rousseau

That's a joke, by the way. But the CFL is bush league. My favourite story? A few years ago a second-string quarterback from Nebraska or somewhere didn't show up for training camp with a CFL team, and the team and media got to wondering where he was. When they found him, he said his dad's roofing business was doing pretty well, so he was going to stay there and do roofing!

Hmmm....play quarterback in the CFL or do roofing? Tough choice!

It is amazing how exhausting boxing is. I put on the gloves once and starting dancing around like Ali...for five seconds. After a minute of sparring I was wiped.

I think cycling is probably second toughest in the world. My guess is that first would be football. The pace is punishing--45 minutes of non-stop jogging interspersed with intense bursts of speed, difficult footwork and 360-degree strategy on the go.

rousseau

The thing with gridiron/"football" is that there's only 17 seconds of actual action in a game, so you get lots of time to rest and chat with your teammates in the huddle.

Pilsley

American football is a bit of an anomaly in sports. The teams are so large & diverse it's possible to have two completely different physiological athletes on the same team, playing the same game. Albeit providing entirely different roles. Similar to a diverse TDF cycling team, but much more extreme.

American football however is not considered a truly 'tough' sport! When it's compared to its derivative activity - rugby. The 4 base fitness elements required, & individual strain on the body doesn't matchup.. Those rugger players are a pretty tough breed!

I like darts. The motor skill requirements are outlandish!

NathanL

The only I know about I'm sure I'll be made fun of for knowing but here goes.

A professional NASCAR driver with a multi year contract (IE not someone who is stepping in for a race or two or is an up and cummer) gets 40% to 50% of the purse payout for each race. Race payout can vary for each race with the Daytona 500 paying over $1 million to win to an average race paying $75,000 to finish last, with the average being about $100k-$125k season long. Endoresements are on a contract basis and it varies wildly in how popular the driver is.

Professional bass fisherman get 100% of the purse and it can vary from not a lot to over $1 million to win the classic. Boat deals are normally tiered. Top tier guys get a free boat or multiple boats and allowed to sell them when they get new ones (typically each year for top tier fisherman) the boats they are selling even used are going for $30k or more each. Lesser tier guys get boats at cost or below cost/discount and are allowed to sell them at the end of the contract/year for still a good profit margin. Normally they will have someone contracted to buy the boat a year down the road the day they take delivery of it.

colombo357

Straight male pornstars are paid extremely poorly but do it for the love of the sport. It's a tough life.

cod.peace

Clearly you've never boxed. Tell you what, you go for a hard bike ride, maybe pick up a little road rash, suffer on a climb or two. Then go into a ring with a boxer who's going to punch you in the kidneys enough to make you piss blood for days, right before he beats you unconscious - all in the space of a few minutes. Then come back and tell us which is tougher. Boxing is considered more dangerous than MMA due to the much higher amount of punches to the head (due to gloves protecting the hands from the skull). The reason pro cyclists can suffer for 3 weeks in the TdF is because the actual sport is not destroying their bodies the way high-impact ones do.

An alternative metric: at the end of their careers, what sort of physical shape are they in? Tennis, golf, cycling - all seem to be mobile and lucid. Boxers, NFL players, ehhh....not so much.

LowCel 

Have you ever read Bob Roll's book? Might change your mind about that.

carpediemracing 

I have a friend that raced as a Cat 2 for a while. He's quit the racing, still rides, is in the bike industry. Used to box. He said racing was a breeze compared to beating the living cr*p out of each other for a few minutes at a time (and he used full head padding).

I had a few long talks with domestic pro team staff folks at a few lucky chance meetings.

Typically a new pro will get $7-10k a year. YEAR! One staffer told me that the lower paid racers will ask for various things each month, like food bars, drink mixes, etc, and they sell them to make some money. This was a strong domestic pro team, winning a lot, and the winnings (split among racers/staff) accounted for another $10-15k a year.

A good team mechanic apparently makes $30-50k/year (domestic pro).

One team, after it folded, sold its bikes to cover the losses.

Usually the riders have to pay for their bikes. One domestic pro team supplied 2 bikes (race/train) plus a TT bike. The riders could buy the bikes at the end of the year for a low sum ($500-700). I can't remember if the group was included. Wheels ditto, training wheels were the riders' but the nice wheels stay with the team.

Racers get a LOT of kits annually. One team got 60+ kits for the year - you could use a new kit every 5 days. Fewer is normal. Teams control distribution so that the racer doesn't put all his kits on eBay. Then, in August, he'll be out of kits because he sold 50 of his kits.

Some relatively big name (in the US) team budgets run about $100k annually. $250-500k is more like it. After that you're in the big time. This is for the director, mechanic, any other staff (soigneur etc), and racers. I can't imagine trying to run a team for $100k a year, even if the equipment was free (bikes, cars, racks, kits, etc). Travel/gas, hotel rooms, food on the road, entry fees... It adds up quickly.

I think it would be interesting to see riders' salaries, even anonymously ("x number of racers in the domestic pro teams make under $10k/year. y number makes $10-20k." etc).

cdr

Yaniel

I don't know if he gets a salary for racing from Radio Shack, but I'm pretty sure he raced for Astana last year pro bono. Of course he makes buckets of cash from endorsement deals.


and those laughing at $70k a year. I'll happily take 70k a year to ride my friggin bicycle.

ahsposo 

I don't know. I did all right.

banerjek

A more apt comparison is how lucid they ended up compared to when they started their careers...

SteelerHoo

not truly tough?? what the heck are you talking about? your ignorance is glowingly evident.

so predictable that rugby & aussie rules fans insist their sport is tougher than american football because of the lack of pads.

they never understand that you can't tackle somebody consistently american football style without shoulder pads and/or a helmet.

if you want to understand how much 'protection' the pads give you, do a bit of research on the avg. career length and deterioration profile (mental and physical) of an NFL running back.

Pilsley

Did I mention Pads, or being/not being a fan? Understand fitness & comparable physical activity & you will understand the statement.

I chuck darts mate. I'm as tough as nails

hopsing08

my fiance' dad is a pro golfer, not even on the tour. but he manages a few golf courses in Mexico and makes well over 300k with bonus'

ultraman6970

TIme to learn golf then!!!!

ahsposo 

Too late if you aren't there already.

But hey, try it. You might like it and have natural talent.

mitty2328

I have a friend who does this. My crashes in both cycling(racing) and downhill skiing(racing) have actually been far worse than any of his crashes during a moto race. Not saying its not dangerous but it isn't to bad with all the pads they have.

Yaniel

a lot of guys that I know that race motorcycles have actually said the crashes can be fun. you usually just slide with all the gear on, get up, and if the bike still works you keep on riding. Not that at times the crashes aren't worse, but even the tiniest crash on a bike will result in road rash, with the worst bicycle crash being just as bad as the worst motorcycle crash.

patentcad

Why would anyone box?

hopsing08

Its not too late to be pro, its too late to be on the Tour, but he could still become pro and do private lessons. still good money for being on a golf course all day...I could think of worse places.

patentcad

Well, I think it's pathetic, but not as pathetic as the NY Mets ownership. If Wilpon sponsored a TdF team, his GC boy would have a 4 minute lead going onto the Champs and he'd cramp and lose the Tour on the last day.

nitropowered

I worked for a domestic pro team for a while, and before they were truly UCI pro team. The riders didn't get paid but got free bikes, kits, etc big race entry fees paid and most of the travel. Me the mechanic worked long hours for prize money split

mitty2328

That had to be a really cool experience though. On topic, i would love to make 40-70k for riding my bike. Especially if my wife(assuming i had one) was making money too. I don't think life would be to bad at all.

patentcad

I really don't think a Cat 2, no matter what their experience, can really comment accurately on how difficult it would be to race in the UCI in Europe as a pro. The pros MUST ride in all kinds of unbelievable conditions if they want to keep their jobs, over courses in weather that Cat 2s rarely if ever contend with. Euro racing is a zillion times harder in many respects than domestic racing for all kinds of reasons. Now throw in the BEST pros on the planet. Now throw in the Alps or the Dolomites. Now throw in gnarly courses coming into town in the middle of the 38 mph lead out train. Bike racing on any level is hard, on the UCI level it's ultra hard and very dangerous indeed.

Hey, go to the video tape and watch the first week of this year's Tour de France. Utter carnage.

NathanC

He said 'straight'...