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The state of sports now vs your childhood

Posted on 5/30/23 at 11:16 pm
Posted by TexasTiger08
Member since Oct 2006
25527 posts
Posted on 5/30/23 at 11:16 pm
I’m sure this will spark debates about nostalgia. I’m not comparing from the standpoint of an owner looking at the bottom line…just a product quality comparison. I’m a 90’s kid:

MLB: 90’s
NFL: now (but I think I preferred the ‘00’s)
NBA: 90’s
NHL: now
Golf: now
NASCAR: 90’s (I could associate cars with drivers. I have no clue what goes on in the sport these days)
INDY/F1: now
Olympic sports: 90’s
Tennis: now
Boxing: 90’s (MMA has taken control)
Posted by BearCrocs
Member since Aug 2013
6447 posts
Posted on 5/30/23 at 11:23 pm to
Someone much wiser than me said something along the lines of sports were an escape of reality, of the hustle and bustle of the world. Athletes were athletes and fans were fans.

None of that is even remotely true anymore.
Posted by tigerfan84
Member since Dec 2003
20273 posts
Posted on 5/30/23 at 11:24 pm to
MLB 90s
NFL 2000s
NBA 80s
Posted by facher08
Baton Rouge
Member since Aug 2011
4343 posts
Posted on 5/30/23 at 11:35 pm to
I agree with your assessments except these two.

quote:

NHL: now
quote:

Tennis: now


I could name the stars on every NHL team and knew the Top 50 for both the ATP and WTA tours through the mid 90s to mid 00s. Today, I think I'd recognize a handful from each.
Posted by NaturalBeam
Member since Sep 2007
14521 posts
Posted on 5/30/23 at 11:37 pm to
quote:

NFL: now
Gimme 90s NFL all day long. 9ers and Cowboys, all time great running backs who would’ve laughed at RB-by-committee, Emmitt Smith and Barry Sanders. Elway, Marino, Montana, the Houston Oilers, Astro turf, defenses that could hit the shite out of offensive players, NO instant replay (until the very end of the decade at least). No expanded playoffs, no 5 minute commercial breaks, and all the offenses didn’t look identical. A family of 4 could attend a game with decent seats and not spend a mortgage payment in the process.

Yeah it sucked being a Saints fan but there’s also something endearing about cheering for a perennial loser that makes it fun.
This post was edited on 5/30/23 at 11:40 pm
Posted by WaltTeevens
Santa Barbara, CA
Member since Dec 2013
10963 posts
Posted on 5/31/23 at 12:04 am to
quote:

Someone much wiser than me said something along the lines of sports were an escape of reality, of the hustle and bustle of the world. Athletes were athletes and fans were fans.

None of that is even remotely true anymore


This is such a crock of shite. It drives me absolutely insane when people repeat this drivel.

Joe Louis vs. Max Schmeling
Jesse Owens at the Hitler Olympics
Muhammad Ali
Munich Olympics
Tommie Smith and John Carlos
Miracle on Ice
Celtic vs. Rangers in Scotland
Posted by vuvuzela
Oregon
Member since Jun 2010
14663 posts
Posted on 5/31/23 at 12:04 am to
NBA 90s
NHL 90s/00s
NFL now
CFB 00s
Tennis 10s

Posted by Broski
Member since Jun 2011
70885 posts
Posted on 5/31/23 at 12:05 am to
quote:

None of that is even remotely true anymore.



The adults thought this about sports in the 90's when you were a kid too.
Posted by TexasTiger08
Member since Oct 2006
25527 posts
Posted on 5/31/23 at 12:13 am to
I tried to be objective. As a Cowboys fan, the 90’s were more fun. I think the game is better now. I WISH we could allow the defense to play a bit more physically, and the game ending with whoever having the ball last winning is old at times…but still better than the 90’s.
Posted by mizzoubuckeyeiowa
Member since Nov 2015
35508 posts
Posted on 5/31/23 at 12:25 am to
If you didn't like your sports better as a kid than now, then you're still a kid.
Posted by PeteRose
Hall of Fame
Member since Aug 2014
16868 posts
Posted on 5/31/23 at 1:16 am to
I love NFL 90s and early 2000s. You rarely see players asking for flags at the end of the play. Another thing you don’t see is a celebration when a player gets a 1st down. A team could be down 21 pts and a WR feels like he need spin the ball or flex his muscles. It’s like a 5 year old trying to get your attention.
Posted by Bestbank Tiger
Premium Member
Member since Jan 2005
71079 posts
Posted on 5/31/23 at 5:45 am to
MLB was better in the 1980s.

NHL in the early 1990s.

CFB in the 1990s.

NBA and NFL are about even.
Posted by tccdc
Washington, DC
Member since Sep 2007
3589 posts
Posted on 5/31/23 at 6:07 am to
Over 50...so here is my take

TV - considering NBA finals used to be on tape delay, you might see a west coast baseball team once a year on Monday Night Baseball, etc...the whole landscape is so much better

But by league my take

NBA - 80s (Celtics, Lakers, Sixers, Pistons and an upcoming Chicago...)

NFL - later 80s/ mid 90s...many more characters and still could hit a QB...

MLB - TV point of view and athletes then current MLB...as a fan who wants to attend a game and not spend a mortgage payment the late 90s (McGuire/Sosa) era is my favorite for going to games

NHL - probably current...only thing I miss are the enforcers but the skills these days are incredible. And two generational players (OV, Crosby) are still fun to watch with young ones with great skills

Golf - more competitive now...but nothing better than when Jack or Tiger dominating

Boxing - late 70s...

College Football - I will still stand by the 90s...players could still be nasty and the world would not end...and conferences were about perfect

ACC - FSU, UVA, Clemson, GT, MD, WF, Duke, Nc State, UNC
Big East - VT, Miami, Cuse, WVU, Pitt, BC, Rutgers, Temple
Big Eight - Oklahoma, Ok St, Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas, Kansas St, Missouri, Iowa St
Big Ten - Northwestern, Oh St, Penn St, Michigan, Michigan St, Iowa, Purdue, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota
PAC - USC, UCLA, Az, Az State, Cal, Stanford, Wash, Wash St, Oregon, Oregon St
SEC - Alabama, Auburn, Ole Miss, Miss St, LSU, Florida, Arkansas, South Carolina, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Georgia
Southwest - Texas, Texas A&M, Rice, TCU, Houston, Baylor, Texas Tech, SMU
Posted by Sus-Scrofa
Member since Feb 2013
8149 posts
Posted on 5/31/23 at 6:50 am to
I was the perfect age for the original Dream Team. When they all retired, my interest in the NBA dropped to basically nothing.

But the people I know who follow basketball keep telling me the NBA has been pretty great lately, so my nostalgia probably shapes my opinion.
Posted by TejasHorn
High Plains Driftin'
Member since Mar 2007
10930 posts
Posted on 5/31/23 at 6:56 am to
College football was a lot better in the 80s when every game mattered, conferences were aligned sensibly to geographics, and rivalries like OU and Nebraska and new rivalries like ND and Miami were seismic. Players wore $1,000 fur coats and the coaches smoked on the sidelines.

There was no NIL or liberal transfer rules. Cheating seemed commonplace but really it was just getting exposed more than ever.
This post was edited on 5/31/23 at 6:58 am
Posted by EZE Tiger Fan
Member since Jul 2004
50302 posts
Posted on 5/31/23 at 8:10 am to
quote:

omeone much wiser than me said something along the lines of sports were an escape of reality, of the hustle and bustle of the world.


Took me way too long to realize this. Even hung on to the fairy tale for a bit after I knew all my favorite sports were pretty much rigged.

Now I just watch for entertainment, but watch less and less every year.
Posted by VinegarStrokes
Georgia
Member since Oct 2015
13299 posts
Posted on 5/31/23 at 8:18 am to
quote:

But the people I know who follow basketball keep telling me the NBA has been pretty great lately, so my nostalgia probably shapes my opinion.


My interest dropped when Shaq left Orlando lol. I was a Hawks fan growing up in Georgia but Orlando was my 1B with Shaq, Penny, Nick Anderson, and Dennis Scott. I was devastated when he went to LA and I stopped following for the most part.
Posted by SlowFlowPro
Simple Solutions to Complex Probs
Member since Jan 2004
422470 posts
Posted on 5/31/23 at 8:23 am to
quote:

NBA: 90’s




Y'all need to go watch some games from the 90s on Youtube. They are gross as frick. Pick a random regular season game without Jordan and tell me how superior that is to a random regular season game today.
Posted by ChEgrad
Member since Nov 2012
3265 posts
Posted on 5/31/23 at 8:27 am to
quote:

Tennis: now


Give me McEnroe, Connors, Bjorg era into the Sampras/Agassi era.
Posted by Upperdecker
St. George, LA
Member since Nov 2014
30574 posts
Posted on 5/31/23 at 8:37 am to
quote:

Golf: now

No. Tiger vs the world was the highest peak of golf

quote:

NFL: now

Yes, hard to disagree. The NFL still puts out a great product, and the extra scoring now is much more entertaining.

quote:

NBA: 90’s

80s even though I wasn’t alive for it

quote:

Tennis: now

No, 2000s

quote:

Boxing: 90’s

Nah. Pre 90s
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