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Thread: Athletes being your age

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    Athletes being your age

    Idk if anyone else feels like this but I'm getting to that point in my life i realize that i definitely didn't make it in sports. I went to a school that produces a lot of talent in basketball and football and some people who i associated with and were good friends i see on TV in the NBA and NFL. I actually played 1-AA football for a couple years but wasn't quite good enough to get consistent playing time. I'm 24, a recent college grad, have a nice girlfriend but sometimes feel like i didn't accomplish anything because of this. Seeing athletes on tv that are my age and even younger make me always think what could have been and is upsetting. Anyone else ever think or feel this way?


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    Re: Athletes being your age

    Wait until you are my age (35) and are at the age where pro sports players are retiring because they are a step slower and beginning to show gray hair.....That's depressing.


    But I feel you what you are getting at, but don't beat yourself, up. What I do suggest is that if you have an interest in playing sports still, get involved in local rec sports. When I returned to graduate school, I regularly played intramural, volleyball, softball, soccer and racquetball, and I still get that great feeling of competition. Life isn't over at 24 even if you won't be doing it professionally. Just make sure that whatever you do decide to do you dedicate yourself fully and play hard on the side.


    Quick add on: the only thing that upsets me about seeing young golden children succeed in sports is to see how much f'ing money they make and realizing that no matter how hard I work at my profession that kind of reward is closed to me. That pisses me off.

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    Re: Athletes being your age

    Quote Originally Posted by Spazzrico View Post
    Wait until you are my age (35) and are at the age where pro sports players are retiring because they are a step slower and beginning to show gray hair.....That's depressing.


    But I feel you what you are getting at, but don't beat yourself, up. What I do suggest is that if you have an interest in playing sports still, get involved in local rec sports. When I returned to graduate school, I regularly played intramural, volleyball, softball, soccer and racquetball, and I still get that great feeling of competition. Life isn't over at 24 even if you won't be doing it professionally. Just make sure that whatever you do decide to do you dedicate yourself fully and play hard on the side.


    Quick add on: the only thing that upsets me about seeing young golden children succeed in sports is to see how much f'ing money they make and realizing that no matter how hard I work at my profession that kind of reward is closed to me. That pisses me off.
    Wait until you are my age (49) and no one your age is still playing. That's when you feel old.
    You just have to realize that a very small percentage of people get to play sports professionally at a high level. It's no shame not to be among them.
    Reds Fan Since 1971

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    Re: Athletes being your age

    I agree with Spazzrico. (And that's a sentence I've never typed before in my life.)

    I still find myself idolizing professional athletes, and with the exception of the Jamie Moyers of the world, I'm older than all of them. Sometimes I have to remind myself that Scott Rolen is younger than I am.

    But that doesn't stop me from playing. Not only is it fun and recreational, but as you age, your body will depend more and more on exercise to maintain your metabolic rate. Fitness centers are zoos and running trails get boring after awhile, so playing pickup basketball, tennis, and running in local 5K races are great ways to stay active.

    Plus, you can still find very competitive sports well into your 30s and 40s, and beyond. I played in a rec hardball league in Ann Arbor when I first moved to Michigan in 2002, and then again in Vegas when I lived there in '05-'06. That desert league was crazy competitive. In fact, in June or July of '05 I actually played against a lefty pitcher named Vic Darensbourg. After the game, our team's manager informed me that Vic used to pitch in the majors but hadn't been picked up by anyone in 2005.

    Then, later that summer, he landed with Detroit and made about 20 appearances with the Tigers the rest of the season. So here I was, 34 at the time and out of organized baseball for about 15 years, batting (left handed) against a left-handed major league pitcher.

    Vic only pitched a few innings against us and shut us down. However, I take great pride in the fact that I reached out and blooped a low and outside curve ball over the shortstop's head on a 1-2 pitch for a single. (with a wooden bat, mind you.) It was my only plate appearance against him so my lifetime average against Major League pitching is 1.000.

    So yes, go find a rec league. You never know who you may face.
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    Re: Athletes being your age

    Quote Originally Posted by cumberlandreds View Post
    Wait until you are my age (49) and no one your age is still playing. That's when you feel old.
    You just have to realize that a very small percentage of people get to play sports professionally at a high level. It's no shame not to be among them.
    Jamie Moyer bums me out... could have been me... if I had just skipped Poltergeist or Gremlins and worked harder... step away from the Intellivision

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    Re: Athletes being your age

    Quote Originally Posted by westofyou View Post
    Jamie Moyer bums me out... could have been me... if I had just skipped Poltergeist or Gremlins and worked harder... step away from the Intellivision
    Moyer was the last player older than me. I was hoping he could hold on until he was 50.
    Reds Fan Since 1971

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    Re: Athletes being your age

    Wait till your my age and people are saying people your age are too old ..... to still be coaching!!

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    Re: Athletes being your age

    I am going to be 34 within 2 weeks. My son(10) informed me of how old and slow Chad Johnson was yesterday, and how he was a washed up old man.

    I hurt a little on that one.
    Hugs, smiling, and interactive Twitter accounts, don't mean winning baseball. Until this community understands that we are cursed to relive the madness.

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    Re: Athletes being your age

    Quote Originally Posted by Maker_84 View Post
    Idk if anyone else feels like this but I'm getting to that point in my life i realize that i definitely didn't make it in sports. I went to a school that produces a lot of talent in basketball and football and some people who i associated with and were good friends i see on TV in the NBA and NFL. I actually played 1-AA football for a couple years but wasn't quite good enough to get consistent playing time. I'm 24, a recent college grad, have a nice girlfriend but sometimes feel like i didn't accomplish anything because of this. Seeing athletes on tv that are my age and even younger make me always think what could have been and is upsetting. Anyone else ever think or feel this way?
    Of course, when you're 42, you'll probably be at the height of your career, while most players your age will have retired from sports and are trying to figure out what to do after sports. I think it ticks me off more when I hear of players my age who are retired and broke because they burned through all that money they made.
    Wear gaudy colors, or avoid display. Lay a million eggs or give birth to one. The fittest shall survive, yet the unfit may live. Be like your ancestors or be different. We must repeat!

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    Re: Athletes being your age

    Quote Originally Posted by Maker_84 View Post
    Idk if anyone else feels like this but I'm getting to that point in my life i realize that i definitely didn't make it in sports.
    I went through that stage at about age 11.
    It is on the whole probable that we continually dream, but that consciousness makes such a noise that we do not hear it. Carl Jung.

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    Re: Athletes being your age

    I saw a Jimmy Osting (eventual cup of coffee in the majors) curveball from the batters box in a JV baseball game my sophomore year of high school. I knew right then that school was going to be very important to me!

  13. #12
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    Re: Athletes being your age

    I am coaching a kid in fall baseball whose dad I used to coach.

    Just weird.
    "Boys, I'm one of those umpires that misses 'em every once in a while so if it's close, you'd better hit it." Cal Hubbard

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    Re: Athletes being your age

    Quote Originally Posted by Maker_84 View Post
    Idk if anyone else feels like this but I'm getting to that point in my life i realize that i definitely didn't make it in sports. I went to a school that produces a lot of talent in basketball and football and some people who i associated with and were good friends i see on TV in the NBA and NFL. I actually played 1-AA football for a couple years but wasn't quite good enough to get consistent playing time. I'm 24, a recent college grad, have a nice girlfriend but sometimes feel like i didn't accomplish anything because of this. Seeing athletes on tv that are my age and even younger make me always think what could have been and is upsetting. Anyone else ever think or feel this way?
    Didn't accomplish anything? You're 24, the world is in front of you; there is plenty of time to accomplish lots of things. So you're never going to be a professional athlete? Welcome to the 99% of people who never make a dime playing sports. Again, you're 24, a college graduate with a nice girlfriend, perhaps even a future wife. 20 years from now, Chad Johnson is going to be remembered mostly for his silly acts and getting cut on cable TV. Sure he's had a nice football career, just shy of a borderline hall of famer, however if reports are true he's pretty much broke, had multiple children w/ multiple women and isn't much of a father to any of them. He's hardly alone in that regard.

    meanwhile, stock away $75 a week for the rest of your life and retire a millionare. Find a good wife, one that shares your beliefs (or at least understands them) and morals, someone that both challenges and nutures you and you won't have to chase love the way many professional athletes have lossing half their wealth in divorce settlements or to child support payments. Enjoy that your knees won't be wrecked at 40 and getting out of bed won't be a struggle. Enjoy your kids if you have them, teach them the things you've learned thru life, try to mold them into good citizens and better people.

    Sure being a professional athlete would be great, especially if your lucky enough to have the talents of a Tiger Woods, Peyton Manning, Scott Rolen, etc.. but not reaching that level shouldn't upset you. Appreciate the things you have, the things you can accomplish, don't envy the things others have accomplished. If you live your life the right way, there's plenty of profesional athletes that will glady trade their lives for your life 20 years from now.

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    Re: Athletes being your age

    I'm age 57. I am just about ready to give up on my ambition to play centerfield for the Reds.......maybe I will have to decide to play in the NFL instead.....
    "Hey...Dad. Wanna Have A Catch?" Kevin Costner in "Field Of Dreams."

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    Re: Athletes being your age

    thanks for the responses everyone. I know my life isn't in bad shape or anything but times can sometimes be tough when these thoughts go into my mind


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