Feel the tumult of black emotions, chagrin, rage, hatred, toward the once beloved sports broadcaster!
Shock might be too flimsy of a word to describe the reaction from surf fans this morning after it was revealed Kelly Slater had failed to make ESPN’s 100 best athletes of the 21st century list.
Kelly Slater, nearing sixty and who is still competing at the highest level of surfing including at next month’s Fiji Pro, couldn’t get near the list which included Australian netballer Lauren Jackson, Spanish soccer player Xavi Hernandez and hard-partying NFL player Charles Woodson.
The methodology for the list was simple as ESPN explains:
Experts in individual sports were asked to vote to rank the top athletes in their sport since Jan. 1, 2000 (no accomplishments before this date were to be considered). Those votes pared down pools in each sport to lists of 10 to 25 athletes each, which constituted the overall candidate pool for the top athletes of the 21st century so far. Each voter was presented two randomly selected names and asked to pick which one has had the better career in the 21st century. Across repeated, randomized head-to-head matchups, more than 70,000 votes were cast at this stage, and using an Elo rating system, the list was pared down from 262 to 100. That list was then evaluated by a panel of experts for any inconsistencies or oversights, resulting in the top 100 ranking seen here.
And, while some might argue, and with authority, that Slater’s best years were 92 through 99, his feats through the 21st century will set any surf fan’s ganglia aquiver
Five world titles, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2011.
Pipe wins, 2008, 2013 and 2022.
Quik Pro wins, 2006, 2008, 2011, 201
Tahiti wins, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2011, 2016.
J-Bay, 2005 and 2008.
Bells, 2006, 2008, 2010.
Fiji, 2005, 2008, 2012, 2013.
US Open, 2011.
And a sweet late-season Triple Crown win in 2019.
