Have the greatest years

coinkat

of sports competition at the college and professional level passed?

It seems that way... feel free to comment

Barndog

the "good old days" are always in the past. This will be true in the future, so perhaps we are now experiencing tomorrow's good old days.

Brick

"These are the good old days."

VikingDude

Someone once told me the "good old days" weren't necessarily all that good. Sometimes your brain only remembers the good things and forgets the bad. Not sure if that applies to sports or not.

Brick

As we age it is natural to be nostalgic for the years of our youth. I remember reading an article in the paper many many years ago as those going through middle age had nostalgia for the 30s and 40s. Depression and World War and they called that the good old days.

perkdog

No way, every new season brings the possibilty of new competition to the table. There are future HOF athletes in high School right now and one day will take the field and bring us new championships, scoring leaders ect.. Sports is always going to be a revolving door of past Stars and future ones along with new great teams.

stevek

Probably competition in college is better because of the huge pro contracts the athletes can look forward to. Pros I tend to agree the competition isn't as good as before, the players aren't as hungry because of the huge money they make and that leads to lethargy to some degree - it's only natural.

The two main pro sports I follow, MLB and the NFL are still great entertainment and highly enjoyable, but definitely not quite as good as before, in my opinion.

drewsef

nope, your just getting old

LodiBrewFan

If you can not appreciate the level of college football, then you may long for the good old day. When ever that was.

I love watching college football. A 8 team playoff would make it even better!

rexvos

<< <i>nope, your just getting old >>



yep. Both my teams were not great in my youth. LSU had its moments, but the Saints have been a train wreck until recently. Good ol' days are now for me.

SanctionII

The world is getting smaller and more interconnected each passing year.

Sports are pervasive across the globe and with marketing, telecommunications technology, 24 hour media coverage, etc. you can have it at your fingertips anytime you want it. It is a great time to be a sports fan. Great performances and great human drama are everywhere and available for the consumer to consume at will.

However, aspects of sports today leave me wishing for the "old days" [for me the 1960's and 1970's], for my parents the 1940's and 1950's, etc. Athletes and teams are much more interchangeable today. Players move from team to team. Franchises move from city to city. Leagues are formed, fold and new ones take their place. Mostly gone is the scenario where athletes will turn pro, sign with a team and stay with the team his or her entire career. I always liked the idea that Bill Russell was, is and always will be a Celtic. Athletes and teams had a specific identity that is missing many ways today. Good idea or bad idea, I miss the way it was.

Estil

I'm just curious; were baseball fans saying this and longing for the "good ol' days" during the 1950s, which most now consider the Golden Age of Baseball?

In any event, I too know how much smaller and interconnected the world is getting each year. And do you know what's really ironic? It's because of that interconnected stuff (Internet, touch screen phones, and other things not even the Jetsons creators could've imagine) that is now making retro hotter than ever! Want to relieve the 60s or 70s or whatever decade you like? You got all kinds of videos and such on YouTube and DVD (NetFlix anyone?) as well as easier and mostly more affordable access to collectibles from your favorite time period. Which was simply not possible even 15-20 years ago.

So for those of you want to relieve the good ol' days? Go to YouTube and you can listen to almost any classic song you want (with visuals!) for free. The vast majority of TV shows are now on DVD for purchase or NetFlix rental.

You could not have asked for a better time to relieve the good ol' days. Now all we need is to invent the holodeck...

frankhardy

<< <i>No way, every new season brings the possibilty of new competition to the table. There are future HOF athletes in high School right now and one day will take the field and bring us new championships, scoring leaders ect.. Sports is always going to be a revolving door of past Stars and future ones along with new great teams. >>



Great post. I couldn't agree more. It would have been a perfect post coming from you if you would have slammed Albert Pujols.

Seriously, great post.

Saberman

Lots of interesting posts above.

I think it is a complicated scenario.


1)Sociological factor. Depends on the sport, and the sociological factors of the country at the time. Over time, for a myriad of reasons, all sports change or morph as a focal point of participation, interest, and skill level...as a result there will be a clear +/- in measuring the competitiveness of those sports over time. Some of those changes are indeed real, while some are just a perception of one's place in time(i.e childhood bias).

Examples, comparing NFL football from 1948 to 2010, there is a clear change in the skill level of players, the level of participation, and of the overall place it has in our country.

Examples, comparing MLB in 1948 to 2010, this isn't as clear. There are certain factors that favor 1948 and certain ones that favor 2010. The line of comparison is much closer. There are other peaks during that time that may be of the highest level of competition and fervor.



2)Organization of the sport. Someone mentioned player movement. Depending on one's point of view, that can be viewed as a positive, or a negative. Some may like that Bill Russell would be a Celtic for life, while others like the fact that their team would eventually have a shot at getting him.

Example, College Basketball. The fact that most elite teams kept their best players for all four years makes it very difficult to argue against those teams and times as being the pinnacle of the sport...compared to recently where the top players are gone right away, or just flat out go straight to the pros.

Example, Expansion: Expansion, baseball's expansion in 1977 was reasonable and acceptable to the talent available and the status of the game in our country. Expansion of four teams in the 1990's...not so much.




3)The best players come from which era? Lots of arguments can be made, but typically the Gods of the sport are simply born that way, and in essence the best of the best from any era are pretty comparable to each other, and it is the environment that makes them look greater or lesser than they really are...compared to the greats of other eras.

Example, Babe Ruth outhomering every team in 1921. Neat accomplishment for sure, but as great as he was, it was the environment of the league and sociological factors that played a major role in that accomplishment. Basic common sense knows that players from a more current era simply have no chance to duplicate that feat...considering that they would have to hit 230 home runs in the season. It isn't because they aren't as great, but rather their greatness isn't being measured properly against Ruth's.



4)The future? I am concerned about it for pro sports. There will most likely be other pressing needs in the country and world, that pro sports as we know it, may be relegated to the backburner.

57loaded

<< <i>Someone once told me the "good old days" weren't necessarily all that good. Sometimes your brain only remembers the good things and forgets the bad. Not sure if that applies to sports or not. >>



it does and applies to life as well. well put

larryallen73

I think it's just getting older. Time goes so much faster, you have so much more going on in life, priorities change, etc....

lanemyer85

<< <i>

<< <i>No way, every new season brings the possibilty of new competition to the table. There are future HOF athletes in high School right now and one day will take the field and bring us new championships, scoring leaders ect.. Sports is always going to be a revolving door of past Stars and future ones along with new great teams. >>



Great post. I couldn't agree more. It would have been a perfect post coming from you if you would have slammed Albert Pujols..

Seriously, great post. >>

frankhardy

<< <i>

<< <i>

<< <i>No way, every new season brings the possibilty of new competition to the table. There are future HOF athletes in high School right now and one day will take the field and bring us new championships, scoring leaders ect.. Sports is always going to be a revolving door of past Stars and future ones along with new great teams. >>



Great post. I couldn't agree more. It would have been a perfect post coming from you if you would have slammed Albert Pujols..

Seriously, great post. >>






>>




I'm only a broken record because I see it all the friggin time!

Tabe

<< <i>If you can not appreciate the level of college football, then you may long for the good old day. When ever that was.

I love watching college football. A 8 team playoff would make it even better! >>


I disagree with an 8-team playoff but everything else you said is spot-on. With limits on scholarships, the big powers can't stockpile talent like they could before. Nebraska isn't 7-deep in running backs anymore. Alabama's second team isn't good enough to win their conference anymore. So you've got talent more spread out. You combine that with having a billion times more games on TV now and that spreads the talent even further. Kids can go to Boise State and know they'll be on national TV 5 or 6 times a year. And finally, coaching and preparation are a lot better thanks to technology. The systems these schools run today are infinitely more complex than what was run in 1971. Texas Tech's no-huddle, crazy read and attack system is way more complicated than Nebraska's option system. And that's the way it has to be thanks to leveling of talent.

So, yeah, current times are a great time to be a college football fan.

Tabe