The Best Athlete Nonsense
A couple of talkers on WFAN were going on about who was the best athlete in baseball. This is one of those time-wasters that absolutely drives me up the wall. One of the commenters claimed that Ichiro was clearly the best athlete in baseball, going on and on about his various skills, which include great bat control, blazing speed, solid glove and strong arm.
All of which is undeniably true, but it begs the question: If he's the best athlete in the sport, why isn't he an annual MVP like Barry Bonds? Is the notion that Ichiro would wipe out Barry in a decathlon contest?
A similar point used to be waged in the "Who's a better QB, John Elway or Joe Montana?" debates of the late 1980s-early 1990s. Elway was perceived as the ideal quarterback--taller and huskier than Montana and probably a little faster, with a stronger arm. Of course, Montana's arm was strong enough to lift his team to four Super Bowl championships, while Elway (at the time) still had none.
I know why the radio guys do it: Because it allows them to opine on stuff while not being tied down to what the guy actually did on the playing field. It's the sort of thing that those who propose Archie Manning as a Hall of Fame quarterback (yes, they do exist) indulge themselves in, a fantasy world where Manning is drafted by the Steelers instead of Bradshaw, and leads them to five or six Super Bowl wins, rather than the paltry four accumulated by the bald one.
The problem with these arguments is that you can "prove" anything with them. Just fantasize that the Yankees signed Joe Garagiola instead of Yogi Berra and you can establish that Garagiola belongs in the Hall of Fame. Put Dan Marino on the '49ers and he wins the Super Bowl 10 consecutive times.
A similar argument exists today with Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. Yes, Brady's a fine quarterback, people say, but if Manning weren't saddled with the lousy defense of the Colts, he'd be winning titles virtually annually.
Look, this is pretty simple. I don't care what somebody could have done. I care what he did done. And I don't care that Michael Vick is clearly the best athlete at the QB position; it's far more important that he's NOT the best QB in the league (by a large margin).
