What would be the best sport to be a pro athlete in?

[Mr_J]

You're all a bunch of money hungry pussies. 1mil a year, 20mil a year, doesn't make any difference to me.

If I was american, a star running back would probally be my choice. So my body may get pretty f'd up, and the pay isn't as good as NBA or whatever, to me it'd be alot more fun and more glory.

NFL you get most of the year off.

Since I'm not american, I'm going to say rugby union as a winger of fullback. Six figures is what it would pay, but I'd love it.

[AEKDBet]

$, women, friends

NBA

[Marwan]

B-ball would be awesome, like a 12th man or something.. get paid well, travel, and play a couple mins here and there in garbage time with no pressure.

[FlyWf]

Zydrunas Illgauskas had made 73M in his life before this season started. He'll clear 100M in lifetime earnings before he turns 32. It would take Ben Crane 33 years to make 100M at that rate, so unless he's been playing since conception I don't think there's much of a contest there. He won't make 20 times what Illgauskas makes unless he cures cancer in his free time.

Basically, people who pick golf are absolutely failing at this question. What they really want is to be lottery winners. Being admired by rich white males with poor taste in entertainment doesn't really do it for me, you know?

I would want to be a position player in baseball(pitchers ruin their arms) or a swingman in basketball(big men ruin their knees). I don't really care about ingame pain, but I don't want to be a cripple for the last 40 years of my life.

Just as a data point, the Cleveland Indians have a centerfielder named Grady Sizemore. He's a good but not great player(reasonable All Star candidate, but not like MVP discussion). He's also 23 and single. The Indians team store sells pink shirts with "Mrs. Sizemore" emblazoned on them. Do you think there are a great many young women sporting "Mrs. Crane" T-shirts?

[Mr_J]

[ QUOTE ]
$, women, "friends"

NBA

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FYP

[NutzyClutz]

Indy car racing, Nascar, drag racing, or bass fishing.

[RandBriscoe]

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Indy car racing, Nascar, drag racing, or bass fishing.

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We're talking about sports and athletes.

[DrVanNostrin]

What everybody else said + golf is a lot of fun. There are a ton of people who pay a grand or so to do what pros do for a week.

[BigSoonerFan]

[ QUOTE ]
Why do you people care about injury so much? Are you really that worried about tearing an ACL or getting a concussion? Grow some balls.

If you're the 50th best golf player in the world, you're not making that much money. If you're the 300th best basketball player in the world you're making a killing.

If you're one of those golf pros with no big wins but solid results, you will only rarely be getting recognized in public.

If you're a second string laker player, you're a god in the entire state of California. You'll get any girl you want, and will be invited to the hottest events / parties.

If you're a golfer, you're biggest fans are 40+. If you're a basketball player, you will be worshipped by people in their teens and 20's.

So what if there's a 10% chance you career will end due to injury after a few years. You're a god and you're rich.

Also, Basketball is just more fun.

[/ QUOTE ]

The 300th best bball player is NOT making more than the 50th best golfer. That's ridiculous.

Stick to poker ZeeJustin!

[tdarko]

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Baseball. Get paid millions to sit on your ass most of the game, and the least chance of injury.


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this is very wrong.

just b/c its not a high impact sport does not mean that there isn't a chance of injury...actually going an entire 9 months (including spring training) and 162+ games without some sort of injury is really hard to do.

there are two types of injuries: the ones in which are nagging and really painful that can put you on the 15-day DL or you may play through it, most try to play injured. then there is the season ending injury (especially pitchers) which in baseball can be worse than most other sports. if you blow your elbow out pitching you are not only done for the season but for next season as well. it not only takes surgery but an extensive rehab program just to get you to square one, now you have to start throwing to build arm strength all over again (this takes awhile) and then you have to start throwing against live hitters to get in game shape again, its a serious pain in the ass. you tear your ACL and you are playing the next year, once its healed you are now strengthening you legs which will get stronger quicker than any other part of your body.

there aren't any pitchers right now that are pitching pain free, its impossible. if you are pitching in the big leagues then obviously you have been grinding it out for a long time regardless of being a prospect or not and throwing a baseball for a long period of time will produce numerous chronic injuries that are just a bitch to play through but you have to anyway. i understand their are many injuries in the NFL as well but i also workout in the gym with a lot of guys in the league and they all agree that most of their small injuries aren't a problem after the week of healing. in baseball, since you play every day you aren't ever letting your injuries heal and are essentially re-injuring yourself over and over unless you put yourself on the DL.

yeah, pitchers may sit on their ass during the game but you don't see how hard they work for the 4 hours proceeding the game every single day to get their body in shape to bounce back from their previous outing. i guess you think a pitcher throws and then he sits around for 4-5 days to throw again...not even close. as for the position players, what a grind, having to play 162 games and playing 5 and 6 days a week. nobody in baseball has it easy, its why there is such an extensive minor league system. players aren't only learning how to become better ballplayers but also learning how to play a 162 game season b/c if you went straight from college (60 games) to the big leagues you would fail everytime, playing that many games is tough. this is why you gradually play more and more games the higher you go from short-season A ball up to a full Major League schedule in AAA. not one player is ready to deal with the workload of a baseball season, way too difficult.

the answer and it shouldn't even be contested is golf.