[M2d]

I think the great advantage in knowledge that an ex-competitve athlete (generally) has is the ability to know when he doesn't know. I've found that many of my friends who never played college or high school sports may be rabid fans of a sport, but are unwilling to acknowledge that alternate strategies may be correct, whereas I, as someone with college baseball in my past, realize that every situation is dependant on a multitude of factors that i may or may not be privy to. The seeming "by the book" play may not be correct in a given situation because of one of these factors (gf dumped him, he's hungover, he can't hit this particular pitcher even though the matchup looks good on paper, he's dogged it in practice all week and the coach is down on him, etc) and, having experienced these things irl to myself or to teammates, I can understand how this info can factor into a coach's decision, even though the general public doesn't know about it.

I can also see how these things can affect other sports. my standard answer to my friends who question a coaching decision in any sport is "maybe he got hurt running to the bus". they think I'm kidding, but it's happened (to me, of all people)