5 things I learned from losing to pro athletes

Ever since joining For The Win last year, I have discovered something important.

I am a glutton for punishment.

Specifically, I've been invited a few times to face off with a pro athlete in their respective sport, and each of those times, I've walked away with a loss. More importantly, I also walked away learning a lesson or two.

Mind you, never once did I go in thinking I would defeat the pros in their sport. I am a sportswriter, not someone who has spent decades honing and crafting my game. But when I'm offered the chance to play against a current or former pro, of course I'm going to give it my best shot.

Here's what I've learned, along with some video proof of my failures.

1. No, you can't beat pro athletes at their sport

Let's call this the Brian Scalabrine Rule.

Back in 2013, the ex-journeyman was tired of people thinking they could beat him in hoops, so he took on challengers and shellacked them.

This applies to my experience with Matt Bonner, who had a much better career than Scalabrine's. I had the distinct pleasure of playing the former San Antonio Spur in H-O-R-S-E while he was in New York City to promote Futuro brand athletic braces and products.

Now, I didn't come in thinking I could beat Bonner, who had retired a year earlier and who told me he barely plays basketball anymore because of the toll the game took on his body. My goal was the same that it was when I played Knicks star Kristaps Porzingis in the same game: Get just one letter.

Guess what? You're not getting a letter off Matt Bonner. You're not coming close to beating him in anything, even though he's been out of the NBA for a year.

This is a dude who can casually spot up and hit from beyond the arc - something he did to the tune of 41.4 percent in his 12-year career - without much exertion. Like this:

So yeah: Don't even think for one second you could beat a pro like Bonner, or Scalabrine, or anyone who played a sport professionally, no matter what role they play on their team or the ranking they have.

2. No, you can't come close to beating an athlete at their sport

This is slightly different than above. Remember that thing I said about trying to get a letter off Bonner and Porzingis (which I failed at both times)? Let's apply that to my experience playing a quick closest-to-the-pin contest with golfer Adam Scott, who stopped by NYC after the U.S. Open to promote his line of apparel from Uniqlo.

We were on the top floor of Manhattan's Chelsea Piers golf range, and Scott pointed to a "green" that was marked at 115 yards away. He had taken a few practice swings earlier in the day, but he hadn't swung in a little while. I had just spent a half an hour hitting like crazy, including at what ended up being our target.

Here's what the view looked like. We hit right at that big rectangular light green patch straight down the middle:

I hit a ball to the right, Scott missed long. I went long the next time. Scott answered with a beautiful shot that landed short of the green and rolled right on, what appeared to be about 15 feet from the pin.

I clubbed down to the gap wedge Scott was using and hit a ball that landed on the green … and rolled off.

The point here is this: Adam Scott can walk up to a driving range and hit a spot with ease. There's no way you're coming close to beating him in anything.

3. Athlete equipment is so much better than yours

Speaking of Scott's clubs: The Aussie was kind enough to let me use his clubs for our contest. I normally hit my terrible starter set pitching wedge about 100 yards. A ball I hit with his gap wedge from all the way up where we were landed at about 130. I know, you have to account for the fact that we were six floors up, but that's still ridiculous.

4. Athletes have trick shots up their sleeves

Here's what Porzingis pulled off last year: