XFL

[Husky25]

Team sport versus individual sport.

And those amateurs are sub scratch golfers though. If you define scratch as being reasonably competent. I guess it just matters where you set the bar. Most reasonably competent golfers still probably can't come close hitting from the same tees.

My brother plays in the CT Open and he is trending at like a 1.3 handicap. He would get smoked by the amateurs who qualify for the US Open.

No doubt they are amateurs in name only.

Returning to the poll...

I'll rank them...
1) NHL - stick handling, shooting and tape-to-tape passes on a semi-consistent basis with no regard to various checks (poke, stick, or body) is no simple task. Now do it on a sheet of ice with a pair of razor blades strapped to your feet traveling backwards.

2) NFL - Save for kicker, and maybe longsnapper (provided you didn't have to go down and tackle a ball carrier), a layman runs a serious risk of getting murdered. Even if they are hidden at wideout, the O/U for broken fingers would be set at 9.5 and the smart money is on the Over for a 61 mph screen pass. Granted they were not Rec league weekend warriors, per se, but On the other side of the argument are Kurt Warner, who went from the Arena League to Safeway to the NFL to Canton and Bernie Parmalee who had more than just a cup of coffee with the Dolphins.

3) MLB - The hardest thing to do in sports is to hit a round ball with a round bat, squarely. Late inning defense is one of two actions a rec league player could do, (but not particularly well), which leaves pinch runner from third base and only third.

4) NBA - A decent 6'-2" Rec league player may be able to catch and shoot coming off a pick. He could probably successfully inbound a ball more often than not as well.

 

[ZooCougar]

1. NHL
2. MLB
3. NBA
4. NFL

 

[ZooCougar]

No doubt they are amateurs in name only.

Returning to the poll...

I'll rank them...
1) NHL - stick handling, shooting and tape-to-tape passes on a semi-consistent basis with no regard to various checks (poke, stick, or body) is no simple task. Now do it on a sheet of ice with a pair of razor blades strapped to your feet traveling backwards.

2) NFL - Save for kicker, and maybe longsnapper (provided you didn't have to go down and tackle a ball carrier), a layman runs a serious risk of getting murdered. Even if they are hidden at wideout, the O/U for broken fingers would be set at 9.5 and the smart money is on the Over for a 61 mph screen pass. Granted they were not Rec league weekend warriors, per se, but On the other side of the argument are Kurt Warner, who went from the Arena League to Safeway to the NFL to Canton and Bernie Parmalee who had more than just a cup of coffee with the Dolphins.

3) MLB - The hardest thing to do in sports is to hit a round ball with a round bat, squarely. Late inning defense is one of two actions a rec league player could do, (but not particularly well), which leaves pinch runner from third base and only third.

4) NBA - A decent 6'-2" Rec league player may be able to catch and shoot coming off a pick. He could probably successfully inbound a ball more often than not as well.

I think Warner showed that the scouting could be really inefficient. Also, QBs can be late bloomers perhaps.
This is how I would rank it:


1. NHL (If you're not an elite skater then you are useless)
2. MLB (Hitting a MLB pitch is one of the hardest things to do, I also saw Michael Jordan play AA baseball LOL)
3. NBA (Very difficult but there are probably some rando ballers out there).
4. NFL (Your life might be in grave danger, but we've seen a few elite athletes from other sports transition to the NFL like the Aussie Rules guy and Antonio Gates). Might be the least hardest but still almost impossible to not look out of place.



Michael Jordan was an incredible athlete and probably capable at baseball, but he looked really awkward and out of place compared to AA players.

 

[Waquoit]

Antonio Gates didn't play college football but played the NFL for 16 years. Half of those years he went to the Pro Bowl.

 

[Husky25]

Antonio Gates didn't play college football but played the NFL for 16 years. Half of those years he went to the Pro Bowl.

Jimmy Graham too, but I wouldn't classify either of them as "fairly capable recreational players."

Both were top tier Div. 1 athletes. Nick Saban wanted Gates to focus on football and he transferred.

 

[Waquoit]

Jimmy Graham too, but I wouldn't classify either of them as "fairly capable recreational players."
Both were top tier Div. 1 athletes. Nick Saban wanted Gates to focus on football and he transferred.

True, but you aren't going to MLB without picking up a bat in four years.

 

[Husky25]

True, but you aren't going to MLB without picking up a bat in four years.

No one does, but I don't think that is the point of the exercise.

One game. Gates was not a star from day one.

Incidentally, Jim Morris went from a high school science teacher to MLB pitcher in less than four months.

 

[storrsroars]

Incidentally, Jim Morris went from a high school science teacher to MLB pitcher in less than four months.

Morris already had five seasons in the minors when he first retired due to arm problems. While it took him 10 years to get back to pro ball, it wasn't like he'd never played pro ball before.

 

[Husky25]

Morris already had five seasons in the minors when he first retired due to arm problems. While it took him 10 years to get back to pro ball, it wasn't like he'd never played pro ball before.

It took him 10 years to return to pro ball, not the Majors. He wasn't wallowing in the minors or the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball. He was an IPS teacher.

He never averaged in the mid 90s in his 1st stint and at 35 years old, I have no problem classifying him as a "fairly recreational player."