Ah, the great all-rounder! Celebrated by his peers…Coveted by the opposite sex…Enviable. If ever there was a classic image of the sportsperson, it’s the all-rounder; the Cold War-era US college jock, or the young English Earl knocking the spots off the other fellows in every field from rugger to cricket, via Latin.
That’s not to say great all-rounders are a thing of the past – think of the darling of UK athletics, Jessica Ennis, who competes at a high standard across six different athletic events in her pursuit of heptathlon glory, from long jump to javelin. Then there are the somewhat ropier examples – remember Dwain Chambers, the shamed sprinter who tried his hand rather flaccidly at American Football a few years back?
With the exception of multi-discipline sports and freak instances like Chambers, it’s fairly rare that we get a chance to see the world’s greatest sports stars competing in any sport other than their own – presumably because they all hate losing. More’s the pity, as it’s great fun seeing which of them fare best outside of their comfort zones…
How about Lionel Messi? We reckon his immense cunning would make him a pretty proficient casino gamer and winner at blackjack, though we’d hate to see what fate might befall him in the wrestling ring. Fellow footballer Wayne Rooney might be better suited to such a situation, though we have this unshiftable feeling that the guy is probably a bit of a big baby at heart. If any soccer star was to hit the canvas with a view to laying down the pain, you’d have to favour Andy Carroll above all – with great ugliness comes reckless strength.
Moving on, who from the world of tennis might prove to be the biggest of the sporting pragmatists? You wouldn’t bet against a certain Mr Nadal in a gruelling triathlon (provided he’s not injured, which he invariably is), whilst Federer would look right at home in a more genteel arena; salsa dancing or billiards perchance, Roger? One thing we would love to see is Scotsman Andy Murray trying his hand at cage fighting. Against someone incredibly violent.
One star who’s made his dream of making a foray into a second sport quite explicit is one Usain Bolt, fastest man on the planet and all-round bad***. Bolt has stated his desire to one day play football for Manchester United, but we’re not so sure how it’d work out. The guy’s a bit of a hero, which would make the pretty much inevitable sight of him hoofing the ball into the stands difficult to stomach. Having said that, with such a blinding turn of place, who’d bet against him running the ball past the keeper?
Now all we need is someone incredibly rich to put up the funds to make all this a reality! Any takers?
0 votes
