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Are there any sporting teams or individuals from 20, 30,40, 50years ago that could..

sxt

Compete with the best of today... I know it's an unfair comparison, when you consider the improvements in understanding of strength and conditioning, recovery, nutrition etc. The financial riches which propels sports people and coaching to become incrementally better at everything as time goes by

I can't think of any off the top of my head?

Are there any sports where there has not been significant progress?

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eagle eye

George Foreman would be a top notch boxer today.
Steve Redgrave would be top notch at rowing.
Michael Jordan above all others would be the greatest if he was in his prime today.

Joe_ Public

Richard Hillman wrote: »

The wires are a lot thinner. Even my board at home would have thinner wires than the board's of the late 80s to 90s

I follow snooker more than darts and fully believe that under Hearn they have manipulated table conditions- thinner cloths, faster tables, bouncier cushions, generous pockets etc - to facilitate higher scoring and more centuries. Be amazed if he wasn’t doing something similar with darts.

dxhound2005

Richard Hillman wrote: »

All of those field events seem to have very longstanding records. The pole vault was broken recently incidentally (2014)

High Jump 1993
Long Jump 1991
Triple Jump 1995
Shot Put 1990
Discuss 1986
Hammer 1986
Javelin 1996

Similar in the women's. They do have those Flo-Jo records though.

I think there may a lot more at play though :pac:

Flo Jo still has the 100 m and 200 m records. But even longer standing are the 400 and 800 held by Marita Koch and Jarmila Kratochvílová. I remember those two very well from the old days.

sunnysoutheast

I'd love to see what Fangio, Moss, Nuvolari, Stewart, Lauda, Villeneuve etc. could do in a modern F1 car.

Hoboo

dxhound2005 wrote: »

Flo Jo still has the 100 m and 200 m records. But even longer standing are the 400 and 800 held by Marita Koch and Jarmila Kratochvílová. I remember those two very well from the old days.

Flo Jo was juiced up. No doubt.

kevthegaff

Hendry would win world championships now, Nicklaus would win majors also, tiger was winning them over 20 yrs ago even! Boxing especially heavyweight has disimproved

dxhound2005

Hoboo wrote: »

Flo Jo was juiced up. No doubt.

The drugs must not have improved much since the 1980's. Or women sprinters are not as good now as back then.

astrofool

dxhound2005 wrote: »

Flo Jo still has the 100 m and 200 m records. But even longer standing are the 400 and 800 held by Marita Koch and Jarmila Kratochvílová. I remember those two very well from the old days.

Some of the throwing events have had the throwing item modified, so not directly comparable (they were in danger of skewering the audience with the older Javelins

), similarly a bunch of swimming records were set using, now banned, suits, so probably shouldn't count anymore (given they were so short lived).

eagle eye

Hoboo wrote:

Flo Jo was juiced up. No doubt.

Marita looked like she had a Koch and Jarmilia Kratochvilova looked like a man.

Richard Hillman

Joe_ Public wrote: »

I follow snooker more than darts and fully believe that under Hearn they have manipulated table conditions- thinner cloths, faster tables, bouncier cushions, generous pockets etc - to facilitate higher scoring and more centuries. Be amazed if he wasn’t doing something similar with darts.

I'm not a snooker aficionado by any means but the tables are faster now, which makes it harder. The pockets are also generally more difficult than of yesteryear. They have sharper edges than what you'd get on a regular club table

Joe_ Public

Richard Hillman wrote: »

I'm not a snooker aficionado by any means but the tables are faster now, which makes it harder. The pockets are also generally more difficult than of yesteryear. They have sharper edges than what you'd get on a regular club table

I believe the polar opposite to be the case. Faster tables means easier when you have adapted as all pros do. You can manipulate the cue ball around the table much more smoothly with less power and thus more accuracy. Splitting the pack is a lot easier too.

Of course pro tables are tougher than club tables but they play easier than before. Main reason is down to the thinness of the cloths which means the “sharper edges”, as you refer to them, cannot be as sharp as before as the cloth will rip too easily. One of the table fitters at the crucible explained all that in an interview last year. Balls are much more liable to rattle and drop in instead of out nowadays. Anyone watching snooker past few years will already know that.

Wildly Boaring

Schumacher
Senna

Ali
Tyson

Pele
Maradonna

All would be great in any era.

Melodeon

George Best was nothing short of astonishing when he was at the height of his career, at a time when the footballing equivalent of hitmen were literally trying to cripple him.
I'd love to see what he could do these days now that players are much better protected.

ohnonotgmail

Richard Hillman wrote: »

The wires are a lot thinner. Even my board at home would have thinner wires than the board's of the late 80s to 90s

Not only are the wires thinner but the double and treble segments are also bigger than they were when John Lowe did his 9 dart 501.

eagle eye

OceanSunrise wrote:

Ali would be beaten by plenty of modern heavyweights. Lewis, Wladimir Klitschko, Vitali Klitschko, Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua, Luis Ortiz and Deontay Wilder would all beat Ali comfortably.

I'll give you Lewis and Vitali but the rest are pretty average. I couldn't agree on any of them.

Wibbs

sunnysoutheast wrote: »

I'd love to see what Fangio, Moss, Nuvolari, Stewart, Lauda, Villeneuve etc. could do in a modern F1 car.

Personally speaking I think modern F1 is a thundering borefest. Now they're trying to pimp the E formula in an effort to claw back viewers(the sport lost a third of its audience in the last 15 years. Annnnyway...

I'd reckon Lauda and Senna would still be very competitive, the others came from an even more different style of driving and type of car so I'd not be as confident. That said the basic talent of racing drivers has remained the same so I'd be surprised if they weren't incredibly good. Nuvolari was a champion on both two wheels and four. Someone like Jon Surtees won the motorbike and car championships in the same year. Raw talent.

Melodeon wrote: »

George Best was nothing short of astonishing when he was at the height of his career, at a time when the footballing equivalent of hitmen were literally trying to cripple him.
I'd love to see what he could do these days now that players are much better protected.

cdeb

I always thought George Best today would be a bit of an improvement on Paddy McCourt, but no more. The game has moved on hugely since then. McCourt suffered to an extent because he never really tracked back; I can't see Best doing that either and it's a key aspect even of the forward's role now. Dribbling has largely died out too which is a huge shame, but defenders are just better now and won't dive in for example. And I'm not sure how Best's fitness would last up either.

Give him a chance today from the start and he could well be world class. Teleport him in from 1968, and as above - a Paddy McCourt kind of player

Jimbob1977

You look at old soccer footage.

The goalkeepers seemed terrible, the pitches were mud heaps and the ball was very heavy. Physically draining.

The standard had the appearance of being very low.

Would Pele be a great player in 2019?

Could Messi hack it in 1954?

It's impossible to tell. Pitches are like carpets now. Discipline and tactics have taken over from the 'jumpers for goalposts' style of black&white footage.

I firmly believe that a good player will shine in any conditions.

salmocab

Wibbs wrote: »

Personally speaking I think modern F1 is a thundering borefest. Now they're trying to pimp the E formula in an effort to claw back viewers(the sport lost a third of its audience in the last 15 years. Annnnyway... I'd reckon Lauda and Senna would still be very competitive, the others came from an even more different style of driving and type of car so I'd not be as confident. That said the basic talent of racing drivers has remained the same so I'd be surprised if they weren't incredibly good. Nuvolari was a champion on both two wheels and four. Someone like Jon Surtees won the motorbike and car championships in the same year. Raw talent.

1

I always thought the worst thing that happened to F1 was Schumacher in a Ferrari . You had the best driver in the best car, he was also a cool driver that rarely made a mistake. This resulted in poor races that started to lose interest for the non committed fans.

valoren

No significant progress in golf? The stroke average in golf is 5 shots lower per round today compared to 1960 at the pro level. Multiple factors can explain that and 5 shots per round is huge.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/thegolfnewsnet.com/adamcrawford/2017/03/21/pro-golfers-scores-improved-1960-103938/amp/

valoren

Wibbs wrote: »

sunnysoutheast wrote: »

I'd love to see what Fangio, Moss, Nuvolari, Stewart, Lauda, Villeneuve etc. could do in a modern F1 car.

Personally speaking I think modern F1 is a thundering borefest. Now they're trying to pimp the E formula in an effort to claw back viewers(the sport lost a third of its audience in the last 15 years. Annnnyway... I'd reckon Lauda and Senna would still be very competitive, the others came from an even more different style of driving and type of car so I'd not be as confident. That said the basic talent of racing drivers has remained the same so I'd be surprised if they weren't incredibly good. Nuvolari was a champion on both two wheels and four. Someone like Jon Surtees won the motorbike and car championships in the same year. Raw talent.

Melodeon wrote: »

George Best was nothing short of astonishing when he was at the height of his career, at a time when the footballing equivalent of hitmen were literally trying to cripple him.
I'd love to see what he could do these days now that players are much better protected.

+1

When they got rid of the V10 engines in F1 I stopped watching.

gimli2112

weemcd wrote: »

Bo Jackson

...in any sport

snotboogie

Gwynplaine wrote: »

Chicago Bulls of the 90's would beat any team of today.

The Warriors would sweep them in a series. Individually Jordan and Pippin would have been great if they were born 20 years later but as a team the bulls would be picked apart by most modern NBA teams, analytics has changed the game so much

Clive

Russian wrestler Alexander Karelin, probably the most successful athlete most people have never heard of.

At one stage he won six European Championships, six world Championships and Olympic gold without a single point being scored on him, never mind losing a match. That six year streak was broken when he was beaten in the Olympic final, winning silver, denying him four Olympic golds in four Games.

Stacksofwacks

The kilkenny hurling team from 2006-2012 would beat teams from any era, incredible they were

rossie1977

Gwynplaine wrote: »

Chicago Bulls of the 90's would beat any team of today.

Amazing team but I think Golden State Warriors have changed the game so much I just don't see even that Bulls sides being able to handle them. Warriors would just kill them from long range.

raze_them_all_

Gwynplaine wrote: »

Chicago Bulls of the 90's would beat any team of today.

Not with the rules now. Warriors would wipe the floor with them shooting 3's all day

raze_them_all_

eagle eye wrote: »

George Foreman would be a top notch boxer today.
Steve Redgrave would be top notch at rowing.
Michael Jordan above all others would be the greatest if he was in his prime today.

Don't agree at all, Jordan couldn't shoot 3s, the team was centered around him, coupled with his smoking and partying he'd be a less good westbrook. Sure is skilled but can't shoot 3 and that's what wins games now

benjamin d

I think in team sports any player or team from any previous era (80s or earlier, for example) would be utterly demolished by even the lowest level of professional side these days if they were dropped in as they were in their prime. Training, S&C, and overall competition has moved on to a huge extent. The individual greats would still be great if they adhered to the standards of today, but throw Pele or Maradona or George Best as they were into a premiership or top international team today and they'd look embarrassingly bad very quickly I reckon.

cdeb

Stacksofwacks wrote: »

The kilkenny hurling team from 2006-2012 would beat teams from any era, incredible they were

Hardly 20-60 years ago though!