Proof Once Again: Pro Athletes Are That Good

Published on 11-Jul-2016 by Alan Adamsson

MLB    MLB Daily Review

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Proof Once Again: Pro Athletes Are That Good

Pat Jordan is one of the greatest sportwriters ever to grace the genre.

Here's one of his most astute observations about professional players:

The game they play and the game we play, it's not the same game.

Look past its obviosity and note the point:

  • Sports aren't adults playing kids' games; they were created by adults and are imitated by kids, and
  • The best have refined every element of their skillsets right down to the most minute of details.

As such, those dudes do incredible things.

Take Mark Buehrle, for example.

Dude wasn't gonna let a moment of immediate pain keep him from making one of the most athletic plays of all time:

Then there's the likes of Giancarlo Stanton, who accepts the challenge of the hardest skill in sports:

  • Hitting a round ball
  • With a round bat
  • And hitting it squarely.

Not to mention very, very far:

Those dudes are doing a buncha little things to make big things happen, but on occasion, subtle glimpses of the muscle memory making routines virtually subconscious are put out on Front Street.

Take receiver Ryan Smith of the CFL's Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

This is running a precision route on a timing pass, to the point where he doesn't even need to look for it:

And now, San Francisco Giants All-Star catcher Buster Posey has shown just how accurate those mundane tosses back to a pitcher can be:

Dude's clearly been inspired by Stephen Curry.

It's no wonder we watch.