Best All-Around Athletes in Sports

It's debatable, within some circles, as to which sport has the best all-around athletes.

Some wrong-thinking fans will argue it's basketball players who, being so tattoo laden, must run up and down the court, bobbing and weaving so as to avoid other tattoo laden opponents, while dribbling a ball without taking too many steps between bounces, only to arrive at some distance close enough to the basket where they sometimes are even forced to jump off the ground in an attempt to throw the ball through a hoop and net.

Others on the wrong side of accurate evaluation attempt to support that certain positions on the football field require the best all-around athletic ability. Come on! These players only play half of the game, at best, while taking a break between each and every play along with commercial breaks, yardage measurements, multiple time outs, and many other play stopping rules. Sure they're encased in pounds of protective gear, but they're not alone in sports requiring such an added burden. Plus, any sport which has the word "punt", yet alone using it to describe a planned play, can't even be seriously considered as having the best all-around athletes.

Baseball? One word. "Bonds" Enough said.

Sports where anything carries the athlete are also automatically tossed out as having the best all-around athletes. Bikes, cars, horses, luge, bull riding, curling or snipe shooting, are all disqualified.

Swimmers are a tough bunch, no doubt (with the exception of synchronized swimming which isn't so much a sport as it is a demonstration). They hold a top position in the overall best athlete competition. They'd win the whole thing if they could finish a race without taking a breath. They should work on that.

Golf? Right. Fun to play, but "no" in this competition.

The only other sport I've heard argued, except for the obvious winner to be named, as having outstanding athletes is mountain climbing, but then it was limited to one individual. Granted, he successfully climbed and descended Mt. Everest after losing both his legs to sever frostbite in an earlier attempt, thereby earning himself honorable mention, but alas, not the coveted best all-around athlete in sports.

Therefore, by process of elimination, if by no other method, this leaves us with hockey players being the best overall athletes in sports today. They go and stop just as fast as they can, while playing both offense and defense with few breaks between shift rotations, short rests between periods, sudden DEATH overtimes, while chasing a frozen piece of rubber which occasionally bounces off their slightly protected bodies, while being slammed into the boards and slamming others into the boards, fist fighting to resolve on-ice disputes, all without even a beer. These are athletes. They need strong legs, hard heads, loose gloves, no fear, stamina, great lungs, quick reflexes, high pain thresholds and good dentists. These are by far the best all-around athletes in sports.

Anyone that says otherwise is wrong.

Stanley Cup, baby. The most coveted trophy in sports. Coveted by the best all-around athletes in sports.

Did I mention that the winners are hockey players?