Things you don't see in sports anymore

[infrared41]

Also teams that build championship contenders through the draft instead of buying players.

It's funny a Lakers fan would mention that.

Off topic, but I've been meaning to ask you about your sig; didn't you used to be a Clippers fan?

[Lights Out]

Off topic, but I've been meaning to ask you about your sig; didn't you used to be a Clippers fan?

I'm still a Clippers fan, but I've also been a huge LeBron fan since he came into the league.

[dfwabel]

Off topic, but I've been meaning to ask you about your sig; didn't you used to be a Clippers fan?

I'm still a Clippers fan, but I've also been a huge LeBron fan since he came into the league.

Cultural frontrunner

[Lights Out]

Can't believe this hasn't come up yet...sleeves on football jerseys.

I still maintain that long sleeves look awkward and uncomfortable on the football field.

[NJTank]

1. The Freeze, a spray can of ice that was sprayed on baseball players when they got hit by a pitch.

It was actually ethyl chloride, and I believe it isn't used anymore because it's possibly a carcinogen.

Well Keith Hernandez said it never helped

[illwauk]

Also teams that build championship contenders through the draft instead of buying players. The Thunder and spurs are the only teams I know that were mostly built using the draft.

It's a different sport, but I'd put the Packers on that list. Charles Woodson was pretty much the only player on the 2010 (Super Bowl) team that had significant experience with another organization. They signed Jeff Saturday and Cedric Benson this year, but that's still pretty much it for them.

[NJTank]

Here is something you dont see any more, the OF wall in stadiums containing the team logos of other teams with in the league.

[The_Admiral]

Someone should bring that back. I nominate the Brewers, since they're all about glorifying the 1980s, but then again it would be weird since they were in the AL when that was a trend.

[CS85]

You don't see moments that really transcend sports anymore unless it's profoundly negative. The Miracle On Ice, Jackie Robinson, Jesse Owens, etc. PSU/Sandusky, steroids/PEDs across all sports, and so on. Maybe it's a sign of the times and how our mass media glorifies tragedy, not sure.

[pmoehrin]

You don't see moments that really transcend sports anymore unless it's profoundly negative. The Miracle On Ice, Jackie Robinson, Jesse Owens, etc. PSU/Sandusky, steroids/PEDs across all sports, and so on. Maybe it's a sign of the times and how our mass media glorifies tragedy, not sure.

Depends on what you mean by the word transcend.

I can think of plenty of great sports moments that have happened over the past decade. Red Sox winning the World Series in '04, Michael Phelps, USC/Texas in the Rose Bowl.

But two of the guys you brought up in Jesse Owens and Jackie Robinson helped break down racial barriers. There's not too many left and those that do exist aren't nearly as severe as what existed then. And with the Miracle on Ice, the cold war is over. Those types of stories (thankfully) are over for the time being, at least in the US.

In terms of the media I would defintely agree there is far more attention focused on negative news stories then positive ones.

Overall I would say have times changed? Certainly so, but I guess where I disagree is saying they've changed for the worse. Some things like the media I do wish were different, but I'll take today's society over the 1950's any day.

[njmeadowlanders]

Also part of the issue is that now everything is 24/7 and has to be broken down a week before and afterwards, there's no room to let anything just breathe. It has to be compared to something else and analyzed instantly.

If the Miracle on Ice happened exactly as it did only today, we'd have known the outcome before anyone saw it, it'd be tweeted, all over your home pages, ESPN, whatever, and it wouldn't be that OMG DID THIS JUST HAPPEN??!?!?! moment. It wouldn't be possible nowadays.

[JayMac]

May have been mentioned before...but...no corporate sponsors for everything during the telecast! Everything these days is "call to the bullpen by AT&T" or "safe and secure at second by New York Life". And I'm relatively young (30 years old) but it's irritating.

[undead]

A misty fog used to develop above the ice in playoff OT games in the NHL. The more OT's, the worst it got.

[tBBP]

Here's one I haven't seen yet: transcendent nicknames.

Remember back in the day when players were probably known more by their nicknames (which also by the way weren't forced or contrived unlike the current media age) than their real names? Think about it:

Billy "White Shoes" Johnson

Dick "Night Train" Lane

Elroy "Crazy Legs" Hirsch

Deacon Jones (whose actual first name is David, though most couldn't tell you or never knew)

"The Golden Jet" Bobby Hull

"The Great One" Wayne Gretzky

Oil Can Boyd (real first name Dennis)

Catfish Hunter (real first name James...or Jim if you prefer)

"Pistol" Pete Maravich

Dr. J (you already know)

Earl "The Pearl" Monroe

William "Refrigerator" Perry

Magic Johnson (again, you already know)

Michael "Air Jordan" (a nickname so transcendent it turned into a sneaker line)

There's a host of others...and even in more modern times we've had transcendent nicknames that stuck, such as "Prime Time" (Deion Sanders), "The Playmaker" (Michael Irvin), "Minister of Defense" (Reggie White), "The Bus"(Jerome Bettis), The Admiral (David Robinson), the Twin Towers (the aforementioned Robinson and Tim Duncan, also, probably less popularly, referred to as the "Big Fundamental"), "The Glove" (Gary Payton, so named for his defensive prowess), Craig "Iron Head" Hayward, Chipper Jones especially (quick?what's his real first name???), Dominik "The Dominator" Hasek. (But then, nicknaming seems to be so prevalent in hockey I'm not even sure if it belongs in this particular discussion.)

And, of course, if one wants to add transcendent team nicknames, there's the Blackshirts, No-Name Defense, Steel Curtain, amd Purple People Eaters. We really don't see that anymore...but I can remember several media circles tried their hardest to pin one on the Baltimore Ravens' defense back during their Super Bowl season.

(Fake edit: oh?and since I just thought about it, here's sonething else we don't see anymore and msy never see again: dynasties. I fully believe the days of teams winning three titles in a row, or three in a four-year period, are all but over.)

[infrared41]

Can't believe this hasn't come up yet...sleeves on football jerseys.

I still maintain that long sleeves look awkward and uncomfortable on the football field.

I wonder if a player can even tell the difference between wearing sleeves and not. I really doubt they can. When I played baseball, I never noticed a difference when wearing a long sleeve t-shirt shirt under my jersey on cold days.

[Lights Out]

Remember back in the day when players were probably known more by their nicknames (which also by the way weren't forced or contrived unlike the current media age) than their real names?

Still happens. King James, CP3, Ocho Cinco, TO, Tiger, Linsanity, JPP, and Floyd Money come to mind immediately.

[NJTank]

A few more current ones

Sid the Kid, Marty, King Henrik, Melo, STAT, D-Wil, The Captain, Godzilla, The Freak

[njmeadowlanders]

Remember back in the day when players were probably known more by their nicknames (which also by the way weren't forced or contrived unlike the current media age) than their real names?

Still happens. King James, CP3, Ocho Cinco, TO, Tiger, Linsanity, JPP, and Floyd Money come to mind immediately.

Most of these are forced though...they're nicknames just to have nicknames.

[kajeet]

Also the Black Mamba ,AP, MJD, Big Ben.

[Red Wolf]

Also the Black Mamba ,AP, MJD, Big Ben.

The most forced of them all.