What makes an athlete great?

According to Mike Imrem, carrying a football makes an athlete great. (I found this trail of links in Kaufman’s daily sports piece on Salon.com.) It’s hard to fathom Imrem’s argument that Lance Armstrong should not even be considered a great athlete. In fact, it is downright asinine. Fortunately, there are people out there like Patrick O’Grady who aren’t afraid to put out a “big dirty, personal foaming rant.” God bless him. There’s no doubt that Ricky Williams is a fine football player, but he would be an embarrassment at basketball, baseball, soccer, golf, and -yes- cycling. While Williams in certainly strong, Armstrong has endurance and a tolerance for pain that most football players only dream about. Never mind the fact that Armstrong has the discipline to stay in shape and avoid illicit drug use… It’s amazing the Imrem is published regularly; he should be out there pedaling [sic] his work…

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