Is pro sport getting killed by video games?

[Brunolem]

Yesterday, uncle Federer won another Australian Open.

Together with uncle Nadal, they have been sharing the major titles for around 15 years.

Meanwhile, Messi and Ronaldo have been sharing the football trophies for a good 10 years.

And Uncle Phelps has been collecting gold medals in swimming since the days of Bill Clinton!

 

Question: where the hell are the teenagers???

 

A few decades ago, every now and then, but quite often, a high school swimmer would beat a world record, go on to win some gold in the following Olympics, only to be soon replaced by another teenager.

A 16 year old tennis player coming from nowhere, a Borg, a Mc Enroe, a Wilander or a Becker, would knock down a few seeded players and reach the semi-final of a major tournament, before quickly reaching the number one ranking.

An 18 year old virtuoso, named Platini, Maradona or Owen, would rise from obscurity and soon carry all the hopes of his country on his shoulders.

 

But these days, there is nothing like that...we are condemned to watch replays again and again, because the next generation has gone AWOL.

 

Unless there is a better explanation, it would seem that the frightening reason is that teenagers have deserted the field and restricted their physical activities to the use of 2 fingers in order to play video games...

[pgrahmm]

American baseball stadiums are filled with kids.....Football, American style is mostly adults.....

Basketball goes late an school nights - mostly adults....But they can watch on TV....

 

I think school systems dropping PE & sports participation also affects the following as well as online/games....This is a shame because they miss the character building sports participation has to offer....

What we're seeing in the new generations of offended, demanding, clueless, & helpless adults speaks for itself....

[Bob12345]

Why you care so much about other people playing sports?

Why are you not up there playing Nadal and Federer?

Or have you deserted the field and restricted your physical activities to the use of 1 finger to change channels on your TV?

 

Don't sit at home watching sports, get out and show those kids how to have fun.

Give the good example.

[dotpoom]

I used to enjoy watching pro. sports for many many years until I overheard a guy in a bar one night.

   There was a "sports star" being interview on the TV and he passed a remark that I have heard thousands of times since and it angers me greatly now since that guy in the bar made his feelings felt...

  The "star" said something like this...."I am going to go out there and enjoy myself anyway". I have heard many variations of this since from many Pro. "Sports Stars".

  The guy in the bar souted out when he heard this....." Who the f - - - gives a s - - - whether you enjoy yourself or not.....you're job is to make sure that WE enjoy ourselves.....it's us that's paying your wages"!

    Since then I cringe when I see and hear a sports person speaking as if they're under the illusion that as long as they are enjoying themselves that's the most important factor....never a mention about the punter who's paying whether .....ahh...you know what I mean.

PS. Pro. Sports people seem to have forgotton that it is their job to Entertain the punter...it's not about whether they are enjoying themselves or not....it's about.    "Are the people paying for the " show" enjoying the show they are putting.on for us.

 

 

Edited January 30, 2018 by dotpoom

[DoctorG]

Perhaps the youngsters are not as active as we were in our time, but there are still plenty out there giving it a go. There are world cups for U23, U20, U19's events happening for cricket, soccer, baseball, and rugby, which are obviously team events. I guess one does not hear of up-and-coming individuals until they actually break into a major event.

[quandow]

Sadly, I just discovered American football is legally NOT licensed as a sport but rather an Entertainment venue. This came up as I was discussing a recent game that appeared woefully skewed towards one team, and a tweet from one of the members of the losing team stating they were TOLD to lose the game because the commissioners wanted the Superbowl between two other teams. This tweet was taken down promptly but enough people saw it for the damage to have been done.

 

What this means is THEY CAN LEGALLY FIX THE GAMES! It is now going the way of tag team wrestling. SMFH ...

[robblok]

2 hours ago, Bob12345 said:

Why you care so much about other people playing sports?

Why are you not up there playing Nadal and Federer?

Or have you deserted the field and restricted your physical activities to the use of 1 finger to change channels on your TV?

 

Don't sit at home watching sports, get out and show those kids how to have fun.

Give the good example.

He tries to does everything he can to comment about the new generation and how technologie has screwed everything up. Just let him be an other new GOM in the making. 

[Brunolem]

17 hours ago, pgrahmm said:

 

What we're seeing in the new generations of offended, demanding, clueless, & helpless adults speaks for itself....

May khao jai!

 

 

[Brunolem]

3 hours ago, Bob12345 said:

Why you care so much about other people playing sports?

Why are you not up there playing Nadal and Federer?

Or have you deserted the field and restricted your physical activities to the use of 1 finger to change channels on your TV?

 

Don't sit at home watching sports, get out and show those kids how to have fun.

Give the good example.

I wish I still could but I am in my 60s now...

I have given my fair share to sport, up to the point that my body is telling me that it's payback time now...

I don't watch any sport on TV...as a matter of fact I don't watch TV...

Always ask questions before jumping to (wrong) conclusions...

[Brunolem]

58 minutes ago, robblok said:

He tries to does everything he can to comment about the new generation

Nicely put...

[Suradit69]

21 hours ago, Brunolem said:

 

Question: where the hell are the teenagers???

Lots of up and coming younger players in tennis.

For example: Alexander (Misha) Zverev, Dominic Thiem, Diego Schwartzmen (lost to Nadal in Australia, but it took Nadal nearly fours and four sets to do it and make it to the quarter finals) just to name a few.

 

Top 10 under 25:  http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2357016-ranking-the-best-mens-tennis-players-under-25-years-old

 

If you're very good like Federer or Nadal or Djokovic you're not going to fade away in a year or two and just looking at who comes away with the trophy at tournaments ignores a lot of excellent tennis being played along the way.

[Brunolem]

10 minutes ago, Suradit69 said:

Lots of up and coming younger players in tennis.

For example: Alexander (Misha) Zverev, Dominic Thiem, Diego Schwartzmen (lost to Nadal in Australia, but it took Nadal nearly fours and four sets to do it and make it to the quarter finals) just to name a few.

 

Top 10 under 25:  http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2357016-ranking-the-best-mens-tennis-players-under-25-years-old

 

If you're very good like Federer or Nadal or Djokovic you're not going to fade away in a year or two and just looking at who comes away with the trophy at tournaments ignores a lot of excellent tennis being played along the way.

Maybe, but the fact remains that Federer and Nadal have been sitting at the top for much more than a decade.

As a matter of fact, even Federer is surprised by his good fortune.

In the past, when newcomers like the ones I mentioned above entered the game, they went all the way up, winning majors at 17 or 18, and pushing aside the former top players.

It was considered exceptional that a guy like Connors was able to win a major at 31, so hard was the competition from much younger players.

Which teenager, in the past 5 years, has made it to the top in major sports?

Edited January 30, 2018 by Brunolem

[alien365]

4 hours ago, dotpoom said:

 

PS. Pro. Sports people seem to have forgotton that it is their job to Entertain the punter...it's not about whether they are enjoying themselves or not....it's about.    "Are the people paying for the " show" enjoying the show they are putting.on for us.

 

 

I disagree. Its their job to try and win. They are the best in their fields and compete for trophies. People will pay to watch if the quality is good. If the quality is poor then vote with your feet. 

 

I think the issue is that some don't understand the intricacies of different sports and want things to be easy on the eye, otherwise its labelled boring.

[Bob12345]

3 hours ago, Brunolem said:

I wish I still could but I am in my 60s now...

I have given my fair share to sport, up to the point that my body is telling me that it's payback time now...

I don't watch any sport on TV...as a matter of fact I don't watch TV...

Always ask questions before jumping to (wrong) conclusions...

Strange that you state that we are condemned to watch replays again and again but now you state you don't watch sports?

 

Maybe this subject, about how everything used to be better, goes down better at a retirement home or oldies beer-bar.

[Skeptic7]

Hope so! 

[Brunolem]

3 hours ago, Bob12345 said:

Strange that you state that we are condemned to watch replays again and again but now you state you don't watch sports?

 

Maybe this subject, about how everything used to be better, goes down better at a retirement home or oldies beer-bar.

"We are condemned"...is a figure of speech..."we" is often used in writing about things in general...

 

Having said that, only a severe bias would lead someone to jump from "where are the teenagers?" to "everything used to be better"!

 

I personally can't see the connection, especially since I am merely asking a question, not making a statement.

 

There is nothing better, or worse, in having the same champions for 15 years, instead of say 5 years in the past...it is just an observation on how things have changed.

 

Meanwhile, no one until now has come up with a convincing explanation for this change...which was the sole purpose of this thread...

Edited January 30, 2018 by Brunolem

[alien365]

30 minutes ago, Brunolem said:

 

Meanwhile, no one until now has come up with a convincing explanation for this change...which was the sole purpose of this thread...

A few ideas would be a greater focus on education. Playing sport everyday is very expensive. The cost of travelling to tournaments is expensive. Some sports just aren't worth playing for the little prize money they get. Lack of determination, more expectation to get things handed on a plate and more hissy fits. (If Kygrios and Zverev stopped acting like babies and tried to fix things when they are losing they'd have done a lot better in my opinion). 

[Brunolem]

15 hours ago, alien365 said:

Lack of determination, more expectation to get things handed on a plate and more hissy fits. (If Kygrios and Zverev stopped acting like babies and tried to fix things when they are losing they'd have done a lot better in my opinion). 

This could explain at least part of it...the "snowflakes" effect...