Ok so what do you think makes a drummer decent, good, extraordinary? like what do you have to be able to do in order to be considered great? a lot of times i think all the good drummers are clumped together and its really blurry to distinguish them apart.. so what do these great drummers have that the decent ones dont? besdies great chops, time, feel, etc. because a lot of people can learn these

[full metal]

well steve that is somthing hard to break down.
I would have to say a lot of it comes down to what do these people do behind the kit that makes them so great.

I will use one example of somthing I watch a lot of and thats neil peart's a work in progress video.
he shows how he broke down each part to each song.
But what sets him apart is some of the little things that he does in the music like throwing a set of pariddles on the toms in one section and somthing else that I didnt know about him but everytime there is a fill in one of their songs it may sound like one he already played but it is deffrent im some way or another and also being able to mix in other things in there as well like a group of cow bells.

to me that what sets these people apart from me or you or anyother joe schmoe drummer out there.

yeah i think its hard to distinguish.. you just know when you hear a good drummer.. for example, mike portnoy playing a basic 4/4 rock beat is most likely going to sound better than you or me playing the same exact thing.