Comments on: Top 7 Reasons Breaking Sports Records is B.S.

By: Demetrius Kennealy

Demetrius Kennealy — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 21:22:31 +0000

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By: Slow Pitch Bats

Slow Pitch Bats — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 15:47:37 +0000

I think you are absolutely right. The sport has changed so much since Hank Aaron’s time. Ball players of that era were pound for pound a lot tougher than the players today. I don’t put much creadence in records being broken today either. Now if the record was broken by several hundred that would be something different. But, by only a few, all things being equal, Hank Aaron is still hands down the best.

By: softball bat geek

softball bat geek — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 20:05:40 +0000

You’re right, the equipment is better, technology is better when it comes to shaping and building the human body for sports, etc. Could anyone do a great job pitching an entire game today, do you think? But I do think easy access to steroids and other drugs has made a difference. We have superhuman athletes because of them!

By: CAR park 4ver » Blog Archive » Top 7 Reasons Breaking Sports Records is B.S.

Mon, 15 Oct 2007 16:26:40 +0000

[...] is preposterous. Here are seven reasons breaking old sports records doesnt really mean anything.read more | digg [...]

By: Chris Airhart

Chris Airhart — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 15:12:34 +0000

The modern athlete is better if for no other reason than it’s become a lucrative industry. In Ruth’s day, baseball was much more of a “gentleman’s contest” and the drug of choice for athletes wasn’t designer steroids, it was alcohol. Also, in Ruth’s day, and before, if you hit a ball and it bounced over the fence, that was considered a home run. Today, it’s a ground rule double. But, I’m getting off subject here. The point is, money is the driving force behind it. Let’s say I’m an athlete in the 1920s-late 1960s. I might be a beloved public figure and all, but the paychecks aren’t exactly what they should be. And there’s no pension fund, nothing for me to retire on. In the NFL today, you have to play four years in the league to draw pension (however, the average NFL career is only 3 years, ouch). So, I might decide to do something else. But once the millions started to roll in, and I’ve got a enough athletic ability to make it, I can turn it into a career more profitable than being a doctor, journalist, musician, writer etc. And since it really is a market dominated by competition (in professional sports, you must win), I have to maintain my status through training, drugs and other stuff. Baseball is defined by its eras. This is the tail-end of the steroid era. Records were meant to be broken. My last comment is that all of these people enraged by the thought of their children looking up to people who “cheat” to get ahead is what’s really bullshit about the situation. They should thank steroids. They saved baseball. 1994. Strike year. No World Series and shitty replacement players. The next year nobody cared. The Yankees, America’s sweethearts, win a Series two years later. America cares a little more. 1998. Home run contest. America falls in love again. Until all the talk of Andro, HGH and “The Cream” and “The Clear” comes up. But people still attend the games. I think all substance should be legal in baseball. It makes things more interesting. I could write a fucking book on all the things wrong with baseball (including six teams in the N.L. Central, but only 4 in the A.L. West) but I’ll stop here. Who cares? It’s just a game. So enjoy it for what it is: a game.

By: M. Frederick Voorhees

M. Frederick Voorhees — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 14:55:09 +0000

I always find it hilarious whenever ESPN ranks the best NFL teams of all time and they put Lombardi’s Packers or the ’72 Dolphins ahead of recent winners like the 2002 Buccaneers. Watch the old highlights of the Dallas Cowboys defensive line that Bart Starr had to run over to win the NFC/NFL championship game and go to the first Super Bowl. They were built like a D-3 college team.

You are right on point; it is bullshit to compare today’s billion-dollar sports corporation to the guys in the past who basically did it for fun.

By: Matt

Matt — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 20:03:57 +0000

Also, going with #3, up untill the 80s, weight lifting was FROWNED DOWN UPON in baseball because the thought process was that if they were all musclebound, they would not be flexible enough to swing hard and the like.

Players back then were wayyyyyyy thinner, watch a tape of any old game and you will see.

By: Top Posts « WordPress.com

Top Posts « WordPress.com — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 23:59:28 +0000

[...] Top 7 Reasons Breaking Sports Records is B.S. The big news in sports in the last few days has been Barry Bonds breaking Hank Aaron’s epic home run record: 755 […] [...]

By: burningBlue

burningBlue — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 20:36:01 +0000

I like to say this every time someone spouts off about babe ruth, he never played against some of the best pitchers of that era cause he never batted against some phenomonal black pitchers.

By: Brian

Brian — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 16:46:04 +0000

Interesting argument, but I don’t think it holds throughout sports. What about track? One mile is still one mile. Sure, training methods have advanced there too, but I think this is one of the major flaws of your argument. The advancement of training methods surely helps people break records, but it’s not as though every baseball player today is going to hit 755 home runs or every runner going to run a 4:00 mile as a result of the better training.

Breaking records will not settle the question of who the better player is/was, as we’ll never know what Ruth would have done in today’s game. But the record is still a standard with meaning.