Sportsman of the decade - who's your pick?
Dec24200912:24 p.m.
As the noughties draw to a close (and what are we going to call the next decade?) it's time to consider who the sportsman of the decade was.
The list of contenders is pretty extensive. Take your pick from Tiger Woods, Lance Armstrong, Michael Phelps, Roger Federer, Michael Schumacher, Usain Bolt, Joe Calzaghe to name but a few. There's countless other who you could argue a case for, and I'm sure if some of you have already got Christmas in the bag that you will do so. Please go ahead and add your thoughts below to avoid me getting lonely this Christmas.
To my mind there's no-one who has dominated their sport quite like Roger Federer for a large proportion of a decade. Just look at his outstanding record in Grand Slams with his wins and the years in which they were achieved listed below.
Australian Open W (2004, 2006, 2007)
French Open W (2009)
Wimbledon W (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009)
US Open W (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008)
That's 15 Grand Slam titles out of 21 finals, and currently he is on a remarkable run of reaching the semi-finals or better in the last 22 Grand Slam tournaments. No-one has ever shown that sort of consistency in tennis, or any sport for that matter.
And not only is he successful but he's also a pretty humble guy and doesn't display too many shows of petulance, unlike many of his contemporaries. An all-round great sportsman and great guy.
Some might argue for a pugilist like Joe Calzaghe whose record of 46 fights unbeaten is astonishing. I mean the guy doesn't have a mark on his face and is still a handsome bastard after 16 years in the fight game. But maybe it's the lack of quality pretenders to his crown that just give Federer the edge. Federer's rivalry with Nadal has been astonishing, perhaps the best since Borg and McEnroe traded blows over the net.
There's just a final thing for me to do, and that is to wish all my loyal readers (all three of you - thanks mum, John F and Jamie B,) the best for Christmas and New Year.
P.S I couldn't be arsed with a woman of the decade 'cause we all know we may as well just give it to the Williams sisters, Serena or Venus... or Cristiano Ronaldo.
P.P.S. Don't forget to vote in the poll on the left to nominate your sportman of the year from the Doyley shortlist of four.
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Comments (2)
jamieB 'Calzaghe, Giggs and FedExpress yes! Hoy? Kelly Holmes (I know she is nort a man)? Haile GebreSelassie? It's a tough one, Woods has been equally as dominant as Fed but Fed just seems to be perfect in lots of ways in terms of his game - I also like his Nike range better than Tiger. Armstrong is always the outside bet and I'd go for him not just for the cycling but because of the NYC Marathon and for the Commercials he did for the "Feed the Warrior" campaign... Seriously, on a skating theme - Chazz Michael Michaels is my Sports Man of the first Decade of this Century ( or indeed any Ferrall character). I've really enjoyed your year of posts especially when I was injured. You've made me smile and my blood boil but I love your contribution to Realbuzz. I would even go as far as to say that I like you more than the Sex Blogger mate! PS - With my first skim of the article, I did think I'd been nominated as man of the century - which is what I deserve...' added 24th Dec 2009
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Johnf 'Don't think you're wrong, the noughties were when Federer went from being that young Swiss player to world force in one of the top sports watched though sadly not played. Thanks for the mention, I do like the editor blogs as they are normally a bit offbeat, sometimes controversial, often humourous and yours certainly has a bit of all. Hope Xmas was good and your New Year is a belter.' added 29th Dec 2009
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