Cool is an unquantifiable term. The dictionary defines it in the vaguest of terms as “great; fine; excellent”. It’s a definition that isn’t much help in figuring out who is and isn’t. So, what really makes someone cool? Is it their style? Does attitude play a huge part? How much does a person’s performance at their job taken into account?

As much as we’d like to think we can explain exactly what makes a person cool, usually we can’t. It’s just something that we know when we see it.

With that in mind, we decided to examine the question in Arizona sports. We assembled a panel of writers to let us know who they think is the coolest Arizona athlete of all-time. Keeping the ‘you know cool when you see it’ idea in mind, we made sure to select four of the writers on our staff, Mark Asher, Dave Burns, Greg Esposito and Adam Green, who grew up in the Valley and saw the athletes up close and personal for years.

While athletes like Steve Nash, Connie Hawkins, Luis Gonzalez, Shane Doan and others may be viewed as cool by some, our writers selected four athletes unique to their perspective. Are these four athletes the coolest of all-time? You get to decide. Let us know if you agree or disagree.

---

Mark Asher: Kurt Warner is Mr. Cool to me

This was hard to do, pick one cool athlete that has ever played in the state of Arizona. It was hard because there are a lot in my opinion. I read Espo’s choice of Dan Majerle and it is hard to argue Majerle’s coolness. If you have a successful restaurant for all those years you have to be pretty cool, and no Wolf that does not mean you will make this list anytime soon! Gonzo is one of the coolest guys I have ever met. Never have I come across an athlete so willing to embrace his stardom and let the fans see him as an everyday Joe. Steve Nash is cool when he makes those funny videos and when he drops 18 assists on fools in a game. I have hung out with Jeremy Roenick many times and it doesn’t get much cooler than that as far as the NHL is concerned. (Shane Doan is a very close second!) All these guys are super cool and I could probably add about 30 more, but I had to choose one and my choice is old twinkle toes himself.