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Monkeydad · 09-07-2006, 02:06 PM

Even in the last few decades, we've watched it whether we've realized it or not. When I was a kid, Fridge Perry was being talked about as huge, a 300-pound football player. It was almost unheard of, 300 pounds. Today, you can't play a line position UNLESS you're near or more than 300. It's not uncommon anymore, in fact, it's the standard now. Also, these 300-pounders today aren't fat like Perry, they're solid.

Look even further back to the backs and linemen of the 50s and 60s. They were the size of some of today's QBs and even punters. Now I haven't seen humans as a whole grow in size dramatically over the years (not talking about obesity, body frame sizes), so you have to think it's something that athletes are doing. Sure, technology in the weightroom has improved but you can still get big by old-fashioned free weights and hard work, so it's not the (only) real factor.

There's definately a problem. Have we as fans pushed it by wanting to see bigger and faster athletes? Yes. So has the ballooning salaries. It puts more pressure on them to avoid failure being more of a business than a game. The business world is ruthless, it's the survival of the fittest. Now that sports are businesses first and games second, the athletes have to get any edge they can or they'll be out of a job.

09-07-2006, 02:06 PM	#12
Monkeydad Living Legend Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: PA Age: 46 Posts: 17,460	Re: Jon Jansen's Comments on HGH Even in the last few decades, we've watched it whether we've realized it or not. When I was a kid, Fridge Perry was being talked about as huge, a 300-pound football player. It was almost unheard of, 300 pounds. Today, you can't play a line position UNLESS you're near or more than 300. It's not uncommon anymore, in fact, it's the standard now. Also, these 300-pounders today aren't fat like Perry, they're solid. Look even further back to the backs and linemen of the 50s and 60s. They were the size of some of today's QBs and even punters. Now I haven't seen humans as a whole grow in size dramatically over the years (not talking about obesity, body frame sizes), so you have to think it's something that athletes are doing. Sure, technology in the weightroom has improved but you can still get big by old-fashioned free weights and hard work, so it's not the (only) real factor. There's definately a problem. Have we as fans pushed it by wanting to see bigger and faster athletes? Yes. So has the ballooning salaries. It puts more pressure on them to avoid failure being more of a business than a game. The business world is ruthless, it's the survival of the fittest. Now that sports are businesses first and games second, the athletes have to get any edge they can or they'll be out of a job.