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Sound body and sound mind go together. The popular idea of jocks being dumb meatheads is not true. I have worked in the uppermost echelons of the financial mark

Sound body and sound mind go together. The popular idea of jocks being dumb meatheads is not true. I have worked in the uppermost echelons of the financial markets and a lot of the big players are/were athletes.

grogenaut 4y ago
one of the things I continue to find hilarious is how much we got recruited at my uni for work in financial industry. My school is in St. Louis, and D3 sports. Every year someone from one of the trading firms up in chicago would roll down (and started to be alumni) and talk to all of the business athletes. They'd go after the ones with good but not stellar grades. They didn't talk to engineers as they figured they had jobs already. I eventually asked... WHY do you show up every year. Turns out they needed smart kids who could deal with pressure and who were PHYSICALLY LARGE. Why not the smartest? they already had good offers elsewhere. Why large? because they trained them up and tossed them in the pit. They loved the 6'5" kids from football and basketball. They took our football center who was 6'9" 375 and had a 7' wingspan and could box out like no body's business. He told me later it was easy once he got the math. He'd just stand in the middle of the floor, he could see everyone on the walls, and when surrounded, could make space but also just reach 3-4 levels of surround deep to other people and hear them more easily as well. "This is their entree into a career, use what you got kid". I don't know why but I just get a chuckle out of seeing my giant buddies in suits, but also of a place that physical attributes actually help in a mostly mental activity.
- isthisthingon99 4y ago
  My first job at a hedge fund, a lawyer friend asked me: "how'd you get the job" "I think it's because I'm tall" I literally had no explanation. As you said, not particularly smart...
  - grogenaut 4y ago
    Did you immediately get signed up for the basketball team?
    - isthisthingon99 4y ago
      My nickname in high school was shaq

grogenaut 4y ago

one of the things I continue to find hilarious is how much we got recruited at my uni for work in financial industry. My school is in St. Louis, and D3 sports. Every year someone from one of the trading firms up in chicago would roll down (and started to be alumni) and talk to all of the business athletes. They'd go after the ones with good but not stellar grades. They didn't talk to engineers as they figured they had jobs already. I eventually asked... WHY do you show up every year. Turns out they needed smart kids who could deal with pressure and who were PHYSICALLY LARGE. Why not the smartest? they already had good offers elsewhere. Why large? because they trained them up and tossed them in the pit. They loved the 6'5" kids from football and basketball. They took our football center who was 6'9" 375 and had a 7' wingspan and could box out like no body's business. He told me later it was easy once he got the math. He'd just stand in the middle of the floor, he could see everyone on the walls, and when surrounded, could make space but also just reach 3-4 levels of surround deep to other people and hear them more easily as well. "This is their entree into a career, use what you got kid". I don't know why but I just get a chuckle out of seeing my giant buddies in suits, but also of a place that physical attributes actually help in a mostly mental activity.

isthisthingon99 4y ago
My first job at a hedge fund, a lawyer friend asked me: "how'd you get the job" "I think it's because I'm tall" I literally had no explanation. As you said, not particularly smart...
- grogenaut 4y ago
  Did you immediately get signed up for the basketball team?
  - isthisthingon99 4y ago
    My nickname in high school was shaq