If you could play any sport professionally, which team/era would you choose?

[SportsCentre]

NBA in the 60s
The Boston dynasty, Wilt vs Russell
Oscar Robertson, Bob Cousy
quaint stadiums, niche markets for a still niche sport
a real golden age of basketball feel to the NBA's tapestry

 

[HulkSmash]

NBA now, with a nine figure salary.
OR
Darts in the late 70s-early 80s when the likes of Eric Bristow and Bobby George ruled the scene. Not a lot of money but a lot of booze.

 

[NonPhixion]

NFL - 85 Chicago bears team

 

[Back One Out]

I couldn't think of a better life than being a pro surfer on the WSL tour. Those lucky bastards get paid big bucks (mostly from sponsorships) to fly around the world with their hot girlfriends in tow and chill out in exotic locations and surf as much (or as little) as they want.

Although they're competing against each other, there seems to be a great camaraderie. They're all best of mates living the dream; hanging out together in these remote far-flung places; away from cities & the crowds; catching waves; having a few beers afterwards; going on surf trip/photoshoots with each other in between contests. It's not a lonely, tough grind like pro tennis or golf.

Here's the contest schedule:

April - mid July:
(1) Gold Coast (2) Bells Beach (3) Margaret River (4) Bali (5) Rio (6) South Africa
[and then 1 month off]

late Aug - Oct:
(7) Tahiti (8) California (9) France (10) Portugal
[and then 2 months off]

December:
(11) Hawaii
[and then 3 months off]


There's a 2 week window for each contest where they have to be ready, but once the waves are up and it's a green light, then the contest takes about 5 days to complete. To reach the final, a surfer needs to win 5 heats - these are man-on-man duels where they have the best surf all to themselves for 30 minutes and catch half a dozen waves each.

Then it's onto the next contest 2-3 weeks later. And to prepare for each contest, they go surf for hours. That's their training.

It's not exactly an arduous schedule nor a taxing, demanding sport. Sure, they've got to stay in shape and they sometimes get injured, but they don't get crippled in their old age and require knee replacements like professional athletes from most other sports.

When they're not competing, Quicksilver, Red Bull or some other sponsor will get on the phone and say "Next week, we want to shoot a promo film of you & 3 buddies surfing in Fiji. We've chartered the boat... Here's your plane ticket". They get paid good money to go on what everyone else would class as a dream holiday. No wonder the pro surfers are all so relaxed and smiling all the time.