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

Dpro said:
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.
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That's the way soccer is here. None of our best athletes play. There are somewhere between 5-7 more popular sports here than soccer. When we watch freaks like LeBron, Adrian Peterson, RG3, Calvin Johnson, Von Miller ( a 240 lb linebacker that can run 40 yards in 4.4 sec.), etc. play we (well, big soccer fans like myself) always wonder "what if" when it comes to soccer.

Also, Andrew Bogut may have went number 1 in the draft, but he certainly wasn't good enough lol. In the NBA 7 footers are a rare commodity, and will be taken much higher than they should be. He wasn't even the best center taken in that draft. It was Andrew Bynum. That draft was pretty weak in general. Only 4-5 guys are even making an impact in the NBA. I am sure if the Bucks could do it over again they would have taken Chris Paul, Deron Williams or Andrew Bynum ahead of him.
 
I think its what athletes had the best 2012 in terms of success. I get it now lol. Good for Jones. That is not saying hes a top 18 athlete, they are just recognizing his 2012 success.
 
justblaze717 said:
Either Im missing something or thats the worst list I ever saw. Buster Posey over Kobe Bryant and AP? WTF?!?!

Anthony Davis 2012 National Championship, #1 overall NBA pick, Olympic Gold Medalist , Brittany Griener National Championsip, best female college player far and above with a ridiculous season, Johnny football First EVER freshman Heisman, NCAA D-1 football records what am I missing?
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In short, you missed a bunch.
 
justblaze717 said:
I think its what athletes had the best 2012 in terms of success. I get it now lol. Good for Jones. That is not saying hes a top 18 athlete, they are just recognizing his 2012 success.
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This, plus its pretty subjective, you wont find two people on the planet that agree on this list.
Props to Jones
 
justblaze717 said:
I think its what athletes had the best 2012 in terms of success. I get it now lol. Good for Jones. That is not saying hes a top 18 athlete, they are just recognizing his 2012 success.
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I would still make some changes. I would add Djokavic for one. And Adrian Peterson would be higher. I don't know when this list was made, but what he is doing right now is incredible. Calvin Johnson just broke Jerry Rice's 17 year old receiving yards record too.

edit: it can't be that old. Johnny Manziel is on there. I don't agree with him being higher than AP or Megatron ( who isn't even in the top 20).
 
mcclarse said:
I would still make some changes. I would add Djokavic for one. And Adrian Peterson would be higher. I don't know when this list was made, but what he is doing right now is incredible. Calvin Johnson just broke Jerry Rice's 17 year old receiving yards record too.
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You can tell they were just spreading the love around different sports. Happy to see Jones in the top 20 despite only fighting twice this year.
 
youngsteinel said:
You can tell they were just spreading the love around different sports. Happy to see Jones in the top 20 despite only fighting twice this year.
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Yeah I am too. Possibly making up for his year before when he went largely unrecognized by major sports media outlets? Either way it is deserved. Anything to grow the sport.
 
Any non-American wouldn't recognize 75% of the people on the list...
For instance, there is NO WAY a serious journalist reporter would put LeBron James in front of Lionel Messi... Messi is the best player in the world's most popular sport, breaking all records there are to break, on a goal spree, and even being cited for contention of the GOAT alongside Pele and Maradona!
Bolt at 11? Really? The fastest man on the planet. Ever. The guy devastated the olypic games, for chrissakes.
Some said LeBron "transcended" basketball. No. Jordan did. Anderson "transcended" MMA. Bolt "transcended" sprinting.
Showbiz is a b*tch.
BTW, 2012 Jones beat Rashad Evans by UD (5 rounds) and Belfort on the 4th... Whereas Silva delivered two TKOs to Sonnen and Bonnar. Silva was way more exciting than Bones in 2012. Just sayin'.
 
Messi should be #1. He is having a legendary season in by far the biggest sport in the world. Lebron should be right up there, as well. Same with Bolt and Phelps. Jones shouldn't be as high as he is. He has one defense against a top 10 fighter this year. His 2011 was incredible. His 2012 hasn't been as good.
 
JxHx said:
Any non-American wouldn't recognize 75% of the people on the list...
For instance, there is NO WAY a serious journalist reporter would put LeBron James in front of Lionel Messi... Messi is the best player in the world's most popular sport, breaking all records there are to break, on a goal spree, and even being cited for contention of the GOAT alongside Pele and Maradona!
Bolt at 11? Really? The fastest man on the planet. Ever. The guy devastated the olypic games, for chrissakes.
Some said LeBron "transcended" basketball. No. Jordan did. Anderson "transcended" MMA. Bolt "transcended" sprinting.
Showbiz is a b*tch.
BTW, 2012 Jones beat Rashad Evans by UD (5 rounds) and Belfort on the 4th... Whereas Silva delivered two TKOs to Sonnen and Bonnar. Silva was way more exciting than Bones in 2012. Just sayin'.
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agree...(not in the part where is Messi alongside Pel
 
Honestly now that I understand, there should maybe a few fighters I have over him. If its just ranking 2012. And yea AP should be much higher.
 
JxHx said:
Any non-American wouldn't recognize 75% of the people on the list...
For instance, there is NO WAY a serious journalist reporter would put LeBron James in front of Lionel Messi... Messi is the best player in the world's most popular sport, breaking all records there are to break, on a goal spree, and even being cited for contention of the GOAT alongside Pele and Maradona!
Bolt at 11? Really? The fastest man on the planet. Ever. The guy devastated the olypic games, for chrissakes.
Some said LeBron "transcended" basketball. No. Jordan did. Anderson "transcended" MMA. Bolt "transcended" sprinting.
Showbiz is a b*tch.
BTW, 2012 Jones beat Rashad Evans by UD (5 rounds) and Belfort on the 4th... Whereas Silva delivered two TKOs to Sonnen and Bonnar. Silva was way more exciting than Bones in 2012. Just sayin'.
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Neither Silva, nor Jones had massive years. Both beat the top contender at their weights and then beat an irrelevant fighter. Mighty Mouse has had a better year than both. If Junior beats Cain on the 29th, then he'd have a good claim. Hendricks has a very good claim right now, as well (especially if you count the Fitch KO which did happen within a year of today).
 
justblaze717 said:
Honestly now that I understand, there should maybe a few fighters I have over him. If its just ranking 2012. And yea AP should be much higher.
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The guy in your AV should be higher than Jones on the list.
 
LoveErica said:
cross sports?

And someone explain to me how the fastest man ever recorded is only at number 11
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it made so angry i want to kill all of them because they did that, assholes of death rawr.
 
youngsteinel said:
Because running in a straight line is cute and all, but it doesn't show as much as the other athletes show. They show an array of skills, while all Bolt does is show that he is fast/quick.
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Its far more universal. The most competitive event on the planet with an attribute used in virtually every sport on the planet. Its obviously American biased to have Phelps at number 6. The majority of the world can't swim. Every able bodied person on the planet can run.

Shit list.
 
youngsteinel said:
No way. Lebron is a much better athlete than Messi.
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I am a huge fan of both guys but I believe Messi is a better athlete. But, it is all an opinion of course.

youngsteinel said:
Okay, Vitor is still better than Chael AND Bonnar. And Bones finished him.
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Lol, an opinion again but lets look at it this way.
Vitor almost subbed Jones and Jones could not finish Bonnar when they first fought. Silva beat both even though Chael was caught using TRT and Bonnar had uses steroids as well.

Hanri said:
The best player in the biggest sport ever had the best season of all time. And you think Lebron James should be infront of him? Facefuckingpalm. I understand its hard to look past the big muscles, but atleast try.
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This.

youngsteinel said:
Yes I think Lebron James should be in front of him. Lebron James is the best athlete in the world. He could dominate at pretty much any sport he played. Messi would suck at American football, baseball, or basketball. Lebron could go pro in at least 3 of the sports (soccer, football, baseball, basketball). He is a much better athlete, it really isn't even close. I am not sure if Lebron could play soccer, but he would dominate in any of the other 3 sports.
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You are not Lebron James so please refrain from saying he would dominate in three other sports.

youngsteinel said:
He beat Vitor almost 2 years ago man. This is about what you have done this year.
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Yes, but it shows that the win over Vitor wasn't all that great. Jones almost got subbed by an older Vitor. Props to Jones for finishing Vitor, but the guy who you replied to is trying to say that Silva has done better against fighters who Jones has fought.
 
He didn't cement his status as the best fighter in the UFC. Don't get me wrong, he put together one hell of an argument these past few fights & probably would be the lead vote getter, but none of that means anything. We have to clear cut monsters within 20lbs of each other. Until they actually square off, we won't be able to make such definitive claims...
 
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