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Edited Date/Time
7/19/2024 3:30am
ESPN just released their Top 100 athletes of 21 century list. We all know our sport is small and niche, so it's probably not a surprise to see no MX/SX rider on that list. I think the only ESPN article about MX/SX I've seen so far was about Jett Lawrence..
The List: https://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/40446224/top-100-athletes-21st-century
Apart from the fact that this list is questionable, where would YOU personally rank in riders like RC/Cairoli/JS7/RV etc on that list against the other top athletes?
I hate polls, so maybe write about what riders do you think deserve to be on that list and where you'd rank them eventually?
It's mainstream media. Irrelevant. I mean, they mention 'GOLF', shows their not serious. It's not a sport.
Surely if anyone were to make that list, it’d have to be Pastrana. His influence was incredible and even the buzz around him at x games in 2006 when he did the double was insane, not to mention the rest of his exploits…
Well, it's mostly Americans for starters - the vast majority of whom I've never heard of. Who follows baseball outside of the US? Japan?
Female athletes are always problematic in these lists also. They're not the greatest athletes, they're the greatest female athletes. Placed in competition with men they're nowhere.
They basically didn't include a metric of what they were measuring. It seems to be mostly titles, wins etc, and they mentioned that Federer transformed his sport. If anyone from moto ended up on here it would have to be RC, and possibly James.
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Women's Basketball must be pretty tough by the looks of this list. Such a LAME list.
its ESPN ….. theirs an agenda behind this list dealing with them but I see their doing it based on accomplishments so if anybody should be on tht for moto u got 3 nominees from RC , MC & JS7
ESPN.
🤣😂🤣
They'll only pay attention if they throw balls back and forth while they're racing.
ESPN does not care at all about Supercross/Motocross, or most other non-stick and ball sport for that matter.
Objectively, a guy like Carmichael would be top 10 at the minimum. He is basically the undisputed GOAT of his sport, and 95% of his success came in the 21st century. But I wouldn't expect ESPN to recognize anyone from our sport on a list like this, except MAYBE Pastrana, just because his influence broke into the mainstream a bit.
Not the same century but I remember how much controversy was caused when Secratariat was ranked in the 30's or something. In my opinion it was way to low. I was in the camp that a horse can be an athlete and Secratariat was one of the best athletes of all time. Only athlete I have ever watched and got emotional watching. Such pure greatness.
As far as moto athletes you have to include Ricky for his fitness and Travis for his skill in anything he does.
I think it was AC that I heard saying that he wasn't a good athlete, but he had riding skill and I have to dispute that statement. Athletics is strength, stamina, speed and also eye hand coordination. You are doing a ton of things on a dirt bike that require all of those traits, so dirt bike racers are absolutely athletes of the highest order.
Using their theme of 'stick & ball', billiards should qualify. At that point, Efren Reyes is the baddest man walking. We can't convince the everyday man that motocross is a sport to begin with. They think their neighbor with loud pipes on his FLHX Jimbob Deluxe Hardly Davis is the same thing.
I had low expectations for a list ESPN would put out but holy shit that list is ridiculous.
we just sitting here laughing bout this shit cause like how tf could u rank KG 23rd when he underachieved in Minnesota, go on to form a SUPER TEAM in Boston to only win 1 title 🤔 while guys like Floyd , Jon jones , Ray Lewis , hell even Derek jeter has done & won more than 1 title in their respective sport & they get ranked behind KG 😂😂😂 but this ESPN for ya & while imo bron is a overall betta player than Kobe , Kobe 5 - 2 nba finals record to bron’s 4 - 6 record, Kobe should be ranked ova bron , this list all ova is just on fraud alert
Here’s the thing that mx fans don’t understand, the vast majority of mx/sx riders are not good athletes.
Just because you’re in great shape doesn’t mean you’re athletic. A 350 lb line man in the NFL is a way better athlete than 99.99% of top riders. Most of the women in the WNBA are better athletes than most riders.
RC was a great motorcycle rider, but would get absolutely smashed in any athletic event.
How many people here thought they would be clicking on an ESPN link today? I didnt, good job ESPN.
CONGRATULATIONS!!!! You've just won the award for "Stupid post of the day"
Tony Bou - 34 World Trials Titles, 17 Indoor & 17 Outdoor consecutive and counting!!! What he does is not easy and his competition are no slouches either.
Remind everyone again how bad Jim Weinert did against great athetes back in the '70s.... Most of the football players need oxygen when they get to go sit down.
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For the sake of argument, how can you say that a 350 lbs line man in the NFL is a way better athlete than 99.99% of top riders. A 350 lbs would get absolutely smash in just about any athletic event by any top pro-riders everyday of the week, except sports where weight is a massive advantage like fighting, lifting and weight throwing. He wouldn't stand a chance in anything that requires running, jumping and quick changing of directions.
Also, because the skillset you have developped for your sport doesn't translate well to other sport doesn't mean you are not a great athlete, unless you take cross-performing as a metric. Take any top athletes from stick and ball sport and put them on a beatdown national track and they will look like absolute squirell, just like RC would look totally out of place if you put him on the court of an NBA game when he was in his best shape.
You are going to get flamed but I understand your point.
Motocross is cross-functional. Most top riders are terrible "athletes" to your point. Half of them trip over their feet when they walk. However, they are unbelievable cross-functional athletes in their profession with godly cardiovascular condition.
It's not that the list doesnt have motorcycle racers on it, it doesnt have people lIke Alex Honnold or Nino Schurter, at least they included Shawn White. Its a most popular team player list for the most part, but also trash by that metric.
I think if you actually asked a lot of the riders they would not be surprised there isn't any on the list, they have been around enough high level athletes to know what the difference between high level team sport athletes and what they do is just different and not really easy to compare.
AC would have a great insight into this as he is really into team sports. I think he would say it would be crazy to have a MX guy on a list of top 100 athletes that freaking Connor Mcdavid is ranked 98 on.
The majority of linemen in the nfl have low 5 second 40 times. I’d bet my house no ama pro can beat that. The average lineman’s vertical is 26-36, I’d bet that would beat the majority of riders too. Go look up their shuttle times, you be surprised how agile they are too, that one my be close.
I really don’t think you understand the athleticism of the average nfl lineman.
No, they wouldn’t last on a beat track, but that endurance athletes, different than what the list is about.
Exactly.
Thank you, I appreciate that. It feels good to win something.
What a joke. Messi is the only answer for #1. Literally a worldwide icon; he moves the needle far beyond Phelps or Williams. Not to mention most decorated athlete in his profession. What a joke.
You're right in that being a great motocross rider doesn't necessarily require exceptional athleticism when it comes to traditional athletic metrics like running and jumping.
However this list also tends to eschew those traditional metrics by listing several golfers, as well as Lewis Hamilton, Michael Schumacher and Jimmy Johnson.
At the tip of the spear, in any sport, the fitness regimen is ultra specific.
A 350lb lineman trains to be able to deal with another 350lb dude...plus be able to sprint 40 yards at a pretty good clip. His training regimen targets those needs.
A racer trains for stamina, flexibility, core strength. We've all seen videos of what they all do.
Comparing a football to baseball to fighter to tennis to moto athlete and then ranking them regardless of discipline is absurd.
Pick the top athlete from each discipline and then use whatever yardstick you choose to determine #1 and down. Dollars earned, number of championships, most searched, whatever.
Left turn...that would be an interesting question for the riders. "Which other sport do you follow and how rabid are you about it"? Or, "Do you think moto is the most physically demanding sport"?
5.4 40 is terrible when you’ve been working on your sport since middle school.
JMart runs a 15 5k as am MXer. Would probably do well in cycling as well.
How you define athleticism is your issue. Can Bolt maintain a HR of 180 for 30-60 min?
Who has a higher lactate threshold. Bolt or sexton? Idk and I bet you don’t either.
Why are you ignoring endurance and stamina as athletic traits but put so much emphasis on size and speed?? An NFL O-lineman would likely have a heart attack or heat stroke if they tried to race two 35 minute motos in the summer. That's if they didn't seriously injure themselves first because they don't have the hand-eye coordination or reflexes to handle a motocross bike in those conditions.
Also I laughed at the part where you said "The average lineman’s vertical is 26-36". That's not how averages work 😂
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