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Usually you have very productive posts on here, but I'm down-voting this one because it's BS. There are extremely few elite athletes who can simply step into t

by kirse 17y ago

Usually you have very productive posts on here, but I'm down-voting this one because it's BS. There are extremely few elite athletes who can simply step into their sport with little training and discipline and perform to their max, in the same way that very few startups ever take off on pure luck and little work. For the majority of athletes, however, they apply the same level of startup-like discipline and drive to their sport to maximize their own individual talents, and I think it's ridiculous for you to claim that the attention they get is somehow undeserved or out of place. You certainly wouldn't be shouting about undeserved attention and "butt kissing" if a YC startup was acquired for millions and had tons of PR coverage. In the same fashion that you chose to sacrifice athletic achievement to delve into learning, some athletes chose to give up some learning to dive into athletic achievement. Regardless, this whole nerd vs. athlete nonsense really needs to stop. Both are simply two groups of people who have been given different talents who are working equally hard trying to maximize those talents.

edw519 17y ago
Ouch. I never meant to imply that athletes don't work. Quite the contrary. My apologies. But I stand by my "butt kissing" remarks. Nobody ever paid much attention to me or anyone like me just because someone else was bigger or taller and could do cool things with a ball. Make no mistake about it: hero worship of athletes is way out of whack. They're so used to having their butts kissed, they simply do not know how to function in any other environment. "You certainly wouldn't be shouting about undeserved attention and "butt kissing" if a YC startup was acquired for millions and had tons of PR coverage." Maybe. Maybe not. The difference is that the butt kissing would be because of the money, not the work, which few people understand anyway. Excuse me while I paint my face, jump up and down, and act like an idiot while I watch the guy in the next cubicle crank out a bubble sort in one loop :-)
blhack 17y ago
I think you're missing the spirit of this comment. They (he, I'm assuming) wasn't implying that athletes dont' work, what he was implying is that those that DO get lots and lots and lots and LOTS of recognition for it. If a geek accomplishes something extraordinary...nobody outside of his or her industry really cares beyond "is this going to help me get to espn.com faster?". Its sad, but it's true. It is cliche' because it is true.

by kirse 17y ago

edw519 17y ago

Ouch. I never meant to imply that athletes don't work. Quite the contrary. My apologies. But I stand by my "butt kissing" remarks. Nobody ever paid much attention to me or anyone like me just because someone else was bigger or taller and could do cool things with a ball. Make no mistake about it: hero worship of athletes is way out of whack. They're so used to having their butts kissed, they simply do not know how to function in any other environment. "You certainly wouldn't be shouting about undeserved attention and "butt kissing" if a YC startup was acquired for millions and had tons of PR coverage." Maybe. Maybe not. The difference is that the butt kissing would be because of the money, not the work, which few people understand anyway. Excuse me while I paint my face, jump up and down, and act like an idiot while I watch the guy in the next cubicle crank out a bubble sort in one loop :-)

blhack 17y ago

I think you're missing the spirit of this comment. They (he, I'm assuming) wasn't implying that athletes dont' work, what he was implying is that those that DO get lots and lots and lots and LOTS of recognition for it. If a geek accomplishes something extraordinary...nobody outside of his or her industry really cares beyond "is this going to help me get to espn.com faster?". Its sad, but it's true. It is cliche' because it is true.