Greatest Athlete Ever?

On espn.com, there's a column written by Gene Wojcheowski that proclaims Tiger Woods as the greatest athlete ever. I read Gene's columns regularly because usually they're pretty good. However, this time he missed the mark. I think I've said this before, I feel that Tiger may eventually go down as the greatest competitior of all time. 37 out of 40 when he's held at least a share of the lead going to Sunday, 12/12 in majors. And he leaves it all out there. I love seeing someone care so much. His reaction to bogeying 17, even though the tournament was in hand, was classic Tiger. It's going to take someone special or a special performance to beat Tiger in a major when he's ahead. Bob May and Chris DiMarco each came close, but both fell victim to one last Tiger salvo, both times in playoffs.

But greatest athlete? No way. I agree with Dan Patrick, Jackie Robinson is probably the greatest athlete of all time. Jackie was a 4-sport star at UCLA. He was an All-American football player, led the Pac 10 in scoring in basketball, won the long jump in track and played baseball. After Robinson, my order would probably go Jim Thorpe, Jim Brown, Bo Jackson, and Michael Jordan. Tiger is a great athlete but can he play another sport at a high level? It doesn't appear so, but he doesn't have to, he's the best at what he does and he's fun to watch.

And elsewhere:

• Stewart Cink and Scott Verplank were Tom Lehman's picks to round out the US Ryder Cup team. Cink has played in the last 2 Ryder Cups, going 2-4-1. He was on the Presidents' Cup team that won last year, only going 1-3-1. Cink is 5-3-1 in his Presidents' Cup career. Verplank was 2-1 in the 2002 Ryder Cup, his only appearance. He was also on last year's President's Cup where he was 2-2-1. He is 4-5-1 in his President's Cup career. Both give the US more experience and Verplank can make putts, which is what the Ryder Cup is all about. Davis Love had a decent week at the PGA, but he's been hurt and inconsistent which makes him unreliable. Lucas Glover hasn't played well in the big moments and the Ryder Cup is one huge moment. I'd like to see Jerry Kelly make the team one of these years, but he needs to play his way in.
• The US is 2-0 so far in the World Championships. While the US has looked good, there are three teams that could beat them: Spain, Greece, and Argentina. I watched the Argentina/France game and it's scary how talented Argentina is. Manu Ginobili is a great basketball player, the international game allows him to shine. Andres Nocioni from the Bulls, the do it all forward is on the team as well as the veteran big man Oberto. He and Luis Scola, the young talent, play really well together, they're fun to watch. The point is Pepe Sanchez, the former Temple point guard. Add in Carlos Delfino off the bench and this team may be the most talented on paper. They should've blown France out (France is without Tony Parker), but they didn't play consistently. Also, pressure defense seemed to bother them, which is what the US will bring.
• And it was nice to see Andy Roddick play with fire and intelligence this past week in Cincinnati. The big serve and forehand are working, but so is the net game and the down the line backhand, 2 things that haven't been there. The down the line backhand has been the real surprise, Roddick has never possessed the ability to behind his opponent with that shot. He's caught everyone off guard and he could make a run in New York if he keeps his focus. Federer is still the man to beat, but Roddick now may have the game to challenge him on a hard court.

The Tigers are now 6.5 up on the White Sox after taking the first game of their series 7-1. I don't care what Jim Leyland says, this is a big series.