They've got next: Sporting sensations of the 2010s

This will be one of the few instances where the President of the United States, Danica Patrick and Jay-Z appear in the same story.

Each will play a significant role throughout the next 10 years in the world of sports where 2009 is now sooooo last decade.

CBSSports.com is looking forward at the 20 most influential sports figures of the next decade. How is influence defined? It's the same as what a Supreme Court justice once said about obscenity: you know it when you see it.

Roger Goodell will oversee the NFL's impending labor negotiations, among other things this decade. (Getty Images)

Influence is a complex formula that (mostly) consists of charisma, on-field success and lasting power. The number of mistresses isn't part of the equation.

Some of the names extend their influence across previous decades and will be familiar while other names and entities are more surprising.

Scandals marked much of sports in the past 10 years. It's likely this coming decade will be less wicked as sports figures learn from the horrid mistakes of athletes like Tiger Woods.

A few notable absences include Bud Selig, who didn't make the list because he's retiring after the 2012 season. David Stern would normally earn a high ranking, but Stern could retire soon after Selig. Florida coach Urban Meyer fails to make the list because he might not last as a head coach beyond this year, let alone deep into the decade.

Also, there's no Michelle Wie, which admittedly is a little odd. She was named by Time in 2006 as one of the 100 people who shape our world. Mostly, however, the only thing she's shaped is lowered expectations. If she wins in the future, she'll prove this list wrong, but so far she hasn't demonstrated the ability to consistently generate a presence on the course, which translates into influence off of it.

Media figures and entities also don't make it. If this list were 30 or longer some would.

Please, remember, it's only a list of 20. Twenty. Two-zero. Did we mention 20?

Read on, express your outrage and please, no e-mails saying Rachel Uchitel deserved consideration.

20. Michael Phelps: He's only 24 and has already won 14 career Olympic gold medals. There might be another dozen more left in him. Arguably could be much higher.

19. Jay-Z: A player in the sports world and potentially a key component in where LeBron James plays basketball in the future.

Joe Mauer has a lot of hits ahead of him. (Getty Images)

18. Joe Mauer: Might have the best pure swing in baseball and is just 26.

17. President Obama: Ranking is based squarely on potential. He's a known hater of the current bowl system and could help usher in college football playoffs.

16. Twitter.com: Not a person but still qualifies as a sports figure. Increasingly, athletes are utilizing the medium as a way to bypass the media and communicate directly with fans.

15. DeSean Jackson: Not one of my favorite players but is the most electric talent in football.

14. Nick Saban: Moves ahead of the unstable Urban Meyer as the most influential coach in college football next decade.

13. John Calipari: This isn't a list of the most liked or best behaved. It's a list of the future's most influential, and Calipari has a chance to win multiple titles at Kentucky even if the Wildcats finish on probation during his tenure.

12. Kevin Durant: This was supposed to be Greg Oden. If you took Scottie Pippen and Elvin Hayes and combined them, you'd produce Durant.

11. Chemists: The men and women in the lab coats will be responsible for catching the next generation of drug cheats.

10. Danica Patrick: I can hear the complaints about this choice now. She's just a sex symbol ... she's not a winner ... she's a model, not a driver. Maybe or maybe not. But this list is about influence and if you don't think she's influential, you're a fool.

9. Philip Rivers: Either Rivers or Aaron Rodgers. Picked Rivers because he's probably closer to winning a Super Bowl than Rodgers. But it's close.

8. Dwight Howard: The smile is grand and the potential influence is as big as Howard's wingspan.

7. Dana White: A misogynist jackass, but he'll be a big-time player in the next 10 years.

6. Steinbrenner family: The Yankees are demonstrating they remain more than comfortable outspending the rest of the baseball. If that remains the case the Yankees could dominate the next decade.

LeBron James could become the No. 1 voice in sports. (Getty Images)

5. Jerry Jones: The Cowboys will still be immensely popular next decade and Jones' new stadium could also host a bevy of big events.

4. Floyd Mayweather: If his fight against Manny Pacquiao happens (and eventually it will) it'll be the biggest of the decade.

3. LeBron James: Since Tiger Woods couldn't keep it in his pants, James will pass Woods as the greatest pitchman in sports, especially if James wins a championship.

2. Tiger Woods: He'll be back and though his weighty influence is less weighty with the public (but weightier with hostesses), he'll remain one of the most watched -- and yes, influential -- athletes of the next decade.

1. Roger Goodell: He ends this decade as the most influential person in all of sports and begins the next decade in the same capacity.

Just missed: Serena Williams, Usain Bolt, the new head of NCAA (we don't yet know who it is), DeMaurice Smith (head of the NFL Players Union), the Philadelphia Phillies, Alex Rodriguez, Dan Snyder, Aaron Rodgers, Tom Condon, Eli Manning, Kobe Bryant, Alex Ovechkin (would be higher but hockey is falling off a cliff in terms of popularity and influence), and Mike Tomlin.