Most of my adult life I’ve enjoyed some kind of success in sports, and it’s fun to appear successful. But I’ve always been aware that the success was mostly due to doing my sports when they were in their less-than-universal stages. The word “fringe” might even be applicable.
I have to say: If you’re in it for your ego, that sounds like the way to do it but that’s not the way to do it. Fringe sports that are worth a damn don’t stay fringe for too long. More and more people will catch on, and at best you’ll find yourself the same-size fish in a much more crowded pond. Best that you’re there for the pond itself, not your place in it.
I say that, but I have a history of jumping from pond to pond. A pond can only get so crowded before the very nature of the pond changes. Or maybe I just have no attention span, or no patience for diminishing returns. Or it’s possible that I keep looking for ways to stay on top and pad my ego, but if that’s the case, ending up focusing on swimming was a really dumb move. There’s never been anything new about swimming, and I am a herring among orca in terms of skill, and an orca among herring in terms of number. True, I didn’t get into swimming to swim in a pool. I got into it to survive triathlons, and then got into my more dedicated state to do long, cold, open-water swims, which did put me into the smaller crowds I was used to.
But open-water swimming is growing like mad, too, now. And so is cold-water swimming. That won’t hurt my ego, because I was never anywhere near the front of that pack. And I don’t think the nature of the sport is likely to change, because I just don’t see it attracting more than a certain amount of people, and they tend to be the kind of suffer-for-your-fun people I like a lot, especially if I stick to the corners where wetsuits aren’t welcome. But lord, they’re leaving me behind. That’s all right. A bus that small accelerates fast, but it’s also maneuverable enough to circle around and make sure I’m still doing OK. I’m fine if I’m in the water a little longer. What’s the difference? Because, in the big picture, I just don’t see myself ever getting out.
Bilan over 5 years ago
I do hope he was talking metaphorically about the bus.
starfighter441 over 5 years ago
A very short bus, with well licked windows I suspect…
M2MM over 5 years ago
I’d say an ambulance rather than a bus.
pony21 Premium Member over 5 years ago
You can have my seat.
asrialfeeple over 5 years ago
You think you were doing pretty great, then realised you weren’t even warming up.
sandpiper over 5 years ago
It’s difficult to be first at something ‘slightly’ crazy nowadays.
unfair.de over 5 years ago
A bus that will stop eventually at the hospitals, and with the final destination asylum
cervelo over 5 years ago
“Ice swimming”, fairly counter intuitive as a phrase…
lagoulou over 5 years ago
“Shiver me timbers!”
rlaker22j over 5 years ago
Taking selfies at the Grand canyon and then falling off the ledge be the first in your neighborhood
Night-Gaunt49[Bozo is Boffo] over 5 years ago
PostsFrazz14 hrs ·
Most of my adult life I’ve enjoyed some kind of success in sports, and it’s fun to appear successful. But I’ve always been aware that the success was mostly due to doing my sports when they were in their less-than-universal stages. The word “fringe” might even be applicable.
I have to say: If you’re in it for your ego, that sounds like the way to do it but that’s not the way to do it. Fringe sports that are worth a damn don’t stay fringe for too long. More and more people will catch on, and at best you’ll find yourself the same-size fish in a much more crowded pond. Best that you’re there for the pond itself, not your place in it.
I say that, but I have a history of jumping from pond to pond. A pond can only get so crowded before the very nature of the pond changes. Or maybe I just have no attention span, or no patience for diminishing returns. Or it’s possible that I keep looking for ways to stay on top and pad my ego, but if that’s the case, ending up focusing on swimming was a really dumb move. There’s never been anything new about swimming, and I am a herring among orca in terms of skill, and an orca among herring in terms of number. True, I didn’t get into swimming to swim in a pool. I got into it to survive triathlons, and then got into my more dedicated state to do long, cold, open-water swims, which did put me into the smaller crowds I was used to.
Night-Gaunt49[Bozo is Boffo] over 5 years ago
But open-water swimming is growing like mad, too, now. And so is cold-water swimming. That won’t hurt my ego, because I was never anywhere near the front of that pack. And I don’t think the nature of the sport is likely to change, because I just don’t see it attracting more than a certain amount of people, and they tend to be the kind of suffer-for-your-fun people I like a lot, especially if I stick to the corners where wetsuits aren’t welcome. But lord, they’re leaving me behind. That’s all right. A bus that small accelerates fast, but it’s also maneuverable enough to circle around and make sure I’m still doing OK. I’m fine if I’m in the water a little longer. What’s the difference? Because, in the big picture, I just don’t see myself ever getting out.