Alex Ferguson looks at who HE thinks is the top 10 sportsmen in the United States. Forget about their actual ages- we’re talking about those playing in their first three years of professional sports…1. LeBron James (NBA, Cleveland Cavaliers)
LeBron James came out of high school and went straight to the NBA. He wears #23, like Michael Jordan, and in the play-offs this year he’s played like him too, averaging over 30 points a game. In fact, he’s so good that Nike are telling people that “We are all witnesses”. If you’d ever seen him play, you’d be inclined to agree.
2. Alex Ovetchkin (NHL, Washington Capitals)
Moscow-born Ovetchkin came somewhat under the radar in comparison to our other young gun Crosby, but in fact outscored him over the course of the year. The 20 year-old young left-winger, nicknamed “The Moscow Missile”, piled up 52 goals and 54 assists in his first-ever season in the NHL this year and everyone’s expecting bigger and better things in ’06-’07.
3. Freddy Adu (MLS, DC United)
At only 14, Adu signed a major league contract as was soon hailed as the saviour of Major League Soccer. Chelsea thought so much of him that they were strongly rumoured to be part of a £5m deal that would have brought the youngster to Stamford Bridge. Although it failed, the youngest player ever to play for the US national team will have been disappointed to miss out on this year’s World Cup finals but time is very much on his side.
4. Sidney Crosby (NHL, Pittsburgh Penguins)
He’s quick, he’s skilled, and he’s pretty darned good. In fact, the Canadian is so good that was hailed him as the saviour of ice hockey. This NHL season, he had a stellar 39 goals and 62 assists in just 81 games. But will he really be the real deal? We think so.
5. Larry Fitzgerald (NFL, Arizona Cardinals)
We like the fact that after every touchdown, Fitzgerald cuts out the need for an end zone Oscar-winning performance by simply handing the ball back to referees. We only wish that Chad Johnson would do the same. He’s also one of the best receivers in the league, with 103 receptions for over 1,400 receiving yards last year alone. The NFL liked him so much that they invited him to his first Pro Bowl. If he carries on like that, there will be many more where that came from.
6. Carl Edwards (NASCAR, Roush Racing)
A smile is great. It can drop girls at your feet, put you on the front of magazines, and make you the ‘poster boy’ of America’s biggest spectator sport. But it’s when you score four wins, 13 top 5 finishes and 18 top 10 finishes in your first full year of racing that will get you the plaudits- and the big bucks. And this year, the success story has continued with 3 top 5s, and 5 top 10s in 11 races.
7. Dwayne Wade (NBA, Miami Heat)
In two years, the Marquette graduate has become the Heat’s best player, and his jersey is the #1 seller in the USA- ahead of James. He’s averaged 27.1 pts a game with 5.7 rebounds and 6.7 assists a game this year- the third in a stellar, albeit fledgling career. Not bad, if you consider that most of it’s been spent playing on the court with Shaquille O’Neal. Oh, and he’s got multi-million dollar endorsement deals with Converse, clothing company Sean John, and Gatorade.
8. Jonathan Papelbon (MLB, Red Sox)
Could he be the new Roger Clemens? The Sox certainly hope so. With a 98 mph fastball that has made some of the best hitters in baseball look like complete fools this year, the 26 year-old Papelbon has quickly shown that he is Red Sox Nation’s pitching future. Don’t be surprised if you see Cy Youngs (and World Series rings) on his finger before his career is out.
9. Ben Rothliesberger (NFL, Pittsburgh Steelers)
In his first two seasons in the NFL, this quietly-spoken quarterback has thrown for over 5,000 yards and 34 TDs. For his size, he can also scramble out of the pocket (213 yards total rushing with 4 TDs) well. But more important than that, he leads by example. See his last-ditch tackle on the Indianapolis Colts’ Nick Harper in the NFL Playoffs that saved a go-ahead for details.
10. Danica Patrick (Indycar, Rahal Letterman)
When the 25 year-old Patrick came fourth in the Indy 500 last year, she garnered more press than every other driver combined- so much so that winner Dan Wheldon wore a T-Shirt that said: “Actually won the Indy 500”, in an effort to divert some attention onto himself. Although the 2005 Rookie of the Year has yet to win a race, she’s now the reason why people are coming back to Indycar in droves. Now all the organisers have to do is pray that she wins a couple of races.
15 replies on “Are these the top Young Sportsmen in the USA?”
No
well… i guess that answers that question.
Completely disagree Two hockey rookies and a NASCAR driver are better than Dwayne Wade? Where’s Carmelo Anthony? Danica Patrick hasn’t even won a race. Larry Fitzgerald is there, but what about his similar teammate Anquan Boldin? Where’s Carson Palmer and Big Ben (A SUPER BOWL WINNING QB RANKS BELOW AN INDY CAR DRIVER!!!). Larry Johnson, anybody? You really need to redo these rankings.
i meant to vote abstain my bad
i voted down because there are just so many obvious choices that must not have even been considered when you wrote this article, as mentioned before. i know we aren’t supposed to vote on opinion but you are missing so many great players (carson palmer, big ben, larry johnson, ‘melo, chris bosh, miguel cabrera, scott kazmir, D-train…) and you included 1 IRL driver (who has never even won a race), 1 NASCAR guy, a soccer player and two hockey players, although, I’ll admit Ovetchkin and Crosby are pretty good.
oh yeah Crawford wouldn’t even meet requirements, as he is in his 5th season. Gotta research stuff like that if you’re writing this kind of article.
Excuse my idocy…. I have removed Carl Crawford and replaced him with Big Ben.
However, I love Carl Crawford. He’s young, he’s quick, and he brings great things to the team.
And as for NASCAR- I know you hate the sport- but I don’t, and I’m the writer of this article. As it’s the biggest spectator event in the country, and getting bigger season by season, you’d better start paying attention.
And as Danica Patrick, I really believe that she turned around the fortunes of Indycar. Not bad if you consider that she’s a rookie.
Agree with you about the D-Train, but I think in the long-term, Paplebon’s a bigger hope. It was a challenge putting Dwayne Wade or ‘Melo. I won’t lie- Melo is incredible, but I think Wade’s a better player.
Freddy Adu is one of the brighest spark’s America’s seen for a long-time in US Soccer. The media have been saying he’s exceptional, and when one of the biggest clubs in the UK, Chelsea, wants to sign him for £5million, then he’s talented. Plus, he could well be the reason why people start thinking about the USA as a sporting power again.
a quick rebuttal I agree with you on crawford that he is a good player, but I’m glad you switched him for big ben.
as for danica, she may have brought attention to the sport, but she needs to win a professional race before she is deemed a top ten young athlete. her situation is much like michelle wie, she draws attention, not because of her skill, but because of the fact that she’s such an underdog every time she’s out there. (Her looks help her out a bit too)
i completely agree with you about papelbon and wade, but i would rather see dontrelle and ‘melo in there for danica, edwards, or adu.
also, i’m not going to pretend to be a soccer buff or anything and you’ll probably shoot me down here, but i went and checked out some of Freddy Adu’s stats. i realize he’s only 16, but he started only a little over half his team’s games last year and only scored 4 goals. i wasn’t totally sure how good or bad this was so i checked it out and saw that he was no where near any of the leaders. if you look at his age, you think it’s amazing that he’s even a pro. however, in an article where you even say that you aren’t considering age, you can’t put someone on the list based on age. it’s another michelle wie situation where the guy gets attention because he’s young and is supposed to become very good. get back to me when he is among the league’s top players or his team wins a championship, then he can be up there with LeBron, D-Wade, and larry fitzgerald.
good luck with this and future articles
By the way I think that this is a very good topic of discussion. Someone else should publish an article like this so we can compare the two lists. Though my list would be completely different, I find it interesting to see what one person has to say. Would I include Adu, Patrick, or Edwards on my list? No, but its interesting to see someone who does.
Needs some editing You need to watch your “is” and “are”. Your opening line says “is”, when it refers to the plural “10 young sportsmen”.
Under James, you say “In fact, he’s so good that Nike are telling people…” NIKE is a singular entity and therefore it should say Nike is.
Reread the Crosby section, it could use some work, and Dwyane Wade’s name is spelled incorrectly. Of course, I would have to agree with you on the spelling, and say that Wade himself spells it wrong, but who am I to argue that point?
I abstain But only because I really can’t call NASCAR drivers and IRL drivers “good” athletes. Yes, NASCAR is a rapidly growing sport, but that doesn’t make the drivers great athletes.
I hope this gets published because any article that gets enough interest to get 12 votes should. I just really disagreed with the article and couldn’t bring myself to vote for it.
Alex..why did you change this? I don’t understand how you could bow to pressure from a few commenters and change your list. I guess Carl Crawford was a technicality since he’s been in the league longer, but you should stick to your guns. Any list like this is going to get shouted at because everyone has a different opinion. As much as I might disagree, I still voted for this because you included some off the cuff (contrary to popular opinion here, other sports do exist) athletes. I also voted because I looked forward to the thread of comments. Disappointed in the flip-flop, though.
Like the list or not…. It’s decent writing and has a place on this site. I don’t agree with the list past #1, either, but read the first sentence in the intro:
Alex Ferguson looks at who HE thinks is the top 10 sportsmen in the United States.
Yes And I think Adu does need to be on this list, because I know he didn’t start that much and didn’t score that much but he’s only 16 and only getting better. Also, did you see some of the goals he did score? He made the defenders 10 years older than him look absolutely ridiculous!
Thank you for you encouragement I was getting lambasted, so I changed it. But forgetting Big Ben- what a dumb decision?!