As for the tall people out there playing basketball, I saw this cat on ESPN the other day. 7 feet 7 inches tall - 360 lbs - with an 8 foot wingspan. He is currently playing with the University of North Carolina-Asheville men’s basketball team. He has trouble getting up and down the court sometimes but all he has to do is stand under the basket.

Go look at one generation ago in the NBA; Alvin Robertson, Gus Williams, Dennis Johnson, Lafayette Lever, Sidney Moncrief. Not just players in the NBA, but members of the All-Pro teams from the 80s. Today, every one of those guys would be told that they would be ’slow’ point guards because they’re all too short to play the #2, where 6′6″ is the average. Jamaal Wilkes would be out of place as a 6′6″ small forward & would be dominated in the post by today’s version of the small forward, like a 6′9″ Shawn Marion.

Dunno if it’s the influx of European players or a wider pool of talent than the past, but basketball at all levels shows a larger average size & skill set than a mere 25 years ago. Remember, Michael Jordan was a small forward at UNC & was considered a ‘big’ #2 guard at 6′6″. Today? He’d have to go up against Kobe Bryant & Dwayne Wade, both larger than he.

And they’re still growing…..

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I don’t know what it is that has made the changes but nowadays over 6′4″ and over 300 pounds just is not that unusual.

For every sport other than football linemen: It wasn’t that long ago - I remember because it was told to me while I played - that weight lifting was considered an anathema because it would ‘mess up your timing and coordination’, so many stayed away. Now, it’s known to be one of the best things that can most athletes can do, so that alone is adding ten to twenty percent to their frames/sizes.

Twenty-five years ago a phenom like Dwight Howard would be the biggest name in sports because he’s a seven footer who can jump through the roof and dominate the middle; today, he’s an afterthought because the league is filled with 6′7″ high flyers that comprise most of the ESPN highlights.

Terry Bradshaw, Pat Haden, Roger Staubach, all from one generation ago (or so) and all wouldn’t even be scouted by the NFL or at least be given the Doug Flutie ‘prove yourself in the CFL’ treatment because they were much too small to see over today’s massive lines.

Offensive and defensive linemen weighing in at 160 pounds.

I don’t know what it is that has made the changes but nowadays over 6′4″ and over 300 pounds just is not that unusual.

Whether they would have beaten the ‘72 Dolphins or the ‘85 Bears is just pure speculation and there is no way to ever know.

Eh, evolution (as in the classic definition, not “a cell later became an ape that later became man”) and sports advancements pretty much makes such speculation rather, er, speculative. The average pro athlete of today is much bigger, stronger, faster and, thus, better, than that of 20 years ago. Or 10. Or 5. There are always exceptions (Wilt, Jordan, Tiger) but as a general rule, “sport” advances. A collection of individuals on a team makes the “exceptions” part pretty much implausible. Sure, an individual player on da Bears could still be dominant today (transplant the 1985 Mike Singletary in 2007’s Bears LB corps and he’d still be the premiere linebacker in the game) but an entire team? Nah. The offensive lines are bigger & stronger today. The RBs and WRss are faster AND stronger…and jump higher. And are more athletic. The DBS are faster & stronger & quicker.

Don’t get me wrong, Nolan Ryan throwing a pea 101 MPH in 1972 is still a 101 pea in 2008, but…..well, you get my drift. Lotta guys are throwing 100 nowadays & someone who can’t throw 90 is considered a “junkballer”. Look at the sizes of the lines from the 70s & 80s and you’d have them steamrolled by the 6′7″/320lb behomoths and genetic freaks of today.

My two cents, at least.

RW, I love the analogy to the 93′ Braves. Their 104 win season was excruciating and was probably the reason the wild card was established in MLB. How in the world do the San Francisco Giants win 103 games and not make the playoffs? But, I think that their hard drive to win the division that year ultimately left them exhausted which is why they didnt advance further that year.

Must be the fertilizer - what do your think? Bear crap?

…I dont know smij….if I didnt know better I would think that someone is on the New England sidelines with a video camera trying to steal signs.