Your Favourite Sports Stars

[Magrat Garlick]

Biathlon
Sergei Tchepikov
Vladimir Dratchev
... all the Russians, Ukraininas, Belorussians

That's a fair few.

What's against the Norwegians? Win too much?

 

[Chubb]

What's against the Norwegians? Win too much?

Didn't win many medals in the olympics, did you? What happened there? You were supposed to clean up!

 

[superkingdave]

illness wasn't it?

 

[Magrat Garlick]

Didn't win many medals in the olympics, did you? What happened there? You were supposed to clean up!

Won 19 medals, thank you.

Not too many golds, but our best cross country skier was sick, our best skiing team managed to use the wrong wax, and our best biathlete won four medals...none of which were golds.

Anyway, it's all good. Success spreads the sports. Norwegians follow them blindly anyway.

 

[Chubb]

I was talking specifically about the Biathlon, not about the performance of Norway as a whole. I remember watching the biathlon and the commentator saying Norway hadn't done anywhere near as well as expected in it, especially Bjorndalen.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

I was talking specifically about the Biathlon, not about the performance of Norway as a whole. I remember watching the biathlon and the commentator saying Norway hadn't done anywhere near as well as expected in it, especially Bjorndalen.

That is very true. Bjørndalen managed to win three medals, though - but he just threw it away when he needed to perform. Got beat in a finish dash by Vincent Defrasne in the pursuit (that had never happened before). It says something that his best race at the Games was the relay - ten shots right down and a minute faster than everyone else - but he skied the last leg and by that time Andresen (excessively poor shooting) and Eckhoff (poor skiing) had thrown it away, so there was no pressure any more.

Then again, biathlon is a sport where once you're in the comfort zone, everything goes down. The Germans, especially Greis, were in that zone in Torino. Bjørndalen at the last winter olympics and the last world championships (but in 2004, I don't think he won a single gold).

W00t, longest sports-related post I've made on these forums for a couple of months

 

[LongHopCassidy]

Cricket
Michael Bevan
Adam Gilchrist
Glenn McGrath
Michael Hussey
Stuart MacGill
Sachin Tendulkar
Virender Sehwag
Rana Naved-ul-Hasan

Others
Michael Klim - swimming
Grant Hackett - swimming

Pat Rafter - tennis
Marcos Baghdatis - tennis

John Aloisi - soccer
Roy Keane - soccer
Francesco Totti - soccer

Joe Roff - rugby
Stephen Larkham - rugby
Radike Samo - rugby

Jonathan Thurston - league
Shaun Timmins - league
Craig Fitzgibbon - league
Billy Slater - league

 

[benchmark00]

Football
Wayne Carey (pre Kelly Stevens)
John Longmire
Nick Dal-Santo
Adam Prior
Few others i couldnt be bothered naming.

Cricket
Stuart MacGill

 

[Cloete]

[B[Football[/B]

RAUL!!!!
KEWELL!!!
CULINA!!!!
OKOCHA!!!!
THOMPSON!!!
ZIDANE!!!
JUNINHO!!!
Viduka
Schwarzer
Kalac
Bresciano
Emerton
Neill
Moore
Brosque
Murdocca
Seo
Vidmar
Aloisi, J
Henry
Yorke
Carney
Gibson
Griffith, J
Bergkamp
Robben
Robbie Keane
Casillas
Vieri, C
Nesta
Costacurta
Ronaldinho (As obvious as he is, basically on everyone's list no doubt. I just love watching him play)
Kaka
Steven Reid
Guti
Roberto Carlos
Nedved
Gerrard
I've missed about 1000 others no doubt

Retired:

Hakan Sukar
Gheorge Hagi
Romario (well... he still hasn't retired)
Johann Cruyff
Eusebio
Alfredo Di Stefano
Franco Baresi
Ferenc Puskas
Fernando Hierro
George Best

Cricket

Symonds
Martyn
Warne
Hayden
Bichel
Kasprowicz
Dippenaar
Kirsten
Rhodes (LEGEND!!!!!!)
Hudson
Kluesener
Pollock
Boje
Telemachus
DONALD!!!!
Bevan
Thorpe
Cork
Gough
Strauss
Lara
Chanderpaul
Sarwan
GAYLE!!!!
BRAVO!!!!
Ramdin
Patel
Kumble
Karthik
Dravid
Waqar
Afridi (Mainly when he's not cutting up pitches though)
Akmal
Shoaib Malik
BOND!!!!
Astle
Richardson
Cairns
Vettori
Patel
Mills
Jayawardene
Kaluwitharana
Vaas
Sangakarra
Tikolo
Odoyo
Flower
Flower
Campbell
Olonga
Price
Mohammad Ashraful

Rugby Union

Larkham
Latham
Mitchell
Giteau
Spencer
Mehrtens
Robinson J
Hewat
Habana
Conradie
Umaga
McCaw
Carter
Devine
CASHMORE!!!!
Cohen
O'Driscall
Stringer

Rugby League

Darren Lockyer
Michael Monaghan
Clinton Shifcofkse
Scott Prince
Matt Bowen
Billy Slater
Matt Cooper
Willie Tonga
Steve Price
Cooper Cronk
Matt Orford
Matt Geyer
PJ Marsh
Tim Smith
Jonathan Thurston

Cycling

CADEL EVANS!!!!!
Ivan Basso
Mickael Rasmussen
Robbie McEwen
Michael Rogers
Luke ROberts
ALEXANDRE VINOKOUROV!!!
Cristophe Moreau
Francicso Mancebo
Laszlo Bodrogi
Brad McGee
Stuart O'Grady
Allan Davis
Baden Cooke
Simons Gerrans
Matt White
Christopher Horner
Oscar Pereiro

That's about all I can do at the moment. I'll edit it some time and add moer sports.

 

[Matteh]

I don't get why people pick the best in the sports....
i thought the whole point was to pick an underdog who wasn't the best but gave his all....e.g. Stuart Pearce is a classic for that

It's like an entire generation of teenage kids are now supporting Man Utd despite having never been there or having no links purely because they were winning everything in the 90s....I chose to support Mansfield Town despite having no links....and it's been a lot more of a challenge but far more rewarding....

[/rant]

 

[cometer]

My list in no particular order:


Robert Allenby (Golf)
Stuart Appleby (Golf)
Nick O'Hern (Golf)
Rubens Barrichello (F1)
Jensen Button (F1)
Stephen Larkham (Union)
Clyde Rathbone (Union)
George Smith (Union)
Richie McCaw (Union)
Darren Lockyer (League)
Matt Orford (League)
Billy Slater (League)
Shaun Berrigan (League)
Nathan G Brown (AFL)
Joel Bowden (AFL)
Matthew Knights (AFL) - no longer plays
Brad Hodge (Cricket)
Adam Gilchrist (Cricket)

I think thats about it for time being.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

League
Brad Fittler
Ryan Girdler
Adrian Lam
Tim Smith
Eric Grothe Jnr
Michael Crocker
Anthony Minichello
Paul Deacon
Robbie Paul
Henry Paul

Cricket
Shane Watson
Nathan Bracken
Andy Flower
Greg Blewett
Matthew Elliot
Michael Bevan
Boeta Dippenaar
Shane Bond
Graeme Smith
James Anderson

 

[steds]

I don't get why people pick the best in the sports....
i thought the whole point was to pick an underdog who wasn't the best but gave his all....e.g. Stuart Pearce is a classic for that

The point is picking "your favourite sports stars", like the thread title says.


It's not my fault Mohammed, North, Lyon, Brown and Dott are so good.

 

[Barney Rubble]

Cricket
Freddie Flintoff
Simon Jones
Marcus Trescothick
Ian Bell
Ian Blackwell
Ashley Giles
Matthew Hoggard
Matt Wood ()
Keith Parsons (the real KP)
Richard Johnson
Graeme Smith
Herschelle Gibbs
Chris Gayle
Sachin Tendulkar
Nathan Astle
Mohammad Ashraful
Aftab Ahmed
Shane Warne
Justin Langer

Football
Gary O'Neil
Matt Taylor
Andres D'Alessandro
Stuart Pearce
John Terry
Steven Gerrard
Wayne Rooney
Ronaldinho
Linvoy Primus

Other
Michael Jordan (basketball)
Tiger Woods (golf)
Amir Khan (boxing)

 

[steds]

Linvoy Primus

Quality pick. Legend.

 

[Anna]

Keith Parsons (the real KP)

How could I forget?? Lol

 

[Smudge]

Cloete,

Adrian Cashmore???

 

[Jungle Jumbo]

That is very true. Bjørndalen managed to win three medals, though - but he just threw it away when he needed to perform. Got beat in a finish dash by Vincent Defrasne in the pursuit (that had never happened before). It says something that his best race at the Games was the relay - ten shots right down and a minute faster than everyone else - but he skied the last leg and by that time Andresen (excessively poor shooting) and Eckhoff (poor skiing) had thrown it away, so there was no pressure any more.

Then again, biathlon is a sport where once you're in the comfort zone, everything goes down. The Germans, especially Greis, were in that zone in Torino. Bjørndalen at the last winter olympics and the last world championships (but in 2004, I don't think he won a single gold).

W00t, longest sports-related post I've made on these forums for a couple of months

D'you reckon Bjorndalen took it too easy, he seemed really overconfident. The way he went off in the first race (20km I think, on the Saturday), just exuded arrogance. IIRC he threw a shot wide early on, and then another at the last shoot. You can tell just how good he is though - the English commentators generally think he can pull back unreal deficits.

What's your favourite form Hakon? I only really saw sprint to start with, but I saw the mass start the other day (Slovenia) for the first time. There wasn't the same excitement as with the individual - you can see who's winning without the time splits. I also prefer the penalty loops as opposed to the time penalities. Yet to see a pursuit - are these any good?

Anyway I don't like the Norweigians because
1) They win too much
2) They haven't got the same sort of 'exoticism' as the Russians etc. Norway is too close to home and hasn't got the same far-away attraction as Russia. (Is this the first time Russia has ever been dubbed 'exotic'?)

 

[steds]

Is this the first time Russia has ever been dubbed 'exotic'?

ex·ot·ic Audio pronunciation of "exotic" ( P ) Pronunciation Key (g-ztk)
adj.

1. From another part of the world; foreign: exotic tropical plants in a greenhouse. See Synonyms at foreign.
2. Intriguingly unusual or different; excitingly strange: “If something can be explained simply, in a familiar way, then it is best to avoid more exotic explanations” (Chet Raymo). See Synonyms at fantastic.
3. Of or involving striptease: an exotic dancer.

I'm pretty sure it would have been used for Russia once or twice.

 

[Jungle Jumbo]

Plenty of strippers in Moscow...