Were you a good athlete as a kid?

Mediocre. Was decent sized (6-2, 205) by my senior year, and the starting right tackle for our school’s football team. Two plays into the opener a pile of bodies fell on my left leg … still have a plate in there. No, it doesn’t set off scanners at the airport.

Anyway, since I was standing around in a cast and on crutches the rest of the season, they gave me a clipboard so I could help keep stats. Thus began my sportswriting career … which continues off and on more than three decades later, although my main jobs at newspapers have always been as a news reporter and copy editor/paginator.

Played baseball through Little League and Babe Ruth, and could always hit the ball pretty well. Fielding was an adventure, as was throwing it over the plate. But I enjoyed baseball and had fun helping coach my son and his friends in Little League.

Still enjoy the occasional pickup basketball game (at age 50, “occasional” means a handful of times each year). My shoulder is too beat up to play softball or tennis anymore. Can’t blame it for my horrible putting, though.

 

When I was a young boy and Mom bought me new sneakers to replace the slick-tread, worn-out pair, I was the fastest kid in the world!

Then, they put a stopwatch on me during junior high gym class and killed the magic.

 

For someone w.o a lot of size or speed, was pretty athletic. Was good in JV football, needed to be either bigger for LB or faster for DB
to play varsity since my hs was a top 15-20 in the state. Starter two years in baseball and 2 1/2 wrestling (would've been 3, but didn't wrestle
Jr year). Never put enough into practice or homework. Played a couple seasons baseball in college, but transferred after two sub-par academic
years. Played men's league summer baseball for about 8 years after college. It was a decent league, everyone pretty much played at least hs and
most teams had a few guys who played in college and a few who played minors.

Post college athletic highlight may have been winning boulder toss in a winter olympics one buddy used to have. Was like 8-10 guys (mostly from
my hs but couple guys who some met in college). We'd do 4 outdoor events and 4 indoors. At 5'10, 185, only 2 of those guys were smaller. One buddy
about 6'1, 270 started at center two years for U Maine and still doesn't believe I tossed the boulder further than him lol.

 

I was a terrible athlete. And glad I was. My sister set a district record in eighth grade in the 800 meters and I saw the pressures my Dad put on her. And I ahd a kid play elementary school basketball badly. I watched the father of the best player preen constantly. In junior high school, the kid who substantially was no longer taller but was still heavier so he switched to the tuba.

 

Oh, I had a cousin (3 years younger) who qualified for states in Class C second singles in tennis. When he was a senior in high school, I beat him in three sets. He was pissed for years.

 

To summarize my senior year as a wide receiver:

• During the summer, my brother was given a copy of the new varsity playbook and I was not. My brother, who did end up playing college football, was in middle school at the time. Once again, I was a senior.
• I was given the option of playing JV as a senior if I wanted reps. I declined.
• At our postseason banquet, the head coach always said a few words about the seniors and their on-field accomplishments. When it was time to talk about me, my coach talked about my grades and community service.
• My only appearance in the local newspaper was a picture of me celebrating a win in a VERY clean jersey.
• During our final game, we were getting blown out and our position coach told me to go in for the last drive. The starter ignored those instructions and ran out for the first snap. Coach told me to hold back and go in the next play. On the first play, we gained some yards. Hold on a second, my coach says to me. Second play, we gained some more yards. Hold on a second, my coach says to me. So on and so forth until we scored a meaningless touchdown. After the game, my position coach finds me and says “Look Clip, I wanted to get you in the game but it looked like we had a chance at scoring.”

My coaches weren’t wrong. I wasn’t a good receiver or athlete. I may not have been Still-On-The-Bench-In-Garbage-Time bad, but I was also never going to be a starter.

In college, my saving grace was being Black at a predominantly white school so inherit racism and/or ignorance always ensured that I was getting selected for a pick-up game. Once had a guy yell at me because he alley’d and I definitely did not oop. Not my fault he picked up a young Stanley from the Office.

 

Man, there is some stuff that could go into the what's wrong with youth sports thread there. Sucks that your football coaches were so focused on simply scoring when it didn't matter they couldn't even give you a chance that would have made your day and more. Hope that TD mattered to them overall in their lives.

 

After 2 years on JV, the varsity coach called me into the office after the first few practices of my senior season. He thanked me for my commitment to the program but said I wouldn't make the team. Millikan has been one of SoCal's best soccer schools for the last 30-35 years. The coach racked up 600+ wins. I understood but I was pissed. I could run for days and I was built and I certainly could play. I also knew I was the worst technical player on the team. He offered me to stay on as the manager, practice every day, and he'd try to find me time against the dregs of the league such as Compton and Jordan. I wanted more than pity minutes. I declined.

 

I have a similar story, although I wasn't a senior. That really stinks. As I said earlier, baseball was my best sport but I got cut sophomore year. I was a really good fielder, couldn't throw and hit for average but no power in any way. So overall average but certainly serviceable. I probably hurt myself by deciding I was a first baseman and that was that. It was where I could combine the really good fielder but bad arm the most with the best results. I should have been much more open to outfield, where even if I wasn't going to throw anyone out, I was going to catch everything and not let anything go by (had some success at higher levels doing that).

Anyway, I got cut and a kid I really believe I was much better than made it. Same kind of positional stuff. It is not like me, but I actually went and addressed this with the coach, who is a hall of fame type on the prep level. He just told me, that kid is in a different situation. I was like what is that? And he said he is left handed. Freaking baseball.

Anyway, he offered me the manager spot. I took them up on it, but was the worst manager in the history of managers. I did the bare minimum. Really felt like I was a part of the team, though! We also won state and it was a pretty awesome experience to be around and man if my name isn't on that trophy that is still on display! I vowed I was going to show that coach the next year and somewhere along the line said, screw it and never even tried! I can only imagine what it was like for you as a senior. I would told the coach where he could put that offer as well.

 

I've thought about it over the years. He may have simply been challenging me to see how hard I was willing to work to be part of the varsity team.

 

Kind of two phases to it. From elementary school to about ninth grade, I was pretty uncoordinated and "meh" in most of the sports I played. Part of it was because I had an unusual growth spurt - I was 5'9" by sixth or seven grade, but never grew another inch. So, basketball and baseball (the two sports I'm "best" at) I was taught to play center and first basemen, respectively, but never really "grew" into either position. In hindsight, some of my rec / little leagues coaches were pretty awful, because the biggest thing to them was winning games at that ages instead of skill development.

As a result, I didn't play any high school sports. But between playing casually with friends - a lot easier when you have access to a car and friends with cars - and doing a bunch of intramural sports in college, my skills got a lot better as I aged. I'm 38 now, and while I'm still not an incredible athlete (I'm in the process of shedding about 15 pounds, ha), I can usually handle my own in most sports. In my 30s, that's mostly been pick-up basketball, softball, kickball and volleyball.