Quote:
Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
Todd Marinovich anyone?
It's not like complete devotion to sports as children hasn't led to plenty of wasted lives, in a whole host of sports.
Ask the 97% of high school hoops players who don't play in college, or the 99.97% of high school hoops players who don't make it to the pros. Sure, some of them sat at the end of the bench next to Hank, but some of them spend hours on the playground or in the gym, figuring it's the ticket. It's not.
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This is a good point, and is indeed tragic. I can personally recall several examples of friends who fell into this trap, mostly in football and basketball. If they're spending the time because they think it's the ticket, then the time truly is "lost."*
OTOH, I can't think of any of my fellow swimmers who thought their four hours a day was leading toward a meal ticket down the line (beyond - perhaps - hoping for a college scholarship). I would doubt that even Phelps had this thought, at least up until about 6 months ago.
*Or is it? We tend to assume these kids would have been better served by hitting the books (which is undoubtably true), but if they didn't spend the time on the court, would they be spending it with pencils in their hands, or XBox controllers? At least they keep in shape, learn how to work as part of a team, and learn that life does not come with a reset button.
