What is ASSME you say? Well, please allow me to explain. ASSME is something that pertains to athletic performance and physical athleticism in modern day professional athletes. Without getting too deep into scientific jargon, ASSME describes the ways and reasons we see such rapid increase in the size and physicality of today's athletes and in particular the four major North American sports: football, basketball, baseball, hockey.
Each passing decade has seen the average height and weight of players in each position of their respective sport increase dramatically without compensation in things like speed and agility. In fact, those categories have either maintained their high level or shot up along side body size. How could this happen and why? Well, a quick and gloomy response from some of our wittier readers would say that it's all due to steroids and banned substances. This may be true in certain cases but it is still only a fractional percentage of pro athletes who use illegal substances (maybe it's more but, as Everalst from House of Pain once told me in half of a rhyming couplet, "it ain't a crime if you don't get caught."
But this is beside the point. The real reason we have seen such huge increases in player size is because these athletes are getting top of the line training regiments instilled into their daily routine before they have their umbilical chords removed. Once a potential star is recognized and gains attention from scouts and coaches across the nation, the pressure, like the weights they are forced to lift, starts to build. The natural talent is scouted early but the training habits and the mental fortitude are scrutinized relentlessly. They are force-fed verbal bum rushes of fear soaked warnings like "if you don't take care of your body now and build up your strength, you will never make it to the big leagues, son". As such, out of obligation and pressure these young kids begin building and sculpting their physiques.
This is not a bad thing by any means but it does not always turn out as planned. Not everyone turns into Lebron James and not everyone has the moral or ethical infrastructure to turn down a pill that cuts the hard work in half and shows double the results.
Since the 90's we have seen a growth in average human statures for athletes that would have taken thousands of years if measured solely by Darwinian standards. The times they are a changin' Mr. Evolution. Things happen faster now. Vitamin/protein supplements are as common as McDonald's. Training techniques, dietitians, specialists and facilities have exhibited exponential growth and even the overall North American "average height" has increased. We live in a plentiful time and have things like food and facilities at our disposal 24/7. Because of these things, our cultural averages change. Athletes are getting bigger but so are coach potatoes. It's a concerning phenomenon.
So athletes are getting bigger. It's no surprise. It has been a continuous trend for decades. But the rate of change is increasing. Will it continue on this path and if so, for how long? Will the standard NBA point guard soon become 6'4"? Are college QB's going to be looked over in the draft if they aren't exceeding 6'6"? I'm guessing that in 20 years we may soon have to see the rules of the game changed to combat these freakish beasts dunking from foul lines and hitting 500ft bombs off of pitchers who eclipse 103mph with ease.
If ASSME continues as it has been, are we in for frightening times ahead or an exciting evolution of the game? Perhaps a splash of both (vague Michael Phelps reference). *ending blog with visions of a swimmer with actual webbed feet and gilled ears like in Costner in Waterworld*
For one thing, the talent pool the four sports draw upon has gotten much, much larger. In living memory, blacks were segregated from pro sports and athletes from abroad were a rarity. Moreover, the local population in North America was significantly less than it is now. A larger talent pool naturally begets larger athletes, provided size is an advantage.
ReplyDeleteIn sports like hockey and basketball you can easily notice, when watching archival footage from the seventies or eighties, how much more crowded the playing surface has become. The international size ice surface harkens back to those days, and perhaps it will produce an undoubtedly better product than the pro size in the years to come. On the other hand, perhaps the crowded rink will prove preferable. The NHL has shown itself to be receptive to changes mandated by the times. I can see ice size changing before something like the size of the net in hockey, height of the net in basketball, or length of the field in football.
If they changed the ice size, wouldnt that be a huge cost to the arenas and reduce revenue due to reduced seat availability?
ReplyDeleteI don't think they would ever do it.