What If Athletes Were Like Horses?

Rachel Alexandra, the 2009 horse of the year retired from horse racing last week as one of the most successful phillys of all time. She is scheduled to sire offspring with Curlin, the 2008 horse of the year. Horse breeders don't waste any time getting to the next superstar thoroughbred and they don't take any chances. They pair champions with champions to insure the bloodline will yield the desired results. A horse breeders philosophy is it's all in the genes. What if professional athletes shared the same philosophy? We already have a few examples of this with Mia Hamm and Nomar Garciaparra, Candace Parker and Sheldon Williams, and Andre Agassi and Stefi Graf, but if I was a mad scientist these are the athletes I'd put together to create "super athletes."

Serena Williams and Rafael Nadal. The city of Compton meets the mean streets of Madrid. This is a no brainer. These two would produce a child with amazingly quick hands, incredible strength and endurance, and a killer instinct. The Nadal offspring would not be overwhelmed by the big stage. Lets hope the child came out of the womb with their father's disposition.

Shaq and Lauren Jackson. Size, size, and more size. We're talking about a kid with huge hands and tremendous balance for a post player around the hoop. This kid would be able to extend the range out to 18 feet and slam dunk on opponents at will. With a little training we could witness Wilt Chamberlin with a jump shot. Scary. Let's hope it would be a boy.

Jenny Finch and Stephen Strasburg. I'm sensing a fastball in the range of 110 to 115 mph. They would have to move the softball mound back 10 feet and develop body armor for MBL batters. Dare I say this child's arm would be bionic. Announcers would ask the questions, "Do you think the hitters even see the ball?" "Does the catcher have to carry special insurance to call Strasburg games?"

Amanda Beard and Michael Phelps. It's quite possible this child would come out of the womb with gill slits like a salmon. The child would probably be able to hold their breath under water longer than David Blaine. The breaststroke, the backstroke, the butterfly, it wouldn't matter. The child would be like aquaman or aquagirl just without the telepathic ability to talk to marine animals.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Layla Ali. Again, lets hope it would be a boy. This child would not be the quiet and shy type. Little Ali Mayweather probably would have hands almost as fast as his mouth. With unbelievable footwork, a pin point jab, and a master of the bob and weave little Mayweather might not get hit 5 times in a fight. Something tells me we wouldn't have to tell him how good he was, he'd do that for us.