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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Sep 21, 2010 - 11:02pm PT
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I think that it would be absurd to even consider a surfer as the best athlete ever. It's not exactly a sport available to the masses.
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John Moosie
climber
Beautiful California
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Sep 21, 2010 - 11:04pm PT
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They have a wave pool in Kansas now.
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Roughster
Sport climber
Vacaville, CA
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Sep 21, 2010 - 11:04pm PT
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Big fish in a little pond. Surfing is such a small population when it comes to talent that to call him the greatest athlete of all time / ever is pretty ridiculous. Maybe most dominate in a small population niche sport, that I could agree with.
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Peter Haan
Trad climber
San Francisco, CA
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Sep 22, 2010 - 12:19am PT
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Slater, I agree Kelly is just an enormous talent and individual. A surfer genius actually. We don't have to choose who is the greatest whatever in this life--- there are so many luminaries after all. He is my hero for sure though. He also has been an actor and a haut couture model. The first photo of him (from a distance obviously crying) was taken shortly after amazing Malik Joyeux was killed at Pipeline. These photos below are actually part of my "favorite photos" folder--- this is how seriously I take Slater.
The wave that killed Malik Joyeux:
[img]
http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/qq81/peterhaan/kelly30.jpg{{/img}}
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Dapper Dan
Trad climber
Menlo Park
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Sep 22, 2010 - 12:31am PT
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wow you sure have a lot of photos of him .
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Sep 22, 2010 - 12:51am PT
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This debate is as old as sports, isn't it?
One issue to be considered is: "What is the competition?" That is, if surfing had as many competitors as, say football, would it be possible for anyone to stay on top as long as KS has? I know next to nothing about surfing, except that the film I've seen of big-wave surfing is mindblowing, so I can't say. But I'd venture a guess that Eddy Merckx, to take the obvious example, faced a lot more competition from up-and-coming young guns...
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Mike Bolte
Trad climber
Planet Earth
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Sep 22, 2010 - 01:17am PT
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don't sell real watermen short...
hat's off to Largo for a great book - The Big Drop. Caught the scene perfectly.
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enjoimx
Trad climber
SLO Cal
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Sep 22, 2010 - 02:10am PT
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I read the article today! The video is cool, he is a badass surfer, and once you try surfing, you will be impressed by his talent. Best athlete ever? Doubtful.
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Rudder
Trad climber
Long Beach, CA
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Sep 22, 2010 - 06:06am PT
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Kelly, Jack Nicklaus, Ali, Magic... so many greats... but have you ever watched Lynn Hill's free climb the Nose in a day video? Maybe the greatest athletic achievement of all time... and very few people care. :/
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AllezAllez510
Trad climber
Santa Cruz, CA
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Sep 22, 2010 - 09:32am PT
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First off, Slater is the best *competition* surfer of all time, but he can, and does, do it all.
I spend a disproportionate amount of time geeking out on contest footage, so here is my take.
If you look at the waves that the ASP regularly holds contests at, they are all waves that Kelly Slater has wired...Hold a contest at J-Bay and he will win 9 times out of 10. Trestles is also nearly tailor made for his style of contest surfing. He gets more turns in the "critical" part of the wave than anyone and can throw in an air at the end. Way more potential for a ten than someone who is goofyfooted.
The flip side of that is that there are waves that Kelly does not have wired. A monster wave like chopes is a little out of his league, even though he can surf it very well.
So, is KS "the best" surfer ever? Who can say? But he has to be in the top five of anyone's list.
As for surfing not being a sport...try paddle boarding from Molokai to Oahu (not that I'd ever try it...) of paddling out and competing for waves at Steamer Lane.
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TwistedCrank
climber
Ideeho-dee-do-dah-day boom-chicka-boom-chicka-boom
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Sep 22, 2010 - 09:55am PT
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This tread takes on the apparition of being a cutout from "Men's Journal"
What next, "Outside"?
Fodder for puke.
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AllezAllez510
Trad climber
Santa Cruz, CA
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Sep 22, 2010 - 10:08am PT
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Well, there's always some sort of republican-i-hate-paying-taxes-waaaahmbulance thread for you to read...
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The Alpine
Big Wall climber
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Sep 22, 2010 - 10:50am PT
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He's a great athlete yes, but the best - I don't think so. He has 9 world titles, about to be 10, but all of those are based on JUDGES. I think all of the judges on the tour have hard-ons for Kelly.
But ya, the man is a consistently bad ass surfer.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Sep 22, 2010 - 10:55am PT
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JR, you hit the key point- dominant. There are a lot of athletes who dominate their sports, some like Slater to a great degree. A lot of these are "niche" sports available to only a small segment of the population along, largely, socio-economic parameters.
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BrentA
Gym climber
Roca Rojo
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Sep 22, 2010 - 12:16pm PT
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"His years running around with the likes of Pamela, Gisele and Cameron earned him more mainstream press than any of his records, compounding the torture. Poor guy."
Good game, sir. Good game.
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BCD
Mountain climber
Bishop, CA
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Sep 22, 2010 - 12:21pm PT
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And for anyone who thinks formula one drivers are not a real athletes...well, your(sic) high.
Hey,
You shouldn't talk bad about people who are "high". If race car driving is a sport, then people who sit on the couch smoking weed are surely athletes as well! They have to occasionally get up and walk to the kitchen, which is more than can be said about driving a car.
Seriously, though. considering things like golf and race car driving to be "sports" is probably one of the reasons 80% of our citizens are overweight. When the doctor tells people to get more exercise, they think "OK, I'll just drive the backroads to work from now on"
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Elcapinyoazz
Social climber
Joshua Tree
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Sep 22, 2010 - 12:28pm PT
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Kelly Slater couldn't carry Jim Thorpe's jockstrap.
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Chank
Trad climber
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Sep 22, 2010 - 12:32pm PT
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You might be able to put him in the running for most accomplished athlete within his given sport, but "best athlete ever"? Not even close.
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pc
climber
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Sep 22, 2010 - 12:58pm PT
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Sport's entertainment, right? That means the best should be the most fun/most interesting to watch.
Slater's great but to me...
Ali
Gretzky
Jordan
Maradona
Montana
And a few others maybe...Pure entertainment.
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