Professional athletes do not have much in common with college students.
In fact, as I’m sitting here writing this, I realized that my lifestyle is nearly reciprocal to that of an athlete — I stopped playing competitive sports after rolling my ankle three times in recreational basketball. Nowadays, I would rather assist making dinner than assist a teammate driving to the basket.
Although many athletes might take their high school athletic abilities to the collegiate level, a small percentage will take their prodigal skills to a professional stage, while a majority of similarly aged people will attend a college or university and find their newfound lack of physical activity. I am a member of the latter.
It’s incredible, and at times melancholy, to witness the rise of star, 20-year-old athletes.
Anthony Davis dominated college hoops, earning an NCAA Championship with Kentucky, is an NBA player for the New Orleans Pelicans and played on the Olympic team. Davis is four days older than I am and the only thing we share in common besides our March birthdays is a prominent brow.
On Saturday, Connor Murphy played in his first NHL game for the Phoenix Coyotes, scoring within the first 25 minutes of play. On Saturday, I spent 25 minutes debating whether I should get off the couch and buy a pint of ice cream from CVS.
NHL center Tomas Hertl leads the San Jose Sharks in goals (12), while I lead my apartment roommates in the number of times I’ve gone to bed before 11 p.m.
PGA Tour Rookie of the Year Jordan Spieth won the John Deere Classic, placed second in two different PGA tournaments and finished fourth at the Deutsche Bank Championship. I couldn’t even make the cut in a video game version of the same golf course.
These college-aged athletes otherwise could be sitting next to me in an early-morning economics class. Yet, while I rest on my apartment’s La-Z-Boy with my feet blocking my view of these athletes performing at the highest levels, I cannot help but bask in the glory of similarly-aged athletes I could never fathom attaining.
ch115710@ohiou.edu
@ColinHanner
