If you could be elite in any sport, what sport would it be?

Formula one, or road cycling

Race walking.

Hmmm..... wrote:

whattheheck wrote:

Calculate how much time you spend away from your family and then you can debate how great it is. Traveling 160+ days/year isn't a great lifestyle.

Ehh...the travel isn't what it used to be. It's no worse than what a lot of consultants do for a lot less many. A week on the road, a week at home. For a guy in his 20's/early 30's, it's pretty ideal.

And every single consultant I know of who travels 100+ days/year complains about it. Yeah I would do it in a heart beat for 10 million. But I might prefer a job that requires a 1/3rd the travel and pays the same.

And can you imagine the agony of having to sit through 170+ baseball games/year? :)

Hoser, eh wrote:

Hockey. By far the most enjoyable and thrilling sport I've ever played. Doubtless this is in part a Canadian thing.

Odds of ending up with brain damage is way too high.

Born in the 856 wrote:

Chico Escuela wrote:

Baseball, no question.

Powerful union.

Huge, guaranteed contracts.

Long careers.

Physically less taxing than most other major sports.

Hot...hot...women.

Baseball has the best pension in all the pro sports. MLB players must play 43 days in the majors to earn a minimum $34,000 annual pension plan. Just one day in the majors gets them lifetime healthcare coverage. After 10 years in the big leagues, benefits grow to $100,000 annually.

You don't hear much about retired MLB players with long careers pan handling. Even if they blew their contracts on bad investments or spent it on stupid shit, they get their $100k+ pension for life.

Google what Tiger is going to get from the PGA pension plan and ask how many baseball players would trade places with him pension wise. I am guessing the number is like 100%.:)

Differences wrote:

not so fast... wrote:

None of these sports pay far more than you know what to do with unless you're in the top 10-20 in the world. The topic specified elite, which could mean a low level MLB or PGA tour player.

None? Really? That's simply wrong. How many athletes most of us have never heard of (and far beyond 10-20/sport) are making millions/year (and mid/upper 6-figures) in just the major U.S. leagues (NFL, NBA, etc.)? Lots.

Of course, if you want to argue about whether a mere, say, $4M/year for a 22-year old right out of college constitutes "more money than you know what to do with," well....I'm not interested in having that discussion.

That's not more money than you know what to do with because your career at the top will only last a few years. So you're left with a nest egg of $10-15 million which is a lot, but not more than you know what to do with, you could still easily blow through it if you're not careful.

whattheheck wrote:

Hmmm..... wrote:

Ehh...the travel isn't what it used to be. It's no worse than what a lot of consultants do for a lot less many. A week on the road, a week at home. For a guy in his 20's/early 30's, it's pretty ideal.

And every single consultant I know of who travels 100+ days/year complains about it. Yeah I would do it in a heart beat for 10 million. But I might prefer a job that requires a 1/3rd the travel and pays the same.

And can you imagine the agony of having to sit through 170+ baseball games/year? :)

Don't a lot of teams have private jets? Makes a big difference.

not as bad wrote:

whattheheck wrote:

And every single consultant I know of who travels 100+ days/year complains about it. Yeah I would do it in a heart beat for 10 million. But I might prefer a job that requires a 1/3rd the travel and pays the same.

And can you imagine the agony of having to sit through 170+ baseball games/year? :)

Don't a lot of teams have private jets? Makes a big difference.

Not really. The big problem isn't the plane. It is the living out of the hotel room. Now you might argue that you get to travel with 20+ potential friends that most consultants don't but most of the compliants are the disruptions of your life.

Again for the money, people would do it in a heart beat. But if your choices are between a job with 30 days of travel and one with 180, most people would much rather the 30 day one. Obviously things are never equal. Football players don't travel anywhere near as much. But you are getting brain damage. That isn't a great tradeoff.

Running

- Travel to Europe for a few weeks every summer

- "work" for at most 4 hours a day

- Elite runners seem much more likeable than other elite athletes

- Fast women

- You get to determine your own schedule

- Running fans are cooler than fans of other sports

- Pay can be good if you are truly elite

If the question is to be the absolute #1 best... then boxing. Train all year and be in ridiculous shape, rarely fight, ability to beat up anybody anywhere, make tons of money, glory, babes, etc. Floyd Mayweather made $300 mil last year. You can get an olympic gold unlike in baseball or golf. And you could probably still run a 4:30 mile.

Last night I looked up top career earnings for the 100th ranked person in several sports.

Tennis $4M

Golf $14M

Basketball couldn't find it

Baseball $100M!!!

Golf - I don't even play but you can have a very long career, make a lot of money and earn a lot of money after you retire designing golf courses.

Competitive eating.

Horse racing.

elite distance swimming simply because I like it

I'm no anti-capitalist lefty, but the level of apparent materialism seems a little pathetic.

100% agree. "I want to be an elite athlete... for the side benefits!" (money, chicks, free food)

With your attitude, Just go run a hedge fund (some call daytrading a sport), that pays the most by far.

Don't anyone want to be elite, for the game itself? Me, I'm into chessboxing.

I'm on board with those who say golf:

1. High pay

2. Long competitive career. You can compete at the elite level well past your physical prime

3. Even when your competitive career ends, you can continue to make money in the sport as a golf pro, commentator, or whatever. Golf is a wealthy person's game

Distance running. I really enjoy doing it, and presumably I would make enough money to be comfortable.

correct wrote:

NFL Punter. Only away from home 8 weekends a year. Minimum salary is still 400K. No concussions. No pressure like place kicker. Still get chicks for being in NFL.

You and Orin incandenza