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• Saturday, November 3, 2007 07:08 AM

  Mr. McClelland.... You Are Right And Wrong At The Same Time

  Mr. McClelland,

  You are right!! The bar has been lowered.

  Bobby Jones did this for golf; Then came Arnold Palmer. Then came Jack. Now we have Tiger.

  The same can be said of "Great Pennsylvania Quarterbacks".

  No more George Blanda's, Johnny Unitas's, Joe Namath's, Joe Montana's, Jim Kelly's or Dan Morino's?

  Which begged the question; Did Pennsylvania own the right to send good quarterbacks to the NFL? No! Has the NFL Suffered? No!! And for good reason; If you want to be a good quarterback at least you had a ton of great guys to watch. This helped you learn the fundamentals!!

  In all of the above cases here is what happened; The elite athletes became super-elite athletes who surpassed all of the records of their older peers...While at the same time...The sport that made their reputation, grew much larger in size due to 'lowering the bar'(and the participation gates), for the average Joe, to feel as though he or she can compete(tongue in cheek) 'on some level'...just not the highest level).

  Think of it this way. The more shoes and outfits we,the slow ones buy, the bigger the endorsement/sponsorship check for the truly committed marathoner, who now doesn't have to take any job other than training to be "his or her" best.

  In actuality, this is exactly as it should be...and happens to be the model of 'Pro Sports In General'.

  I've not only bought Aesics Running Shoes, I have Tiger Clubs, Jordan Basketball Shoes, I drink Gatorade, I run in NIKE Gear, I work out in Under Armour Gear... All while watching the pros on the weekend do what I'll never be good enough to do... "Play A Sport Professionally And Make Millions".

  I'm ok with this.

  But again, you are right, our competitive spirit is waning....Math, Science, Obesity, you name it... Americans are losing... Maybe you meant to speak on more subjects than Marathons... The analogy definitely applies!!

  Thanks...At least you wrote from the heart!!

  Jay

  —Jay Whinter Read Jay Whinter's other letters
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