Is Kelly Slater the best athlete ever?

[CascadeCrudSkier]

In order to facilitate more discussion in the Surf Forum, I'll address this question to all 7 of us who visit here.

Kelly Slater has been surfing for 20 years at the top of the world tour. He's taken 3 years off in the middle. He's dominated in every type of condition, break, and contest. He stands a reasonable shot of winning his tenth title this year. I think most will agree he's been the most dominating surfer on the world tour.

http://www.grindtv.com/surf/blog/205...+no+seriously/

This article above makes a defense for him being the most dominating athlete over a career. It's kind of stupid to even compare someone like Gretzky or Jerry Rice to a surfer like Slater and neither one could do the other's job so that's kind of silly too. Kelly couldn't cut it on an NFL team but Jerry Rice wouldn't have done much if he'd grown up in San Clemente and taken to surfing at a young age. Still, the article brings up an interesting point that very few elite athletes have dominated their sports consistently from the start to the end of their time. Slater is one of them who has done so very well.

Thoughts? Or should we just focus on a different question...has any pro athlete banged hotter chicks over the course of their career? Kelly has been linked to a pre Hep C Pam Anderson, Gisele (before Tom Brady), and Cameron Diaz. Not too shabby.

[Hugh Conway]

I thought it was stupid to compare him to Gretzky or Rice because it's entirely possible to surf at the highest performance levels, and get paid quite well, without ever entering a competition or only spending a small time commitment to surf contests. Hard to find highest level play in ball sports outside the pros....... very easy to find better surfing than sitting around for 2' chopes with your thumb up your ass. Ergo good surfers quit pro surfing and live the good life, like Tom Curren. Slater for whatever reason didn't get bored.

[Meanfruit]

Best ever?
Sounds like you're smokin something real strong!
Best surfer ever? Pretty hard to quantify,there's not a whole lot of stats in surfing, like waves on balls, most wipeouts, hottest groupies, or most tousled hair.

[huckbucket]

Best ever? Sure. Best ever at baggin' smoken hot women.

[Hugh Conway]

maybe famous smokin' hot women. plenty of smokin' pro hos.

[ill-advised strategy]

this thread is all about the cj001f reality-check smackdown.

[hop]

very easy to find better surfing than sitting around for 2' chopes with your thumb up your ass. Ergo good surfers quit pro surfing and live the good life, like Tom Curren.

Sure, the Tahiti contest was kind of a bust this year, but that's a sample size of one. How many other years has it been thumping? Also, to only have one other person in the lineup instead of the usual horde at all of the legendary spots the tour goes to has got to be worth something. I certainly hear a lot of the tour competitors mentioning that as a big plus.

Something tells me that a lot of pro surfers would consider themselves as living the good life. Furthermore, since when is Tom Curren not a pro surfer? He's still got endorsements and contracts and salaries and so forth. Did you mean "competitive surfer" perhaps?

[Hugh Conway]

Did you mean "competitive surfer" perhaps?

it's entirely possible to surf at the highest performance levels, and get paid quite well, without ever entering a competition or only spending a small time commitment to surf contests

you have a team of monkey's working nights to figure out that one hop? every year there's more than one contest where everyone sit's around pounding their pud because there ain't fuck all surf for a long time. Note: no surf, not because there aren't great conditions. This movie should be all you need to see that great surfers don't need great, or even good conditions, to kill it (probably not popular because it has actual surfing):
[ame="http://tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=200750"]Seen Unseen - Teton Gravity Research Forums[/ame]

I'm sure they mention it as a "big plus" because their pimps think it sounds good.... then they go to awesome spots with a ton of people and slay the best waves because they dominate the lineup, whether they are the best at comps:

or just fucking good


probably 3/4 of surfing lacks the capacity for self reflection and analysis to think of any of this... the other 1/4 is to busy doing their own thing to give a fuck

[CascadeCrudSkier]

I thought it was stupid to compare him to Gretzky or Rice because it's entirely possible to surf at the highest performance levels, and get paid quite well, without ever entering a competition or only spending a small time commitment to surf contests. Hard to find highest level play in ball sports outside the pros....... very easy to find better surfing than sitting around for 2' chopes with your thumb up your ass. Ergo good surfers quit pro surfing and live the good life, like Tom Curren. Slater for whatever reason didn't get bored.

This is kind of one of the points in the article. Every summer you have NFL/NBA/NHL 'stars' bitching that training camp sucks and how hard it is to gear up for another season. I think it's a valid point and one of the many reasons why careers aren't that long in pro sports. It's extremely difficult to perform at your peak level year in and year out. This goes for pro surfing as well. Kelly may not surf as well as a monk living on a Chilean point break who makes his own boards and is too core to surf a contest but he is certainly one of the best on the world tour. Despite taking a 3 year break, he's brought his A game for most of 20 years. That is very rare and hard to say that many other pro athletes have accomplished.

As much as the pro's like to whine about how they have to compete in less than stellar conditions, in reality it's close to as good as they could get off the tour. Not even Bruce Irons or Dave Rastovich are spending 365 days per year watching forecasts and chasing epic swells around the world. The burnout factor for that lifestyle would be as quick as on the WCT. Those guys get skunked too. Getting the chance to surf J-Bay, Trestles, or Pipe in perfect conditions w/ one other guy in the lineup is a perk that's not found anywhere else. Traveling to J Bay from Hawaii and getting knocked out in the first round...that's easy to see where the burnout factor comes into play.

[Hugh Conway]

As much as the pro's like to whine about how they have to compete in less than stellar conditions, in reality it's close to as good as they could get off the tour. Not even Bruce Irons or Dave Rastovich are spending 365 days per year watching forecasts and chasing epic swells around the world. The burnout factor for that lifestyle would be as quick as on the WCT. Those guys get skunked too.

sitting pretty in Indo for 5 months surfing and whoring >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> pro tour

for the most part tour pros are top of the lineup - they show up and people fawn, if not on first sight, on first ride, not really sure how big a deal not having omegas around is. Seen, Unseen is all shit within 20 miles of Ventura, people didn't clear out of the way for that, and it's awesome stuff. The large number of known, pimped, surfers who aren't on the tour speaks for itself.

[hop]

you have a team of monkey's working nights to figure out that one hop? every year there's more than one contest where everyone sit's around pounding their pud because there ain't fuck all surf for a long time. Note: no surf, not because there aren't great conditions. This movie should be all you need to see that great surfers don't need great, or even good conditions, to kill it (probably not popular because it has actual surfing):
Seen Unseen - Teton Gravity Research Forums

I'm sure they mention it as a "big plus" because their pimps think it sounds good.... then they go to awesome spots with a ton of people and slay the best waves because they dominate the lineup, whether they are the best at comps:

or just fucking good


probably 3/4 of surfing lacks the capacity for self reflection and analysis to think of any of this... the other 1/4 is to busy doing their own thing to give a fuck

Wow, once again you miss out because your view is too narrow-minded.

I'd try to explain to you that getting skunked is one of the risks of having competitions that rely on nature to provide the playing field (like skiing... how many WC races and freeskiing events have been cancelled or had venues moved due to conditions?) but you'd probably come back with some "all competitions are just marketing bullshit let's just soul-bro out even though that's marketing bs too and by the way, check out this cool movie! It's not marketing, I swear!" response.

As for that movie: so what? The same can be said for a great athlete of any discipline.

Surfing and whoring in Indo >>>> pro tour for you, but that's your opinion, man, not to mention sounding a lot like sour grapes since you (and everyone but 45 surfers per year) won't ever get the chance to find out what it's like to be on the pro tour. Is the "dream tour" just marketing bs or is there maybe an element of truth?

The number of known, pimped surfers who aren't on the tour because they can't make it on the tour speaks for itself. How many of your soul bro heroes never competed as a kid or never wanted to be on tour at some point? Probably not many. Even the anti-care Dane cares enough to be on tour.

Competition surfing isn't everything, sure. But take someone like Kelly who, as you say, can rule any lineup he paddles out in outside of a competition... then put him in a jersey and have him still dominate for 20 years... somewhere in there is the difference between a legendary soul-bro and a legendary competitor.

[peterslovo]

Hugh, does this film sum up your take on this topic well? (rasto kills it by the way, prob my favorite surfer to watch)

[Ripzalot]

i haven't followed pro surfing in a long time but good to see slater is still killing it.

pretty good for a boy from cocoa beach FLORIDA.

[Scottish_Skier]

There is an article on the ASP site asking similar...

http://www.aspworldtour.com/2010/09/...e-by-grind-tv/

I’m biased, of course, so I’ll ask you to shoot my theory down by answering the following question off the top of your head: Please name an athlete — any athlete — who’s been the dominant force in their respective sport for a span of two decades?

The only reason I don't think Kelly Slater is the best athlete of all time is because surfing is always going to be a judged / subjective sport (unlike say golf or tennis, where there is a clear winner). However I am struggling to think of other athletes that have remained world number 1 in their sport for such a long time period of time ?

His autobiography is a worthy read.

[Hugh Conway]

Surfing and whoring in Indo >>>> pro tour for you, but that's your opinion, man, not to mention sounding a lot like sour grapes since you (and everyone but 45 surfers per year) won't ever get the chance to find out what it's like to be on the pro tour. Is the "dream tour" just marketing bs or is there maybe an element of truth?

given how much of the making-money-out-of-surfing world is in Bali for extended periods May-whenever, I think it's their opinion too man. the rest you seem to confrontationally agree with me on why people chose to join the tour (aka $) and ignore that many of them just find something else to do... Kelly for whatever reason remains a competitor. but since surfing is much more than the ASP I'm not sure how you can say he dominates it.

Sincerely,
doesn't dream of surfing trestles, 2' chopes, hossegor, peniche, puerto rico or santa catarina.

[hop]

given how much of the making-money-out-of-surfing world is in Bali for extended periods May-whenever, I think it's their opinion too man. the rest you seem to confrontationally agree with me on why people chose to join the tour (aka $) and ignore that many of them just find something else to do... Kelly for whatever reason remains a competitor. but since surfing is much more than the ASP I'm not sure how you can say he dominates it.

Sincerely,
doesn't dream of surfing trestles, 2' chopes, hossegor, peniche, puerto rico or santa catarina.

Following your reasoning I can say that Kelly dominates surfing because not only can he own any lineup he paddles out in like any big name bro-pro, he has shown to be consistently successful on the competitive circuit (in waves ranging from lousy beachbreak crap to thumping Waimea) as well.

[Hugh Conway]

if by following you mean "making shit up as you go along" sure, have his love child. make sure to give Laird some head too.

now back to the nightmare tour

[hop]

...then they go to awesome spots with a ton of people and slay the best waves because they dominate the lineup, whether they are the best at comps:

or just fucking good

if by following you mean "making shit up as you go along" sure, have his love child. make sure to give Laird some head too.

You said all this, not me, but I'm making shit up? Here you go.

I don't know how Laird fits in to this since he's one of your pro-bro non-competitors; you should be giving him head (after you clean up the gob that JOB left on your chin), not me. Plus, the only thing Laird has done recently is introduce SUP to the mainstream.

[BS720]

Plus, the only thing Laird has done recently is introduce SUP to the mainstream

That's really unfair. Why, just the other day I was channel surfing, and saw Laird towing Rob Dyrdek into a wave. As far as I know, Rob has never surfed in his cracker-ass gangster life, and now Laird is towing him in.

[Hugh Conway]

JOB's was just the first clip of Bangko-Bangko that came up that was decent. I coulda picked random weirdos:


i think Laird's been in magazine covers and ads. that's stoke, right?

[HotTate]

I think that Shane Dorion said it best in an interview during the Eddie last year, he said something to the affect that "Slater is one of the best athletes because he's schooled every generation."
When you think about his 20 years on top you've got to consider how much the sport has changed and the people that have changed it and what the level of surfing is currently. Slater can still make a run for the title and his competition is people like Jordy, Dane, Brett Simpson...etc... that truly puts it into perspective... for me at least.

[ill-advised strategy]

Gordie Howe was at the top of the game for a super long time, and at no time was he ever a man to be fucked with on the ice.

* Most major league games played: 2,421
* Most Major League seasons played: 32
* Most NHL regular season assists by a right winger: 1,049
* Most NHL regular season points by a right winger: 1,850
* Most NHL regular season points by a father/son combo (with son Mark): 2,592
* First player to score over 1000 goals (WHA and NHL, regular season and playoff combined)
* First player to reach 1,500 games played in NHL history.
* Oldest player to play in NHL: 52 years, 11 days (no other player has played past the age of 48)

And, he was still playing at a high enough level to have played on a major league team with both of his sons.

Where's the love?


edit: if in 10 years he's still competing at a high level I'd say he's the gordie howe of surfing.

Let's not forget Gretzky played for 20 seasons too.

Muhammed Ali: 20 active years.

[Joey Bag O' Donuts]

Gerry Lopez, Laird Hamilton, Shane Dorian, Anyone in the McNamara family, etc... This is facking stupid mute point of a thread!! The Original poster should be shot for being a poser!!!

[hop]

i think Laird's been in magazine covers and ads. that's stoke, right?

Dominating your sport for 20 years is a bit different than stoke from a printed photo, wouldn't you say? Did you forget what we were talking about?

[Hugh Conway]

I was talking about surfing. You seem to be talking about something dominatable. Kook.