The March, 1986 issue of Omni magazine featured a quiz readers could take to test their knowledge of what sports would be like in the year 2000 and beyond. The thing I find funny about this was that the "correct" answers were determined by one man, Peter Ueberroth, the commissioner of Major League Baseball. While he may have been one of the most qualified people to comment on the subject, the experts aren't necessarily better than average people at predicting the future. That being said, most of Ueberroth's predictions were pretty darn accurate.
Some of Ueberroth's predictions appear below.
- Baseball will be the most popular sport in the year 2001.
- Pete Rose's career hit record is unlikely to be broken.
- No major American sport of the year 2000 will see men and women playing side by side.
- Stricter medical standards will be applied to boxing.
- 21st century Americans will cite Babe Ruth as the greatest male sports hero of the 20th century.
- 21st century Americans will cite Wilma Rudolph as the greatest female sports hero of the 20th century.
- The NHL, NFL and MLB will never institute a salary cap.
- Greater restrictions will be placed on the sale of beer in stadiums.
- By the year 2000 someone will run a sub-2 hour marathon.
Previously on Paleo-Future:
- Mile Run in 3:41 by Year 2000 (1965)
- Sports Fans of the Year 2000 (1967)
- Future Without Football (1976)
- Sport in Space Colonies (1977)
- Zero-Gravity Football (1981)
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