I miss the days when...

[JollyElm]

Based on watching my Mets in the playoffs, here are some quick, spitballed (pun intended) observations on the state of the current game by this former(?) baseball fan, enthusiastic vintage card collector, and growing-older-by-the-minute old man...




1. I miss the days when a player tossing a foul ball into the stands didn’t have to arc it high over a wall of netting.

2. I miss the days when teams didn’t need choreographers to continually develop new big play celebrations.

3. I miss the days when pitches 17 feet off the plate weren’t immediately pulled back into the strike zone in a ‘frame’ job.

4. I miss the days when runners actually went hard into second base trying to break up a double play and didn’t take their leave by genteelly presenting the shortstop with a hand-calligraphed, embossed invitation to a tea party.

5. I miss the days when batting helmets didn’t have “Eat at Joe’s!!” ads emblazoned on them.

6. I miss the days when those helmets didn’t have features enveloping 90% of the player’s head and face.

7. I miss the days when balls were meant to touch the dirt and weren’t immediately removed from play by the umpire.

8. I miss the days when stadium lights had a single setting, “ON,” and weren’t used as a tool like the game was taking place inside of a disco.

9. I miss the days when you didn’t need a second mortgage to afford a hot dog at a game.

10. I miss the days when it was perfectly acceptable to have a single blade of grass out of place on the field.

11. I miss the days when pitchers were actually expected to last past the third inning.

12. I miss the days when a player hitting a solo home run with his team losing 12 - 0, didn’t immediately seek out the TV cameras to do a celebration.

13. I miss the days when players didn’t have individual celebratory hand signals/gestures they directed at their dugouts each time they reached base.

14. I miss the days when the word “foul” wasn’t pronounced as a drawn out, two syllable word.

15. I miss the days when words like “disengagements” had no business in the baseball lexicon.

And finally...

16. I miss the days when I didn’t have to worry that Joe Buck might be calling the game I was about to turn on.


Feel free to add your own commentaries...

[jingram058]

I miss the days when ballplayers didn't make millions upon millions upon millions of dollars.

I miss the days when a 9 inning game was about 2 hours long, + or -.

I miss the days when commercials were. done from the press box.

I miss the days when the only thing on the TV was the game.

I miss the days when an intentional walk was 4 pitches.

I miss the days when extra innings was just that.

I miss the days when winning the pennant was having the best record in your league.

I miss the days when pitchers hit.

Am I an old fogey? Yes, and proud to be one.

[bk400]

Agree with most of these.

But:

1) I like the better helmets so guys don't lose an eye when they get hit in the face by the pitchers who are all throwing mid to upper 90s.
2) I don't mind the expanded playoff format


Super agree with the celebration comments. What's with Andy Pages doing the bat flip when his team is down 8-2? And that weird YMCA dance move that the Dodgers do to each other every time they reach base is super quiche.

[FrankWakefield]

Well done guys, I agree with almost everything you said. Once a game starts, the home team should be fined if the lights are intentionally flickered and face forfeiture if there's a second incident. I liked Joe Buck, AND Tim McCarver...


I miss the days when the only wave was when a coach or manager waved at a player in the field to move where they were positioned.

I miss the days when all of the bats were H&B.

I miss the days when the only songs were the National Anthem and Take Me Out to the Ball Game, and there was no walk p music.

I miss the days when the pitchers had a tacit understanding and control of who got hit when, and if this silent code was violated, everyone knew that at the top of the next inning a brushback or more was coming.

I miss the days when the players might sign an autograph with no consideration as to whether the recipient might sell it, which wasn't likely back then.

I miss the days when, come September, I'd need a scorecard to match the jersey numbers to names to see who these new players were when the rosters expanded to 40.

And while there's more, I'll close with...
I miss daytime World Series games; would it derail some vast cosmic scheme if they'd have just one daytime World Series game on a Saturday?

[BioCRN]

Day 4: I fear there is no end. After hearing cries to "Get off muh lawn!" and moving my way off the grass, I have discovered there is nothing but lawn for miles. I am thirsty, hungry, and tired. I have accepted my life may end on this lawn and I'll never live long enough to see another 20 foot bat flip.

[Balticfox]

Great thread!



I miss the days when all nine players in the field took their turn at bat, i.e. according to the original intent of the game.

I miss the days when a player actually had to touch first before he could get to second in extra innings.

I "miss" the deadball era when players tried to hit the ball into gaps and turn singles into doubles and doubles into triples. I miss all the base stealing that was part of baseball back then. I miss all the action on the basepaths.

I miss knuckleball pitchers.

I miss the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and their wild cool uniform.

I miss the Montréal Expos and the Cleveland Indians.

I "miss" Ty Cobb and the intensity with which he played the game.

[Fred]

Originally Posted by BioCRN

Day 4: I fear there is no end. After hearing cries to "Get off muh lawn!" and moving my way off the grass, I have discovered there is nothing but lawn for miles. I am thirsty, hungry, and tired. I have accepted my life may end on this lawn and I'll never live long enough to see another 20 foot bat flip.

I don't know about the bat flip thing... One of these days I would just like to see the guy flip his bat and then have the bat come back and hit him. That would make it worth it.

I miss old school baseball. It'd be nice if the showboating just stopped.

I miss the days when scalpers would be selling nice seats, day of game for half price, just outside the stadium.

[jingram058]

I miss the days before the now stale, stupid, and dangerous massive pile-on celebrations, as if the saving of the planet from catastrophe had just been achieved.

[Mark17]

I miss the day when no manager would ever consider removing his pitcher if he was working on a no-hitter, no matter how many pitches he'd thrown.

[samosa4u]

Originally Posted by Balticfox

I "miss" Ty Cobb and the intensity with which he played the game.

You must be pretty old!

[Rich Klein]

1. I miss the days when a player tossing a foul ball into the stands didn’t have to arc it high over a wall of netting.

I miss those days as well when that was possible BUT in terms of fans safety I'm all in favor of this. Way back in the day, a young lady about 2 years behind me in high school lost sight in an eye with a screaming foul ball. And this was pre cellphone days so she was paying attention to the game.

Lost the suit which was filed because the ticket clearly says there are risks and there is an announcement before a game as well.

She's not the only one who got hurt by those foul balls BTW. I'll make a safety trade every day of the week

[LEHR]

I miss the days before sliding gloves, AKA "Bitch Mittens".

[jakebeckleyoldeagleeye]

I miss the days when you could write a player at the ball park and he would send you a signed team issued postcard like the Cardinals had for years.
I miss a pack of Topps baseball cards were a nickel and you could put together a set and also the great inserts Topps had in those packs in the 1960's. The deckle edge and pin-ups were my favorites.

[Eric72]

I miss the days when:

The leadoff hitter was a speedster who did everything they could to get on base. They didn't swing for the fences. They worked a walk, beat out an infield single, laid down a bunt, etc. When they got on base, they disrupted the pitcher any way they could. Ideally, they'd steal a base.

The #2 hitter could control their bat. They weren't concerned about "exit velo" at all. They knew their job was to move the runner along. Whether they did it with a clean single, a sac bunt, or something else was almost irrelevant.

The #3 hitter kept the inning going with a productive at bat. They weren't swinging from their heels at the first pitch. They were working the count, waiting for their pitch, and putting the ball in play. No "three true outcome" garbage here. Runner on third? Sac fly. Runner on second? Line drive, preferably into the gap. Runners on the corners? Be patient while your team tries a double steal.

If 1, 2, and 3 did their job, the cleanup hitter would step to the plate with a chance to drive in some runs. Instead, I've seen the cleanup hitter lead off the 2nd inning far too often.

I guess I miss the days when teams would manufacture runs one-at-a-time. Lead off the inning by getting on base, then spend that inning getting the runner home.

"Inside" baseball.

"Scientific" baseball.

"Strategy."

Call it what you will, I miss the days when a game of baseball didn't resemble a three hour home run derby.



Oh, and pitchers. Don't even get me started on spin rates, pitch counts, and the fact they don't have to step in the batter's box these days...

[philliesfan]

I miss the days when decisions are made by the managers feel for the game and what's happening and not by computers.....analytics and the such.

[BobbyStrawberry]

Originally Posted by Mark17

I miss the day when no manager would ever consider removing his pitcher if he was working on a no-hitter, no matter how many pitches he'd thrown.

This is a good one. Now even a perfect game isn't enough to keep them in.

[Brian Van Horn]

Just kicking in a theme song for this thread:

Those were the days.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GI46_zBGv1A

[jingram058]

I guess if you're young, and this current state of baseball is all you have seen, then I can understand your liking it. It's all you know. I don't like it. I know a lot of people my age who quit baseball with the strike in the 90s and the steroids, and now the crazy money. But I am not seeing any empty stadiums, so I guess it's me and my peer group.

[bbcard1]

I'm 63 and have no problem with the state of the game. I guess I miss affordable concessions, Morannna the Kissing Bandit and streakers.

[Balticfox]

Originally Posted by Eric72

I miss the days when:

The leadoff hitter was a speedster who did everything they could to get on base. They didn't swing for the fences. They worked a walk, beat out an infield single, laid down a bunt, etc. When they got on base, they disrupted the pitcher any way they could. Ideally, they'd steal a base.

The #2 hitter could control their bat. They weren't concerned about "exit velo" at all. They knew their job was to move the runner along. Whether they did it with a clean single, a sac bunt, or something else was almost irrelevant.

The #3 hitter kept the inning going with a productive at bat. They weren't swinging from their heels at the first pitch. They were working the count, waiting for their pitch, and putting the ball in play. No "three true outcome" garbage here. Runner on third? Sac fly. Runner on second? Line drive, preferably into the gap. Runners on the corners? Be patient while your team tries a double steal.

If 1, 2, and 3 did their job, the cleanup hitter would step to the plate with a chance to drive in some runs. Instead, I've seen the cleanup hitter lead off the 2nd inning far too often.

I guess I miss the days when teams would manufacture runs one-at-a-time. Lead off the inning by getting on base, then spend that inning getting the runner home.

"Inside" baseball.

"Scientific" baseball.

"Strategy."

Call it what you will, I miss the days when a game of baseball didn't resemble a three hour home run derby.

Oh, and pitchers. Don't even get me started on spin rates, pitch counts, and the fact they don't have to step in the batter's box these days...

Well said! I agree.

[Brian Van Horn]

My objection to the current day game is having a runner at second to start each half inning after the ninth. I don't care about the reasoning it is just stupid.

[Balticfox]

Originally Posted by jingram058

I know a lot of people my age who quit baseball with the strike in the 90s....

One of my buddies and I had for about a dozen years been taking an annual baseball trip for a weekend of games in a different MLB stadium every summer. We'd stretched the envelope (from Toronto) as far south as Baltimore and Cincinnati and as far west as Chicago (twice). We were eyeing Milwaukee or St. Louis for the next one but the strike put an end to those ventures - permanently.

[GasHouseGang]

Originally Posted by Eric72

I miss the days when:

The leadoff hitter was a speedster who did everything they could to get on base. They didn't swing for the fences. They worked a walk, beat out an infield single, laid down a bunt, etc. When they got on base, they disrupted the pitcher any way they could. Ideally, they'd steal a base.

The #2 hitter could control their bat. They weren't concerned about "exit velo" at all. They knew their job was to move the runner along. Whether they did it with a clean single, a sac bunt, or something else was almost irrelevant.

The #3 hitter kept the inning going with a productive at bat. They weren't swinging from their heels at the first pitch. They were working the count, waiting for their pitch, and putting the ball in play. No "three true outcome" garbage here. Runner on third? Sac fly. Runner on second? Line drive, preferably into the gap. Runners on the corners? Be patient while your team tries a double steal.

If 1, 2, and 3 did their job, the cleanup hitter would step to the plate with a chance to drive in some runs. Instead, I've seen the cleanup hitter lead off the 2nd inning far too often.

I guess I miss the days when teams would manufacture runs one-at-a-time. Lead off the inning by getting on base, then spend that inning getting the runner home.

"Inside" baseball.

"Scientific" baseball.

"Strategy."

Call it what you will, I miss the days when a game of baseball didn't resemble a three hour home run derby.

I agree. I love it when teams try these things now and the other teams have never seen anyone try this and they end up giving up runs that they otherwise wouldn't have. These things still work if done properly.

[bmattioli]

Originally Posted by bbcard1

I'm 63 and have no problem with the state of the game. I guess I miss affordable concessions, Morannna the Kissing Bandit and streakers.

As they say.. Plus 1..

[Eric72]

Originally Posted by bbcard1

I guess I miss...streakers.

Of course, it depends on exactly who is doing the streaking.

[byrone]

I miss MLB before 1994, when it became dead to me

[mortimer brewster]

I started following MLB NHL and NFL in 1971 as an 11 year old.

My interest in sports now is purely nostalgic. I am currently working thru (up to March) the Sporting News coverage of the 1972 season. Lou Piniella commenced workouts at his local YMCA 2 weeks before spring training. He is worried about losing his starting job. Mets manager Gil Hodges is worried about his SS Bud Harrelson's inability to gain weight. No talk of a player strike....

Instead of complaining about the state of MLB in 2024 I feel extremely fortunate to grow up in the era that I did.

[John1941]

Originally Posted by mortimer brewster

I started following MLB NHL and NFL in 1971 as an 11 year old.

My interest in sports now is purely nostalgic. I am currently working thru (up to March) the Sporting News coverage of the 1972 season. Lou Piniella commenced workouts at his local YMCA 2 weeks before spring training. He is worried about losing his starting job. Mets manager Gil Hodges is worried about his SS Bud Harrelson's inability to gain weight. No talk of a player strike....

Instead of complaining about the state of MLB in 2024 I feel extremely fortunate to grow up in the era that I did.

Keep reading; there was an MLB player strike from April 1 to April 13, 1972.

(That sounds snarky in isolation - I think what you're doing sounds very cool! The TSN archives are awesome - this reminds I should start looking at them again.)

[Balticfox]

I miss the days when kids (myself included) did these things that I never see kids doing today:

* Walking just over half a kilometre to kindergarten unaccompanied by any parent/adult in the fall of 1957. Walking unaccompanied the nearly two kilometres to grade school in the fall of 1958.

* Just leaving the house in the morning to go out and play with friends, whether it was baseball, football or whatever activity in the park, or hide-and-go-seek or any other game right out on the street. Sometimes we'd ride our bikes as much as a mile away to a particular park or street. The key though was that there was no need to report to parents, so long as we were home by the time it got dark.

* Trick or treating on Halloween with my buddies without any balls and chains(a.k.a. adults) in tow. Using a pillowcase to maximize my haul.

* Being given bus fare and taking the bus downtown by myself for French, Lithuanian or accordion classes at the Ontario Conservatory of Music. The latter of course required lugging a full-size accordion on the bus.

* Hitting up my parents for a dime to go to the skating rink or swimming pool with friends. No parents to supervise of course. Pools had lifeguards. What more did you need?

* Hitting up parents for the twenty cents to go to the Saturday afternoon kids' matinees with two movies and cartoons or Three Stooges shorts at the neighbourhood theatre.

* Going out for little league football (Chester Pegg at the Normal School Grounds) without the parents knowing anything about it. I mean why would they care?

* Reaching into ice water coolers in variety stores to select soda pop in dripping wet proper ten ounce refillable glass bottles. Such joy on a hot summer's day!

* Roaming streets looking for empty pop bottles for the two cent deposit. I needed the money for cards, comics and potato chips because I was always collecting something.

* Going to the local library several times a week to check out books and read the newspaper and magazines such as Boy's Life, Model Airplane News, Life and Look. I didn't watch much TV at all since we didn't get a TV until the summer of 1961 in the first place and we picked up only one channel anyway. Nor was I allowed to watch TV on school nights anyway.

* Looking through the spinner rack at corner variety and drug stores to select ten and then twelve cent (eeeeek!) comic books. Specialty comic shops weren't even imaginable, let alone comic books that cost over 25 cents.

* Sneaking peaks at the titty magazines in corner variety stores.

* Flinging baseball, hockey, etc. cards up against brick walls in winner take all games with nary a thought as to future "values".

* Selling newspapers and chocolate bars door-to-door.

* Having an early morning or after school paper route.

* Being sent to the store to buy cigarettes for my dad, or six bottles of pop for the family.

* Hitting up my parents for dimes and quarters to buy firecrackers before Firecracker(Victoria) Day. I mean what's wrong with young boys letting off firecrackers? Playing with caps all year round.

* Playing with marbles, Yo-Yos and Duncan Spin Tops. Sidewalks would often be taken up by young girls skipping rope. When was the last time any of us saw any little girls engaged in this splendid aerobic activity?

* My skateboard was a first generation wooden one with steel wheels very much like this Nash Shark model here:



We didn't do any tricks with it. We just did our best to navigate down hilly pothole infested roads (such as Cove Road) without wiping out.

* Doing wheelies on my bike. That's something rarely seen these days. Whether wheelies are no longer fashionable or whether kids don't get the chance to pop any wheelies under the ever present gaze of helicopter parents is a question I can't answer.

* Playing nickel pinball machines at local variety stores or diners. There were no pinball arcades in London at the time. Then the killjoys banned pinball machines as potential gambling devices for about a decade.

* Building model kits and slot cars. Racing these slot cars at the hobby shop track downtown (Cowans Hardware). Kids don't build models anymore. Kids these days aren't interested in anything that doesn't provide instant gratification, i.e. anything not TV screen related. Just check out the clientele of the few remaining hobby shops. They're all aging boomers.

* Firing up the .049 Thimbledrone engine of my Cox Spitfire gas powered plane in the house. What a racket! It was line control but I never mastered the trick of flying it without crashing immediately. I had to order a new body from Cox to replace the one I'd shattered beyond repair.

* Playing with pea shooters. My parents giving me a BB gun and a bow and arrow with a steel point.

* Carrying a jack knife around for games such as knife baseball.

* Going for a dip in the creek behind the house on Phyllis Street which my father had dammed up to form a swimming hole.

* Camping out in a tent overnight with friends in the backyard.

* Climbing trees.

Oh, I'm sure modern parents would all be aghast. They want the kids safe in front of the TV with video game consoles at all times. And that's why so many kids are obese and end up with deadly peanut and bee sting allergies. Keep kids squeaky clean and of course they don't develop their natural immunities. And of course when these overprotected kids eventually leave the nest to go to college or someplace, they're all snowflakes with such fragile egos that they need "safe places" where they can be insulated from dissenting opinions.

Deny kids deadly pea shooters and (heaven forbid!) metal lunch boxes and they end up arming themselves with real knives and even guns to go to school. It's the principle of the dam. Keep denying kids whatever is "unsafe" and the pressure just keeps building up and building up till it explodes.

The ultimate irony of course is the parents who demonize sugar (of course their inactive kids don't need the extra calories). These kids then take to experimenting with alcohol, pot, crystal meth and cocaine at first opportunity. It's the boy who cried wolf syndrome. "Hey, remember, you were the ones who told us sugar was so bad! You think we're going to listen to you now when you tell us to avoid booze and drugs? And what about all that Scotch and gin you drink and those sleeping pills and pain killers you pop all the time? Sure, sure, we kids are going to listen to you old farts. Yeah, right."

[timn1]

I miss the days when ...

middle-aged (and older) dudes didn't whine and complain incessantly about how much better baseball was when they were twelve years old . . .

Oh wait, there never were days like that. People have been making these same complaints for more than a century - it's only the specific things that change.

[BioCRN]

Originally Posted by timn1

I miss the days when ...

middle-aged (and older) dudes didn't whine and complain incessantly about how much better baseball was when they were twelve years old . . .

Oh wait, there never were days like that. People have been making these same complaints for more than a century - it's only the specific things that change.

I miss the days when players didn't need gloves for their weak and delicate hands.

I miss the days when it took 9 balls to give up a walk. We want to see the ball put in play, not a bunch of undeserved baserunners.

I miss the days when pitchers threw underhand. Overhand pitching? Might as well just put the ball on a tee.

I might have more to share later, but my opium based medication is kicking in for the disease I have will surely kill me before I'm 50 years old.

[kmac32]

Originally Posted by Brian Van Horn

My objection to the current day game is having a runner at second to start each half inning after the ninth. I don't care about the reasoning it is just stupid.

Absolutely! Or make it a progressive thing with a man starting at first, then starting at 2nd?

[Mozzie22]

I miss the days when you needed a paper ticket to get into the game.

[JollyElm]

17. I miss the days when broadcasts didn’t have to include extremely overly-qualified stats to try to invent a historic meaning for any on-field occurrence - “Constantine is the first switch-hitting player of Cypriot descent to ever reach first base both through an intentional walk and catcher’s interference in the same game.”

18. I miss the days when teams could actually plate runs when there were two runners in scoring position and no outs by any means other than hitting a home run.

19. I miss the days when you didn’t have to stressfully keep an eye on the ‘New Year’s Eve countdown clock’ on screen each time a pitcher was preparing to deliver the ball.

20. I miss the days when if their pitcher plunked our guy, the first guy up for their team - no matter who he was - would also immediately get plunked.

21. I miss the days when players actually used two hands to make a catch, and didn’t purposely try to make every catch look as stylishly nonchalant as possible.

22. I miss the days when betting on a baseball game meant meeting up with a guy named Benny in the smoke-filled back room of a deli in Queens, and not simply visiting the websites of all the MLB-promoted gambling concern ads plastered all over the stadiums and visible throughout the TV broadcasts.

And finally...

23. I miss the days when relievers didn’t come in with booming, stadium rock theme songs, but were casually driven to the mound in little BEEP! BEEP! buggies.

[egri]

Originally Posted by Mozzie22

I miss the days when you needed a paper ticket to get into the game.

Surprised it took this long for that to come up. Of course you can print them out, but that isn't the same.

[Eric72]

Originally Posted by JollyElm

...if their pitcher plunked our guy, the first guy up for their team - no matter who he was - would also immediately get plunked.

Yes...this. The "unwritten rules" of baseball have been redrafted.

[Balticfox]

Originally Posted by JollyElm

23. I miss the days when relievers didn’t come in with booming, stadium rock theme songs, but were casually driven to the mound in little BEEP! BEEP! buggies.

I miss the days when professional athletes were actually expected to trot onto the field on their own.

[Casey2296]

Originally Posted by Balticfox

I miss the days when kids (myself included) did these things that I never see kids doing today:

* Walking just over half a kilometre to kindergarten unaccompanied by any parent/adult in the fall of 1957. Walking unaccompanied the nearly two kilometres to grade school in the fall of 1958.

* Just leaving the house in the morning to go out and play with friends, whether it was baseball, football or whatever activity in the park, or hide-and-go-seek or any other game right out on the street. Sometimes we'd ride our bikes as much as a mile away to a particular park or street. The key though was that there was no need to report to parents, so long as we were home by the time it got dark.

* Trick or treating on Halloween with my buddies without any balls and chains(a.k.a. adults) in tow. Using a pillowcase to maximize my haul.

* Being given bus fare and taking the bus downtown by myself for French, Lithuanian or accordion classes at the Ontario Conservatory of Music. The latter of course required lugging a full-size accordion on the bus.

* Hitting up my parents for a dime to go to the skating rink or swimming pool with friends. No parents to supervise of course. Pools had lifeguards. What more did you need?

* Hitting up parents for the twenty cents to go to the Saturday afternoon kids' matinees with two movies and cartoons or Three Stooges shorts at the neighbourhood theatre.

* Going out for little league football (Chester Pegg at the Normal School Grounds) without the parents knowing anything about it. I mean why would they care?

* Reaching into ice water coolers in variety stores to select soda pop in dripping wet proper ten ounce refillable glass bottles. Such joy on a hot summer's day!

* Roaming streets looking for empty pop bottles for the two cent deposit. I needed the money for cards, comics and potato chips because I was always collecting something.

* Going to the local library several times a week to check out books and read the newspaper and magazines such as Boy's Life, Model Airplane News, Life and Look. I didn't watch much TV at all since we didn't get a TV until the summer of 1961 in the first place and we picked up only one channel anyway. Nor was I allowed to watch TV on school nights anyway.

* Looking through the spinner rack at corner variety and drug stores to select ten and then twelve cent (eeeeek!) comic books. Specialty comic shops weren't even imaginable, let alone comic books that cost over 25 cents.

* Sneaking peaks at the titty magazines in corner variety stores.

* Flinging baseball, hockey, etc. cards up against brick walls in winner take all games with nary a thought as to future "values".

* Selling newspapers and chocolate bars door-to-door.

* Having an early morning or after school paper route.

* Being sent to the store to buy cigarettes for my dad, or six bottles of pop for the family.

* Hitting up my parents for dimes and quarters to buy firecrackers before Firecracker(Victoria) Day. I mean what's wrong with young boys letting off firecrackers? Playing with caps all year round.

* Playing with marbles, Yo-Yos and Duncan Spin Tops. Sidewalks would often be taken up by young girls skipping rope. When was the last time any of us saw any little girls engaged in this splendid aerobic activity?

* My skateboard was a first generation wooden one with steel wheels very much like this Nash Shark model here:



We didn't do any tricks with it. We just did our best to navigate down hilly pothole infested roads (such as Cove Road) without wiping out.

* Doing wheelies on my bike. That's something rarely seen these days. Whether wheelies are no longer fashionable or whether kids don't get the chance to pop any wheelies under the ever present gaze of helicopter parents is a question I can't answer.

* Playing nickel pinball machines at local variety stores or diners. There were no pinball arcades in London at the time. Then the killjoys banned pinball machines as potential gambling devices for about a decade.

* Building model kits and slot cars. Racing these slot cars at the hobby shop track downtown (Cowans Hardware). Kids don't build models anymore. Kids these days aren't interested in anything that doesn't provide instant gratification, i.e. anything not TV screen related. Just check out the clientele of the few remaining hobby shops. They're all aging boomers.

* Firing up the .049 Thimbledrone engine of my Cox Spitfire gas powered plane in the house. What a racket! It was line control but I never mastered the trick of flying it without crashing immediately. I had to order a new body from Cox to replace the one I'd shattered beyond repair.

* Playing with pea shooters. My parents giving me a BB gun and a bow and arrow with a steel point.

* Carrying a jack knife around for games such as knife baseball.

* Going for a dip in the creek behind the house on Phyllis Street which my father had dammed up to form a swimming hole.

* Camping out in a tent overnight with friends in the backyard.

* Climbing trees.

Oh, I'm sure modern parents would all be aghast. They want the kids safe in front of the TV with video game consoles at all times. And that's why so many kids are obese and end up with deadly peanut and bee sting allergies. Keep kids squeaky clean and of course they don't develop their natural immunities. And of course when these overprotected kids eventually leave the nest to go to college or someplace, they're all snowflakes with such fragile egos that they need "safe places" where they can be insulated from dissenting opinions.

Deny kids deadly pea shooters and (heaven forbid!) metal lunch boxes and they end up arming themselves with real knives and even guns to go to school. It's the principle of the dam. Keep denying kids whatever is "unsafe" and the pressure just keeps building up and building up till it explodes.

The ultimate irony of course is the parents who demonize sugar (of course their inactive kids don't need the extra calories). These kids then take to experimenting with alcohol, pot, crystal meth and cocaine at first opportunity. It's the boy who cried wolf syndrome. "Hey, remember, you were the ones who told us sugar was so bad! You think we're going to listen to you now when you tell us to avoid booze and drugs? And what about all that Scotch and gin you drink and those sleeping pills and pain killers you pop all the time? Sure, sure, we kids are going to listen to you old farts. Yeah, right."

Awesome +1

[jingram058]

+2 Balticfox said it all, and said it well. I will copy & paste and plagiarize this to no end when someone asks what it was like being a kid in the 1960s.

[jingram058]

I miss the days of "Fernandomania".