EastCoastNiner Posted October 14, 2009 Report Share Posted October 14, 2009 Does anyone else think that too many people don't really watch or understand sports, and automatically assume that people from past generations are the greatest players? I'm saying that people consider Wayne Gtetzkey, Magic Johnson, Jim Brown, and others to be some of the best in their respective sports, but people have to face the facts that they would get [expletive] raped in today's game. Yes, Magic Johnson would get [expletive] on by LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Kobe Bryant, and some other players if he were still playing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phightins Posted October 14, 2009 Report Share Posted October 14, 2009 Probably, but that's just how it goes. We will be saying the same things about today's generation 50 years from now. It is impossible to prove this, so all we have to go on are memories of how dominant players were in their era, and the stats they put up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poe Posted October 14, 2009 Report Share Posted October 14, 2009 If you take Magic's prime being and transport it to today's world of athletes, then yes, he would probably get beaten. But if you take childhood Magic, and have him grow up with the same training, coaching, and competition as today's athletes, then Magic would probably wind up still be among the best. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diesel Posted October 15, 2009 Report Share Posted October 15, 2009 I have mixed opinions on this. I think it's different for each sport. Football for example is a game that relies heavily on brute strength and speed. The training techniques today are amazing compared to 30 or so years ago. If you look at the average running back 30 years ago and look at the average RB today there is a huge difference. Football has come the farthest IMO. Basketball is in the middle. I don't think Wilt Chamberlain would be averaging 50 PPG in today's league, but he would still be an all-star bigman. A guy like Mikan though would be an average NBA center IMO. And I think Jordan's bulls teams would still dominate if put in today's league the same way they dominated their time. Baseball I'm not too sure about. It involves mostly skill. The power with pitchers and hitters is probably much higher than many years ago, but I'm sure Mike Schmidt(a guy who supposedly never lifted weights) would be just as deadly in today's league with the typical training the players do today. And I think Gretzky would still dominate at will in today's NHL. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trutrojan8 Posted October 15, 2009 Report Share Posted October 15, 2009 Well those players are the best ever. Look at Gretzky's, or Ruth's stats, and compare them to anyone elses. See why people think they're good? It doesn't matter what era he played in, their stats are the best of all time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fly3rs18 Posted October 15, 2009 Report Share Posted October 15, 2009 I have mixed opinions on this. I think it's different for each sport. Football for example is a game that relies heavily on brute strength and speed. The training techniques today are amazing compared to 30 or so years ago. If you look at the average running back 30 years ago and look at the average RB today there is a huge difference. Football has come the farthest IMO. Basketball is in the middle. I don't think Wilt Chamberlain would be averaging 50 PPG in today's league, but he would still be an all-star bigman. A guy like Mikan though would be an average NBA center IMO. And I think Jordan's bulls teams would still dominate if put in today's league the same way they dominated their time. Baseball I'm not too sure about. It involves mostly skill. The power with pitchers and hitters is probably much higher than many years ago, but I'm sure Mike Schmidt(a guy who supposedly never lifted weights) would be just as deadly in today's league with the typical training the players do today. And I think Gretzky would still dominate at will in today's NHL. i agree. guys back then barely even worked out. it was all just natural skill. today the workouts are so intense, so the players are much bigger, so it is hard to compare and gretzky would dominate today, no one will ever come close to his records ever Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EastCoastNiner Posted October 16, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 16, 2009 Well those players are the best ever. Look at Gretzky's, or Ruth's stats, and compare them to anyone elses. See why people think they're good? It doesn't matter what era he played in, their stats are the best of all time. You can't just look at stats. The average GPG when Wayne Gretzky was playing was higher than today, goalies are dressed like Michilen Men today, and the rules have drastically changed. Also, I don't like when people try and say that a certain player from the past average 7 more ppg than the second closest player, versus LeBron who may have scored 3 more ppg than the second closest player when all it means is that today's game is much more balanced. Go ahead and quote me. If Babe Ruth played in today's MLB, he wouldn't be as good as Will Mo Pena today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phightins Posted October 16, 2009 Report Share Posted October 16, 2009 You can't just look at stats. The average GPG when Wayne Gretzky was playing was higher than today, goalies are dressed like Michilen Men today, and the rules have drastically changed. Also, I don't like when people try and say that a certain player from the past average 7 more ppg than the second closest player, versus LeBron who may have scored 3 more ppg than the second closest player when all it means is that today's game is much more balanced. Go ahead and quote me. If Babe Ruth played in today's MLB, he wouldn't be as good as Will Mo Pena today. What is the point of this though? This trend is going to continue as long as sports exist. As technology continues to enhance itself players continue to be bigger and stronger. It is impossible to know how good Babe Ruth or Ty Cobb would be in this era with a modern training regimen, just like it's impossible to know how Albert Pujols would have done in the 1930s. So yes, all we have to go on is stats. We can use trends in those stats to make judgements about players (aka the liveball era/steroid era in baseball, or the new/old NHL), but that's about it. It's sort of a given that a modern professional athlete would beat the [expletive] out of anybody from a past generation lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trutrojan8 Posted October 16, 2009 Report Share Posted October 16, 2009 You can't just look at stats. The average GPG when Wayne Gretzky was playing was higher than today, goalies are dressed like Michilen Men today, and the rules have drastically changed. Also, I don't like when people try and say that a certain player from the past average 7 more ppg than the second closest player, versus LeBron who may have scored 3 more ppg than the second closest player when all it means is that today's game is much more balanced. Go ahead and quote me. If Babe Ruth played in today's MLB, he wouldn't be as good as Will Mo Pena today.Too bad Willy Mo Pena never faced a pitcher half the quality of a Walter Johnson or Cy Young Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Great iBoldin Posted October 16, 2009 Report Share Posted October 16, 2009 Gretzky would still excel. He was too good of a player to fade out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YugoRocketsFan Posted October 23, 2009 Report Share Posted October 23, 2009 People will always think that older generations are better in everything, music, sports, singing, dancing, bodybuilding, etc. The pioneers of a certain selection will always be praised no matter what, its why people think Led Zeppelin/ACDC is 1000x better than anything out today just because they are like 40 years old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trutrojan8 Posted October 27, 2009 Report Share Posted October 27, 2009 People will always think that older generations are better in everything, music, sports, singing, dancing, bodybuilding, etc. The pioneers of a certain selection will always be praised no matter what, its why people think Led Zeppelin/ACDC is 1000x better than anything out today just because they are like 40 years old.No, I think it's because Led Zeppelin has sold over 100 million more albums than your favorite band who was named after a chick's novel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YugoRocketsFan Posted October 27, 2009 Report Share Posted October 27, 2009 (edited) No, I think it's because Led Zeppelin has sold over 100 million more albums than your favorite band who was named after a chick's novel. Since more people like it thennnn. Soccer > Baseball Looks like you are the new idiot on the board, taking the title away from Kingfish, kingfish has been acting more normal now but your idiocy grows like a foot fungus. Edited October 27, 2009 by YugoRocketsFan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flash Posted October 27, 2009 Report Share Posted October 27, 2009 In terms of baseball you have to take a lot of things into account. PED's weren't as common as they are today and some of the parks where baseball used to be played were ridiculous compared to what we see today. However, pitchers weren't what they are today either. I think a lot of today's pitchers would've dominated in previous eras. In Basketball it comes down to the level of the athletes and the training regimens today's athletes have. I agree the Bulls of the 90's would still be dominating because the system they used to run is the same system the Lakers use and look where the Lakers are at now. Plus it doesn't hurt having Michael, Scottie and Rodman playing for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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