There weren't, then they were taughr how to dougie.
1. AIHMHB, Haikyu!! (yes, TWO exclamation points), although apparently about a totally different sport, is a ridiculously entertaining feel-good time.
2. I'm not going to scroll through all 100 Read posters, but let me say that Common is an underrated character actor.
2: That's an earworm I wasn't expecting this morning.
Interesting that you can stay competitive in beach volleyball much longer, to your early or mid-40s. I'd like it more sports were like that.
Interesting that you can stay competitive in beach volleyball much longer, to your early or mid-40s. I'd like it more sports were like that.
I'm glad that you looked at the article; I thought it was good and, I agree, it would be nice to have popular sports which weren't as hard on the body.
I'm not getting into Pickleball regardless.
I'm not getting into Pickleball regardless.
You have a few years.
I wonder what basketball would be like if it were just played on mats with a bit of give. Not so much you can't spring off, of course.
Very cool article! Crazy that he retired from Baskball in *2017*.
Relevant point here is that he was an elite Volleyball prospect in high school before focusing on Basketball exclusively, and *two* of his siblings were professional volleyball players. So this wasn't out of nowhere.
Of course there just infinitely more money in Basketball, so it's always going to be more competitive than a sport with a lot less money involved.
I taught calculus to a world class women's volleyball player (which I figured out after she showed up to class in an Olympic team jacket).
This profile of Neal ElAttrache, sports surgeon to the stars, has some annoying celebrity breathlessness but is still a fascinating look at how routinely elite athletes destroy their bodies.
Beach basketball could be an interesting sport. But how can you dribble, you ask. That's the point! No dribbling, all passing! I think that's how it was when Naismith first developed basketball -- I believe dribbling was a later innovation.
Netball is basketball without dribbling, and works well if you have baskets but your surface is dirt or grass. I haven't seen it on the beach, but that could work too.
Beach basketball could carve out a niche by having men and women play in uniforms that display the same percentage of butt cheeks.
All you sports-haters probably haven't even noticed that the women beach volleyball players are wearing full length leggings this year.
I googled "beach netball" and of course there are results, all Australian.
Some investigation reveals that perhaps they were wearing leggings because it was nighttime and cold. The matches going on now feature the same bottoms as before. I'm too old to argue about it, but I guess the women really are choosing the bikini bottoms. (I'm not too old to think that's peachy!)
I was curious if they relaxed the clothing rules about women's beach volleyball. IIRC, some years ago some athletes wanted the choice to wear something else, either shorts or leggings (I can't remember), but that was apparently not allowed.
To the second OP post, this is the book Bernie Mac was holding, and it's quite the choice. I was very confused by the title and design: Armed and Dangerous, with a sword and shield, but it's just a youth-focused "answers from the Bible" book, with passages organized by subject, but must have been popular in its day.
Then I saw the cover also cites Ephesians 6:11, which is about putting "the armor of God" to prevail against evil, and mostly frames it as various kinds of armor but the book eventually mentions "the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." So they did explain the cover with the cover, in some sense. An offputting title even in context.
Relevant point here is that he was an elite Volleyball prospect in high school before focusing on Basketball exclusively, and *two* of his siblings were professional volleyball players. So this wasn't out of nowhere.
Seconding this. Not just elite, but national player of the year elite. And yes, the beach game is different from the indoor game, but beach players come out of the indoor world. But I suppose "world class athlete extends career by switching to his second sport, which is easier on the body" is not as good a story.
"world class athlete extends career by switching to his second sport, which is easier on the body" is not as good a story.
I think that is the story. I don't know if the excerpt I chose for the OP was misleading but, for me, I didn't mean to imply that any NBA player could make the switch though he wasn't the first. I thought it was interesting for the details about what was involved in making the switch and that it's still impressive that he's made it to the olympics.
Yeah, it's a good story. I just thought the article was trying a little too hard with the idea that he was starting from scratch as a VB player.
Semi-related, it's pretty cool that four of the twelve members of the US men's Olympic team have Hawaii ties (three from here, one played here in college), including my son's classmate. Not bad for a state of 1.5 million or so.
Hilariously, the wikipedia lists of athletes that have competed in multiple Olympic sports have combinations that range from "bobsled and boxing" to "baseball and speed skating" to "cycling and speed skating" to "speed skating and another kind of speed skating" and "volleyball and another kind of volleyball".
Speaking of unusual switches from one sport to another:
Ruano was training for the 2011 world championships in gymnastics, a qualifier for the London Olympics the following year, when she felt pain in her back.
An MRI showed the then-16-year-old had six damaged vertebrae -- a career-ending injury -- and Ruano's doctor recommended she take up shooting if she wanted to stay in sports without aggravating her injured back.
That advice paid off Wednesday as Ruano won gold in the women's trap with an Olympic-record score of 45 out of 50.
Fascinating. I guess the common factor is exceptional proprioception and fine muscle control.
34: Primarily that I presume, but I suspect some of it is psychological makeup and social/family factors. Who has the internal drive and focus plus a support system to really pursue sports at a high-level.
Jim Brown comes to mind (football, arguably greatest lacrosse player ever. high school basketball record holder). Physically dominant but also an insane competitive drive. Bill Russell told the story of the first time he played golf with Jim Brown he (Russell) was so bad that Brown was frustrated that he could not come up with a meaningful competition. In the clubhouse afterwards Brown decided he could beat Russell using only a 7-iron. So they immediately went out and played and Brown beat him.