Comparisons are everywhere. In dating, a man will never stop comparing his girlfriend to other girls that are out there. If you go out to eat, you’ll end the night comparing the steak you just had to the best one you ever touched; whether it pales in comparison or takes the cake. Comparisons are especially prevalent in sports. No matter how satisfied sports fans are with a team, player, or coach; they will compare them to a figure more prestigious than the latter. But why do we do this?
Why cant fans just be happy with the performance that they are getting from their athletes. Basketball fans are always jumping the shark searching for the next Michael Jordan. Kobe Bryant barely had enough time to cherish his first championship before the comparisons began. “Will he be better than Jordan? Well Jordan was a much better defender and teammate! Yeah but Kobe is an athletic freak!” Lebron James heard the MJ talk before he even had chest hair.
Each year, ESPN magazine has a special “Next” issue, profiling athletes that are projected to be the “next great” figures in their respected sports. Larry Fitzgerald, Joba Chamberlain, Matt Barkley and Sebastian Telfair have all been on this list. ESPN or any other sports mind has no idea what these kids are going to become, but they still compare them to former greats. No longer can an athlete burst onto the scene and be left alone. A rookie wide receiver with great hands and explosive speed will be called the next Randy Moss. A high school pitcher with a blistering fastball and pinpoint command? He is subsequently anointed as the next Roger Clemens (see Phil Hughes). Even established greats like Alex Rodriguez, Kobe Bryant, and Aaron Rodgers are still being slapped with comparisons. Will A-Rod ever be as great a hitter as Mickey Mantle? Can Kobe put it together and beat Jordan in championships? Will Aaron Rodgers go down as a better quarterback than Brett Favre?
It doesn’t matter that players like Kobe and A-Rod are great in their own right, fans need to compare them to players of past generations. Is it fun to do? Yes, it’s a great topic to argue for hours over with friends. Ask a Patriots fan if they think that there will ever be another Tom Brady, they will talk until their blue in the face defending their quarterback. However, the comparison game needs to stop. Fans need to know that there will never be another Michael Jordan, Babe Ruth, or Jim Brown. Ask any athlete in the pros right now if they really want to be the next Michael Jordan. Why not just end the comparison games and say that Lebron James is not the next MJ, he’s just the first Lebron. Propose this idea to any fan in an argument and they might go quiet and let the conversation die for a while. Then, like clockwork, in 10 years after James and Bryant have moved on from the game an up and coming, athletic guard will burst onto the NBA scene like wild fire. He’ll have fans across the country and endorsement deals through the roof. But every sportscast and blog post will be the same, is Player X the next Michael Jordan, or by then will it be the next Lebron James? Only time will tell.
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