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Originally Posted by The Return of the 'nut
I like to think about putting a player in another player's shoes. Hockey players.....well, to be honest, I cant see them playing much else successfully.
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It's the other way around, friend... put any among professional: basketball players, baseball players, football players, soccer players, track and field types, etc on skates and tell them to give it a go.
A large majority (even those who have skated a number of times in their life) would quickly become frustrated trying to merely balance themselves as they attempt keep pace, turn, pivot, etc. The VAST majority would find it all but impossible to skate and manuever as noted above, while simultaneously keeping their head up, the puck on their blade... keeping it away from other players, getting passes off without hesitating, hitting that player's tape with that pass... much less getting into scoring position, much less scoring.
Nor would they be able to skate backwards with laterla mobility, without falling on their ass every 3 seconds. If you think otherwise I can only suggest you've never put on the equipment, laced em up and tried it yourself. Skating around the rink in lazy circles during disco night is something unrelated to the sport of hockey.
OTOH, I sincerely believe many hockey players would find that basketball, soccer (in particular) and the fielding positions in baseball, would come easily compared to the amount of toil they put into becoming a competitive hockey player. Obviously, hitting a baseball would be difficult for anyone in any sport, if they'd never done much of it before.
And let's be clear: I'm talking about playing at a high level here. I'm not talking about being able to hold a stick in your hand and swipe at the puck going by, as your ankles buckle inward while your buddy snaps a picture of you for ammo at the bar.
Even so, I did not mean to imply that being a professional orrsman is an *easy* thing; I'm just saying the ability to become a competant rower (say at the high school or college level) is relatively easy when compared to the number and type of skills that must be mastered to become a competant hockey player, quarterback, or pitcher at the same level. You can take that or leave it of course; I suspect most who've played a variety of sports will agree with me though.