How the Hall of Fame Makes Me Feel Old at 27

When I say old, I don't mean that I need a walker or anything of that nature. But in the past couple of years, as I've watched the Hall of Fame, I've realized the men now being inducted were those I grew up watching and idolizing.

Now for you old timers out there this probably isn't that much of a big deal.  You're used to it by now, but for someone in their 20s like myself, it's weird.  In fact I'm still trying to deal with the fact that at 27, I'm older than a lot of the superstars in professional sports now.

I mean, just take a gander at this list:

Emmitt Smith, Art Monk, Jerry Rice, Thurman Thomas, Jim Kelly, Bruce Smith, Darrell Green, Barry Sanders, Joe Montana, Cal Ripken Jr., Tony Gwynn, Michael Jordan, David Robinson, Scottie Pippen, Karl Malone, and Wayne Gretzky.

All of these guys I grew up idolizing and watch with wonderment as they competed at the highest level.

Much like the Gatorade song, I wanted to be like Mike.  As a child I'd lower my basketball hoops level to be low enough so I could replicate (or at least give my best effort) some of his gravity-defining dunks.

Now though, these heroes of my childhood are considered "old men" by their profession; in fact, for the newest bunch of inductees, they had to have been retired for at least five years.

So where does that leave me at 27 years of age?

Well I'm certainly not old, but when you hear a 29-year-old man like Clinton Portis get referred to as "old," it makes me wince just a little considering I'm only a year-and-a-half away from that number.

Also, with the heroes of my day gone and retired I've taken on a new perspective of sports.

At one time in my life, football, basketball, baseball, and hockey were more than just games.

They were something bigger to me.  What they were exactly, I don't know, but the men whom I listed above and many others were larger than life. 

Every time they stepped onto the field of play you just felt that something special was on the horizon.  Week five of the NFL season felt just as special as the Super Bowl.

Maybe I'm waxing nostalgic here, or maybe I am becoming an old man, but as I look out on today's game and see a guy like LeBron James ditch his home state and legacy for an easy championship in Miami or Albert Haynesworth try and take $21 million and demand a trade, I find myself thinking they don't make'em like they used to.

At the risk of sounding old, I'm just going to say it: There wasn't a better time for sports than the 80s and 90s.

And to all those men from my childhood who are now being inducted or about to be inducted, I say congratulations.