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I wonder what percentage of a MX racer 180 HR is due to adrenaline. I'd be curious comparing HR the morning of the race, before gate drop, and first turn.
At the top echelon of the most popular sports there are very few people who could play at a higher level than the pros today. For example, over 1M kids play high school football each year. Of that maybe 1% (10K) even give college ball a try, and of that 10K, maybe 1% (100) can make a pro roster. This results in a very selective, specialized, and athletic group hitting the field on Sundays. Make no mistake, these guys are absolute beasts who have honed their skills over many years.
I get it, you don't understand the concept of the word "players". I'm referring to the majority of football players, not singular. The majority are NOT athletes, but, some can be and are. Perhaps whoever that person is that you posted is pretty athletic and one of the exceptions. I'm sure if you look hard enough you'll find a few out there. Good job!
Baseball even though an American sport has a lot of international players like Dominican so very few Americans make the cut. Same for what other sports?
This is the chance of going pro high school or college in sports:
http://media.hometeamsonline.com/photos/baseball/UPSTATESTORM/Probability_Of_Playing_Professionally.pdf
Here’s the chances of going pro in each sport if you are already good enough to make it to college level:
https://www.ncaa.org/sports/2015/3/6/estimated-probability-of-competing-in-professional-athletics.aspx
But just because you are drafted doesn’t mean you make it to pro or stay in the majors i.e. Michael Jordan. Many baseball players never see the majors.
Not so glamorous life of the minor leagues:
https://amp.foxsports.com/stories/mlb/ben-verlander-minor-league-baseball-player-not-so-glamorous-life-behind-the-scenes
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Yep, and motocross riders just need to turn a throttle
LMAO!!!
Not to sound like a smartass but, does anybody pay attention to espn?
Dude!
The Cornhole championships were off the chain!
Maybe you don't understand the word "Athlete".
Why are we (uptite) discounting the hand eye coordination and balance it takes to be in the top 1% of motocross? Are those not athletic qualities?
Put Chase Sexton in the batters box and he isn’t touching a 93mph slider. But put Aaron Judge on a dirtbike and he isn’t beating the last place kid in the 50 class at Loretta’s.
Now Bo Jackson? Maybe
I’d say a good amount is adrenaline helping. I’m not in great ride shape but I can average 180 for 50-60 minutes during a race. I’d be lucky to hold 170 for 15 on a treadmill
I can understand Marky’s position as many NFL lineman look obese. However, that’s due to the requirements of the position and does not reflect the athletes in their natural state. Their “street weight” can be 100+ lbs less than their playing weight. And believe me, these guys at 250 lbs are athletic animals that likely dominated their high school’s sports programs.
As for Aaron Judge on a bike: the dude is huge! He makes Benny Blose look diminutive, and Benny looks like he’s riding a KLX140! But take the MLB players who “fit” a pro rider profile and they would likely perform very well on the track. But none of them are gonna take the pay cut!
How many people can actually make it around a Supercross track without years of training, a mechanic, and a “program”? Outside 100 people I don’t think people can hit the obstacles like whoops, triples, and rhythm sections, and certainly not at a competitive speed. The top 5 are already lapping the best of the best who rode most of their lives fully committed to get pro level.
That applies to the top pros of any sport. The top talent can make even great athletes look ridiculous.
Hundreds of riders can ride an SX track, but the top guys make local pros look slow. Just as hundred of guys can play left tackle but only a handful can routinely impose their will against a d-line. It’s the nuances that make the difference.
I know the ESPN song “da-na na na-na.”
The only time I watch ESPN is if I am in the hospital recovering from major surgery and don’t want to watch the Gilmore Girls.
Are there any other sports like Motocross or Supercross or similar that are worthy of mention either on a dirt bike, snowmobile, or other kind of thing worth mentioning to the ESPN voter people that they missed? There used to be hardcore free-rock climbing competitions or wing suits.
Is there a sport like MX that requires all the same skills or is there no comparison?
The world’s most popular two-wheeled sports are MotoGP and cycling. And neither were represented in the poll. Suffice to say ESPN only considered sports with a certain degree of name recognition. And Travis Pastrana tops that list for MX.
Fun fact for all the baseball:MX coMoments. Wasn’t rj Hampshire drafted by the Yankees but decided to race instead?
Pit Row
Yup RJ did some baseball but not sure if he’d make it to the majors. He was the Horizon Award winner as the most promising amateur. His whole family is racers and I think his sister went to Loretta’s too.
If ESPN cares about name recognition how about Chris Gosselaar related to Mark Paul from saved by the bell or Carey Hart married to Pink. With popularity B Deegan is the Metal Mulisha. Was there a horse or dog racing? Polo is popular. If this were the Philippines they might list a top cock fighter.
What do Stewart, RC, and Cairoli have in common? They are all short like race horse jockeys.
Dungey, Stewart, RC, and McGrath are all in the Sagittarius range so if anyone believes in the zodiac they were born to be champs, and the icon is a horseback rider.
I don’t, I think a few of the riders could probably be decent QBs or Hitters in baseball with proper training growing up, the problem would be physical stature. Just like I believe a few guys in the NFL could’ve probably been factory riders with the right circumstances growing up.
But no rider is going to be a position player in football or baseball, they’re not good enough athletes
On top of being athletic in moto, you also have to have the balls to go faster than everyone else and jump big dangerous jumps.
Baseball players: If steroids make you better, you are an athlete. The eye hand coordination is next level for ballplayers as well.
Football players: You have obviously never done double sessions in your life. I'm more football sized than moto sized and was offered scholarships out of High School to play football at a couple small division 2 schools. Know why I wasn't offered a scholarship in the Big 10 when I had the size? That's right, those scholarships went to better athletes.
Hahaaa! He said ''cornhole!''😆. All kidding aside, them cornholers are some real athletes.🙂
You can't make a serious case of that, though. Wilt was a freak of nature. The NBA back then was smaller, so there was less dilution by having so many roster spots (In Wilt's prime, just over 100 roster spots vs over 400 today). You weren't allowed to carry the ball the way you are today. The rules were actually changed to make Wilt less dominant, he was that much better than anyone else in pure athleticism and ability.
Lazy analysts today discredit him because of the video game numbers he put up. But he really was that much better than anyone else playing at the time. And since.
You're just joking, right?
The average punter on a college team is incredibly athletic, it's just that the whole field is filled with so many athletes that they almost seem human......
Did anyone mention sports psychologists? Being an athlete or having good coordination isn’t good enough for some sports like MX where you need to be in top of your mental game too.
These days the top racers have staying power so it’s not as easy for someone to be a top 20 pro. Most of the teams invested in a few riders and even if a spot frees up it will likely go to a big time rider.
We already know this but just about all of the 450 guys on teams are multi time champs from the 250’s and teams would add on a Colt Nichols due to his proven 250 results and being a top 10 contender.
If the Olympics is every 4 years I don’t know how many chances a person would get but in moto the top pros are racing older leaving less spots for someone to break in and good luck trying to take a ride away from Dean Wilson with his popularity and “we can work with speed”. Not easy to run a pro lap time.
Well an ex-high school player turned YouTuber who hadn’t seen a live pitch in 17 years just put a ball in play on his 2nd at bat.
What happens if we substitute RJ for Deegs?
Post a reply to: ESPN Top 100 athletes of 21 century - no MX rider?