world?
          You

          Anything that Frankie Avalon did with Annette Funicello while trying to get into her pants is not sports.
          Holding Guinness record for staying on the corner waiting for a client is not a sport, either. Is not even achievement.
          No such thing as a good tax - Churchill

          To make mistakes is human. To blame someone else for your mistake, is strategic.

          Comment


          • #6
            Have a look at this lads achievements: ;)


            Dougie Lampkin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by dave lukins View Post
              Have a look at this lads achievements: ;)


              Dougie Lampkin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
              I read from 1991-2006 as 15 years, but I could be mistaken, maths are not my strong point
              Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

              Abusing Yellow is meant to be a labor of love, not something you sell to the highest bidder.

              Comment


              • #8
                The Worlds Greatest that may never change in my lifetime, is the one and only Muhammad Ali. Love him or loathe him you can never take away the skill and charisma in and out of the ring.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by bigross86 View Post
                  I read from 1991-2006 as 15 years, but I could be mistaken, maths are not my strong point
                  They are just switching from imperial to metrics don't mind him.
                  No such thing as a good tax - Churchill

                  To make mistakes is human. To blame someone else for your mistake, is strategic.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by bigross86 View Post
                    I read from 1991-2006 as 15 years, but I could be mistaken, maths are not my strong point
                    The greatest Trials rider in UK history at least. If there is another who has bettered that record kudos and a laural reef to you. What he couldn't do on a bike wasn't worth doing.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Not saying he doesn't deserve the credit for his achievements in his sport, but the same could be said about Kelly Slater. But can you find anyone who has dominated his sport for as long as Kelly has?
                      Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

                      Abusing Yellow is meant to be a labor of love, not something you sell to the highest bidder.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by bigross86 View Post
                        Not saying he doesn't deserve the credit for his achievements in his sport, but the same could be said about Kelly Slater. But can you find anyone who has dominated his sport for as long as Kelly has?
                        Since I mentioned him in reply to Yello, what about Apa Sherpa? Noone climbed Everest more then him - 21 times.
                        No such thing as a good tax - Churchill

                        To make mistakes is human. To blame someone else for your mistake, is strategic.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Nolan Ryan dominated major league hitters for over 20 years. His last pitch was clocked at 98mph. He was 46 years old when he retired.

                          Wayne Gretzky, a scrawny little guy playing one of the roughest sports in the world, dazzled NHL defenders for 20 years from 1978 to 1999.
                          "Only Nixon can go to China." -- Old Vulcan proverb.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by Doktor View Post
                            They are just switching from imperial to metrics don't mind him.
                            Having been Imperial for so long we are finding it difficult to change ;)

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              How about this guy...I have a particular interest in him as he is my brother ;)


                              Frank Brennan Profile

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