Were you picked first or last for the sports team?

[traz]

I was always picked at the beginning, but that had alot more to do with being well-liked rather than my athletic prowess

[Toro]

Was usually the one picking and always felt real bad for the last kid picked.

[Jon1000]

San Francisco

[TheNoodleMan]

Where is supbro?

[adsman]

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I had a Sociology of Sport class that taught us it is better to have even teams than to have one team blow-out the other and drafting (normally) creates the best opportunity to make the most even teams. Basically it is better to be picked last and play in a competitive game than to be shoved on a team and get killed.

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Yeah, I can see this. And I think you're all correct about it being the best way to do it. The thing that really bummed me out was that I went to a school that used sport as a means to grade general excellence, but only those who were naturally talented. If you weren't naturally gifted then you were left behind. I only realised this when I changed schools and had a few great coaches and suddenly I was in the first teams for all the sports that I played.

[RikkiDee]

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Which is funny because after school I was the only one of my class to make a living from sport.


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poker isn't a sport

[El Diablo]

ads,

At soccer, football, dodgeball, and kickball, captain or near the top. At volleyball, basketball, and baseball, near the middle.

I think it's great to have this sort of system, because at the levels where this usually goes on the talent difference is such that even an unpopular kid who gets picked last can make himself get picked higher just by putting in some extra effort. In dodgeball, for example, the people who weren't afraid to run up to grab the ball and were willing to take a chance on tough catches always got picked higher up.

Basically, I agree w/ Al's post. Things like getting picked in this manner and winning trophies and stuff are great practice for real life imo.

[RayPowers]

Its strange for me to note that I was not very popular at school at all, yet was still picked first quite often due entirely to physical prowess at the respective sports. I think the popularity is offset by sheer talent at some level, but once you become middle of the pack, popularity takes a higher priority.

So, when we played dodgeball, since I was basically king of the dodgeball court, it didn't matter if I was unpopular, I was going to get picked early because the captain wanted his team to win. But when it came to a sport that I was not as good at, and the captain had a choice between me or his friend/popular guy who sucked slightly worse then me, that guy got picked.

ray

[KotOD]

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It all mattered on ...... who I was playing with.

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See, this is why I'm surprised that they still do it. So often it turns into a popularity contest with all the "cool" kids being picked first. I was the opposite of a cool kid in junior school.

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Kids who just pick cool kids don't take winning seriously enough.

I was either captain or picked in the top two or three, unless the sport was track, where I was the last skinny guy picked. I've always been quick, but never fast. Made up for it with awareness. I'm 6'0", white, and I can one-step dunk, so I'm kind of athletic, without any speed.

[Los Feliz Slim]

I was also generally unpopular (although in retrospect I think I was better off than I felt at the time, which was part of the problem) but was always good at sports. So this was one of the few times people had to treat me right.