I just finished having a conversation with Dad about watching sports and about how watching them back in the 70s and 80s was 'better' than now. And it truly is compared to watching it now, if only I was alive back then. From baseball to hockey and we even touched on boxing for a quick second. Just watching clips and show now on sports back in the day it makes me long for those good ol' days. Players just wanted it more. They played hurt and with broken hands and fingers and with sprained ankles (etc. etc.). For love of the game if you will.
It got me thinking if thirty years from now I have a child (big IF), can I say that I remember watching great sports moments? There are a few moments in my mind right now, but they revolve around Detroit. I will forever remember Magglio hitting that home run against Oakland, the overtime game winner that Stevie Y scored against St. Louis, the epic Detroit-Colorado rivalry that spanned several years. There are a few outside of Detroit sports memories that I remember, but not many.
It makes me sad that I never got to watch Gordie Howe or Al Kaline. But at least I watched Barry Sanders in his prime, and the majority of Steve Yzerman's career, even though I have no memory of his early years. The big issue I have is that I enjoy watching baseball and the farm system isn't really in tact. Sure they have a player here and a player there that can come up and make it to the bigs, but organizations don't replenish their teams the way they did back then. They buy their players, or trade big names.
Once again, I'm sad that I missed out on the golden age of sports when players played because they wanted to. Because they loved to play. Not because their paycheck made them play.
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