Watching sports sure provides a helluva barometer for the passage of time.
As a kid, I simply watched the players of the day. I kept track of their stats, knew their habits, etc. But I idolized the people I had never seen play. I'd look over their numbers in the encyclopedias, watching the choppy, cartoonishly fast running on tv. Babe Ruth, Jim Brown, Bill Russell, etc. Similarly, I always had an eye open for the college kids and minor leaguers.
I've since watched many of those names I saw in magazines as hot prospects since retire and be replaced by new names. Now the names seem almost as goofy sounding and uninspiring as the fictional names in future drafts of the video games I play. When I watch the games on tv now, there are many faces who are younger than me, making more money in a year than most will in their lifetime. I remember looking at the backs of baseball cards. Players born in the 60's were rookies. Starting in the next year or two, those DOB numbers will be from the 90's, as seen by the new little kids pouring over those numbers like I did. The players I watched as a kid will someday be those old historical players that only the old-timers remember, for the most part.
Play ball.
