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[Nabubrush]

I'm sort of bored at work:

For thems that follow sports. Who is your favorite athlete in various sports? (Could be on your favorite team, could be then vs. now, whichever.)

Pro football: Kellen Winslow, TE, San Diego Chargers. Could have gone with Gates, Tomlinson or Fouts. I hear he has a son who plays football, but I don't know anything about that.
College football: Ian Johnson, RB, Boise State Broncos. Overachiever, and seems like an all-around good guy. He's never really gotten on the field in the NFL, and now he's stuck in Detroit, so who knows. Notable for being from San Dimas, CA (San Dimas high school football rules!)
Hockey: Ted Lindsay, LW, Detroit Red Wings. I can't say enough about Terrible Ted. Four-time Cup winner, started the 'Skating with the Cup' tradition, and started the Player's Association. Gritty player. Little guy.
Basketball: eh . . . Carlos Boozer? I don't know. Maybe Iverson.
Baseball: Koufax, I guess - my Mom grew up in LA and really liked him. Not really a baseball guy. I like that Brian Wilson fellow.

Honorable mentions, I guess:
Jim Brown. Because you can't not like Jim Brown.
Ray Bourque. Heartwarming story, even if I do hate the Avs. I prefer to think he somehow won the Cup and never actually played for them.
Ty Webb is probably my favorite golfer.

[Nabubrush]

Hockey? Rogie Vachon from the purple and gold days, dammit!

Nice picture of him with Luc there.

I got no problem with the hoss thing, either. I guess if I was to pick and animal, it'd be Bodacious, who seems to have really embraced the idea of competition (and indeed, had much in common with Jack Lambert).

[arkabee]

Football: Brett Favre.  I spent junior/senior HS in northern wisconsin, graduating in 93.  i got into NFL football at that point.  remember Majkowski? the next white hope of the packers? and along came some guy from nowhere who fuck*ng loved to play football, and smiled all the time even though he lived in, literally, the middle of nowhere.  did he abuse painkillers? did he become (more?) of an egomaniac, or whatever? sure. he's a pro athlete.

but when i get maudlin and harken back to not being a completely jaded asshole, brett favre is throwing a touchdown to sterling sharpe.

also, football team: Packers.  i get as romantic and idealistic as the next guy, and when i do i can mumble like an idiot about how the packers are owned by the municipality and yada yada yada.  hell, i'm not even sure if that's _true_ and i don't want to know.

baseball: i can't stand baseball.  except that Major League movie.  so i would say the announcer from the Major League movie who used to do those beer commercials is my favorite "person" from baseball.

runner up: chip lohmiller. place kicker from redskins.  my mother thought he was awesome. i still don't understand, but i will always have a soft spot in my heart for my mom's favorite extra point kicker.

golf:

basketball: i don't want to like jordan.  i actively _want_ to dislike him.  but damn he was something, and he wasn't a complete walking shithead _Comparatively_.  for some reason though i always really liked that shooting guard from Utah who stroked his face before each free throw as a way to say hi to his kids.

hockey: one of my cousins. weak, yes. but all i got.

Soccer: Pele.  how many children have fucked up their heads trying that kick?

MMA fighter: Nick Diaz.  the embodiment of "if it wasn't for this i would probably be in jail".  at its base fighting is about trying to beat the shit out of each other, and nick is the basest.

ice skating: my mom would watch the winter olympics.  she fuck*ng loved scott hamilton(?).  i think at some base level that figure skating is dumb, but don't fuck with my mom's guy, you know?

racing: richard petty. i never followed a lot of racing, but the dude looks like if he wasn't a pro racer that he would be drag racing lawn mowers.

[miles]

Baseball: Ken Griffey Jr. Any number of Mariners could and maybe should be at the top (I almost feel guilty for not putting Edgar Martinez at the top of the list, and of course I have a lot of love for Ichiro), but Griffey's a sentimental childhood favorite. On second thought, it's probably a tie between Griffey and Edgar. I love Edgar.

Least favorite: A-Rod.

Football: Steve Largent is probably my real favorite, but even though I know it's only temporary, Marshawn Lynch gave Seattle the best sports moment in years. So I gotta give it to him. I still tear up a little bit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCI-bAPtBRo&NR=1

Least favorite: John Elway--also my least favorite athlete of any sport, ever.

College Football: Dennis Dixon. Really exciting to watch, too bad he's only had a handful of starts in the NFL. Small, injury-prone, but tough and exciting when he played for Oregon.

Least Favorite: Wasn't really around for Elway's days at Stanford, and I don't end up disliking many college players, but Tebow is the most recent athlete to inspire Elway like hatred in me. Fitting that he plays for the Broncos, my least favorite team of any sport, ever.

Basketball: Probably Gary Payton. Watching the Thunder the other night I realized how much I missed the Sonics. I've always like the Blazers, too, but it's just not the same.

Least favorite: Kobe.

Have only been following hockey for the past few years, so I don't really have a favorite. I like the Canucks, so obviously Luongo would be up there.

[pmcd9]

Baseball - Nolan Ryan

Football - Earl Campbell

Basketball - Rudy T

Hockey - Gordie Howe

[Nabubrush]

Ah . . . not trying to bust your balls, Miles, but jesus I'd have to start another thread for my least favorite players.

Fuck it:

Hockey: Claude Lemieux/Peter Forsberg/Patrick Roy/Milan Hejduk (sorry, L)/Rob Blake/Chris Pronger/Sean Avery/Sidney Crosby/Darcy Tucker/Todd Bertuzzi (I hate having him on the Wings)/Matt Cooke/ Tie Domi
Football: Ryan Leaf/John Elway/Bill Romanowski (the Claude Lemieux of the NFL, or vice-versa)/Deion Sanders/Shannon Sharpe/Tim Tebow/Ben Roethlisberger/Ray-Ray Lewis/Eli Manning/Steve Wisniewski/Hines Ward
Basketball: Yeah, Kobe/Rick Fox/that's pretty much it
Baseball: Whatever

[Nabubrush]

Emphasis mine. Did I ever mention I tried a bull riding competition once? At a rodeo with spectators and judges and the whole nine yards? Tell you I, that stuff takes a crazy man or a lot of liquor. In my particular case, both. When I hit the dirt I made it up the fence and out with bull slobber on me, stone cold sobered.

Yeah, one guy tried to ride him with a hockey mask on*. A guy got wrecked, came back some time later to ride him (after he healed) and basically said "that bull wants to kill me, I ain't getting on" and someone subbed for him . . . and also got destroyed.

Here's a dude getting his face crushed.

*The last guy to ride him, I should point out. The hockey mask did not work.

[KeithHernandez]

Favorite:  Manny Ramirez.

Least:  A-Rod.

Also, as someone who lives in Denver and feels meh about the Broncos and NFL in general, fuck John Elway.

[Carlos del Vaca]

Faves:
Baseball, at present:  Livan Hernandez. That cat doesn't throw hard and never seems to work that hard, but he sure as shit gets people out.  Also, he can hit OK for a pitcher.  Ryan Howard--aside from hitting long-ass home runs, he also seems to be a good dude.  When Kenny Lofton introduced him to Buck O'Neill as "the next Josh Gibson," Buck asked him "You got some power, son?" and Ryan said "Sure, sir, I guess so."  All-time, Mike Schmidt, Manny Trillo, John Kruk.

Hockey:  Everyone here in DC has an Alex Ovechkin jersey, but for my money I likes me some Mike Knuble.  Older guy, willing to go into the crease and give and take a beating, and shovel in rebounds.  The kind of player I may have well been had I grown up in a hockey-playing area.  All-time, John LeClair, Adam Oates, Olie Kolzig.

Soccer:  Tom Presthus is my all-time favorite player because he gave me his jersey.

Football:  I still like ol' Donovan McNabb, I think he got a raw deal.  And even though he may have helped cover up a murder, Ray Lewis is hell of awesome.  All-time, Mike Quick, Randall Cunningham, Reggie White before he went to Green Bay.

Basketball:  not really.  I still heart the 2006 George Mason Patriots, though.  Will Thomas all standing in front of the Mason cheering section after beating UConn and shouting "FINAL FOUR!"

Least favorites:  Chipper Jones, Sidney Crosby, Sean Avery, Tom Brady.

[smick]

Fabian Cancellara - The guy is a class act, and an amazing athlete.   Last year while wearing not only the world time trial jersey, and the leader jersey of the Tour de France, I watched him dropping to the back of the pack and porting water bottles and food up to his team mates.   Something other people on his team would normally be doing for him to keep him fresh for the race finish.

Also, on the podium for the TdF, if you're the yellow jersey winner of the day, you're given a bouquet and a stuffed lion.   Multiple times I saw him give the bouquet and the stuffed tiger to fans. 

Just ... athleticism and attitude.  Amazing.

Molly Cameron - Local vegan transgendered athlete.   She caught some flack a while back, as she was competing in the women's races (and winning).   She lost some racing friends over the issue.   Our local race org OBRA ended up ruling that you have to compete in the classification of whatever genitals you currently have.   It's a weird ruling and well, I guess Molly is pre-op or she just doesn't want to fuck with it, but she races int he men's divisions all over the world.

I saw an incredibly emotional race where she was positioned to win the Cyclocross Crusade Series here in Portland.   An amazing feat.  It all came down to the last few seconds where the racers had to get off their bikes and carry them up a hill.   At that moment I moved over around a corner so I could see the finish line.   At the crest of the hill the racers were right in front of the announcer who I couldn't see, but heard yell "OH, MOLLY!"

Apparently her cleat caught funny in her pedal, knocking her over, while the other guy passed and took first.   A few moments later, I watcher her sullenly cross the line in 4th or 5th.  There's a really great race photographer that captured the moment.

This image gives me chills. I have yet to see anything that encapsulates "defeat" so well.

On that note: This picture made me cry this morning.   This is Team Leopard-Trek (Fabian Cancellara's team).  These are the team mates, and training partner (Tyler Farrar, the guy in the Garmin kit) of Wouter Waylandt, the cyclist that died day before yesterday during the Giro D'Italia (Sister race to the other two Grand Tours: the Tour De France and the Vuelta a Espaņa).   In yesterday's stage, no one raced.   It was more of a funeral procession.  The other racers holding back at the finish and letting Waylandt's teammates and close friend cross the line together.  After that stage, Leopard-Trek conceded and left the tour in mourning, as did Farrar.

[CortJstr]

I'll go with Darrell Green. Not long after he announced his retirement (the 1st time) he was playing in Philly. Some fans had a big banner that read "we hate the Skins but we love Darrell Green." When you get respect from Philly fans then you know your shit is for real. Also, he built a basketball court at this house but lets all the neighbors use it when he isn't.

I also like Ben Olsen. He might not have any records like Jaime Moreno but I've heard he's a much nicer guy.

On the opposite end of the spectrum is The Phenomenal AJ Styles (that's right, I went there). I've heard he's your basic southern redneck homophobe asshole but damn is he athletically gifted.

[lprkn]

This image gives me chills. I have yet to see anything that encapsulates "defeat" so well.

- Brokeded

[smick]

http://raindog.net/ljimages/molly.jpg - Here you go!  (and fixed above)

[arkabee]

I'll go with Darrell Green.

good call.  Joe Gibbs era Skins seemed good people for pro athletes.

[Nabubrush]

I don't much care for this guy, but the rest of them seemed ok (and Riggo was lots of fun at parties).