We take a break from our scheduled programming to debate the "Greatest Active Athlete." The GAA (we need to work on the acronym) will be determined by five different criteria.
1.) Awe-inspiring
Athletes are the gladiators of our time. They are meant to entertain in an inimitable way. They are physically better than us. They leave us breathless with their athleticism and grace under pressure.
2.) Current Form
We're talking about the greatest active athlete, so they need to still be at or near the height of their powers.
3.) Stored Credit
When a great athlete rises to the occasion, there is a certain inevitability about it. I've done it before and you cannot stop me from doing it again.
4.) Lasting Impression
Great athletes change their sport. Like artists, they are not there to copy their predecessors, instead they take the knowledge of past generations and break new ground.
5.) Swagger
Have you ever been in a room with a truly great athlete? You know it the moment he or she walks in. They are unmistakeable.
And so we count down from 10 to 1...
10.) Peyton Manning, QB, Indianapolis Colts
Manning gets the last space in our Top 10 by a nose over Alexander Ovechkin, Alex Rodriguez and Tiger Woods. Ovechkin is a good comparison, but Manning has a championship ring. Rodriguez is a near match with Manning, but Peyton changed the way football is played. He took the quarterback position from a leadership role to a coach on the field. Now, all the top QBs bear more responsibility at the line of scrimmage than they did 10 years ago. As for Tiger, he was the toughest ommision. Woods has lost the swagger and the current form of a great player. In a year, he could be #1 on this list or sitting with Dr. Drew on Celebrity Sex Rehab.
9.) Mariano Rivera, RP, New York Yankees
"The Sandman" ticks all the boxes. He has dominated baseball as the greatest relief pitcher in the history of the game for 15 seasons now. The awe factor comes from his incomparable consistency with no signs of aging and his predictability. In an era of baseball, which will be defined by hitters craving every possible edge, Rivera tells you exactly what is coming, but you are powerless to stop it. He's helped win five championships including the most recent. Above all, he takes the swagger category by the widest margin. While Jonathan Papelbon is huffing and puffing like a magic dragon, Rivera kills with a stoic smile.
8.) Sidney Crosby, Center, Pittsburgh Penguins
Like LeBron James, he was hit with the "chosen" label at an unfairly young age, but he's lived up to if not exceeded expectations. He gets docked points because he shares the spotlight of his sport with Ovechkin, who is the more dynamic of the two players. But Crosby has the ring and the gold medal. On current form, he led the Penguins to Stanley Cup glory last season and has them in the hunt again. Even more, he scored the game-winning goal to give host Canada the gold medal victory over the United States and launch himself into a new level of national stardom.
7.) Manny Pacquiao, Boxer, Phillipines
"Pac-Man" has three more losses than the undefeated Floyd Mayweather, but he knows so much more about winning than "Pretty Boy", who fights not to lose. Pacquiao is the last remaining hope for the "main event" boxing fan. He is the only fighter left, who combines showmanship with skill, technique with knockout power. In short, he's the only boxer, who is worth your pay-per-view dollars.
6.) Usain Bolt, Sprinter, Jamaica
The double gold medalist from Beijing is off the radar in non-Olympic years, but he left an indelible impression and still manages to make news every now and then, which is saying something for track and field. From a swagger perspective, he sealed his reputation by pulling up early to celebrate in a race that is usually decided by a Nike. He is the fastest man in the world in a sport with the most stringent drug testing. He is a runner, which is something we're all capable of doing (if there weren't so many good things on the DVR), yet he appears untouchable.
5.) Albert Pujols, 1B, St. Louis Cardinals
I have waited and waited for the other shoe to drop on Pujols, but he seems to have outlasted the steroid era without an ounce of deterioration. While baseball is better for limiting the PED use, Pujols is the only must-see slugger left. A decade ago, we stopped and stared every time Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa or Mark McGwire was at the plate. Now, we only marvel consistently at Pujols. Statistically, he is Joe DiMaggio. On baseball-reference.com, his closest comparisons by age are Joe D, Jimmie Foxx, Hank Aaron and Lou Gehrig. He has kept that legendary company since the moment he entered the big leagues. He'd be even higher on this list if not for his machine-like personality.
4.) Michael Phelps, Swimmer, USA
The 2010 Winter Olympics put Phelps achievement into a whole new light. Apolo Anton Ohno is the most decorated U.S. Winter olympian of all-time and he has eight medals (two gold). Phelps won eight GOLD medals at the Beijing games alone and has 16 total medals (14 gold) in only two olympics. He is physically breathtaking and brings a sense of inevitable dominance that no one in the world can match. Basically, we've never seen him lose.
3.) Lionel Messi, Striker, Barcelona
Messi is at the height of his powers. He is the greatest player in the world at the world's game. He is the reigning World Player of the Year and he's won every possible trophy at Barcelona. Even more than his accomplishments, he brings a magical flare that sets himself apart from the brutal effiency that characterizes most top athletes. He understands that sports are entertainment without diminishing the overall quality of his play by a single degree. Messi has the ability and opportunity to climb to the top of this list. If he leads Argentina to World Cup glory, he'll be the greatest active athlete on the planet.
2.) Roger Federer, Tennis, Switzerland
A year ago, he showed diminishing skills and corresponding results. Then, he went to Paris and won his first French Open, followed that with his umpteenth Wimbledon and lost a 5-set Final in New York. While the competition is growing nearer physically, he continues to dominate mentally. He is the greatest player in the century's old history of his sport. More than anything, he defines the inevitability of greatness. Unless he's playing Rafael Nadal on clay, he's a heavy favorite every single time he steps on a court. The more important the match is, the more you expect him to win. From a swagger perspective, like Mariano Rivera, Federer gets bonus points for winning with grace, while the rest of the world pounds their chest at the smallest accomplishment.
1.) LeBron James, SF, Cleveland Cavaliers
He has never won a championship unlike every other name on this list. While he may right that wrong in the next month or so, he still deserves the top spot for one simple reason. If he was trained at a young age, I honestly believe that he could have been the greatest athlete in the world at any sport, although he'd be an awfully big jockey (maybe he could be the horse). At 6'8", 250 lbs., there is a fluidity to his movement that defies his size. He could have won an olympic gold medal or a heavyweight championship. He could have been a world class goalie or a Pro Bowl wide receiver. While hitting a baseball is the great equalizer, he has the hand-eye coordination to arc a ball into a hoop from midcourt at an alarming rate of accuracy, so I would not put it past him. He understands the show and he's developing the championship edge. He is the first great perimeter player to come along in two decades that was not compared to Michael Jordan. He breaks the athletic mold, which leaves a world of possibilities. Greatness is making the impossible possible and anything is possible with LeBron.
