Reasonable price for an Olympic medal (G/S/B not participation)

[steve B]

Originally Posted by Michael B

You could probably hit an 80mph fastball easier than a target the size of a dime at 25 m with an air pistol.

Funny you'd use that as the example, as I've tried both. Actually, a faster fastball.

Batting cage at a facility open to the public, but used by the local minor league team. Threw around 90.

Almost no chance at all. all I saw for 40 pitches was the ball leaving the arm a blur halfway and heard the thump as it hit the padded backstop. Last pitch I got a touch on. Just enough to hear a slight ping, didn't even change the direction of the ball. The guy I suspect was a minor leaguer said I should go another round of pitches, but I said I was happy just having gotten a touch on one pitch on 40. Totally changed my outlook on even the worst major leaguers.

I used to do a bit of shooting with a couple friends of mine, maybe once a year. Tried a real target pistol, not air rifle, not the same level as the truly custom made stuff the world class people use but custom and very nice. Didn't do half bad. Got a couple on the dime sized center ring, and none of the others were horribly far off. got them all in maybe the space of a baseball sized area. But since my friends have done some competing I know for sure that getting from a "not at all bad for a beginner" score that would work out to maybe a 50 on a good day to even a barely competitive score is really difficult. Getting to the level of having a shot in world class competition? insanely hard since you need the ability, the dedication and time, and lots of coaching and support.

My approach to learning sports I don't know is to occasionally find someone who knows the sport and is halfway decent at it. And find a way to give it a try if at all possible. That's less doable as I get older, but trying a sport really gives you a feel for it that you just can't get on the couch.

I used to say figure skating can't be a sport as there's no ball, and nothing gets hit with a stick. After the whole Harding/Kerrigan thing I called a friend who was really into skating and told her that I had apparently been wrong about skating.

Steve B