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ZNPaaneah · 03-23-2011, 07:23 PM

OBW, I wonder if you have really thought your position on sports through? Sports allow us to see what the human body is capable of. It is something that we can all have fellowship in, and yet also learn the limits of what is possible. Through sports we have had tremendous advances in medicine that help everyone. Just in my lifetime the improvement in knee surgery has been truly astounding. You seem upset that only a few athletes (a fraction of 1%) actually get paid to play the sport that they have literally given their whole life to (for free). If you look at all the athletes who play a sport in high school and college, a tiny fraction of them actually make it to the pros and get paid for it, and an even tinier fraction of that group actually makes a lot of money (the average career in the NFL is 3 years). However, a much larger percentage of them may go on to work as PE teachers, coaches, or in some other related field (sports medicine, etc).

Today, in the US we are witnessing an epidemic in obesity and all of the related diseases like diabetes. Without a doubt the single best remedy is physical activity. Sports, teams, PE, etc. are the cure. Demonizing sports is, in my mind, idiotic.

You might think that a large number of bad characters are sports athletes, but then you are only looking at those that are famous (a very, very tiny fraction of 1%). You are ignoring the 99.99% of those that you don't see and don't know.

But back to this thread, the book was on having a spirit to shepherd, and I think the story of David Tyree is an illustrative of that burden.

03-23-2011, 07:23 PM	#10
ZNPaaneah Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Posts: 7,105	Re: A Word of Love OBW, I wonder if you have really thought your position on sports through? Sports allow us to see what the human body is capable of. It is something that we can all have fellowship in, and yet also learn the limits of what is possible. Through sports we have had tremendous advances in medicine that help everyone. Just in my lifetime the improvement in knee surgery has been truly astounding. You seem upset that only a few athletes (a fraction of 1%) actually get paid to play the sport that they have literally given their whole life to (for free). If you look at all the athletes who play a sport in high school and college, a tiny fraction of them actually make it to the pros and get paid for it, and an even tinier fraction of that group actually makes a lot of money (the average career in the NFL is 3 years). However, a much larger percentage of them may go on to work as PE teachers, coaches, or in some other related field (sports medicine, etc). Today, in the US we are witnessing an epidemic in obesity and all of the related diseases like diabetes. Without a doubt the single best remedy is physical activity. Sports, teams, PE, etc. are the cure. Demonizing sports is, in my mind, idiotic. You might think that a large number of bad characters are sports athletes, but then you are only looking at those that are famous (a very, very tiny fraction of 1%). You are ignoring the 99.99% of those that you don't see and don't know. But back to this thread, the book was on having a spirit to shepherd, and I think the story of David Tyree is an illustrative of that burden.