If you really think sports are obsolete, wait until you're retracting in a long surgery and your traps & delts are screaming in pain because you haven't lifted weights your whole life.
Or wait until you get put into an orthopaedics OR and the only topic of conversation is who won which game last night and why. The studying I did for ortho? Had nothing to do with bones, and required the tutoring skills of my preppy boyfriend who was appalled when I asked "Who's Peyton Manning?"
And you're talking to someone who read "House of God" as a junior in high school; I can probably relate to your enthusiasm.
Then again, In high school I also won a number of championships in springboard diving, had two relationships that lasted longer than 18 months each, sang in all my school's choirs, did genetics research, played the piano, and worked as a lifeguard; almost none of which was directly "useful" or "applicable" for when I'd end up in med school, but what it DID do was make me a well-rounded person with varied experiences that each taught me valuable lessons. Granted, I'd never seen an ACLS guideline, but I knew how to problem solve, think on my feet, persevere with something I found difficult, had good hand-eye coordination and proprioception (invaluable in an OR when you don't want to contaminate something), and knew how to supervise, delegate, and co-operate.
Life's not about doing one thing and one thing only. Each individual thing is just another piece of an enormous pie, and pardon me if I find it better not to be modest and only take one piece but to eat the whole damn thing.
I know it may feel like we're all being short-sighted, bitter and tired, or just picking on you but I think we've got your best interests in mind.
