The Luck Factor

For example, when could bad luck become good luck ?

Yes.

Thanks for the post 17Riley. --- Let us take Justin Bieber as example as I do have a couple of minor items in common with him. We both come from rather modest backgrounds and also from broken homes. Yet I was fortunate enough to have had the " bad luck " to not be able to sing for a living. But was that not in this case " good luck " for me when we look at all of the problems Bieber had in trying to adjust to his fame and wealth while crossing over from his teenyears into adult life. Like a lot of people I had to work at the adjustment of going into my 20's but not too many people took any notice of course. Poor " rich kid " Justin could not even go to the washroom to take a dump without causing a riot.  

By now most of us have heard about the former pro-basketball player who got on drugs and later passed out at a cat-house in Nevada ( ended up going to a hospital I gather ). So where was the bad luck in this case ? Perhaps it started by having enough talent to go to the NBA and get into that fast life-style. Or maybe it was the shock that occured when it was all over and the former star had to return to the " real world ? " 

Being born in America is both bad luck and good luck.

Thanks for the post 17Riley.   ---   I'm not sure how long this fellow played in the NBA but to even get that far is quite impressive.  Rather sad to think tho of where the former star ended up ( how about trying to coach basketball for a local team perhaps ? ).

He's still got his money and popularity... so really all he lost was his ability to play, which is likely all he really wanted.

Very true 17Rileyc but why does he not do something " Useful " such as coaching basketball at a local level ? ( as mentioned before ). 

Just happened to be looking at some talk-show clips from a few years back and I came across one featuring Michael Jordan. He of course worked very hard and developed his talents to the max and thereby became one of the best players of all time in the NBA. Mind you Jordan also had to be lucky enough to have some talent to work with in the first place. However the reason that I've brought up his name here is because of Baseball, yes the Chicago White Sox episode. He wanted to move to a Pro-Baseball career and possibly could have played at the AAA level but could not stick in the majors. Indeed not even Michael Jordan's luck was good enough to make it big in two sports.   

Bo Jackson.  He was lucky enough to be one of the most talented players in the history of sports.  Then *snap* breaks his hip and is never the same again.

Thanks for the post BlunderingBeaver. Yes I do remember Bo Jackson, one of very few people to get to the pros in two sports ( Dion Sanders also comes to mind as well ). 

It seems that for some reason the " Josh Waitzkin resigned from Chess " thread was brought back again. Many of us have seen the movie of his early life and the question comes to mind about his " good luck ". He seemed to take to playing Chess at a very early age like a duck takes to water and became the best Under - 18 player in the USA ( and got an IM title as well ). He did not make to the GM level and then seemed to come to the conclusion that the WC title might be out of reach. Perhaps the " bad luck " was to have a lot of success at a early age, possibly getting off to a slower start would have turned his Chess career in a different direction ?   

Well I see that Josh Waitzkin still gets talked about at this site from time to time. What are the chances that he might return to Chess at a future date ( either playing or perhaps coaching ) ?

Never if he's as smart as he lets on

Thanks for the post President_max. Well he could still do some coaching, less stress in that part of the game.

He's a bit locked up these days

Thanks for the info President_max.

Based on some recent news: Nevermind luck or even talent, just have your parents pay some bribes and you have your way in ( even if you are too stupid to qualify  lol ).

Bump ( some people get upset by this  lol ).