Bryant Allen Update from Marcus

[Monty519]

What exactly makes an athlete so much better today than 30 years ago? It can't be genetics or a better gene pool, since there has not been enough time for evolution to occur between then and now.

I might throw out an idea that athletes today get better equipment, shoes, training (not necessarily better coaches, because there were some awfully good ones back then), year-round work outs, better nutrition, better supplements, etc. Can you imagine what Dave Winfield in his prime would be like with the things that are available to athletes today to make them better? It is scary to think about!

That is why we see track records and swimming records constantly falling. They likely aren't much better genetically, but they are trained better and have more completely reached their potential because of it. Again, just imagine Jesse Owens, Barry Sanders, Pete Maravich, Walter Payton, Jim Brown, Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell if they were in today's sport scene.

This post pretty much hits the nail on the head. The athletes now aren't "better", they just have more stuff available to them. But saying Bryant Allen is on Dave Winfield's level....what??? LOL

 

[Section201]

agree totally

This is my nomination for the most ignorant post in the history of GopherHole. There is plenty of competition for this award (probably including serveral of my own), but in the end, this just has to be the winner.

Dave Winfield is a Hall of Fame baseball player who also could have played professional basketball and football. He is by far the greatest all around athlete in the history of Minnesota. Bryant Allen will never spend even one day on an NFL football field or NBA basketball court.

I agree totally. I even agree that I have added some stupid, ignorant comments to this board but nothing reaching this level of laughable.

This is in no way meant to diminish B. Allen's athletic abilities. Winfield however was a freak of nature!

 

[JMGIII]

Dave Winfield was drafted by 4 different teams in 3 different sports and has a lot of accolades but its not always about stats and achievements.

Nice to see everyone taking it pretty easy on you for this one. It is an amazing accomplishment to see any athlete drafted in more than one sport, period. Three sports. That is absolutely over the top. The key is that we are not referring to being offered scholarships in different sports...or even playing two sports in college...We're talking drafted by professional teams in three different sports. I don't think we'll see anything like that again.

 

[Gophers09]

I'd say there is some accuracy to this part of your statement but that is all the more reason that someone wouldn't be able to do two sports - the competition is greater.

 

[bankonit]

I never said Dave Winfield sucked, nor did I say he was average. I was simply saying more along the lines of what tweber said about todays athletes and how records are being broken time and again. The speed and skills of the games has changed greatly. The competition is also greater because of it.

 

[Tucker32]

Just had to chime in. I think it is crazy how some people think athletes of the 70s or 80s couldn't play today. Are there some? Sure. However, can you imagine Winfield, Carl Eller, or Bobby Bell with the training of today?

The dumber comment was to say athletes of 10-15 years ago couldn't compete. Really? The training hasn't changed that much.

There are some that just wouldn't make it today. I think Kirby Puckett, John Randle, Randall McDanial (sp?), Trent Tucker would struggle. Michael Jordan, Paul Molitor - they'd be overmatched. Magic Johnson, Kevin McHale, or Isaiah Thomas, they'd do nothing in the Big Ten in 2009 - maybe the Horizon League. And then there are over the hill guys that are just barely hanging on - - Randy Moss, Brett Favre, Tyrone Carter (gotta mention a Goph who is still hanging on). They are washed up - get them out of the league.

 

[XMan]

Bankonit, i hope you are in bed. Your 8th grade middle school classes start early tomorrow.

 

[tjgopher]

I beg to differ, Dave Winfield was good then, but would be average today

Huh? That's idiotic. You do realize that if Dave Winfield of then had the training facilities, technology, nutritional info, etc., of today that he'd be even better today than he was then, right?

Can you imagine a guy of his size, speed, coordination, and strength from back then actually getting trained by today's strength and conditioning and nitritional coaches? Holy cow.

He could have been a 60-HR/year guy, maybe an all-pro NFL DE/TE, and could have been a beast in the paint in hoops. Think about that for a minute and then come back and tell us he would be average today.