And he will break records.
Every year we see world records broken in all different manner of sports.
ATHLETICS
Using the Olympic records as a barometer:
Time span / Gender / Number of records broken that still stand
1994 - 2013 / Male / 19/23
1994 - 2013 / Female / 14/23
1974 - 1993 / Male / 4/23
1974 - 1993 / Female / 9/23
1954 - 1973 / Male / 0/0
1954 - 1973 / Female / 0/0
SNOOKER
Here's a list of the number of century breaks attained in the two main professional tournaments -
Time span / UK Championship / World Championship
1990-2001 / 745 / 973
2002-2013 / 1078 / 1595
So a rise of around 40% - 50% for both tournaments.
Swimming Records - It is also worth noting all swimming records have been broken in the last 6 years. For the women it's 5. Again supporting the evolution theory that we are getting harder, better, faster, stronger. Thanks Kanye.
DARTS
9 Dart finishes in a season
1999 - 1
2000 - 1
2001 - 1
2002 - 5
2003 - 2
2004 - 4
2005 - 3
2006 - 7
2007 - 6
2008 - 14
2009 - 15
2010 - 14
2011 - 18
2012 - 21
2013 - 24
The last 5 years has seen a dramatic rise in the number of 9 dart finishes achieved. Again supporting the evolution theory.
So I've covered a wide range of sports there. And I think a number of factors need to be considered -
Better diet, training methods and facilities.
More history to delve into, therefore more knowledgeable coaches to learn from?
Is it always easier to work towards a target, rather than set it with no barrier to aim for?
Advanced technology
Greater population, therefore more competition, making the elite positions more sought after, so people train harder and for longer.
I'm sure there's plenty of other reasons that you good people will remind me of, so knock yourself out.
The main reason behind this article is Football. and the GOAT of football.
Pele
Best
Maradona
Zidane
Ronaldo
C.Ronaldo
Messi
Has the standard of player got better with time? We have in almost all, if not every other, sport where you can measure success; is natural progression any different in football? Surely as the human race progresses so do footballers?
Feed the GOAT.............
posted on 26/6/14
The rules have changed - you cannot kick somebody off the park any more; the offside rule has changed; the back pass rule has changed.
So it is hard to compare. I think Maradona (who as a person was pretty objectionable) is the GOAT, maybe Messi has a shot at it if he wins this World Cup and continues to do the business - then he and Maradona will be very close indeed.
Oh, and Pele although superb is not even close, a media creation in that sense and the GOAT for people who don't understand football.
posted on 26/6/14
BTW, Bradman pretty much kills the evolution of the GOAT
posted on 26/6/14
"Oh, and Pele although superb is not even close, a media creation in that sense and the GOAT for people who don't understand football."
I actually think it's the opposite and people that think they know a little about football discredit him. Everyone in the game in his era said the same about him being on a different level, not the media.
posted on 26/6/14
comment by meltonblue (U10617)
posted 35 minutes ago
"Oh, and Pele although superb is not even close, a media creation in that sense and the GOAT for people who don't understand football."
I actually think it's the opposite and people that think they know a little about football discredit him. Everyone in the game in his era said the same about him being on a different level, not the media.
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In an era obsessed with stats then Pele's take some beating.
he was also a great footballer, so was Georgie boy (my fav) but Maradona's contribution to whichever team he played in makes him, probably, the best ever.
posted on 26/6/14
Garrincha was a better player, Pele played in a relatively weak league and he didn't drag a team to the World Cup the way Maradona did - in 1986 Maradona was supernatural.
posted on 26/6/14
comment by ItsAboutTheBackFour (U9916)
posted 23 minutes ago
Garrincha was a better player, Pele played in a relatively weak league and he didn't drag a team to the World Cup the way Maradona did - in 1986 Maradona was supernatural.
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Back then all the Brazilian players hadn't started flocking to Europe for the pull of bigger money so the Brazilian league was one of the strongest. Apparently
posted on 26/6/14
Sorry, that's BS, even the Brazilian national defence wasn't very good.
posted on 26/6/14
"Garrincha was a better player, Pele played in a relatively weak league and he didn't drag a team to the World Cup the way Maradona did - in 1986 Maradona was supernatural."
He was, I'm not comparing him to maradona as they are different players though, ditto Garrincha. All I'm saying is that pele is now underrated due to people playing down his achievements. Just watch the game against Benfica in 62, that gives an idea of how good he was in comparison to his European counterparts.
It's a very lazy point of view to say he played in a weaker league when he still banged them in and dominated games whoever he played.
posted on 26/6/14
"Sorry, that's BS, even the Brazilian national defence wasn't very good."
I agree. The 86 Argentina defence was better....
posted on 27/6/14
Technology has gotten better with time, and conditioning. That is all