In a message dated 10/10/01 12:31:39 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: << By objective standards, runners and weightlifters of today can run faster and lift more than athletes in the past, so they are superior to the athletes of the past. But why? Because they have access to modern medicine, training, diet, freedom from childhood infectious disease, and lack of cultural barriers. If the athletes of the past had all those things then they'd be comparable to today's athletes. If not, not. >>
Which could bring us to Brin, the book "Earth" and Stan Goldman's thoughts on Mozart in the lagniappe. People are as much a product of the environment and world they live in as they are products of their genetic heritage. Mozart would be a different person in today's world. So would Babe Ruth and Sandy Koufax. But this fact doesn't detract from what they accomplished during their own times. They were the best. Healthcare, training and better equipment for althletes, as well as fundamental changes in the way the game is played... the introduction of night games, the (awful) DH rule, relief pitchers, etc., etc., etc. Too many modern factors prevent us from making accurate predictions of how Ruth today would compare to say, Darryl Strawberry or Derek Jeter, or for that matter, compare Sandy Koufax with Fernando Valenzuela, Greg Maddox or Dwight Gooden. The best we can do is come close. Jon
