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State of our former QB, Aaron Rodgers
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<blockquote data-quote="Thirteen Below" data-source="post: 1061892" data-attributes="member: 18006"><p>I can relate to that; but with me it was/is hockey. I was still playing well into my 50s when I lived in the Twin Cities, and (to my surprise) pretty competitively. My conditioning was good, because I'd been a bicycle racer and 300-400 mile a week recreational rider well into my 40s until I developed a type of arthritis in my kneecap that was badly exacerbated by bicycling, and often hiked 40 miles or more per week on hilly terrain when i had to give up bicycles.</p><p></p><p>I'd obviously lost some speed, and some quickness (not always the same thing), but made up for a lot of that with experience and <em>mental </em>quickness<em>.</em> I played pickup games at Lake of the Isles in Minneapolis and Lake Phalen in St. Paul several nights a week, with guys sometimes half my age, and I don't think any of them saw me as a liability if we happened to be on the same team. </p><p></p><p>There was another fellow about 10 years older than I that played pretty regularly at both lakes, and they usually split us up, one "old guy" per team. But on the nights that we wound up playing together, we got a lot of surprised "whoas!!" from the kids when we connected on a play. That felt pretty good, although it was a big dropoff from back in the late 70s and early 80s when I sometimes played with some of the members of the "Miracle on Ice" team at Bloomington Ice Gardens.</p><p></p><p>Of course they were orders of magnitude better than I was, and had to throttle back quite a ways for some of us, but hell.... I was still playing with them, you know? I can remember like it was last night the time Neal Broten couldn't help himself, and positively undressed me with a move that I literally could not even <em>see </em>in real time. Up until a few years ago, I still exchanged Christmas cards every year with Phil Verchota. </p><p></p><p>Anyway, point is I could still play reasonably competitively in my 50s - just a different style of game. That's easier to do in hockey than baseball or softball. And I really believe I would still be playing if I hadn't moved to Kentucky to marry Amy.</p><p></p><p>But I can not deny I miss the feeling of playing at a really high level. </p><p></p><p>Bicycle racing, too.... damn, I remember the feeling of being in the groove; like I was just one with the bicycle.... I remember times that every single thing was perfectly synchronized, and my legs were like pistons, pumping down and pulling up, over and over again, my breathing in perfect harmony with the pedal strokes, my trunk twisting with each stroke, pulling upward on the bars to deliver maximum force on the alternating downstrokes, like I was more of a machine than a human... rocketing down hills at well over 45 MPH, hitting and holding 35 MPH on level roads, and seeing out of the corner of my eye the faces of the people going past me in cars.... just feeling like a machine that breathed in and out and pumped up and down.....</p><p></p><p>I'm not going to say I don't miss it, but my life is about different things now. I regret that I can no longer do that, but more than anything I'm grateful that I have the clear memories of having done it when I was able. At 67, I fear more than anything the loss of those memories; I hope that as I age, I can still enjoy savoring those longago experiences. </p><p></p><p>Oh - and Amy and I have been to Kentucky Horse Park several times, and I do recall seeing John henry in about 05 or 06. And just ambling through the pasture, grazing on the grass, I was struck by how he projected a casual air of "I'm John Henry... and you're not." Just majestic.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Thirteen Below, post: 1061892, member: 18006"] I can relate to that; but with me it was/is hockey. I was still playing well into my 50s when I lived in the Twin Cities, and (to my surprise) pretty competitively. My conditioning was good, because I'd been a bicycle racer and 300-400 mile a week recreational rider well into my 40s until I developed a type of arthritis in my kneecap that was badly exacerbated by bicycling, and often hiked 40 miles or more per week on hilly terrain when i had to give up bicycles. I'd obviously lost some speed, and some quickness (not always the same thing), but made up for a lot of that with experience and [I]mental [/I]quickness[I].[/I] I played pickup games at Lake of the Isles in Minneapolis and Lake Phalen in St. Paul several nights a week, with guys sometimes half my age, and I don't think any of them saw me as a liability if we happened to be on the same team. There was another fellow about 10 years older than I that played pretty regularly at both lakes, and they usually split us up, one "old guy" per team. But on the nights that we wound up playing together, we got a lot of surprised "whoas!!" from the kids when we connected on a play. That felt pretty good, although it was a big dropoff from back in the late 70s and early 80s when I sometimes played with some of the members of the "Miracle on Ice" team at Bloomington Ice Gardens. Of course they were orders of magnitude better than I was, and had to throttle back quite a ways for some of us, but hell.... I was still playing with them, you know? I can remember like it was last night the time Neal Broten couldn't help himself, and positively undressed me with a move that I literally could not even [I]see [/I]in real time. Up until a few years ago, I still exchanged Christmas cards every year with Phil Verchota. Anyway, point is I could still play reasonably competitively in my 50s - just a different style of game. That's easier to do in hockey than baseball or softball. And I really believe I would still be playing if I hadn't moved to Kentucky to marry Amy. But I can not deny I miss the feeling of playing at a really high level. Bicycle racing, too.... damn, I remember the feeling of being in the groove; like I was just one with the bicycle.... I remember times that every single thing was perfectly synchronized, and my legs were like pistons, pumping down and pulling up, over and over again, my breathing in perfect harmony with the pedal strokes, my trunk twisting with each stroke, pulling upward on the bars to deliver maximum force on the alternating downstrokes, like I was more of a machine than a human... rocketing down hills at well over 45 MPH, hitting and holding 35 MPH on level roads, and seeing out of the corner of my eye the faces of the people going past me in cars.... just feeling like a machine that breathed in and out and pumped up and down..... I'm not going to say I don't miss it, but my life is about different things now. I regret that I can no longer do that, but more than anything I'm grateful that I have the clear memories of having done it when I was able. At 67, I fear more than anything the loss of those memories; I hope that as I age, I can still enjoy savoring those longago experiences. Oh - and Amy and I have been to Kentucky Horse Park several times, and I do recall seeing John henry in about 05 or 06. And just ambling through the pasture, grazing on the grass, I was struck by how he projected a casual air of "I'm John Henry... and you're not." Just majestic. [/QUOTE]
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