OT: Youth Travel Baseball

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

Messi is 5'7 so uhh...no.

Kobe and LeBron are 2 of the best athletes to ever live. If they played nothing but baseball from the time, they were 5, they'd be HOFers. Friggin Jacob Stallings is a MLB starter.

You seriously discount the amount of athleticism it takes to be world-class. Believe me, these guys just luck into choosing the only sport they would be really good at.

You seriously discount the amount of natural skill that is also involved in some of these sports. Just because you can run and jump, doesn't mean you can hit a baseball or a golf ball. Or many other singular skills. You project these things like they are truths that are self evident. They aren't.

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

Size has nothing to do with athleticism. Size is size. Speed, power, endurance, vision, timing is part of athleticism. Great size can help a great athlete but they aren't related. You can have great size and be a terrible athlete. You can have great athleticism but terrible size.

You keep taking L after L on this thread. You might want to stop.

Ummm....I, and I think most of the others think you are taking the L's.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Ummm....I, and I think most of the others think you are taking the L's.

Ha. No.

Anyway, one thing I was thinking, maybe a big advantage for travel baseball as opposed to soccer is that baseball is like the Wild West. There's a tournament in every town every weekend. Anyone can throw a team together. Nobody checks player ages, coaching clearances, etc. Its basically modern-day "organized sandlot" since there's no structure, no governing body, no pitch counts, etc. You can show up with half your team 2 years older than everyone and nobody's going to check.

When you compare that to soccer, its extremely organized, extremely structured. The PA West leagues even have promotion/relegation. Being a volunteer coach requires several hours of training plus a million Jerry Sandusky background checks. Sometimes I wonder if US Soccer was more unstructured like baseball if they have more kids playing.

 

[Pitt79]

Shouldn't there be a line though? Drinking during youth baseball seems over the top to me.

My daughter did soccer 12 years, I never even thought of drinking at those games, and I love to drink. They where 1.5 hours usually, she even played in a Friday night league and never drank. Truth is, I only remember one guy that would sit far away on top of a hill by himself drinking beer that whole time. At least in those leagues, drinking wasn't a thing. On some of the away travel games the parents would hook up in the hotel bar and have a few though.

 

[Pitt79]

I am in my 50's.....can I ask any of you guys say between 45-60 (or older)?
1) Did you play sports as a kid?
2) Did you play on a traveling league?
3) Did your parents attend every game/match/meet?
4) Did your parents attend every practice??

1) Yes, 2) There where no travel leagues that I remember, 3) No, 4) No

My parents where Greek immigrants and didn't care about sports, my dad owned a restaurant and was almost always working, my mom understood zero about any sport, I played baseball, basketball, football for probably 10 years, they finally can to see one of my sports games, Senior Night of high school football, they literally where never there. But I did go to all my daughter's soccer games, because it's what I enjoyed in life, I was in a golf league, I quit that because I preferred being assistant coach on a U12 girls rec soccer team over playing golf.

 

[Pitt79]

When I was a kid in the '60s and 70s, kids sports where just time killers. Most kids in my area played football, baseball and basketball depending on the season, there was no specialization or intense training. baseball was maybe 15-16 games, basketball about the same, football 8-10, no travel teams, never got real serious until about 9th grade when you had to be good enough for the Jr Hi or HS team or stop playing, but you could still play CYO basketball or rec softball after that, it wasn't at all about getting a scholarship for the parents back then, it seems like it was more of a babysitting service and half the parents never came to watch.

 

[FreeportPanther]

You seriously discount the amount of natural skill that is also involved in some of these sports. Just because you can run and jump, doesn't mean you can hit a baseball or a golf ball. Or many other singular skills. You project these things like they are truths that are self evident. They aren't.

Case in point.
I give you: Joe Frazier in the pool!

 

[pitt90seven]

Case in point.
I give you: Joe Frazier in the pool!

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not smart. you let the big boxing man win that one.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Ha. No.

Sadly (for you anyway), yes.

 

[YourPittDanceTeam]

If she was a former HS/college distance runner and runs multiple distance races per year, even at 47, she isn't a recreational runner. I am saying he can beat the overweight accountant sitting in the next cube who is running 4, 4.5, even 5 hour marathon.

Honestly, how long do you think it would take to finish a marathon? 7 hours? 8 hours? You dont think they can run an 11 minute/mile pace? That is practically walking.

Honestly, I don't even think he would finish a marathon. I am pretty sure that the blisters that he would have after running for 5 or 6 continuous miles on a hard surface, would make him pull up and stop. Oh wait...I forgot he's a "world class" soccer player, which means that he would pull up, throw his arms and body up in the air and then roll around on the ground for about two minutes and then he would get sprayed with that miracle can of medicine and then resume running.

 

[prez41]

OK, just so we are clear, you believe Ronaldo couldn't beat your 45 year old coworker who is a recreational marathoner and runs 4 hour marathons?

Four of the five listed here have times, and my PR is faster than all of them (I’m almost 43 and I was a complete fat ass with no running experience until age 36)

Granted, none of them are Ronaldo, and are retired. That, though, would make me think they had time to train.

5 footballers who have run marathons

Gareth Bale runs at a pace of 35 km/hr, how long do you think he takes to complete a marathon?.

www.sportskeeda.com

 

[PeetWeet1]

Four of the five listed here have times, and my PR is faster than all of them (I’m almost 43 and I was a complete fat ass with no running experience until age 36)

Granted, none of them are Ronaldo, and are retired. That, though, would make me think they had time to train.

5 footballers who have run marathons

Gareth Bale runs at a pace of 35 km/hr, how long do you think he takes to complete a marathon?.

www.sportskeeda.com

I would have guessed far better times. A serious recreational marathoner of either sex could beat many, if not all, of these times. Heck, I beat the one listed half-marathon time.

 

[prez41]

I would have guessed far better times. A serious recreational marathoner of either sex could beat many, if not all, of these times. Heck, I beat the one listed half-marathon time.

I just don’t know how well soccer (or hockey or basketball) fitness translates to distance running. Lots of different muscles being used between the two.
Don’t get me wrong, I feel there are a lot of athletes that with training could put up damn good times. I don’t know if they could just walk off the pitch and run a good marathon.

 

[Mikefln]

I just don’t know how well soccer (or hockey or basketball) fitness translates to distance running. Lots of different muscles being used between the two.
Don’t get me wrong, I feel there are a lot of athletes that with training could put up damn good times. I don’t know if they could just walk off the pitch and run a good marathon.

No they can't and only a fool would think they could. Every sport requires a different skill set. Just because 1 is great at 1 sport does not mean they would be great at another. Michael Jordan is a prime example of this.

Using Michael Jordan as an example, that should tell you how damn great Deion and Bo where.

 

[PeetWeet1]

No they can't and only a fool would think they could. Every sport requires a different skill set. Just because 1 is great at 1 sport does not mean they would be great at another. Michael Jordan is a prime example of this.

Using Michael Jordan as an example, that should tell you how damn great Deion and Bo where.

And Dick Groat.

 

[isit]

I am in my 50's.....can I ask any of you guys say between 45-60 (or older)?
1) Did you play sports as a kid?
2) Did you play on a traveling league?
3) Did your parents attend every game/match/meet?
4) Did your parents attend every practice??

I am not getting this parental devotion of every aching free moment that they have to be with their kids. That didn't happen in my generation. Sometimes the parents would show up to games, when you got into High School and the games counted more, maybe. Practices? Rarely and it was usually that pain in the ass dad who was completely overbearing and thought his son was the next Pete Rose or Dan Marino.

I don't think this is particularly healthy. Kids and parents need some sort of separation. And here's a clue mommy and daddy, while your kid is special to you, he may not be special in his sport. So let him be. He doesn't need you there. Well now, maybe he does because we have created this overwhelming expectations that the parents lives are all and only about their children and nothing else. We inflate these kids, spoil them to no end, and then when faced in the real world, they have no sense when something doesn't go there way or there is nobody to tell them "they are the best" after they fail at something.

We have created a nation of basically.....sawfties.............selfish kids, overwrought parents. My god, working the work week is hard enough then having to pile in a car and drive to Indianapolis for the weekend to play a couple of softball games. It is also ironic, America's First Sport (aka Football) has some camps, but don't have these manufactured teams (well I guess 7on7's) but not like these other sports who likely won't give out scholarships. I understand some like hockey a bit, because you have to find like opponents, AAU basketball and baseball maybe, but these ordinary neighbor kids, or worse these "Cheer" teams and stuff.....man, have your kids enjoy summer, spend money on a pool membership (or put one in yourself) and have a nice 10 day vacation on a beach. You and your kids will enjoy it much more and it will be much more rewarding. Little Johnny can play 3rd base for the local VFW sponsored Little League team, ride his bike to and from practice and games. You will be richer for it, he will be happier in the end. If he bats like .600 with a few HR's, or throws a few no hitters, trust me a traveling team will find him.

We are just creating such unrealistic expectations for these kids, no wonder the drop off in participation between 13 and 16 years old is so precipitous. And here's the biggest memo to parents......DON'T DO THIS FOR YOUR EGO. Here endeth the message.

 

[isit]

My travel ball when I played little league:

I lived in the country five miles from the town of my district's little league. My parents had one car. I had to leave for the Little League games before my Father got home from work. At 7 years old I took a mill bus from in front of my home to the center of the town 5 miles away (it cost 10 cents). From there I had to walk 4 block s to the riverfront park and then follow that for 5 blocks more to the football stadium where there were little league fields. When my father got home my parents came to the game and then drove me home.

 

[Pitt79]

No they can't and only a fool would think they could. Every sport requires a different skill set. Just because 1 is great at 1 sport does not mean they would be great at another. Michael Jordan is a prime example of this.

Using Michael Jordan as an example, that should tell you how damn great Deion and Bo where.

Exactly. If LeBron had grown up playing nothing but soccer we probably never would of heard of him.

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

Case in point.
I give you: Joe Frazier in the pool!

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Holy hell, Al Campanis was right!!!!! LOL Just kidding. Sort of.

Anyways, this was my favorite sporting event as a kid. It was like the Super Bowl to me. Remember just how dominant Lynn Swann was in the obstacle course??

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

Case in point.
I give you: Joe Frazier in the pool!

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THIS is PERFECT! Because it ties it all in together. This is Wayne Gretzky, Pele, Sugar Ray Leonard, Bjorn Borg, and someone else. We all know, since Pele is the world class of the world class footballer, he would blow this group away in a 100m sprint. Especially not being trounced by some skinny, mullet headed white canadian kid playing hockey. But......

 

[Zeldas Open Roof]

THIS is PERFECT! Because it ties it all in together. This is Wayne Gretzky, Pele, Sugar Ray Leonard, Bjorn Borg, and someone else. We all know, since Pele is the world class of the world class footballer, he would blow this group away in a 100m sprint. Especially not being trounced by some skinny, mullet headed white canadian kid playing hockey. But......

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i just watched a slam dunk contest from way back with Barry Bonds and Deion Sanders, was crazy..

Also, younger people probably havent heard of the old "Battle of the network stars" but i cant get over how great of a show and premise that was.. I mean, im watching Buddy from Charles in Charge race an obstacle course against the guy from Welcome Back Kotter. I mean, stuff like this doesnt happen anymore..

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

i just watched a slam dunk contest from way back with Barry Bonds and Deion Sanders, was crazy..

Also, younger people probably havent heard of the old "Battle of the network stars" but i cant get over how great of a show and premise that was.. I mean, im watching Buddy from Charles in Charge race an obstacle course against the guy from Welcome Back Kotter. I mean, stuff like this doesnt happen anymore..

Oh man......and the chicks on there.......back when they identified themselves as "hot chicks".

 

[TheSpecialSauce]

THIS is PERFECT! Because it ties it all in together. This is Wayne Gretzky, Pele, Sugar Ray Leonard, Bjorn Borg, and someone else. We all know, since Pele is the world class of the world class footballer, he would blow this group away in a 100m sprint. Especially not being trounced by some skinny, mullet headed white canadian kid playing hockey. But......

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White Lightning! Impressive

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Sadly (for you anyway), yes.

OK, Joe, so you are in the camp that average overweight 45 year old Yinzer accountant who trains for 6 months to run a 4.5 hour marathon can beat an elite pro soccer player who doesnt train for it?

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

THIS is PERFECT! Because it ties it all in together. This is Wayne Gretzky, Pele, Sugar Ray Leonard, Bjorn Borg, and someone else. We all know, since Pele is the world class of the world class footballer, he would blow this group away in a 100m sprint. Especially not being trounced by some skinny, mullet headed white canadian kid playing hockey. But......

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Gretzky is one of the greatest athletes to ever live. Again, guys like that could have been world-class in multiple sports had they chose that sport at a young age. This isnt that difficult a concept.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

No they can't and only a fool would think they could. Every sport requires a different skill set. Just because 1 is great at 1 sport does not mean they would be great at another. Michael Jordan is a prime example of this.

Using Michael Jordan as an example, that should tell you how damn great Deion and Bo where.

MJ would have been a HOF baseball player. He went from HS Ball to AA after taking 15 years off and managed to hit a little over .200 with a few HRs. That is impressive AF. If MJ played nothing but baseball from age 12, he would have been one of the greatest ever. Tebow probably similar.

 

[FreeportPanther]

A 7 page SMF thread!!!
Come on guys, we are better than this.
I apologize for my participation.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

I don’t know if they could just walk off the pitch and run a good marathon.

Yea, not sure about "good" but these morons think that 45 year old recreational marathoners running 4.5 hour marathons can beat them. I mean that's sooooo slow. Ronaldo can run half of it, take a 1/2 hour nap, then finish the last 13 and still beat them.

 

[prez41]

Yea, not sure about "good" but these morons think that 45 year old recreational marathoners running 4.5 hour marathons can beat them. I mean that's sooooo slow. Ronaldo can run half of it, take a 1/2 hour nap, then finish the last 13 and still beat them.

Have you ran a marathon before?

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

OK, Joe, so you are in the camp that average overweight 45 year old Yinzer accountant who trains for 6 months to run a 4.5 hour marathon can beat an elite pro soccer player who doesnt train for it?

I am in the camp of people who think that anyone who does not train to run a marathon is absolutely ill equipped to run a marathon (both physically and mentally) no matter who they are. Which is, of course, common sense.

Which is also why you just can't quite seem to grasp the concept.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

I am in the camp of people who think that anyone who does not train to run a marathon is absolutely ill equipped to run a marathon (both physically and mentally) no matter who they are. Which is, of course, common sense.

Which is also why you just can't quite seem to grasp the concept.

Great but I'm asking you, who wins this marathon:

a) your average 4.5 hour recreational 45 year old marathoner

b) your average elite pro soccer player who doesnt train specifically for it

My contention is that these guys can play a soccer game on a Sunday and go run a marathon the following Sunday without training and beat your slow AF coworker

 

[prez41]

Great but I'm asking you, who wins this marathon:

a) your average 4.5 hour recreational 45 year old marathoner

b) your average elite pro soccer player who doesnt train specifically for it

My contention is that these guys can play a soccer game on a Sunday and go run a marathon the following Sunday without training and beat your slow AF coworker

And my contention is that you do not have enough data, information or knowledge to argue the point as vehemently as you are. We. Just. Don’t. Know. Running 26 miles requires a different skill set that playing soccer. It would not surprise me at all if a pro soccer player would struggle to run a marathon without training.

again, I’ll ask, have you ever ran a marathon? I’m fairly certain the answer is no. I’ll give you a little hint - outside of the elites, speed has little to do with it.

 

[USN_Panther]

And my contention is that you do not have enough data, information or knowledge to argue the point as vehemently as you are. We. Just. Don’t. Know. Running 26 miles requires a different skill set that playing soccer. It would not surprise me at all if a pro soccer player would struggle to run a marathon without training.

again, I’ll ask, have you ever ran a marathon? I’m fairly certain the answer is no. I’ll give you a little hint - outside of the elites, speed has little to do with it.

This is getting better than the Peloton vs MMA fighter thread.

 

[jivecat]

This is getting better than the Peloton vs MMA fighter thread.

Please do not get me started.

I think a soccer player could run a marathon but it would be at an extremely slow pace and he would struggle to recover over the next couple of weeks. A peloton high ranked athlete could easily run a marathon.

 

[USN_Panther]

Please do not get me started.

I think a soccer player could run a marathon but it would be at an extremely slow pace and he would struggle to recover over the next couple of weeks. A peloton high ranked athlete could easily run a marathon.

At the risk of getting you started.... at 52 years old I would beat the living piss out of Renaldo. He would have to run a marathon to escape. Eventually he would develop one of those injuries and roll around looking for a card and then I would kill him.
Combat sports are very different from travel baseball, soccer and distance running. It is all about being able to function while someone is hitting you. If you are not accustomed to being hit, then you will not function well in the presence of being hit. If that affects you in a fight with a real fighter you will take a nap.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

And my contention is that you do not have enough data, information or knowledge to argue the point as vehemently as you are. We. Just. Don’t. Know. Running 26 miles requires a different skill set that playing soccer. It would not surprise me at all if a pro soccer player would struggle to run a marathon without training.

again, I’ll ask, have you ever ran a marathon? I’m fairly certain the answer is no. I’ll give you a little hint - outside of the elites, speed has little to do with it.

No, I haven't run a marathon as probably 99.999% of people have not. I realize that speed as little to do with it. Its all cardio/endurance. Its why I believe that pro soccer players, which are highly trained cardio/endurance athletes can run one without training.

Basically I am saying that someone playing for Manchester City is doing enough endurance training during their season and is in good enough shape that he can go out and beat your fat 45 year old coworker. I cant believe people disagree with this.

 

[Mikefln]

No, I haven't run a marathon as probably 99.999% of people have not. I realize that speed as little to do with it. Its all cardio/endurance. Its why I believe that pro soccer players, which are highly trained cardio/endurance athletes can run one without training.

Basically I am saying that someone playing for Manchester City is doing enough endurance training during their season and is in good enough shape that he can go out and beat your fat 45 year old coworker. I cant believe people disagree with this.

Because you are purposely changing the dynamics of it. Fat 45 year iold coworker is not the one running the damn marathon you putz. Now my 45 year old, in-shape, been running 4 days or more a week, and been training for months co worker has run marathons better than anyone playing for Manchester if those soccer players are not also training for the marathon. If that soccer player thinks their training for soccer is all that is needed to run the marathon, then they will be hurting. And I am not even saying they would not complete the 26.2 miles, but it will be a struggle for them to do so.

 

[PeetWeet1]

No, I haven't run a marathon as probably 99.999% of people have not. I realize that speed as little to do with it. Its all cardio/endurance. Its why I believe that pro soccer players, which are highly trained cardio/endurance athletes can run one without training.

Basically I am saying that someone playing for Manchester City is doing enough endurance training during their season and is in good enough shape that he can go out and beat your fat 45 year old coworker. I cant believe people disagree with this.

Who disagrees with that? Who are these fat marathoners? Who is the fat co-worker?

Pluck the bulk of Man City players and enter them in the Pgh marathon. They would lose to a bunch of folks on this board if they had properly prepared. Why? The City players wouldn’t be anywhere near their peak marathon shape. Heck, enough would DNF that the fat, but trained, coworker would beat a few.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

FWIW, I texted a friend, who is more than a recreational marathoner as he runs sub 3 hour marathons and has run them all over the world.

Here was his exact response:

Finish yes, finish in an optimistic time absolutely not. A marathon takes longer than a soccer game and in a soccer game there's pauses, if you do a marathon straight thru there are no pauses. Even the fastest runners in the world are running all out for longer than a soccer game and there is no halftime

This is exactly what I'm saying. I never said they'd run a great time. I said they could complete a marathon without training and beat a super slow recreational marathoner.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Who disagrees with that? Who are these fat marathoners? Who is the fat co-worker?

Pluck the bulk of Man City players and enter them in the Pgh marathon. They would lose to a bunch of folks on this board if they had properly prepared. Why? The City players wouldn’t be anywhere near their peak marathon shape. Heck, enough would DNF that the fat, but trained, coworker would beat a few.

An EPL player does NOT need to be in peak marathon shape to beat some Pantherlair poster who trains for 6 months. They are already in elite physical shape and are running against slow out of shape old people. My God are you guys dumb