STILL ON POINT
tHIS APRIL, when Kobe Bryant scored 60 points in his final NBA game, at 37 he not only became the oldest player ever to hit that vaunted total but, by providing this epic close to his long career, he reminded fans why we cheer for older athletes – hooray for longevity! While most fans admire the physical skill and guts it takes to survive a 20-year career like Kobe’s, others see them as dinosaurs, humorous oddities or pathetic parodies of their former selves. If they had any respect for fans or the sport, they’d exit the field, court or ice and leave it to the younger, more deserving players. Now it’s true that some of the greatest sports icons ever did stick around one season too long for whatever reasons (economical or egotistical) – aging stars like Michael Jordan, Muhammad Ali, Willie Mays and Bobby Hull all tarnished their reputations by staying well past their best-before dates. Yet even if their skills become sadly eroded, I’m always in favour of athletes sticking it out as long as it’s physically possible. Because when you see Toronto Blue Jays’ pitcher R.A. Dickey still throwing strikes at age 41, Peyton Manning tossing wobbly touchdown passes at 40 or Jaromir Jagr chugging down the ice at 44, competing with players half their age, it gives us older fans the (perhaps delusional) sense that we’re still not too far removed from the game we loved and played so much since we were little kids. Athletes who’ve been around provide us with a link to the past that’s often hard to find in our rapidly changing world. Syrupy nostalgia, you might say. But isn’t that what sports are for – a fleeting escape from the troubles of the day, taking our minds off jittery stock markets, job insecurity or threats of terrorism? Deep down, we know that these athletes are living on borrowed time and that soon they must leave the limelight and bow out gracefully. That’s why it’s so sweet when the older guys pull off something magical – Manning winning a Super Bowl, Jagr leading his team in points, Dickey confusing them with his knuckleball or, most astounding of all, Kobe dropping 60 points – that the past is joined with the present, and we stand and cheer, thankful for one last glimpse of greatness. —Peter Muggeridge