Moving On

Mark down 1999 as a time of change in sports, when some of the greatest athletes moved on.

Nothing is forever. Watch the great ones win game after game, championship after championship, and it feels as if they will last a lifetime.

And then, one day, Mark McGwire and Ken Griffey Jr., are hitting home runs instead of Hank Aaron and Willie Mays. And it’s Hakeem, not Kareem, setting up under the basket.

Suddenly, Randall Cunningham is throwing last-gasp touchdowns instead of Joe Montana, and Eric Lindros, not Mario Lemieux, is zeroing in on some poor goalie.

Turn around and the landscape changes.

Joe DiMaggio was always there as the centerpiece for Opening Day at Yankee Stadium.

And then, he was not.

Gone with other immortals like Marion Motley and Gene Sarazen, Pee Wee Reese and Angelo Bertelli.

Michael Jordan was always there for the steal and the shot in the NBA Finals.

And then, he was not.

Retired with other superstars like Wayne Gretzky and John Elway, Barry Sanders and Steffi Graf.

It’s been a tough eight months for continuity, a time when exodus became an undeniable exclamation point for 1999.

The death of DiMaggio, coming less than two months after the retirement of Jordan, defined the rush of change. In their own way, each of them left a huge void in the psyche of their sports.

Who replaces Joe D. as baseball’s greatest living player? Maybe Ted Williams, who generated a huge, emotional outpouring of affection at the All-Star Game.

Who replaces Jordan as the highest profile player in the NBA? Perhaps Tim Duncan, who carried the San Antonio Spurs to a championship while Air Jordan was exploring the mysteries of putts and pars, bogies and bunkers.

Since Jordan’s exit, the pace of passage has quickened.

Gretzky is gone from the NHL. Elway and Sanders left the NFL. Graf decided it was game, set, match for her at age 30.

In each case, retirement seemed almost premature, coming at a time when each of them was still more than capable of playing. In each case, however, continuing to play might have been superfluous.

Six NBA championships for Jordan. Four Stanley Cups for Gretzky. Two Super Bowls for Elway. More than 15,000 yards rushing for Sanders. Twenty-two Grand Slam titles for Graf, the only player to win each of the Slams four or more times.

What was left to prove? What more was necessary?

“Change is a natural evolution,” sports psychologist Thomas Tutko said. “Values is what this is all about. I think values have changed. There is a value difference between the old style in sports and the new style.

“Everybody wants to be a star and they don’t care about the team concept. Many stars are not happy with the young kids coming up and don’t want to be in that kind of environment.

“You never heard about burnout before. But now some coaches and some superstars look around and see a lack of commitment. And they say, ‘What is all of this about? What am I doing here?’

“Tomorrow, all sports can disappear, but the world will continue. That’s not true about a lot of occupations.”

Sports survives. There are always replacements in the wings, waiting their turn.

The NBA survived the loss of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson with Jordan. Now, Duncan, Kobe Bryant and Allen Iverson lead an army of young stars who are just like Mike.

Gretzky followed the legacy of Gordie Howe and Bobby Hull and now leaves the NHL in the strong hands of people like Jaromir Jagr, Pavel Bure and Teemu Selanne.

When Terry Bradshaw and Tony Dorsett bowed out of the NFL, Elway and Sanders picked up the ball. Now a new wave of quarterbacks and running backs, led by rookie hotshots Tim Couch and Ricky Williams, moves in.

Graf was there when Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova left tennis. Now, it’s time for Lindsay Davenport, Martina Hingis and Venus Williams.

Perhaps the situation is summed up best in the Montreal Canadiens dressing room, where a portion of John McRae’s World War I poem “In Flanders Field,” is emblazoned over the lockers.

It says: “To you from failing hands, we throw the torch. Be yours to hold it high.”