Sorry for the late entry this morning; I'm in New York after seeing Letterman last night.

ESPN recently released its choice for the Top 25 athletes of the past 25 years. They made their own list of 35 and are asking people to vote for what undoubtedly will end up as some special on the network that is hyped on the Bottom Line incessantly for months in advance.
Anyway, here is the list that ESPN provides:

Lance Armstrong
Larry Bird
Barry Bonds
Roger Clemens
Tim Duncan
Dale Earnhardt
John Elway
Wayne Gretzky
Florence Griffith-Joyner
Mia Hamm
Eric Heiden
Ricky Henderson
Magic Johnson
Marion Jones
Michael Jordan
Jackie Joyner-Kersee
Mario Lemieux
Sugar Ray Leonard
Carl Lewis
Dan Marino
John McEnroe
Joe Montana
Martina Navratilova
Shaquille O'Neal
Jerry Rice
Cal Ripken
Alex Rodriguez
Patrick Roy
Pete Sampras
Barry Sanders
Emmitt Smith
Lawrence Taylor
Mike Tyson
Serena Williams
Tiger Woods

ESPN asks users to rank based on the Top 25 athletes. Whether this means Top 25 sustained athletes, or the Top 25 in their prime is up to interpretation.
My rankings are based on excellence over a career. So, Mike Tyson will not be on the list, despite five of the most dominating years in boxing history. The rest of his career was a disappointment (Tyson hasn't won a significant fight since beating Michael Spinks). Gone are also Tim Duncan, Alex Rodriguez and Serena Williams, since their best days, perhaps, are still ahead of them.
I also added a few athletes I think ESPN missed.
One more thing; these lists are ridiculous. How is one supposed to compare Carl Lewis running and jumping in the Olympics with Joe Montana throwing footballs every Sunday. You can't, but that's why this list should be looked at as nothing but a good way to start an argument.
Here's my list (* denotes not on ESPN's 35)

25) Ricky Henderson
Ricky thinks Ricky is more deserving of a higher place, but sometimes Ricky's opinion of Ricky is a little overinflated. Regardless, Ricky will retire with all-time records in walks, steals, runs and a slew of others. Ricky says Ricky is the King.
24) Matt Biondi*
Tied with Mark Spitz with 11 medals in Olympic swimming competition, including 5 in the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Kind of forgotten in the annals of Sports history, but did you really think I wouldn't put a swimmer on this list? (Biondi might be out of the Top 25 if Michael Phelps does his thing in Athens this summer.)
23) Emmitt Smith
Yeah, he had more rushing yards than somebody who appears above him on this list, but he also had one of the best offensive lines in history blocking for him. But, his 195-yard day against the Giants with a separated shoulder would have been enough to get him on this list alone. The three Super Bowl rings don't hurt either.
22) Cal Ripken, Jr.
2632, 10 straight seasons with 20 or more homeruns (before the offensive explosion that now allows Ray Durham to routinely crack 25 or more a year) and revolutionized the position of shortstop. Without Cal, A-Rod wouldn't have the opportunity to knock his idol off this list in a few seasons.
21) Edwin Moses*
ESPN was not too keen on track stars for their 35. But in the early 80's Moses won 107 straight finals in the 400 meter hurdles and won two gold medals in that stretch. He would have won more, but Jimmy Carter decided to boycott the Moscow Olympics in 1980.
20) Brett Favre*
Elway and Marino are on the ESPN list, but answer this question honestly: if you had to choose any of the three to start one game, who would you choose? If Terrell Davis isn't running the ball for Elway, there's no doubt that Favre would be your choice.
19) Jackie Joyner-Kersee
Five Olympic medals in the long jump and heptathlon. It's a shame there is no male decathlete on this list. For my money, they are the best athletes in the world, but nobody had sustained dominance in the last 25 years. If Dan O'Brien hadn't pulled a Ray Finkle in the 1992 Olympic Trials, he might occupy this spot.
18) Lawrence Taylor
18th in this list, but trails only Marion Barry on the list of Top 25 Greatest Crack Smokers.
17) Shaquille O'Neal
His appearance in Kazaam notwithstanding, Shaq is the most dominant player since Wilt.
16) Barry Sanders
Yeah, his career was shorter than Emmitt Smith and he has less yards, but the Beatles put out less albums than the Rolling Stones and that doesn't change too many peoples opinions about the bands.
15) Chris Evert*
Wait, Dale Earnhardt makes ESPN's list and Chris Evert doesn't? She has the same number of Grand Slams as Martina and won at least one Slam between 1974-1986. True, she stared her career a bit early to be on this list, but she was playing well into the ESPN era.
14) Mario Lemieux
I figured a hockey player needed to be on this list somewhere, and it sure as hell wasn't going to be Jaromir Jagr.
13) Roger Clemens
Maddux has been more consistent, but the Rocket still will drill you in the ass if you crowd the plate. (I think the Clemens-bat-throwing-at-Piazza incident was on the most absurd things in sports history and deserves it's own entry one day.)
12) Joe Montana
Tried to put him lower on this list, but I got down to Barry Sanders and knew there was no way Montana and his 4 Super Bowls could go behind a Detroit Lion.
11) Martina Navratilova
18 Grand Slams, including 9 Wimbledon's, and inspired little girls everywhere to wear big glasses and a mullet. Also beat Evert in many of her Grand Slam wins and 43-37 overall.
10) Larry Bird and Magic Johnson
Have two opponents ever been linked as much in sports as these two? I don't think so. Anyway, you try to put one of them ahead of the other. It's like deciding who your favorite member of 98 Degreez is. You just can't do it. You just can't.
9) Jerry Rice
The hardest member of this list to place. Is he the product of a great system in San Francisco and the beneficiary of balls thrown by Joe Montana and Steve Young? Yes, but he also holds every single important receiving record and sported a flat-top a solid three years after they went out of style. And that's gotta count for something.
8) Barry Bonds
Forget about the 'roids. He is the greatest baseball player of his generation. But don't even try to compare him to Ruth, Williams and Mays. That's absurd. Babe Ruth once had more home runs than every other TEAM in baseball. And where's the ring Barry?
7) Pete Sampras
Agassi had the hype, Pete had the game. A record 14 Grand Slams and the most weeks ranked at #1 in history. And he's married to Ms. Veronica Vaughn from Billy Madison. Agassi is married to Steffi Graf. Both attractive ladies, but it looks like Pete bested Andre yet again.
6) Carl Lewis
He'd be on this list just for describing a zebra as having to focus in order to win the race on FOX's "Man vs. Beast", but his 9 Olympic Golds in sprints and long jump made him the greatest Olympic track star since Jesse Owens.
5) Wayne Gretzky
The Great One has more assists than anybody has goals + assists in NHL history. That's what we call a "DAMMMMMMN" statistic.
4) Lance Armstrong
5 straight Tour-de-France victories after beating cancer. He's going for six this summer.
3) Michael Johnson*
He wasn't on ESPN's list. I don't know how he slipped through the cracks. In 1980 Pietro Mennea set the world record in the 200-meter dash with a time of 19.72. The record stood until 1996, without any real threat to it. Frankie Fredricks of Nambia finally broke through and beat the 16-year old world record in the finals of the 1996 Olympic 200-meter dash. He ran a time of 19.68. Yet, he only got a Silver because he lost by .36 seconds to Michael Johnson. The other MJ ran a 19.32, in what is still the most spectacular sporting performance I have ever seen. Think about it like this... the record hasn't been touched in 16 years and then Johnson goes out and beats it by FOUR-TENTHS of a second. That's like McGwire beating Maris's 61 and then going 9 past it. It is just ridiculous. I don't know why Johnson and Track don't get more love in the US. If marketed correctly, I think track and field could be big. By the way, Johnson also won the 400 in that Olympics, a double that had never been accomplished.
2) Tiger Woods
Might be #1 in a few years, but even at an early age, he has dominated his sport like no golfer before him. And he's getting married to a Swedish nanny.
1) Michael Jordan
Solidified his spot at the top with a dazzling two years with the Wizards.

There's the list, I'm sure some people will take issue with some of the rankings. Write me and let me know what you think; I'll use your thoughts for my Friday post.
I should resume a normal posting schedule later this week when I get back from NY.