The Sports Post
Chris Sinagoga | Monday, September 13, 2021 at 8:00AM It's been a while since I can remember writing a longer post that didn't have a serious "call to action" of sorts as an underlying theme. Probably since How Chris Stole Christmas. Originally I thought of just ranking the sports in terms of which ones I thought were doing things the right way, but not too long ago I heard a business leader say something to the extent of, "there is hidden strength in every weakness, and hidden vulnerability in every strength." So I thought it would be cool to apply that to the sports you guys are playing.
With each sport listed I note two of what I believe are signature characteristics to that sport, as in things you get there that you wouldn't get, to that extent, anywhere else, then break them down according to strength and vulnerability.
Enjoy!
Football
Contact
Strength - it builds up an unmatched tolerance to physical pain and practice for telling the difference between being hurt and being injured. Also provides athletes with the least amount of rules/restrictions to show their physical gifts.
Vulnerability - pretty much guaranteed to get dinged up at some point, concussions are no fun (ask me and Aaron), getting trucked is even more embarrassing than getting dunked on.
Play call every down
Strength - each position has a defined job to do on every play, and you get to focus on doing your job regardless of circumstances.
Vulnerability - builds up a dependance on the coach, also can build the mindset "at least I did my job" when things go wrong.
Volleyball
Jumping
Strength - the only sport I know of besides track that actually goes through progressions of an approach to jumping and the timing needed to jump well.
Vulnerability - I have yet to see a volleyball player do this without their knees knocking together, which leads me to believe the position (strength) isn't being taught as much as skill.
Rotations
Strength - not exactly sure the specifics, but since everyone has to play at every spot on the floor it makes kids develop every part of their game, not just what they're good at; the opposite of football, at some point an OL's job will be to throw a pass.
Vulnerability - makes it tough for one player to truly take over a game like a pitcher in baseball or a center in basketball.
Cross Country
Long, slow distance
Strength - lack of stamina in the legs is, to me, the main limiting factor when it comes to athletes being in injurious positions; long distance runners build up an unmatched tolerance for leg burning.
Vulnerability - you practice the way you play, and when you practice for, literally, thousands of reps every single day at a slow speed, changing gears becomes quite a challenge unless you're getting it from another sport.
Race, not time
Strength - in cross country you are truly competing with the dude or chick next to you; the previous times are thrown out the window and all that matters is winning the race against your competition.
Vulnerability - not equal playing conditions across the board; a 16-min 5k at Chandler Park Golf Course is not the same as a 16-min 5k at Lamphere's course (which uses a certain Hill you are familiar with).
Basketball
Elite Skill
Strength - basketball requires a supreme level of skill and coordination unmatched in any other sport. This, the low-barrier entry (literally anyone with a ball and a park can play for free), and only 5 guys on the court at once means the best athletes in the world are in the NBA and the rest of the sports get to pick from the remainders.
Vulnerability - strength, ironically. Basketball strength training is so annoying I avoid watching videos at all costs: stability ball squats, medicine ball twists, side lunges, ladder jumps. Just do some effing deadlifts.
Height dictates position
Strength - anyone under 6'2 comes to the harsh realization that not everyone is created equal and that's okay. The game of basketball does not adjust to your lack of physical gifts so you need to work extra hard to belong.
Vulnerability - lots of free passes and special treatment to the other end of the spectrum that can result in some bad habits that will become more obvious the higher up in competition, when everyone else is as tall.
The Fine Sport of Wraastling
Wrestling
Strength - probably the single best test of fitness short of fighting to the death; it has pulling, pushing, tackling, running, jumping, throwing, and dodging, all confined into 2-minute (is that right?) intervals of grueling conditioning. I always thought it would be cool if the CF Games added this somehow. I also was about 50/50 on adding this to the Olympics Workout.
Vulnerability - I mean...
Weight classes
Strength - really evens out the playing field and makes technique really important, as Kris Campbell wouldn't be able to just sit on me and call it a win.
Vulnerability - can kinda mess with how you view food for a long time, and that's a difficult habit to break.
Cheerleading
... yeah, right!
Softball
Bench cheering
Strength - never had one single softball player in the gym who is average or worse at communicating with me, or encouraging other people who are working out.
Vulnerability - sometimes they can't stop talking. Shakes!
Underhand throw
Strength - saves pitchers' arms and allows stud girls to get like 40 wins in a season and absolutely wreck havoc during torunaments and double-headers.
Vulnerability - seriously, just throw the freaking ball normally; girls basketball players aren't made to shoot like Rick Barry just for being girls. The girls version of baseball should be baseball, just with girls.
Tennis
Singles
Strength - one-on-one! Everything's equal, no teammates to mess it up, no coaching, just athlete vs. athlete and the better person almost always wins.
Vulnerability - no refs, either, so making your own calls can get tricky, plus no teamwork really developed.
Rich people sport
Strength - soccer and track seem to get their main pick of spring sport girls, so if you got a love for tennis and have the money to pursue it finding a way to continue into college should be pretty simple.
Vulnerability - money-sports is a tough loop to get caught in and sometimes it's difficult to see you can probably practice most of the stuff on your own at a park with a tennis net... but then you have to go back to all the other rich kids and parents with trainers and tennis clubs and such. Plus tennis is too uppity to allow cheering of your home team and/or gentle heckling of opponents.
Soccer
Anyone can play
Strength - all you need is a ball, some cleats and open space, there's 11 different positions so they'll find a spot for you; lots of competition means kids really need to develop a dedication and work ethic that can set them apart.
Vulnerability - coaches aren't dumb and realize this is an easy avenue to quit their day job.
Scores are like 1-0 on a good day
Strength - the little things are really emphasized, progression is valued, and when someone actually does score everyone goes apeshit
Vulnerability - you would never be able to tell someone like Cecilia is good unless you know what to look for
Track
The timer doesn't lie
Strength - you'll never have the same debates in track as you do in basketball, football, hip hop, or movies; the best runner is the one with the better time
Vulnerability - since, in the end, the time is what matters, form is often overlooked, which ultimately limits how the fast time could be.
There are almost 20 events
Strength - like soccer, any athlete of any build can find an event to suit their ability.
Vulnerability - watching a track meet is an aerobic exercise with zero physical benefit; lose the 200, 800, the 300 hurdles, and for the love of stopwatches please no fat kids in the 2-mile.
Baseball
Failure sport
Strength - such a low success rate at the plate means players have to have an unparalleled ability to leave things where they happened, and also provides unmatched opportunity for empathy and support of a struggling teammate; literally everyone has been there, dude, you'll snap out of it. The old cliche' stills rings true that hitting a baseball is the single most difficult thing to do in any sport.
Vulnerability - I'd imagine it's easy to look past repeated failure when scouting and see the potential you want to see. "If he's a good hitter then why doesn't he hit good?" Also, probably makes it tough for players too, who might only get 3 chances in a game to get noticed.
High velocity/high repetition
Strength - two skills dominate this game: throwing and hitting. As such, coaches put more emphasis into technique than any other sport I've observed. Baseball coaches are responsible for the most creative drills in all of sports; football coaches are like "Hey these are two pads, run in between then and SMASH the person across from it. Barry Switzer did this in 1960 so it must be good."
Vulnerabiity - the days of our dads playing pickup baseball after school with all the kids on their street vs. all the kids on the next street are probably not coming back in my lifetime; while there were less formal drills then, that format was a natural way to moderate volume. This is the one sport I can think of where more practice is not always better. Also, neither of these skills require running, jumping, or conditioning to a significant extent.
...........
I'm not doing hockey or lacrosse.
Reader Comments (8)
What about skiing?
A very healthy and coordinated hobby!
So for volleyball, rotations all around pretty much happen until high school. But in high school, specialty positions generally come into play, and dominance, particularly in the position of hitting, most definitely comes into play. But interesting summary. I’ll be watching Ry’s knees during her jumps, though my 5’3” DS/Libero doesn’t hit much.
On the softball summary, you’re pretty spot on, though, shockingly, on a personal note, I have one of the quietest kids on the bench🤣 Ask Shakes.
About baseball, yep. Pretty much. It’s can be very tough or yield the biggest reward.
“The best athletes in the world are in the NBA and the rest of the sports get to pick from the remainders.”
The bias is palpable.
I'm definitely biased, and I also think that's right. Where do you think the best athletes are?
It’s hard to say, but I mostly think that you really can’t narrow down one sport as to having the best athletes and then consider other athletes leftovers because they aren’t built for or even geared toward a specific sport.
To give some of what I think though, I really look at the best athletes being those who aren’t just great at one single sport but can play multiple at a high level. Most of the basketball players I knew and saw in high school played exclusively basketball and nothing else, excluding a few that would also play football in the fall. While it takes a lot of coordination, technique, and conditioning to play basketball, I find it difficult to say NBA/basketball players are the greatest athletes on the planet when it seems like their skill set is limited to just what basketball entails.
On the other side, I’ve seen people who never played basketball in their life be some of the most successful athletes. Some that could catch any ball thrown to them on the football field, hit a homerun off a 90 mph fastball, and also beat an opponent in a wrestling match 15-0. I wouldn’t consider them less of an athlete compared to someone who can shoot a 30 foot three pointer or can dunk because they’re 6’10” and have an 8’ wingspan.
Also, I find it hard to consider NBA/basketball players the best athletes when I’ve seen Nate Robinson get absolutely molly whopped by Jake Paul in boxing. I know you probably only know who Nate Robinson is, but feel free to YouTube the embarrassment of a fight that it was.
I would guess Nate Robinson is better at boxing that Jake Paul is as basketball.
I still think it's safe to say that basketball, more than any other sports, get the tip of the spear. If you are blessed with the gifts of being tall, fast, leapy, coordinated with both hands, conditioned, and strong you are probably not going to pick another sport. If you weren't blessed with those gifts then you probably will.
I’m coaching freshman volleyball at Seaholm. You’re welcome to come by anytime! Mrs. Hana is right about positions. I chose my girls’ positions by ability and size. They stay in the position and rotate to that position after receive. One of my strongest girls is a multi kid who plays basketball and softball.