The Problem With Being A Talented Athlete
I have always loved sports passionately, since maybe the 1975 World Series with El Tiante's baserunning gaffes and the awesome Sox win in Game Six. I was nine years old at the time. But I never had any talent at the games I adored and played with passion and intensity. I remember being excited about trying out for the Amherst Patriots Pop Warner football team when I was ten or eleven, back in the late 70s in New Hampshire. Being so sure I would make the squad I promised my vacationing family I'd bring home my football helmet from the tryouts as a trophy. I was psyched. When the volunteer coaches didn't take me on the team I was a devastated little boy who cried in my best friend's mother's arms for what seemed like hours. I knew then what I know now: I had no talent at the things I loved the most in the world. Heartbroken is too mild a word.
But this afternoon, after watching one of the local professional athletes half ass his way through a mild weight workout at my gym, I realized how much of a blessing being born with two left feet may have been. Guys who are good at sports have the weight of the world on their shoulders from the time they are in their early teens, but they also tend to, imo, coast after they get comfortable.
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Further...
Especially for lower class families involved in serious athletics, which largely means blacks in this country, the pressure on great young athletes to take care of their families wellbeing is profound. Once a kid in Florida or Texas proves good at football in Pop Warner, for example, the entire extended family will typically make it known that the kid, should he make it to the bigtime, will be responsible for everyone's well being. Can you imagine the pressure on a LeBron James, who's been nationally known since he was ten years old? Everyone in his family probably wants a handout, everyone expects something. I wouldn't want that going on in my life. Would you?
No, I was blessed with basically zero athletic ability, and I'm a better man now at 44 because of it. It would have been fun to have made the freshman boys basketball team at Milford High School (the only team I tried out for), but I got cut. Maybe I would have made some good friends and it certainly would have been nice to be part of a team, but that was not to be.
But this afternoon, after watching one of the local professional athletes half ass his way through a mild weight workout at my gym, I realized how much of a blessing being born with two left feet may have been. Guys who are good at sports have the weight of the world on their shoulders from the time they are in their early teens, but they also tend to, imo, coast after they get comfortable.
-------
Further...
Especially for lower class families involved in serious athletics, which largely means blacks in this country, the pressure on great young athletes to take care of their families wellbeing is profound. Once a kid in Florida or Texas proves good at football in Pop Warner, for example, the entire extended family will typically make it known that the kid, should he make it to the bigtime, will be responsible for everyone's well being. Can you imagine the pressure on a LeBron James, who's been nationally known since he was ten years old? Everyone in his family probably wants a handout, everyone expects something. I wouldn't want that going on in my life. Would you?
No, I was blessed with basically zero athletic ability, and I'm a better man now at 44 because of it. It would have been fun to have made the freshman boys basketball team at Milford High School (the only team I tried out for), but I got cut. Maybe I would have made some good friends and it certainly would have been nice to be part of a team, but that was not to be.
posted by joe sweeney at 2:49 PM
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