Hard to quantify sports question

[Karak567]

I'm sorry but as a both BBV and Sporting Events regular... my head is exploding seeing Dids make a serious post.

[mason55]

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Extend out the timeline then. Seems like your argument is still about practice and not innate ability.


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I mean listen, we're sitting here talking about practice, not a game, not a game, not a game, but we're talking about practice. Not the game that I go out there and die for and play every game last it's my last but we're talking about practice man. How silly is that?

Hey I hear you, it's funny to me too, hey it's strange to me too but we're talking about practice man, we're not even talking about the game, when it actually matters, we're talking about practice.

[gusmahler]

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So if a guy who's been racing half of his life has only a small chance of becoming a NASCAR racer, the the average person, who has never raced before, doesn't have a chance in hell of becoming a NASCAR driver in 5 years.

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Extend out the timeline then. Seems like your argument is still about practice and not innate ability.

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But if 10 years of high level practice isn't enough for a guy who's now nearing his athletic prime, how could an "average" 20 year old possibly have enough time to become an elite racer? (You don't see racing teams going after 35 year old rookies very often).

[Dudd]

How many guys seriously start racing come 20 years old though? I'd imagine most people who start then have full time jobs and can't compete as seriously as kids who picked it up at age 10 at whatever low level racing kids can do (go karts?).

[Vyse]

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Extend out the timeline then. Seems like your argument is still about practice and not innate ability.


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I mean listen, we're sitting here talking about practice, not a game, not a game, not a game, but we're talking about practice. Not the game that I go out there and die for and play every game last it's my last but we're talking about practice man. How silly is that?

Hey I hear you, it's funny to me too, hey it's strange to me too but we're talking about practice man, we're not even talking about the game, when it actually matters, we're talking about practice.

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nh

[NajdorfDefense]

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Even the most marginal NBA player is an absurdly better athlete than an ordinary person. When basketball people say that Grant Long can't shoot, can't pass, can't dribble, what they mean is: He can shoot, pass and dribble better than you, better than anybody you know, better than all but a few hundred people in the world. Long's jump shot is so bad, by NBA standards, that his team never runs a play designed to set him up for it; but you could practice your jump shot every day forever and still never beat him in a game of Horse. '

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I don't know anything about Grant Long, but it doesn't seem to me that every NBA player is better than an average person at every basketball skill. I have basically no basketball skills whatsoever, but I think think I could shoot free throws better than Ben Wallace with a little practice.

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That's probably true for FTs but nothing else. And it is true about the overall level of talent in the NBA being just absurd.

I remember back in the 80s, the Rockets had this scrub 12th man forward named Dave Feitl, a big goofy white guy who never ever played. I once went down to Fonde Recreation Center (legendary pickup spot, lots of great players there), and Feitl was running with 9 guys who were all 6'7" or taller and all looked chiseled out of granite. Feitl completely dominated the game, scored at will, grabbed every rebound, nailed 3s, etc. And this guy was one of the worst players in the NBA, yet he was without question the best player in a very high level pick up game. It's just a whole different level.

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Yeah, you just have to go to the cage on W 4th St or Rucker to see the 2nd-tier college stars and NBDL guys dominate the best pickup players in the City on a daily basis.

I remember Kenny Smith came to one game and some playground "legend" scored like 20 or 25 in the first half on Kenny and was taunting him at the half.

Kenny outscored him like 60-4 in the second half. I think he had more than 60 actually.

NBA shooting guards regularly hit 70% or more of their 3s in practice, unguarded. Not one person at 2p2 can do that on a daily basis from NBA range. Not even close - I'm talking over 100 shots, not 10, even I can get hot and make 7 of 10 from straight away.

[JACK CUST]

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given how much nepotism seems to rule in NASCAR

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unless you're talking about the actual ownership of the company, what are you referring to?

[MicroBob]

I made in 4 in a row once.

[Dids]

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given how much nepotism seems to rule in NASCAR

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unless you're talking about the actual ownership of the company, what are you referring to?

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Dale Jr, Tony Jr. Bush brothers, Petty kids, Andretti kids (ok not nascar but still). Seems like being in the family is a pretty nice leg up into a ride.

[JACK CUST]

C'mon Dids, in every sport being the son of a great player or even a bad one gives you a huge advantage in terms of development, actual talent, and opportunities. It's not like any of the ones you mentioned don't deserve to be there anyway.