Although one of the best parts of earning a living as a freelance writer is that I write about a wide range of topics, one of the worst parts of earning a living as a freelance writer is also that I write about a wide range of topics. I am an expert in nothing with a millimeter’s worth of knowledge on just about everything.
Did you know that elephants grieve? I do! I wish I didn’t! Is it possible to track an asset that never moves? If you use a high-quality software enabled tracking system, to monitor its performance and surrounding environment, it is! Why did the U.S. space program decide to launch from Florida? Because it was using an equatorial orbit, and that meant taking advantage as much as possible from the kinetic energy present in smaller latitudes, plus the presence of extant infrastructure and access to U.S.-controlled open water over which to test propulsion systems!
This means that I am useful on a trivia team and fun at parties except for when I am sitting cross-legged on the floor behind the bar so as to avoid human interaction. But it doesn’t lend itself to skill set optimization, strategic communication, communicating strategy, and whatever else it is that LinkedIn thinks I should be doing with my life.
I used to wonder at athletes who started in specialization and then, with seemingly little effort, switched to another position and even sport altogether. By this I don’t mean the often-ignored advice that young kids should never lock into one sport in the early going. I’m talking about Joe Burrow not only playing point guard on his high school basketball team, but was All-Ohio with second-highest amount of points scored in his high school’s entire history.
How does that happen? Well, Burrow’s work ethic is quickly becoming the envy of the league, but when I was in high school I could have practiced free throws twelve hours a day and never get anywhere nearer the basket. It just wasn’t in me. I’m not even going to discuss what it would look like if I attempted such a thing well after grad school.
But it’s in some people, overflowingly, and usually multi-sport athletes make it to the diamond at some point. Sometimes the crossovers are obvious: Our Boomer Esiason was once a pitcher, and Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders made the most of their speed on both fields. Five men have played in the MLB and the NHL, of all things.
Somehow, they all make their way to baseball.
About 70 have made a mark in both the NFL as well as the MLB. Perhaps it’s the way a baseball career tends to ease a body more gently into middle age; these guys aren’t laying aside the bat and becoming Thoroughbred jockeys. However, the hand-eye coordination, full body use on the swing, and fast-twitch release that favor Silver Sluggers are quickly identifiable in other sports.
No, it’s not a sure thing: Michael Jorden was coming along well as scrub on the bus, but he still wasn’t able to pick up a bat and immediately clear .300. However, the idea that the greatest basketball player to ever exist could also credibly present himself to Double A doesn’t seem quite… fair to us mere mortals. It’s the reason I stopped watching Dancing With the Stars; it is downright cruel to pit an Olympic figure skater against a news anchor when it comes to learning how to waltz. Somebody has an advantage, and it ain’t Tucker Carlson.
Joey Votto insists he wants to drive kindergartners to school upon retirement. No doubt he would extend a safety and on-time record to stratospheric levels. But the gridiron cannot have him.
