Whether we as sports fans would like to admit it or not, the popularity of professional sports in the United States is based around star power. When we think of individual sports at their peaks, we think of the greatest players of all-time and the eras in which they played. Right now, without question, the two biggest professional sports in this country are football and basketball. Names like Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Kobe Bryant, and LeBron James, as well as many others, are the biggest reasons for this. If we look back over the past century, superstar power equals nationwide popularity.
Because baseball has a history that far outdates any of our other sports, at the turn of the century, baseball had no rival. It is why, despite what many feel is an outdated claim, baseball fanatics will always refer to baseball as the "national pastime." During the first half of the 20th century, baseball ruled the sports world. Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb were the star athletes. Even after them, names like Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams still ruled the sports world. The NBA, NHL, and NFL had nothing on baseball. The "second" sport in the eyes of many was actually boxing, and that was thanks to a very historically overlooked man named Joe Louis. Boxing never actually overtook baseball in popularity, but during Louis' prime, it was surely in second place.
Golf was also somewhat popular as well thanks to names like Byron Nelson, Sam Snead, and Ben Hogan, who were all in their prime during the 1940's and 1950's. Collegiate football was actually bigger than most of our professional sports as well. Before anyone ever heard of the NFL, college football was at the top of the ladder.
When the 1960's came around, thanks to a wide array of shifts in American culture, other sports became more popular. Baseball was still very popular, but when icons like Muhammad Ali, Bill Russell, Vince Lombardi, Red Auerbach, and Jim Brown came around, they elevated their respective sports.
While it had been popular before, Ali brought the sport of boxing to heights it had never seen before. The Celtics may have been winning championships on almost a yearly basis, but Russell, Auerbach, as well as Wilt Chamberlain were bringing basketball into the eyes of the nation. Jim Brown, significant both on and off the field, Vince Lombardi, and the dawn of the Super Bowl era were ushering in the NFL that we know today as the most popular sport in our country. Throughout this all, baseball was still littered with stars like Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, and Hank Aaron, but it was no longer the only sport that remained in the spotlight. Superstar and iconic names were reaching their peaks in other sports as well, and baseball was no longer the only sport that was followed on a regular basis throughout the country.
So then what happened next? Russell and Chamberlain retired, and the NBA was bereft of superstar talent and iconic names. Ali retired and while he was always the dominant force in boxing during his time, guys like Joe Frazier and George Foreman began to be overlooked before they eventually retired as well. Baseball was even in somewhat of a downswing during that era. There were certainly Hall of Fame players at the top of their games, but most fans would have a tough time naming anyone on the roster of the 1973 Oakland Athletics or the 1984 Detroit Tigers. The NHL could possibly claim that it was closer to the peak of American sports culture during that time, as the New York Islanders and Montreal Canadiens dominated the 1970's and into the 1980's.
Nate Thurmond, a Hall of Fame NBA player who died only a few days ago, was at his peak in the 1970's, and if you asked the casual sports fan about him, I would guess that most would not even be able to name the team that he played for, let alone the fact that he was one of the few players in the league to ever record a quadruple-double in a game. He just was not a superstar name and he did not play for a superstar team.
I think that a big part of the popularity of the NFL today is due to what happened in the sports world in the 1970's. Ali, Russell, and Brown were gone. There were no dynasties in Major League Baseball. The NFL had its chance to strike, and thanks to the Steel Curtain defense of the Pittsburgh Steelers, the 1972 Miami Dolphins, and the beginning of the Dallas Cowboys dynasty, the NFL was able to take center stage.
As we entered the 1980's, icons like Magic Johnson and Larry Bird took center stage. The NFL was still building its multi-billion dollar enterprise that we know today, but it was once again time for the NBA. Baseball was still in somewhat of a lull, the NHL was waiting on a legend, and boxing was in the midst of a lull as well, as only the most ardent of fans could name more than a few iconic boxers of the early 80's. The Celtics had been the legendary franchise two decades earlier, and they were about to be legendary once again.
Larry Bird and Magic Johnson was the biggest rivalry in the 1980's, and at the end of the decade they would pass the torch to the greatest player to ever play the game. The NHL was about to undergo a similar transformation, as its greatest player ever broke on to the scene in the 80's. Michael Jordan and Wayne Gretzky were as iconic as it gets, and they led their respective leagues to national prominence.
Once the 1990's rolled around, with Gretzky and Jordan both still at the top of their games, baseball and boxing were afterthoughts. Mike Tyson had a meteoric rise and fall to give boxing a temporary shot in the arm, but in many ways, the sport was never the same after Tyson was knocked out by Buster Douglas. The early 1990's gave us some great baseball games, including what I believe is the greatest game ever played, the 1991 World Series pitching masterpiece that pitted John Smoltz against Jack Morris, but ask anyone you know who had the walkoff hit to end that series and I guarantee you that 999 out of 1,000 will not know the answer. Joe Carter had an iconic moment in 1993, but his name or the name of the Toronto Blue Jays was not one that will be passed on from generation to generation.
In the prime of his career, Michael Jordan ruled the 1990's. The Dallas Cowboys had their second run as champions, but they were still not on the level of Jordan and the Bulls. The New York Yankees had their dynasty late in the decade, but they are still third place. The NHL had been fading from the conscience of the American public, and boxing was at most an afterthought.
That brought us to the second half of the 1990's and a man named Tiger Woods. Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer are two of the greatest to ever play the game of golf, but their names are not as transcendent as Woods. There is Wilt, there is Kobe, there is LeBron, there is Shaq, there is a few select others, and there is Tiger. One word is all you need to know the sport and the man. The impact that Woods had on the game of golf is arguably greater than the impact on any athlete in any sport. I understand that all of the Michael Jordan fanatics out there all believe that Jordan is the greatest person in the history of human civilization, but he did not have the impact on the game of basketball like Tiger Woods impacted the game of golf.
Golf was a game for old, rich white men. It cost too much to be a member at a club and play the game, it was too long, and there was not enough action. When Tiger Woods came along, all of that changed. Woods brought in a young audience (black and white) that had never cared one bit for the game prior to his rise to prominence. His peak was entirely parallel to the peak of professional golf. If a tournament was on television, there was only one question worth asking. Is Tiger playing? If he is, then the ratings are through the roof. If he is not, then no one cares to watch. And that is where I want to try to circle this back to my original point. Golf does not have a superstar right now, and because of that, I really am not entirely concerned with watching it. And I am not the only one that feels that way.
Byron Nelson and Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods were names that were bigger than the sport. We weren't watching golf. We were watching legends. However, if those guys are not playing, we are watching some boring sport and wondering why we ever cared about golf in the first place. Right now golf is in a place where the casual fan is wondering why we ever cared about the sport in the first place. As is the case with any sport, the most ardent of fans will always care. It is why soccer fans and tennis fans and golf fans will defend their sport to the death. But to the casual fan, we need something more than that. Talk about Jordan Spieth or Jason Day or Rory McIlroy all you want, but they are not names that make me want to tune in to the final day of the British Open. Henrik Stenson won the event, and if I walked past Henrik Stenson on the street tomorrow, I would not know who he was.
The bottom line is, the American public, no matter what they say, wants to see superstars when they watch sports. They might want to root against them or they might want to root for them, but in reality, they just want to see them. It might be too much to ask for another legend like Tiger Woods to come along, but in order for golf to capture the focus of the nation again, we need someone near his level to get out there on the course. As of right now, I do not see that out there and because of that, I will not stay up at night wishing I saw the final round of the British Open.
Daily Diamondbacks Update: The team followed up an exciting extra inning walkoff win with another victory over the Dodgers last night, and after a day off today, the Blue Jays come to Arizona for a quick two game series. That is followed by seven games against the struggling Reds and Brewers, so maybe a nice little winning streak can come about over the next week.
Daily NFL Update: Franchise deals are being signed, as Von Miller is back with the defending champion Broncos, but they still have huge issues at quarterback, and the Jets are in the same position with the still unsigned Ryan Fitzpatrick. Tom Brady also finally dropped his appeal and will serve his suspension of four games to start this season, which I was somewhat surprised by.
Daily NBA Update: The free agent chips have mostly fallen now, and it seems that Golden State is surely the favorite going into next season, with Cleveland probably being the favorite again in the Eastern Conference. I'm not sure how long it has been since the same teams have met in the NBA Finals in three consecutive years, but as of right now, that definitely seems like a distinct possibility if everything goes as planned. However, everything very rarely goes as planned...
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