It’s absolutely true that every new generation believes the previous generation is old-fashioned in their thinking and in their ways, and every previous generation believes the new generation is doomed to incompetence.
But in the second decade of the 21st century is a different time altogether.
Millennials have more instant information at their hands than any generation ever has, by a long shot. Between the Internet, 24-hour news, smartphones and social media, Millennials are the most in-the-know generation to ever grace #UnitedStatesofAmerica.
Unfortunately, the trendy thirst for knowledge is mostly built around the “right now” or the future. In other words, everything we’re reading is meant to help us know what’s going on in the present (like social media posts – what’s happening?) or what might happen soon (prediction pieces about future tech – what’s next?).
It’s not called “Yestagram,” after all.
All the generations that came before the Millennials spent their time learning about the past, learning about history, and slowly consuming pop culture. From Gen-X and beyond, people listened to the entire album of their favorite musicians, and they had to marinate about a cliffhanger of their favorite TV show for an entire week before finding out what happened.
While 24-hour news entered the mainstream in the ‘80s, 24-hour instant opinions and reactions to those opinions didn’t happen until a day or week later.
So this post is not mocking Millennials at all. I’m fully aware that a Millennial processes and remembers things 100-times quicker than any generation did at their ages.
This article is actually meant to be a quick tutorial on some rather insignificant pieces of news or trivia that might help give them perspective on events happening now – or in the future.
Clear some memory space in the cloud!
21 Things Millennials Don’t Know About Sports
Most of the sports things discussed in this piece happened over the past 30 years, before the turn of the Millennium. But they’re all true.
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1/21
Superstations Made Braves and Cubs Fans Everywhere
When Cable TV became mainstream in the ‘80s, two Cable TV networks became what was called “Superstations.” Atlanta’s TBS and Chicago’s WGN was available everywhere, which meant the teams they showed (Braves, Cubs, Bulls, Hawks) got more TV time across the entire country than any other team.
That means everyone got to know people like Harry and Skip Caray, Andre Dawson, Mark Grace, Michael Jordan, Greg Maddux, Dale Murphy, Ryne Sandberg, John Smoltz, Steve Stone, Spud Webb and Dominique Wilkins, more than personalities on other teams.
Dale Murphy Photo Credit: Owen C. Shaw, Getty Images
2/21
Brewers and Seahawks Came From the Other Side
The Milwaukee Brewers currently reside in the National League Central Division, but that’s a relatively new home for them. Before 1998, they played in the American League, dating back to when their franchise first joined the league back in 1969 (as the Seattle Pilots).
The Seahawks, on the other hand, played in the AFC West for most of their franchise’s existence, battling with the Broncos, Chargers, Chiefs and Raiders twice a year. Then they moved into the NFC West (which was actually their first home in 1976) in 2002, when the NFL realigned.
Jim Zorn Photo Credit: Focus On Sport, Getty Images
3/21
The Laughable Cleveland Browns Had a Shot at Greatness
The current Browns franchise will likely have a chance at breaking the Buccaneers’ consecutive losing streak next year at 26 games. This laughable franchise hasn’t done much since the days Jim Brown roamed the field by Lake Erie.
But before they famously bolted for Baltimore in 1995 when owner Art Modell wanted a new stadium, they were building something great.
The greatest NFL coach (Bill Belichick) and greatest college coach (Nick Saban) of the past 20 years were with the Browns staff before their move (not to mention NFL people that went on to other successes, like Scott Pioli, Ozzie Newsome, Jim Schwartz, Kirk Ferentz, Thomas Dimitroff, Eric Mangini, Phil Savage and Michael Lombardi).
Plus, in 1996, Baltimore’s first draft after moving from Cleveland, the Ravens drafted Ray Lewis.
Bill Belichick Photo Credit: Damian Strohmeyer, Getty Images
4/21
Fantasy Football Scoring Used to Just Be Touchdowns Only
In the ‘80s and early ‘90s, Fantasy Football magazines ran preseason Fantasy rankings that ranked them according to a Basic TD-only scoring system. This was mostly because it was easier to get touchdown scoring information relatively quickly (the next day’s newspaper), allowing commissioners to figure out who won each week with a day or two.
This was standard scoring until the Internet came along and made it easier with stat downloads, or online commissioner services.
Photo Credit: Fantasy Index Magazine
5/21
There Used to Be Just 3 NFL Games On TV Per Week
With the NFL Sunday Ticket, you can watch any team you want (barring blackout restrictions!), and even if you don’t have DirecTV, you can watch games online. Even if you don’t watch games online, you can watch one game on Thursday nights on NFL Network, two games Sunday afternoons (with the choice on three games), one game Sunday night on NBC, and one game on Monday Night Football.
While CBS and NBC owned NFL Sundays, ABC owned Monday Night Football, usually choosing the best matchup of the weekend. MNF was 10-times more exciting back then because they were often teams and superstars you didn’t get a lot of chances to see.
Sunday Night Football didn’t come around until 1990.
Hank Williams Jr. Photo Credit: Lorenzo Bevilaqua, Getty Images
6/21
CBS Lost the NFL For 5 Seasons, and NBC Lost It For 8 Seasons
The Fox network changed everything when they started up in 1986, eventually shaking up the sports world by outbidding CBS for TV rights in 1993. That led to CBS back into the NFL game in 1997, when they outbid NBC for the NFL, keeping the very first TV network to broadcast NFL games out of the NFL altogether until 2006.
Brent Musberger Photo Credit: Focus On Sport, Getty Images
7/21
Wrigley Field Didn’t Have Night Games Until 1988
We’re all familiar with seeing Ferris Bueller skip school to watch the Cubs play an afternoon game back in the ‘80s, but did you know he wasn’t able to go to a night game at Wrigley Field until a few years later?
On Aug. 8, 1988, the Cubs turned on their lights for the very first time, making them the last team to start having games played at night.
Interestingly, the game rained out, so the first night game wasn’t played there until the next night. So much for trying to hit that cool 8/8/88 date.
Photo Credit: Heinz Kluetmeier, Getty Images
8/21
The AFC Sucked For A Long, Long Time
Since Super Bowls began back in 1967, the NFC/NFL has just one more win than the AFC/AFL in 50 Super Bowls.
But after the 1983 L.A. Raiders won the Super Bowl in 1984, the AFC wouldn’t win the Super Bowl again for the next 13 consecutive years, until the 1998 Denver Broncos won in John Elway’s fourth try.
Jim Kelly Photo Credit: John Iacono, Getty Images
9/21
TNT Was Once the Fourth Network to Air NFL Games
The NFL on TNT started in 1990, airing the first Sunday night football games in history. These were nowhere near the caliber of the MNF games, but they were still games between teams people didn’t often get to see in certain markets.
TNT and ESPN shared Sunday Night Football in the ‘90s, but TNT was the only network to use the crawl at the bottom to shows stats of that day’s games, helping Fantasy Football owners figure out how they did!
Photo Credit: George Rose, Getty Images
10/21
A One-Handed MLB Pitcher Threw a No-Hitter For the Yankees
Jim Abbott is still one of the greatest stories never made into an awesome baseball movie, as he was a superstar pitcher in college and in the pros – in spite of the fact he was born without a right hand.
Abbott saw success with the California Angels, but he went on to throw a no-hitter for the Yankees in 1993, to really leave his mark on the game as one of sport’s greatest heroes.
Jim Abbott Photo Credit: Ron Vesely, Getty Images
11/21
2-Pt Conversions and 3-Pt Shots Aren’t That Old in the Pros
The AFL used the 2-point conversions, just like college football had, for all 10 of its seasons, but the rule didn’t carry over into the NFL once the two leagues merged. It was until 1994 that the NFL added the 2PAT.
Similarly, the ABA used 3-point shots starting in 1961, but the NBA didn’t follow suit for nearly 20 years. Eventually, Chris Ford became the first player to hit a 3-point shot in the 1979-80 season.
Jay Gruden Photo Credit: The Washington Post, Getty Images
12/21
The Big East Allowed For Six Fouls Before Fouling Out
The Big East Conference in college basketball was known for its rough-and-tumble play, as guys like Walter Berry, Derrick Coleman, Patrick Ewing, Alonzo Mourning, Dikembe Mutombo, Ed Pinckney and Rony Seikaly, roamed the paint.
So the conference marketed toward their black-and-blue play in 1989, adopting the Six-Foul Rule, like the NBA, where many of their stars would end up playing. College Basketball games are just 40 minutes long, though, compared to a 48-minute NBA game, so six fouls – allowed to 15 players or so – could really slow the game down. The rule got benched in 1992 after just three years.
Derrick Coleman, Alonzo Mourning Photo Credit: Anthony Neste, Getty Images
13/21
The 76ers Once Had Two 7-Foot-6 Players
There have been just five players in the history of the NBA that measured 7-foot-6 or taller, and two of them, Manute Bol and Shawn Bradley, played on the same Philadelphia 76ers team in the 1993-94 season. They averaged a combined 11.8 points and 5.3 blocks per game.
Do you get how weird that is? Two 7-foot-6ers on the 76ers? That’s like having two 49-year-olds playing for the San Francisco 49ers! … OK, maybe not.
Shawn Bradley Photo Credit: Rocky Widner, Getty Images
14/21
An NHL Player Played Without a Helmet Until 1997
In 1979, the NHL made it mandatory for players to start wearing protective helmets on the ice – but they allowed players that signed pro contracts before June 1, 1979, to play without a helmet if they chose.
That made it possible for Blues Center Craig MacTavish to play without wearing a helmet through the 1996-97 season – during all of his 17 NHL seasons.
It wasn’t until 2013 that NHL players had to wear mandatory visors on their helmets.
Craig MacTavish Photo Credit: Ian Tomlinson, Getty Images
15/21
People Thought Atlanta Must Be in California
From 1969 to 1993, the Atlanta Braves played in the NL West division against teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres and the San Francisco Giants.
From 1977 to 2001, the Atlanta Falcons played in the NFC West division against teams like the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers.
Deion Sanders Photo Credit: SI Cover, Getty Images