White men can jump!

[Parker 1st MRB]

Is Illinois College senior Jacob Tucker the world's best dunker under 6-feet tall? Watch and discuss amongst yourselves.

[Magoo]

I wonder how many people it took to clap and to kick the bleachers in unison to create that song.

And whatever the activity is that the kid with the ball is doing looks stupid.

[Parker 1st MRB]

Do you not know how hard it is to do that, especially if you're under 6 feet in height? Or do you only comprehend and appreciate video gaming?

[Magoo]

My personal ranking of major and non-major sports in order for most to least liked. This is how I feel about watching the sport just to be clear.

Tennis==baseball==MMA==football==hockey==golf==poker==rugby==lacrosse=

=bassmaster==boxing==nascar==cricket==horse racing==basketball==soccer

Sorry if my comment came across as insensitive to basketball lovers. I do like the song though.

[Parker 1st MRB]

No sweat, I hate nascar!

[Watkis]

Best dunker under 6 ft how about best dunker taller than nate robinson and shorter than dwight howard

[Gooderham 1st MRB]

That was insane.

[Sheneman 1st MRB]

that is one hell of a vertical jump. DAMN this kid should have been in the allstar dunk contest haha

[Viktor]

Lol @ under 6 feet. Hes 5'11" thats basically 6' Id like to see him go to iraq, then he can learn some real talent.

[Bunt]

Yeah the height thing isnt that off.. but all in all the kids got some ups.. and fucking dunks like a pro!

its badass.. ahha.. i used to be able to dunk pretty well but im 6"1' and never really played basketball

[Benson]

My personal ranking of major and non-major sports in order for most to least liked. This is how I feel about watching the sport just to be clear.

Tennis==baseball==MMA==football==hockey==golf==poker==rugby==lacrosse=

=bassmaster==boxing==nascar==cricket==horse racing==basketball==soccer

Sorry if my comment came across as insensitive to basketball lovers. I do like the song though.

I don't know how I feel about poker being called a sport.

How are they measuring his vert, cause his feet sure as shit aren't getting 50 inches off the ground. He's crazy athletic though I'll give him that.

[Doran]

omg white people can jump its like christmas!

[Magoo]

I don't know how I feel about poker being called a sport.

I ranked all the sports that were listed on ESPN's website. They consider it a sport.

[Hastings]

I ranked all the sports that were listed on ESPN's website. They consider it a sport.

Flipping cards or flipping a fly rod is not even physically demanding and shouldn't be considered a sport IMO..

Yeah I doubt that's 50 inches I mean I can do a 180 Dunk barely but im almost 6 foot 4. Randy Moss, fucking RANDY MOSS had like a 50.5-51 inch vert in the NFL combine... He is at least 40 but 50 is a big stretch.

[Goodwin 1st MRB]

That kid is a leaper for sure, pretty damned impressive.

While I don't care much for basketball these days (used to be a big sports fanatic all around until early-mid high school), it sure is impressive to see something like that.

You guys keep saying "well, he's basically 6' tall", well that doesn't matter. The guys you see in the NBA are 6'5"+ typically, they're all tall sons of bitches!

While you think 'well, 6" difference... that's not THAT much...', but go stand next to someone 6" taller than you and re-evaluate your thoughts.

Yea, that guy is short by NBA standards, and he's got a lot of ups.

I knew a guy in hS who was 6'6" (what I am now, but wasn't back as a freshman) - he had a vertical leap of less than 5". No lie. No matter how hard he tried to jump, he just failed. We'd always laugh about it because he was so tall but sucked so bad. I like playing pickup games of basketball, but don't like watching the NBA (or college).

Also, ESPN has sports all jacked up. Poker? Not a sport. Bassmaster? No way. They probably call Billiards a sport too! I know this could be hotly contested but... I don't even consider golf a sport. It's fun to do, and some guys are good at it, but it requires no real amount of skill like other sports.

[Hastings]

I don't even consider golf a sport. It's fun to do, and some guys are good at it, but it requires no real amount of skill like other sports.

Go out and try to shoot 10 under par and then tell me that it doesn't take skill.

[Goodwin 1st MRB]

Go out and try to shoot 10 under par and then tell me that it doesn't take skill.

I used to golf around a few times per year.

Been that way most of my life.

Took some lessons when I was a kid because I lived a mile from a golf course.

I can go out and shoot par, or there-abouts without too much issue. Somedays a bit better, some days worse. About 85% of the time, I shoot a stroke or two better every year I go. I'm not diminishing the skill it takes to shoot par on a professional level course with amazingly long par 5's, tricky landscapes, etc. But... on your average golf course, I'm your average close to par player. Not the best player on the links, but not the worst by a mile.

Also, muscle memory plays into golfers swing a ton. In fact I would guess their swing is about 90%+ of muscle memory, very little 'outside influence' to their swing except for maybe the lay of the ball in the grass on a hillside or something. Outside of their swing - really - what else is there? Wind? Lay of the course?

"Professional Golfers" get paid to golf 8 hours a day, every day.

They have to 'walk' the course - gee, tough. They hit a stationary ball, in the same manner they've hit hundreds of thousands of them over an entire lifetime of play, with a coach correcting their movements most of the way, so their muscles pretty much have it down pat. Their swing is virtually the same every time.

I'm left wondering how skilled do they have to be? If you paid virtually anyone, to practice golf as much as a professional does - they could do it. There's nothing 'special' about them, they just practice more than others.

Now, take a guy who hits a ball traveling at 95 mph, and has to hit it with enough force to completely redirect the movement of said ball (which is curving, and turning, and moving in the air) with a bat that is around the same size in width as that moving ball, and that batter can manage to 'place' that ball (which is moving, curving, going 95mph) to different areas of the field depending on best outcome for the team, or that batter has enough power to put it over the fence!

That requires muscle memory - yes, however it also requires amazing hand-eye coordination. Some people, if you have them bat every day, all day, they'll never get there. They simply can't do it - their brains aren't wired that way. There's really very little about a golf game that can't be learned/trained with enough practice. It can be pricey to play though, prohibiting most 'weekend warriors' to put in that time of play & practice required. There's a lot of factors as to why people are not professional golfers, none of which really have to do with skill.

Golf is on par with knitting really... once you learn the movements, and your body gets good at them (muscle memory) you become 'good'. Ta-da. You get 'faster' at knitting the more often you do it, you shoot a bit lower at golf the more you do it! It's the mans version of knitting!

[Cozad]

Go out and try to shoot 10 under par and then tell me that it doesn't take skill.

it also takes skill to play moonlight sonata on piano, but i don't think you'll see pianists lobbying to be called athletes anytime soon.

thats really the gray area in these debates most of the time. where do you draw the line between competitions and activities that have participants, and sports that have athletes. to me you have to have that combination of skill and athletic demands. golf just doesn't have that IMO. i have a pretty conservative definition of sports though. i kick out poker, golf, billiards, cheerleading, and pretty much every other gray area.

[Hastings]

I agree with those at the end of your post, dobbles. That being said, you can burn more calories jumping rope for a few minutes than in a whole baseball game. So, Goodwin, if the measure of a sport is the physical toughness and energy used, then Baseball is way behind Golf. Yes, hitting a baseball is the hardest thing for the average person to do, mostly because it is moving. But the thing about Golf is finesse. Anyone can hit a golf ball, it is hitting it with precision and correct technique that makes one good at it.

Edited March 14, 2011 by McGeough 1st MRB

[Cozad]

I agree with those at the end of your post, dobbles. That being said, you can burn more calories jumping rope for a few minutes than in a whole baseball game. So, Goodwin, if the measure of a sport is the physical toughness and energy used, then Baseball is way behind Golf. Yes, hitting a baseball is the hardest thing for the average person to do, mostly because it is moving. But the thing about Golf is finesse. Anyone can hit a golf ball, it is hitting it with precision and correct technique that makes one good at it.

in a way, you are kind of proving my point; jumping rope takes athletic ability but very little skill. its a task that is mastered by most everyone by age 5.

conversely, baseball requires a lot of skill and an above average amount of physical ability. the physical ability is always tough when you had guys like cecil fielder that did so well. but overall baseball does require athletic ability in general.

[Hastings]

Whatever I'm not going to argue