The NBA today? It’s not the same game when Jordan was in his prime. And it wasn’t the same game in Jordan’s day when Sloan and Van Lier were in their prime.
MLB today? Not the same game it was when the Sox won the pennant in ‘59. And the 1959 game was different from when the Sox won it all in 1919.
The NHL today isn’t the same game from when the Blackhawks won the Cup in 1961.
Same thing with pro football.
So does that make today’s sports better or worse from what they were before? Sports is about making a personal connection to the game and those who play it. Whatever the rules are, whatever the talent level is... what matters is how you feel about the game and what does it mean to you. Opportunities to making those kinds of connections will always be there no matter who is playing and how they happen to be doing it.
We’ll always have our personal preferences for how we like the games to be played and the era in which we best ‘connected’ with it. But in the end, it’s still just about watching someone with talent take a ball or puck and do something with it (and preventing someone else from doing something it) regardless of how one happens to get there.
Sports and the rules that govern them will always change with the times. But what must never change is the connection we feel toward it all or it’s just a bunch of meaningless motions for payment.
MLB today? Not the same game it was when the Sox won the pennant in ‘59. And the 1959 game was different from when the Sox won it all in 1919.
The NHL today isn’t the same game from when the Blackhawks won the Cup in 1961.
Same thing with pro football.
So does that make today’s sports better or worse from what they were before? Sports is about making a personal connection to the game and those who play it. Whatever the rules are, whatever the talent level is... what matters is how you feel about the game and what does it mean to you. Opportunities to making those kinds of connections will always be there no matter who is playing and how they happen to be doing it.
We’ll always have our personal preferences for how we like the games to be played and the era in which we best ‘connected’ with it. But in the end, it’s still just about watching someone with talent take a ball or puck and do something with it (and preventing someone else from doing something it) regardless of how one happens to get there.
Sports and the rules that govern them will always change with the times. But what must never change is the connection we feel toward it all or it’s just a bunch of meaningless motions for payment.