Agree, and it wouldn't surprise me if he even did better the 2nd half of his career... but until then, it's all speculation.
Yeah somewhere along the way “traveling “ disappeared from the rule book for anybody with a 23 on his jersey
Respectfully disagree. There are very few players who's greatness could transcend time, and even still, subject to debate. Examples abound of players who thrived as a function of their era/time. Start with Pete Sampras--That guy dominated tennis right around the time of Jordan/NBA, Jeff Gordon/NASCAR, and others who elude me now... Sampras in his prime, woulda got destroyed by any/all of 'the big 3' today. Joe Montana... 4 superbowl rings...often proclaimed the GOAT... Dan Marino...no SB's, but often believed to be the best pure passer/QB ever... ...unitl the 21st century happened... Their stuff seems pretty mundane compared to the likes of Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, and of course, Tom Brady. Today's dimes, against faster defenses...it's multiple times every damn sunday, not high light reels... (of course, I'll also acknowledge that the old school qb's were significantly tougher, b/c the rules would let them get crushed on the regular...). I think you can argue for a handfull of players who would be bad ass regardless (though not necessarily as dominant), such as: Michael Jordan Magic Johnson Larry Bird L'bron Wanye Gretzky Jim Brown Babe Ruth Mickey Mantle Ted Williams Tom Brady Emmitt Smith Lawrence Taylor Gronk the Big 3 in Tennis today (I know...could very likely be proven to be premature....). Surely others, but this is the level of eliteness that we'd be talking about--just to be competitive, not dominant--with the default rule being that the current athletes are significantly better than before, the leagues and level of competition, significantly better than before, b/c when a player breaks down a barrier, the entire league follows, and yesterday's grand accomplishments are rendered today's minimum expectation for competence. jmho/fwiw.
He’s tgat good is what I’m saying. Same as Bo. If he gets injured, all bets off on goat talk but talent, maybe he’s better than Brady ever was.
Can't argue with you there. His talent is something on another level... and that (in all likelihood) won't change whether he quits tomorrow or plays 10 more years and wins 5 rings.
Music is the biggest difference. The music of our generation was hands down the best and nothing since comes close
Just everything. Like, we've just corporatized the soul out of everything. Everything feels formulaic. Unfortunately, art and creativity in general are not formulaic, no matter how much corporate America wishes it was (Disney?).
I agree with your post - except I don’t think the “rope a dope” transcended anything. In my opinion it was a step backward
As bad as the pistons were with that, I believe it was the early 90s Knicks teams that slowed the game to a crawl and caused some of the changes favoring offense.
Rope a dope was one tactic, improvised in one fight. Ali's fighting style was way more varied than RAD, which was actually more deviation from his style than his style.
A couple things: 1. I don't completely disagree on Pete, but surfaces are different now and play to the baseline game over net play. If we're playing on grass Pete played on (not the newer stuff with higher bounce), Roger probably has at least 5 more majors. But, yeah, these guys have turned it into a video game. 2. Much like the NBA, "those defenses" with all that "speed" still can't touch the WR in the way that guys could in Montana and Marino's era. I'd put them right there with any of the ones you mentioned. Hell, you could argue Brady is just Montana 2.0 given where he grew up, who he idolized (and clearly modeled his throwing motion after) and the way he commands the offense. No Joe, no Brady if you ask me. Is Brady Brady without that role model growing up? Probably not. 3. I think you're exaggerating on that last point and succumbing to the notion that everything today is superior/more athletic/etc. than the past. It isn't. I'd argue the level of competition was higher prior to free agency and further expansion. You also ignore the fact that, if they were here today, those guys of the past would have the superior nutrition and training that today's athletes have. Then again, that may lead them to be markedly "softer", as today's athletes are. Maybe that's a good thing as we now care more about player safety, but it is what it is. There is just a different expectation today.
What was? RAD, or Ali? Ali was beautiful to watch. RAD was improvised on the spot IIRC, due to some adversity ALI was suffering from in the ring. So he changed tactics mid fight. It might been ugly, but it was effective and brilliant. And George Foreman failed to make any kind of counter adjustments himself.
Well, like I said, it's jmho. Going by what I see. I see competition levels in most every game increase visibly, palpably.... Players larger, faster, better... the games faster, greater precision... As for Sampras--his strength was his serve. The big three serve at least as good as he, but all 3 have sick volley game to support their serves. Sampras' post serve game just wasn't that great. (again...jmho).
Rope a dope was a great strategy which worked to perfection. Transcending his sport was beyond the ring. Just as Tebow's was in college football.
