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Author Topic: What if..........  (Read 1903 times)

Newbs

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What if..........
« on: May 08, 2003, 03:34:43 PM »
This may have been posed before, but I'm curious. What if the greatest athletes in the world chose bowling as there main sport? For instance, what if the Michael Jordans, Wayne Gretzkys, Joe Montanas, etc. had taken up bowling, and instead of the abundance of youth baseball fields, we had to build mega-bowling centers with 100 lanes or more every couple of miles and still had to reserve time on lanes?

Would Walter Ray STILL be the greatest bowler ever, or would the bar have been raised by these prime athletes making different choices along the way? Do you think great athletes could be great in ANY sport if they trained long and hard?


Just wondering.

 

Jeffrevs

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Re: What if..........
« Reply #1 on: May 09, 2003, 06:36:51 AM »
I wouldn't say GREAT, but I would say that most could be average or a little better than average.
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Newbs

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Re: What if..........
« Reply #2 on: May 09, 2003, 06:41:01 AM »
I could EASILY see Tiger Woods as a great bowler. He's so analytical in his approach. I could see him in a post match interview talking about how the lanes reacted adversely, and how he had to change the angle of entry, etc. I could see him as a huge cranker, bowling 300s on TV and pumping the fist. I'd love to see him and Pete Weber hook up in a match.

AdrianS

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Re: What if..........
« Reply #3 on: May 09, 2003, 06:49:26 AM »
How 'bout John Daly or Shaq, or even Shawn Bradley??
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Newbs

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Re: What if..........
« Reply #4 on: May 09, 2003, 06:59:29 AM »
Major League pitcher John Burkett has 12 300 games under his belt. If you has his pre-pitch stance, he looks like he's bowling. Wouldn't be surprised to see him on the tour after he retires.

Edited on 5/9/2003 6:58 AM

NevadaBowl

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Re: What if..........
« Reply #5 on: May 09, 2003, 10:06:02 AM »
It wouldn't surprise me for a Jordan or a Tiger to be above average or FAR above average if this were their chosen sport.  

The reason is work ethic.  None of those great athletes got where they are overnight.  Yes, they had a lot of talent, but most people only see Tiger in the final two rounds of a golf tournament.  They don't see the hours and hours he spends on the practice tee, the putting green and the bunkers to try to save a stroke here or there.

Great athletes are great because of the effort they put in.  There might be another Michael Jordan out there, but if he doesn't pay the dues you will never know about him.  Just like there is probably a bowler out there that with the right effort could make WRW look foolish, but doesn't apply that talent.

9andaWiggle

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Re: What if..........
« Reply #6 on: May 09, 2003, 10:23:13 AM »
Bones - don't forget, Michael also tried baseball.

I think it could apply to athletes who rely on eye-hand coordination.  Baseball players would probably be a good choice, since they are used to throwing a ball and having to place it accurately where they are tossing it.  A great runner though, might be different since they don't rely as heavily on hand-eye coordination.


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