Open Mic: Which Sport Has the Best Athletes?

Sports fans have debated this topic for years.

There has never been a conclusion to this argument and probably never will.

It is difficult to provide facts as oppose to personal opinion. Every sport or all athletic competition requires a different skill set.

I have been an athlete for the majority of my life and as I kid, I played soccer in grade school. I had fun playing, but like most Americans it didn’t appeal to me as much as Football, Basketball and Baseball did.

I can recall spending some time in Germany and watching several soccer matches, it was then that I gained a strong appreciation for the sport. It was then that I learned the term American football.

I can say the same for the sport of Hockey.

Hockey isn’t played in the inner cities due to economics, the cost of equipment, getting to and from the arena, the specialized coaching, etc. There are a tremendous amount of foreign players and the American players are from the northeast, Northern Midwest or the state of Colorado.

I’ll even go as far as to say that a large number of American hockey players live in or near the cities of the “Original Six.”

I love the competitiveness of the athletes in the sport and the fierce battles that happen on the ice.

The heightened intensity of the playoffs is outstanding. The majority of the players are good guys, great athletes and solid citizens that aren’t portrayed negatively in the media.  

Their skill level, as high as it is, doesn’t necessarily translate to being able to have success at sports other than hockey.

To find an answer to this age old question and come to a conclusion: we need to look at it in more than one-way.

The Most Physically Demanding Sports   

1)               Football

2)               Boxing

3)               Hockey

4)               Basketball

5)               Soccer / Cycling

The list above shows which sports require not only a high level of conditioning, endurance, athleticism and skill but also ones where an athlete’s body has to dish out as well as take a beating.

The top four are the epitome of competition you want to accomplish a certain goal and someone is right there to stop you. These sports represent the best pound-for-pound athletes.

The above-mentioned sports also have athletes whose skill level will allow them to make a smooth transition to other sports. Several top basketball players have outstanding footwork due to playing soccer earlier in life.

Athletes like Hakeem Olajuwon & Steve Nash come to mind.

The sports listed one through four also represents the sports that require the most mental toughness as well. The skill to disregard what has happened in the past and to live in the moment and to accomplish the task at hand with a sense of urgency.

Baseball, Tennis and Golf are sports that require a great deal of hand and eye coordination and mental toughness, but don’t translate well to the more physically demanding sports mentioned above. Some might even assume that baseball needs to be on the above list.

The fact of the matter is if I was a baseball player it probably would be there.

Despite the fact that several athletes that play football, basketball and soccer more than likely played baseball as a youth. Sports helps in the development of a child, teaches teamwork, camaraderie, sharing, working in a group setting to accomplish a common goal.

I feel that the sport that has the best athletes is Football— American Football.

I have a great deal of respect for Boxing, Cycling and soccer, and the skill and athleticism it takes to participate in these sports. I’ve also taken into account that there are no timeouts in these sports and that you are in constant motion which is impressive.

Equally impressive is the sport of boxing and the eye and hand coordination, skills, endurance, intestinal fortitude, mental toughness necessary to be a pugilist. It is a demanding individual sport that you have to be a little crazy to compete in.

That can be said for other sports like football and hockey as well.

However, soccer doesn’t provide the trench warfare in a confined area that football does. It doesn’t provide the combination that the word athlete describes a person trained to in exercises or games requiring strength and skills.

Soccer is the most popular sport, in every country except the USA.

Which leads me to several unanswered questions.

Why is men’s soccer in the US, always handily beaten by other countries?

Why isn’t Mexico a world power in the sport of soccer?  

One has to wonder how great of a nation of soccer players America would be if our best athletes played soccer.

Take a moment and imagine if you will, LeBron, Kobe, LaDainian Tomlinson, Bo Jackson, Deion Sanders, Jason Kidd, Steve Nash, Hakeem Olajuwon, Christian Okoye all playing soccer for the US National team in their prime.

It was a nice thought while it lasted, but the reality is that it wouldn’t happen.

Kids growing up in the America play soccer and have some love for the sport, but the lure of money and success as well as everything that comes with it and the love for football, basketball and baseball is stronger.

Kids realize that if they can master the skills of these sports at an early age, have some success and acquire the necessary coaching that will allow them to get better and separate them from their peers.

There is a chance that they can play in the big leagues and financially make enough money to take care of their families as well as themselves.  

Economics definitely play a role; this not to say that a kid can’t be a successful soccer player or Boxer and financially take care of their families, because they can.

But the chances of having success and the opportunities on and off the field or court are greater in football, basketball and baseball in the USA.