OT: Can you do what the pros do?

[Jaydumo20]

Which of these do you think you could do?
NOT ACCIDENTALLY!
Yes, I know you could close your eyes, stick out your bat and make contact but this is about actually being confident in completing this task.

 

[husky429]

I could definitely make a couple buckets in a D1 game. It would take me 30 attempts and they'd score on me every possession, but I'm a mean shooter.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

The only one with any chance would be scoring more than 3 points in a D1 basketball game. And the only chance of that is because the opposing team would leave me wide open and double someone else, and maybe I knock down two 3’s. If they actually played defense on me, no chance.

 

[Deepster]

I'm 57 years old. I would not come anywhere close to any of these and any of you in my age bracket who says you would? You're a liar.

 

[boog204]

I'm confident I could lay down a bunt, play the intro to "Heart of the Sunrise," and wear a large pumpkin on my head for far longer than is necessary.

 

[temery]

All of the above, given enough time and luck. One thing I doubt I could ever do is pole vaulting.

 

[Icehawk]

No chance.

 

[Chin Diesel]

This is actually a fun survey and the correct answer is not a chance. I think I'd be closest to tackling an NFL RB just on dumb luck of size and getting them to trip up when they bowl me over. But no one on this board is tackling an NFL RB in open space.

 

[GlastonTim]

Only in my dreams.

 

[superjohn]

The funniest would be watching any of us try and return a serve from a professional tennis player.

 

[boog204]

The funniest would be watching any of us try and return a serve from a professional tennis player.

As a kid I thought I was a pretty good tennis player and would play against my garage door and think I was Ivan Lendl. Talked a big game and challenged a friend of mine who had taken lessons and played competitively from toddler days. I could not return a single ball. Thus, my days of tennis came to a close.

 

[Deepster]

I tried to list them from "easiest" to most difficult:

• Make a legal tackle on an nfl running back - Basically, let him plow you into a month long intensive care stay.
• Score more than 3 points in a D1 bball game - Get lucky with a 3 and maybe hit a FT? Or cherry pick at half court and sneak a layup 2 + a couple FT's??
• Shoot +10 or less in a major golf tourney - What % of golfer are single digit handicaps? They have a shot. The 95% of the rest of us do not.
• Score a goal in pro hockey - This assumes you have at least above average skating ability.
• Score a goal in pro soccer - Considering pro games are 0-0, 1-0, 1-1 with the best in the world? Not likely at all.
• Get a non-bunt hit in the majors - Unless you played at a minor league level, the rest of us may not foul a ball off in 1,000 tries.
• Return a serve in Tennis - 140-145 mph? Not a chance. This is definitely the hardest of the lot.

 

[StllH8L8ner]

20 years ago maybe a few….score 3 points in D1, return a serve and score a soccer goal. But today would be tough as I’m still nursing a back injury from turning off the sprinkler…

 

[storrsroars]

I'm 57 years old. I would not come anywhere close to any of these and any of you in my age bracket who says you would? You're a liar.

Yeah. even though I played college ball, when I was 58 I took swings in the Pirates batting cage and whiffed a ton even knowing what was coming and at only 70mph. Did foul off a few, but was way late.

Probably closest I could've done at any age was return a serve. I was never a very good tennis player, but I did play against some club pros in my late 20s and even won a handful of games over maybe 7-8 sets total vs club pros as I could boom serves myself. The best guy I played against was ranked somewhere between 250-300 around 1984/5. His wife and mine were friends so he humored me by letting me play him. If his 2nd serve was to my forehand, I had a shot at it. Doubt I could return a first serve rocket.

Zero chance at the others. Especially tackling an NFL RB. Even if I could catch and touch the guy, I'd end up in the hospital.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

If I played 40 minutes in a D1 game and shot 100% of the time I was at least half open, I feel confident I can score at least two buckets.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

The funniest would be watching any of us try and return a serve from a professional tennis player.

Keep in mind, I don't play tennis at all, but last year, I tried return a serve from our top sixth grader and I. Got. Smoked.

 

[husky429]

My friend was an offensive lineman in the NFL for 6 years or so. He's around 6'6 320. Met him through basketball when we were kids.

He was helping out with a track practice I was running right after he retired and we did a tackling competition at the end for fun. He--quite literally--threw our best shotputter almost completely over the pole vault mats. The kid was probably 250lbs.

It's hard to fathom how strong and athletic some people are. The only way you're pulling any of this off against pros is pure luck or completely forgoing any attempt to play good basketball/soccer/hockey and gunning.

 

[Chin Diesel]

I tried to list them from "easiest" to most difficult:

• Make a legal tackle on an nfl running back - Basically, let him plow you into a month long intensive care stay.
• Score more than 3 points in a D1 bball game - Get lucky with a 3 and maybe hit a FT? Or cherry pick at half court and sneak a layup 2 + a couple FT's??
• Shoot +10 or less in a major golf tourney - What % of golfer are single digit handicaps? They have a shot. The 95% of the rest of us do not.
• Score a goal in pro hockey - This assumes you have at least above average skating ability.
• Score a goal in pro soccer - Considering pro games are 0-0, 1-0, 1-1 with the best in the world? Not likely at all.
• Get a non-bunt hit in the majors - Unless you played at a minor league level, the rest of us may not foul a ball off in 1,000 tries.
• Return a serve in Tennis - 140-145 mph? Not a chance. This is definitely the hardest of the lot.

That's a pretty good run at the list.

The golf numbers are way off, 95% of scratch golfers couldn't shoot +10. Just watch the three majors where "average joe" amateurs have a chance- PGA, Open Championship and US Open. Hardly any of them can go +10 and that's after winning qualifying tournaments just to enter. No way a scratch golfer walks on to the first tee and does that.

The tennis one intrigues me because you just have to return it in play. Stand 25" beyond the end line and take a whack at it? Even just a quarter swing might be enough to get one over. Question to me is how many chances to do you get? Is this a full on 3 set men's match where the opponent has to serve 3-4 times a set and get four serves in each game? Chances go up. I say all this because my immediate thought was tennis sounds like the sucker bet an amateur thinks they could do, when in reality they have no shot.

The bottom three choices are like asking what's the highest value of infinity.

 

[Jaydumo20]

I'm confident I could lay down a bunt, play the intro to "Heart of the Sunrise," and wear a large pumpkin on my head for far longer than is necessary.

I've been trying to play that for 30 years and it still doesn't sound quite right.

 

[Inyatkin]

The answer is none of them, but the funniest to imagine is a random dude playing in a professional football game. You'd die instantly.

 

[Jaydumo20]

That's a pretty good run at the list.

The golf numbers are way off, 95% of scratch golfers couldn't shoot +10. Just watch the three majors where "average joe" amateurs have a chance- PGA, Open Championship and US Open. Hardly any of them can go +10 and that's after winning qualifying tournaments just to enter. No way a scratch golfer walks on to the first tee and does that.

The tennis one intrigues me because you just have to return it in play. Stand 25" beyond the end line and take a whack at it? Even just a quarter swing might be enough to get one over. Question to me is how many chances to do you get? Is this a full on 3 set men's match where the opponent has to serve 3-4 times a set and get four serves in each game? Chances go up. I say all this because my immediate thought was tennis sounds like the sucker bet an amateur thinks they could do, when in reality they have no shot.

The bottom three choices are like asking what's the highest value of infinity.

Good summary. Especially the golf thing. That's spot on. They'd triple bogey the first hole and then fall apart.