Vince Scully and Other Old Guys Who Rule

December 21, 2016

I am sure you have seen the "Old Guys Rule" shirts worn by middle-aged gents who want you to believe they still possess old man strength and are not ready for the pasture. In the world of professional sports, you can find many older athletes who are over 35. There was a strong group of veteran guys who called it a career in 2016. They didn't just have good to average careers but long and storied ones, which will be hard to imagine anybody duplicating.

Not to be outshone by all great athletes, one particular old guy deserves a shout out. Everybody knows about Vince Scully, the golden-piped broadcaster of many sports, renowned as voice of the Dodgers of Los Angeles. Dodger fans will sorely miss Scully's dulcet tones, but he also represents more than that. He is pure class and part of a great era of broadcasters that will be hard to replace. As much as I loathed the Dodgers by being a Giant fan, there is no denying Scully never sounded like a blatant homer. His delivery is always inclusive while being articulate and intelligent. At 88, Scully walks away after a 67-year career doing what he loved.

Just recently, the legendary boxer Bernard Hopkins fought at the age of 51. He did not receive the desired outcome, but he still looked in great physical shape and moved well. Professional boxing into your fifties sounds like something of a novelty and a freak show. Hopkins is the rarest of examples of an athlete who could pull off such a feat. He will always be one of the most brilliant tacticians in the ring and a great defensive boxer who avoided many blows. Very few sports fans or the general public know much about what a remarkable life he has led. Take the time to read his story from teenage problem child to prison inmate to middleweight champion. He is considered one of the best middleweights of all time.

If a professional athlete is still performing into their late thirties, then they are defying Father Time. If they can avoid the pitfalls of debilitating injuries, they might be able to prolong their career. Once the back and knees start failing, most athletes will go into a downturn in performance. This is why you once saw the big push in steroid usage, which allowed athletes to overtrain and build fantastic stamina. Now that the use of anabolic steroids is more stringently tested, you might find fewer of the old guys still playing.

This year, the careers of Peyton Manning, Kobe Bryant, David Ortiz come to an end. These three had long runs which defied the norm, and all of them will be headed into the Hall of Fame for their sports. Tom Brady is the latest old guy defying the age stereotype by still being the best quarterback in the league. Brady amazes me by being a pocket passer his whole career and taking a significant amount of physical pounding by 280-pound defensive linemen.

NHL has a few forty-year-olds still on the ice and still contributing to their teams. Shane Doan (40) is a right-wing for the Arizona Coyotes, Matt Cullen (40) is a center on the Pittsburgh Penguins, and Jaromir Jágr (44) is a right-wing for the Florida Panthers. Hockey has a long list of players who skated into their forties. Gordy Howe, the iron man, played until he was fifty-two. I am not sure how these guys do it when you look at the physical aspect of hockey. Some say the size and speed of the newer generation of players are increasing to be translated into a more violent game. We might not see the older guys as much unless the sport itself changes.

I would like to see every team have an elder statesman to show the younger players a thing or two. Since Ben Gay and painkillers are not the only things available to keep the old guys going, you notice more age-defying players. The advanced training methods, physical therapy, and medical procedures will support the older athletes going longer and longer.

Lastly, George Blanda, the legendary quarterback and placekicker who played until he was 48, in 1976 had this to say, "I think it's a shame, all the star football players who retired in the prime of life. Lou Groza washed up at 43. Ben Agajanian prematurely retired at 45. Y. A. Tittle, gone when he was 38 and Bob Waterfield at 33. Norm Van Brocklin hung them up at 35, as did Otto Graham, the finest quarterback I've ever seen. Why that's a tragedy. Does anybody think Graham couldn't have played six or eight more seasons? Of course, he could. But like all the others, he fell victim to one of pro football's many unreasoning prejudices: that you're no longer capable of playing when you reach 30 or 35. Baloney!"