MADISON – Milwaukee Bucks guard Pat Connaughton joked that American Family Insurance Championship galleries might need to stay away from his tee shots as he prepared to participate in Andy North’s annual four-way fight, but it was North who silently applauded Connaughton’s stance. Young athletes should not limit themselves to just one sport.
Olympian Michael Phelps and former NFL MVP Matt Ryan nodded as Connaughton spoke about the virtues of playing multiple sports, which in part had landed him on the tee alongside the two-time US Open champion in the North. .
“The ability to play multiple sports is something I’ve always been passionate about,” Connaughton said Saturday afternoon. “I’ve always tried to push the next generation to continue trying to excel in multiple sports.
“Being part of an event that is different from what people know, basketball and baseball, I think is great because it shows that if you like sports, if you love athletics, don’t let a youth coach tell you that you have to specialize. at an early age. Expose your body to different sports, it is healthier in the long run. Expose your mind to different levels of competition, expose your social skills to different people and different ways of working as a team.
“That’s what I’m hoping to do today: learn something from the three guys that are next to me in golf to try to get better and also show that you can excel in multiple different sports.”
Then North quickly added, “Could we write that answer in capital letters for all the parents? There is nothing more disgusting than an 8-year-old boy specializing in soccer. They have no idea what they are doing or what they will be good at. Please, capital letters.”
Connaughton was a late addition to the celebrity quartet, which was announced on Tuesday. That allowed the 31-year-old to work on his game a bit, as one day after the Bucks’ season ended abruptly following the first round of the playoffs against Indiana on May 2, Connaughton and his fiance, the professional soccer player Ryan Gareis, welcomed their son. Crew on May 3.
Connaughton is an avid golfer who said he began playing recreationally with his father, Leonard, when he was young in Massachusetts. He was a three-sport athlete at Saint John’s High School in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, and later played baseball and basketball at the University of Notre Dame.
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His professional career actually began in baseball as a fourth-round pick of the Baltimore Orioles in the 2014 Major League Baseball Draft, and he pitched six games (four starts) of low-A ball that season and recorded a clean performance average of 2.45 in 14 games. 2/3 entries.
He was then selected by the Brooklyn Nets in the second round of the 2016 NBA draft and was immediately traded to Portland.
Connaughton still plays golf recreationally, but has a low single-digit handicap. And while that’s an accomplishment in itself, he doesn’t typically play his third sport in front of a pedestrian gallery and end up on an 18th green surrounded by stadium seating.
“Hopefully they stay away from me on the tee, I don’t want to hit anyone, I don’t want to lose any fans today,” Connaughton joked. “No, the fan base here in Wisconsin is incredible. Andy and I have a little friendly rivalry between Wisconsin and Notre Dame at the college level, but at the professional level we’re all obviously aligned with the Bucks, the Packers and the Brewers.
“I think the fan base is one of the most underrated in the country. Being here now in a different environment playing a different sport, we will see how much they encourage me waiting for my performance.”
Connaughton participated for the first time in North’s annual four-way match, along with former NFL quarterback turned KeynoteUSA Sports analyst Matt Ryan. They joined Phelps, who returned for his second consecutive appearance.
Ryan and Phelps were paired up to face North and Connaughton in a scramble format with a prize going to the winning couple’s respective charities. Previous participants of the celebrity quartet include Jack Nicklaus, Juli Inkster, Lee Trevino, Zach Johnson, Brett Favre, Derek Jeter and the late musician Toby Keith.
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