CrossFit Athletic Group

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.