First to pop into my mind is Al Kaline. Aside from his baseball skills, his is a class act all the way.
He once turned down a contract for $100,000 because his previous season was not up to his standards and he felt did not deserve that much.
mmm
At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the overwhelming favorite to win gold in the finals of the women’s 100 meter hurdles was the American hurdler Lolo Jones. And indeed, she was well in front when she hit the nineth hurdle and fell; teammate Dawn Harper sprinted past her for the win. Jones finished seventh.
I happened to be watching that race, and I still remember how she pounded the track in agonized frustration, but still was able to smile and be gracious when NBC interviewed her a few minutes after the race. *During the interview she stopped to hug and congratulate Harper. *
An NBC camera caught her in the tunnel afterward, crying and saying “Why? Why? Why?” She was so clearly devastated, yet she had the grace and class to submit to an interview, and then congratulate a rival, when she surely must have wanted nothing more than to curl up in a hole and weep.
At the risk of sounding sentimental, that to me is exactly what the Olympics are about. I have never been so proud of an American athlete.
She was also the brakewoman on the US Bobsled Team’s Sled 3 at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, becoming one of the few athletes to compete in both Summer and Winter Games.
She’s also supported her high school alma mater in Iowa, buying the track team a new set of hurdles and repairing the track; and she donated $4,000 (and raised another $8,000) for a single mother who had lost her home in the 2008 Iowa flood.
The only thing I don’t like about her is her penchant for sometimes posting Jesus-y glurge on her Facebook page (she’s a devout Christian); but she is self-evidently a decent person, a classy competitor, and a true Olympian.
Wow! I remember we watched him through the heats and it was always the same race plan; really, really slow (comparitively) in the first lap and really, really, really fast in the second.
If you see him this year, let him know he’s not forgotten the other side of the pond. 
Okay, okay! Stop twisting my arm; I’ll tell my story!
I moved from Tallahassee to the Orlando area in April 1993. 5 April 1993 to be specific.
I was damn near broke, had no job lined up and had no professional contacts in Orlando, but I did have family. My aunt was wiling to let me sleep on her porch as long as I needed, so I had a base to start from at least.
Anyway, my first day there my aunt, her husband and my cousin say “hey let’s take you to the new mall so we can show you a bit of how to get around plus we wanna see the new mall.” Back in 1993 a new mall was still a thing.
So we go to the new Florida Mall (its still there but it isn’t new anymore). We park in the parking garage by JCPenney, go thru the store and into the mall. The first store to our right as we enter the mall is Foot Locker. I look inside and there’s a sales guy and just two customers and HOLY SHIT ONE OF THEM IS SHAQ!
I’ve been a huge basketball fan for years. I used to videotape games (I still have some of those tapes). I used to take March off from work so I could watch the tournaments. I used to go to community center games. I knew who players and coaches from multiple community colleges in the southeast US were. I knew who the up-and-coming high school talent from all the prep schools was. I think I attended every home basketball game of the Tallahassee Community College (go Eagles!) for 3 seasons. I was really into basketball.
I had been watching Shaq since his senior year of high school but had known his name since he was like 14 years old. I watched him play for LSU every chance I got. And there he was, in the Foot Locker 40 feet away.
As luck would have it, I didn’t even have to go to him to say anything. He and his friend came out of the store as we approached. I called out “Hey Shaq!” and they stopped, turning towards us. I walked up, stuck my hand out and said “I’m Bo! I just moved here today and I know you’re moving here too and I just wanted to say that I’m thrilled you’re gonna play for the Magic! I can’t wait to see you play in the NBA!”
Shaq thanked me, we exchanged more pleasantries and we all set off to have the rest of our day.
So that was a good day.
8 days later and thanks to working the phone like a maniac I’ve managed to snag a gig loading in a rock show at the Orlando Arena. I could look up who it was in my notes but I don’t remember off the top of my head (maybe Nine Inch Nails?).
So back then we still did most of our truck loading with ramps, not forklifts. The way it would work is like this: some people in the truck are pushing boxes to the ramp. One person would grab the handles on the back of the box and let it pull them down the ramp while another person would jump onto the ramp and back down in front of the box. Those people on the sides of the ramp would grab handles and help control it. When the box hits the floor, someone takes it into the venue while everyone else just repeats the process until the truck is empty.
If you were working the side of the ramp, like me, when the box hit the floor you’d just peel away and head back towards the top of the ramp to help with the next box. Which I did, over and over, until the one time that, as I was turning, I ran into something huge and sort of bounced away. Luckily Shaq, who was walking thru with a couple of other guys after a rookie practice, grabbed me before I fell over. I had run right into him, my nose being about his chest height (I’m 6’4", he’s 7’1") as I turned blindly to my left.
So he grabs me, keep me from falling and then says “Oh shit, Bo, I’m sorry! Are you okay?” As about 80 other stagehands, all of whom just met me about 20 minutes look on, I say “yeah, I’m good. Nice catch, Shaq. I didn’t see y’all walk up. You okay?” He says “I’m good; I gotta go do team stuff. See ya!” and he bounces outta there.
The next thing I heard was a fellow stagehand saying “You know Shaq???”
“Yeah, we’ve met,” I said coolly.
It’s a helluva way to make an impression on people, lemme tell ya. (I have also had something similar happen with Penn Jillette years ago, but he’s not an athlete so I’ll save that story for another thread.)
But the point is that Shaq is a very nice, very pleasant guy. I also ran into him at the bike shop (they had to custom make his bicycle, of course) and a few other places during his and my years in Orlando. He’s a great guy.
Yay, Shaq. Dude never ceases to crack me up (most recent NBA Slam Dunk Contest, which he took part as a judge, is a great example).
Even though I am a diehard Laker fan and a Shaq fan, that was a long time ago and his contentious relationship with Kobe made them both look like immature egomaniacs, which was probably a fair assessment. The obvious answer for a lifelong Laker fan would be Magic Johnson, but he’s been something of a contentious idiot toward his previous team in his retirement – plus he totally gave me the brush the only time we crossed paths.
Man, I am stumped here. I like Kershaw a lot, but to call him a favorite is a stretch. And I find myself more drawn to watching Corey Seager, the Dodgers fledgling shortstop.
The Lakers stink right now, but Julius Randle seems like a class act, hard worker and someone with a great future. I hope he pans out.
I’ll go with Kawahi Leonard of the Spurs. Great fun to watch on both ends of the floor and another high character guy.
Lebron James. Of course, I’m a Northern OHIO resident so how can I not admire him. Class act both on the court and off. He gives back HUGE amounts of personal money to kids. He hasn’t succumbed to the disease of fame that many of his contemporaries have. He’s about family.
Ty Cobb simply the best ball player ever, no one comes near to his greatness, on the field or off and that’s a fact !
Not a bloke who tried to be nice or to accommodating, but why should he of been, he did not have to be someone’s foot stool, he was his own man ! he was one of the most wealthy men in the world and no body’s fool.
He loved the game for the game not the money.
He did not care what other people thought, because why would such a grate man listen to what others only think, as he did not need what they think, he was the Captain of his ship.
Great man.
:smack: I missed the time frame when I got back to read it.:eek:
And now he’s gone…
I stepped in to say Kershaw and see that I’m not alone. Not a big surprise. Simply a class act all the way around, not to mention a badass on the mound, defensively, at the plate, you name it. He never ceases to amaze and yet, seems like one of the most humble guys in the game. It’s a privilege to watch his career.
Never heard of Dave Wottle before, but man, that 1972 Munich race was amazing. (Here it is on Youtube.) And the race itself is only like two minutes, so well worth watching for anyone else like me who never saw it before.
Federer is a great pick, and as I’m having trouble coming up with a clear favorite, Federer works fine for me.
But you downplay Federer’s slams when you say “a few more majors” than Djokovic. Federer has 17 to Djokovic’s 12, which 42% more than Djokovic.
Philipp Lahm. He’s not flashy. He’s undersized and not a goal scorer, though the few he has scored have been pretty big ones (2008 Euro semi-final against Turkey in the 89th minute is my favorite). But his skills and technique are incredible, and he has such a high football IQ. He can play both right back and left back at a world-class level, which is virtually unheard of. He plays an incredibly clean game with almost unparalleled tackling skills. He’s never been sent off in his entire career and if he even gets booked it’s a huge event because he averages only 0-3 yellows per season across all competitions. He’s not a diver or a prima donna. He’s a leader and he garners respect but he doesn’t do it by yelling or making scenes. He rarely has a bad game. He just gets the job done at an elite level day in and day out. In the last few years he’s finally started to get more widespread recognition by the casual fan as he’s lifted the sport’s biggest trophies (CL champion, World Cup champion) but anybody with any serious soccer interest should have known what a talent this guy was from about 2006 onward.
It was a total gut punch when he retired from the national team after the World Cup and I wish he had hung around for Euro '16, but he certainly didn’t owe anyone anything. But he was pretty irreplaceable. He’s said he’s retiring from Bayern in 2018 and that will be another blow. He’s been such a fixture for the last decade plus, he’s almost taken for granted at this point.
Any sport? This is a tough one. It was Tim Duncan but it looks like he’s retiring so I’ll try to pick someone else. Kawhi Leonard might get there sooner rather than later, but not yet.
I’ve been a bit of a Triathlon geek lately and there are a couple pros who I know a little bit and am a fan of, so I’ll leave those out of the running as it’s a little unfair. I’ll go with Jan Frodeno.
Honorable mention would go to cyclist Thibaut Pinot.