In article said:Craig Brossman said:It is not even worth commenting to USA Today on how ridiculous this list is. While I would agree
that hitting a baseball and pole vaulting are "hard", they have no right to appear in the same
"hard" category as the Tour or a marathon.
The big problem is comparing endurance type sports to hand-eye coordination type sports, and
indeed sports which combine the two to varying degrees. Apples and oranges. For example, Barry
Bonds would get shelled in the first kilometer in the first stage of the TDF (if he survived the
Prologue without having a massive heart attack) and that would be that. Lance Armstrong wouldn't
even stand in the batter's box against Randy Johnson, much less have a prayer to make contact with
a fastball. Which is "harder"? By what standard? Give me a break. And who cares? Makes no sense,
except to sell newspapers and get a thread going.
Actually, I disagree. Lance Armstrong stands a random chance of hitting that baseball if he swings
really hard when he sees the ball fly. Similarily, it's possible to train yourself to hit a
straight tee shot.
The thing about the Tour is that not even all PROFESSIONAL riders can do it. As far as I know,
Cipollini has never finished one. Pro riders drop out all the time. Sometimes, The Tour is
just too hard.
If a pro baseball player couldn't hit a ball, he wouldn't be there. Even the lousy hitters
occasionally get off a base hit.
As near as I can tell, The Tour and running a sub-three-hour marathon are things that professionals
in those sports have a hard time doing.
JS
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