[JMIKE is a Grizz fanParticipant]

 Lance Armstrong just gave up on fighting the drug issue. Now every one is saying he did it and it was just a fairy tale and it was just a great story after having cancer and etc. so I’m asking you do you think that we as humans have reached our limits and the only way to do something great is through peds or genetics and we as humans can’t work our butt off to be great and defy all odds? If I told you that somebody who worked very hard dedicating every second to be the best sprinter in the world a beat usain bolts record would you think he was on peds or he actually did it?

[Lebron’s HairlineParticipant]

No way humans are done growing. 50 years ago players in the nba where much shorter and athletic as the players now. Look at high school players now. Julius randle is 6’9 240. In football my friend who now plays for south Carolina was 6’6 250 in his junior year of high school

[aamir543Participant]

Hell to the no, humans are just getting started, look at the 100m dash, I remember about 5 years ago it was a huge deal that Asafa Powell ran a 9.77, and just a couple years after that Bolt ran a 9.58 100. Technology will continue to improve, for instance 20 years ago Kobe might have retired after the 2011 season, his knees were damaged and only the latest technology could aid him. Remember when Amare got hurt in 2005? If that were even 1990 he might not have been the same again. Look at baseball, 30 years ago Tommy John surgery wasn’t nearly as effective as it is today. On average guys return back from the surgery even better. We have orthroscpic surgery for every single orthopedic joint in our body, Humans continue to get bigger and stronger and although it may be suttle, there is a huge difference in the resources and abilities of athletes today and 20 years ago. There is a reason the basketball communiry didn’t go into a collective coma when Griffin went down, It’s because we knew that technology would bring him back to full strength. Remember Dara Torres in the 2008 olympics as a 40 year old swimmer, a couple years ago her knee was so bad she couldn’t bend it, her doctor said it was the worst knee he’d ever seen. But then they were able to do surgery, and she was able to swim again, and I believe she was trying to compete in London, but retired instead I think. There is a ceiling, I understand that, but I don’t think we’re there yet.

[phila9012Participant]

I know i will ge negged for this, but there is noway Bolt is clean. The World anti doping agency head even admitted that many people were getting away with cheating. both of bolts teammates in the 200m have tested positive for PED’s. In 2007 his personal best in the 100m was 10.03, then 2 years later in 2009 he ran a 9.58. there is something going on there. When ever people dominate a sport by that much you need to be suspicious of PED’s. If you think it is un believable, chances are it is. Like lance armstrong noway you beat a PED filled sport 7 times in a row. You are right about medical technology extending careers like nash and kobe, but we are close to the athletic max that is not aided by PED’s in sports like track and field, and swimming.

[ChewyParticipant]

I’m going to argue with you. Why? Because it’s fun.

There are no great sports achievements anymore. With the huge explosion of media coverage/blogs/ opinion/the internet in general in the last few decades every little thing is covered and discussed at nausium. Ground breaking things in sports like superstars such as Carmelo and Dwight moving to new teams change the landscape of the entire league and yet the main response to this profound news was "Finally we can STOP hearning about this!" After a superstar gets traded is when we are supposed to START talking about how it changes things… not when Dwight first kinda sorta somewhat meantions he is possibly a little unhappy in Orlando.

This exposed "bash it into your head day after day" media coverage on the big story lines in sports makes everything old news before it even becomes big news. Now you pretty much have to be perfect to even get credit for anything. Lebron had to win a ring, MVP and gold medal just to keep the "Is Lebron overrated" segment from airing weekly on PTI and Around the Horn. AND! even though he did accomplish all these things now people have moved onto "well he is still not better than Jordan." Why can’t we (as a sports fan community) just say "Ya he’s nice" and move on without trying to put the player in his place.

It is hard to celebrate athletes in today’s age because we know all about them. We know when a player donates 100 K to a hospital and we know when a player stiffs a waitress at TGIFridays. Knowing all this, we can’t help but judge them (good or bad) and most of the time we become unable to admire the athlete the way we used to.

[Bird_YearsParticipant]

I gave you a thumbs up because arguments are fun, but I think you got a little off track. The issue was more to do with human physical potential than with how fans perceive athletes. 

But going with your line of argument, I will always prefer more information over less, especially now that we have the internet and you can choose what to expose yourself to. And I’d say its especially a good thing that fans can see the little things that athletes do, provides more motivation for them to be solid people

[F_S]

 

10 year olds

 

[aamir543Participant]

Speaking of crazy achievments, Roger Clemens made his debut today in the independent league, and he was solid, 3 and a third innings, no runs, one hit, two strikeouts, and his fastball topped out at 88 mph. He himself says he’s a long ways from pitching for a major leauge team. But just goes to show that a 50 year old still might be able to get it done. 

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