Top Five Friday: The Most Exciting Players to Watch in Sports

Today is the start of a brand new segment for Chit-Chat Sports that I believe is going to stick for a while. We're going to call it 'Top Five Friday.' Throughout the passed five or six years, my best friends and I have always had heated debates on certain events/players/plays and basically anything. Many of these debates ended up with us arguing for our 'Top Five' of that particular category.

So in light of our ridiculous arguments that we've had in the past, I'm going to write a short blog post every Friday with the headline, 'Top Five Friday.' The top 5's will range from anything in sports to pop culture, but most of them will be sports related.

So I figured the first one should be something pretty big and something everyone can relate to. So the very first edition of 'Top Five Friday's' is going to be the most exciting players to watch across all sports. Now keep in mind this isn't the best, or my favorite, or the most likable. This is strictly the most exciting players to watch. So let's get started with the first Top 5 Friday...

5) Rafael Nadal - Tennis - This pick may be a little biased because of my love for watching tennis, but I guarantee you if you put on a Rafael Nadal match in a major tournament you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. Nadal goes against the grain of your traditional Tennis player. He wears the cut sleeves T-shirt, the bandanna, and the cargo shorts. However, he is exactly what Tennis needed. Nadal plays a style that we haven't seen since Andre Agassi. He races down every ball, never takes a point off, and meanwhile hits absolutely ridiculous winners with impossible angles to do so. I strongly suggest you watch Rafael Nadal next time you can; he is truly a special athlete.

4) Kobe Bryant - Los Angeles Lakers - As much as I don't want Kobe to be on this list, he is. If there was a list for the 'top 5 first half most exciting players' then he wouldn't be on them. But when it comes to the 4th quarter, there is no better closer in basketball then Kobe Bryant. If there is less then 4 minutes to go in the 4th quarter, you almost know for a fact that Kobe is going to hit a dagger, or a ridiculous shot to get his team the victory. Kobe is quite possibly the most clutch athlete in the NBA and that warrants him being on the Top 5 most exciting athletes list.

3) Tiger Woods - Golf - This is probably the wrong time to be putting Tiger on this list, seeing as he just missed the cut at a major for only the second time in his career today. But when Tiger is healthy there is nothing like watching him on Sunday. You might say, "Well how can any golfer be on this list?" Do me a favor. Next time there is a major on TV and it's the final round on Sunday (except for this one) force yourself to watch the entire round. Chances are you're going to see Tiger trying to make a crazy comeback, winning a sudden death playoff hole, or holding off a charging competitor. The final rounds of any golf major are beyond exciting, however if Tiger's in the chase, it's a whole different experience.

2) Larry Fitzgerald - Arizona Cardinals - I don't think there is another player in the NFL that is as exciting as Larry Fitzgerald is. All you have to do is go re-watch last year's Superbowl and that is all the footage you need. Larry is on his way to becoming one of the greatest receivers to ever do it, and he does it with out-of-this-world type plays. Larry Fitz makes catches that no one has ever seen before. His combination of size, speed, hands, and willingness to go up and get the ball wherever it is, makes him the most dynamic/exciting receiver in the game. It's those memorable catches that we see week in and week out that warrants putting him number 2 on this list.

1) Lebron James - Cleveland Cavaliers - Is there even a debate as to who should be number 1? It's almost automatic at this point. Lebron James is the single most exciting athlete in any sport. The best part is, he's only 24. Which means the best is yet to come from Lebron. The thing that makes Lebron so exciting is that we all expect him to do something spectacular. So when it actually happens it gets blown out of proportion and covered on ESPN for days later. A perfect example was his buzzer beater against the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. It wound up being a top 12-13 buzzer beater all-time because of the hype surrounding Lebron. Everyone questions whether or not he can be that clutch type of player and I believe he is well on his way. As far as exciting goes, there's no one close. Lebron driving to the hoop with a big guy standing under the hoop is probably the most exciting thing to watch in sports; because you know that big guy is going to be on Lebron's next poster at all local Nike outlets.

So while we debate and argue over this top 5, I'm sure that no one can argue that these guys aren't in a league of their own.

Honorable Mention: Alex Ovechkin, Adrian Peterson, Ed Reed, Derek Jeter

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Expect a top 5 post every Friday from now on. They're going to be fun.