Sports Today vs Sports of Yesterday talk

[AUSSIE-Rebooted-AMM]

Great Question Mikey!

Lets look at almost any olympic sport. . . .it is the technology that takes off those 100th of a second that break todays records, not the athletes.

Shoes, poles, swimsuits, bicycle components, the shape of helmets, javelins etc etc. . . not to mention every athlete out there trying to discover the perfect undetectable performance enhancing drug.

There is no way to compare todays athletes and those of the past. At least those in the past, broke records based on their raw skill, strength and determination, real people pushing themselves to the limit.

Lets go back to the Greek way. . . . .do the sports naked, no techno shoes etc. . . . .well. . . . for the female events anyway. . . . .

[toys2cool]

You think LeBron would be able to hang with the likes of Wilt?

are you serious? LeBron could easily end up as the greatest of all time , besides it's different positions

[toys2cool]

I think it is just the opposite. I think from the mid-60's to the mid-80', steroids were more widely used by more players.

I agree, in the 80's no one even tested for it in most sports. Just ask Bill Romanowski

[saildog]

Here's a way to look at it:

Take 11, 5, or 9 Modern Day Marines, hand them shields and spears then send them up against 11, 5, or 9 Ancient Spartans. Who's going to win that fight?

Take 11 Ancient Spartans (outfitted as they were and trained only to fight as they did) and send them up against even 2 Marines with modern weapons and equipment.

Apples to Oranges.

Now, take any of them, raise them with the same toughness, train and equip them similarly and send them head-to-head. For the most part they will perform similarly.

Or, how about this?

Go back to the 70s, in almost any neighborhood, and round up a team of 9 average, everyday kids. You could even include some girls because there were quite a few that played scrappy sandlot ball back then.

Now, bring them forward in time to today and round up a team of average, everyday kids in one typical neighborhood. Can't scour the city looking for the ringers who play league ball and go to high-dollar camps. You have to get an average kid.

Who'd win a sandlot or pickup game of anything that didn't include a game console?

[toys2cool]

I don't know.. kids of today can really ball, I know you have the majority who are gamers and do nothing but play games all day, But I still think they're better today and they will only continue to get better

it's just the way it is, Athletes 20 years from now will better then todays

[saildog]

I don't know.. kids of today can really ball, I know you have the majority who are gamers and do nothing but play games all day, But I still think they're better today and they will only continue to get better

it's just the way it is, Athletes 20 years from now will better then todays

I'm not talking about kids that participate in organized athletics, just an everyday kid. Back in the day, kids weren't conditioned to think about playing at the next level. They just played and as a result, more of them played. There's a lot more to it than that, I realize, but when I was a kid, we played some kind of pick-up game all the time and most kids could play some kind of sport with some degree of skill. I don't remember very many fat kids back then. There were some, but not like today.

Today it seems like the majority of kids, when they realize they will never be elite, or even play on a winning team, choose not to bother.

[toys2cool]

I'm not talking about kids that participate in organized athletics, just an everyday kid. Back in the day, kids weren't conditioned to think about playing at the next level. They just played and as a result, more of them played. There's a lot more to it than that, I realize, but when I was a kid, we played some kind of pick-up game all the time and most kids could play some kind of sport with some degree of skill. I don't remember very many fat kids back then. There were some, but not like today.

Today it seems like the majority of kids, when they realize they will never be elite, or even play on a winning team, choose not to bother.

you think if you would've had the internet and or video games the way they are today that you'd be outside playing sports everyday? i doubt it , but I know what you mean

[saildog]

you think if you would've had the internet and or video games the way they are today that you'd be outside playing sports everyday? i doubt it , but I know what you mean

Oh, I got no delusions about what that answer would be.

Different times (with some healthier distractions) that really can't be compared.

[Zemo]

With out a doubt, today's football teams would entirely annihilate old teams. They are much bigger, faster and athletic now. You have lineman now that can run as fast as the RB's back then.

Believe me there would be deaths

[Hector]

Here's a way to look at it:

Take 11, 5, or 9 Modern Day Marines, hand them shields and spears then send them up against 11, 5, or 9 Ancient Spartans. Who's going to win that fight?

Take 11 Ancient Spartans (outfitted as they were and trained only to fight as they did) and send them up against even 2 Marines with modern weapons and equipment.

Apples to Oranges.

Now, take any of them, raise them with the same toughness, train and equip them similarly and send them head-to-head. For the most part they will perform similarly.

Or, how about this?

Go back to the 70s, in almost any neighborhood, and round up a team of 9 average, everyday kids. You could even include some girls because there were quite a few that played scrappy sandlot ball back then.

Now, bring them forward in time to today and round up a team of average, everyday kids in one typical neighborhood. Can't scour the city looking for the ringers who play league ball and go to high-dollar camps. You have to get an average kid.

Who'd win a sandlot or pickup game of anything that didn't include a game console?

Excellent post.

[toys2cool]

With out a doubt, today's football teams would entirely annihilate old teams. They are much bigger, faster and athletic now. You have lineman now that can run as fast as the RB's back then.

Believe me there would be deaths

exactly

[Dave Mc]

I don't know how things would compare, but I do miss the old days when on the back of a Baseball card you could read "Richie works as a gravedigger in the off season" or "Milt spends his off season working in an Orange Juice factory".

[UnderdogDJLSW]

I can't remember this exactly, but Paul Harvey on the radio (in the 90's I think) read a letter that a fan wrote to the commissioner of baseball complaining how today's players were not like his favorites of the past. The fan went on to say how today's players have it so much easier than those of yesterday, etc. Well, it turned out that the fan letter was written in the 1910s or 20s and the players of yesterday, that the fan was pining for, were all folks from the 1800's.

[Mikey]

Paul Harvey was great ...

Half of his stories ended ......

... and that ........................... little boy ....................... grew up ......................... to become ......................PRESIDENT ....................... of the United States

[UnderdogDJLSW]

"And know you know....the rest of the story...

page 2..." lol