Shadow Boxing (2016)
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Shadow Boxing (2016)
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Re: Shadow Boxing (2016)
#2A very poignant and well-written piece, which only gets sadder as you realize the scale and extent of these systemic issues landing people in such places, and it’s only getting worse.
Re: Shadow Boxing (2016)
#3[dead]
Re: Shadow Boxing (2016)
#4This touches on the "everybody else in the discipline" aspect I have been thinking about lately; my conclusion is that we have a spectrum of inclusive to exclusive sports.
Think about snooker: to live off it you need to be really good, as in train for 8+ hours a day, every day. The top player will earn multiples of 250k GBP a year, but already a 3rd ranker will at best do a "decent office job". Everybody else pays to play. This is an exclusive sport.
But look at UTMB[1]: A guy having a day job and training a couple of hours before and after work... was able to finish it under 100 hours, which is jaw-dropping. This is an inclusive sport.
Now pro boxing: you can't have a ranking without enough contenders, and by definition there can only be one champion at a time. So you have the champion, contenders, gatekeepers, journeyman and... everybody else is the filler. It's an inclusive sport, but by pure statistics most players will be filler.
Re: Shadow Boxing (2016)
#5This touches on the "everybody else in the discipline" aspect I have been thinking about lately; my conclusion is that we have a spectrum of inclusive to exclusive sports. Think about snooker: to live off it you need to be really good, as in train for 8+ hours a day, every day. The top player will earn multiples of 250k GBP a year, but already a 3rd ranker will at best do a "decent office job". Everybody else pays to…
I think the difference between running and snooker is that snooker is a skill you can train for 8 hours a day (with lots of dedication) whereas running for 8 hours a day instead of a bit before and a bit after work would yield more negative than positive results due to exhaustion and injuries
Re: Shadow Boxing (2016)
#6This touches on the "everybody else in the discipline" aspect I have been thinking about lately; my conclusion is that we have a spectrum of inclusive to exclusive sports. Think about snooker: to live off it you need to be really good, as in train for 8+ hours a day, every day. The top player will earn multiples of 250k GBP a year, but already a 3rd ranker will at best do a "decent office job". Everybody else pays to…
There's a few "things" that you can only make a living off of if you're either really good, really dedicated, or really lucky; art, music, sports, e-sports, pidgeoning, acting, social media, etc.
Re: Shadow Boxing (2016)
#7This touches on the "everybody else in the discipline" aspect I have been thinking about lately; my conclusion is that we have a spectrum of inclusive to exclusive sports. Think about snooker: to live off it you need to be really good, as in train for 8+ hours a day, every day. The top player will earn multiples of 250k GBP a year, but already a 3rd ranker will at best do a "decent office job". Everybody else pays to…
I don’t follow your argument. Snooker is exclusive because few people can make a good living of it, and trial running is inclusive because some people can get good results in it?
I bet there are people training their snooker an hour a day who have scored 147s, and I also expect very few people can make a good living doing trail running.
Isn’t this more a matter of a sport being popular/having money available? If there were millions of $ available in trail running, that sub 100 hour might start looking “goo but not spectacular”
Re: Shadow Boxing (2016)
#8This touches on the "everybody else in the discipline" aspect I have been thinking about lately; my conclusion is that we have a spectrum of inclusive to exclusive sports. Think about snooker: to live off it you need to be really good, as in train for 8+ hours a day, every day. The top player will earn multiples of 250k GBP a year, but already a 3rd ranker will at best do a "decent office job". Everybody else pays to…
I don’t follow your argument. Snooker is exclusive because few people can make a good living of it, and trial running is inclusive because some people can get good results in it? I bet there are people training their snooker an hour a day who have scored 147s, and I also expect very few people can make a good living doing trail running. Isn’t this more a matter of a sport being popular/having money available? If ther…
The focus is not "making money of off it".
The main point is "can you compete while not being fully dedicated to the sport (i.e. it being your literal day job)".
And my examples along the spectrum: running - boxing - snooker, are just an example. Shared because I think it's an interesting _aspect_ of looking at sports (one of many aspects!).
Re: Shadow Boxing (2016)
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don’t follow your argument. Snooker is exclusive because few people can make a good living of it, and trial running is inclusive because some people can get good results in it? I bet there are people training their snooker an hour a day who have scored 147s, and I also expect very few people can make a good living doing trail running. Isn’t this more a matter of a sport being popular/having money available? If ther…
The focus is not "making money of off it". The main point is "can you compete while not being fully dedicated to the sport (i.e. it being your literal day job)". And my examples along the spectrum: running - boxing - snooker, are just an example. Shared because I think it's an interesting _aspect_ of looking at sports (one of many aspects!).
Alex Poatan, double UFC champion, was a tire repairman and alcoholic before/while becoming multimillionaire fighting.
Re: Shadow Boxing (2016)
#10Just got done reading it, it’s a sad but beautiful piece.