I have to admit the merging of worlds here is wild. I never expected to read Mike Tomlin, long time coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers on HackerNews yet here we are. It was not on my Bingo card. Refreshing, indeed.
replyI (stereotypical nerd) was briefly friends with a large Samoan man that was built like a tank and did amateur MMA fighting. One night we were going out drinking with a group of us and he let slip that he was super into Starcraft. Me and all of my geeky friends lost it, couldn't believe it etc etc. I learned later he muttered to the one other athletic guy in the group, "I guess these guys don't really hang out around athletes very often." He wasn't being a jerk, he was right, we totally let our prejudices get the better of us. It's not at all uncommon for athletic people to be into nerd stuff.
replyThere's a video of San Antonio Spurs players, including Tim Duncan and David Robinson, playing Starcraft 2v2 on the road during the 1999 NBA Finals.
replyIn my experience, many people who are athletic, or have practiced enough of a sport to be considered athletic, just crave competition.
replyI think it's just that people miss there's a major intellectual side to all sports, but it often gets masked by the fact that those who excel in sports often forsake or ignore their education education early on, so they sound ineloquent, and people, especially those outside of sports, assume that means they're stupid.
replyMike Tyson is an extreme example. He dropped out of high school and probably never paid much of any attention for the schooling he did have. But listen to an interview with him, like on Rogan, and the man has a mind when you actually listen to what he's thinking/saying [1], as opposed to how he says it. And that's after decades of drugs and plenty of blows to the head.
Gymnasium was historically a place where you go not only for your physical but also your intellectual education, and I think the Greeks had it right. A strong mind needs a strong body, and vice versa.
You might love this if you haven't seen it. Youtuber wanders into what he thought was an abandoned game and ends up having an amazing time.
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