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spt_0625_Supermen[i-1].body = "Superman the comic book hero debuted in 1938, and it wasn’t long before sportswriters were describing the powers of this or that great athlete by saying he changed his clothes in a phone booth.There have been plenty who have fit the description, including one who had the homonymic handle of the Man of Steal, a.k.a. Rickey Henderson. None could exactly leap tall buildings in a single bound, although for the likes of Jim Brown, there was no need to -- he just ran through them.
The real Superman –- that is to say, the genuine fictional article –- is about to return to the silver screen. That makes this the perfect, if contrived, occasion to look at the current crop of athletes who are impersonating America’s most enduring super hero. ";
spt_0625_Supermen[i++] = new Array("","Shaquille O'Neal","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/apmegasports/200606212352599120729-pf.vmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "left", "Lucas Jackson", "AP", "298", "170", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
spt_0625_Supermen[i-1].body = "
There's no choice but to start with the man who has an \"S\" tattooed to his bicep and says things like: \"I am the other son of Jor-El -- Superman.\" Even if you don’t agree with his self-assessment, you’re not going to argue it with a guy who goes 7-2 and weighs more than North Dakota.
He doesn’t have to deflect bullets in his profession, but opposing defenders bounce off him like table tennis balls. And, while he isn’t faster than a speeding bullet, we’re willing to believe he’s more powerful than a locomotive.
In his prime, Shaq was as close to Superman as you’ll get -– impervious to anything puny mortals could throw at him. Today, he’s still a force of nature, and a world champion.
He’s even got an arch-enemy –- Kobe Bryant. And, like the genuine article, he has his Kryptonite, the substance that takes him to his knees -– free throws.";
spt_0625_Supermen[i++] = new Array("","Albert Pujols","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/051017/051017_pujols_vmed_9p_001.vmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "Ron Heflin / Ap", "", "280", "198", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
spt_0625_Supermen[i-1].body = "
A couple of years ago, Barry Bonds would have been out pick among the hitters of baseball, but Pujols has taken over in the past two years. Before that muscle pull, he was chasing Hack Wilson’s single-season record of 191 RBIs, as well as Bonds’ record of 73 home runs. Someday, if he stays healthy enough, he’ll be chasing records that even A-Rod couldn’t imagine.
If he has an arch-enemy, his identity is still a secret -– the Cards’ arch-rival is supposedly the Cubs, but how can you have a great rivalry in which one team never wins? No pitcher can get him out all the time, and every day it seems as if he’s doing something you’ve never seen before.
But even Superman Pujols has his Kryptonite. For Pujols, it’s injuries. He’s been plagued by plantar fasciitis in his right foot, though it’s never sidelined him. He did go down this year, though with a pulled oblique muscle, something that the real Superman never had to deal with.";
spt_0625_Supermen[i++] = new Array("","Roger Clemens","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/059019/050919_clemens_vmed_7p.vmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "left", "Gene J. Puskar", "AP", "256", "198", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
spt_0625_Supermen[i-1].body = "
I’m not sure which is faster, a rocket or a speeding bullet. I know that both are fast enough to get big league hitters out, and Clemens has been doing that for 22 years now and is starting on a 23rd. Two more wins give him 343 for his career, which will give him sole possession of eighth place on the all-time list. He’s got seven Cy Young Awards, the last one won at the age of 41.
He’s had plenty of arch-enemies over his career, his greatest being the Yankees while he was pitching for Boston and the Red Sox when he was with the Yankees. The Mets don’t much like him, either.
He is unfortunate in that he has to share a club house with his Kryptonite -– the Astros offense, which time and again foils his efforts to make Houston a championship city.";
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spt_0625_Supermen[i-1].body = "
He comes from California, and if you live in Boston, that’s as close to another planet as there is.
Masquerading as a mild-mannered sixth-round draft choice from the University of Michigan, also located –- to a Bostonian –- on another planet, Brady turned into Superman when he pulled on the uniform of the mild-mannered Patriots.
He can’t fly, isn’t faster than a speeding fire hydrant and is lucky to be able to leap tall chalk lines in a single bound. But he has a unique brand of X-ray vision that allows him to see through defensive coverages as easily as a mother can see through her toddler’s fib.
In four years, he won three Super Bowls, putting him up there with the greatest super heroes the NFL has ever seen.
But even Brady has his Kryptonite. It’s called the NFL salary cap, and it’s been eating away at New England’s star players to the point where the team is no longer super, even if Brady still is.";
spt_0625_Supermen[i++] = new Array("","Roger Federer","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Art/SPORTS/050703/050703_wimbledon_mns_vmed9a.vmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "left", "Clive Brunskill", "Getty Images", "271", "198", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
spt_0625_Supermen[i-1].body = "
He doesn’t turn 25 until August, and he’s already won seven Grand Slams and has 38 tournament titles to his resume. The last three Wimbledon trophies have his name on them as well as the last two in the U.S. Open.
Superman would never hit a backhand with two hands, and neither does Federer, whose power and speed are unmatched in tennis.
Federer does have an archrival who is as worthy a foe as Lex Luthor -– Rafael Nadal, the Spanish genius who this year has had Federer’s number, beating him most recently in the finals of the French Open and making sure that Federer will not win all four Grand Slam tournaments this year.
Federer’s Kryptonite is a double-whammy, because it’s also what gives Nadal his power. That’s clay courts. Federer can overcome anything and anyone, but put him on clay and put Nadal on the other side of the net, and Roger Federer turns into Roger Rabbit.";
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spt_0625_Supermen[i-1].body = "
Just like the baby who fell from the sky and into the Kent family in rural America, Woods amazed his parents with his feats of strength and skill when he was still just a wee lad. He had a perfect swing at age three, appeared on the Carson Show, who three U.S. Junior Amateurs, three more U.S. Amateurs and an NCAA title before turning pro.
If the Empire State building stood between him and the 72nd green in a major, he’s pull a wedge and hit the ball over it. No hole has yet been made long enough to keep him from reaching it in two. His supervision allows him to see breaks on greens that no one else can.
He’s only 30, yet he's won 11 majors and is chasing down Jack Nicklaus’ all-time record of 18. Superman wears a red cape; Super Tiger makes do with a red shirt on Sunday.
Phil Mickelson does his best to be Woods’ archrival, and lately has been doing a decent enough job of it. But, like most villains, Mickelson more often than not finds a way to give himself away.
I’m sure that Woods has his Kryptonite. I just don’t know what it is. I am reasonably certain, though, that if I ever do discover it, I’ll be able to retire a rich man selling it to other players on tour.";
spt_0625_Supermen[i++] = new Array("","LeBron James","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/060130/060130_james_dunk_vmed5p.vmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "left", "Lucy Nicholson", "Reuters file", "276", "198", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
spt_0625_Supermen[i-1].body = "
It seems that Supermen are more active in the NBA than anywhere else, several frequently showing off their super powers at the same time as it was when Jordan, Bird and Magic were all ruling the court. LeBron is the latest member of the league’s Legion of Superheroes.
One thing that’s always amazed me is that the real fictional Superman has such poor business sense. Nike, McDonald's, Budweiser, GM and all the other usual suspects would be delighted to throw shiploads of money at him to endorse their products. So, he’d have to replace the “S” with a swoosh -– it’s a small price to pay for what he’d get in return.
James has no such problems. Coming out of high school and into the NBA, he signed a $90-million contract with Nike, and it hasn’t hurt his super powers one little bit.
By this past season, his third in the game, Super LeBron was averaging better than 31 points a game. Like Jordan before him, LeBron actually can fly.
It’s too early to know for certain who LeBron’s archrival is going to be. It may turn out to be Dwyane Wade, who, if you’re brave enough to continue reading, you will find is also Superman.
As for Kryptonite, I’m willing to guess there isn’t any element from this planet or any other than can reduce LeBron to mortal status.";
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spt_0625_Supermen[i-1].body = "
If LeBron is Superman, Wade has to be, too. They’ve both just finished their third year in the NBA, and while Wade didn’t have the same regular season as LeBron, he had a playoff for the ages.
Like a true superhero, Wade performed whatever miracle the Heat needed to beat the Mavericks in the NBA Final, coming out of the series as its MVP and establishing his right to change clothes in phones booths or anywhere he chooses, confident that he’s so fast, no one will see him.
His archrival at the moment is Dallas -– both the city and the basketball team. It’s also Detroit, which wants back at him next year. And the Nets. And every other team in the NBA.
Like LeBron, nothing has been discovered that can stop him. I doubt that anything will.";
spt_0625_Supermen[i++] = new Array("","Mariano Rivera","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/050406/050406_celizic_rivera_vmed3p.vmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "Bill Kostroun", "Reuters", "292", "198", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
spt_0625_Supermen[i-1].body = "
Superman saves. He saves Lois Lane’s life three times a day before breakfast. He saves kitties from trees. He saves the planet from evil megalomaniacs.
Super Mariano saves baseball games, and he does it with the awesome efficiency of the original superhero. For 10 seasons, he’s been the best in baseball at that, and for long stretches of each season, he actually is invincible. No member of the Yankees is as responsible for the team’s four World Series wins from 1996-2000 as he. Without him, the Yankees, for all their money, are not chasing their twelfth straight trip to the playoffs.
He has a genuine archrival, the Boston Red Sox, and their battles in the final innings of games have been the stuff of legends in both Boston and New York.
He also has his Kryptonite -– two inning saves. When manager Joe Torre piles enough of them on, particularly in the playoffs, the Mighty Mo has been known to turn into Mini Mo."; spt_0625_Supermen[i++] = new Array("spt_0625_sports_supermen","Vote: Biggest Superman?","","","","", "lv2", "", "", "", "right", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", ""); // END editorial data