Time Has Passed Me By

[Midnight Toker]

....reminds me of what I read about the History of the Blues, it was considered vulgar, and coming straight from the Devil's workshop if you listened to the "good" church goers / Gospel folks' opinion.
Some things will never change, including this need the average Joe seemingly has, to spew bile on stuff he either doesn't know, fears, or dislike, based on this "value system" you mention.
I will add, for the record, I find no personal musical interest in rap or hip hop, except maybe for an amusement when watching the choreographic soft porn associated with it.

And it still wasn't even close to the "amusement" I got out of Ann Margret in The Who's Tommy. 10x more titlating than anything I saw yesterday and it was rated PG in 1975. (Loved baked beans ever since!! )

 

[tommym]

Used to be a huge sports fan growing up in the LA area. Primary I’m talking about the ‘60s, and baseball was top dog. Football & basketball were like second class citizens by comparison. Football at it’s basics is a beautiful game, but unfortunately today, the testosterone fueled posing, preening, yelling, screaming, spiking, taunting, etc, that passes for “sportsmanship,” rather reflects our society at large. Give me a gracefully humble Sandy Koufax (even after the most dominating of performances) any day of the week.

That said, I mowed the lawn & watched most of the second half. It can still be a beautiful game when reduced to the basics, but you’ve sure got to wade through a whole lot of BS to get there.

Baseball was the game of my youth. But like other professional sports, the advent of instant replay has spawned an allocation of "challenges" that further delay the game. I think corrupt and or blind Umps are part of the charm of Baseball.

Hopefully the "automated strike zone" never makes it to the Majors.

Tommy

 

[FNG]

Sports has never been "pure". From the 1919 World Series on. There was more doping in the 70's than any time after. (During the Lyle Alzado years, it was said that likely 80% of the NFL were doping) We are just more hyper aware because the league's are actually testing. There have also been crap owners forever. (Marge Schott!), and teams have been relocating regularly since the beginning of American pro sports. There are only a handful of "original" franchises in all sports in the US. It's nothing new. These leagues look nothing like the ones my father grew up with. And back then, teams, players, coaches did anything they could to get an advantage over their opponent, within, or outside of the rules. As for millennials, they pack the student sections of every football/basketball game across the country. My nephew, and all his friends, watch nothing but sports and attend sporting events regularly.

Ageing out is just a natural progression in life. But don't think for a second things were all roses back in the day and everything is in decline. The level of athletisicm and competitiveness is miles beyond what it was just 30-40 years ago. And big money contracts have ushered in incredible breakthroughs in sports medicine that are now common procedures for us all. If it weren't for the 50 million dollar athlete, a ACL surgery might still be a rubber strap stapled to your bones. It wasn't that long ago that race horses received better medical treatment than football players. We've all benefitted from it.

DiMaggio's Yanks couldn't win a pennant against today's teams, neither could the Monsters of the Midway, or Red Aurbach's Celtics. When I see old B&W film of fat guys in baseball uniforms smoking cigars in the dugout between innings, decline is not a word that comes to mind when thinking about today's game.

The thing is those teams were magical.

Think of New York with the Yankees, Dodgers, and Giants, with Mantle, Mays and Snider.

You'll never see a match up like mid 80s Celtics-Lakers. Bird vs. Magic...talk about competition. It was personal! They became friends, but they played to win.

 

[tommym]

When I see old B&W film of fat guys in baseball uniforms smoking cigars in the dugout between innings, decline is not a word that comes to mind when thinking about today's game.

Brings back fond memories of me and my friends sitting next to one of the priests from my school at the ballgames. He always sat next to the press box and always had a few beers and a cigar in his hand. He was loud and didn't always have nice things to say the visiting teams or the Umps. The stadium knew when he was upset. But he always had a BIG smile and firm handshake to anyone who approached him. Kind of reminded me of Al Capone.

Tommy

 

[walrus]

DiMaggio's Yanks couldn't win a pennant against today's teams, neither could the Monsters of the Midway, or Red Aurbach's Celtics. When I see old B&W film of fat guys in baseball uniforms smoking cigars in the dugout between innings, decline is not a word that comes to mind when thinking about today's game.

Not to veer, just a comment. I'd take Bill Russell and John Havlicek on my team before any two players from today. You can't compare eras. Today, kids play one sport exclusively to make it big. An agent comes to them in high school if they are good. Totally different eras. And the money (and therefore motivation) is definitely different!

walrus

 

[bluesypicky]

Not to veer, just a comment. I'd take Bill Russell and John Havlicek on my team before any two players from today. You can't compare eras. Today, kids play one sport exclusively to make it big. An agent comes to them in high school if they are good. Totally different eras. And the money (and therefore motivation) is definitely different!
walrus

Right.
It's tougher these days for a morbidly obese figure to dominate any particular sport (or pass time when referring to baseball) LMAO.

 

[FNG]

Right.
It's tougher these days for a morbidly obese figure to dominate any particular sport (or pass time when referring to baseball) LMAO.

What about Sumo wrestling?

Those NFL linemen are getting so skinny!

 

[Midnight Toker]

The thing is those teams were magical.

Think of New York with the Yankees, Dodgers, and Giants, with Mantle, Mays and Snider.

You'll never see a match up like mid 80s Celtics-Lakers. Bird vs. Magic...talk about competition. It was personal! They became friends, but they played to win.

I'd wager any Bulls fan during the Jordan era, or a young Pats fan would consider what they accomplished in the salary cap era magical as well. Especially the comeback vs Atlanta! You can probably chalk it up to your having been an impressionable kid during your magical era. Future kids will no doubt have theirs as well. It's all relative. And for every sports era that had it's rock stars, the DiMaggio's dating one Hollywood starlet after another. Today's game also has countless family orientated atheletes that have proactively bettered their home communities. The world is not going to pieces. We just live in a world of the opinionated fear mongering 24 hr news cycle. A negative story = ratings and today access seems unlimited. There have always been seedy characters in sports, it just either went undetected or unreported. Local news used to bury stories for the good of the home team. I'm just tired of the misconception that everything was better in the past. It wasn't. A few things, sure, but not overall. For close to 100 years the two biggest sports in America were boxing and horse racing. Both inundated by gambling, drinking and smoking. Now THOSE are definitely in decline.

 

[Rich Cohen]

No, the drugs are better now.

Sports, to a kid or young adult, probably has not changed much effect-wise over the generations. They still exhibit joy in not knowing it is mostly theater, they can still suspend their disbelief. As an adult, when you see behind the curtain, you are more struck by the decline.
I can't pinpoint when I lost all interest in sports, but I haven't looked at a game of anything in ages, got rid of television a long time ago, too; must be 20-years now. And I won't rant about the leagues, the owners, the players, the commissioners, the advertisers, the broadcasters, the scandals, the ever-increasing politicization, the steroids, the never-ending need for new tax-payer funded stadiums or we'll move to Albuquerque, all of which share blame for the overall decline of professional sports. But children don't see that, they don't care.

Pro Sports does have one large looming problem, millennials really don't care about it. They have unlimited entertainment options on a small hand-held screen, high-priced event tickets are not on their radar.

Sports offers little relative value for your money now. When attending a playoff game costs the same as the price of a 1975 Guild on Reverb, the Guild wins. Or, more commonly these days, when taking a family of four to a game costs the same as two-week's worth of groceries, you're not going to Dodgers Stadium today, kids.

My son's marijuana doesn't smell like mine used to smell (60's - 70's). When I criticize him for smoking too much pot, his answer is "it's a lifestyle."

 

[HeyMikey]

You say the Superbowl was on this past weekend? Did Brady win?

 

[Bernie]

Having good taste is not getting old Richard, don't worry...I've been told too at times, that I liked my kind of age music, that it is because it's music that was around at a time when we live our deepest emotions, along to discovering lives of our own, making our first important decisions, becoming an adult and deciding for the 1st time of what we loved , blah blah, tralala, and I do admit that sometimes some of the music I was fond of wasn't really that great at times. However a big part of it still holds the line, people could play, their tunes had lasting value, composition, improvisation, playing, singing, writing and poetry all had a - more or less - fair share and that's not true any more, very often it seems...I would worry however if I'd only liked our national anthem, and "my country the beautiful"... www.youtube.com/watch?v=snXXOBMlqBU or www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7xMfIp-irg (just the beginning )

 

[Guildedagain]

It's widely known now that people have been doping as long as there has been people.

edited.

 

[FNG]

I'd wager any Bulls fan during the Jordan era, or a young Pats fan would consider what they accomplished in the salary cap era magical as well. Especially the comeback vs Atlanta! You can probably chalk it up to your having been an impressionable kid during your magical era. Future kids will no doubt have theirs as well. It's all relative. And for every sports era that had it's rock stars, the DiMaggio's dating one Hollywood starlet after another. Today's game also has countless family orientated atheletes that have proactively bettered their home communities. The world is not going to pieces. We just live in a world of the opinionated fear mongering 24 hr news cycle. A negative story = ratings and today access seems unlimited. There have always been seedy characters in sports, it just either went undetected or unreported. Local news used to bury stories for the good of the home team. I'm just tired of the misconception that everything was better in the past. It wasn't. A few things, sure, but not overall. For close to 100 years the two biggest sports in America were boxing and horse racing. Both inundated by gambling, drinking and smoking. Now THOSE are definitely in decline.

Lol I wasn't around for 50s baseball.

I did watch 80s NBA, and it's light years away from the NBA of today. Granted, today's players are gifted, but the game has changed. They are playing at half speed.

 

[Midnight Toker]

Not to veer, just a comment. I'd take Bill Russell and John Havlicek on my team before any two players from today. You can't compare eras. Today, kids play one sport exclusively to make it big. An agent comes to them in high school if they are good. Totally different eras. And the money (and therefore motivation) is definitely different!

walrus

And they would lose against any 2 of the league's top 30 players. Not really. Many kids change sports from college to pros based on their physical size and abilities. A college strong forward in basketball that might be a NBA 20th round pick at best might have a better chance at playing tight end in football just because that position is best suited for his size. There are numerous cases of multi sport/crossover sport atheles, still today. Just like many change positions from what they played in high school and college just because their body simply didn't grow into the suitable size for that position in the pros. There are numerous former college QB's playing HB and WR.

Still....sports, music, tv, movies...basically entertainment in general. There comes a time in life were nostalgia precedes reality. I bet there are college professors out there that would tell you a lot of rap IS poetry, and many of the compositions are indeed very well crafted. Personally, my alltime fav era in music is the mid 60's to the mid 70's. What has lasted from that era I find glorious. But I'm not going to pretend to forget that there was also a massive heaping pile of vanilla bubblegum #%*# that also filled out that era. For every Stairway to Heaven, there were at least 2-3 Disco Ducks!! Lol

 

[Rich Cohen]

Having good taste is not getting old Richard, don't worry...I've been told too at times, that I liked my kind of age music, that it is because it's music that was around at a time when we live our deepest emotions, along to discovering lives of our own, making our first important decisions, becoming an adult and deciding for the 1st time of what we loved , blah blah, tralala, and I do admit that sometimes some of the music I was fond of wasn't really that great at times. However a big part of it still holds the line, people could play, their tunes had lasting value, composition, improvisation, playing, singing, writing and poetry all had a - more or less - fair share and that's not true any more, very often it seems...I would worry however if I'd only liked our national anthem, and "my country the beautiful"... www.youtube.com/watch?v=snXXOBMlqBU or www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7xMfIp-irg (just the beginning )

Thanks, Bernie, for the wisdom, and the YouTube link. Sometimes I find the French a bit over the top about their Frenchness. But, their entitled to it, I suppose. edited out

 

[chazmo]

Closing this thread. People seem unable to stop posting political comments.