Have you ever thought about the meaning of a sports record? What it says about a player? What impact it has on that sport?
Recently Ray Allen, of the Boston Celtics, became the career leader in 3-pointers made in the NBA. He surpassed Reggie Miller, who set the record in 3 more years, and about 300 more games. This is an amazing accomplishment, and says a lot about the skill and longevity of Allen. What may be more impressive is the person with the 3rd most 3-points is almost 1,000 baskets behind, and yet is a hall-of-famer (Jason Kidd).
Listening to the hype around this record made me think about what records mean. Which records really say something about the athlete, and which just mean a guy was able to stay healthy to play long enough? I'll admit that it usually takes both of these to break records. Many great players dealt with early career ending injuries, and many healthy players just weren't good enough to last.
When you look at Ray Allen's newest record you can break it down based on these factors. He's been healthy enough to last 15 years in the league. But when looking at his impact on the game and the others on that list of players, one can acknowledge his great skill.
Another record of where skill and longevity allowed for such accomplishment is that of recently retired Brazilian soccer player, Ronaldo. Ronaldo has a record 15 World Cup goals. Few players had ever scored in 3 different World Cups, and this is no easy feat on its own. Playing at such a high level over at least 9-10 years is impressive, and scoring frequently demonstrates his niche for scoring goals.
Now come the other type of records. These records are still impressive, but were able to happen due to longevity more so than skill. Whether correct or not, I do take a bit away from these records. Some are fortunate to not suffer major injuries and over time records will be broken.
The first example that comes to mind is Brett Favre and all of his records. Whether it be touchdown passes, passing yards, or interceptions, they were all bound to be broken after 20 years of playing. Is he a hall-of-famer? Yes. But statistically he's not the best there is, rather his ability to avoid major injury has allowed this to happen. (Favre's TD:Int ratio is 1.5, Brady: 2.5, Manning: 2.0)
Maybe I just have something against Brett Favre, but I didn't mean for this to be a Favre bashing post. Some athletes are more fortunate then others when it comes to major injuries and when this happens records are less about skill. Records such as Cal Ripken Jr's record of games played or Favre's streak for that matter are still impressive.
This concludes my rant on this subject. It's been on my mind for a few days and I felt I needed to post after being silent the last few weeks. My point is just that in my eye's their are records set with skill, and records set with longevity. Both impressive, yet different.
Thoughts?
