Todays athletes aren't always better

[McGoorty]

And pray tell: when did football become technical? We have Vince Lombardi who preached smash mouthfootball, run it down their throats. He used a sweep that everyone knew was coming and we have that line of football players all the way up through maybe the very late 70's when Kenny Stabler, "lean and mean" smart as a rattler found a way to score....

But Buck.... Today? Bill parcels revolutionized the game....in a tail of two cities we saw Mike Ditka (a guy who I adored as a player and coach) become a chivalrous dinasour and little else....meanwhile Bill scripted every play, he could tell you outcomes based on how the clock was managed...and Bill was a bastard and a half if that clock was not *****rdly watched down to the milisecond!

So yeah, today football is a very technical game. Quarterbacks have to be better, stronger, smarter and have a near eidemic memory. But that is football and football changed that is why it is a different game. The coaches who won did so by making the game technically savy. Football was not a technical sport by any means.

Very different from boxing...Boxing was always about finding technical excellence and style. From grappling properly to footwork. these two activities are as different as night and day. Football has become technical while boxing has become about lasting a few rounds and not risking a loss.

Don't know much at all about American Football but I think it is a bit like it's cousin, Rugby League, the rules of rugby league have evolved much and more than once, it has been a trial and error approach but the Dave Brown's and Clive Churchill's would have needed at least a year or two to learn how the game is played now, vastly different. As such it is impossible to compare the game and players from different eras. Just imagine Churchill the little fullback and his eyes popping when he see's Johnathon Thurston and thinking, "that giant is a halfback ?". in Clive's day halfbacks were like 5 feet 3. Thurston is something like the height of Ali.

[MBE]

Whilst I think strength and conditioning of boxers has greatly improved, the quality of teaching has decreased which is incomparable to other sports.

People here talk about how soccer players are better than ever now and this means athletes are generally improving. But that's because we have great trainers in the other sports who are finding new ways to teach. We have talent scouts that spot kids at 5 years old and put them in academies in soccer (football).

As for boxing? Any fitness trainer can pick up a bucket and gum shield and say they know about boxing. Where are the young trainers today with the talent and knowledge of Manuel steward or cus d'amarto? We're losing those great trainers and the knowledge of the game is going with them.

What we have left are boxers who are athletes first and fighters second.

[SBleeder]

You were certainly correct to point out that modern athletes are not always better than previous generations all the time, however that is a straw man attack on the argument that athletes/sportsmen are getting better over time.

What does this tell you?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_ju...rd_progression

or look at the top 10 jumps in history,male or female, look at the dates.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_jump#Records

Either every or almost every event that can be meaured in such a way tells a similar story. I do agree though that in Boxing's case it is less clear cut.

So your point is that athletes peaked in the early 90s? If not, why has nobody broken the long jump record for over 20 years with all these improvements in training and nutrition?

Shotput record hasn't been broken for 23 years.

Discus throw record hasn't been broken for 27 years.

High jump record hasn't been broken for 20 years

Pole vault record hasn't been broken for 19 years.

[SBleeder]

And pray tell: when did football become technical? We have Vince Lombardi who preached smash mouthfootball, run it down their throats. He used a sweep that everyone knew was coming and we have that line of football players all the way up through maybe the very late 70's when Kenny Stabler, "lean and mean" smart as a rattler found a way to score....

Lombardi's Packer Sweep was actually one of the most technically-schemed plays ever created. Vince could give a two-hour lecture on the assignments of all eleven players.

The old Delaware Wing T was incredibly complex.

[Suckmedry]

You were certainly correct to point out that modern athletes are not always better than previous generations all the time, however that is a straw man attack on the argument that athletes/sportsmen are getting better over time.

What does this tell you?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_ju...rd_progression

or look at the top 10 jumps in history,male or female, look at the dates.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_jump#Records

Either every or almost every event that can be meaured in such a way tells a similar story. I do agree though that in Boxing's case it is less clear cut.

how many times does it have to be explained to you that boxing isnt fcking long jump you ******.

[Sugar Adam Ali]

Evolution happens when organisms are forced to adapt to surroundings for survival, mankind is pretty much the top of the food chain, and we need not worry about going extinct hence why our characteristics have stayed the same for the most part,, I do think that over the last hundred years, things like processed food, vitamins, medical breakthrus and training methods have cause for us to get slightly bigger, maybe stronger in some cases but nothing to drastic,,,

In terms of boxing, i think the athletes are about the same, technique and skill are the things lacking nowadays but i think that is due to guys not staying active, and being protected on the way up, and also how the amateurs have changed to now being just about how many times can you slap/hit a guy, it isnt like it was in the 50s,60,70s.. I think the watered down amateurs, and then lack of fights plus being producted has really hindered the skill development of this generation

[StarshipTrooper]

So your point is that athletes peaked in the early 90s? If not, why has nobody broken the long jump record for over 20 years with all these improvements in training and nutrition?

Shotput record hasn't been broken for 23 years.

Discus throw record hasn't been broken for 27 years.

High jump record hasn't been broken for 20 years

Pole vault record hasn't been broken for 19 years.

Here's the dirty little secret:

Jessie Owens wins the gold in the 100m in the 1936 Olympics with a 10.3 time. Usain Bolt wins the 100m gold in 2008 with a 9.69 time.

72 years of supposed "evolution" and all there is to show for it is an improvement of about a half a second. In practical terms if Usain Bolt picked Jesse Owens' pocket he wouldn't exactly be putting distance between them running down the street.

[Cardinal Buck]

Here's the dirty little secret:

Jessie Owens wins the gold in the 100m in the 1936 Olympics with a 10.3 time. Usain Bolt wins the 100m gold in 2008 with a 9.69 time.

72 years of supposed "evolution" and all there is to show for it is an improvement of about a half a second. In practical terms if Usain Bolt pick Jesse Owens' pocket he wouldn't exactly be putting distance between them running down the street.

You must be a complete idiot to think that 0.5 seconds is insignificant in 100m sprints. Reference: http://www.alltime-athletics.com/m_100ok.htm

[StarshipTrooper]

You must be a complete idiot to think that 0.5 seconds is insignificant in 100m sprints. Reference: http://www.alltime-athletics.com/m_100ok.htm

We know you're a complete idiot and your further demonstrate that idiocy by your insistence that what amounts to hair splitting is "significant".

I now expect you will ponder how many angels may prance simultaneously upon the head of a pin.

[Welsh Jon]

You were certainly correct to point out that modern athletes are not always better than previous generations all the time, however that is a straw man attack on the argument that athletes/sportsmen are getting better over time.

What does this tell you?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_ju...rd_progression

or look at the top 10 jumps in history,male or female, look at the dates.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_jump#Records

Either every or almost every event that can be meaured in such a way tells a similar story. I do agree though that in Boxing's case it is less clear cut.

My arguement was simply to counter the amount of time I have heard that in ALL sports athletes of today have evolved way beyond athletes of the past. There are lot's of sports where it is not as clear cut as all that and I believe boxing is one of them.