Apolo Anton Ohno fans flood ESPN.com poll
An ESPN.com poll for the 5 members of the 2006 All-Sports team (which is still open) is the subject of a thread on a forum for fans of speedskater Apolo Anton Ohno. Some commenters helped put their hero in the #1 position in that poll and knock Kobayashi out of his early lead:
Whoa! You definitely CAN vote more than once, with rapid-fire! Just ‘refresh’ the voting results page and click ‘Retry’ when you get the message. I was able to vote again with just 2 clicks – about once per second. Within about 5 minutes I think I single-handedly brought David Eckstein from 1.3% to 1.4%! (Of course I voted for Apolo, too). (I know, I’m a techno-idiot, so if you already know this you can call me stupid – go ahead, I can take it…)
(A commenter on the thread thinks that Sonya Thomas should have been in the poll also)
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Crazy Legs Mom said
February 12, 2007 @ 7:31 pm
I was going to post this a while back, but the moment passed. I was thinking when I checked again just yesterday that Apolo Anton Ohno must have some very cerebral computer savvy fans. Now , with the OJ post, it seems timely to comment again. I believe that I wrote before that voting the simplest way, perhaps the old fashioned way, was useful only for a brief time. Surely someone or several people set up an automatic voting system. The numbers below represent another moment in time which, due to “automatic computer generated votes”, has long passed. But then perhaps the votes for Kobayashi and everyone else were “stacked”. In any case, without any deadline and with people being able to vote as often as they wished, it is meaningless, which in Japanese is made up of two characters……MU meaning nothingness and used widely in Zen and IMI meaning “meaning”………in effect……nonsense.
ESPN AllSports Team Poll results copied on January 6th, 2007……….
Note the total number of votes then and now. This is the moment when Kobayashi was about to be overtaken.
Which FIVE athletes make up your 2006 All-SportsNation Team? (Vote for FIVE)
48.3%
Takeru Kobayashi: World hot dog eating champion (53 3/4) now holds the record for hamburgers (97). What will he scarf down next?
47.8%
Apolo Anton Ohno: Speed skater won a gold and two bronze medals at the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics.
44.7%
LaDanian Tomlinson: Explosive back is having the greatest offensive season ever by almost any standard.
43.0%
Tiger Woods: Despite the loss of his father, finished 18 under par at the PGA Championship continuing his dominance of the field.
40.7%
Reggie Bush: Heisman trophy winner has shown flashes of brilliance in the NFL, scoring four touchdowns against the 49ers.
27.3%
Jimmie Johnson: Dominant driver finally succeeded in his quest to win the Nextel Cup with 5 wins and 24 top-10 finishes.
27.2%
Lisa Leslie: WNBA MVP scored her 5,000th career point in June with a 41-point effort against San Antonio.
26.3%
Darren McFadden: Arkansas running back, Heisman finalist and Doak Walker award winner is a dual threat behind the line.
26.0%
Alexander Ovechkin: Calder Trophy winner is vying for league lead in goals scored in his second year.
25.9%
Seimone Augustus: The 2006 WNBA Rookie of the Year was the league’s second-highest scorer and fifth-best free throw shooter.
17.6%
Tim Sylvia: Reigning UFC Champion defended his title twice in 2006 against Andrei Arlovski and Jeff Monson.
4.8%
Roger Federer: The most dominant player of his era. Psyches out opponents not with trash talk, but with a near-flawless game.
3.9%
Jamie Gold: Television producer won $12 million in the World Series of Poker, but he’s not planning on quitting his day job.
3.8%
Kobe Bryant: The ’05-’06 NBA scoring leader was helped by an 81-point explosion in January and is a constant threat to drop 50.
3.6%
Vince Young: Willed the Longhorns to victory in the Rose Bowl and shocked the Titans awake in the playoff hunt.
3.5%
Zinedine Zidane: Headbutt aside, was awarded Golden Ball as ‘Best Player in the 2006 World Cup’ for his consistent excellence.
3.0%
Drew Brees: Former Chargers standout leads the league in passing yards and touchdowns for the resurgent Saints.
2.7%
LeBron James: King James is keeping the Cavaliers in the playoff hunt, all while continuing his ascent to Jordan-level greatness.
2.5%
Dwyane Wade: Finals MVP earned the nickname ”Flash” that Shaquille O’Neal gave him for his quick moves and hard charges to the basket.
1.9%
Ryan Howard: Phillies slugger won the NL MVP award after falling just short of Babe Ruth and Roger Maris.
1.9%
Albert Pujols: He picks it at first base, runs well, and is as clutch as they come. Hits like a young Jimmie Foxx.
1.7%
Steve Nash: 2006 MVP leads the league in assists and once again has the Phoenix Suns on top in the Pacific.
1.6%
David Eckstein: Pint-sized shortstop was a terror for the Cardinals in the World Series, hitting .364 to capture the series’ MVP award.
1.6%
Johan Santana: 2006 Cy Young Award winner put up lowest ERA (2.77) in either league, keeping the Twins in contention.
1.5%
Troy Smith: Heisman Trophy winner and Buckeyes QB was supremely accurate, throwing 30 touchdowns and only 5 interceptions.
1.5%
Joakim Noah: Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player is a force on both sides of the ball for the Gators, scoring and blocking with equal ferocity.
1.5%
Sidney Crosby: Sophomore sensation is NHL’s current points leader, helped by a six-point game on December 13.
1.2%
Joe Mauer: Twins’ elite backstop was first-ever AL catcher to win a batting title, and first ever to lead the majors in batting average (.347).
1.0%
Jaromir Jagr: Rangers captain scored his 600th career goal this season and is among the league leaders in points.
Total Votes: 344,498
Anonymous said
February 12, 2007 @ 7:32 pm
I can understand how someone would make a case for Sonya. What she does would be like Janet Guthrie winning several NASCAR events each year, or like Gail Devers beating most men in track. Anyway, it looks like she would have done better than Kobayashi in the polls.
Rhonda Evans said
February 13, 2007 @ 10:54 am
Anonymous, whoever he or she is, makes a very valid point. Additionally, UW senior Mark McGrath writes a paragraph about Sonya Thomas in his online article, “Holy Schott! Firing opens new doors for Marty to succeed,” in which he refers to Sonya as the “ultimate second banana.”
I sent Mark an e-mail noting, 1) that Sonya is third in the world in hot dog-eating, and 2) that taking into perspective what Sonya is doing, ultimate second banana is phenomenal!
Here’s my E-mail in its entirety:
Hi Mark! Regarding Sonya “The Black Widow” Thomas, she is actually third fiddle, behind Kobayashi and American Champion Joey Chestnut in Hot Dog Eating. But considering that the sport of Competitive Eating has no female division, what Sonya is doing is truly phenomenal. She constantly hands the majority of her male opponents their cute, sizable tushes; yet she remains physiologically fit, consistently weighing about 100 lbs.
Everyone associated with all other sports should wake up and smell the estrogen! Sonya Thomas is a walking, living, breathing fountain of feminine youth, and is a potential gold mine for companies who would step up to the plate and endorse her!
Opportunity is not merely knocking, it is now causing ear drum damage! She, or one like her, may never pass this way again!
Wishing you well!
Rhonda Evans!