Retiring & Not a Moment Too...Late?

Last Sunday night say the final wrestling match in the long career of Ric Flair. Love him or hate him, he was a force in professional wrestling for 34 years and won championships with different promotions (NWA, WCW, WWE/F) a record 16 times. His mic skills were legendary and his ability to anger the crowds was unparallelled. I remember watching him as a young kid and absolutely hating him with his in-ring antics of running away and low-blows and dirty tricks. But it worked. He did what he was supposed to do and got the crowds to despise him and love whoever he fought. He deserved the send off he got at Wrestlemania and at Raw on Monday night. But I got to thinking, shouldn't this have happened a long time ago?

It seems in this day and age where people milk every last drop out of their fifteen minutes of fame it seems that sports figures are no different. They keep playing or performing way past their time to hold on to some glimmer of the player they were or to get that last pay check. One area we see it often is the world of boxing where fighters are routinely taken advantage of by people like Don King who lines his pockets with the majority of the money from the bouts while his fighters get bruised and battered. Many are forced to fight beyond their years just to make ends meet and at the risk of not just present health but future health as well.

Ric Flair has looked a shell of the once great wrestler. Watching him these past few years have been painful as he has clearly been slowed and limited by age. He is a shade of "The Man" that he used to be. We saw this with Cal Ripkin as well. In his final few years at times he was more of a liability to the Orioles than anything. Until his season last year many could have said the same for Brett Farve's two prior seasons as well.

It difficult for fans to accept when someones time has come and gone and clearly by the teams of many the retiring player, its difficult for them as well. However, watching once great athletes degenerate before out eyes tarnishes their legacy in some respects. You want to see that old greatest that you revered but they are simply not capable of maintaining the level of excellence. Their bodies wear down and it affects their play and affects what they can offer their fans. Sometimes its better to be Jim Brown or Barry Sanders and walk away while you are still good. Let your fans last memory of you be of your great accomplishments, not of a decrepit old man holding on to the past.