Jam-Jam Vs. Minny, Yao Vs. Tiger

by user Jamel

GOD created some people with long, strong fingers- people who were born to bang away on keyboards- BORN BLOGGERS as I like to call them. Others like myself had to acquire and learn this skill-- studying hard and practice, practice, practice.

Over the last few articles* I have written here, a lot of discussion has occured. Which sport is better, which sport requires the most intelligence. Last night I got into a drunken arguement about these topics. My slow homosexual friend kept saying baseball was better, me standing strong about football. I argued that baseball is all about great eye-hand coordination and how some are born with that ability. The rest are basics- go to first, then second, be told to run to third and then home. Even playing defense most already know where to throw the ball before it is even hit-- basically run on autopilot. At least in football no matter how skilled you are you have to learn the gabillion plays.

We then started talking about Tiger Woods- here is a guy who praticed his black butt off, learned the game, and deserves everything he has- he wasn't BORN to be a great golfer. Next Yao Ming was brought up and we discussed how being freakish tall could make you a  basketball player-- GOD created him to be a pro basketball player.

This lead to which sports require you to be BORN into it- like basketball, volleyball, swimming etc- you have to be born with certain physical characteristics in order to be good at it (there is always exceptions of course). But which sport has nothing to do with physical abilities but all learnt skill- like golf.

So I wanted to discuss this

1. Which sport do you think requires the most GOD GIVEN PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES?- like Yao

b) Which player(s) is a star only because of these physical attributes?

2. Which sport requires ALL LEARNT skill?

b) Which player(s) has mastered and learnt these skills the best- like Tiger

Discuss

Clayton St. John Smythe Esq.Varsity

886 days ago

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In answering

1. 2: I think Golf and Billiards (Snooker) are two sports that are all "aquired skill" sports. Same goes for race car driving. Noodling may be another, as with fly-fishing. MMA and Boxing could be others, yet you have to be born with the ability to take a punch.

For Golf, Tiger is an obvious answer. For Snooker, I dunno - ask that British kid Alex. For MMA I'd like to highlight two kinda unknowns who demonstrate a dedication to learning a variety of techniques and blowing folks away with them: Cung Le and Matt Horwich - Check 'em out - the first example employs a lot of kicks (never seen so many roundhouses to the head in an MMA match) the latter is a total weirdo, troubled street tough who is now a Jesus freak and a terrific submission artist, not to mention a guy who always comes forward!

Boxing: Either of the Klitscho's were both born huge, but studied the art and the science of boxing to become the successes they are. Also, Ricky Hatton is brilliant - a guy whose always adapted well to his opponent (he's still undefeated)

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Clayton St. John Smythe Esq.Varsity

886 days ago

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Also for Racing, that guy "Jerry" from that Primus song. Drove it so Goddamned fast -

Never did win the checkered flag, but never did come in last...

Also, are you saying that you were born with blogging skills, whereas Manny has studied and mastered them???

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JamelAll-American

886 days ago

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I never thought about NASCAR or any fighting sports but yeah those are diffinately learnt sports- so what about about those sports you have to born to play? I am looking for that ONE SPORT-- what about horse racing?- you have to be a midget to do that

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ChristofMVP

886 days ago

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This intro video to an article may be the best one to ever appear on Armchairgm.com!

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JamelAll-American

886 days ago

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You like that huh? I had some great pics I was going to post here but for some reason it kept saying "error"-- it was on Amanda Beard- as swimmers that obviously have to be born with freakish long arms and long torso's- another was of beach volleyball- again those girls are on the tall side

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Clayton St. John Smythe Esq.Varsity

886 days ago

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For #1 - Gymnastics. Take any given gymnastics star and you have someone who's freakishly blessed with a low center of gravity. Olympic gymnasts just have a weird body structure: short squatty, almost retarded looking physiques.

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JamelAll-American

886 days ago

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God bless them though

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JamelAll-American

886 days ago

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So I was wondering about track and field sports??? I guess it's a mix of a certain body type fitting into that sport- like pole vaulting- I'm sure you have to be someone short and petite to fling over it- Where is everyone?

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RomiezzoLegend

886 days ago

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No, it's all good Jamel. I like when we discuss as well, but I just think that guys on steroids, like you said, are other factors other than learning skills. You're right, but when a batter steps to the plate, steroids won't help a player realize what pitch is coming to him. He won't be able to judge between a fastball, changeup, curveball, etc. And also, not ALL good players who play the game take steroids. It's not like WWE or something. :) You're right, if people take steroid, power wise, they'll get better, but what about guys like Ichiro, Luis Castillo, Rod Carew, etc. Those are just some examples of players who will make your case more debatable because even if they take steroids, their role in baseball is to just get on base. In my last comment, I basically said that it takes years to master hitting. It takes years to perfect in hitting a fastball, curveball, etc. Only a handful of players who don't use steroids get recognized. Hypothetical situation: Let's just say you take ALL of the players who took steroids outta the picture. Would there be a high correlation? No. Why? Because there are some people that are better than others without taking roids. That's all I had to say...

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Tyrone BriggsHall of Famer

886 days ago

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Yes, yes, practice makes perfection. It took years for Canseco and McGwire to finally figure out which end of the syringe was supposed to be jabbed into each other's ass.

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JamelAll-American

886 days ago

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Shame on the entire armchairgm family if Tyrone's last comment doesn't score comment of the day (or week) or whatever

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RomiezzoLegend

886 days ago

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To answer your question, I believe that basketball, like with Mao for example, requires the most GOD GIVEN attributes. Yes, some lower 6 footers CAN play, but it's mainly for tall people. I bet you if the players were around 6'0"-6'1", they wouldn't be able to play in the NBA.

Like you said, Yao, is someone is affected greatly because he's a tall dude. Do you think he'd be the #1 overall pick if he was 7'4"? I don't think so. It's just because of the fact that he towers over almost everybody in the NBA. But there are some exceptions, like Iverson, Spudd Webb, etc. who definitely have talent, but they definitely need to be fast, which isn't a GOD GIVEN attribute.

I think baseball and golf are the two main sports that require the most learning. You can't work out more, and expect to hit the ball; you can hit it farther, but it doesn't necessarily make you better, and physical attributes aren't inculded. The other sport is golf. You need the skills to know how to putt from a certain area, or how hard you need to hit the ball, etc. You also need to learn how to pitch better by experience. With these two sports, practice makes... well not perfect, but it sure will get you close. Examples for the sports, respectively, are Derek Jeter & Roger Clemens and Tiger Woods. Why do you think that Jeter is so good in a clutch situation? He's learned how to hit, and he's good at it...REALLY GOOD. Roger Clemens: his stats say it all. Tiger's skills are so good that his career numbers will not be touched...

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JamelAll-American

886 days ago

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Here is something to think about then-- since you say that baseball requires so much learnt skill and not physical attributes than why is it that 'roids help baseball players so much?????? Since this is true I would have to make the assumption that baseball does in fact have a great correlation with physical attributes and strength and perhaps less and less learnt ability

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Manny StilesMajor Leaguer

886 days ago

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yeeeeeaaahhh.... steroids never get used in football.

And Alex Sanchez, David Segui and Jason Grimsley refute your "steroids makes players better" theory.

It takes MORE physical attributes to play football. If you can't see that, then you are a fool. Try playing Left Tackle sometime, since I bet you're about David Eckstein's size, I doubt you could... no matter if you suddenly became smart or not...

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JamelAll-American

886 days ago

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So explain why all the 'roid boys are going to hold all the records in baseball douchebag!!! PS- I never said football doesn't require physical attributes.

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RomiezzoLegend

886 days ago

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That's the thing, it requires so much skill that some people who aren't that great get better. It takes years to master in hitting. There are only a few nowadays that can really do it and get recognized. You're right though, there are more players who are taking steroids, but if you disclude all of the people who take steroids (hypothetical situation) I believe that physical attributes and learnt ability don't have a good correlation..

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JamelAll-American

886 days ago

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I like you Romiezzo- I'm not giving you a hard time- I like this discussion- I don't understand what you are trying to say in this last comment.

My point is that most of the top baseball players in hitting are on 'roids. If physical attributes and strength didn't have a huge correlation to hitting home runs than being on 'roids shouldn't make that much of a differance. But when you have Sosa, McGwire, Bonds, etc all being the home run kings you have to start wondering- physical strength has to play more a part. If it was all a learnt behavior- like golf- then you should see more home runs guys who AREN'T on roids. The stats and percentages favor 'roids to home runs.

Can you explain your last comment again?

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Manny StilesMajor Leaguer

886 days ago

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how do you know that golfers aren't taking performance enhancers too?

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RomiezzoLegend

886 days ago

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Woops.. wrong place. Here is where it should be:

No, it's all good Jamel. I like when we discuss as well, but I just think that guys on steroids, like you said, are other factors other than learning skills. You're right, but when a batter steps to the plate, steroids won't help a player realize what pitch is coming to him. He won't be able to judge between a fastball, changeup, curveball, etc. And also, not ALL good players who play the game take steroids. It's not like WWE or something. :) You're right, if people take steroid, power wise, they'll get better, but what about guys like Ichiro, Luis Castillo, Rod Carew, etc. Those are just some examples of players who will make your case more debatable because even if they take steroids, their role in baseball is to just get on base.

In my last comment, I basically said that it takes years to master hitting. It takes years to perfect in hitting a fastball, curveball, etc. Only a handful of players who don't use steroids get recognized. Hypothetical situation: Let's just say you take ALL of the players who took steroids outta the picture. Would there be a high correlation? No. Why? Because there are some people that are better than others without taking roids. That's all I had to say...

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Tyrone BriggsHall of Famer

886 days ago

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The only juice injected by (into the?) fat asses such as Phil Mickelson and John Daly is unhealthy quantities of bacon grease.

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TylersaltAll-Star

886 days ago

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Hee hee... some Freudian slip there, with Mao and Yao.

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