There comes a time in everyone’s life when they face the reality of getting old.

That ship sailed for me a couple of years ago, but I am reminded of it nearly on a daily basis.

That is because I find myself looking back nearly every time I watch a sporting event.

I look back and think about how great sports used to be. The players were better and they were definitely tougher.

Don’t get me wrong, there are some great players now, but I don’t think many of them could have competed against some of the great talents I grew up with.

I was watching Wimbledon on Sunday and I could not help but think that Novak Djokovic couldn’t have beaten most of the great tennis players from the past.

He barely beat Roger Federer, who is long past his prime.

Federer is one of the great tennis players of his era. He took over when Pete Sampras became too old to continue at the top of his game.

Those two players certainly could have competed with the likes of John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors and Bjorn Borg.

For years I watched Wimbledon because the tennis was so compelling. I would have to say that Sunday was the first time I had watched any of the greatest tennis tournament on Earth in at least five years.

I have lost interest in tennis. Part of that is because American tennis is in such a sorry state and I have a hard time rooting for someone from another country.

Federer peaked my interest for a while, but as his career started to wain, so did my desire to watch him play tennis.

Baseball is the same way.

I try to watch a game here and there, but I have little to no interest because today’s players are not as good as those who previously played the game.

Between “juiced” balls and steroids, I have no interest in following a game filled with cheaters.

My interest took another hit when they decided that “inter-league” baseball was a good idea throughout the entire season.

I liked it when it first began and it was a couple of times a year, but with the way it is played now, I have no use for it.

I guess another reason that I have not really followed baseball as much as I used to is because the players change teams way too much.

I great up in an era where they played their entire careers for one team. But those days are long gone and so is my interested in the game.

 

Scott Novak is sports editor for Leader Publications. He can be reached at scott.novak@leaderpub.com.