At first the discussion was about how kids had to be on every traveling team to get noticed in high school and then they delved into that empty football and baseball fields and Chicago kids do not play those sports anymore.

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To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

They are too bust dodging a hail of gunfire.

The football/baseball fields are filled to capacity in the Edgebrook/Sauganash/Wildwood neighborhoods from mid March to November

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

I feel like it's almost all organized and typically costs $. There aren't a group of 10 kids that say let's go to the park like we used to.

Sure there is. They're just fat and would rather sit at home and eat.

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Correct.

Kinda. The kids that would go door to door asking kids to play are the ones that are signed up for the organized class. Kids are also over scheduled or they go somewhere after school because the parents are working. They don't hang out at the playground or nearby field and just play. It's also a slightly different world letting kids be alone or walk home after. Those are just my observations.

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"Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public." ~ H.L. Mencken

My brother was at a friend's house and some kids said they couldn't go out and play baseball because they didn't have bases.

Haven't they ever heard of saying the bush is 1st base the tree is second the sidewalk third and the driveway home?

Agree.

Kids today have "play dates" and besides from the name sounding gay, the point of having the parents schedule every actiivty for a kid until they are 16??????

I probably would have never played baseball if not for being able to play with my friends for 4-6 hours on a Saturday and fielding ground balls in pickup games.

I didnt start getting good at hoops until one summer which I played pickup game after pickup game

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"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

People don't dance no mo. All they do is this...

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Kid Cairo's Boers & Bernstein YouTube Channel

Kid Cairo: 2013 March Madness Tournament Winner!

"Cowabunga? Cowa fucking piece of dog shit! This game is diarrhea coming out of my dick!"

There is not a lot of hanging out on weekends either. That is the day the games are played then family time/stuff and obligations. Friend stuff is all during the week now.

Just look at all the kids from Latin American countries in the minor leagues. Santo domingo in the DR has about 3 mill people and has like 500 kids in the major leagues and minor league systems?

They play baseball all day. Not organized in a league, but pickup games all day.

If kids dont play pickup games they need to play fall ball, travel, etc.

Unless their parents are so dedicated to practice with them all the time.

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"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

It's fairly difficult to get a significant number of people together and the game may not be that safe if no one is wearing a helmet for baseball or you're playing tackle football with no pads. The other thing is I think kids are more interested in video games and the Internet than ever before.

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To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

I think part of the problem is not just that everything is organized, it is organized from an early age. Then when a kid doesn't excel in a particular sport from the very beginning, their are social pressures to quit. Unathletic kids who might have developed quit before they have a chance. Athletic kids end up being specialized into one sport rather than playing everything.

The goals are kind of strange as well. There is no playing just to play. There is playing to win and practicing with some kind of ambiguous goal to have a college scholarship. Meanwhile, I'm not sure playing college sports is a better college experience than hanging out all day and getting blasted (getting homework done, of course).

These travel leagues are really the Ponzi scheme of the parent class. They usually cost four figures. The extra play may result in a better player but to what end. Yeah! You were a slightly above average high school player.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

I don't really like being the old guy saying how shit was better. I don't know if it was better or not. It was just different. I hear people complain about "pants on the ground" and wonder if they ever pull out the old Polaroids to check how ridiculous they looked in the 70s. But of course, I'm inclined to think it was better in my time.

Anyway, I've been living my own life since I was about 12 years old. I mentioned this at a family gathering in a conversation about my second cousins and how they are driven everywhere. My mom rolled her eyes at me. But what I meant was that I did a lot of stuff I didn't talk to my parents about and that my friends and I went places and did things without our parents knowing anything about it.

When I went down to Champaign, my mom dropped my shit off at Bromley, we got something to eat and she drove back home. She didn't talk to any advisors or help me pick out classes. I was a fucking grown-up.

My girlfriend works in HR. A guy actually brought his dad on a fucking interview. What the fuck is this world coming too?

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Communists are just people who are terrible at capitalism.

I agree with your entire post (especially the kid who took his dad on an interview), but I wanted to bust your balls about the above quote.

NBA thoughts JORR....your NBA thoughts reak of "the 80s were better".

Could Adrian Dantley in his prime hang with Tracy McGrady in his prime?

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Kid Cairo's Boers & Bernstein YouTube Channel

Kid Cairo: 2013 March Madness Tournament Winner!

"Cowabunga? Cowa fucking piece of dog shit! This game is diarrhea coming out of my dick!"

They're totally different kinds of players. You'd be hard-pressed to find a player of any size who could post up like Dantley.

I don't think I'm biased toward players of a particular era in hoops. I think LeBron is the greatest player I've ever seen based on his game alone. But there are other elements that guys like Jordan and Bird and Magic and Isiah had that I don't see in LeBron. Jordan was like the stereotypical "grindy white guy" in his approach to the game. That's a pretty difficult thing to find in a player of elite ability. LeBron has been "The King" since he was ten years old. It's going to be hard for him to have the same kind of drive to succeed. Personally, I understand Eddie Curry more than I understand Jordan. If I were in that position I think I'd probably cash my checks and do as little work as possible.

With regard to the two Olympic teams and Carmelo Anthony, I think Anthony is like a lesser Dominique Wilkins. Wilkins couldn't even make the Dream Team in '92. Carmelo was a key scorer this year. That should tell people all they need to know.

It's human nature to call the latest "the greatest." I'm sure no one here will agree, but I don't see Kevin Durant as any different than Bob McAdoo.

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Communists are just people who are terrible at capitalism.

Your thoughts are very interesting JORR. Especially the Carmelo/Nique comparison. I'd never really taken that angle, but yes, there is something to the thought that Melo may be better than 'Nique was. Personally, I just don't think Dominique was ever really an elite-level player. He was good, but not superstar good.

I won't completely dismiss the McAdoo/Durant comparison, simply because I haven't seen enough of McAdoo to say otherwise.

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Kid Cairo's Boers & Bernstein YouTube Channel

Kid Cairo: 2013 March Madness Tournament Winner!

"Cowabunga? Cowa fucking piece of dog shit! This game is diarrhea coming out of my dick!"

How does that work though since they played completely different positions?

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Not really. I thought McAdoo was a SG/SF. That's basically what Durant is.

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Kid Cairo's Boers & Bernstein YouTube Channel

Kid Cairo: 2013 March Madness Tournament Winner!

"Cowabunga? Cowa fucking piece of dog shit! This game is diarrhea coming out of my dick!"

I am not sure about comparing individual players from the 80's and now as I don't watch enough now really. One thing I am certain of is team basketball is better then than now. I would bet any amount of money that the 80's Magic, Wilkes/Nixon, Worthy, Kareem etc. Lakers team would beat any championship team of the 2000's 10 out of 10 times.

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Basketball Reference:

Robert Allen McAdoo Jr. (Bob)

Position: Center-Forward ▪ Height: 6-9 ▪ Weight: 210 lbs.
Born: September 25, 1951 (Age 60) in Greensboro, North Carolina
High School: Ben Smith in Greensboro, North Carolina
College: University of North Carolina
Draft: Buffalo Braves, 1st round (2nd pick, 2nd overall), 1972 NBA Draft
NBA Debut: October 10, 1972
Hall of Fame: Inducted as Player in 2000

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Ten out of ten times is a very strong proclamation. I don't think any NBA team could beat another NBA team ten of ten. That's just way too difficult. The 2001-02 Lakers would certainly be able to steal some games from them. That was the best team of this millennium. The 2004-05 Spurs are right there in the conversation too.

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Kid Cairo's Boers & Bernstein YouTube Channel

Kid Cairo: 2013 March Madness Tournament Winner!

"Cowabunga? Cowa fucking piece of dog shit! This game is diarrhea coming out of my dick!"

A lot of potential reasons for this...

- Let's be honest. Neighborhoods have changed significantly over the past forty years. In the city, a lot of the people I knew growing up associated with others in their own culture and background. The Irish kids played together. The Italian kids played together. And so on. Parents in these little bubbles knew one another well and the kids hung out in parks or on baseball fields because they were in larger groups. With more of a mixture and integration in neighborhoods, cultural sterotypes have not been removed so there is a prevailing fear of letting your kid go play at the park. Fears of gangs and drugs at parks is high. Hell, I just had an issue in Arlington Heights last week. Cops came and busted a guy and his girlfriend right in front of a ton of kids in the park for smoking weed.
- There are SO many more options out there now for kids that were not there forty years ago. God knows when I found video games and computers at a young age, I became addicted quickly. Baseball just didn't appeal to me. It was a boring sport and I was really bad at it.
- Pressure from parents has likely increased significantly over the past forty to sixty years, especially with football in the past twenty. When I was umpiring about fifteen years ago as a younger teen, I had multiple run-ins with coaches and parents for girls softball. Thankfully my Grandfather was umpiring with me and was a cop because once I was actually physically threatened for calling a guy's kid out as the last play of the game. I quit umpiring after that and never looked back. When I look back to thirty years ago, I remember the parents that were putting high pressures on their kids and later in life have seen that several of them have failed miserably, including one who is in jail. Kids want to enjoy life and be kids. They don't understand what winning at all costs are until they are around high school age.
- Basketball is such an easy sport to get a pick-up game going. Many have flocked to it. I did when I was young. It was great having a hoop in the alley because often people would just migrate to it. Its a great sport to play and holds much more appeal.

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I've heard similar stories about employers having to deal with parents of younger workers. It's just insane. How can that guy ever think he is going to get a job if his dad comes to job interviews with him? If I'm the interviewer, it would be an automatic disqualification.

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They're similar players. Big guys who can shoot.

You can usually find a good comparison for a guy. Iverson and Rose. Ewing and Russell. Jordan and Kobe and Baylor and Erving. There is no comparison for LeBron.

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Communists are just people who are terrible at capitalism.

I was a bit over emphatic. 8 out of 10.

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Yeah. I like pittmike, but that's a pretty terrible thought. The 2001 Lakers would've held their own against the '86 C's, '87 Lakers, '92 Bulls, etc. There's literally a zero percent chance any team in history would beat that team 10 out of 10 times.

Only thing I'll say about the McAdoo/Durant thing is that McAdoo was considered a big guy, Durant is not, and Durant is taller, more athletic, and a much better shooter/scorer than Bob was and he probably hasn't hit his prime yet. Yes, they might be comparable, but it's as flawed a comparison as the Baylor/Jordan comparison I've often heard from JORR on this.

But you also have to look at their careers. I'll buy a comparison of Young Elgin and Young Jordan. But there's nothing in Baylor's career comparable to the player Jordan evolved into during the second three peat. Blame his military commitment if you must. He definitely had to deal with real world shit that Jordan didn't. But I think Dominique is a better comp for Baylor, although Baylor was certainly better.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul