Back in January, the 15th to be exact I started wee write ups on some of my favourite athletes and I had intended it to be a once a month series that will at one point cover my most and least favourite commentators as well, some former athletes and some, and some… well there are just some. I realized after I put Part One up that I had included a retired athlete, I’ve been thinking that had I been thinking I would not have done that, so this post will include a retired male and when I eventually get to my favourite retired athletes I will only do FIVE of each sex.
© samcloseup on Flickr
Roger Federer, Swiss, Current Rank World No. 1, Tennis
I started following the career of Roger Federer in 2004 which just happened to be the year his career exploded. This was back when the live Wimbledon matches aired at some insane time, I think it was 4:30am and I was up to watch them, regurgitating all of the band wagon knowledge I had picked up on my new favourite player to Adam who hated tennis at the time but didn’t tell me until the next year when I yet again got up at I think 5:30am to watch Federer annihilate his competition. As of March 2008, that No. 1 ranking he gained himself when he won Wimbledon in 2004 still stands. A record 218 weeks. Federer has had a rough go of it this season, his health has been ailing and I suspect lady troubles. I always enjoy watching him face Rafael Nadal because he seems to be the only player that can realistically beat the Rog. It does get a little boring watching him win allllllll the time and I think it is natural for athletes to have slumps. I’m also a HUGE fan of his friendship with Tiger Woods. The commercials they do together = priceless, seeing them at each others events = priceless, hearing them talk about each other in interviews = priceless. Why shouldn’t two of the worlds BEST athletes be BFFs? There is really nothing I do not like about Federer, he supports many charities and started his own, The Roger Federer Foundation. Although he can be an emotional player he is always humble and when he actually loses it is always with grace.
© ETW Corp
Tiger Woods, American, Current Rank World No. 1, Golfer
My love for Tiger Woods was already well formed before I even started golfing. Which I guess doesn’t really mean anything, it is probably a pretty common statement, or close, a lot of people who have never picked up a club still love the Tiger. When I did start to golf back in 2000 I was able to draw a lot of inspiration from Tiger and still do. I remember when Tiger used to be a very very emotional player, a club thrower, you could read the swears from his lips, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him take it as far as I’ve seen John Daly go but he has thrown some pretty good tantrums. Watching him mature over the years has been a huge help to my golf game. When Tiger went through his slump during the 2003 and 2004 season I was constantly angered by the remarks made about him, I don’t know if it is just because I am a woman, but I KNEW it was related to his family life and what was still [until late 2003] his hot model girlfriend and not to mention he completely changed up his swing.
© Alexandre Despatie Photo Album
Alexandre Despatie, Canadian, Olympic Silver Medalist, Diver
In 1998 I was at home visiting my parents when 13 year old Despatie stunned Canada into and instant love affair when he won gold on the 10m at the Commonwealth Games. I remember that moment in diving like it was yesterday and I have been a fan of his ever since. He became the first man in Canadian history to win an Olympic medal in diving, winning the silver in Athens on the 3m and is a hopeful to medal in Beijing, although realistically the Chinese divers may already have those medals covered but the fingers are still crossed. In 2003 Despatie had won the gold on the 10m, making him world champion, at the 2005 World Championships in his home town of Montreal he added gold medals to the 1m and 3m making him the first diver to hold the gold on all three boards at the same time.
© earthhour on Flickr
Ian Thorpe, Australian, Five Time Olympic Gold Medalist, Swimmer
I did not know that Ian Thorpe had retired, yes I knew he had taken a break; I just hoped and willed him to go for the 400m freestyle Olympic gold hat-trick in Beijing as was his original plan. When I found out it was in late 2006 that he retired I became mad at myself for not knowing. What kind of fan am I? I try not to expect anything in life but I know it wasn’t wrong to dream of battles that I ASSumed would take place in the pool in Beijing between the Thorpedo and Michael Phelps [up next!]. Ian Thorpe MADE the 2000 Olympics for me and I thought that of all of the Olympic performances I had ever seen in my life that nothing would ever beat it. And you are reading a very proud Canadian’s blog who LOVES Canadian athletes [highlighting more of them is on the way don't you worry] But I was proved wrong, watching him and Phelps in Athens was amazing. Just bloody amazing and until I found out Thorpe had retired I had been dreaming of them together side by side in the fast lanes cruising to easy finishes and medals. My dreams have been dashed. But thankfully Ian and I support some of the same charities so my admiration for him continues on. And he will, I’m sure, forever be known as one of, if not the best freestyle swimmer of all time.
© sja30044 on Flickr
Michael Phelps, American, Six Time Olympic Gold Medalist, Swimmer
I love Michael Phelps; forgive me I did not know that he has now tied Mark Spitz’s record of winning seven gold medals at one event, the 2007 Worlds in Michael’s case, but I still love him. For an athlete of his age and his stature his maturity, how humble he is, how soft spoken he is, how gracefully he wins and loses is what puts this guy on my list. I’ve had no choice, although I enjoy a lot of other swimmers, but to give him the number one favourite male swimmer position. Although my dreams of watching him once again swim against the Thorpedo are over there is not a shred of doubt in my mind that he will be a highlight for America at the Beijing Olympics. I remember hearing of him in 2000 at the Sydney Olympics because he was a hopeful at the time, super young, but he was mentioned by commentators because he was, at 15, the youngest American male at an Olympics in over 65 years. Just as Ian Thorpe made the 2000 Olympics for me the rivalry between Thorpe and Phelps with a little bit of Dutch swimmer Pieter van den Hoogenband thrown in MADE Athens. Adam and I listened to A LOT of ‘Greased Lightning’ watching those boys fly across the water.
© the internet this photo is everywhere
Lance Armstrong, American, Seven Time Champion, Tour De France
I used to despise Lance Armstrong. He was basically everything I hated in an athlete: Pompous, arrogant, a sore loser, a prick to interviewers, ugly.. It wasn’t until my friend PH [now deceased] told me the story of Lance and how he had one nut and it wasn’t until he had just that one nut that he won his first Tour and how much he had overcome and that he had been given a 1% chance of survival with his cancer diagnosis. YES, ONE PERCENT! Read his first book! Now partially in honour of my dear friend, and partly because I believe that for the most part Lance has now earned his right to be a pompous, arrogant ass if he wants to, I admire and respect him to the level that he is now one of my heroes, he hasn’t reached a Terry Fox like status but he is up there. The fact that he also now runs Marathons doesn’t hurt either. He is brave, he fights for what is right, he doesn’t take no for an answer, he is loud, and he won the hardest race ON EARTH seven times against the very best cyclists in the world, all while being run off into hay fields and crashing because of idiotic fans trying to touch him while he is trying to WIN the TOUR DE FRANCE. He sits on a list with very few athletes as the best in the world at what he does and in the process carries a torch he doesn’t always even want to carry extremely high for team beat cancer a team that in one way or another I think we are all on.
