ESPN.. hard-hitting investigative source that they are..

[ateamstupid]

Originally Posted by moses

Do people really consider her a top level rider? Not saying she is bad or good, but I always thought she just got a lot of attention because she's attractive. Which really is true of a lot of athletes in all sorts of sports -- Anna Kournikova wasn't a great tennis player but she wasn't bad and she happened to look like a model, Danica Patrick is a solid racecar driver but obviously stands out among the other male drivers (and even the few fellow female drivers), and guys like Tom Brady and David Beckham are more marketable because of their appearance.



I feel like this unfairly takes a lot away from the jockeys. You could arguably say the same thing about a majority of "big men" in the NBA. They're there because they happen to be tall. Or left-handed pitchers in baseball -- they're left-handed and can throw 90 mph. Or offensive linemen in football -- where would they be if they weren't 6-3 and over and 300-plus pounds?

Every jockey gives a bad ride and every jockey gets lucky at some point in their career -- which could be the case for Gutierrez right now -- but there is a small group of elite jockeys (I won't even begin to get into exactly who belongs on the list). Whoever mentioned Ramon Dominguez at Delaware and Maryland parks offered a prime example of this. (edit: Oh, it was you that mentioned him. Note: I do agree that somewhere there just isn't that much of a difference but I do think there are at least a few who stand above the rest -- and even more who are clearly worse than most.)

I agree with your other points, but putting offensive linemen in that category is insane. There are plenty of unathletic big dudes working as bouncers, truck drivers, etc. The athleticism of successful OL in the NFL is off-the-charts. These are 315+ lb. guys running 40-yard dashes in the low 5s and benching 225 30+ times. How fast could you or I run the 40? Most big dudes would fall on their face even attempting it.