Kids come right out of college and immediately are called "great"....Baseball players hit .270 with 85 RBI's and are called "great".....Running Backs gain 900 yds with 4 TD's and are termed "great".....Even the guy who for the 1st time his whole career gains over 1,000 yds is termed "great"............
GIVE ME A BREAK!!!!!!
For those of you who may be too young to know, the NFL season used to be 14 games, not 16. In the 50's and 60's the season was 12 games. Gaining 1,000 yds in a season now is not as "GREAT" as it used to be. Average is the new "Great".
1000 yds over 16 games is 62.5 yds a game. That's "GREAT"?
1000 yds in 14 games is 71.43 yds a game.
1000 yds in 12 games is 83.3 yds a game. That's more like it!
50 HR's in a season isn't what it used to be either. The ballparks are smaller, the balls are wound tighter, and steriods are rampent.
To get an idea of what truly "GREAT" is, here is MY examples of what are truly "Great" sports figures:
- Jim Brown: In 9 seasons Jim Brown gamied 12,312 yards and scored 106 touchdowns. Let's break this down: He averaged 1,368 yds a season at a time when they only played 12 game seasons! That's an average of 114 yds every game for 9 YEARS!!!!! and scoring at least 1 TD a game for 9 YEARS!!!
- John Unitas: Played 18 years. Threw 290 touchdowns and 40,239 yards and 2 NFL Championships. Add in the fact that he was a backup in both '56 and '57 before he got his big chance and he spent most of the '68 and '70 seasons injured. Take away those 4 yrs and he averages 20.7 TD's a year at a time when throwing the ball was no where near what it is today.
- Dan Marino: OK....this is not an error.....420 TD's and 61,361 passing yds in 17 NFL seasons! Enough said!
- Brooks Robinson: Offensive stats aren't gonna bowl you over with Brooksie as his best offensive season was 1964 when he hit .317 28HRs, 118 RBIs. Oh by the way, he only won the American League MVP that year. But #5 was more than just offense. He was a vacuum cleaner down at 3rd base. Some baseball people say you could add 50 RBIs a year to his stat to account for the number of runs he took away in a year from opponents! Let's this sink in......he was on the All-Star team every year from 1960 through 1974! Add to this that voting for the All-Star team was not the fan popularity contest as is today. You want Gold Gloves? How about for 15 straight years!!!! From 1960 through 1975 the 3rd base American League Gold Glove resided at 33rd Street in Baltimore.
- Babe Ruth: Just think what The Babe could have done if he didn't live on a diet of hot dogs and cold beer!.......................Played 22 years, although his last year was only 28 games with the Boston Braves............................................ Try this on for size A-ROD: 714 HRs in a time when Yankee stadium was 498 to center field! Lifetime batting average of .347............Led the American League 12 times in HRs, 6 times in RBIs, 11 times in Slugging Percentage, 9 times in On Base Percentage, 8 times in RUns Scored, 1 time in Average (even though he hit .340 or better during 10 seasons!) and in 1921 was 8th in stolen bases (not too bad for an overweight 6'2" guy) Want more? For 5 years, 1914 through 1918, he only played in an average of 52 games a year BECAUSE HE WAS A PITCHER! Not just any pitcher.....he was the Red Sox #1 starter from 1915 to 1917. 1915 he was 18-8, 2.44..... 1916 he was 23-12, 1.75 era, 323 innings pitched and 23 complete games....................1917 he won 24 and lost 13, 326 innings pitched and completed 35 games! He completed 35 of 37 games! Todays pitchers are lucky to complete 35 games over a 10 year career................1918 completed only 18 games, but then again he only pitched in 20 games and was 13-7. Added touch....in 1926 Babe hit 60 HR and the rest of the American League only hit 364 COMBINED!
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