Is Kelly Slater the best athlete ever?

[hop]

erm, yah, leroy deer, it's hard to surf at high level at night pookey

Feel what the wave is doing, then accept its energy, get in sync, then charge with it. You don't need to see.

[ill-advised strategy]

But hop, both of my parents died in a car accident, will that adversely affect my ability to use that technique?

Also, I'm having some difficulty with Gary Busey stalking me with his binoculars when I try to surf, any tips for dealing with that?

Thanks,
-YM

[skideeppow]

After how the guys at the Ute Mountaineer talk up Aron Ralston I'm thinking a Ron Jon v. Ute Mountaineer battle royale is the best way to the settle this

This is funning. Aron Ralston is famous for being an idiot in the BC? He really gets no respect in Aspen.

[splat]

I'm gonna go with The Duke.

[montanamike]

10 titles, damn

[DasBlunt]

Jack Nicklaus was the greatest athlete over his LONG career. He won major titles in his teens, 20s, 30, 40s annnnnd 50s.

"Due mainly to a PGA Tour record of 18 career major championships won over a span of 24 years after winning two U.S. Amateur Championships in 1959 and 1961. In 1961 he turned pro."

[funkendrenchman]

This is funning. Aron Ralston is famous for being an idiot in the BC? He really gets no respect in Aspen.

I really want to see 127 Hours, but that fact that he gets any money out of it sucks.

What does this have to do with Slater? I have no idea.

[wendigo]

Why are surfers the most butthurt aggro bunch ever? Climbers are a contentious bunch, but they have nothing on surfers. No other group even seems to come close. So why so much hate for something that is so much fun? (Serious questions)

Best athlete ever = whomever is killing it and having the most fun.


Next question - Has anyone dropped Slater on a Haines peak with a board strapped to his feet? I'd watch.

[Hugh Conway]

Why are surfers the most butthurt aggro bunch ever? Climbers are a contentious bunch, but they have nothing on surfers. No other group even seems to come close. So why so much hate for something that is so much fun? (Serious questions)

Tell your friends it sucks!

[powder11]

NFL players have great power strength, but offensive linemen only move a few feet each play, i could win a fight against them just by staying out of their reach till they get tired.

There's some stupid shit in here, but this one takes the cake... do you mean the 300+lb guy who runs the 40 in under 5 seconds? The slowest guy out there would grab you, rip your head off and shit down your neck before you could even think about running away!

IMO, the best athlete ever was Bo Jackson. That dude dominated two professional sports and could probably have picked up competitive surfing in a couple of afternoons.

[Alaskan Rover]

Best athlete ever???

I don't think there is such a specimen. There is simply a range of EXTREMELY good natural athletes, but the parameters of 'athletisism' are such that there can really be no one 'best'.

Yes, I have AWESOME respect for the abilities of Kelly Slater. I am like a lump of lead on a board compared to him (and I am a very good natural athlete), but I certainly wouldn't call him the best athlete ever. I MIGHT call him ONE of the most gifted surfers EVER...BUT I can't even call him the best surfer ever, as in terms of incredible athletism on a board...some of these 'new' sufers out there are just nuts, and definitely one of the best of this incredible new pack is Matt Meola...his stuff is SICK. I'd actually put him over Slater, but I'd probably be strung up for doing so. Check Meola's vid below. Plus it's got some great tunes! This kid is some SERIOUS shit!!! And the kid STICKS to the board like Gorilla Glue!!! WTF??? I've never seen anyone like him.

But for all around "Best Athlete Ever", if one did ever exist, I'd still have to give it to Jim Thorpe. But Matt Meola is like a frickin' CAT...and cats are pretty damn athletic!

[montanamike]

Matt Meola is like a frickin' CAT...and cats are pretty damn athletic!

that backflip entry at 2:18 was a little flawed, there's no way he's the best.

that guy rips

[Long duc dong]

There's some stupid shit in here, but this one takes the cake... do you mean the 300+lb guy who runs the 40 in under 5 seconds? The slowest guy out there would grab you, rip your head off and shit down your neck before you could even think about running away!

IMO, the best athlete ever was Bo Jackson. That dude dominated two professional sports and could probably have picked up competitive surfing in a couple of afternoons.

I might agree that Bo Jackson was the best athlete ever, but you are a fool is you think he could have picked up competitive surfing.

Surfing is MUCH harder than that. It is not football, where if you are strong and fast enough(Christian Okoye) you can pick it up in college, that is just a silly thing to believe.

I also don't know if Bo had that level of natural ability. Bo was very well suited to football, he was strong and fast, but I don't know how agile he was. He was NOT the most agile running back ever, Barry Sanders or Gale Sayers takes that trophy, so I don't know if it would have translated into surfing. I don't think Bo would have been as good as Kelly Slater even if he had grown up surfing the way Slater did, Bo's talent was simply put in other directions.

I also take issue with the idea that Jackson "dominated" baseball. He did not. At his best, he was an all-star. By most of the advance statistical measures, Bo was a good, not great, player. He had tremendous speed, and a cannon for an arm, but he was not a very good outfielder. He had great power, but he did not hit the ball hard consistently. I, and many serious baseball fans agree with me, don't think Bo's talent with a bat in his hands was all THAT great. He had lots of power, but I don't think he would ever have been the hitter that sayFrank Thomas. Frank had a far greater ability to put the bat on the ball, his hand eye coordination was in the 99.9999999th percentile, or something like that. Bo's was not, probably in the 99.99th percentile. I am not saying that Bo was not talented, I just don't believe he had hall of fame ability as a hitter, and I don't think he would have if he had spent all his time on baseball he would have.

Many people confuse strength/speed/leaping ability with complete athletic ability. They are important facets, but there are other elements to athleticism.

Just because some has great ability in one area, does not mean they dominate everything. As I said before, I don't really see Bo as someone who would be the best at ANY sport. I think he was ideally suited to football, I don't necessarily think he would have given Maradonna or Pele a run for their money.

Having said all of that, I do think Bo might have been the best athlete ever, I just don't think he necessarily would have been the best surfer ever. I don't think he would have been the best soccer player ever. I don't think he would have been the best basketball player ever.

One side note to this, the Royals always wanted Bo to try to switch hit. He could hit the ball a mile lefthanded in BP, but he never tried it, because he could not do it in the winter due to football. It is interesting because Bo was not even a good contact hitter from the right side.

Bo was one of the most spectacular players I have ever seen. Baseball is not a spectacle, pro wrestling is a spectacle. Bo could do amazing things, but he also had serious weaknesses. His ability to put the bat on the ball was suspect. While I think he could have improved in that regard, I don't think he ever would have been great at it.

[boarddad]

I'd give it to him. Surfing is by far the hardest thing I've ever learned to do. He makes it look effortless in all conditions. While it is far more physically demanding to ride big surf, it is technically harder to make small surf look good. He does it all - 'nuff said.

Better question;
Is KS coming back to defend next season. I think not. AI was the reason he came back. Not so he could dominate, but because it was fun. Now that AI is gone, I just don't see KS coming back to stick it to the next generation of pros. That's not what has motivated him the last few seasons. It's cool finding a way to get paid to do what you love, but it also sucks being told where and when you must surf. He'll probably also get endorsements and cover shots for at least a few more years without ever putting on a colored jersey. He'd be crazy to go back on tour IMHO.

[BS720]

Put Meola on an alaia. Can he still do that 360?

[Ottime]

Yeah, but does he have style?

[Alaskan Rover]

Yeah, but does he have style?

Meola's style IS his unique athleticism...that is a style of its own.

It may not being elequent and flowing like a wave, though.

Maybe REAL style would be to flow viscously like the wave you're riding on. Perhaps some of the old-skool are better at THAT. A complete synergy between wave and human.

[montanamike]

Put Meola on an alaia. Can he still do that 360?

Put Seth Morrison on a pair of wooden skis with leather strap bindings, think he can still stomp that 80 foot cork 7? Probably not. Does it make him less of an athlete? Doubt it...

[TheDon]

Best athlete EVER...

[montanamike]

I don't know about best athlete ever, but Pastrana is insane, and now he's gonna take over another discipline. Crazy fellow he is...
http://jalopnik.com/5686703/pastrana...ding-to-nascar

[puhisurfer]

Yer guy Meola has a trick. One trick. And he's good at it. Seriously, watch that vid you posted. He looks like a skater. Doing the same trick again and again and again.

Nowhere near a serious athlete like Slater, Curren, S. Garcia, Hobgood, Gerry, Laird, jeez I could go on for 50 names and still not get near this guy.

Golf is not a sport. Neither is ping pong. Or darts. So stop with that.

Slater is pushing 40. Dude can show up to any event he chooses, and win. Dude could show up to ANY line-up he chooses, and dominate.

It's him or Jordan. There's nothing else to say.

Except basketball sucks.

[puhisurfer]

It's cool finding a way to get paid to do what you love, but it also sucks being told where and when you must surf. .

Yeah, must really suck surfing some of the best breaks in the world, during the peak swell, with only one other guy out.

Can't see why anybody would want to do that.

If ONLY you got paid to do it...

[PUNKY]

The best surfer in the world is the one with the most signature products offered by their sponsors.

Slater might not have the aerials the young guns have, but he has adopted his style into his mid 30s to stay on top

[boltonoutlaw]