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  1. #1
    Founder Kilroy is on a distinguished road Kilroy's Avatar
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    Woods named Athlete of the Decade

    Even after a shocking sex scandal that tarnished Tiger Woods, it was tough to ignore what he achieved on the golf course.

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  2. #2
    Driver Adska is on a distinguished road
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    Rightly so!

  3. #3
    NFL Guru fundonny is on a distinguished road fundonny's Avatar
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    Obviously an American award. I'd give it to Roger Federer. Second place would be either Tom Brady or Peyton Manning.
    Donny Vantage NFL Guru, since 1974
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  4. #4
    Golf Padawan nokids is on a distinguished road nokids's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by fundonny View Post
    Obviously an American award. I'd give it to Roger Federer. Second place would be either Tom Brady or Peyton Manning.
    Nadal > Federer. So how can a guy be the greatest of the decade when there's another player better than him?

    Football is a team sport. These guys you speak of didn't put on Tiger Woods performances. THey didn't have Joe Montana, Steve Young superbowl stats. Did Tom Brady put the team on his shoulders during those superbowl runs? No. He played solid, didn't make mistakes, and the team won by 3 points every time. Tom Brady hasn't won anything since he became a "superstar". He hasn't won anything since Vinatieri and that great NE defense left either.

    Same for Peyton, every year the guy puts up monster stats and chokes in the playoffs. The year they won their defense shut down every opponent they faced. Peyton struggled but they won despite him.

    Tiger did it all by himself. He obliterated records. His opponents were aiming for second place most of the time.

    I'd add Lance Armstrong and Michael Phelps as honorable mentions.
    You only get out of something what you put into it

  5. #5
    Way Beyond Help Colby is on a distinguished road Colby's Avatar
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    I would go with Armstrong over Woods. 7 Tour de France wins 1999-2005 after returning from cancer. Over that period he won 22 indivual stages and 11 time trials. I think that's a bit more athletic than playing and winning golf tournaments.
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    Singles Match Play Champ 2011 John is on a distinguished road John's Avatar
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    I'm with you as well Colby.

  7. #7
    Sleeps here davevandyk is on a distinguished road davevandyk's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Colby View Post
    I would go with Armstrong over Woods. 7 Tour de France wins 1999-2005 after returning from cancer. Over that period he won 22 indivual stages and 11 time trials. I think that's a bit more athletic than playing and winning golf tournaments.
    I am as big of fan as any of Armstrong but the Tour de France is one event a year. In that span Armstrong wasn't also winning the Giro d'Italia or Flanders. I don't know how many total Tours Lance won this decade but it certainly doesn't rival Tigers tourney wins, it might not even match tiger's major victory totals.


    Federer is the only athlete I would have voted over tiger. His record is undeniable over the decade, he hasade the finals of something like 17 of the past 18 majors including the 15 wins. He also won the World Sportsman of the year from 2004-08

  8. #8
    NFL Guru fundonny is on a distinguished road fundonny's Avatar
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    Personally don't believe any golfer should be considered athlete of the year or decade.
    Donny Vantage NFL Guru, since 1974
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  9. #9
    Golf Padawan nokids is on a distinguished road nokids's Avatar
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    i'll agree with donny. how can you compare a golfer to a mma fighter? You can't. Oh my god i forgot about Fedor! Yes the award should go to Fedor, the emperor.
    You only get out of something what you put into it

  10. #10
    Hall of Fame Hacker is on a distinguished road Hacker's Avatar
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    What? How did David Wells NOT win this??

  11. #11
    Uber Poster Paulio is on a distinguished road Paulio's Avatar
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    Federer had to have been close. He is the greatest player of all time in his sport. It may be an easier debate than Tiger and golf. The records are already his.
    My name is Paul. And I'm a golfaholic.

  12. #12
    Hopelessly Addicted Shivas Irons is on a distinguished road Shivas Irons's Avatar
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    IMO Woods was the right choice for this award, hands down.
    Al Gore didn't invent the internet, but he did invent global warming.

  13. #13
    3 Iron Strangebrew is on a distinguished road Strangebrew's Avatar
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    Agree with Fundonny, no golfer should win athlete of the year/decade. Federer or Armstrong are both better candidates.

  14. #14
    NFL Guru fundonny is on a distinguished road fundonny's Avatar
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    Reason is yes, there are golfers who are athletes, but you need not be an athlete to be a PGA golfer.
    Donny Vantage NFL Guru, since 1974
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  15. #15
    Must be Single Sakuraba is on a distinguished road Sakuraba's Avatar
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    To me, if golfers are included in the elligible "sports"' for consideration, tiger is avery good choice for athlete of the decade.

    We can't debate the particular challenges of each sport (well, I guess we can, can't we?) But rather consider who excelled beyond compare in their particular field in the past decade.

    It's been a long time since a golfer dominated a decade like Tiger has dominated this past one.
    Andrew

  16. #16
    Hall of Fame jonf is on a distinguished road jonf's Avatar
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    Whereas no tennis player has ever dominated the way Federer has. He is unquestionably the best to ever play his sport. Tiger ain't there yet.

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    NFL Guru fundonny is on a distinguished road fundonny's Avatar
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    Bingo. That's why Federer deserved this more then anyone.
    Donny Vantage NFL Guru, since 1974
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  18. #18
    Hall of Fame Hacker is on a distinguished road Hacker's Avatar
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    "He won 64 tournaments, including 12 major championships. He hoisted a trophy on every continent where golf is played. And those 56 titles in one decade on the PGA Tour? Consider that only four of golf's greatest players won more in their entire careers."

    To me that last line says it all.....take a second to reflect on that and then tell me that he wasn't deserving.

  19. #19
    Hall of Fame jonf is on a distinguished road jonf's Avatar
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    Federer has 15 grand slams in 7 years. 2 per year.

    The next closest, Pete Sampras, took 13 years to amass his 14 grand slams. He also never won the French open.

    What others take 10-15 years to do, Federer has done in half the time...he doesn't even need the full decade.

  20. #20
    Golf Padawan nokids is on a distinguished road nokids's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jonf View Post
    Whereas no tennis player has ever dominated the way Federer has. He is unquestionably the best to ever play his sport. Tiger ain't there yet.
    Age
    Federer 28 (turned pro in 1998 age 18)
    Nadal 23 (turned pro in 2001 age 15)

    Matches played
    Federer 839
    Nadal 492

    Winning Percentage
    Federer 80.8
    Nadal 81.5

    Career Titles
    Federer 61
    Nadal 36

    Championships
    Federer 15
    Nadal 6

    Head to Head All time
    Federer 7
    Nadal 13

    Head to Head in Grand Slam finals
    Federer 2
    Nadal 5

    I will give Federer the title of best tennis player this decade and even of all time based on his resume so far. He finally won a french open this year to earn the career grand slam. However, i'd put Woods ahead of Federer because Tiger never had a rival. It's Tiger vs the rest. Federer had a rival, who beat him 66% of the time. So even though Federer's body of work is very impressive, he didn't stand out like Tiger did vs the rest. Or even Lance Armstong vs the rest, or Fedor Emilianenko vs the rest.

    Shaq also has a shot at this award. 4 championships and total domination of his opponents. IF he could only shoot a free throw he'd be unstoppable.
    You only get out of something what you put into it

  21. #21
    Hall of Fame Hacker is on a distinguished road Hacker's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jonf View Post
    Federer has 15 grand slams in 7 years. 2 per year.

    The next closest, Pete Sampras, took 13 years to amass his 14 grand slams. He also never won the French open.

    What others take 10-15 years to do, Federer has done in half the time...he doesn't even need the full decade.
    But it's TENNIS - how many "Professional" tennis players are there? How many of those can win on any given weekend? 4? 5?

  22. #22
    Hall of Fame jonf is on a distinguished road jonf's Avatar
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    How many of them can win on a given weekend? If Federer is in the tournament, basically only 1. The issue is not that golf has a deeper field...it's that no matter how good the field is in tennis, if Federer is there, the competition doesn't matter.

    For the last 8 years, if Federer has been in a tournament, the assumption has been that he will win. In golf, Tiger is always the favourite, but it's never treated as a foregone conclusion. With Federer, you assume victory before the tournament even starts.

    I think your argument about Nadal actually strengthens the claims for Federer's dominance. Clay tennis is nothing like other tennis...it requires such a specialized skillset that even the best tennis players can struggle. Sampras is a classic example. It is very rare for a player to excel on all 3 surfaces. But Federer has dones just that. He happened to be playing alongside Nadal, who is a specialist clay court player, and arguably the best ever. If it weren't for a freak from Mallorca, Federer would have 19 grand slams by now.

  23. #23
    Golf Padawan nokids is on a distinguished road nokids's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jonf View Post
    How many of them can win on a given weekend? If Federer is in the tournament, basically only 1. The issue is not that golf has a deeper field...it's that no matter how good the field is in tennis, if Federer is there, the competition doesn't matter.
    Head to Head All time
    Federer 7
    Nadal 13

    Quote Originally Posted by jonf View Post
    I think your argument about Nadal actually strengthens the claims for Federer's dominance. Clay tennis is nothing like other tennis...it requires such a specialized skillset that even the best tennis players can struggle. Sampras is a classic example. It is very rare for a player to excel on all 3 surfaces. But Federer has dones just that. He happened to be playing alongside Nadal, who is a specialist clay court player, and arguably the best ever. If it weren't for a freak from Mallorca, Federer would have 19 grand slams by now.
    Federer dominated everyone, except Nadal who dominated him. Nadal, the clay specialist, beat Federer on his favorite surface, grass, in his "prime". I'm not sure how that strengthens Federer's case. I think it strengthens the fact that Nadal is Federer's cryptonite.
    You only get out of something what you put into it

  24. #24
    Golf Padawan nokids is on a distinguished road nokids's Avatar
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    Clay courts: Nadal 9–2
    Hard courts: 3–3
    Grass courts: Federer 2–1

    I see what you're saying Jon. If we take clay out of the equation the matchup is very even. Still, it shows that Federer did have a "rival" who could beat him. I dont think Tiger ever had that. Duval, Sergio, Phil, Vijah;. .... Tiger creamed them all.
    You only get out of something what you put into it

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