We are living through the golden generations of sports and we don’t even know it

[jetsforever]

Some of those guys shouldn't be counted in this generation but yes there have been a lot of GOAT-level athletes recently
It'll probably keep happening as sports grow over time though

 

[habsfan44]

Move another 50 years forward and we'll have all sorts of star athletes that make today's great athletes look like bozos

There isn't a player living or dead who could make players like Orr , Johnston , Montana , Rose , Pele or Borg look like bozos and it will still be true in fifty years .

 

[John Mandalorian]

There isn't a player living or dead who could make players like Orr , Johnston , Montana , Rose , Pele or Borg look like bozos and it will still be true in fifty years .

When you say Montana, you’re really saying Bill Walsh. When Shanahan brought the WCO to Denver and Elway, the Broncos won SBs 50% of those 4 years. Even as a huge Broncos and Elway fan, I can readily admit that Dan Marino is the best passer to ever do it. The rules changes that came later didn’t work in his favor though.

 

[Grifter3511]

What are these? (If they are what I think they might be, I would associate them with pastimes rather than sports. Darts, anyone? What about chess? I wouldn't mind reclassifying some pastimes as sports, but... just saying.)



Who dat?

Darts is a sport. You can debate how challenging it is, but at the end of the day it requires physical skill and the winner is determined by the score. Chess on the other hand, requires zero physical skill. Therefore, it's a game.

At least, by my criteria.

 

[Faterson]

There isn't a player living or dead who could make players like Orr , Johnston , Montana , Rose , Pele or Borg look like bozos and it will still be true in fifty years .

Haven't heard of 3 of those guys (Johnston, Montana, and Rose – perhaps they are darts or snooker players?), but I'm willing to believe you.

Chess on the other hand, requires zero physical skill. Therefore, it's a game.

At least, by my criteria.

Yeah, everyone is entitled to their own criteria.

Etymologically, though, for something to be considered a "sport", it doesn’t necessarily need to involve physical exertion. The root of the word is pastime, diversion from work – which is precisely why driving to work is not a sport, even though it requires some physical exertion/skill.

The boundaries are certainly blurry. Major chess tournaments have always been covered on sports pages of traditional newspapers, suggesting chess is a sport. Isn't Magnus Carlsen a GOAT candidate just like Connor McDavid is? He certainly is. And anyone believing you can neglect your physical fitness and still be an outstanding chess player, is deluding themselves.

 

[Panteras]

We’ve surely seen things in my lifetime (born in 80s), that might never be surpassed. The Cuban wrestler Lopez that just won his 5th straight Olympic gold, not even the great Karelin touched that. Phelps. Fedor in MMA.
The Federer, Djokovic, Nadal era is something that simply will never be repeated again in any sport I think. Literally the top 3 of all time in one generation. Jonah Lomu in Rugby, Schumi in F1 Valentino Rossi in MotoGP, Loeb in WRC..I mean yeah I kinda agree with the premise of this thread

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

If it’s really the Golden Age then why do we need so many streaming packages, on top of overpriced monthly cable to watch it??

 

[habsfan44]

Haven't heard of 3 of those guys (Johnston, Montana, and Rose – perhaps they are darts or snooker players?), but I'm willing to believe you.



Yeah, everyone is entitled to their own criteria.

Etymologically, though, for something to be considered a "sport", it doesn’t necessarily need to involve physical exertion. The root of the word is pastime, diversion from work – which is precisely why driving to work is not a sport, even though it requires some physical exertion/skill.

The boundaries are certainly blurry. Major chess tournaments have always been covered on sports pages of traditional newspapers, suggesting chess is a sport. Isn't Magnus Carlsen a GOAT candidate just like Connor McDavid is? He certainly is. And anyone believing you can neglect your physical fitness and still be an outstanding chess player, is deluding themselves.

Magic Johnson , Joe Montana and Pete Rose .

 

[Faterson]

Magic Johnson , Joe Montana and Pete Rose .

Magic Johnson (rather than Johnston), of course. Never heard of the other two guys. (Yeah, unlikely to be darts or snooker – I'm guessing it's gonna be those "America-only sports" like baseball or American football.)

 

[habsfan44]

Magic Johnson (rather than Johnston), of course. Never heard of the other two guys. (Yeah, unlikely to be darts or snooker – I'm guessing it's gonna be those "America-only sports" like baseball or American football.)

Johnsons last name is spelled correctly . Joe Montana is American football and Pete Rose is baseball , which for your information is played by many nations around the world .

 

[Faterson]

Pete Rose is baseball , which for your information is played by many nations around the world .

... but probably totally niche there, unlike in America. Pete Rose (whoever he is) might therefore be better characterized as a local/regional celebrity, rather than a global one. And that's fine. (I'd be hard-pressed to guess whether he was a current player or one from a previous decade.)

 

[DudeWhereIsMakar]

We are also living through a golden age of corruption and job decline...

 

[Goose]

My takes:

Gretzky/Lemieux late 80s early 90s seems like hockey's golden age, with Jagr in there and Teemu's rookie season etc.

Tennis, around 2010 was the peak when the Big 3 + Murray with his Wimbledon storylines and, as a Canadian, we hoped Raonic might turn into a true Top 5 guy, not to mention Williams sisters at their peak dominance.

NFL, mid-2000s feels like it. So many incredible QBs and storylines. Brady/Brees/Manning/Favre in their primes + Rodgers/Big Ben getting started and Warner closing out the Greatest Show on Turf.

Baseball I'd say 50s/60s because of cultural dominance in the USA, Mays/Aaron/Mantle/Williams/Musial for star power, Robinson in his prime in the early 50s, massive live attendance numbers through the 60s.

Basketball if I could pick any era to be a fan in, it'd probably be a Lakers or Celtics fan in the 80s, otherwise the early 90s with Jordan's prime.

Soccer is tougher, arguments for the 80s-90s with Maradona, Zidane, etc. 90s-00s with Beckham, Henry, growth of Premiere League, or modern Messi-Ronaldo era, though I'd probably take modern era there.

Golf is all about the Tiger era for me on a personal level, but I think the sport was actually at its best in the 60s with Hogan/Snead/Nelson finishing their careers and Nicklaus/Palmer/Player/Trevino dominating.

 

[Cas]

... but probably totally niche there, unlike in America. Pete Rose (whoever he is) might therefore be better characterized as a local/regional celebrity, rather than a global one. And that's fine. (I'd be hard-pressed to guess whether he was a current player or one from a previous decade.)

Baseball is a major sport in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, the Dutch Antilles, Panama, and Australia. The Netherlands and Italy also have professional leagues, Israel has had one before.

Of course, the person who best makes Pete Rose look like a bozo is Pete Rose. Utterly hopeless excuse for a human being and deserves all of the punishment he gets.

 

[Hit the post]

Surprised no mention of Jan-Michael Vincent. He killed Charles Bronson in "The Mechanic" for cripes sake! Was the lead in the cool TV series Airwolf!:



(OK, watching the intro is all you need to know about the show)

Specifically the subject of this thread:

 

[Faterson]

Baseball is a major sport in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, the Dutch Antilles, Panama, and Australia.

Sorry, that's not an impressive list. (Any list that feels compelled to include the likes of the Dutch Antilles and the Dominican Republic cannot really be impressive.)

Australia struck me as unlikely in the list. I asked ChatGPT about it, and here is what it replied (bold emphasis is mine):

Baseball is not considered a major sport in Australia. While it has a presence and a dedicated following, it is far less popular compared to sports like Australian Rules Football (AFL), rugby league, rugby union, cricket, and soccer. The Australian Baseball League (ABL) operates as the country's top-level professional league, but it doesn’t draw the same level of attention or participation as the more dominant sports. Baseball in Australia is still growing, with efforts to expand its appeal, especially among younger players and fans, but it remains a niche sport overall.

Asked whether baseball can be considered a major sport globally, ChatGPT spat out a lengthy reply, and I'll only quote its beginning here:

Baseball cannot be considered a major sport globally in the same way as soccer or basketball. While it enjoys significant popularity in certain countries, particularly in the Americas and East Asia, its global reach and audience are more limited compared to sports like soccer, which has a massive following on every continent.

This may explain why most people around the world would likely blank on the name of Pete Rose, just Iike I do.

The Netherlands and Italy also have professional leagues, Israel has had one before.

The existence of a professional league doesn't mean it's not a niche sport.

 

[Cas]

Sorry, that's not an impressive list.

It's more impressive than ice hockey's list (none of Sweden/Finland/Czechia/Switzerland can compare to Japan on the world scale, and Russia, hockey's #3, is frankly on the same global scale as Mexico).

In the end, though, I'm not sure what the point here is. You don't know who Pete Rose is? Ok, I don't know who Messi is, other than a soccer player, and I'd bet real money that I know more about him than any other person I know. I don't think either fact bears any relevance to, anything. I'm not even sure what your original point is.

And yes, I do agree that baseball is a niche sport in the Netherlands and Italy. I firmly disagree that it is a niche sport on a global scale, though that may be semantical - if baseball is niche, than only soccer and basketball (among professional team sports) are not niche; maybe cricket, though I'm not sure if its popularity is as broad globally as it is deep in a few highly populous countries.

 

[alko]

Im sure people in 50s would say the same.

Or in 80s.. 90s...

 

[Peasy]

Who dat?

The girl who is single handedly sellin out regular sized arenas in the WNBA and even getting teams to move their games into larger venues when shes in town.

 

[Acallabeth]

XXI century soccer has seen the early 2000s era, when the sport was mocked for it being defensive and low scoring.
Hockey has had 2 'dead puck eras'.
We've seen multiple doping scandals and questionable 'therapeutic examptions' in endurance sports and MMA.
Politics have been interfering with sports in a major way.
Many people would argue that sports are less accessible than ever before.
I'm not sure if the global interest in sports is increasing.

So the generation of athletes is great, whether the era of sports is as great is up to a debate.

 

[daver]

Agree with the OP, we should be showering this era with golden praise.

 

[Takeahnase]

There isn't a player living or dead who could make players like Orr , Johnston , Montana , Rose , Pele or Borg look like bozos and it will still be true in fifty years .

On this, I just watched this the other day…



Gilbert Arenas is one of those dudes who denigrates previous star players yet someone went and found the receipts. 41- year old John Stockton absolutely roasted Agent Zero (Arenas) when they met.

There’s a lot of ignorance out there on previous sports generations.

 

[miscs75]

Heatley? Komarov? Bryzgalov? Damon Jones coat?

Not even one mention of some true greats of the game, ouch

 

[StammerHammer]

I wonder if the gambling sites are aware of it?

 

[Derailed75]

The evolution is in sports science. Everyone that has serious dreams of playing professionally starts training from a very young age, has workouts tailored to their sport, has specific meals for not only nutrition but recovery.

Babe Ruth a Ty Cobb got wasted and ate hotdogs.