Jon Jones Makes #18 On ESPN's "2012 Cross-Sports Athletes Of The Year" (LIST INSIDE)

Was going to ask where Bradley Wiggins was. Then saw the rest of the list and realised that this list is only for Americans.

EDIT: Nice for mma recognition tho

TIL Messi is from the US. Go USA!
 
Please someone explain me why you guys think these basketball players are better athletes than soccer players?

I was always the best player on my class in basketball, ice hockey and generally that kind of sports. I never played them seriously. I played soccer since i could walk and stopped around 17, and i was never close to being the best player. Even if i could dominate those guys in sports like basketball, rugby and ice hockey i felt that they were all around better athletes.

Because basketball is American (fuck yeah!). Soccer is gay and boring.


:rolleyes:
 
So because if Lebron was 6 ft 1 he wouldn't be as great he gets everything taken away from him? No. He was the number one football recruit out of his class before he didn't play football his 11th grade year. He would without a doubt be playing NFL football if he wasn't playing basketball.

Based on his grade 10 performance he would 'without a doubt' be playing NFL football.

Mmm'kay...
 
So because if Lebron was 6 ft 1 he wouldn't be as great he gets everything taken away from him? No. He was the number one football recruit out of his class before he didn't play football his 11th grade year. He would without a doubt be playing NFL football if he wasn't playing basketball.

Exactly. I would argue if Messi wasn't 5'6" with his core centric build he wouldn't be able to dribble the ball the way he does. Make him 5'10" and he isn't so magical. Ronaldo is 6'1" and I would argue, while he isn't a better player, he has more skills. He doesn't have the ability to keep the ball glued to his feet quite like Messi, but he is much better at set pieces and (in my opinion) is more technically proficient. Ronaldodoesn't have Xavi and Iniesta (the 2 best playmakers in the game imo) backing him up.
 
Yeah, they don't know Lebron in China. No reason whatsoever for the 'CHINA Lebrons' then! Some of you people are seriously letting your bias disease your logic. Lebron has transcended basketball. He is global and quite known. Just because YOU dislike him, well, that's irrelevant. This is also turning into an undercover 'Football vs basketball' thread. Trying to diminish the popularity of lebron james is showing your pure ignorance. I know you think it's making you look brilliant. That's the problem with most people.

Yep.
 
LOL at most people in this thread with the "Terrible list dudez!" response not even understanding how the list works..

1. 2012 only, you idiots. Eli at #3 has to do with the amazing playoffs / Superbowl run the 8-8 Giants pulled off THIS YEAR. So all of you "RG3 > Eli" responders....fail. RG3 may be the better QB but what has he done in 2012 that superceeds winning a Superbowl in the NFL? Keep thinking.
2. "Cross sports" does not mean ability to play multiple sports. The people arguing athletic ability with regards to playing other sports...fail, you don't understand the list.

That being said, Calvin Johnson should be somewhere on the list for breaking Jerry Rice's record. Djokovic deserved credit too.

I agree with LBJ over Messi. NBA Champioship, Olympic gold, records all over the place... Nobody is discrediting Messi, but where are the TEAM accolades to support the argument for Messi IN 2012?

And finally, LOL at the Finnish guy on here saying he's better than his peers at basketball, baseball, etc. Congrats dude, that's like someone living in the middle of the Sahara desert claiming they are better than their peers at water polo.
 
Based on his grade 10 performance he would 'without a doubt' be playing NFL football.

Mmm'kay...

It is a pretty unanimous opinion in the US that if LeBron wanted to, he could have been an all-pro tight end. He was a freak high school football player, and would have been one of the top recruits in the nation if it wasn't so generally known he was going pro in basketball after high school. He would have been the number 1 pick in the draft if he came out after his junior year (which he wanted to, but was denied). He was on the cover of Sports Illustrated as a junior in high school lol.
 
Eli won a Super Bowl in 2012.

RG3 did what exactly?

Cross sports athletes bud... Can you see Eli running in track? He can barely run a few yards, he would suck at basketball, baseball, soccer. You name it.
 
Also, just so anybody who is looking at my posts about LeBron knows... I am from CLEVELAND. Lived 20 minutes away from Cleveland the first 25 years of my life until I moved to Colorado 3 years ago. I am not a fan of LeBron. I just analyze things objectively. And if you look at my AV I am a big soccer (which I even call football to my fellow soccer fans) fan! I bleed red! My second favorite nation to root for outside of the USA in international competition is ARGENTINA! My best friend is from Merlo, San Luis. I am not biased.
 
I'm not at all surprised but it does bother me that espn is looked at as fairly international in their coverage but always puts out such American centric lists.
Got a girl (mid 20's) from the US staying with a friend at the moment (She apparently played basketball for K.C university & just finished studying to be a doctor). Anyway she was asking me about basketball in Australia and was suprised that its really only a sport that people not good enough to play Aussie Rules, Rugby League/Union or Cricket play and that soccer/tennis are pretty much the same (except for people with pushy parents from soccer backgrounds). So I was telling her people down here see guys like Andrew Bogut going number 1 in the draft and think 'imagine how well our first string athletes would do'. Sad to say but at this stage any mma guys from here would be guys who haven't been good enough to get into the popular sports down here too.
 
Cross sports athletes bud... Can you see Eli running in track? He can barely run a few yards, he would suck at basketball, baseball, soccer. You name it.

Here's another. Cross-sports athlete ranking does not mean playing other sports....bud.

It's a way of comparing athletes who do not play the same sport.

Bud.
 
You just said Messi is 10 times more famous than Lebron James... Exaggeration much?

I agree that 10 times is probably a bit of a stretch but to be honest Messi should be a lock at #1 spot on this list.

This list is NOT about how a person would do if he played other sports, then you'd probably see a ton of decathlon guys and what have you (and obviously not Messi).

However, soccer is (like it or not) the biggest sport in the world and even tho' this should not become a popularity contest it still a relevant point.

Messi has had a WAY bigger year in the world of soccer than Lebron has in basketball. To put it in to basketball lingo he has had a Wilt Chamberlain'esque season, breaking an old world record in scoring that people thought would never be broken and along with his team absolutely dominating the spanish "La Liga".

I'm not saying Lebron is not an absolutely great basketball player that deserves to be ranked in the top, but the american bias is obvious just as it is obvious that a lot of guys in the thread don't appriciate/follow soccer and can't be considered close to being objective in comparing what these athletes has done in their respective sports.
 
Eli on the list is absolutely terrible. He really isn't a great athlete when you look at the big picture.
 
Either Im missing something or thats the worst list I ever saw. Buster Posey over Kobe Bryant and AP? WTF?!?!

Anthony Davis, Brittany Griener, Johnny football what am I missing?
 
It is a pretty unanimous opinion in the US that if LeBron wanted to, he could have been an all-pro tight end. He was a freak high school football player, and would have been one of the top recruits in the nation if it wasn't so generally known he was going pro in basketball after high school. He would have been the number 1 pick in the draft if he came out after his junior year (which he wanted to, but was denied). He was on the cover of Sports Illustrated as a junior in high school lol.

Agreed, you're an idiot to think Lebron is not a freak of nature
 
Here's another. Cross-sports athlete ranking does not mean playing other sports....bud.

It's a way of comparing athletes who do not play the same sport.

Bud.

So why is Anthony Davis on that list, he is a NBA rookie who isnt even having a good season. That makes no sense at all. And Johnny football? Hes a sophmore in college starting for the first time, hes good but hes unproven. There is no way whatsoever that either of those 2 should be above Kobe or AP or about 200 other athletes.
 
Here's another. Cross-sports athlete ranking does not mean playing other sports....bud.

It's a way of comparing athletes who do not play the same sport.

Bud.

Eli really isen't a great athlete, pal.
 
Silly list considering the only guy who is objectively the GOAT at his respective sport is ranked #11.
 
It is a pretty unanimous opinion in the US that if LeBron wanted to, he could have been an all-pro tight end. He was a freak high school football player, and would have been one of the top recruits in the nation if it wasn't so generally known he was going pro in basketball after high school. He would have been the number 1 pick in the draft if he came out after his junior year (which he wanted to, but was denied). He was on the cover of Sports Illustrated as a junior in high school lol.

I know all of this. I also now that whereas Basketball and Hockey have had fairly good success at predicting future ability based on promise shown in high school, the task has proven far more difficult (to say the least) in Baseball and Football. (It is extremely difficult to predict, based on what a kid does against other high school kids, whether or not someone will ever be able to hit a major league curve-ball or take a hit from an NFL linebacker.)
 
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