>I can say that “back in the day,” sports were definitely more fun, interesting, and creative…

I’ll agree. Was kind of a big sports fan in the 80s (nba, nfl, mlb). The characters were pretty fun. It was a little crazy but fun. Some recent documentaries/books on the Celtics I checked out reveals more things going on behind the scenes. The press had more access. The Celtics broadcaster “Johnny Most” was really not very partial to other teams, but came up with fun nicknames. One game on the radio they stopped announcing and started laughing because he lit his pants on fire with a cigarette https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Most

I tried watching sports now, the players are so good but it lacks the fun / heart. It’s professional and big business but somehow when you don’t care it’s a lot less fun. Though I did enjoy the women’s world cut in France quite a bit.