Larry Bird is one of the NBA’s greatest 50 players of all time, and couldn’t jump over the French Lick phone book.
Tom Brady ran a 5.24-second 40-yard dash and had a vertical jump of just 24½ inches at the NFL combine, yet he is an elite quarterback. That the New England Patriots took a chance on him (albeit in the 6th round of the draft) goes against the current trend in sports.
Stop watches, measuring tape and radar guns are the barometers by which not only professional athletes are judged, but “select” youth teams are assembled.
And personal trainers and hours in the gym have replaced pickup games on playground courts and backyard games of pickle. Our current generation of athletes can run faster and jump higher, but struggles to make a 15-foot jump shot or execute a sacrifice bunt.
Athleticism is being valued above skill, and the byproduct of that is a thriving market for performance-enhancing drugs and other shortcuts.
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