Rofl, title is fail.

Posted by: Bashy35 | September 22, 2009 12:54 PM

None of the people mentioned is at the top of his game. The top of each of those sports is dominated by meat-eaters. Should we infer something from that fact, or does that logic only work when it is vegetarians?

Posted by: Benjamin | September 22, 2009 01:15 PM

Now all you have to do is find an NFL player willing to admit to being vegetarian.

If there are any it would be nice to know who they are.

Posted by: Rev. Meg Schramm | September 22, 2009 05:08 PM

To Rev. Meg Schramm... look closely on PETA or veg.com to read about NFL players who are vegetarians. I don't know all by heart, but Ricky Williams is one (Miami Dolphins). There are plenty.....

Posted by: Janice | September 22, 2009 06:03 PM

Ricky Williams of the Miami Dolphins.

Posted by: Jinny | September 22, 2009 07:42 PM

There are already several NFL players that are vegetarians. Most notably, Tony Gonzalez, TE for the ATL Falcons. He has been for about 5 years now.

Posted by: Jason | September 22, 2009 10:13 PM

We also need to let everyone know that a day without meat is a day with out cruelty. So many people think that if they can't go full blow vegatarian then it's now worth it, but I always tell my friends if they just even cut back they will be saving lifes and THAT is worth it!

Posted by: Shari | September 22, 2009 11:40 PM

I went totally vegan June 09, and the energy surge is something I have noticed since. (I used to think that a vegan lifestyle would make you feel like you were on a severe calorie restrictive diet but nothing could be farther from the truth.) I would have made the plunge a long time ago had I have known what a positive result it would have on my well being. I have been able to influence other people to become vegan on this reason alone.

Posted by: Carole Edmonds | September 23, 2009 12:04 AM

Just read an awesome FML-yay for vegetarians!

"Today, my vegetarian housemate cleaned the fridge. He threw away all of the meat in our fridge and made a nice sign stating "Meat is Murder". I was storing roughly $1000 worth of filet mignon steaks and seafood for my sister's wedding. FML
09/22/2009 at 1:48pm by carnivore"

Vegetarian Power!!!
(that person deserved it)

Posted by: WolfGirl21 | September 23, 2009 12:59 AM

Benjamin,

Lol! You need to do a little research. There are plenty of vegetarian and vegan athletes who are, or were, at the top of their game. There is actually a disproportionately high representation.

Check out:

Scott Jurek
Carl Lewis
Ruth Heidrich
Jim Morris
Joe Namath
Fred Dryer
Lawrence Phillips
Monica Scholz
Martina Navratilova
Billie Jean King
Chris Evert
Killer Kowalski
Desmond Howard
Roger Bannister
John Landy
Dom Repta
Anthony Peeler
Andreas Cahling
Kenneth Williams
Robert Cheeke
Robbie Hazeley
Pat Reeves
Anthony Aureilus
Martin Whittred
Mike Mahler
Charlie Abel
Tim Macartney-Snipe
Pam Boteler
Dave Scott
Edwin Moses
Piero Venturato
Keith Holmes
Emerson Fittipaldi
Greg Chappell
Al Oerter
Debbie Lawrence
Stan Price
Brendan Brazier
Bill Manetti
Anil Kumble
Bill Walton
Elena Walendzik
Alexander Dargatz
B J Armstrong
Al Beckles
Surya Bonali
Les Brown
Peter Burwash
Chris Campbell
Joanna Conway
Sylvia Cranston
Sally Eastall
Di Edwards
Cory Everson
Katie Fitzgibbon
Clare Francis
Louis Freitas
Carol Gould
Sammy Green
Sally Hibberd
Sharon Hounsell
Roger Hughes
Kathy Johnson
Alan Jones
Tony LaRussa
Judy Leden
Marv Levey
Jutta Müller
Jack Maitland
Kirsty McDermott
Lindford McFarquar
Robert Millar
Monika Montsho
Lucy Stephens
Kirsty Wade

Plus many pro skateboarders and surfers, and other athletes I'm sure I've missed.

Posted by: Mike Quinoa | September 23, 2009 01:19 PM

Mike,
That is quite some list. Considering I reconize about three names on that list and one of them is a coach. Tony LaRusa is my favorite coach ever(gotta love the Stl Cardinals). I don't recall ever hearing anything about him be a vegitarian, but if you say so. I do know that he was never a great baseball player. Average at best. He is one of the best managers of all time and one of the crankiest, short tempered coaches ever.
This list really doesn't mean much, besides a handful out of the thousands of athletes in the world are vegitarian.

Posted by: Kurt K | September 23, 2009 04:00 PM

WolfGirl21, bullying isn't something to be proud if. Now if that that house mate did something mature, like offer to replace all that meat with vegetarian food for the wedding that would be one thing.

Throwing a tantrum taking $1,000 of meat out of the fridge, and making a sign stating "Meat is murder" makes us all look like, juvenile, tantrum throwing toddlers. I hope he paid the money back at least.

Do you want people to associate those who are compassionate towards animals, with behaving like bratty spoilt children?

Posted by: Jackie | September 24, 2009 08:28 AM

Kurt,

Read the profile on LaRussa in Wiki—he is a veg.

Don't forget that baseball and football are not the only sports in the world. Only three names? There are some incredible unknown athletes that never get the press or the exposure of baseball, football and hockey. Don't forget, also, that vegheads only comprise a fairly small percentage of the population.

Try googling a few of those vegetarian athletes' names (like I did) and you might be quite surprised at the extent of their accomplishments.

For example:

"Tim Macartney-Snape successfully climbed Mt. Everest by a new route without oxygen from Tibet in 1984 and then again from Nepal in 1990 during his famous Sea to Summit expedition."

"Pam Boteler is a top-ranked, world-class athlete, activist and
raw vegan who has been making waves in her sport--Sprint
Canoe--for the last 8 years. Pam made USA Canoe/Kayak
history at the 2000 National Championships by becoming
the first woman to compete in sprint canoe--against the men. Not only did she compete, she won Gold. Up until 2000, women were prohibited from racing canoe at the US Nationals
(and in almost every other country around the world).

She continued to race against the men in 2001, earning Gold
again, and finally, in 2002, USA Canoe/Kayak, the national
governing body, changed its by-laws to allow women to compete at the National Championships in events of their own—in all age and boat categories. She is undefeated in the US since the year 2000."

"Dave Scott, of Davis, California is universally recognized as the greatest triathlete in the world. He has won Hawaii's legendary Ironman Triathlon a record four times, including three years in a row, while no one else has ever done it more than once. The event consists, in succession, of a 2.4-mile ocean swim, a 112-mile cycle, and then a 26.2-mile run."

Pat Reeves: "She has held of a British Masters' Powerlifting title for many years and of several Divisional, Commonwealth and Masters' records. Competing at 42.9kg bodyweight, Pat’s personal bests include:
90kg Squat
55kg Bench Press (a British record)
130kg Deadlift (a British Record)."

“I have now followed a plant-based eating regime for forty-four years - wow - that's so long!"

And Kurt, you should check out the incredible achievements of vegans Scott Jurek and Ruth Heidrich.

Posted by: Mike Quinoa | September 24, 2009 10:16 PM

Mike,
These are truly amazing athletes, I will not dispute their abilities. However, they are blessed with gifts that make them so. They would be able to perform at the level no matter what their diets consist of. Some people have it and other don't.
Kenyan runners, hands down the best in the world eat a combination of roasted meat, cooked greens, fruit, milk and local dish made of maise, water and meat. Point being, meat in the correct quantities brings many benefits.
Then of course there are the thousands of other athletes that eat high protein diets that consist of eggs, chicken and lean beef. Are they wrong? Would they be better off with vegan diets?
Probably not.

Posted by: Kurt K | September 25, 2009 11:03 AM

Kurt,

I have to take issue with a couple of your statements:

"They would be able to perform at the level no matter what their diets consist of."

So a top-notch athlete can get by on loads of Mars bars, Twinkies and Coke? Somehow I doubt that.

"Then of course there are the thousands of other athletes that eat high protein diets that consist of eggs, chicken and lean beef. Are they wrong? Would they be better off with vegan diets?
Probably not."

That's total conjecture on your part. Unless they try a vegan diet for awhile, they'll never know.

Kenyan runners would have their hands full dealing with the likes of Ruth Heidrich.

"Ruth Heidrich, now 72 yrs. of age, was named by Living Fit magazine, as one of the ten fittest women in North America; the other nine were all under 35 years of age!" She has been a vegan for 25 years.

If you wiki Scott Jurek's name, you'll see an amazing list of accomplishments, all done on a vegan diet. Jurek was selected as UltraRunning Magazine's North American Male Ultrarunner of the Year in 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2007, and placed second in 2006.

Posted by: Mike Quinoa | September 25, 2009 10:30 PM

I've got to tell you, Mike, you are one of the most knowledgeable, useful people--no offense to anyone else but you have to admit the guy has good solid answers to just about anything thrown at him, not to mention the patience of a saint--posters on this blog. If your well-researched info isn't good enough for some people who are going to think what they want to think regardless of facts, oh well, but good on you for continuing the dialogue anyway.

Posted by: Elphaba | September 26, 2009 06:17 PM

Mike,
I would hope you understood what I was trying to say about top notch athletes being able eat whatever and still performing at high levels. Obviously they can't eat candy bars and tubs of lard and be the best.
Ruth Heidrich is an amazing example of what the human body can do. However, are you suggesting that if everybody switched to a vegan diet, we would be running marathons at the age of 72? This woman obviously loves running. She must orgasm when she gets her runners high.
I used to wrestle (lots of running) and I also went through Officer Canidate School for the USMC (lots of running) at the time I was in great shape so the running was pretty easy. However, I still hated every minute. I just don't like running. Ruth does. This woman is a freak of nature. So it is unfair to compare her to the average person or Kenyans.
I guess I would argue that there is only one Ruth Heidrich and hundreds, if not thousands of Kenyan runners. Most eat a similar diet, which consist of meat portions.
She is a great exaple, but hardly typical.

Posted by: Kurt K | September 28, 2009 09:47 AM

Hi Elphaba,

Thank you!

Kurt,

I have read of many vegans who have accomplished some pretty amazing feats of athleticism—Ruth is just one of the many.

If you've read about Dr. Dean Ornish's work (and the writings of Dr. John McDougall and others), you would know that cardiac and arterial disease has actually been reversed through a low-fat, plant-based diet. This has all been scientifically documented.

Autopsies of young American soldiers in Korea who appeared otherwise healthy were found to already have had the beginnings of atherosclerosis.

My belief is that vegans have cleaner and clearer arteries. This makes endurance sports like running so much easier for them to excel in.

Posted by: Mike Quinoa | September 28, 2009 10:56 PM

Mike,
Its my belief that you are not wrong. But, neither am I.
Bad diets are bad for you, healthy diets are good for you. Its that simple.
Of course less fat is beneficial. But you still need some fat.
I choose to get my nutrition from different sources. Plus I don't forsee myself running marathons in the future, so the point means nothing to me really.
I have a car to cover 26 miles.

Posted by: Kurt K | September 29, 2009 10:48 AM