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A Shift In Attitude and Records are Made to be Broken


I have collected on my Book Nook and such many books on athletics. 100 years ago and more their are photos of running tracks which in places literally have clumps or mounds of dirt in them. Their seemed to be an attitude toward the competitors of "tough luck," you will have to get better because we sure aren't going to help you. Somewhere down the line this attitude changed. The tracks were improved for speed and the athletes given so many benefits to help them in their efforts. Along with faster tracks also came better shoes and apparel. This of course holds true in virtually every sport. Would it not be interesting to see what would happen if the modern athlete and the athletes of old could switch places? In making the original "Bryan's Song" movie, those playing football in the movie had a hard time playing in the 1960's shoes they had to wear for the movie. Imagine, if they had to try and perform in shoes from the 1800's or early 1900's. I believe it is safe to say that the people making modern records today would not approach their records if they were under the former constraints the old timers were. This is not to diminish athletic accomplishments of today but rather to put them in perspective by comparison to what their predecessors had to go through by comparison.

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Re: A Shift In Attitude and Records are Made to be Broken


I got to wear Bill Mazeroski's uniform from the 1960 World Series. Susan Wagner, a sculptor friend of mine, had the commission to make his statue that is now at PNC Park. I was the same height and build needed for her to take pictures of me in it in a pose that was taken from the famous picture of him rounding the bases with his batting helmet in hand. She needed to see how the uniform looked from a number of angles to get it right. The uniforms were wool then, and the spikes were really primitive. I couldn't get over how weird those spikes felt. But that is what they played in.

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Re: A Shift In Attitude and Records are Made to be Broken


Compare the advantage of pole vaulters today over those of a century ago. The difference in the equipment of today is staggering. It would be interesting to see Jim Thorpe perform in today's environment.
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Re: A Shift In Attitude and Records are Made to be Broken


I saw a documentary concerning this topic some years ago. The gist of the film was: Even with all of the technology, nutrition, weight training, etc. Athletes should be significantly better than they were a 100 years ago. But, in reality, they really are not. But, I think, you throw growth hormone and steroids in the mix, then thay start to get better, but not as much as would be suspected.

Except baseball. When a 37 year old Bonds starts breaking homerun records.
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Re: A Shift In Attitude and Records are Made to be Broken


would the folks 150 years ago be able to travel as fast as those of today if they had the same modes of transportation available to them that we have available to us today, and vice versa?
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Re: A Shift In Attitude and Records are Made to be Broken



What staggers me about athletes from back in the day was the level of accomplishment they went after. Why for instance would an Arthur Saxon, lift weights to the point where he could at times lift over 400 pounds in the one arm bent press? Why would they go after such a difficult task to begin with? He did not have the many decades of the sport being developed and promoted heavily at the time he was lifting such phenomenal weight. Mickey Mantle, in wool uniform and horrible cleats still holds the record time from home plate to first base, from both sides of the plate. Then you have Alfred Shrubb. He did not begin running until he was around 20 or so. In 1904 he ran in what was to be called the Alfred Shrubb Classic race. Despite the shoes he had to run in, his 1904 time for that race was not broken until 1953. As far as could the people 150 years ago travel as fast as people today using the same modes of travel. If you watch auto races from the early 20th century you will find the drivers going around the track like wild men and without the use of a safety helmet to protect their head. They were a very daring group. Also, the movie stuntmen were very daring and would surely be able to keep up with the modes of travel today. Babe Ruth hit a home run of almost 600 feet in 1918 and hitting in the dead ball era at that. I hope in the next life I will learn what the old timers could have accomplished under modern cirumstances. As a footnote, I turn to the youtube video titled "Parkour 1930" as evidence of what the old timers were capable of doing.

EDIT: When Ruth hit a his home run of nearly 600 feet in distance it was not strictly the deadball era. However it was a far cry from the zip baseballs were to have in the future.

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Re: A Shift In Attitude and Records are Made to be Broken


I do not believe that everyone back in the day could adapt to the speed of our travel today. For that matter their are people yet living today that can't.
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Re: A Shift In Attitude and Records are Made to be Broken


I am interested in taking a Saigon rickshaw "driver", who smokes two packs a day, and dropping him/her at the start of the Boston Marathon. I would imagine if you can pull a rickshaw all day, you can finish 26.2 miles with some level of dignity.
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Re: A Shift In Attitude and Records are Made to be Broken


I suspect he would finish with a better time than me even lugging a "rotund" in his rickshaw.
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