Athletes with a fear of flying?

[mojo]

I can definitely relate Maddens version of "fear of flying"... every time I get into coach class and stuff my 6'3" frame in that footlocker they call an airplane seat I wonder who in the world did they design this freaking compartment for, Kim Jong Il ?... at any rate I do all I can to get an aisle seat and I make the best of it, as I will have to in about 2 hours.

paulthefan, reporting from an undisclosed US airport.

My husband is 6'5" and he is in agony for any flight longer than three hours. He flew from London to Nairobi on British Airways (he swears they have less legroom than say Air Canada). He stood in the back of the plane for about 6 hours rather than sit in his seat-and it was an aisle seat.
I am 5'6" and I am uncomfortable so I can only imagine what you tall people endure. :?
Last time I flew to London I was seated next to a tiny Japanese woman who folded herself up into a ball and went to sleep looking very comfortable. :twisted:

[cullman]

Jackie Jensen of the Red Sox retired early because of his fear o'flying. NHLer Alex Mogilny also suffered from aviophobia.

cman

[paulthefan]

I can definitely relate Maddens version of "fear of flying"... every time I get into coach class and stuff my 6'3" frame in that footlocker they call an airplane seat I wonder who in the world did they design this freaking compartment for, Kim Jong Il ?... at any rate I do all I can to get an aisle seat and I make the best of it, as I will have to in about 2 hours.

paulthefan, reporting from an undisclosed US airport.

[mojo]

Wayne Gretzky has said many times that he is afraid of flying- he does it(ALOT) but hates it.

[mike renfro]

Not an athlete, but Hall of Fame U.S. football coach John Madden, of course, travels from one end of the country to another in his own bus because of his aversion to flying.

My understanding of Madden's aversion to flying involved a bit of claustrophobia. He could handle it on the Raider's charter flights, but on commercial, when he was starting out in announcing, the flight crews wouldn't let him roam the aisles, which led to getting the bus. I wasn't aware of his association with the Cal Poly crash, but that would certainly plant the seed if one was iffy about flying.

[tandfman]

Today's New York Times has the "old" goalie Gump Worsley's obit, and along with his disdain for wearing a protective mask, it mentions that he too had a fear of flying.

Quote from the Wikipedia article on him: "Gump suffered a nervous breakdown in the 1968-69 season after a rough flight from Montreal's Dorval Airport to O'Hare in Chicago, and received psychiatric treatment as a result."

[KDFINE]

Today's New York Times has the "old" goalie Gump Worsley's obit, and along with his disdain for wearing a protective mask, it mentions that he too had a fear of flying.

[KDFINE]

It was said that Floyd Patterson was afraid to fly, so he went to a hypnotist to overcome his fear, and and learned to fly.

[MJD]

Not an athlete, but Hall of Fame U.S. football coach John Madden, of course, travels from one end of the country to another in his own bus because of his aversion to flying.

Discussed here:

http://mb.trackandfieldnews.com/discuss ... 664b147548

[marknhj]

Geoff Capes was scared of flying - had about three double brandy's before boarding. Bergkamp's brother used to drive him to European games on the continent. He did miss some games as it was simply not possible to get there and back in time.

Would've thought Capes didn't like flying for purely practical reasons... same as most HJers. How tall are you?

6' 2" with long legs - Parsons was 6' 9" LOL! I fly a lot and nearly always get exit seats, makes a big difference. Was sitting next to Capes once and the guy in front of him turned around and took the piss. The big man chest pressed the seat back, with force, resulting in the guy headbutting the bulkhead. He didn't say a word the rest of the flight...

[Double R Bar]

He probably didn't do track and field, but Douglas MacArthur had a fear of flying.

[Daisy]

Re: Athletes with a fear of flying?

Actually, Holland didn't make the finals but I wouldn't be willing to take a boat all the way to South Korea/Japan!

But did he know that when he retired? i think not although i could be wrong.

[nevetsllim]

Re: Athletes with a fear of flying?

I was wondering, are there any athletes who have a fear of flying and what do they do about it? It must be annoying for American athletes as they need to travel to Europe for the European circuit

Bergkamp always travelled seperately from the Dutch team. I'm not sure what he did for major travel i.e. to asia. He retired from international football just prior to the 2002 world cup (asia). Maybe he he wasnot willing to take the boat/train trip.


http://www.mypartypost.com/watchvideo/6 ... Commercial

Actually, Holland didn't make the finals but I wouldn't be willing to take a boat all the way to South Korea/Japan!

Geoff Capes was scared of flying - had about three double brandy's before boarding. Bergkamp's brother used to drive him to European games on the continent. He did miss some games as it was simply not possible to get there and back in time.

Would've thought Capes didn't like flying for purely practical reasons... same as most HJers. How tall are you?

[EPelle]

Madden attended Cal Poly, SLO...was a graduate assistant there and had stayed behind to coach a JV fotball team the weekend the varsity squad:s plane went down near Toledo, OH. The way we heard things was that he hated flying before the crash, so the fact that 16 of the SLO players died as a result of the crash was a huge blow to him.