Who is more athletic

[Thunderfire]

I've got one for you....

Race car driving.

What other sport requires stamina, quick reflexes, and brains?

Modern Pentathlon disciplines are
shooting , fencing , horseback riding , swimming and running these
require a wide range of athletic skills.

[J]

Swimmers. They exercise pretty much every major muscle group, and often for very long periods of time. Range of motion is required to become more efficient, and so is lung capacity and circulation to supply the muscles with oxygen.

I'm sure jmac would back me up on this

Yes, and no. Unless you're swimming the 400 IM like I was, swimming basically comes down to refining your strokes and technique to the nth degree while getting as fit and strong as you can. To do well at a national level requires 4-5 hours of training 5 days a week on top of having excellent fitness and strength to begin with.

For best athletes I'd have to say is ice hockey, it takes just as much fitness and strength as swimming and on top of that your opponents are trying to knock the hell out of you. Skating is hard enough, passing and shooting the puck is hard, and on top of that you gotta keep track of your teammates and the puck and setup plays while the opponents are trying to flatten your ass on the ice.

[ArmorPierce]

for the best endurance and a goodly amount of strength would be cross-country though I admit that there are better sports for building up upper body strength since in distance running being buff is actually a bad thing since it's extra weight but you still require good upper body strength (I can bench around 200, not great but not bad). X-country is the best sport for living a long healthy life IMO.

[Howedar]

We'll probably all get arthritis around 60, though.

[Darth Garden Gnome]

Hockey. Yzerman is the most athletic (and therefore awesome) creature ever to pass wind on this planet. I've got the papers here to prove it....See?

Hockey rules.

[ArmorPierce]

We'll probably all get arthritis around 60, though.

Unfortunately running messes up your joints over time if you run hard and especially on rough terrain like roads so try to run along dirt paths when you can at least some of the times will help.

[Robert Treder]

While I think that this isn't exactly a question anyone will ever be able to agree on, my vote goes to ice hockey.

These guys skate forwards, backwards, sideways, all very fucking fast, and they hit each other a lot, and they simultaneously have to control a very small object with a very awkward and long stick, and they have to communicate with each other and work out tactics and strategy, on the fly, without stupid breaks every two seconds like in football.

[Robert Treder]

I've got one for you....

Race car driving.

What other sport requires stamina, quick reflexes, and brains?

Ice hockey.

[Andrew J.]

Amateur wrestling requires incredible speed, endurance, strength, and skill, especially at the higher levels.

"Professional" wrestling is harder to talk about, because there are so many different styles and types of wrestlers. In general, though, technical-style wrestlers and MMA-style wrestlers need to be in excellent shape (Benoit, Guerrero, Angle, American Dragon and Low Ki all come to mind) whereas brawlers and "garbage" wrestlers will usually not have the best conditioning (think Sandman, Bradshaw, and Kevin Nash).

High fliers and luchadores are mostly in good shape, except for Jeff Hardy, but Jeff Hardy sucks anyway.

[J]

Hockey. Yzerman is the most athletic (and therefore awesome) creature ever to pass wind on this planet. I've got the papers here to prove it....See?

Hockey rules.

Yup, and Stevie Y is Canadian! Yay!

[SpacedTeddyBear]

What other sport requires stamina, quick reflexes, and brains?

Sex?

[Exonerate]

What other sport requires stamina, quick reflexes, and brains?

Sex?

That only fulfills one of the three requirements, and sometimes, none.

[aerius]

Mountain biking

Mountain biking is easy, I can summarize everything in 7 simple steps:

1. Ride gently & smoothly
2. Focus your weight on your feet, not the saddle
3. Use your whole body to propel and control the bike
4. Use your gears
5. Anticipate instead of reacting
6. Wear a helmet
7. Ride lots and have fun

[haas mark]

Boxing. No other sport takes it out of you like this one. I defy any other athlete to get in a ring and not be huffing and puffing after a minute of sparring.

And I think that and football and hockey are leaders in head injuries (THOSE are really athletic...)

~ver

[haas mark]

We'll probably all get arthritis around 60, though.

Or 19 in my case.

~ver

[haas mark]

High fliers and luchadores are mostly in good shape, except for Jeff Hardy, but Jeff Hardy sucks anyway.

DAMN YOU!!!! You set off my wrestling muses... ;_;

~ver

[Sriad]

What other sport requires stamina, quick reflexes, and brains?

Sex?

That only fulfills one of the three requirements, and sometimes, none.

Well, maybe if you're talking about bad sex...

[aerius]

Boxing. No other sport takes it out of you like this one. I defy any other athlete to get in a ring and not be huffing and puffing after a minute of sparring.

Been there, done that, have the shirt. It's a piece of cake after you've done full contact sparring in Krav Maga wearing full protective gear.

[Baron Scarpia]

Gymnasts. Easily.

[Andrew J.]

High fliers and luchadores are mostly in good shape, except for Jeff Hardy, but Jeff Hardy sucks anyway.

DAMN YOU!!!! You set off my wrestling muses... ;_;

~ver

It's only the truth, you know. He used to be good, way back in 2000, but then he lost muscle and stopped giving a damn. He was probably also using drugs, but that never stopped the Rockers, did it?

[Zoink]

Mountain biking is easy, I can summarize everything in 7 simple steps:

1. Ride gently & smoothly
2. Focus your weight on your feet, not the saddle
3. Use your whole body to propel and control the bike
4. Use your gears
5. Anticipate instead of reacting
6. Wear a helmet
7. Ride lots and have fun

You forgot:

8. Even if a guy stops at his driveway, and you have the right away, he may be in fact an idiot, not see you, accelerate and broadside you... so make sure you have eye-contact before proceding. I have a nice big bruise on my leg right now to remind me of that rule. Thankfully my head didn't hit the pavement, so I don't have to chuck my Lance Armstrong Giro Pneumo. The leg is expendable but not the helmet.

[Slartibartfast]

Greased Pig Catcher.

[haas mark]

High fliers and luchadores are mostly in good shape, except for Jeff Hardy, but Jeff Hardy sucks anyway.

DAMN YOU!!!! You set off my wrestling muses... ;_;

~ver

It's only the truth, you know. He used to be good, way back in 2000, but then he lost muscle and stopped giving a damn. He was probably also using drugs, but that never stopped the Rockers, did it?

Actually, no drugs. I know because I have a friend that has known the Hardys since she was a child.

~ver

[weemadando]

I've played the majority of the sports listed and let me tell you that Rugby is fucking harsh compared to the rest.

Playing as a Forward in rugby you are required to follow the ball NO MATTER WHERE IT IS on the field, to scrum, ruck, maul, lift/jump and run. Especially the run part.

I play grid-iron/american football down here over the summer, in 30+ degree heat. When I play, I play O-line, D-line (swapping with an inside linebacker occassionally) and Special Teams, so I'm ALWAYS on the field and it doesn't even come close to Rugby in the intensity or fitness required.

Basketball, field hockey and soccer require fitness, but the strength attribute is overlooked, in neither of those sports are you required to push/carry/lift/tackle a 130kg man then get up, sprint about 30m to where the ball is now and do it all again - with no real breaks in play unlike the quite regular breaks prevalent in gridiron.

Ice Hockey requires great fitness and skill and strength and wait- no sorry, line changes eliminate much of the fitness requirements.

Athletics, depending on the area will provide great fitness OR strength.

Boxing is a very damn impressive sport and requires a lot of fitness and strength. As do many of the other such fighting sports.

Swimming is great.

Rowing is exceptionally hard as it requires you to maintain perfect focus and concentration despite everything else.

But overall I still have to give it to Rugby - its just that damn hard.

[Robert Treder]

Ice Hockey requires great fitness and skill and strength and wait- no sorry, line changes eliminate much of the fitness requirements.

I agree that Rugby is harsh, and is at least as tough as ice hockey, if not moreso, but the above statement is bullshit. Unless by "eliminate much of the fitness requirements" you mean "don't eliminate much of the fitness requirements".

A heavily-used hockey player in the NHL will get about 15-20 minutes ice time in a game, which doesn't sound like much, but it can be extremely grueling.
While you might say that a rugby player has to have more endurance, you can't really say that he's more fit in general. What "fitness requirement" is a hockey player lacking? Strength? Speed? Agility?