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

[Senor Catface]

It's no 1456 to 1476.

 

[ElLeetch]

And not just limited to hockey.

In the last 25 years we’ve had

Schumaker
Hamilton
Verstappen

Agassi
Sampras
Federer
Nadal
Djokovic

Jordan
LeBron

Brady
Manning
Mahomes

Woods

Phelps
Bolt

Messi
Ronaldo

Bonds
Trout
Ohtani

Gretzky
Lemieux
Crosby
McDavid

Basically we’ve seen the GOAT in every sport (sometimes one upped by the next guy) or Top 5 players of all time all in the last 25 years.

We’re living through the golden generation of sports and we don’t even know it.

First, driving a car isnt a sport.

Second, there are like 10 better baseball players (that didnt use drugs) than the three you listed from prior generations.

 

[Soundwave]

We are also living through the golden generation of porn too but nobody ever brings it up

15-20 years ago maybe, lol.

 

[TheMoreYouKnow]

Some guy who died in 1996 as an old man and started watching sports in 1918 could say at the end of his life "I saw Cobb, Ruth, Aaron, Mays, Clemente, Griffey Jr., Bonds, Morenz, Richard, Howe, Orr, Gretzky, Lemieux, Unitas, Montana, Favre, Rice, Payton, Chamberlain, Russell, Magic, Bird, Jordan and so forth, I lived through the golden generations of sports".

I mean every generation produces its own icons, if you live long enough you'll see a few generations of them.

That being said, I do think sports as we know them may be somewhat on borrowed time. Look at under 25 year olds today, the traditional sports aren't quite what they once were in terms of following and active participation.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

I’m pretty sure everyone thinks they’ve witnessed the golden age in their lifetime when it comes to sports.

Except for Leaf fans.

I'M KIDDING!

(I'll let myself out)

 

[Soundwave]

Some guy who died in 1996 as an old man and started watching sports in 1918 could say at the end of his life "I saw Cobb, Ruth, Aaron, Mays, Clemente, Griffey Jr., Bonds, Morenz, Richard, Howe, Orr, Gretzky, Lemieux, Unitas, Montana, Favre, Rice, Payton, Chamberlain, Russell, Magic, Bird, Jordan and so forth, I lived through the golden generations of sports".

I mean every generation produces its own icons, if you live long enough you'll see a few generations of them.

That being said, I do think sports as we know them may be somewhat on borrowed time. Look at under 25 year olds today, the traditional sports aren't quite what they once were in terms of following and active participation.

Wait till anti/reverse aging drugs arrive and top end athletes can play into their 50s, maybe even 60s.

 

[GrkFlyersFan]

Fair point. The only GOAT we haven't seen is baseball. The GOAT is either Babe Ruth or Willie Mays and you'd have to be damn old to have seen either of them. I say it's the Babe, but even if Mays, you'd certainly have to have been old to have seen his prime. Gretzky, Jordan, Brady, I'm 35 and got to see all of them play. Bolt is the GOAT of track. Tennis is close, but it's one of three who are either still active or recently retired.

 

[keglu]

I’m willing to bet you that Tom Brady is much more known in every European non-traditional hockey country than any hockey player.

If Poland qualifies i would strongly disagree. Majority of people here know knothing about MLB or NFL.

 

[Paper]

Why stop at Gretzky? Babe Ruth, Gaius Appuleius Diocles, Spartacus, Thaegenes, Krog, just a fantastic generation.

 

[alko]

We are also living through the golden generation of porn too but nobody ever brings it up

imo, there is still potential for significant improvements.

 

[Nathaniel Skywalker]

No aaron rodgers? Cannot take list serious

 

[WeThreeKings]

Fair point. The only GOAT we haven't seen is baseball. The GOAT is either Babe Ruth or Willie Mays and you'd have to be damn old to have seen either of them. I say it's the Babe, but even if Mays, you'd certainly have to have been old to have seen his prime. Gretzky, Jordan, Brady, I'm 35 and got to see all of them play. Bolt is the GOAT of track. Tennis is close, but it's one of three who are either still active or recently retired.

Ohtani is doing things never done before. He's gonna be the GOAT.

 

[Faterson]

I’m willing to bet you that Tom Brady is much more known in every European non-traditional hockey country than any hockey player.

I would find that difficult to believe. More likely, most Europeans outside of hockey countries have never heard of either Tom Brady or Wayne Gretzky (let alone Connor McDavid, etc.). That's just the way it is...

 

[Bizz]

Watching prime Griffey in 98/99 was a sight to behold.

 

[MangoX]

I’m willing to bet you that Tom Brady is much more known in every European non-traditional hockey country than any hockey player.

Really? I'm Canadian and I don't know who he is (without looking up a Google search)

 

[Svechhammer]

I remember when people thought the NBA was in crisis because they would never be able to replace the talent lost by Magic, Bird, Jordan, etc.

 

[Voight]

First, driving a car isnt a sport.

Second, there are like 10 better baseball players (that didnt use drugs) than the three you listed from prior generations.

This is ignorant. It's called motorsports for a reason.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Really? I'm Canadian and I don't know who he is (without looking up a Google search)

Don’t worry about it, he’s not the GOAT anyway.

 

[JPT]

How do you know that we don't know it?

 

[the valiant effort]

…delete, I hit send before finishing editing

 

[Fatass]

It’s 30 max and that’s the definition of a generation.

You do accept there were greats before those you listed, right? And some of those are still the greatest. Like Jack Nicklaus in golf. 18 majors. And McDavid hasn’t won a Cup. He’s not on a greats list. Greats win (are keys to teams winning) championship.

Fair point. The only GOAT we haven't seen is baseball. The GOAT is either Babe Ruth or Willie Mays and you'd have to be damn old to have seen either of them. I say it's the Babe, but even if Mays, you'd certainly have to have been old to have seen his prime. Gretzky, Jordan, Brady, I'm 35 and got to see all of them play. Bolt is the GOAT of track. Tennis is close, but it's one of three who are either still active or recently retired.

Ohtani will be the GOAT of baseball once he leads the Dodgers to a Championship.

 

[Fatass]

I remember when people thought the NBA was in crisis because they would never be able to replace the talent lost by Magic, Bird, Jordan, etc.

Have they replaced those guys?

 

[Romang67]

I know it's a hockey focused forum, but I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that Michael Jordan hasn't been a Chicago Bull in the past 25 years. I'd argue his stint as a Washington Wizard, which did happen in the past 25 years, is the opposite of a golden period in sports.

 

[Ace Card Bedard]

This is kinda silly.

You're talking about sports leagues that have only been around for 100 years or so.
Of course some of the greats will have been in the last 30 years.

They've all been golden ages in that sense. The first 30 years saw their greats. The next 30, and so on.

 

[Midnight Judges]

2500 years ago there was likely a guy sitting in the stands appreciating how he was in the best era for what we today call the "Mesoamerican ballgame."