GQ's Top 25 Coolest Athletes

Not a SJ, and only moderately self-respecting, so I'm safe. Did he actually get sports fans to care about skiing for more than 2 weeks every 4 years? If so, he belongs on the list.

 

Yep.

Here's a recap of the greatest downhill racer ever:

 

Watching him ski, you can tell that he's better than everyone else? I can't, though I don't doubt that he is. It just doesn't seem like a sport that the layman can catch the nuance without hearing announcers or seeing the clock.

 

COuld someone explain to me how Derek Sanderson is the only hockey player on the list which I guess would make him the coolest hockey player of all time. I know the 70s pre date me, and I am well aware of who Sanderson is, but would I have ever considered him the coolest hockey player of all time? hell no. But maybe I just have never understood "cool." Who's deciding on what makes an athlete cool? Lincecum I would never have considered cool.

 

Killy was more than just skiing -- he was like Pele was for soccer in the 60s -- even if you weren't a skier, you'd likely heard of Killy

 

Jeter, Montana and Messier being off this list does not seem right.

 

Iverson is the "what doesn't belong and why" on the list

 

Like him or not, Iverson's influence on how NBA players look and dress is undeniable. Iverson was the first NBA superstar to wear cornrows and have his body virtually covered in tattoos. Now, seemingly everyone does that. (In fairness, Dennis Rodman probably brought tattoos into the NBA mainstream, but a lot of people wrote him off as a bit of a loon).