Reply to thread

Message

[QUOTE="Bigboote, post: 2695987, member: 7631"]
I really take issue with the highlighted.  The only way in which the pentathlon or decathlon is different from Ainge's sports is that it's not a team event.  It's not a test of ability, but a test of endurance, developed skills, speed, and strength.  In the decathlon, only the 100 m is a pure test of speed, and even that requires development.  Of the field events, only the shot put is mostly strength.  All of the other events involve primarily developed skills, whether those skills be technique (foremost in the discus, javelin, long jump, high jump and pole vault, hurdles), strategy, guile, or endurance.

Having competed in all the decathlon events except pole vault, as well as baseball, football, and basketball, I would say that the only aspect of the other sports that require further "developed skills" than track and field are hitting a baseball and developing a range of pitches.

Also don't forget that Thorpe was as good a baseball player as Ainge (played parts of six years in the majors) and a way better football player (charter member of the football hall of fame) than Ainge was a basketball player.  They didn't have high-school all-Americans when Thorpe was in high school.
[/QUOTE]

Verification

First name of men's bb coach