let's relive our past athletic "glory" (1 Viewer)

[Binky The Doormat]

Its not just a story, its...  ah little too epic for this forum as it involves meta (meaning beyond) and para (also meaning beyond), physical and normal things that I have not seen discussed in this forum. 

Their is also a preamble from a trip that I took a few months earlier where something odd had taken place.  The preamble is a cool  story and has  nothing para-normal or meta-physical but I feel it was connect to what took place later that year.  

 It took me almost ten years to piece things together since had no idea what was going on at the time.  I've done a ton of research into things that is far beyond the main stream because I've had a lot of those expeinces.

peyote/mescaline experience stories are 2 pages back pal.

 

[Bracie Smathers]

peyote/mescaline experience stories are 2 pages back pal.

See. I expected as much so not casting pearls to this sort of swine.

 

[wikkidpissah]

First two starts of my senior year, struck out 16 in 7 innings and 14 in 6 innings. We lost both games by a run, and had a horrible year. 3-15 regular season & 5-16 overall, easily the worst team I was ever on.

I had other moments - dominated Little League, made an unassisted triple play while playing 2B in Pony League, pitched a complete game in the American Legion championship game - but my first two starts as a 17 year old stuck out because I felt like I had complete command. Plus we had so few good moments that year, it was a really tough year.

I learned a lot about resilience & never giving up that year.

woWEE!!

 

[Stompin' Tom Connors]

See. I expected as much so not casting pearls to this sort of swine.

I'm still listening intently.

Would love to hear the tale. No judgment, it sounds super interesting.

 

[SFBayDuck]

Grew up playing hoops and as one of the bigger and faster kids in grade school, I was pretty good.  Then everyone hit puberty but me, and by 8th grade I had gone from ball-handling center (I'd be called a stretch 5 now) to point guard.  I finally hit puberty in late 9th grade but by then it was pretty much too late and I was way behind other players athletically.  But I could still shoot, and basically peaked as a good rec league player.

A couple of moments that stand out:

• I hit two shots from near half court in a game in 8th grade, both at the end of quarters.  My favorite player Magic Johnson had hit a half courter that week, and a parent said to me "you're just like Magic Johnson" after I made the second one.  Might have been just a bit of a stretch, but a cool thing for a 13 year old to hear.  That was a fun year, I put up 30+ points a couple of times in the year before the 3-point line came into play at the high school level.
  
• Not a moment but a series of them - my sophomore year my high school was coming off the state championship and would go into the season ranked #1 (I obviously wasn't on the team!).  We were in the burbs but the players from Portland would come out and play open gym at our high school, probably the best run going on in the metro area.  Most days there would be 6-7 future D1 starters out of 12-15 guys, with the most notable names being Eric Spoelstra and Damon Stoudamire.  I was usually the worst player on the court and definitely the worst athlete, but I could (usually) keep from embarrassing myself and knock down a three here and there. And I may have been dunked on more than once.  
  
• A rec league game senior year in high school I hit 6 threes in the first quarter as we went up like 26-4.   Then the other team put their soon-to-be D1 running back on me who I couldn't get away from and I didn't get up another shot.  6-6, 18 points, and we blew them out.  
  
• When I was in college at half time of U of O basketball games they had a three-point contest - a rack of balls at the top of the key, 45 seconds, head to head against someone on the other end.  My senior year I finally got my name drawn and ended up winning four times to take the grand prize, a trip to Puerto Vallarta.  This broke college kid felt pretty baller walking over to the stands afterward to tell my girlfriend we were going to Mexico.  And I got a lot of drinks bought for me by strangers that night....all by dudes, of course.
  

 

[Bracie Smathers]

I'm still listening intently.

Would love to hear the tale. No judgment, it sounds super interesting.

Well its not what this particular post is about so I wouldn't hijack and the narrative is much longer and not sequential.

 

[Sullie]

Four times all in Little League baseball.

1.) I'm up to bat and my baseball coach pulls me aside and he said "I need you to come through for us.  If you hit it out of the infield, Greg can score from 2nd, he's fast, come on now, you can do this."  BAM - I turned a solid triple into a double . . . and all the guys in the dugout let me know about it.

2.) I tried out for pitcher and got to be a pitcher, I thought I was the cats a$$ by the way.  I'm pitching in a game, coach pulls me aside "I just need for you to get this guy out, come on, you can do this, etc."  1-2-3 struck him out, we won the game, kid was pissed he threw his bat OVER the fence and he got balled out by his coach and mom, loved it because he was kind of a jerk.

3.) June 14 1980 I hit a homerun in center field, my Dad said "if you ever hit a home run, I'll give you $50.00" so I got that too.  Our normal baseball field was near a creek, the creek flooded the baseball field so we had to play across town in a different little league park and that fence was 25 feet shorter in center field.  My coach called me on the phone the night before the game "Hey, this park is shorter in center field, I won't be there but this is your shot, you've been close a few times, I think this is your chance!"

4.) Made the All Star team my last two years of Little League, I was always proud of that too.

 

[mr. furley]

Little League baseball.

3.) June 14 1980 I hit a homerun in center field, my Dad said "if you ever hit a home run, I'll give you $50.00" so I got that too.  Our normal baseball field was near a creek, the creek flooded the baseball field so we had to play across town in a different little league park and that fence was 25 feet shorter in center field.  My coach called me on the phone the night before the game "Hey, this park is shorter in center field, I won't be there but this is your shot, you've been close a few times, I think this is your chance!"

hit one home run in my baseball career. at an all-star tourney.  opposing pitcher was mowing kids down.  i got subbed in (because everybody had to play) late.  two guys on. we were down 2 runs. my job was just not to hit in to a double play.

smoked a fastball over dead center & we went on to win.

reward was a hot dog & soda from the concession stand.

i got up to the stand to reap my sweet reward after the game ended.

"sorry, we ran out of hot dogs and soda" :nutkick: 

 

[Hoh]

During the first round of our (collegiate) conference championships, I managed to par the front nine without carding a single par.  5 birds, 3 bogeys, and a double.  Glorious?  Probably not...but definitely unusual.  

 

[BobbyLayne]

woWEE!!

runners on first & second, caught a line drive on a 3-2 pitch with the hit n run on, runner on first fell down trying to get back to the bag, as I tagged him I saw the other runner was almost to third and just turning around to come back, I sprinted over and almost collided with our SS. we didn’t celebrate at first...just looked around at each other for a second like “what just happened?”

 

[Binky The Doormat]

hit one home run in my baseball career. at an all-star tourney.  opposing pitcher was mowing kids down.  i got subbed in (because everybody had to play) late.  two guys on. we were down 2 runs. my job was just not to hit in to a double play.

smoked a fastball over dead center & we went on to win.

reward was a hot dog & soda from the concession stand.

i got up to the stand to reap my sweet reward after the game ended.

"sorry, we ran out of hot dogs and soda" :nutkick: 

livin' the furley life!

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

made an unassisted triple play

Oh wow.  This was on my baseball/softball bucket list from the time I was 10.  Any time there were runners on first and second and no outs I dreamed about a line drive up the middle, quick tag of 2nd and running down the guy trying to get back to first.  But it never happened.

Too many in-game moments to pick one, but my all-time best memory was when my b-school softball team, a bunch of old guys that finished 2nd in the college-wide intramurals the same year, won our own invitational.  Beautiful April day.  We'd already won the co-ed title (I homered in the top of the last to give us the lead).  And beat the team that beat us earlier in the tournament in the final.  Hanging out in the sun on a bar deck with those guys knowing we were all splitting up in a few weeks was hands down the best "sports" moment.  Can still remember the green of the pine trees against the crystal blue sky and the collective feeling of satisfaction after being runners-up a couple times.  Was a damn good day.  Would pay serious coin to relive it.

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

runners on first & second, caught a line drive on a 3-2 pitch with the hit n run on, runner on first fell down trying to get back to the bag, as I tagged him I saw the other runner was almost to third and just turning around to come back, I sprinted over and almost collided with our SS. we didn’t celebrate at first...just looked around at each other for a second like “what just happened?”

omg... that's basically the fantasy exactly.  Except from short.

 

[Drunken knight]

Jr year of high school won state championship in crew.

changed sports to lacrosse. Started my 1st season as a senior in hs (1st line midfielder, man up, and short stick man down). Played 4 years of collegiate. 
 

played every intramural sport with fraternity. 
 

edit: used to enter those Cuervo beach volleyball tournaments in the late eighties/early nineties.  Partner and I would usually win a round or 2... depending  on seeding. 

 

[BobbyLayne]

omg... that's basically the fantasy exactly.  Except from short.

There’s actually a little more to the story. In the first inning I stole their bunt sign & steal sign (it’s super easy at that level - guys would do an almost involuntary head nod when the real sign flashed, or they would look down or away, so you could pretty quickly eliminate the decoy signs.) We called a pitchout & killed their rally. Inning or two later we did a hit n run and when the 2B went to cover, our guy went the opposite way  through the hole. So when they got two on with none out I think it was a macho thing “yeah? well we can do that too!” But I KNEW the hit n run was on so I didn’t go to the bag.

Still friends with guys on that team (we only lost once & cruised through the playoffs), we always bring it up when we see each other. Bunch of self-employed guys now, we had a lot of leaders.

Another game we kinda accidentally got into a beanball war with the other team, which almost led to a brawl, & one of our guys got kicked out for yelling “hit ‘em in the head, Bob!” when our pitcher with the least amount of control came on in relief. It’s probably just because we were young & didn’t know any better but that team was super loose, had lots of fun. We also felt like we had the best talent in the league & def knew how to get in other peoples heads.

 

[Binky The Doormat]

Jr year of high school won state championship in crew.

changed sports to lacrosse. Started my 1st season as a senior in hs (1st line midfielder, man up, and short stick man down). Played 4 years of collegiate. 
 

played every intramural sport with fraternity. 

last name Penobscott? 

 

[Drunken knight]

last name Penobscott? 

Negative

 

[Binky The Doormat]

There’s actually a little more to the story. In the first inning I stole their bunt sign & steal sign (it’s super easy at that level - guys would do an almost involuntary head nod when the real sign flashed, or they would look down or away, so you could pretty quickly eliminate the decoy signs.) We called a pitchout & killed their rally. Inning or two later we did a hit n run and when the 2B went to cover, our guy went the opposite way  through the hole. So when they got two on with none out I think it was a macho thing “yeah? well we can do that too!” But I KNEW the hit n run was on so I didn’t go to the bag.

Still friends with guys on that team (we only lost once & cruised through the playoffs), we always bring it up when we see each other. Bunch of self-employed guys now, we had a lot of leaders.

Another game we kinda accidentally got into a beanball war with the other team, which almost led to a brawl, & one of our guys got kicked out for yelling “hit ‘em in the head, Bob!” when our pitcher with the least amount of control came on in relief. It’s probably just because we were young & didn’t know any better but that team was super loose, had lots of fun. We also felt like we had the best talent in the league & def knew how to get in other peoples heads.

is this Little League - like 12 and under?

 

[Gally]

Pony league (13-14 years old) I pitched a complete game (7 innings) 1 hitter and had 19 K's.  That included a 4 strikeout inning due to a drop third strike.  I also led that game off with a home run.  All Stars that same year I threw a complete game with 14 K's in the regionals to win 3-2.  Final out was a play at the plate. 

Near hero - my senior year of high school we were playing the #1 team in the country.  In the bottom of the 7th we were tied and I took a hanging curveball to the left field fence that was robbed by the LF.  Would have been a walk off win.  Unfortunately he caught it and then we lost in extra innings. 

 

[BobbyLayne]

is this Little League - like 12 and under?

13-14 Pony League

LL you can’t leave the bag until the pitch crosses the plate

 

[Binky The Doormat]

13-14 Pony League

LL you can’t leave the bag until the pitch crosses the plate

yeah ...that's where I was headed, so did the 13-14 yr old Pony move to a regulation sized field?  

We did, and it was brutal - gigantic difference.  (13-15 olds - was called Babe Ruth where we were)

 

[TripItUp]

Lettered in all three of the major sports at a large high school(2000 students)

all conference DB in football, scholarships etc. (7 ints in 9 games, took 2 to the house)

started about 1/2 games at 3B for the baseball team, but didn't really enjoy it

got about 8 minutes per game my senior year in hoops(could dunk at 5'11"), my favorite sport but I didn't put the time in to reach my potential

I should have dropped baseball and spent more time on basketball, which I enjoyed more.

 

[Gally]

yeah ...that's where I was headed, so did the 13-14 yr old Pony move to a regulation sized field?  

We did, and it was brutal - gigantic difference.  (13-15 olds - was called Babe Ruth where we were)

Pony is a different organization than LL.  Pony  division (13-14) plays on a slightly smaller than full size field.  54' pitching and 80' bases

 

[BobbyLayne]

Pony is a different organization than LL.  Pony  division (13-14) plays on a slightly smaller than full size field.  54' pitching and 80' bases

We did 60’6” & 90’. Probably for practical reasons? There were 4 LL fields in town but h.s., American Legion ball, & Pony League all used the same field. Circa 1976-80.

 

[Gally]

We did 60’6” & 90’. Probably for practical reasons? There were 4 LL fields in town but h.s., American Legion ball, & Pony League all used the same field. Circa 1976-80.

We didn't have LL in my area so we played in the PONY organization (that was 1980-86).  There was Pinto (7/8), Mustang (9/10), Bronco (11/12) and then Pony (13/14).  After that we just did High School and didn't do the next division of Colt because there weren't the numbers.  The Pinto, Mustang, and Bronco fields were all together at our Middle School and each was an incremental step in size.  The Pony field was at a park across town.  Each field was sized for that division.  It wasn't like today where one field has different pegs for base sizes and a portable mound to give flexibility. 

I find that progression much better than LL that plays through 12 yrs old all at 46/60 and then jumps to Babe Ruth and the full size field.  It's too big of a jump for most of the kids and the 13 yr olds really struggle with the large field.  PONY is a much better baseball organization for baseball development over LL. 

 

[BobbyLayne]

We didn't have LL in my area so we played in the PONY organization (that was 1980-86).  There was Pinto (7/8), Mustang (9/10), Bronco (11/12) and then Pony (13/14).  After that we just did High School and didn't do the next division of Colt because there weren't the numbers.  The Pinto, Mustang, and Bronco fields were all together at our Middle School and each was an incremental step in size.  The Pony field was at a park across town.  Each field was sized for that division.  It wasn't like today where one field has different pegs for base sizes and a portable mound to give flexibility. 

I find that progression much better than LL that plays through 12 yrs old all at 46/60 and then jumps to Babe Ruth and the full size field.  It's too big of a jump for most of the kids and the 13 yr olds really struggle with the large field.  PONY is a much better baseball organization for baseball development over LL. 

That sounds awesome.

Yeah, our mid-Michigan Pony League had three teams from our town (7K), another town had 2, and the other 8 teams were from smaller towns/villages. More or less mirrored the 8 team h.s. conference.

When LL season finished (late July/early August) we immediately started throwing from 60. Did that for a few months until basketball ramped up, and went back to it after that season ended. My dad had a manufacturing business with a 60’x200’ warehouse, we used to throw to each at night or Saturdays when the line wasn’t running.

Honestly never knew until tonight that Pony League has all those different size fields, that’s a great way to do it. 

 

[Gally]

That sounds awesome.

Yeah, our mid-Michigan Pony League had three teams from our town (7K), another town had 2, and the other 8 teams were from smaller towns/villages. More or less mirrored the 8 team h.s. conference.

When LL season finished (late July/early August) we immediately started throwing from 60. Did that for a few months until basketball ramped up, and went back to it after that season ended. My dad had a manufacturing business with a 60’x200’ warehouse, we used to throw to each at night or Saturdays when the line wasn’t running.

Honestly never knew until tonight that Pony League has all those different size fields, that’s a great way to do it. 

It is much better for development.  Lead offs started in the Bronco division (11/12 yrs old; 50/70 for pitching and bases).  The incremental size increase allowed the skills to grow with age and field size.  It is definitely much better than LL in that regard. 

Back then it was nice because each division had their own field.  it's tough to get that kind of real estate these days so they usually go dirt infield with multiple base pegs and the portable mound to move to the right distance.  It works but not as fun as having the permanent mound and your own size field. 

 

[Blue Thunder]

Senior year of HS (Fall '87) at a small school in NW Okla (39 in graduating class and 250 students in 7-12th grades). I was the starting strong side DT in a 4-4-3 defense, so you know what that means - I was double-teamed on almost every play. At 6'1" and 235#, I was one of the 2 or 3 biggest and strongest players on the team. I was one of only two guys on the team that could leg press the entire stack (750#), so the coaches liked my chances at handling myself while being outnumbered. Most games, I would generally hold my own, making a few tackles here and there, but I had two "claim to fame" plays.

The first one, we were playing a similarly matched team also with a strong defense and a so-so offense. Towards the end of the 3rd quarter, the opponents were on their own 15 yard line. When they snapped the ball, the right guard in front of me pulled to the left immediately. I had seen him do this earlier in the game and felt pretty sure that they were running a power lead off the left tackle. So I made a beeline for the RB and smacked him right as he got the hand off. He fumbled the ball and our SILB, who had followed me through the hole, fell on the ball. On offense, we drove the 10 yards to the end zone and ended up winning the game, 8-0. As luck would have it, this game ended up being the one that sent us to the playoffs due to a head-to-head tiebreaker over them.

The second play happened during the final game of the season. We were playing one of our two main rivals and it was midway through the 4th quarter. We were leading 26-0 and the "bad guys" ran a sweep left (away from me) from their own 20. I disengaged from the OL in front of me and took off on a diagonal across the field, hoping to catch the RB about 15 or so yards down field and preserve the shutout. I almost caught him on the angle, but I ended up right behind him. Over the next 40 yards, I caught up to him and tackled him on our 20 yard line. We then clamped down on them for the rest of the game and preserved the shutout against our bitter rivals. 

I did also manage to block three punts that season (two in one game) and sack the QB twice. Not too bad for a DT. But those two plays above will always stand out in my mind. How did we fare in the playoffs? We lost, 41-6, in the first round to the eventual state champs. Oh, well. 6-5 is still a winning record and it was the first time that our HS had made the playoffs in eight years.

My one "big memory" in baseball happened my senior year also. I had played LF my first three years and moved in to 3B my senior year due to my strong arm. I was an average (at best) hitter, but I was pretty decent in the field. Overall, we were a slightly below average team, I'd say. Not awful, but certainly not playoff worthy.

Anyway, we had six pitchers on the team. Why does that matter? Well, there was one game towards the end of the year where we had gone through three pitchers, two other guys couldn't pitch because they had done so too recently, and our sixth (and last) pitcher got thrown out of the game for arguing with the umpire. He was called out sliding into second base for the third out and he was sure he was safe. He wasn't. But he wouldn't let it go and he got tossed.

Now we had one more inning to go and no pitchers... and guess who got called to the mound? I had never even thrown a ball off of the pitchers mound and now, suddenly I was taking my eight warmup pitches to try and somehow finish the game. I put the first three throws well over the catcher's head and into the backstop. Then, I finally realized that throwing from the mound is nothing like throwing across the diamond. So I took a little something off of my throws in order to get a little better control. It helped some, but I still didn't get any of the eight warmup throws across the plate.

I'm sure the first batter was wondering what he had gotten himself into. He takes the first pitch, which happens to be my first strike thrown in nine throws. He ends up drilling the 2-1 pitch on a one-hopper to the shortstop, who throws it to first base in time. One down.

The next guy up was a free-swinger and I struck him out swinging on four pitches. Two down, one to go.

For guy #3, the first pitch I throw a fastball (because that was all I had, LOL) on the inside corner and he hits it right off of his hands weakly right back to me. I scoop it up and toss it to first in plenty of time. Three up, three down. So now I have a high school pitching career ERA of 0.00. It was definitely the best pitching performance of the night as we lost the game, 19-1 (no run-rule back then).

 

[neal cassady]

Highlight will always be playing with Larry Bird as an 8th grader (summer pick up game).  Later was honorable mention street and smith all American in high school.  Was a member of an NCAA championship team.  Had offers to play in Europe, but was done at that time.  Played against 4-5 hall of famers.  Wasn’t great, but wasn’t bad  second best memory is meeting Jerry West after college and him remembering me and telling me my strengths and weaknesses.  I was very honored. 

 

[mr. furley]

Highlight will always be playing with Larry Bird as an 8th grader (summer pick up game).  Later was honorable mention street and smith all American in high school.  Was a member of an NCAA championship team.  Had offers to play in Europe, but was done at that time.  Played against 4-5 hall of famers.  Wasn’t great, but wasn’t bad  second best memory is meeting Jerry West after college and him remembering me and telling me my strengths and weaknesses.  I was very honored. 

legend

 

[Binky The Doormat]

Highlight will always be playing with Larry Bird as an 8th grader (summer pick up game).  Later was honorable mention street and smith all American in high school.  Was a member of an NCAA championship team.  Had offers to play in Europe, but was done at that time.  Played against 4-5 hall of famers.  Wasn’t great, but wasn’t bad  second best memory is meeting Jerry West after college and him remembering me and telling me my strengths and weaknesses.  I was very honored. 

pretty awesome neal - which NCAA championship team?

 

[Steve Tasker]

When I was 8, I turned an unassisted quadruple play in a peewee baseball game.

The way our peewee was setup, each team got 6 at-bats per inning, regardless of outs.  On defense you could get 6 outs, you could get 0 outs, but it didn't matter, inning was over.  I was playing "pitcher", which meant I stood next to one of the coaches while he pitched to the batter.  One of my best friends - still a close friend now nearly 25 years later - was batting.  Bases loaded.  He popped up, I caught it.  I'm pretty sure no one understood the rules, we certainly had no idea what an infield fly rule was, and none of the kids tagged up.  I took off running, tagged third, then second, then first while running the bases backward as the opposing kids rounded the bases.  Unassisted quadruple play.  My coach got mad at me because I ran the bases instead of throwing the ball to my teammates on the bases.  My friend still remembers it to this day, it's a forever moment for both of us....he hit into an unassisted quadruple play.

The next year, I got hit by a pitch in the ankle like halfway through the season and was never the same.  Played the last 4 or 5 games and retired from baseball permanently when I was 9.

 

[Binky The Doormat]

When I was 8, I turned an unassisted quadruple play in a peewee baseball game.

The way our peewee was setup, each team got 6 at-bats per inning, regardless of outs.  On defense you could get 6 outs, you could get 0 outs, but it didn't matter, inning was over.  I was playing "pitcher", which meant I stood next to one of the coaches while he pitched to the batter.  One of my best friends - still a close friend now nearly 25 years later - was batting.  Bases loaded.  He popped up, I caught it.  I'm pretty sure no one understood the rules, we certainly had no idea what an infield fly rule was, and none of the kids tagged up.  I took off running, tagged third, then second, then first while running the bases backward as the opposing kids rounded the bases.  Unassisted quadruple play.  My coach got mad at me because I ran the bases instead of throwing the ball to my teammates on the bases.  My friend still remembers it to this day, it's a forever moment for both of us....he hit into an unassisted quadruple play.

The next year, I got hit by a pitch in the ankle like halfway through the season and was never the same.  Played the last 4 or 5 games and retired from baseball permanently when I was 9.

football was always your game anyway ...

 

[RedmondLonghorn]

When I was a Sophomore in college playing club lacrosse I scored 7 goals in the first half. Unfortunately the game was suspended and called early in the 3rd quarter after one of the opposing team’s defensive players sustained a horrible knee injury and had to be rushed off to the hospital via ambulance.
 

I felt bad for him and also selfishly wanted to keep playing for my own reasons.

I had some other nice games in my Junior and Senior years, but nothing matching that day.

 

[JAA]

2 years ago i swam across the lake my wife’s family has a cottage on (Onieda Lake). They said it was impossible and couldn’t be done.  It took me a couple hours (with precautions) but the 5 miles wasn’t bad.

the next step is 10 miles, hopefully this summer. 

 

[jabarony]

Played soccer my entire life. Many trophies and accolades. The greatest moment every was before a junior year practice. We stopped at 7-11 and picked up slim Jim's,  Slurpees, and I got me a pack of those round colored smoke bombs. Hanging out in the parking lot about 20 minutes before practice, I got out the smoke bombs. My teammate was driving a 10 year old beater  (cutlass supreme?)  He parked about 10 spots to my right,  with no cars in between. I rolled down my driver's window,  lit the smokey, and with my left hand did a hook shot back over my car roof. Fyi - I'm righthanded. The ball landed about 10 feet from my buddy's vehicle,  and unbeknownst to him,  rolled perfectly under his hood. A few seconds later,  blue smoke started pouring out from under his hood. He and 2 other teammates jumped out of the vehicle panicking.  While the other 10 or so guys watching were laughing their butts off. 

Greatest shot in my soccer career. 

 

[Jutz]

There is no better investment than the one you can make in yourself. Considering the market is down, maybe now is the best time

In all seriousness, it’s just a choice. Choose to get up early, choose to eat different. Once you stop playing your victim card and accept ownership, it’s all down hill. 

Then ... once you hit 3 weeks of success, you go to 6 weeks, then 9. You will have lapses, that’s ok. Remember no one is perfect. Just restart the process, cause it’s your choice, no one else’s. 

Best of luck, you own your happiness. 

This is excellent advice.  The thing I like most about the message is the theme of accountability and not playing the victim.  I also like that you mention there will be lapses, and you just have to re-start..  that is acknowledging reality and getting on with it which are both part of Accountability.

I'm not in the best shape of my life right now, but I am in my best shape in the past 20 years and I agree with everything you said.

 

[Bull Dozier]

Is this a glory thread, or a "glory" thread?

Here's a few notable accomplishments:

• 6th grade football.  In 5th grade, lost the championship to the team I ended up on in 6th grade, so I was sure we'd win it all.  I didn't play offense in 5th grade (first year of football, before the "everyone gets a chance to play" ideas took over kids' sports.  Played fullback.  Had four running plays I ran (off guard right and left, counter right and left).  Pretty sure I once I got the ball, I just closed my eyes and ran forward.  First play of the championship game, our coach wants to run it down their throats, so we go fullback right (off guard to the right).  Result?  Fumble.  We go on to lose.
  
• Sophomore year football, now a WR.  We have a play called the zero pass.  Essentially a WR screen to me in the slot.  Gets called to me for the first time.  I catch it, and run as slow as possible for a 0 yard gain.  After the game, my friend on the team asks why I ran so slow.  I described it this way "you know in a dream where everyone is moving in slow motion, but you are moving regular speed and can do whatever you want?  This was like that, just the opposite, and I was moving in slow motion."
  
• As a freshman in highschool, my nickname as a corner back was "toast."  Nufced.
  

 

[Sullie]

I almost left out of my all time favorite memories of little league baseball glory.  I'll paint the picture here.  I'm playing 2nd base, the batter hits kind of a medium speed ground ball right to me.  It's an easy play, one I'm sure I had made a million times in practice.  Anyway, I put my glove down and at the last moment the ball hit the dirt at a funny angle and popped up and nailed me right in the head and I lost the ball, base runner gets to first base.  Oh my God, the guys on the bench of the opposing team are laughing it up and giving me ALL kinds of hell.

I'm 10 or 11 years old, I'm upset, it kind of hurt, my coach had yelled at me, tears are welling up, I'm not full on crying but my eyes are fully water filled to where I cannot see at this point.  Next guy is up, I didn't want to wipe my eyes because I knew the other bench was watching me.  Anyway, immediately, the next guy up hits a line drive right between me and first base, again, I cannot see (b/c my eyes are still teared up) so I just leap over, fling my arm as far as I can to at least make an effort and I swear to God the ball magically hit my glove perfectly in the webbing.  I was so shocked, stunned, surprised that I didn't know what to do for a second there but, right after that I looked up and I saw that the first base runner had a shocked "oh $h1t" expression on his face, that look on his face made me snap out of it and I immediately underhanded the ball to the first baseman and I made a double play.  

I could hear the other team saying "oh look what I found, etc." (commenting on my lucky catch) before I made my lucky throw but after I got that guy out, it was dead silent, I took the wind right out of the dugout.  It was pretty freaking awesome!

 

[Mookie]

OK, one more.

50 years old (I'm 52 now), playing in a coed soccer league.  Nobody keeps score and there are no results - it's a super low key rec league.  Men over 50 are considered women for league purposes, and there must be 4 "women" on the field at all times.  Our team is playing my 21 year old son's team, which has about 5 kids on it that I coached through HS.  Needless to say, I'm getting an earful of grief from these guys as well as some of their buddies who stuck around to drink beer after the early game.  "I didn't know [Mookie's] Mom played"  "Where's the skort [Mookie]?" "Hey [Mookie], do you have orange slices for us at halftime?"  It's non-stop.

I usually play defense - not having the legs I once did, but this woman on our team who was playing up front makes the sub sign and comes off.  I jump on the field and drift into the offensive penalty area as a guy on our team weaves up the left wing before blindly crossing the ball.  It's a perfect height, and I run onto it and power a header from about 6 yards into the bottom corner.  There are some claps, and someone said "nice goal", but it's mostly silent.  I come off the field for a sub and play defense the rest of the game.   After the game, my son and I hug and he says "Nice goal, Dad".  We then took off our cleats and shared a beer together. 

I tore my meniscus later that summer and haven't played since.  I'm thinking that was my last game.   

 

[Mjolnirs]

Grew up playing rec football, but nothing of note.  Played JV football and ran track for two years in high school, nothing of note ... no letters.

But, I did win win multiple State championships in boxing from the age of 7 to 16.  Between Junior Olympics, Golden Gloves and ABASC (Amateur Boxing Association of SC), I probably won 10-12 state titles.  The highlight being when I was 15 and won all three tittles the same year.  That year and next I qualified for Regional Junior Olympics and lost out on a trip to nationals both years on split decisions.

I also played on an ASA Men's slow pitch softball team that won State two years in a row ... when I was 17 and 18.

 

[Senor Schmutzig]

I ran a 4:24 mile in my Junior year of HS. I look at that number now and realize I would have a hard time running half that speed (8:48 mile).

My freshmen year in college I ended up going to a school in England. It was the UK campus of the school I ended up graduating from and normally they don't allow a semester abroad for freshmen but considering my parents moved to the UK that same year, it worked out that way.

The vast majority of kids that went to school there were Americans so we had a pretty good basketball team. We ended up playing most of the colleges/universities in the are and would crush them by embarrassingly overwhelming scores. 64-12 or 72-15. I was never a great basketball player but I was somewhat athletic, tall and liked to mix it up down low. I would come out of those games with stupid numbers like 15 points and 27 rebounds because those English kids just didn't play a whole lot of basketball so they didn't understand blocking out or positioning. Of course they usually kicked the crap out of us when the sport shifted to the soccer pitch...

 

[conlilnew]

Pony League 15-16 yr old boys. I was 15 but that was my best summer of baseball. State Tournament Championship game. I hit a three run homer over the left field fence in the 1st and grand slam to dead center in the 5th and pitched a complete 7 inning game striking out 13. I can remember that game like it was yesterday.  Hit 9 home runs that summer as well. Never came close again thru high school and small college ball to hitting that many. 

 

[Fat Nick]

I was the bomb at rec league soccer - 3rd grade through middle school.  We didn't have a varsity team until my junior year of HS.  I wasn't that good, just really fast, and had a really hard good shot.  My rec team won the championship undefeated and beat teams by an average of 6 or so goals.

My favorite moment of athletic glory came in my Senior year of HS though - playing Football.  I was the kicker - Played JUST my Senior year at the urging of the coach who saw me play soccer my Junior year.  I was may be 135 lbs soaking wet but I had about 45 yard range with either foot, which was pretty good for HS.  My practice day was 100% just bombing field goals and kick-offs for a few hours.  I had no other practice in other disciplines.  It finally happened one Friday night against the undefeated team in the district - I kicked off to start the 2nd half of a close game, and their star guy broke through the kick coverage.  Not knowing what to do, but knowing I was as fast as anybody on the field, I started picking my angle and ran with him down the sideline.  At about the 20, I leaped at his shoulders, got a big 'ole hand full of facemask, and dragged him down by his helmet.  He dropped at about the 15.  With the obvious penalty, they got the ball 1st and goal.  We managed to stop them, and they didn't have a who could do much of anything, so they went for it on 4th and didn't get it.  We still lost, but the coach gave me a defense sticker that game for my "tackle."

 

[Harris]

1992. Tee-ball. Playing CF in a game coming off my second straight year as an all-star. Completed the rarely seen unassisted triple play after a short fly ball that I caught on a dead sprint towards second base. Stepped on second and tagged the chump from first base who kept running and likely just wanted that sweet nectar from his forthcoming orange slice.

 

[nirad3]

And on the flip side....

AYSO soccer, I was probably 10 or 11... I was average to above-average, played all over the field.  I was playing right striker one game and got behind the midfielders, got a nice pass from a teammate and outran the defender with the ball.... made a schweeeeet move past the goalie who decided to run out from the goal to try and stop the ball... was probably 20ish feet from the empty goal, shot it and the ball ended up about 2 feet to the right, missing the goal completely. 

At least I drilled the bucket that they used to store the net.   

I remember doing a 180 and throwing my hands up like "what the heck just happened?"  

 

[mr. furley]

all these soccer posts make me think of the kids i've coached the past few years (topped out at 6-7 year olds) and realized that for some of those kids, their peak has already happened. 

and it most likely involved simply kicking the ball one time. not in to the goal, or to a teammate, or making a sweet slide tackle. i mean just making contact with the ball one time during a game. 

seriously.

what a great sport to coach. so much fun.

 

[Bull Dozier]

Here's really the only highlight I have an athlete.  Junior year, playing WR.  We had a very simple audible system of a hot color, followed by "66" (both receivers do a 6 route, which for us was a button hook) or "99" (both receivers do a 9 route which for us was a go/fly).  We're playing our in district rival.  Close game, don't remember the score.  We're on their 35ish yard line.  I'm in the slot to the right (field) with the WR outside of me.  Corner is head up on him.  LB on my side is inside of me.  Single high safety is in the middle of the LOS, head up on the QB.  QB looks at me, calls "White 66."  I look and see I'm wide open for a go route, so I grab my face mask which is the audible to change my route to a go instead of a hook.  I head up the field, safety doesn't move, QB hits me in stride, and the biggest miracle of all was that I actually caught it.  TD.  At that point I really thought this whole reading the defense thing, and having chemistry with your quarterback was pretty easy stuff.  I then went on to catch less than 5 more passes my entire high school career. 

 

[huthut]

I was about 13 years old and playing 1st base and it was the start of the half inning. I am throwing grounders to the other infielders while the pitcher warms up. Another kid in the dugout is walking around with his baseball hat full of sunflower seeds, holding onto the hat by the bill. We get told to throw the balls back in because the inning is going to start, so I toss the ball halfway so it can roll into the dugout. It hits the tiny concrete lip of the dugout, and pops straight up into the dead center of the hat, causing a sunflower seed explosion. The guy carrying the hat had no idea what happened. You had to be there. 

Also around the same age I averaged about 2 goals/game on a tournament soccer team that went undefeated, but that is not very memorable. 

 

[Binky The Doormat]

man, it's really interesting how these imagines of glory from a very young age stick with everyone.

makes me think about how important that kind of stuff is to the psyche and long term success.  

ETA:  even though I think it's kind of evil and ####ty ...I get why parents started planning births to make sure their kids were like oldest in their class so can dominate.