Babe Ruth, sports icon

You're comparing apples to oranges. If a kid is a sports nut, she/he knows exactly who the sports "legends" are of today. I would never seriously call anyone, in all walks of life, a 'hero' (other than my mom!).

Many of the sports legends are being made right now, in this generation. Jordan, Brady, A-Rod, Tiger, Lance. Yes, many would argue this is a 'drug-induced' era, but these guys mentioned would be amazing athletes even without enhancements. We have the technology today to produce a better athlete than yesteryear.

Babe Ruth might have been 'it' during the day, but his personal life was pretty wheel's off. So yes, he was a legend, but a hero? Tap the brakes.

My experience is that today's kids don't know much, nor care much, about yesterday's legends. If they follow pro sports at all, they do so mainly for fantasy leagues. In that case, they know all about today's players but I doubt they'd consider any their "heroes."

Yesterdays legends had their skeletons though-- it was just kept under wraps to maintain a persona. Babe was a notorious multi addicted womanizer!

It's a different [real] world with today's players/heroes.

On 3/13/2015 ValuSkr said:

My experience is that today's kids don't know much, nor care much, about yesterday's legends. If they follow pro sports at all, they do so mainly for fantasy leagues. In that case, they know all about today's players but I doubt they'd consider any their "heroes."

My DS would be an exception, then. He became interested in MLB when he was 7. His love of sports has grown with him.

He could give you Honus Wagner's stats (look that one up!) along with Mickey Mantle, Whitey Ford and on and on. He can hold his own about pro golfers and tennis players. Some NBA but NFL, well not so much.

He couldn't tell you a thing about XBox or Play Station. He did have a Nintendo or two when he was little but he finds real life more fascinating.

On 3/13/2015 Snowpuppy said:

On 3/13/2015 ValuSkr said:

My experience is that today's kids don't know much, nor care much, about yesterday's legends. If they follow pro sports at all, they do so mainly for fantasy leagues. In that case, they know all about today's players but I doubt they'd consider any their "heroes."

My DS would be an exception, then. He became interested in MLB when he was 7. His love of sports has grown with him.

He could give you Honus Wagner's stats (look that one up!) along with Mickey Mantle, Whitey Ford and on and on. He can hold his own about pro golfers and tennis players. Some NBA but NFL, well not so much.

He couldn't tell you a thing about XBox or Play Station. He did have a Nintendo or two when he was little but he finds real life more fascinating.

Honus Wagner- now that's REAL baseball!! He was way before his time- his original baseball card is worth a fortune. The 1st run was very limited in print, it was sponsored by a cigarette company. He was vehemently against cigarettes so they halted distribution. Who would think so progressively back at the turn of the 20th century?? !!

Yes- I LOVE my baseball!!! I was at a local minor league ball game 7 or 8 years ago - the announcer started mentioning events leading up to 'the shot heard round the world'. I was with a few friends and stood up and looked around. Bobby Thomson was a few rows from me and they announced him so he could throw out the first pitch! I was so excited- being in the presence of baseball history! My friends thought I was NUTS!! .

A great sports icon in the making is Clayton Kershaw. As much success as he has had on the field, he and his wife Ellen are making a great contribution off the field with their charity work. You never hear anything negative about him. He is a great role model and a class act all the way.

On 3/13/2015 brewhaha said:

A great sports icon in the making is Clayton Kershaw. As much success as he has had on the field, he and his wife Ellen are making a great contribution off the field with their charity work. You never hear anything negative about him. He is a great role model and a class act all the way.

A true icon of the 'legends' is Yogi Berra. He's given so much to Montclair State University in NJ - and baseball in general. Very sad, his wife of so many years passed away last year.