Americans getting softer? What’s your opinion?

[Hay Dude]

Has America gone soft? YES, in my opinion. There are many examples of this and few of how we are getting tougher.

Example: I was listening to sports talk radio last week about how managers remove pitchers from games no matter how well they are pitching by “pitch counts”.
Back in the 50’s, Warren Spahn pitched 16 innings straight, 200 pitches, back when there was only a FOUR MAN rotation. Now there’s a 5 man rotation and pitchers being pulled at ~100 pitches!
Keep in mind, pitchers now have more rest, much better physical therapy and much better drugs to combat pain.

Curious as to your examples of “the wussification of America”.
-or-
How have we gotten tougher?

 

[MoKelly]

Bob Gibson in 1968. There will never ever never be a pitcher with his stats that year —- 28 complete games and over 300 innings pitched.

Today, the entire league may not have 28 complete games!

MoKelly

 

[kantuckid]

Baseball of which I know too much to begin that story-is not the answer to the topic.
The reality is that athletes are far more fit, far stronger, faster, jump higher ect..
I went to HS with a kid named Elsbury who broad jumped and placed in the Olympics back when. He could do a standing vertical jump thats similar to the better jumpers on most HS teams now. At major colleges the FB and basketball players now often far exceed what he could do in the 1960's.
Baseball- I am 77, my father & uncle played pro baseball and their younger brother was a college scholarship player and lifetime coach. In my childhood the average height in MLB was 5'9"-my height too. Now kids in middle school are bigger than that. The joke is that big macs have too much steroid content? Meanwhile as athletes have grown to be much improved, we see lots of kids who barely can get up the steps on a schoolbus. Diabetes is rampant in children and at Walmart many either sit in the car or shop in an electric cart. It is sad indeed but has zilch to do with baseball. In baseball the type of pitches has changed along with Tommy John surgeries that keep them going much longer. In my day as a college athlete a knee buggered up meant you had to hang up your cleats, not now as lots of fixes.
Lack of repairable injuries had to mean grunt and take it with senior years for old folks in my youth? I've had both hips done-they do like 600,000 a year but none back when-think about that...

 

[Jstpssng]

I don't think that's because ball players are getting softer; rather, owners are looking to protect their "investment". When they're paying top wages for a player, they don't want to risk putting him on the DL.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

I think there is a different mind set than when I was growing up in the 50's; then it was Cowboy up...shut up, suck it up, get 'er done and quitcherbitchin. From what I see and read on the internet and on our Neighborhood AP, it's a tragedy if the neighbor's dog poops in your yard, or if some kids pop a few firecrackers; if traffic increases when school lets out, and if you have to drive 20 miles to get good Cajun food, etc., etc.

 

[shooterdon]

We have devolved to awarding participation awards...enough said.

BTW, using professional athletes to prove the point is looking at too small a subset of "Americans". Heck some are not even Americans IMO; and trash our flag, national anthem and values.

 

[dieselscout80]

Well if you’re using mechanical advantages aka tracto, backhoe ect. then we’be been getting softer for a long long time.

 

[oosik]

I just glad I can still - "remember back when". I just wonder, JMHO, if modern technology isn't at the root of a lot of this.

 

[MossRoad]

Well if you’re using mechanical advantages aka tracto, backhoe ect. then we’be been getting softer for a long long time.

Air conditioned cabs and ergonomic controls.

 

[Cat385B]

I go from running an Insley 1500 or a Bycyrus Erie H40 to now a Cat 349 or a Komatsu 490? Darn right I’m getting softer. Between the rib cage and groin, mostly.