Of course it makes sense ... to you.

There is virtually nothing that can happen to us on a baseball field that is more painful than a jewel shot. A dull thud to the chest and the resultant soreness to the general chest area due to an inadequate soft shell is not even in the same area code as a jewel shot.

Oh, I'm sorry; that car thing really isn't a specious comparison. It's quite cogent, actually. Wow, you opened my eyes!

Okay, LDUB, now what do you think?

I guess I have different idea of what constitutes "floating".

I used to wear a compression short in which only the top of the cupholder was sewn, or attached. It floated, meaning it moved around considerably, especially behind the plate.

I now wear compression shorts in which the cup holder is sewn on all sides and stays firmly in place. I wear this both behind the plate and on the bases.

Regarding "risk/rewad"...anyone making the decision not to wear a cup on this basis, IMO, does not fulliy comprehend the risk. Losing a testical is a real and PAINFUL risk.

Try the Shock Doctor compression shorts. The cup stays where it belongs and floats along with your movements.

The point of the car example was less one comparability with a shot to one's gonads and more one of illustration about risk-reward trade offs; after all life is full of trade offs we all make every day.

Anyway, while maybe not more painful, a line drive to one's carotid artery could have more dire consequences, ie death. I choose not to wear a mask and a throat guard while I work the bases for lots of reasons you may or may not find humorous, but I risk death. (A man was killed recently at Lynchburg College in Virginia, when a batted ball struck him in the neck.) I find this trade off acceptable, however. I'm guessing, as do you. So, as humorous as you may find this example, it again makes the point that everyday choice often times requires trades of risk vs. reward.

And again, what exactly is the "reward?" I find no difference in mobility wearing one or not wearing one. At the HS level and up, I'm putting one in.

For all of you guys that are adamant that everyone wear a cup on the bases, you can come and check the rest of us before games if you're that worried about it. They're our balls, not yours, so who cares?

For anyone interested, the Nutty Buddy doesn't move hardly at all if worn properly. I wear boxer briefs, then the cup, then a regular jock strap over the top of it, then plain compression shorts with no pocket on the top. It's how they instruct you to wear it and it works very well.

You find no differnece; others do. That's the choice (i.e., "risk -reward") they make.

Like you, I choose to wear one.

Yeah!! Besides, real men go commando!!

:D

Another example could be the use of a hockey style mask. A standard mask as well as a hockey mask offer the same level of protection for a shot to the face. The hockey mask also protects the top, sides, and back of the head while the standard mask does not. Many people do not use the hockey mask even though the protection to the top, sides, and back of the head is far superior. For one reason or another many people prefer the standard mask. Parts of the head are left unprotected but the chances of getting hit in those areas are so low that many people don't feel the need to protect them.

It is the same thing with wearing a cup. For one reason or another many people don't like wearing one. They understand that the odds of them getting hit in the cup are so low that they don't feel the need to wear it.

Sorry to ride you, Tony.

I realize that there are other shots that could kill you or knock you cold, but they are all less painful than a split jewel.

Anyway, I cruise the L.A. freeways at between 75 and 80 m.p.h. every single day. I have taken street bikes up to 125 m.p.h. on the coast highway or the canyons and have woven through cars at 90 m.p.h. on freeways. And I have done performance driving in commercials. I absolutely love racing and driving the hell out of a good car. It's a riskier thing than going the limit, but I weigh it and do it.

I would still never go onto a baseball field to perform any function whatsoever without a cup. There is no measurable reward.

You find no reward; others do. That's the choice (i.e., "risk -reward") they make.

The issue is SOLELY about the degree of pain and damage a shot to the jewels causes. The odds of getting hit are irrelevant. If you get hit, it is intolerable, and can be horrifically injurious. If it were ankle or shin protection we were discussing, then that risk/reward thing and odds of getting hit would be relevant. There is ZERO tolerance to a jewel shot. So odds on getting hit are irrelevant.

The exit speed of a 90 m.p.h. fastball struck by a big slugger with a metal bat can reach 115 m.p.h. even at the H.S. level. I would say that a foot or head can move in time to avoid being struck. The center of one's body cannot.

Never suggested that there was a measurable reward, merely suggested that we make trade offs based on subjective evaluation. That's why we have aphorisms like "to each his own." The things that you do that are risky have no measurable reward either. They don't need to measurable.

As for what is the reward? Bob is right, just because you don't see a "reward" doesn't mean there isn't. Eg, a reward may be "I don't feel like a dork when I don't wear a cup on the bases and I do feel like a dork when I do." You don't have to agree with anyone's preferences, just understand that he has them and they may be different than yours.

Do you wear a cup when you walk down the street? I assume you don't. Of course you may get hit by some very fast moving hard object and it would be horrific as you say, but the odds of it happening are so so low that you don't do wear the cup. You've made the decision that the odds of getting hit are low enough for you to not wear the protection. Other people make that same decision on the baseball field when they chose to not wear a cup.