Last week, we had another of Mike Chamernik’s “Question of the Week” series, the response was great, and Mike is back again with his next question.
Question of the Week
by Mike Chamernik
Uni Watch readers, myself included, love nostalgia. We enjoy throwbacks, classic logos, bygone stadiums, old merchandise, and sports legends. We like being reminded of our youth and simpler times and all that. Change seems unnecessary and scary.
But, the past isn’t always idyllic. In fact, I feel that we often lose sight of just how special things can be in the present moment.
As a sports fan, what do you think we are in the “Golden Age” of? What aspects of sports — uniforms, logos, venues, the viewer experience, watching and following the game, technology — are better now than ever before?
I believe we’re in the golden age of highlights. True, SportsCenter isn’t a cultural phenomenon anymore. But every notable clip from every game can be found on YouTube, Twitter, Instagram or Reddit moments after they happen. You can “watch” a game without actually watching it.
We’re also in the golden age of the WNBA. Of course Caitlin Clark is having her moment, but the league continues to amass talent as an increasing number of exciting college players enter the league and join the established stars. Many games are becoming must-watch television.
Thanks, Mike — great question again.
Can’t wait to hear the readers’ responses! OK guys…fire away!
we are in the golden age of NFL mono uniforms
LOL. To add to this, I’d say we are in the golden age of “alts”. Seems all sports have alt unis, good and bad (mostly bad, methinks). As a young lad, teams had a home and away set, and that was it.
There are definitely more alts than ever. Now this may be an extremely controversial take, but I also think that alts are better than they’ve ever been. Sure many of them suck (especially the increasingly dead horse known as NBA City Edition), but given the choice between 4,000 identical BFBS unis in the early 2000s, and the wild array of sometimes nonsensical alts, I’d take variety every time.
For sure
You already alluded to it in a way, but I think we’re in the Golden Age of access. It has never been easier to watch just about any professional sporting event through paid or unpaid means.
And that includes access to the players. For better or for worse, we’ve never known athletes on such a personal level.
What’s interesting is that the access feels less personal now though. My dad recently built a bar at home and is looking to fill the walls with photos of Yankees, Giants, and his other favorite athletes. When trying to find him one for Christmas, I noticed how few “candid” photos of athletes there are now. Anything like that picture of Don Mattingly, Wade Boggs, and Ted Williams sitting down with a few beers is impossible to find now. There’s more access, but everyone is very carefully media trained now too.
You bring up a point that I hadn’t considered and yet intrinsically knew to be true. It’s true that we don’t really get to see more footage of athletes in more relaxed environments.
But, at least we know what Juan Soto’s favourite food is, or whether or not Sidney Crosby knows what “rizz” means! Lol
Or even just find out the score of a game you’re not watching. Not that long ago, you had to wait for a score update to scroll by, or worse yet, a news broadcast, or even the next day’s newspaper. Now you just look on your phone, anywhere in the world (as long as you have cell service). Around 1990, I read an article where the author was asking for assistance from fans so he could compile a list of pay phone numbers in every MLB stadium, where a person answering the phone had a view of the scoreboard. Besides the fact that there are probably few, if any, pay phones left in stadium corridors, the idea of calling a pay phone to ask a stranger to read you the scoreboard (and hope they give you the correct information) seems so archaic with today’s technology.
Yes. When I was a kid/teen, the ESPN BottomLine Ticker was the only way to get scores.
Anybody besides me remember Sports Phone?: link
I can vividly remember sneaking away during a Sunday afternoon wedding reception (I was in the wedding band) to check the NFL scores – good times
I have fond memories of being out somewhere during a game (specifically one concert I remember well) and an important game was going on at the same time) and the band was giving us updates. During the show. “Our”team was winning so the crowd was going wild for the game and the concert.
Totally agree. As much as we may hate things like blackouts, or the bizarre streaming packages necessary at times, it IS technically easier to watch more games than ever before. The cost is higher than it should be, but I don’t see that changing in the near future.
My dad and I worked out a good system for watching Champions League matches (although he doesn’t even realize it). I pay for a DAZN subscription for one device. If he wants to watch the game, he uses it. If I have a minute during work to tune in, I’ll log in to DAZN, and if it says I’m already logged in elsewhere, I’ll close it and find an …”alternative”… source.
So, we each get to watch, and he doesn’t have to worry about finding a stream through a dodgy website.
It’s not cheap (but not prohibitively expensive, either), but through YouTube TV, ESPN+, the league streaming packages, and even my OTA antenna, I can watch almost every Big 4, WNBA, and college football or basketball game. I’m in Chicago, and the only thing I don’t have is Marquee, so I gotta go out to watch the Cubs.
As a kid, I had no way of watching out of market games.
I would argue that, as of late, it’s never been harder/more expensive. Certainly no matter where you are in the world, you have access to every game… somehow. Which means in a certain respect, yes we have unprecedented access to the games. However I can no longer simply turn on my tv and watch a game in most cases. Even if it is on broadcast tv, I’d either have to have a cable/satellite/live stream package or a stupid digital antenna, which are far less useful and far more unsightly than we were led to believe when we switched to all digital for some reason, and that would still factor out espn games and any other cable broadcast games like tbs, tnt, gen, etc. In addition, some games are now exclusive to various streaming outlets, so now I have to have prime and Netflix if I want to watch certain games as well as leave specific access packages in some cases. On top of all that, some markets still play that “the game ain’t sold out, so we ain’t showing it for free” blackout BS. So while, conceivably, one could watch every game from every sport ever, the average fan expense and effort needed to watch any game at all has greatly increased.
I’m not going to argue against your experience. I will say that the streaming platform thing is bordering on unforgiveable. I can’t believe anyone running the leagues we love thought that was a good idea. They must be getting paid obscene amounts of money from those platforms. It’s part of the greater issue of streaming platforms, which were supposed to solve the cable crisis, and now we’re arguably worse off than before.
For me, there are three “tiers” of access to sports:
1) Traditional – paying for access the “normal” way, whether it be the right cable package, streaming platform(s), or combination of the two.
2) IPTV – fairly common in Canada. You pay some sketchy guy to come into your house and set up a “dodgy box” (that’s what my Scottish household calls them, even though we don’t have one), and then pay an ongoing subscription fee for access to pretty much anything that is broadcast in the world.
3) Old-school illegal – finding free streams online. The only cost here is risk and dealing with annoying popups. I don’t think people who don’t do this option realize just how prevalent it is.
My experience is generally a combination of 1 and 3. So while I would agree that it is likely more expensive, it doesn’t have to be. And if you go with purely route 1, your access to what you can watch is still far greater than it used to be.
I don’t know what the right term is, but we are in a golden age of what I’ll call in-game, on-screen information. What I’m talking about are the score bugs and all the information now contained therein, scrolling scores and news from other games, the drawn-in graphics on the field for first down lines and target FG lines, etc. The score bug in particular has become so ubiquitous, that it feels weird to me when I’m watching footage of an older broadcast, and not being able to know at every second of the broadcast what the score is and how much time is left.
Excellent call. I think some of the statcast stuff is noise, but some viewers really like it. But yes — all the game info is right there on the screen, often in a small, efficient box (unless you’re watching Bally’s Network).
As much as I’d like to watch old games, I can’t get past how the time and score were never on the screen, pre-mid 1990s. I guess networks didn’t want people to turn the channel if there was little time left or if the score was lopsided.
Yes. Just like anything else right now, we are in a golden age of information, and thankfully with sports, it’s pretty cut and dry in terms of honest reporting, so in a way it’s a bastion of truth and sanity to access sports information. Of course on could drive themselves to insanity listening to talking heads and local radio personalities, but by and large anywhere you access sports information, you’re getting the most factual information possible, as opposed to other categories of “news”.
Golden Age of promotional uniforms in MiLB.
In 2024, every team had a home and away jersey. Many had an alternate. A bunch of others had Star Wars, Marvel Defenders of the Diamond, and ones having to deal with food.
Every team was required to wear the Malmo Oat Milkers jersey. More than 100 were in the Copa de la Diversion promo.
I wonder who wore the most jerseys last year. My guesses are the Myrtle Beach Pelicans and the Sugar Land Space Cowboys.
And then a lot of MiLB teams have dedicated alternate identities, too
This is the Golden Age of Analytics, especially in baseball. Spin rates and x-y break against launch angle and exit velocity. But all sports have metrics upon metrics that detail performance in ways that were unimaginable even 10 years ago.
Yes. Everything can be measured – spin rates, velocity, player movement, bat speed. Wild.
You say that as if it’s a good thing…
Analytics is one of many reasons I can’t watch baseball, and one of a handful of reasons I watch less basketball. Too much information, not enough going with your gut or having a feel for the game.
A lot of the analytical stuff goes over my head. I just wanna watch and talk ball, not crunch numbers. Glad the data exists, though. Although it’s like, unless you’re a GM or scout, or a hardcore fantasy player, I’m not sure why you would need such high level data.
But the thing is, nobody would bother with analytics if they didn’t have a demonstrable effect on winning games. And even though I’m a baseball fan with a romantic streak a mile wide, I’d rather my team win than anything else.
I like the suggestion of “Golden Age of Highlights.” While I miss late 90s Sportscenter–I can watch a 10-20 package of all the important plays of any game I missed within hours of the game finishing. It’s a really great way to stay engaged with a team when I don’t have a free afternoon to watch a three hour football game. (As a toddler parent, this has been huge for me!)
The NBA makes full-game highlight packages for all the games, and they also put the last 5 minutes (or so) of close games on their YouTube, too. And then other YouTubers will make highlight videos of certain players. So if Dame Lillard scored 40, I can find a video of every bucket he got, posted minutes after the game ended.
Tangentially, I wonder if this is why NBA ratings are down. Why watch a game live when you can catch up on highlights and get the same enjoyment?
We are in a golden age of ACCESS to new sports. It’s currently possible to turn on ESPN 3 on any given day and find actual broadcasts of sports previously reserved for “The Ocho Day”. For example, College Ultimate Frisbee National Championships are broadcast live in the spring, with real announcers who watch the sport. As sports like ultimate, pickleball, cornhole, and disc golf grow, I think we’ll see them sequester themselves into their own little streaming services. (Ultimate and Disc Golf are already beginning to do this). But for this brief window, we’re currently able to watch new sports with relative ease.
Great call! You can also learn about a popular sport from another part of the world. You can find explainer videos about cricket, Finnish baseball, netball, etc… and immerse yourself with relative ease.
Yep!
We’re in the Golden Age of sports uniform coverage if not of the actual uniforms.
Tangentially related, the Golden Age of DC sports uniforms was circa 2011-2012. The Nats and indoor teams were all red, white and blue and the REDACTED started wearing burgundy over gold with black shoes. The only downside was the loss of the all navy Nats road cap and well, the slur was still in use by the Snider franchise.
This could be considered blasphemous, but I preferred the early 2000s when the Capitals and Wizards had matching blue/black/gold and the Nationals didn’t exist. Red/white/blue makes sense for the nation’s capital, but it’s so overused across all sports that I welcome any departure from it.
Loved the Wizards blue and copper
Loved the Wizards’ gold over black unis.
Did not like the blue ones.
Blasphemy!
“I believe we’re in the golden age of highlights.”
I feel the opposite. As you alluded to with Sportscenter, it used to be a thing where you could reliably tune into Sportscenter, or specific shows like Baseball Tonight or NFL Primtime which got a little more into the weeds with their specific sports. Watching those shows you spent an hour and got everything you needed on sports (or those specific leagues). Today you have to seek out specific highlights. Maybe the algorithm attached to your account will show you want you are interested in. But to me, I feel like I have less knowledge of what is going on with the sort of ondemand news/highlights of sports.
Now I feel like I know what is going on with my favorite teams, because I watch the games or specifically seek out the recaps of the games. But the rest of the sports world I am much less in touch with. I know the superstars in sports, but the second level stars, I probably have no clue who most of them are now. If I have to proactively pull up various highlights that is a degree of effort greater than just flipping on a recap show before I go to bed.
Great point. I grew up on SportsCenter. I miss Baseball Tonight.
So it’s like, the NFL, for example, puts every TD, every cool play, and full-game highlight packages (15 min each) on their YouTube, but there’s really no hour-long highlight show out there. I suppose NFL Primetime is back on ESPN+.
As a fan of sports the world over, we’re in the Golden age of access to uniforms. I know merchandising is an easy punching bag right now but the fact that I can go to a website like fanatics and buy jerseys and shirts for colleges all over the US, minor league teams, international clubs, is bonkers and I love it. As someone who loves distinct logos, I don’t care much for most merchandise from the big 4 American sports leagues so this age of access is great for me.
Ha indeed. As a kid, my mom would have to drive all over suburban Chicago to find all the NBA jerseys I wanted for Christmas.
Also a Golden Age of Uniform Tracking. We have full databases for what all the teams wear every week, and what they’ve worn in years past.
Yeah, access to jerseys is incredible now, even if they are lower quality in both form and function. As a kid I remember eastbay and other similar catalogs coming in the mail, and I’d always turn to the jersey pages right away to see who was available in which uniform, especially mid-90s when you started to have a lot of the alt uniforms (Bulls black, Hornets purple, Magic blue, etc) starting popping up.
Right now, living in North Texas, we’re in a golden age of being able to watch our teams after the Balleys disaster. Not only can I now watch all my teams again, 3 out of the 4 teams are free to watch. Mavs games are on free TV with an antenna, the Stars have a free app, all cowboys games are televised for free. Only the rangers have an announced what channel they’re going to be on this next season
Antenna TV being a thing in 2024. Who knew! Same deal in Chicago, the Sox, Bulls and Blackhawks are on an Over-the-air channel
We are in the Golden Age of watching sports on TV in the comfort of your home. With giant HD TVs, great sound systems, beers and food, this is the best time ever to watch a sporting event at home. Add to this the ability to go online and easily place bets on these games, it makes the whole experience at home better then it’s ever been.
Yep. On NFL Sundays, I got my main TV, smaller TV, iPad and sometimes my phone, all with games or Red Zone on. It’s heaven.
The golden age of replay.
Sure there are some bugs to figure out, but challenges and official reviews are in-play and still a large talking point for future changes. It seems, and I appreciate, that “they” are trying to find and respect the balance between being able to challenge and review every play and letting the players play to allow the game to unfold and progress organically.
The NFL’s expedited review process has been great.
NBA reviews have slowed the game down so much.
This might backfire, but I’d love a replay review policy where officials have to watch the play in real time. They can’t use slow motion.
I’d be on board with that. And put a 30-second time limit on it. If you can’t figure it out in that amount of time, it’s too close to call.
Agreed on the time limit idea
We’re not there yet, but I think we’re approaching a golden age of player safety. A number of die-hard football fans (some of whom never played the game but have no problem watching other people get destroyed for the sake of entertainment) complain about the newer rules, but the new rules are what kept me from giving up the sport. I got fed up with seeing QBs’ heads snap from getting hit from behind, and ball carriers being bent backwards after a helmet to helmet (or helmet to chest) hit. Give me the old aesthetic (classic unis in dirt, mud or snow) but give me the new rules.
Two things! We are in the golden age of too much information. Analytics have gone overboard. There is so much information it can cause the coach or manager to feel paralyzed and unable to make a quick decision. There is a term that I can’t remember exactly but it is paralysis by over analysis or something similar.
Second we are in the golden age of tacky and too many uniforms. I realize uniforms bring money from sales, but there are way too many and two many that even in team colors. It is like the leagues are saying look at the uniform rather than the plyer, team or more importantly the game.
We’re in the age of too much everything. Too may teams, too many games, too many stats, too many uniforms, etc. to the point where nothing is special anymore. Some of my favorite memories were watching the 1968 Jets Raiders playoff game on closed circuit TV in a church basement because the game was blacked out in New York, watching the 73 Knicks playoffs on Spanish language TV for the same reason and savoring the the Saturday afternoon MLB game of the week on NBC because I got to watch two non-New York teams play each other. Damn, I sound like my father.
We are completely in the “Golden Age of the Hot Take”.
If there is one thing you cannot help but stumble over, and not just exclusive to sports, is the quick opinion of someone out there with a bullhorn to make sure everyone hears it.
If only Stephen A and Skip were still together
We are in the golden age of NFL sock individuality!
I reckon an NFL crackdown is due, and we’ll all look back in 4 or 5 years with teams all in regimented socks (with stripes) and get all wistful about when we could easily tell players apart because of their hosiery…
This comment will probably get swallowed in cyberspace but Mike Nolan, a former coach of the 49ers, tried to bring back the golden age.
He was the best dressed coach in the uniwatch era.
Golden age of Bobby Bonilla 2.0 er… Juan Soto. :-p
I don’t think we’re quite there yet, but I hope we’ll get to a golden age of health and safety. More and more light is being shed on things like concussions, mental health struggles, and all kinds of abuse that were previously unknown, or ignored, or covered up. I know it’s a bit of a heavy topic, but I think it’s one of the bigger developments in sports in the last decade or so. Hopefully we see continued improvement.
On a lighter note, though related to health, it seems we’ve seen a bit of an uptick in athletes playing at a high level even up to, and beyond, 40 years of age. LeBron, Brady, Federer, Nadal, etc. Will careers keep getting longer?
At the same time, I feel like the balance of power in baseball has shifted toward young players. We might be in a golden age of young MLB talent. Not sure if it’s related to the incentives to bring up prospects sooner, but it seems like it’s a young man’s game now. The irony, of course, being that the average age of baseball fans has probably never been higher.
I don’t gamble, and it turns me off when watching sports shows (I mostly have stopped watching Sportcenter with SVP), but it seems like much of the “analytics” info is aimed at people betting.
Does that make it a golden age for those people?
To Johnny F’s point, I think we’re in an age of pointless analytics. “When his team is up by 5 or more runs, Juan Soto is hitting .295 in the 6th inning of Sunday afternoon road games against left handed pitchers from the Dominican Republic with 6 syllables in their name.”
I don’t know whether these deep dives are for gamblers or whether leagues and announcers haven’t figured out that just because some algorithm CAN calculate ridiculous minutiae doesn’t mean they SHOULD.
If this is the golden age of analytics, I hope we evolve out of it soon.