# What games/sports are you really good at? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [September 1, 2016, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-games-sports-are-you-really-good-at/764648 "2016-09-01T13:13:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-games-sports-are-you-really-good-at/764648/1 "2016-09-01T13:13:27Z")
I used to be very good at a rather obscure flight-simulator game called F-22 Air Dominance Fighter, made by a company called DID. It was a 1990s game and basically featured F-22 combat and other missions set in the Red Sea/Horn of Africa region. I played that game and got really familiar with it until the passage of time meant that newer computers couldn’t handle the 1990s software anymore. I also was pretty good at the 2006 Madden NFL for PC game and played it well enough to be able to map out certain play sequences for scoring drives in my mind in coach mode while playing against the PC - until, again, my computer decided it didn’t want to allow the game to run on the PC without crashing. What games or sports are you really good at? ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-games-sports-are-you-really-good-at/764648/2 "2016-09-01T14:55:42Z")
I play cribbage at a tournament level. I flirted with being the number 1 player when Yahoo games was popular. The weird part is I’m good at singles but suck at doubles. ---
**Author:** ![Kiros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/439d5e/32.png) [@Kiros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiros)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-games-sports-are-you-really-good-at/764648/3 "2016-09-01T16:36:32Z")
I was really good at soccer in high school, but the quality of play in CT high school soccer fifteen years ago wasn’t exactly world-breaking. I was **really** good at Warcraft 3 when I was in college, to the point of winning some local and regional tournaments. But this was still well before the point that you’d drop out of college to pursue an e-sports career… thankfully! I was a world-class DPS in several MMOs (basically all of the early stuff with raiding that wasn’t WoW - never liked WoW enough to put the time into it). You’ll note a lot of past-tense there. These days, I’m pretty good at turn based strategy, I don’t have time for MMOs, and I can hold my own in most adult-league sports (I actively play soccer, flag football, basketball, and tennis). I don’t approach “really good” at any of those except maybe turn based strategy. Being in your 30s is over the hill at this stuff. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-games-sports-are-you-really-good-at/764648/4 "2016-09-01T16:45:14Z")
I’m good at disc golf, but I don’t play very often. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-games-sports-are-you-really-good-at/764648/5 "2016-09-01T16:57:29Z")
I’m good at Trivial Pursuit and euchre. I used to be good at Boggle, but not so much now. I also used to have a weird claim to fame as a great dunking booth thrower. I was also a good dunkee as I am quite obnoxious, which will shock no one. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-games-sports-are-you-really-good-at/764648/6 "2016-09-01T17:26:01Z")
I’m awesome at Super Mario Bros. 3. ---
**Author:** ![Doyle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doyle/32/439_2.png) [@Doyle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doyle)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-games-sports-are-you-really-good-at/764648/7 "2016-09-01T19:17:31Z")
Ping pong. Also, my golf handicap is around 5. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-games-sports-are-you-really-good-at/764648/8 "2016-09-01T20:07:24Z")
That’s a low handicap. I guess it depends what you mean by “good.” I was a decent ballplayer but would never have sniffed the majors. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-games-sports-are-you-really-good-at/764648/9 "2016-09-01T21:44:03Z")
I’m pretty darn good at spelling type games - Scrabble, Words with Friends, that kind of thing. (One of my favorite variations is called [UpWords](http://www.hasbro.com/en-us/product/upwords-game:9A08F4FA-5056-9047-F579-CEB2A5832D7A)). I don’t play them competitively, though, mostly because I have some nits to pick with words that are considered acceptable in the various dictionaries. Starting at the top, aa is not a word. a’a is a word - which should be disallowed by virtue of being 1) non-English and 2) containing an apostrophe. It’s there in the Scrabble dictionary for some stupid reason, though. Go ahead and use it if your conscience allows you to. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-games-sports-are-you-really-good-at/764648/10 "2016-09-01T22:02:54Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > I’m pretty darn good at spelling type games - Scrabble, Words with Friends, that kind of thing. (One of my favorite variations is called [UpWords](http://www.hasbro.com/en-us/product/upwords-game:9A08F4FA-5056-9047-F579-CEB2A5832D7A)). > > I don’t play them competitively, though, mostly because I have some nits to pick with words that are considered acceptable in the various dictionaries. Starting at the top, aa is not a word. a’a is a word - which should be disallowed by virtue of being 1) non-English and 2) containing an apostrophe. It’s there in the Scrabble dictionary for some stupid reason, though. Go ahead and use it if your conscience allows you to. My conscience is fine in using “aa.” Not only because I’ve actually seen it in print spelled like that to refer to the lava, but because doesn’t every scrabble game come with a 2-letter word list? The edition I had did. If you can’t be arsed to memorize the legal 2-letter plays, I have no pity for you. When I played with British friends, “QI” was in this two-letter list, but was not (at the time, I believe it is now) on the American Scrabble edition. Of course we played with it. Part of the game is memorizing what plays are legal under the rules you are playing. It’s not really a vocabulary game. ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-games-sports-are-you-really-good-at/764648/11 "2016-09-01T22:18:03Z")
> [@racer72](#): > > I play cribbage at a tournament level. I flirted with being the number 1 player when Yahoo games was popular. The weird part is I’m good at singles but suck at doubles. Just curious, but how can anyone be really good at cribbage? Once you know the rules it seems pretty simple. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-games-sports-are-you-really-good-at/764648/12 "2016-09-01T22:28:23Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > My conscience is fine in using “aa.” Not only because I’ve actually seen it in print spelled like that to refer to the lava, but because doesn’t every scrabble game come with a 2-letter word list? The edition I had did. If you can’t be arsed to memorize the legal 2-letter plays, I have no pity for you. When I played with British friends, “QI” was in this two-letter list, but was not (at the time, I believe it is now) on the American Scrabble edition. Of course we played with it. Part of the game is memorizing what plays are legal under the rules you are playing. It’s not really a vocabulary game. I know how many of them annoy me _because_ I know all of them. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-games-sports-are-you-really-good-at/764648/13 "2016-09-01T23:10:47Z")
> [@sitchensis](#): > > Just curious, but how can anyone be really good at cribbage? Once you know the rules it seems pretty simple. The rules are simple, and there is a lot of variance in that a beginner can beat a pro based on fortuitous cards, but there is a lot of skill to the game such that a pro in the long run would beat lesser players consistently. It’s a deeper game than appears on the surface. I’d compare it maybe to backgammon in terms of the skill-luck dynamic, with backgammon perhaps being a smidge more skillful, but it feels close to me. (Both games I love greatly.) ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-games-sports-are-you-really-good-at/764648/14 "2016-09-01T23:58:11Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > My conscience is fine in using “aa.” Not only because I’ve actually seen it in print spelled like that to refer to the lava, but because doesn’t every scrabble game come with a 2-letter word list? The edition I had did. If you can’t be arsed to memorize the legal 2-letter plays, I have no pity for you. When I played with British friends, “QI” was in this two-letter list, but was not (at the time, I believe it is now) on the American Scrabble edition. Of course we played with it. Part of the game is memorizing what plays are legal under the rules you are playing. It’s not really a vocabulary game. Which is how a [non-Francophone New Zealand-born Malaysian](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/jul/21/new-french-scrabble-champion-nigel-richards-doesnt-speak-french)ended up becoming the French scrabble champion. I’m not \*really \*good at any sports or games (I interpret really good as being competitive at a club level - ie one of the best in your town/suburb say) hell I’m not even household champion at many… ---
**Author:** ![markdash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@markdash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markdash)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2016, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-games-sports-are-you-really-good-at/764648/15 "2016-09-02T00:15:03Z")
Magic: The Gathering. At one point in the middle of a tournament, I was ranked in the top ~25 in one of the major formats. At my peak I was somewhere around the top 500-1000 players in the world. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2016, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-games-sports-are-you-really-good-at/764648/16 "2016-09-02T00:34:34Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > That’s a low handicap. > > I guess it depends what you mean by “good.” I was a decent ballplayer but would never have sniffed the majors. Good point. Let’s say that “good” means that in any 10 randomly gathered players of that game, you’d probably be the best. (I’m not sure I could claim to be good by my own definition, now…) ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2016, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-games-sports-are-you-really-good-at/764648/17 "2016-09-02T00:43:32Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > That’s a low handicap. > > I guess it depends what you mean by “good.” I was a decent ballplayer but would never have sniffed the majors. I was a decent ballplayer too, and toured southwestern Ontario for a few years with a team from Sarnia. I couldn’t have been a bat boy in the majors though. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2016, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-games-sports-are-you-really-good-at/764648/18 "2016-09-02T01:53:26Z")
I used to be seriously into target shooting, especially Free Pistol (aka 50-Meter pistol). I once competed in the Olympic trials for this event, where I finished 5th (out of about 12). That may sound a bit better than it was: only one shooter was selected to the US team. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2016, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-games-sports-are-you-really-good-at/764648/19 "2016-09-02T01:54:21Z")
I had a very good curling league in the spring; figured out a few problems in my delivery and finished third in the Wednesday night league. I’m anxious to see if I can keep that going. I’m not even one of the best at my club, but if you picked some random people off the street I think I could take 'em. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2016, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-games-sports-are-you-really-good-at/764648/20 "2016-09-02T02:57:03Z")
Baseball, 30 years ago. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-games-sports-are-you-really-good-at/764648.md?page=2)