World's greatest athlete retires and 3 hours later there is nothing on front page of ESPN and SI.com

I should have put World's greatest athlete in quotes to indicate that's what he's called - I don't think he's the world's greatest athlete. I just changed it in the 1st post so it now says 'world's greatest athlete'.

He announced in the summer he wouldn't do 2020 Olympics. Decathlon is only recognized at the Olympics. Seriously, no one cares about the WC outside of diehard fans.

Long story short, he retired 6 months ago and this news is nothing surprising.

Also, ESPN and SI only cover 4 sports seriously. hockey, baseball, football, basketball.

track and field wrote:

He announced in the summer he wouldn't do 2020 Olympics. Decathlon is only recognized at the Olympics. Seriously, no one cares about the WC outside of diehard fans.

Long story short, he retired 6 months ago and this news is nothing surprising.

Also, ESPN and SI only cover 4 sports seriously. hockey, baseball, football, basketball.

ESPN actually takes soccer very seriously now, right up with the major sports. Obviously NFL and MLB get the most attention. NBA is right there too. I'd say soccer now easily gets more attention than hockey on ESPN.

Why did I read this as "World's greatest athlete runs 3 hour marathon and there is nothing on the front page of ESPN and SI.com"?

rojo wrote:

I don't think he's the world's greatest athlete.

Uhhhh, ok, pray tell, why don't you think that and can you list your top 10 list of 'greatest athletes'? I suppose the caveat is whether that title is current or all time - let's go with current for starters.

George Lucas lives in Frisco but knows that he has to release Star Wars in Santa Monica. Who doesn't know where the fame and money is? Ashton Eaton, that's who ;-{

I would make a strong argument that Bolt is the greatest athlete.

There is a very small sample of the population that will ever even see a pole vault mat in person.

If you think about it more people have run a sprint race at some point in their life than any other competition. If you were any good at it chances you continued to race.

who?

"Jose Montana" - lol who is that guy?

"Tomas Brady"?

mahmoud wrote:

rojo wrote:

For those of you who think I sport isn't niche, I think we've got official proof today. Ashton Eaton has been retired for 3 + hours and there is nothing about it on the front page of ESPN or SI.com - two of the biggest US sports websites.

It's always baffled me that someone as great, charismatic and good looking at Eaton wasn't a huge cross-over star. Part of it may be because Eaton doens't necessarily want to be that star but part of it also shows you how niche Track and field is.

Is it my paranoia, or is Rojo taking a snide jab at SI and ESPN?

At least they take the time to verify, edit & proof their work before submission.

Robert's point was it wasn't treating as breaking news. They could link to an AP story and then put something up on their own.

It was on the bottom scroll on ESPN for a while yesterday.

24K Magic wrote:

ESPN actually takes soccer very seriously now, right up with the major sports. Obviously NFL and MLB get the most attention. NBA is right there too. I'd say soccer now easily gets more attention than hockey on ESPN.

NYtimes today had an AP article on Tottenham defeating Chelsea but only a blurb on the Eatons. Here's how the Olympic decathlete champ's retirement is done:

Married Medalists Announce Retirements

Ashton Eaton, a two-time Olympic gold medalist in the decathlon, and the heptathlete Brianne Theisen-Eaton announced their retirements in essays on their website.

Eaton, 28, an American and the world-record holder in his event, hinted after defending his title at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in August that he might soon be moving on to other things. Theisen-Eaton, 28, who represents Canada, won the bronze medal in Rio.

rojo wrote:

For those of you who think our sport isn't niche, I think we've got official proof today. Ashton Eaton has been retired for 3 + hours and there is nothing about it on the front page of ESPN or SI.com - two of the biggest US sports websites.

It's always baffled me that someone as great, charismatic and good looking at Eaton wasn't a huge cross-over star. Part of it may be because Eaton doens't necessarily want to be that star but part of it also shows you how niche Track and field is.

That's sad that they don't have a publicist that knows what they are`doing. Los Angeles has the largest foreign press corps in the world. Ashton & Brianne should have had a press conference on New Years Day in front of the torch at the L.A. Coliseum and announced their retirement.

minong wrote:

I think it's also that the greater sports world no longer views the best decathlete as the World Greatest Athlete. For a time, he (not talking Ashton) was really considered that. How many people probably view Lebron as a better athlete? Typical office water cooler debate (or slack chat) Ashton doesn't even get mentioned in the debate.

It's funny what poor all-around athletes most NBA players are. Just watch them on the old Superstars shows when they would do anything but run. Pathetic, and the guys today with the exception of maybe three or four aren't any better at anything outside of basketball - and that includes LeGroan. He can run like the dickens for 40 yards at his size, and that's it. His hands aren't all that great when it comes to catching a football, just average. Watch that vid of him trying to throw punches at a bag, hilarious.

Eaton's lack of coverage shows that the press has no regard for Track and Field. BUT - if Eaton had acted like an inner-city thug he'd have been pushed in our faces constantly.

maybethis.... wrote:

I would make a strong argument that Bolt is the greatest athlete.

There is a very small sample of the population that will ever even see a pole vault mat in person.

If you think about it more people have run a sprint race at some point in their life than any other competition. If you were any good at it chances you continued to race.

And I would counter that Bolt, as a great athlete, would be a very weak argument.

To be the World's Greatest Athlete you can't be a one trick pony (in Bolts case - sprints). To qualify you'd have to have, as close as possible, the perfect combination of endurance, speed, strength and finesse.

I don't think that there is a better test of athleticism than the Decathlon. I don't disagree that many sports take away potential decathlon stars but I also believe that their ability to excel at a specific sport makes them less likely a candidate to excel at multiple sports.

Sure we could throw basketball, football, hockey, soccer, baseball, gymnastics, swimming, car racing, golf, et al skills into the equation but they are simple extensions of the base requirements already mentioned above.

AND NO BLACK PAGE ON LETSRUN.COM!

Kevin Mayer is now the world's greatest athlete.

"Its not easy for the greater populace to get involved in". Exactly! It is not easy. Its incredibly hard, which is why so few do it. Basketballers are not all round athletes. They only need to do one thing well ie put a ball in a basket.

I'm really surprised that Bekele is retiring, especially so soon after his near record miss. Perhaps he'll reconsider and keep running.